Chemicals of Life: CHNOPS What I Mean?

Purpose:
Part 1: Compounds and molecules important to living organisms. Draw each below

WATER

SALT

Chemical Formula:

Chemical Formula:

OXYGEN GAS (diatomic oxygen)

CARBON DIOXIDE

Chemical Formula:

Chemical Formula:

GLUCOSE

Are these compounds and molecules made

up of a lot of atoms? Explain.

Chemical Formula:

Are these compounds and molecules large or

small? Explain.

Part 2: Skeletal Models of Molecules

Background: Sometimes molecules included A LOT of atoms, so scientists have created a skeletal
model for drawing molecules with A LOT of CARBON and HYDROGEN
Each line is a bond of shared electrons
Each point where two lines come together has a CARBON atom
HYDROGEN is eliminated altogether. Each carbon atom needs to make 4 bonds, so if there are
only 2 or 3 lines (bonds), there must HYDROGEN atoms to complete CARBONs needs for 4
bonds
Examples:
Benzene (C6H6)

Octane (C8H18)

or
For each of the following skeletal models of molecules, list the number of CARBON atoms and the
number of HYDROGEN atoms

C=

C=

H=

H=

C=

C=

H=

H=

Chemicals of Life: CHNOPS What I Mean?

Part 3: Other Important Nutrients and Molecules for Living Organisms
For each of the molecules:
List all elements present in the molecule
Count and list the number of atoms of EACH element

Amylose

ATP

Vitamin A

Elements

Elements

Elements

DNA

Lipid

Vitamin B-12

Elements

Elements

Elements

Mimosine

Carbohydrate

Protein

Elements

Elements

Elements

Analysis
1. List the elements that are present in ALMOST ALL of the compounds and molecules in Part 3.

2. What elements appear in only a few of the compounds or molecules?

3. Which 2 elements appear most often?

4. Why is this activity called CHNOPS What I Mean?

5. Which of the following molecule(s) is likely to come from a living thing? Defend your answer
with evidence from the activity

6. A Pershing student said, All molecules important for living things are the same size. Do you
agree or disagree with this statement? Defend your answer with evidence from this activity.

Reflect on the California State Science Standards:

Standard 6a: Lewis students know that

Standard 6b: Lewis students know that

Standard 6c: Lewis students know that