Carbon, Important to life… Carbon is always moving through all living things, and is in every organic compound on earth. Just like water, nitrogen, and phosphorus, carbon is recycled through the environment in living organisms and in inorganic forms

A monomer is one of the repeating subunits that make up a polymer Each of the major biological (organic) macromolecules has a different monomer as its subunit

Composed of repeating monosacccharide units

Monosaccharides Glucose C6H12O6 Fructose C6H12O6 Galactose C6H12O6 These are isomers—they have the same chemical formula but different arrangements of the molecules

Disaccharides Maltose (glucose + glucose) Sucrose (glucose + fructose) Lactose (glucose + galactose)

Carbohydrates are made by plants during photosynthesis Sugars are used for quick energy Animals store energy as glycogen, plants store energy as starch (polysaccharides) These larger molecules must be broken down to be used by the cell

Proteins Chains of amino acids joined together by peptide bonds In addition to C, H, and O, proteins also contain N Proteins make up 15% of your body mass and are involved in almost everything your body does

Importance of Proteins… The structural function (cell membrane proteins, cytoskeleton proteins, proteins of the connective tissue). the enzymatic function (enzymes are proteins). The transportation function (membrane channels). The immune protection function (antibodies).

Importance of Proteins the movement function (contractile proteins). The endocrine integration function (hormones). There are also many proteins whose biological functions are not yet known.

Nucleic acids Contain genetic information and information for making proteins Examples are DNA and RNA