Activity Number 97

	Overview and Learning Objectives
	Assessment
	Classroom Practice
	Central Concepts
	Textbook References
	Activity Credits
	Requirements

From Monomers to Polymers (Three-activity module)

Interactive, scaffolded model

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Adobe Flash Plugin
Cortona VRML Plugin
eChem
Java 1.5+ - Java 1.5+ is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X 10.4 and greater. If you are using Mac OS X 10.3, you can download MW Version 1.3 and explore within it instead.

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	Overview and Learning Objectives This set of three activities invites students to travel into the biological world of very large macromolecules, whose sizes and shapes are critical for their ability to perform specific biological functions. Students will learn how small molecules form into polymer chains that can be thousands and even millions of atoms long. These long chains fold into very complex shapes and become components of cell walls or parts of cellular machines that do specific jobs in the cell. Students will be able to: identify typical monomers that form the major biological macromolecules; determine where organisms obtain these building blocks; construct polymers in order to explain the formation of different monomers; analyze the ways in which forces affect the shape of polymers and bring polymers together to form cellular structures. return to top



	Assessment For assessment with illustrations go to: http://www.concord.org/~barbara/workbench_web/unitIV_revised/prepost_monomers.html return to top



	Classroom Practice This module takes 3-5 classroom sessions. The software in the second activity runs only on Windows machines. return to top



	Central Concepts Key Concept: Additional Related Concepts Concept Map Available Biology Elements of Life Molecular Biology Amino acid Carbohydrates DNA Lipid Macromolecules Molecular machine Monomer Nucleic Acid Polymer Primary structure Protein Synthesis of molecules and organelles Physics/Chemistry Bonds Polymerization return to top



	Textbook References Biology (Miller and Levine) Prentice Hall 5th Edition - Unit 2: Chapter 7 - Nucleic Acids and Protein Synthesis Biology: Concepts and Connections (Pearson) 5th Ed. - Chapter 3: The Molecules of Cells Biology: Exploring Life - Chapter 5: The Molecules of Life BSCS Blue (8th Edition) - Chapter 1: The Chemistry of Life BSCS Human - Chapter 8: The Cellular Basis of Activity return to top



	Activity Credits Created by CC Project: Molecular Workbench using Molecular Workbench return to top



	Requirements Adobe Flash Plugin Cortona VRML Plugin eChem Java 1.5+ - Java 1.5+ is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X 10.4 and greater. If you are using Mac OS X 10.3, you can download MW Version 1.3 and explore within it instead. return to top

These materials are based upon work supported by the
National Science Foundation under grant number DUE-0402553

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions
or recommendations expressed in this material are those of
the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views
of the National Science Foundation.

From Monomers to Polymers (Three-activity module)

Overview and Learning Objectives

Assessment

Classroom Practice

Central Concepts

Additional Related Concepts

Textbook References

Activity Credits

Requirements