Unit 2: All Biology is ChemistryLesson 1: The Chemistry of Life

Drill6 October 2011

What are little boys made of?“Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tailsThat's what little boys are made of !"

What are little girls made of?"Sugar and spice and all things niceThat's what little girls are made of!“

19th century Mother Goose Rhyme

What substances are you really made of? Make a list.

Benjamin

ObjectivesAt the conclusion of this lesson

students will be able to:1. Define the term matter.2. Identify the 25 most common

elements in living things and categorize them into major and trace groupings.

3. Demonstrate how to find information about elements by using the periodic table.

Matter!Matter is anything that occupies

space and has mass.

Will this astronaut occupy the same space on the moon as he does on Earth?Will this astronaut weigh the same on the moon as he does on the Earth?

Mass and weight are not the same.

Obj. 1

Living Things Matter!• All living things are made of matter.• Elements are substances that

cannot be broken down chemically into simpler kinds of matter.

Can you give some examples of elements?

The Periodic Table6

C12.011

Atomic Number

Chemical Symbol

Atomic Mass

Majorly Elemental! • There are about 25 elements that

are essential to all life.• To discover them do the following:

1. Mr. Bromwell will give you a sheet listing the chemical symbols of the 25 elements essential to all life.

2. First look up the names of each of the elements in the periodic table.

3. Next, decide which elements belong to the eleven major elements in the human body. Then in the space provided, place the names of these elements in order from most abundant to least abundant in the body.

4. When you have finished place your answers on the chalkboard.

The Elemental Body --The Major Elements

Rank

Chemical

Symbol

Element% of

human body*

1 O Oxygen 62 %2 C Carbon 23 %3 H Hydrogen 10 %4 N Nitrogen 2.6 %5 Ca Calcium 1.4 %6 P Phosphorus 1.1 %7 K Potassium 0.2 %8 S Sulfur 0.2 %9 Na Sodium 0.1%10 Cl Chlorine 0.1 %11 Mg Magnesium 0.02 %* Based on an average 70 kg (154 lbs.) personObj. 2

A major element is any element that makes up more than 0.01% of your body mass.

The Elemental Body --The Trace Elements

A trace element is any element that makes up less than 0.01% of your body mass, but is still critical to your health.

Rank

Chemical

Symbol

Element

12 Fe Iron13 F Fluorine14 Zn Zinc15 Si Silicon16 Cu Copper17 I Iodine18 Sn Tin

Rank

Chemical

Symbol

Element

19 B Boron20 Se Selenium21 Cr Chromium22 Mn Manganese23 Mo Molybdenu

m24 Co Cobalt25 V Vanadium

Homework

• Research one of the trace elements from the previous table. Answer the following questions in a paragraph:– What materials or chemicals in the

body contain this element?– From what foods might your body

obtain this element?– Why is this element essential

(necessary) for the human body to function?

Time to Research

Glossary – Part 1matter – anything that occupies

space and has massmass – quantity of matter an object

haselement – a substance that cannot be

broken down chemically into simpler substances

atom – simplest particle of an element that retains all of the properties of that element

compound – a substance containing atoms of two or more elements that are chemically combined in fixed proportions

trace element – an element that makes up less than 0.01% of your body mass

Glossary – Part 2organic compound – a compound

that contains the element carbonorbitals – a three-dimensional region

around a nucleus that indicates a probably location of an electron

isotopes – atoms of the same element that have a different number of neutrons

chemical bonds – attractive forces that hold atoms together

Works CitedCampbell, Neil A., Brad Williamson, and Robin J.

Heyden. Biology: Exploring Life. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2004.

Emsley, John. The Elements. 3rd. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.

Postlethwait, John H., and Janet L. Hopson. Modern Biology. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2006.