The molecules in our body and their functions in a wide diversity of cell types play a significant role in our health and are at the top of the class when it comes to high school biology or even AP biology. Unless you understand the chemicals that allow our bodies to function, there’s no way to understand the big picture of health.
Just last week, the results of a long-term survey about toddler obesity were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New York Times reported. Obesity among US children ages 2 to 5 dropped to 8.4 percent in 2011-2012 from 13.9 percent 10 years earlier.
The decline in toddler obesity was attributed to less consumption of sugared beverages and an increase in breastfeeding. The great news was also seen as a positive reflection on public policies, programs, and awareness aimed at cutting obesity and promoting healthier diets, such as those promoted by First Lady Michelle Obama like the “Let’s Move” program.
And in order to move, as President Obama and Vice President Biden are in the picture on the website, our bodies need energy. The biological molecules, which are derived from the foods we eat, are what give us that energy.
Most directly, that energy comes from energy stored in the chemical bonds of carbohydrates, like glucose, a simple sugar, via the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) made during the cellular respiration process in our cells. A comprehensive description of the process of ATP production from glucose, outlined in the diagram above, is available from the State University of New York.
For a more complete discussion of cellular respiration, we refer you to the IB notes on the process, here. For an actual college-level outline for all four classes of macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins), see the pages prepared by Ohio State and the University of Idaho. The links on these pages are both numerous and high quality.
We’ve also prepared some sample questions based on publicly released standardized test questions from a statewide end-of-course biology exam on our Answer Maryland site, here. If you create an account, you’ll be able to answer the questions, which will allow us or other users to help you out where you might need it, based on your answers.
To test your knowledge of cellular respiration, we created a brief diagram and left out most of the details, above. If you can explain this diagram, including details about membranes in the mitochondria and the role enzymes play, you have a fairly good grasp of cellular respiration at the high school honors level. If you can describe the chemical reactions that take place and how electrons transfer energy to ADP to produce massive quantities of ATP, you’re at a college level.
