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9th grade How small molecules join into big ones worksheet

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How small molecules join into big ones

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

NameDate

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.

  1. Bo's class reads that a starch piece was split completely into single glucose units by adding 11 waters. How many glucose units did the piece have?

  2. Read this first

    Model data card: 5 beads joined into one chain

    itemmass (units)
    one bead120
    one water18
  3. Jun joins 5 amino-acid beads into one chain by dehydration synthesis. A bead has a mass of 120 units, and a water has 18 (model data). What is the chain's mass?

  4. Model data card: 4 beads joined into one chain

    itemmass (units)
    one bead180
    one water18
  5. Kira joins 4 glucose beads into one starch piece. A glucose bead has a mass of 180 units, and a water has 18 (model data). What is the piece's mass?

  6. Model data card: 6 beads joined into one chain

    itemmass (units)
    one bead75
    one water18
  7. Luz joins 6 small beads into one chain. A bead has a mass of 75 units, and a water has 18 (model data). What is the chain's mass?

  8. Milo's friend says a cell takes in one water at each peptide bond, so cells must supply water to join amino acids. Which response is best?

    • Agree: each peptide bond is built by adding one water
    • Disagree: forming a peptide bond releases a water molecule
    • Disagree: no water is involved because amino acids just stick together
    • Agree: the added water forms the peptide bond itself
  9. Noah's friend says a polymer built from 12 monomers releases 12 waters, one for each monomer. Which response is best?

    • Disagree: the first bond in the chain alone releases a water
    • Agree: 12 monomers form 12 bonds, so 12 waters are released
    • Agree: each of the 12 monomers gives off one water as it joins the chain
    • Disagree: 12 monomers share 11 bonds, so 11 waters are released
  10. Pia's friend says a chain and the pieces made by splitting it with water have the same total mass. Which response is best?

    • Disagree: the pieces have less mass, because water leaves as the chain splits
    • Disagree: the pieces also hold the added water, so they have more mass
    • Disagree: the pieces have more mass because splitting makes new atoms
    • Agree: splitting just separates the pieces, so the total mass stays the same
  11. Ren eats a sandwich. Hydrolysis splits its starch into glucose, and cells later use that sugar's carbon, hydrogen and oxygen with nitrogen to build amino acids. Which statement is supported?

    • Hydrolysis turns the starch's atoms into amino-acid atoms
    • The starch molecules are joined together directly into long protein chains
    • Atoms from the sugar are rebuilt into amino acids with nitrogen added
    • Cells create new carbon atoms to make the amino acids
  12. Tala grows a bean plant. Its leaves make sugar by photosynthesis, and cells then use that sugar to build amino acids for new protein. Where do the carbon atoms in the amino acids come from?

    • The sugar's carbon atoms are destroyed and replaced by new ones
    • From the soil, which supplies the carbon directly
    • From the sugar, whose carbon atoms are rearranged into amino acids
    • Cells create new carbon atoms when they build amino acids
  13. Building-block chain, not to scale. Zee's class models digestion: a 5-bead protein chain is split into single beads by hydrolysis, then the same beads are rebuilt into a new chain. Which statement fits both steps?

    • Rebuilding joins the beads with no water involved
    • 5 new beads are made from the 4 waters when the chain is rebuilt
    • The same 5 beads are reused: 4 waters are used in splitting and 4 released in rebuilding
    • Rebuilding releases 5 waters, one for each bead in the chain
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9th grade How small molecules join into big ones worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

How small molecules join into big ones. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can tell dehydration synthesis (monomers join, a covalent bond forms, one water is released per bond) from hydrolysis (a water is added across a bond and the polymer splits). Digestion is hydrolysis.
  • I can name the bond: peptide (amino acids), glycosidic (sugars), ester (glycerol and fatty acids).
  • I can count: a chain of n monomers has n − 1 bonds, so building it releases n − 1 waters and splitting it completely uses n − 1 waters. I can work backward from the waters to the monomers.
  • I can say why a polymer has less mass than its monomers added up (the released waters left), and why the pieces from hydrolysis have more mass than the chain (the added water).
  • I can say that digested food is not turned into new atoms: its atoms are rebuilt into new molecules, for example sugar's carbon, hydrogen and oxygen combine with nitrogen to build amino acids.

Standard: HS-LS1-6

Words to know

monomer: A small building block, such as one amino acid or one sugar

polymer: A large molecule made of many monomers joined together

covalent bond: A bond where atoms share electrons

dehydration synthesis: Join pieces while losing water: one water per bond

hydrolysis: Split a chain by adding a water across each bond

peptide bond: The bond between two amino acids

glycosidic bond: The bond between two sugars

ester bond: The bond between glycerol and a fatty acid

Common mistakes

Your child mixed up joining and splitting. Joining pieces releases a water; splitting a chain uses a water.

Your child counted one water for every piece. A chain of 5 pieces has only 4 joins. Draw 5 dots in a row and count the gaps between them.

Your child thought the pieces just stick or come unstuck. Real molecules join by covalent bonds, and each join releases a water.

What to say

Ask: which one puts together while losing water?

Ask: what leaves when two pieces join?

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with how small molecules join into big ones?

Your child mixed up joining and splitting. Joining pieces releases a water; splitting a chain uses a water.

How can I help my child with how small molecules join into big ones?

Ask: which one puts together while losing water?

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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