In lab today we went over some fundamentals of biochemistry! We started out with some “Duplos chemistry”. We talked about atoms, elements, and molecules (including differentiating between compounds and mixtures), then practiced writing chemical formulas. After going over physical changes vs. chemical changes, we talked about photosynthesis. We worked out the chemical reaction of photosynthesis with the Duplos, learning about conservation of matter/balancing equations and about the reactants and products of photosynthesis, and also learned how to properly write out the reaction (including the difference between writing how many atoms of each element are in a compound vs. how many molecules of a compound are present). We briefly touched on cellular respiration. We talked about dehydration synthesis (monomers –>polymers) and hydrolysis (polymers –>monomers) reactions. We *barely* squeezed in mentioning the four types of macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. The girls all did a GREAT job – it was a bit of a biochemistry crash course, but they were engaged, ready to learn, and asked a lot of good questions!
