Using Computers to Study Molecular Structure
Introduction to Lab 181 Activity
The main objective for this exercise is to enhance your study of the properties and structures of biological molecules with modern computer graphics. Rather than passively viewing illustrations of molecular structure as they occur in your textbook, in this exercise, you'll have the opportunity to actively view, manipulate, rotate, and even create colorful, 3D models of molecular structure.
What's required for this activity
As you progress through this activity, you will come across some questions that you need to answer on paper and turn in to your TA. There are 10 questions for you to answer for this project. The web pages for this activity explain the basic science, give you a simple task to complete using MacMolecule, and then give the questions to answer.
At the end of the activity, you will enter your name and lab section to confirm that you completed it. There is also a short survey to gather information to make this activity better next year.
This activity requires that you use computers in the BLC or in the 181 lab rooms because it uses special software. You'll have to flip between two applications: Netscape for viewing the web instructions and MacMolecule2 for manipulating the molecules. We encourage you to work together on this project in groups of up to three students.
For a review of molecular structures...
This activity requires that you know the basic concepts of large molecules in
biology. It is a good idea to have your Biology Textbook with you as you work
through the problems.
The Biology Project
University of Arizona
Tuesday, September 8, 1998
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