School Without Walls Biology

Labs and Links

• Chemical Context of Life Resources
  • Meet the Elements Video (YouTube.)
  • Functional Groups Bee
• Properties of Water Lab
  • Click here for a video tutorial on the properties of water.
  • Click here for a closer look at hydrogen bonding.
• Buffers and pH lab
  • Get this in class!
• Creating Coacervates Lab
  • Get this in class!
• Macromolecule Cut and Paste
  • Get this in class!
• Protein Folding Activity
  • Get this in class!
  • Here’s a great tutorial for protein folding.

Videos Watched in Class

• Video

Unit Objectives

• Basic Chemistry
  • Describe and identify atoms/elements in terms of particle charge, atomic number, atomic weight, and valence.
  • Describe, through modeling activities, intra- and intermolecular bonding including polar and nonpolar covalent bonds, ionic bonds, and hydrogen bonds.
• Water Chemistry
  • Describe the unique chemical and physical properties of water – and its influence on life on earth through demonstrations and a lab.
  • Distinguish between acidic and basic solutions, and the role of buffers in aqueous solutions through a lab.
• Basic carbon chemistry
  • Identify and describe the six major elements found in living things.
  • Describe the role of carbon in molecular diversity.
  • Distinguish among the three types of isomers: structural, geometric and enantiomers through a ‘functional group bee.’
  • Recognize the major functional groups and describe the traits they give a macromolecule through a ‘functional group bee.’
• Macromolecules
  • Describe the chemical properties, bond types, and biological importance of macromolecules through modeling activities.
  • Identify the monomers that make up biological polymers and model condensation reactions/hydrolysis in each.
  • Describe the four levels of protein conformation and relate them to reversable and nonreversable denaturation through modeling and a video.