Lesson Plans

Biology 5th Edition ©1999

by Campbell, Reece, Mitchell

Week 2: The Significance of Water Molecules and Carbon Atoms for Life

Chapter 3: Water and the Fitness of the Environment
Chapter 4: Carbon and Molecular Diversity of Life

College Board Performance Objectives:

• Explain how the unique chemical and physical properties of water make life on earth possible.
• Relate the dissociation of water molecules and the to the survival of organisms.
• Explain the role of carbon in the molecular diversity of life.
• Explain how cells synthesize and break down polymers.
• Explain how structures of biologically important molecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids) account for their functions.

College Board Lab Objectives:

Resources:

• Chapter 3: Water and the Fitness of the Environment, pp. 37–47
• Chapter 4: Carbon and Molecular Diversity of Life, pp. 48–57
• Instructor's Guide, pp. 23–38
• Student Study Guide, pp. 12–21
• Test Bank, pp. 19–49
• Lab Manual: none
• CD-ROM: Chapters 3 and 4

Pacing Guide:

• Chapter 3: Water and Its Relationship to Life—2 days
• Chapter 4: Carbon and Molecular Diversity—3 days
• Have students do a few quick inquiry activities about water in groups, or do the following as demonstrations. Do each activity and have them identify the property of water that is demonstrated and how that property is important to life.
  1. Stacking Water on a Penny—Set a dry clean penny on a paper towel. Using a thin stem pipette filled with water, see how many drops of water can be added without it "falling off." Repeat using alcohol. Compare alcohol to water.
  2. Paper Towel the Water Picker-Upper—Drop 20 drops of water on the table, and place the edge of a paper towel in the water.
  3. Up, Up, and Away—On a 10 cm X 10 cm piece of filter paper, place a small drop of food coloring 3 cm from the bottom. Let it dry. Repeat. Roll paper and place into a small cup with water below the food color spot. Watch the food color and water for the remainder of the period.
  4. Sweating—Using a wet paper towel, dampen the inside of your wrist. Let a fan blow across the skin. Describe your feeling.
  5. Polar Creep—1) Place an ice cube in water. Observe. 2) Place more ice cubes into this water. Take temperature. 3) Remove ice cubes and add food coloring to a cup of room temperature water. Carefully add pipettes to the cold food-colored water. Observe.
  6. The Water Charmer—Place water in the bottom of a petri plate. Place the end of a capillary tube in the water. Observe.
  You may want to use some of the critical thinking activities as part of your instruction.
• Block Scheduling
  Chapter 2 can be accomplished in a little more than one block and Chapter 3 can be covered in about two blocks.

Key Words:

Suggested Exercises:
Critical thinking questions and end-of-chapter activities are included in these exercises.

1. Challenge Questions, p. 57 #1–3
2. Science, Technology, and Society, p. 57 #1–2
3. Also, have students select the best element that could be used in place of carbon in synthetic compounds, and have them explain their answers.
4. Have students construct molecular models of molecules and their answers to Challenge Questions p. 57 #1–3.
5. Using the same model material, they can make structural and geometric isomers. Plastic molecular model sets can be used or pipe cleaners and various sizes of Styrofoam balls can be substituted.
6. Have students put together two tetrahedron similar to Figure 4.6 (c) on p. 52 using four different colored marshmallows and toothpicks. Students position the two molecules to show the mirror images to illustrate enantiomers.

Troubleshooting Tips/Error Traps: