Biology

Why did you choose to study biology?

M4 QUARTER 1
Ms Nimmi
 About this unit

Global context:
Identities and relationships

Key concept:
Relationships

Related concepts:

Form, Model, Movement

Statement of Inquiry

The relationships
between organisms and
its environment are
revealed by the
similarities and
differences between the
myriad of forms and
functions.
Units we will study
• Biological molecules

• Classification and taxonomy

• Cell biology and specialised cells

• Movement across membranes

• Enzymes
Biological
Molecules
 What are your favourite foods?
Can you identify the key biological
molecules present in your favourite foods?

HInt: they are found

on food labels
The four main biological molecules we will study are:

• carbohydrates
• lipids (fats)
• proteins
• nucleic acids (DNA)

Each of these molecules

is made up of smaller
units.
These units are called monomers

Starch, glycogen and cellulose are all

made up of monomers of glucose

Fats and oils are made up of

fatty acids and glycerol monomers

Proteins are made of monomers of

amino acids

The monomers of nucleic acids are

nucleotides
Carbohydrates monosaccharide
e.g.
Made up of long chains of simple sugars C 6 H12O6
like glucose

they contain the elements, Carbon,

Hydrogen and Oxygen
disaccharide

glucose is an example of a monosaccharide

when 2 glucose molecules bond together polysaccharide

it forms maltose - a disaccharide

starch, cellulose and glycogen are examples

of polysaccharides - what do you think this
means?
Cellulose is used for structural
support in plant cell walls

Starch is the way in which

plants store their glucose,
whereas humans store it as
glycogen

These stores are used during

respiration to provide the
organism with energy
 Fats
a type of lipid

Fatty Acid
Glycerol and fatty acids are
Glycerol

made up of carbon, hydrogen

and oxygen

Lipids in the body are made
up of triglycerides.
Triglycerides are made up of
1 glycerol molecule and 3
fatty acids
The length of the fatty acid Fats are important for
chains can vary between insulation, waterproofing,
triglycerides energy, structure and
protection of organs
 Proteins
• made up of amino acids

• there are 20 different amino acids

Structure of a simple amino acid
• these 20 amino acids can be repeated and
arranged in different orders to produce
thousands of different proteins
• Proteins are made up of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and
sulphur
• the combination, order and number of amino acids
in a protein determines its shape and structure
• a protein's structure and shape is very
important for its function
• examples of proteins in the body are enzymes and
antibodies
• enzymes are biological catalysts. Their active
sites have a specific shape to bind the correct
substrate and catalyze metabolic reactions
• antibodies have specific shapes so they can
recognise the antigens of pathogens and attach as
part of our immune response
Nucleic acids

• for example, DNA

• long chains of nucleotides

• 5-carbon sugar, phosphate functional group and

nitrogen-containing base
DNA
DNA
A type of nucleic acid Double helix structure formed from 2 strands of

A type of nucleic acid nucleic acids coiling around each other

Each strand has a sugar backbone with bases

attached

Bonds called hydrogen bonds form between bases

on opposite strands, holding the 2 strands
together in the double helix

DNA has 4 types of bases: A, T, G, C.

A will always bind to T. G will always bind to C
 water helps with the
transportation of soluble
Water molecules e.g. digestion
products, waste products
water is an essential
metabolite of many
reactions
Water acts as a solvent,
providing a medium for
Water helps to chemical reactions to
maintain body occur in
temperature
Have a go at these questions
• What patterns do you see in the structures of the biomolecules?

• Can you give specific examples of each biomolecule?

• Why do we need each biomolecule?

• Which elements are present in each biomolecule?

• How do we obtain these elements?

 New Terminology

Catabolism - The breakdown Anabolism - The building of

of food molecules during new molecules used for cell
digestion functions

Can you use these new terms to improve your answer to Q5?