BIOCHEMICAL REACTIONS

The Chemistry of Life

Keywords

Learning objectives

Lesson overview

Activation Energy, Anabolic Reaction, Biochemical Reaction, Catabolic Reaction, Endothermic Reaction, Enzyme, Exothermic Reaction, Metabolism, Product, Reactant

The element chlorine (Cl) is a greenish poison. Would you eat chlorine? Of course not, but you often eat a compound containing chlorine. In fact, you probably eat this chlorine compound just about every day. Do you know what it is? It’s table salt. Table salt is sodium chloride (NaCl), which forms when chlorine and sodium (Na) combine in certain proportions. How does chlorine, a toxic green chemical, change into harmless white table salt? It happens in a chemical reaction.

• Describe what happens in chemical reactions.• State the role of energy in chemical reactions.• Explain the importance of enzymes to living organisms.

ENGAGE 10min

Study the video “Burning of Natural Gas” in the Lifeliqe Chemistry library. Then, formulate answers to these questions:

• What are the products of this chemical reaction?• Why isn’t the hand burning?

EXPLORE 35min

Read “Biochemical Reactions.”www.ck12.org/section/Biochemical-Reactions...

Study the 3D model “Formation of Ionic Bonds in NaCl” in the Lifeliqe Chemistry library. Then, formulate answers to these questions:

• How does this compound form?• Why do you think it is so plentiful?

EXPLAIN 10min

EXTEND / ELABORATE 10min

Take what you have learned and see it in authentic contexts.

Read and view “Burning Ice.”www.ck12.org/biology/Energy-and-Biochemical-Reactions...

Take the following quiz to assess what you have learned.

“Biochemical Reactions”www.ck12.org/section/Biochemical-Reactions...

EVALUATE 10min

Select content for this lesson plan was derived from Brainard, J. (2017). CK-12 Biology. Palo Alto, CA: CK-12 Foundation.Except as otherwise noted, all cK-12 content (including cK-12 curriculum material) is made available to users in

accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NV 3.0)License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). http://www.ck12.org/saythanks.