GMA Biology
organized (not written) by Julie Thompson Seal coachjulieseal@yahoo.com
The Building Blocks of God
ELEMENT - a basic substance that can't be simplified (hydrogen, oxygen, gold, etc...)
ATOM - the smallest amount of an element
MOLECULE - two or more atoms that are chemically joined together (H2, O2, H2O, etc...)
COMPOUND - a molecule that contains more than one element (H2O, C6H12O6, etc...)
There are three parts of an atom: protons, neutron, and electrons. Protons have a positive charge, electrons have a negative charge, and neutrons possess no net charge. Electrons are the smallest parts of the atom. Protons repel other protons just like some magnets repel other magnets. Neutrons are like metal particles that all the protons can stick to and hold together the nucleus. Electrons are negatively charged and are also attracted to protons. But electrons are also like jumping beans brimming with moving energy that propels them around in the fabric of space. The amount of attraction that the nucleus exerts on the electron is enough to keep a certain amount of them close but not crashing into it. Probably a lot like trying to keep your excited dog right at your heel on a walk. It doesn't happen. (Well it doesn't happen with my dog.)
Atoms want to be happy, just like you. For an atom to be happy, its atomic shells must to be full. Some atoms have too many electrons (one or two extra). These atoms like to give up their electrons. Some atoms are really close to having a full shell. Those atoms will bond with other atoms who want to give up an electron.
When atoms share electrons they form bonds. There are 3 types of bonds:
Covalent: when atoms share electrons.
Ionic: when one atom borrows electrons from another atom.
Hydrogen: when atoms are held together through static electricity.
Atoms bind together to form molecules and molecules form compounds and compounds form tissue and tissue forms our bodies. Everything is made up of these building blocks.
All carbon based living organisms are made of a basic building block too. Cells. There are two big categories of cells. PROKAYOTES and EUKARYOTES. You are a eukaryote. Eukaryotic cells contain membrane-bound organelles, including a nucleus. (Just like an atom.) Eukaryotes can be single-celled or multicelled, such as you, me, plants, fungi, and insects.
Bacteria are an example of prokaryotes. Prokaryotic cells do not contain a nucleus or any other membrane-bound organelle.
Having organelles is a big deal for a cell. A bacteria cell gets along just fine without organelles, but bacteria are tiny. It only replicates itself. The same simple cell over and over again. Our cells are huge in comparison to bacteria. Our eukaryotic cells are bigger in size, with much more DNA. Eukaryotic cells need to have the equipment to produce many different types of tissue (bones, organs, blood, hair, lungs, etc.). To accomplish this much more elaborate construction they have ORGANELLES. Organelles make it possible to have more complex forms of life.
There are 2 big categories of Eukarote cells. Plant and Animal cells. Plant and animal cells have a variety of differences but the most important differences are that 1: Plant cells have a rigid cell wall and animal cells have a flexible cell membrane. 2: Plant cells have a cholorplast to harness the energy of the sun and animal cells do not.
This is, literally, the world's smallest movie. It's made of atoms - one of the smallest particles of any element in the universe. Just how small is an atom? Well, to see one, you need to magnify it 100 million times. In other words, there are about five million atoms in the period at the end of this sentence. Each frame of this film was made by moving thousands of atoms to their exact placements by the scientists at IBM's research lab. The frames were combined into an animation -the world's smallest movie - that tells the story of a boy and a wayward atom who meet and become friends. Written by IBM
All cells have cell membranes, and the membranes are flexible. So animal cells can have various shapes, but plant cells only have the shapes of their cell walls. That's nice for plants, because it gives them the ability to grow up and out, where they can get lots of sunlight for making their food.
