Unit 2 Reflection

This unit was about the chemistry that is involved in biology and life itself. We learned about the basic units of matter including atoms, and we also learned about the 4 macromolecules, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. Lastly, we learned specifically about enzymes and their functions. My strengths form the unit are probably about macromolecules, because that is the one thing I think I can explain to someone if they ask me. Carbohydrates are made of rings of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They provide energy for many animals. Proteins are made up of small molecules called amino acids. They help store energy as well as control the rate of chemical reactions. Nucleic acids are made up of molecules called nucleotides, and they help store and transfer genetic or hereditary information. A nucleotide has 3 parts: sugar, a phosphate, and a base. Lipids contain fats, oils, and waxes. They are made up of chains of carbon and hydrogen called fatty acids. They also store energy while also making up part of a cell membrane. My weaknesses from this unit are probably the type of bonds and enzymes. With bonds, I usually get mixed up between covalent, ionic, and hydrogen bonding. For enzymes, I still get confused with the concept of activation energy and how it works. I think I have still improved in those regions, particuarly with the enzyme part through the cheese lab. I now understand the concept of denaturing and how pH and temperature affects the time of the reaction. It also helped with my weakness of activation energy. It showed me that when a pH or temperature gets affected, the activation energy goes up. The activation energy do now also helped with this concept. At first, I didn't really get the structure of carbohydrates, and the idea of a monosaccharide, a disaccharide, and a polysaccharide, but the sweetness lab really reinforced this. We learned that monosaccharides taste the sweetest out of all the carbohydrates, disaccharides taste the next sweetest, and polysaccharides taste the least sweet. I learned how a cabohydrate's shape or structure affects its function. Another thing I learned about was the basic units of matter. The most basic units are atoms, which are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons have a positive charge, electrons have a negative charge, and neutrons have a neutral charge. There are the same number of protons as there are electrons in an atom. Atoms of the same element that differ in the number of neutrons are known as isotopes. I think matter is another strength of mine from this unit. I feel like I am a much better student today than I was at the start of the unit. I have learned the importance of chemistry, even though I used to think that chemistry is not needed for biology. I want to learn more about atoms and learn more in depth about chemistry. I have really grown as a student from the beginning to the end of this unit, and I look forward to learning more.