Key: ORGANIC MACROMOLECULES WORKSHEET
https://sites.google.com/site/bio1112atbcc/bio-11-links/organic-molecules (animations:
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp03/0302002.html)
Carbohydrates
1. Name the four Important roles of carbohydrates.
1. Energy production and storage
3. Supply carbon for synthesis
2. Structure (cell walls, etc.)
4. Cell identification
2. What is the most common monosaccharide? Why is this monosaccharide so important to
our daily functioning?
Glucose; needed for cellular respiration to make ATP’s
3. What is the name of the process resulting in disaccharide formation? What specifically
happens in this reaction (the animation can/will help)? What other component is required
to make this reaction occur?
Dehydration synthesis; two monomers are joined by removal of OH- from one and H+ from the
other to produce H20
4. What is the name of the reaction when you split a disaccharide? What products do you
gain?
Hydrolysis; two monosaccharides (H20  H+ + OH-)
5. What are the names of the four polysaccharides and what is required for their formation?
What are their respective roles for energy storage?
*Monosaccharide – can be immediately used for cellular respiration/NOT a “polysaccharide”
Disaccharide – easily broken down for cellular respiration
Starch – energy storage in plants
Glycogen – energy storage in animals
Chitin – fungus cell wall
Cellulose – plant cell wall
Lipids
1. How are lipids defined? In what type of solvent are they soluble or insoluble? What are
their functions in the body?
NONPOLAR macromolecules
Soluble only in nonpolar solvents; insoluble in water or other polar solvents
fats & oils – energy storage; insulation; protection; waterproofing
phospholipids – plasma membranes
steroids – cholesterol; steroid hormones, wax
2. What is the length range of a triglyceride? How are glycerol and fatty acids “connected”
to make a triglyceride?
16, 18, and 20 are the most common
Connected by ester bonds via dehydration synthesis
3. Compare and contrast unsaturated fatty acids with saturated fatty acids.
Both: triglycerides
Unsaturated: at least one double carbon bond in fatty acids (C=C); liquid at room temp
Saturated: all single carbon bonds (C-C) with 2 hydrogens attached to each carbon; saturated w/H
4. How is a phospholipid formed? Why, when placed in water, do phospholipids form a micelle?
Fatty acids attach to glycerol molecule via covalent ester bonds
Phospholipids are formed of two types of parts, a hydrophilic part that is attracted to water, and a
hydrophobic part that is repelled by water. The Phospholipid forms the bilayer to keep the hydrophobic part
from coming in contact with the water and puts the hydrophobic part on the inside of the two layers of the
hydrophilic part.
5. Draw and label a phospholipid bilayer. Label which regions are hydrophobic and hydrophilic.
polar = hydrophilic; nonpolar = hydrophobic
Proteins
1. What functional groups make up an Amino Acid? Draw/label (e.g. amino group, acid, R group) an
amino acid.
R-side chain
Amino group
carboxylic acid group
2. How are polypeptides formed? How are many amino acids joined together?
Amino acids are linked by peptide bonds via dehydration synthesis during protein synthesis.
3. What defines a protein?
The sequence of amino acids determines the structure and function of proteins.
4. List the important biological functions of proteins and provide an example of each.
Structural: collagen (most common mammalian protein); keratin (waterproofing skin); actin & myosin –
muscle tissue
Functional: enzymes; antibodies
5. List the four levels of protein folding. What defines the each folding level?
Primary: Single chain of polypeptides
Secondary: folding or spiral chains
Tertiary: 3D globular proteins with specific active sites
Quaternary: 2 or more globular proteins
*The sequence of amino acids and their charges determines the folding level.
6. What is fundamental to protein structure and function?
*The sequence of amino acids and their charges determines the folding level.
Nucleic Acids
1. What makes up a nucleotide? What are the four component bases of DNA? How do the bases of RNA
differ from DNA? The specific base parings for each?
Nucleotide: phosphate-sugar-nitrogen base
DNA: adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine; A-T and C-G
RNA: adenine, uracil, guanine, cytosine; A-U and C-G
2. What is meant by “sugar-phosphate backbone”? How are nucleic acids formed?
The chain of DNA molecule is formed by covalent phosphodiester bonds between phosphate group of one
nucleotide and the sugar of the next nucleotide. The side chains of a DNA double helix are the phosphatesugar-phosphate-sugar…
3. How does the structure of DNA and RNA differ?
DNA is generally a very long double chain of nucleotides and helical (T); RNA is generally single chain and
short (U).
4. Finally, who unraveled the structure of DNA? When?
James Watson and Frances Crick (using work from Edmond Chargaff, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice
Wilkens) determined the structure of DNA February 28, 1953 (noon).