The Building Blocks of Life Worksheet

Basic Chemistry

1. In the outer most layer of carbon there are 4 electrons. To fill this energy level, it needs 4
more electrons.
2. Carbon can form 4 covalent bonds.
3. In a single covalent bond there are 2 shared electrons. In a double covalent bond there
are 4 shared electrons. In a triple covalent bond there are 6 electrons and in a quadruple
covalent bond there are 8 electrons.

Organic Molecules

4. An organic compound is a compound that contains carbon and other elements.

5. Besides carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen make up most organic compounds.
6. Smaller, simpler molecules are called monomers.
7. Carbon molecules made of monomers are called polymers.
8. Large polymers are called macromolecules
9. The reaction that links monomers to make polymers is polymerization
10. combined of glucose and fructose to make sucrose

Carbohydrates

11. The hydrogen to carbon ratio is 2:1

12. Carbohydrates exist in monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides
13. The monomer of carbohydrates are called monosaccharides, their common name is a
simple sugar. The ratio of carbons,hydrogens and oxygens is 1:2:1 in carbohydrates
14. The three most common monosaccharides are glucose, fructose and galactose.
15.

16. Double sugars are called disaccharides and two examples are lactose and maltose
17. A polysaccharide is made of monosaccharides. A polysaccharide found in animals is
glycogen and two found in plants are starch and cellulose
 Lipids

18. Lipids are nonpolar, when they are placed in water the water slides off because lipids
are waterproof.
19. The ratio of carbon and hydrogen atoms to oxygen atoms is 1:2:1
20. The end with glycerol would dissolve in water and the end with fatty acid would not
21. Saturated fatty acids have only single bonds, one example is fish or beef
22. Fatty acid makes up triglycerides. The difference between saturated and unsaturated
fats are that saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature because instead of
double bonds they have hydrogen atoms to “saturate” the fat. Unsaturated fats have one or
more double bonds and are liquid at room temperature
23. The triglycerides tend to be solids at room temperature are oils and animal fats.
24. The cell membrane is made of phospholipids
25. A steroid is a terpenoid lipid characterized by its sterane core.

Proteins

26. The 4 main elements making up proteins are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen
27. The monomers of proteins are called amino acids
28. Long chains of amino acids are called polypeptides and form together to form proteins
29. Hydrogen bonding causes the protein to fold and coil.
30. The effect of temperature on protein shape is that heat changes the protein shape.
31. Proteins act as catalysts of enzymes inside of cells.