1. Worksheet: Biochemistry
GRADING RUBRIC
Worksheet: Biochemistry
HONORS BIOLOGY: UNIT 1

2. What is the difference between inorganic and organic compounds
What is the difference between inorganic and organic compounds? Give examples of each.
Inorganic compounds- do not contain carbon: H20, NaCl.
(a few exceptions: CO2, CO)
Organic compounds- do contain carbon: C6H12O6

3. 2. Why is carbon considered the “building block of life”?
Living things are composed of organic compounds. (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids)

4. 3. What is unique about carbon that allows it to form so many different shapes and sizes of organic molecules?
Carbon can forms covalent bonds with up to four other atoms, including other carbon atoms. They can form numerous shapes: long chains, branched chains, and rings.

5. 4. What are the four types of organic compounds?
a. Carbohydrates
b. Proteins
c. Lipids
d. Nucleic acids

6. 5. Define the following terms:
a. Monomer- individual “building blocks”. (smaller sub-units)
b. Polymer- Larger molecules built with monomers.

7. c. Metabolism- all chemical reactions involved in maintaining the living state of the cells and the organism
d. Catabolism- the breakdown of complex molecules in living organisms to form simpler ones
e. Anabolism- the synthesis of complex molecules in living organisms from simpler ones

8. 6. Complete the following chart describing monomers and polymers of organic compounds.
Elements composed of
Monomer (and example)
Polymer (and example)
Importance to living things
Carbohydrates
C, H, O
1 : 2 : 1 ratio 
 monosaccharide
(Single sugar)
(Glucose)
Polysaccharide 
(Starch, glycogen, cellulose)
 Main source of energy for living things
 Proteins
C, H, O, N
Amino acids
(Leucine)
Hemoglobin
 Structural and functional proteins
 Lipids
 C, H, O
Bonded to glycerol
 Fatty acids +
Glycerol
(Triglyceride)
 Fats, oils, waxes
Stores chemical energy in plants and animals
Make up cell membrane 
Nucleic Acids  
C, H, O, N, P
Nucleotide
(Guanine)
DNA and RNA 
Controls heredity 

10. 7. Indicate if each of the following is an example of dehydration synthesis or hydrolysis.
a. Reaction #1- dehydration synthesis (anabolism)
b. Reaction #2- hydrolysis (catabolism)

11. c. How can you tell if a chemical equation represents?
Dehydration synthesis? Water was a product in the reaction. The original molecule lost water (dehydrated)
Hydrolysis? Water is a reactant in the reaction. (Water is required)

12. 8. What are the three types of carbohydrate monosaccharides?
a. Glucose
b. Fructose
c. Galactose

13. 9. Name three disaccharides and what two molecules they are composed of.
a. Sucrose (glucose + fructose)
b. Maltose (glucose + glucose)
c. Lactose (glucose + galactose)

14. 10. Name the three important polysaccharides and describe their importance in living things.
a. Cellulose- makes up plant cell walls
b. Starch or amylose- plants store glucose in this form
c. Glycogen- glucose is stored in a branched form and stored in the liver and muscle cells for quick energy.

15. 11. What are three kinds of lipids found in living things?
a. fats
b. oils
c. waxes

16. 12. What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats?
Saturated – (in animal fats) Contain fatty acids in which all carbon-carbon bonds are single bonds. Solid at room temperature.
unsaturated fats - (found in plants- in vegetable oil) have fatty acids with at least one carbon-carbon double bond. Liquid at room temperature

17. 13. What are lipoproteins? Lipoproteins are clusters of lipids and proteins that travel in blood plasma. They carry lipids to the cells in the body and make membranes and steroids

18. 14. Which type of lipoproteins are considered “good” and which are considered “bad”? Explain.
Low Density lipoproteins (LDL)- lethal cholesterol, clogs arteries.
High Density lipoproteins (HDL) –healthy cholesterol, remove cholesterol from arteries and return it to the liver.

19. 15. What are two important functions that proteins serve in living things?
Structural proteins- are building blocks for all living things (found in every cell)
Functional proteins- i.e. enzymes help to run every biochemical process in the body.

20. 16. How can living things produce so many different types of proteins if there are only 20 different types of amino acids? Different number and different combinations of amino acids (like spelling words)

21. 17. Draw a diagram of a typical amino acid and label the following parts: amine group, carboxyl group, and R side chain.
The R-side chain is the variable portion of an amino acid

22. 18. What are two important types of nucleic acids found in living things and describe what they do.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) - hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms.
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) - molecule implicated in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes

23. 19. Draw a diagram of a nucleotide and label the following parts: Nitrogen base, sugar (ribose), and phosphate group

24. 20. Which of the three parts of a nucleotide listed above differentiates nucleotides from each other?
The nitrogenous base -adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), thymine (T)