Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Chapter Three

Key terms:
Organic Compounds: Carbon based molecules.
Carbon Skeleton: chain of carbon atoms in an organic molecule.
Hydrocarbons: compounds composed of only carbon and hydrogen.
Isomers: Compounds with the same formula but different structures.
Macromolecules: molecules that are gigantic.
Polymers: A long molecule consisting of many identical or similar building blocks strung together.
Monomers: The building blocks of polymers.
Dehydration reaction: a reaction that removes a molecule of water that link monomers together to form a polymer.
Hydrolysis: cells break bonds between monomers by adding water to them; reverse dehydration reaction.
Enzymes: specialized macromolecules that speed up chemical reactions in cells.

Reading Journal:
1) What is Lactose intolerance? Lactose intolerance is when people do not have an enzyme called lactase to help break down the lactose.
2) What are the main types of large molecules? Proteins, Lipids, Carbohydrates, and Nucleic Acids.
3) What are the four levels of Protein Structure? First is the Primary structure, which is the simplest; second is the Secondary Structure, which is either an alpha helix or a pleated sheet; third is the Tertiary strcture, which all of the proteins are in a globular like, three dimensional shape; and Quaternary, are when four globular three dimensional shapes are cluttered together.

Five Facts:
1)
Linus Pauling and his colleagues discovered how oxygen molecules attach to the iron atoms of hemoglobin in 1935.
2) Monosaccharides are carbohydrate monomers. Polysaccharides are monosaccharides are just polymers of monosaccharides linked together by dehydration reaction.
3) Dehydration reaction is used to link monomers together to form polymers.
4) Phospholipids contain only two fatty acids attached to glycerol instead of three.
5) Anabolic steroids are synthetic variants of the male hormone testosterone. They are also used to treat general anemia and other illnesses that may destroy the body muscle.

Many of the molecules that a cell makes are composed of carbon. The carbon atoms are bonded to other element's atoms to make different combinations. Carbon based molecules are called organic compounds. Compounds that are only composed of hydrogen and carbon are called hydrocargons. Their carbon skeletons may vary in length, be branched or unbranched, have double bonds, and/or arranged in rings. There are different functional groups of organic compounds and are considered hydrophillic (water-lovin'). Hydroxyl group consists of hydrogen and oxygen. A carbonyl group is a carbon atom linked by a double bond to an oxygen atom. A carboxyl consists of a carbon double bonded to an oxygen and a hydroxyl group. An amino group is composed of a nitrogen bonded to hydrogen atoms and the carbon skeleton. A phosphate group contains phosphorous to four oxygen atoms. a methyl group contains a carbon bond to three hydrogens. Macromolecules are just big molecules. A polymer is a long molecule consisting of monomers. they are linked together by a dehydration reaction, which just removes a molecule of water to attach together. Hydrolysis breaks the polymers by adding water.
Monosaccharides are the simplest carbohydrates. Monosaccharides are just single unit sugars and are the main fuel molecules for cellular work. A disaccharide are just two monosaccharides that are formed by a dehydration reaction. The most common disaccharide is sucros. Polysaccharides are polymers of monosaccharides linked together by dehydration reactions. Some examples are starch, glycogen, cellulose, and chitin.
Lipids are diverse compounds that are grouped together because they mix poorly with water. Lipids are hydrophobic (water hatin'). Their main function is to store energy. Fatty acids and fats that have double bonds are considered unsaturated, having less than the max number of hydrogens. Those with the max number of hydrogens are saturated. Phospholipids are structurally simlar to fats, but contain only two fatty acids instead of three. They have a hydrophillic head and hydrophobic tails.
Protein is a polymer constructed from amino acid monomers. Proteins are important to the structures of cells and organism and participate in everything they do. Enzymes are specialized macromolecules that are catalysts that speed up chemical reactions in cells. Proteins are made from amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A peptide bond is a covalent linkage. Two aminos acids are dipeptide bonds. A chain of amino acids are polypeptide. Denaturationis when polypeptide chains unravel and lose their specific shape and function.

There are four different levels of protein structure: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary structure.
Primary: The simplest structure, is a unique structure of amino acids.
Secondary: There are basically two forms of secondary structure, helix (shown), and pleated sheet (not shown).
Tertiary: It is a three dimensional shape of a polypeptide.
Quaternary: A complete transthyretin molecule with four identical globular subunits.


Video Link Dehydration and hydrolysis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOcffAxZwC0&feature=related

Chapter Two

Key Terms:
Matter: Anything that has mass and occupies space.
Element: A substance that cannot be broken down to other substances by ordinary chemical means.
Trace Elements: Needed by all forms of life but in very few amounts.
Compound: a substance consisting of two or more different elements combined in a fixed ratio.
Atom: Smallest form of matter.
Proton: subatomic particle with a single positive electrical charge.
Electron: subatomic particle with a single negative electrical charge.
Neutron: electrically neutral. (no electrical charge)
Atomic Number: same unique number of protons
Mass Number: Sum of the protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
Atomic Mass: Approximaely equal to its mass number.
Isotope: an element that has the same numbers of protons and electrons and behave identically in chemical reactions, but have different number of neutrons.
Radioactive Isotope: one in whicht he nucleus decays spontaneously, giving off particles and energy.

Reading Journal:
1) What is Matter and what does it consist of? Matter is anything and everything that occupies space. Even a small atom is considered matter. All living organisms are compose of matter.
2) What is Polarity? It is when electrons are not shared equally due to differences in electronegativity. For example, water is H2O. if there were a diagram, there would be one oxygen atom between two hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen has a postive charge and oxygen has a negative charge. Therefore, there is a higher positive charge than a negative charge.
3) What is the PH scale?
The PH scale is used to describe how acidic or basic a solution is. PH stands for potential of Hydrogen. The scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 0 being the most acidic and 14 being the most basic. The PH unit stands for a tenfold change in a concentration of hydrogen atoms. On the PH scale, 7 is neutral.

Five Facts:
1) Atoms are the smallest unit of an element. It will usually consist of neutrons, protons, and electrons.
2) Ice is less dense than water. Usually, a solid is more dense than its liquid form. The hydrogen bonds in ice hold molecules in ice further apart than in water.
3) An aqueous solution is one in which water is the solvent.
4) Surface tension is a measure of how difficult it is to stretch or break the surface of a liquid.
5) Electronegativity is when an atom's attraction for shared electrons.

Living organisms are actually composed of abotu 25 elements. Four of them include oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen- which make up about 96% of the human body. An element is asubstance that cannot be broke down to other substances by ordinary chemical means. All living organisms are composed of matter. Matter is anything and everything that occupies space and has mass. Trace elements are also apart of the 25 elements. Even though there are only trace amounts inside the human body, they are essential for the body's health.
A compound is a substance consisting of two or more different elemetns combined in a fixed ratio. Most compounds consist of only two elements. But, most of the compounds in living organisms contain at least three or four elements; mostly hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. Different arragnements of the atoms of the elements determine unique properties for each compound. An atom is the smallest unit of matter that contains properties of an element. There are three kinds of particles; Protons(+), Electrons(-), and neutrons. Protons are a subatomic particle with a single positive charge. Electrons have a negative charge while neutrons are neutral, or no charge. Isotope is a variant form of an atom. Isotopes of an element have the same number of protons, but different number of neutrons.

Ice is actually less dense than its liquid form, water. On the left is an example of water and the right is ice.







Video Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEX2aGpIDBY

Chapter One


Key Terms:
Biosphere: consists of all the environments on Earth that support life.
Ecosystem: consists of all the organisms living in a particular area
Organism: an individual living thing.
Organ System: consists of several organs that work together in performing specific functions.
Organs: part of the organ system that has a specific purpose.
Tissues: Makes up the organs and are just cells combined together.
Cell: Makes up tissue and are formed by molecules and atoms.
Organelle: a membrane-bound structure that performs a specific function in a cell.
Molecule: a cluster of atoms held together by chemical bonds.
Producers: Provides the food for a typical ecotsystem such as a tree.
Consumers: Eat Plants and otehr animals.
Prokayotic Cell: much simpler and usually small than a eukaryotic cell; Microorganisms like bacteria are prokaryotic.
Eukaryotic Cell: is subdivided by internal membranes into many different functional compartments, or organelles, including the nucleus that houses the cell's DNA.

Reading Journal:
1)What are living organisms made of? Living organisms are made of molecultes
2)What is the Hierarchary of life? It starts with biosphere, ecosystem, community, population, organism, organ system, organ, tissue, cell, organelle, then molecules. It starts with the largest, stepping down the the smallest.
3)What is Evolution and Natural Selection? Charles Darwin created the Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection. Evolution explains that species living today are descendnts of ancestral species. Natural Selection is an editing mechanism that occurs when populations of organism, have been exposed to enviroments, they inherit variations to accomadate.

Five Facts
1
) The Chemical basis for all life's kinship is DNA as genetic material.
2) protists are a diverse collection of mostly single-celled organisms
3) A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a set of observations.
4) A cell is the basic unit of life. It is also the lowest level of the Hierarchy of life.
5) Ecosystems are characterized by the cycling of chemical nutrients from the atmosphere and soil to producers to consumers to decomposers and backt o the enviroment.

The Heirarchy of life starts with the biosphere, ecosystem, community, population, organism, organ system, organ, tissue, cell, organelle, and the molecule. Bioshphere consists of all the enviroments on Earth. A molecule is a cluster of atoms held together by chemical bonds. DNA, for example, provides information and a blueprint to begin constructing organisms, then pass off from parent to offspring. There are three domains: domain Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. Domains Bacteria and Archaea consists of prokaryotes and Domain Eukarya includes various protist kingdoms.
Scientists use mainly two approaches to science; discovery science, and hyposthesis-based science. Discovery science concerns itself mostly with describing nature. it can lead to important conclusions based on inductive reasoning. Hypothesis-Based sciences concerns itself with explaining nature; it involves proposing and testing a hypothesis. Hypothesis based science use deductive reasoning logic to come up with ways to test hypotheses. Most research combines these two forms of approach.

This is an example of the Heirarchy of life. It starts with an atom to turn into a molecule, to turn into organelles, etc. All the way until it
it is a living organism. This only demonstrates up until an organism. After, it is much broader.











Video Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3CZFfyed3M