By: MaKalie Farmer
Freshman biology students created 3-D models depicting the four basic molecules of life: proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids in order to help them understand the functions of biomolecules.
“My favorite part of the project was drawing each biomolecule,” Caleb Farmer said. “I really liked the protein I drew, I put big buff arms on it.”
Students constructed four different rooms out of paper, designating each room to feature a biomolecule. They then had to include facts and drawings of the biomolecule
“We went into depth on each one and it was interesting to see how each of the biomolecules affected us in our daily lives and each one’s purpose in our bodies,” Aubrey Pulmer said. “We learned a lot about how our foods are made up and which ones we want in our foods and which ones we don’t.”
Students learned about how the basic molecules make up every living thing around us such as proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates in food and nucleic acids that make up your DNA.
“I always like to look for different resources out there, there are tons of resources for teachers,” biology teacher Megan Butler said. “I like to see what other teachers have used and make something of my own from that.”
This is Butler’s first year at Abilene High. She taught 8th grade science last year at Craig Middle School and was a biology teacher at McKinney before that. She has several more projects planned for students this year, including their most recent Cell Election project. In this project students got assigned an organelle, part of the cell, and created campaign posters and speeches trying to get their organelle elected head of the cell.
“Biomolecules was really hard for them because they’ve never heard about them before and so this taught them how to apply that knowledge,” Butler said. “It’s important for them to understand biomolecules because it sets a foundation for everything they’ll learn from here on out.”
