RESEARCH BASED LESSON
SUBJECT: CHEMISTRY
OVERVIEW: Chemistry relating to medicine and biotechnology is related to students through a combination of
lecture (PowerPoint), lab activities, demonstration, and paper-based inquiry.
VOCABULARY:
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Amino Acid – A small chemical that provides the building blocks for peptides and proteins.
Peptide – A short chain of amino acids.
Protein – A long chain of amino acids. Proteins perform many functions in the body, including providing
structure and promoting chemical reactions.
Vesicle - An aggregate of molecules in solution, such as phospholipids, which comprises a hollow sphere
with hydrophilic inner and outer walls with a hydrophobic region interior to the shell.
Hydrophilic - Having a tendency to mix with, dissolve in, or be wetted by water.
Hydrophobic - Tending to repel or fail to mix with water.
GOALS:
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The students should be able to describe proteins and what they are composed of
The students should be able to relate protein folded structure to activity, versus loss of activity due to
denaturation.
The concept of using synthetic analogues of protein chemistry will be introduced as an effective method
for interacting with biological systems.
ENGAGE
Materials: Pipe cleaners (white, with sharpie marks in various places), colored tape, scissors.
Place small strips of colored tape or stickers onto the pipe cleaners and place 3-4 pipe cleaners (attached
end-to-end) on each students desk. Ask the students to fold the pipe cleaners so that stickers of the same color are
touching. Allow students to compare the shapes of their folded pipe cleaners. They will all likely be different.
Explain that proteins are folded much like the pipe cleaners, and that their function depends on their shape. In this
case, each person’s pipe cleaner/protein would have a different job due to the different shapes. Now have the
students unfold the pipe cleaners and use the scissors to chop them up. Explain that this is what happens when
proteins are digested, and that they no longer do anything after this process.
EXPLORE
Lab Activity – Common Proteins: Reactions and Denaturation (Strong Medicine: Chemistry at the
Pharmacy, Experiment 2)
EXPLAIN
Go over questions from lab activity. Briefly describe how cells can digest proteins and other foreign
material. Introduce the concept of building synthetic materials that can act like proteins (for degradation
purposes).
ELABORATE
Lecture from PowerPoint on research, protein digestion, etc. Slides can be found at the end of this lesson.
Activities may be completed if time permits. Activity sheets can be found at the end of this lesson.
EVALUATE
Students may be required to complete a lab report, which can be collected and assessed, as well as their
activity sheets. Performance during lab exercises may be assessed for thoroughness as well as accuracy. Any of this
material may be included in an exam.
LECTURE SLIDES
ACTIVITY SHEETS
1.
How are a polymer and a protein alike? How are they different?
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How do cells digest proteins?
3.
What if a protein were made of only one kind of amino acid? Would it fold? Would it be able to do a job?
Why or Why not?
4.
Below, draw a diagram that shows how a cell “eats” a protein. Remember the steps in the process,
starting with the cell taking the protein into itself.