1. 1.3 Common Substances Essential to Living Things

2. Overview Essential elements for living things
Nutrients (macro vs. micro)
Types of nutrients
Organic vs. inorganic elements
Types of organic elements - what they are, and which foods they are in:
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Proteins and amino acids
Nucleic acids
Optimum amounts of nutrients, and nutrient deficiencies

3. Essential Elements
Our bodies require 25 different elements for normal growth
The most common are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
These form sugars, starch, fat, oil, wax, and proteins

4. Nutrients
Elements and compounds that organisms need in order to live, grow, and reproduce
Macronutrients:
Nutrients needed in large amounts
e.g. C, H, O, N, P, K, Mg, Ca, S
Micronutrients:
Nutrients need in smaller or trace amounts
e.g. Se
By knowing the roles elements play for living things, we can diagnose nutrient deficiencies

5. Types of Nutrients

6. Organic and Inorganic Elements
Organic molecules contain carbon whereas inorganic do not
The main types of organic molecules used by living things are:
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Proteins and amino acids
Nucleic acids

7. Carbohydrates Made up of C, H, and O Also called sugars
(You don’t need to know these structures! They are just to illustrate the difference between simple and complex carbohydrates)
Carbohydrates
Made up of C, H, and O
Also called sugars
Can be simple (e.g. glucose) or complex (e.g. starch, glycogen, cellulose)
Note: complex carbohydrates are ‘complex’ because they contain many simple carbohydrate molecules that are bonded to one another!
Glucose
Glycogen
Produced by plants during photosynthesis
Stored in cells of living organisms
Broken down to provide energy for chemical processes in the body
Found in:
Pasta, rice, fruits, and bread

8. Lipids Oils, fats, and waxes
Made up of mostly carbon, also include oxygen and hydrogen
Produced by animals (e.g. the oil produced by the skin), and plants
The food that we eat is stored long-term in the form of fat
Found in:
Canola seeds, nuts, soybeans, avocados

9. Amino Acid Proteins and Amino Acids Protein
Used by organisms for growth and repair
Source of energy
Main component of enzymes
Protein
Proteins are made up of amino acids
Amino acids contain N, H, C, and O atoms, and sometimes S
The way that amino acids join together to form proteins is similar to how glucose molecules form to create complex carbohydrates such as glycogen
Found in:
Meat, fish, eggs, dairy products

10. Nucleic Acids
The largest and most complicated molecules found in living things
Found in the nuclei of cells
The two important ones are DNA and RNA
These play important roles in heredity and controlling cell activities
Nucleic acids are made up of phosphates, ribose (a simple sugar), and nitrogen-containing molecules

11. Video

12. Optimum Amounts
The amount of a substance that provides an organism with the best health
If plants and animals are not receiving optimum amounts of a nutrient many things may occur, such as:
Growth
Illness
Presence of disease