Unit 2 Reflection

   In this unit, we started to learn about biochemistry, but most importantly carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. There are electrons, protons and neutrons. Electrons are negative, protons are positive and are with the neutron, which has no charge, in the nucleolus. Carbohydrates are sugars that have ring structures of one, two, or three+. Our body breaks the bonds down to get energy. Lipids chains of carbon and hydrogen called fatty acids. They are nonpolar and are used in our body for storage of energy. Proteins are large molecules of smaller molecules named amino acids that are chained together. Proteins are used in our bodies to made into our protein. There also enzymes that are used to speed up chemical reactions. Enzymes turn substrates(molecule enzyme works on) into products by attaching with them at the active site. Enzymes work best where it is not too acidic or basic and also where it is not too cold or warm. Lastly, we learned about nucleic acids. These are composed of nitrogen, phosphate, and sugar. These make our DNA(two strands) or RNA(one strand).

  In the labs, we furthered our understandings of the concepts in unit 2.  We did the Cheese Lab, which furthered our understandings on how enzymes' functions are effected by temperature or pH and the curdling agent. From this lab, we learned that for making cheese, the best conditions were a warm and acidic environment. We also preformed the Sweetness Lab, which taught us about how the number of rings a carbohydrates has affects the sweetness of the carbohydrate. This lab taught us that the carbohydrates with the least rings were easier to get energy from them, for they are less dense and their bonds are easier to break. Here is the data for the Sweetness Lab.

  From these labs, I learned a lot more about carbohydrates and enzymes then I could have learned from a textbook. For example, we got to taste in person how carbohydrates are like. We learned the difference between monosaccharides(one ring), disaccharides(two rings), and polysaccharides(3 or more rings) through tasting them and tasting their differences. Another enriching lab was the Cheese Lab. With the Cheese Lab, we learned/saw how enzymes work in front of us. We saw how enzymes, with the optimal conditions, could cause milk to become cheese by speeding up the chemical reactions. In summary, the labs helped us understand more how the different macromolecules work in everyday life. 

   Last but not least, after learning Unit 2, I still have some unanswered questions. For example, do all enzymes prefer warmth and acidic conditions? Also, are nucleic acids found anywhere else than just RNA or DNA? In conclusion, Unit 2 was a very helpful unit to learn the basis of biology.