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Murder In a Meal Project
Murder In a Meal Project
After a week of learning about what macromolecules are and why they are necessary to live, we were tasked with solving a fictitious murder that occurred in our town. We were given a victim that had three favorite restaurants. The victim ate a different meal depending on the restaurant. These meals were comprised of different amounts of carbs, proteins, and lipids. We were taught how to read the results of indicator solutions, and depending on how much of each substance (protein, fat, simple sugars, and starch) was present in the victim's stomach at their time of death, we could determine what restaurant they were poisoned by.
How Macromolecules and Other Science Concepts Were Used in Our Project
How Macromolecules and Other Science Concepts Were Used in Our Project
Macromolecules were used in our project because we used our knowledge of macromolecules to determine what restaurant the victim ate at. For example, if one meal was a pizza with lots of meat on it, and the other meal was pasta and bread, and the victim's stomach tested negative for protein, we know that the victim ate the second meal, because bread has very little protein.
Some information that I found important about macromolecules are that they are made of monomers. Monomers are the basic building blocks of polymers, which are the macromolecules. For example, the monomer for carbohydrates are monosaccharides, and the polymer is known either as carbohydrates, or polysaccharides. The examples of carbohydrates, such as lactose, glucose, and fructose, are all polysaccharides, and fall under the category of carbohydrates.
The final scientific concept that we used in our project were indicator tests. These tests were used to determine the contents of the victim's stomach. For example, if you added Biuret to water with protein in it, the water would turn purple. This was a simple way to figure out if a liquid contained a substance.
What Are Macromolecules?
What Are Macromolecules?
Macromolecules are monomers that allow the human body to function by aiding cells. There are four macromolecules:
Carbohydrates: The elements that make up carbohydrates are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Carbohydrates help cells by providing short term energy storage. The polymer that makes up carbohydrates are sugars, also known as monosaccharides. Some examples of monosaccharides are glucose, fructose, and lactose.
Nucleic Acid: The elements that make up nucleic acids are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and oxygen. Nucleic acid aids cells by carrying genetic information such as DNA and RNA. Nucleic acid is made of nucleotides.
Protein: The elements that make up proteins are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. Proteins help in many ways, but the most important jobs of proteins are to provide cell structure, be used as antibodies, and transport information between cells. Protein's polymer is amino acid. Some examples of proteins are keratin, actin, and elastin.
Lipids: The elements that make up lipids are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. Lipids are comprised of fatty acids, and are used to make cell walls, and store energy for a prolonged period of time. Some examples of lipids are phospholipids, triglyceride, and cholesterol.
Reflection
Reflection
I learned a lot during this project and unit, but the two things that I excelled at were time management and focus. I managed my time well because I was able to complete the project on the first day. I also improved on focus because I stayed on task the entire time, I powered through the assignment, and in the end it payed off. Some things that I could improve on are collaboration and creativity. When my team and I were working on the project, we did not work together, and short of a few questions, we mostly worked alone. This was not helpful, and we may have been able to get the project done faster if we worked together. I could also have been more creative during the project. When writing the CLEAR paragraph, I was using the sentence starters that were provided to me. Instead, I could have gone off script and written the paragraph from scratch. This may have resulted in a better paragraph. The 2 C's that I demonstrated during the project were critical thinking and communication. I had to think critically, because even after I had all of the facts pertaining to the contents of the victim's stomach I still had to determine which meal was most closely related to the indicator tests' results. I also communicated effectively with my team, because although we did not work together on most of the project, we were willing and happy to ask and answer each others questions.
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