C3, C4, CAM

C3

This is the most common one in most plants. In C3, the initial fixation of carbon occurs through the Calvin cycle enzyme, rubisco, that adds CO2 to ribulose biphosphate. These are given their name because the first organic product of carbon fixation is a three-carbon compound, 3-phosphoglycerate. These plants change according to their environment. During hot, dry days, they produce less food because they close their stomatas.

C4
In C4 plants, they form a four-carbon compound as its first product. About several thousand species use this method of photosynthesis including sugarcane and cane. These plants have a unique lead anatomy which is made for the purpose of the C4 pathway. They have two types of photosynthetic cells which are the bundle-sheath cells and mesophyll cells. The bundle- sheath cells are arranged into tightly packed sheaths around the veins of the leaf which the mesophyll cells are arranged loosely between the bundle sheath and the leaf surface. Similar to the C3 plants, their stomatas are open during the day. But C4 plants use PEP Carboxylase for the enzyme involved in the uptake of CO2. This enzyme allows CO2 to be taken into the plant very quickly, and then it "delivers" the CO2 directly to rubisco for photsynthesis.

CAM
Something very unique about these plants compared to all the other plants is that they open their stomatas during the night but close them during the day.The helps the desert plants conserve water while also preventing CO2 from entering the leaves. But when they do open their stomatas at night, they take up CO2 and incorporate it into a variety of organic acids. During the day, the acid is broken down and the CO2 is released to rubisco for photosynthesis

Macromolecule Structure

Dehydration reaction in the synthesis of a polymer (As each monomer is added, a water molecule is removed)

Hydrolysis of a polymer ( Hydrolysis, the revers of dehydration, breaks bonds between monomers by adding water molecules.)

Most macromolecules (carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids) are polymers which are chainlike molecules. These molecules are made of numerous building blocks which are connected by covalent bonds.
They are made up of monomers which link together to create polymers. Despite the fact that the polymetric macromolecules may be different depending on their monomers, the chemical mechanisms are usually similar when it comes to making and breaking polymers. Through a condensation reaction (specifically dehydration reaction), two molecules are covalently bonded to each other thought loss of a water molecule

During this process, one molecule provides the hydroxyl group (-OH) while the other provides a hydrogen (H), which combines to make a H20 molecule. This process is repeated as monomers are added to the chain one by one. The proteins, in particular enzymes, are a big part of this process because they speed up the chemical reactions in cells.
Through hydrolysis, polymers are disassembled into monomers by reversing the dehydration reaction. Hydrolysis is derived from the Greek word which meant to break with water. The water molecule disturbs the set polymer chain by breaking up the monomers and separating itself to connect to them. One monomer will be attached to by a hydroxyl while the adjacent monomer will be attached to by a hydrogen atom.

Biochem Wordle

Similar to the ecology unit, the biochem unit's vocabulary is also important to the understanding of the unit. Words such as catalysts describes the capacity of speeding up a chemical reaction. Catalysts are used in reactions to speed up the process. Once a catalyst is used in the reaction, it speeds up the process a couple times faster than it's normal rate. In addition, the atom and it's components are also the basic vocabulary of this unit. The atom is a very small particle made of protons, electrons, and neutrons. The protons have a positive charge, the electrons have a negative charge, and the neutrons are neutral. The atom's mass is composed of the neutron and the proton since the electrons are too small to take into consideration. Although, the electrons are small, they can be used to determine many things like what kind of bonds they are capable of having. So knowing these vocabulary words will help you understand what each word means and how it apples to biochemistry.

Ecology Unit Wordle

Ecology is an important unit and knowing the vocabulary words are vital to understanding how the ecosystems work. For example, decomposers are used to break down organic matter. This is important because these are a vital part of the life cycle because decomposers are used to break down the dead organic stuff in order for it to be used again to help new organic matter thrive. Not much organic matter survive in places like the desert, which is another important part of ecology. The desert is an area that gets less that six inches of precipitation a year which is about only fifteen centimeters. Precipitation provides water which is the basis of survival for all living things. In addition, the desert's average rate of evaporation exceeds its annual rate of precipitation which can be used to conclude that the precipitation is not nearly enough to keep many organic matters alive. Knowing the basic vocabulary for ecology can expand your understanding of the unit as a whole.

Personal Wordle