Grade 9 Biology: Building Blocks of Life. A introduction to the major macromolecules of the cell. Students are taught polymers, monomers, and the elements typically found in each. Students should be able to identify the basic chemical structure of proteins, lipids, carbohydrate, and nucleic acids and know their basic functions within the cell.

1. The Building Blocks of Life
Chapter 6 Lesson 4
p.166-171

2. Vocabulary
• Macromolecule
• Polymer
• Carbohydrate
• Lipid
• Protein
• Amino acid
• Nucleic Acid
• Nucleotide

3. Important Greek terms to make life
easier
• Poly- = many
• Mono- = one
• Di- = two
• Meros- = part

4. Why study Carbon?
• All of life is built on carbon
• Life on Earth is “carbon-based”
• Cells
– ~72% H2O
– ~25% carbon compounds
• carbohydrates
• lipids
• proteins
• nucleic acids
– ~3% salts
• Na, Cl, K…

5. Each carbon atom can make fourEach carbon atom can make four
covalent bonds with other types ofcovalent bonds with other types of
atoms or additional carbons.atoms or additional carbons.
Question: How manyQuestion: How many
electrons does carbon needelectrons does carbon need
to fill its outer energy level?to fill its outer energy level?
Answer: FourAnswer: Four

7. Chemistry of Life
• Organic chemistry is the study of organic
compounds, or carbon compounds

8. Chemistry of Life

9. • Carbon occurs so often in organic
chemistry we don’t even need to put the
atomic symbol.

10. MACROMOLECULES OF LIFE
• Found in all living things
• Building blocks of all cells
• There are 4
1. Carbohydrates  C, H, & O
2. Lipids  C, H, & O
3. Proteins  C, H, O, N, & S
4. Nucleic Acids  C, H, O, N, & P

11. Macromolecules
• Large molecules that are formed by joining
smaller organic molecules together.

12. Macromolecules

13. Monomers & Polymers
• Macromolecules are actually made up of even
smaller subunits. Each subunit of a
macromolecule is called a monomer.
• The macromolecules themselves are called
polymers, because they are made up of many
of these subunits.
Monomer: one basic unit or subunit
Polymer: a chain of many basic units

15. Biological
Macromolecules
Carbohydrates Lipids Proteins Nucleic Acids

16. Carbohydrates
• (CH2O)n or C1:H2:O1 ratio
• n = number of CH2O units in a chain
Carbohydrates
Monosaccharide Disaccharide Polysaccharide

17. Monosaccharide
• (CH2O)3-7
• Simple sugars
• Function: Energy source for organisms
– Example: glucose (C6H12O6)

18. Disaccharides
• 2 monosaccharide units linked together

19. Polysaccharides
• Long chains of monosaccharides

20. Lipids
• Mostly made up of carbon and hydrogen
• Primary Function: energy storage
• Include oils, fats, waxes, and steroids

21. Triglycerides
• Oils = if liquid at room temperature
• Fats = if solid at room temperature

22. Triglycerides
• Structure:
– 3 Fatty Acids + Glycerol

23. • If the fatty acid tail only has single bonds
between the carbon atoms, it is a
saturated fat.
– “Saturated” mean filled to maximum
capacity.

24. • If the fatty acid tail has one or more
double bonds between the carbon atoms,
it is an unsaturated fat.
– Because the tail could make room,
accommodate, at least one more
hydrogen.

25. • If the fatty acid tail has more than one
double bond, you can call it a
polyunsaturated fat.

27. Draw

28. Phospholipids

29. Phospholipids
• Special lipids that make up cell
membranes.
• Like most lipids they are hydrophobic
– Repels water
– This makes for great barriers in the watery
environment of our cells

30. Other Lipids
• Waxes
• Steroids
– Cholesterol – not all bad
– Hormones – estrogen and testosterone

32. PROTEINS
• Monomer: amino acids
• Amino acids are small
compounds that are made of
carbon, nitrogen, oxygen,
hydrogen, and sometimes
sulfur.
• Function: enzymes, transport,
and cell structure

34. Amino Acids
• Differ by R- unit or
variable group
• There are 20 different
variable groups
• So, there are 20
different amino acids

35. • Bonded by peptide bonds.
• These form between one amino group
and one carboxyl group

36. Protein structure
• Proteins, amino acid chains, can be any length
and any combination.
• They have four levels of structure.

37. Primary (1°)
• Number and order of
amino acids in a chain

38. Secondary (2°)
• Hydrogen bonds
between different
amino acids cause
the chain to fold
• They can form
shapes like a helix,
pleated sheet, or
fold

39. Tertiary Structure (3°)
• The full structure of the protein with can
include many 2° structures.
• And they look really cool!

40. Quaternary Structure (4°)
• Not all proteins
have a 4° structure.
• The combination of
proteins that work
together as one.

44. Protein Function
• Proteins are ~15% of your total body mass
• Involved in almost every function:
– Muscles, skin, hair
– Cellular communication
– Enzymes
– Control cell growth
– Protection (immunity)
– Storage
• Our cells contain over 10,000 different proteins

45. Nucleic Acids
• Function: store and transmit genetic
information
• Monomer: nucleotides
– Nucleotides are composed of C, N, O, P, H
• There are 5 major nucleotides
– The book says 6, because it includes ATP
(wrong)

46. Nucleotide Structure

47. • The sugar of one nucleotide bonds to the
phosphate of another nucleotide
• The nitrogenous base sticks out to form
hydrogen bonds that hold the double helix
together.

48. Types of nucleic acids

49. Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)
• A modified nucleotide
• 3 phosphate groups