Name: _____________________________________
Macromolecules
FIGURE 1
Directions: Look closely at Figure 1 to answer the following questions.
1. What is the small molecule called? ________________________________________
2. What is the large molecule (chain of the dots) called? ____________________________
3. In the picture, what is a polymer made up of? __________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
4. The prefix “mono-“ means one. Why is monomer a good name for a molecule in the
picture above? __________________________________________________________
5. The prefix “poly-“ means many. Why is polymer a good name for the picture of the large
molecule in the picture above_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Many of the molecules we have studied this year are polymers. A polymer is a large
molecule made up of small molecules linked together. In class, we learned the term
macromolecule instead of polymer. Macromolecules and polymers are the same thing.
You can think of a polymer (or macromolecule) as a chain of small
molecules.
The small molecules called monomers join together to form a polymer. The monomers
may be identical, like the links on a metal watch band, or the monomers may be
different, like the beads in a multicolored necklace. Figure 1 illustrates the formation of a
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Name: _____________________________________
polymer from many monomers. Today you will learn about four types of macromolecules
(or polymers): Carbohydrates, Lipids,
Nucleic
Acids and Proteins.
Proteins
Amino acid
(Monomer)
FIGURE 2
Protein
(Polymer)
Directions: Look closely at Figure 1 to answer the following questions.
1. What is the name of the monomer picture in Figure 2?____________________________
2. What is the name of the polymer?____________________________________________
3. Which of the statements below are correct? (check all of the correct statements)
 Proteins are made of a chain of amino acids
 Amino acids are made of proteins
 Proteins are polymers and amino acids are monomers
 If you link amino acids in a chain, a protein will form
A Protein is a long chain of amino acids as shown in Figure 1. A protein is a polymer.
Proteins serve many different purposes in the body. Some proteins are hormones, such as
adrenaline and insulin that help your body function. Some proteins are used to form bones,
muscles and hair. Others transport substances into or out of cells or help fight diseases.
A special kind of protein is called an Enzyme. These proteins control the rate of reactions,
such as speeding up how fast our body can digest food. We have studied the enzymes DNA
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Name: _____________________________________
polymerase and RNA polymerase in class. There are thousands of different enzymes but
they are easy to recognize, because all enzymes end with “-ase.”
Nucleic Acids
Nucleotide
(Monomer)
FIGURE 2
DNA
(Polymer)
1. What is the name of the monomer in nucleic acids?______________________________
2. What is the name of a nucleic acid polymer?___________________________________
3. Which of the statements below are correct? (check all of the correct statements)
 Nucleotides are made of DNA
 Nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA
 DNA is made of nucleotides
 DNA are polymers and nucleotides are monomers
Nucleic acids are macromolecules that containing hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and
phosphorus. Nucleic acids are polymers assembled from individual monomers known as
nucleotides. Nucleotides consist of three parts: a sugar, a phosphate, and a nitrogenous
base as shown in figure 2. Nucleic acids store and transmit our genetic information and
traits. There are two kinds of nucleic acids: ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA). As their names indicate, RNA contains the sugar ribose and DNA contains the
sugar deoxyribose.
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Name: _____________________________________
Carbohydrates
Monosaccharides
(Monomer)
FIGURE 3
Polysaccharides
(Polymer)
1. What is the monomer in a carbohydrate called? _________________________________
2. What is the polymer of carbohydrates called? __________________________________
3. T/ F A polysaccharide is made of many glucose monomers linked together.
4. “Poly” means many and “saccharide” means sugar. Why is polysaccharide a good name
for the picture on the right above? ___________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Carbohydrates are in all of our fruits and vegetables, because they come from plants.
Remember that plants make glucose (sugar) in photosynthesis.
Sunlight + Carbon dioxide + Water  Oxygen + Glucose
Plants make the monomers such as glucose, sucrose, and fructose. Then, they string them
together in a polymer called a polysaccharide.
Living things use carbohydrates as their main
source of energy. Plants and some animals
also use carbohydrates to build their cell walls
In the figure above, many monosaccharides join
together to form a polysaccharides, such as
glycogen and starch.
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Name: _____________________________________
Lipids (Fat)
Fatty Acid
(Monomer)
FIGURE 4
Fat
(Polymer)
1. What is the name of the monomer in lipids?____________________________________
2. What is the name of a lipid polymer?__________________________________________
3. How many monomers are in the polymer of a lipid?______________________________
Lipids are made mostly from carbon and hydrogen atoms. Common examples of lipids are
fats, oils and waxes. Lipids can be used to store energy. Phospholipids are an
important part of your cell membrane. Steroids are lipids as well. Steroids serve as
chemical messengers. The monomer of lipids is a fatty acid, as shown in Figure 4.
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Name: _____________________________________
Wrap-up Activity
List the 4 types of Macromolecules Below. (The first one has been done for you)
Polymer 1.
________________Proteins_________________________
Building Block (monomer)____Amino acids________________________
Example: _Hormones, such as insulin & enzymes, such as polymerase_
Polymer 2.
_________________________________________________
Building Block (monomer) _______________________________________
Example: ____________________________________________________
Polymer 3.
_________________________________________________
Building Block (monomer)_______________________________________
Example: ____________________________________________________
Polymer 4.
_________________________________________________
Building Block (monomer) _______________________________________
Example: ____________________________________________________
Exit Ticket: Label the pictures below as carbohydrate, lipid, protein, or nucleic acid.
2. ________________
3. _____________
1._______________
4. _______________
Are the pictures above monomers or polymers?_______________________
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