Week 2 — Readings & Resources · The Chemistry of Life

Course: Anatomy & Physiology I (BIOL 2301 + BIOL 2101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Navarro
Objective covered: Objective 2 — Atoms & chemical bonds; properties of water; pH, acids, bases & buffers (quantitative); the four biomolecules.

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded.

This week's load is deliberately light: 1 video + 3 short readings + 1 interactive simulation, grouped by the ideas from the lecture. Watch or read one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 40–50 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Order that matches the lecture: ① atoms, bonds & water → ② pH, acids, bases & buffers (the quantitative pocket) → ③ the four biomolecules.

A habit to start now: before you trust any chemistry claim — in these resources, in a chatbot, or anywhere — ask the questions from class: Is the pH fold-change computed by counting units and multiplying by 10 (not subtracting)? Is a higher pH being called "more basic" (correct) or "more acidic" (wrong)? Is each biomolecule matched to the right monomer?

① Atoms, Bonds & Water

Maps to Lecture Segments 2–3. Protons define the element; bonds are ionic (transfer), covalent (share — polar/nonpolar), or hydrogen (weak, between molecules); and water's properties all come from its polarity.

Video — "Water — Liquid Awesome" (CrashCourse Biology #2)
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVT3Y3_gHGg
Why it earns the click: an energetic ~11-minute tour of water — molecular structure & hydrogen bonds (≈ 1:38), cohesion & surface tension (≈ 2:46), adhesion (≈ 3:31), hydrophilic/hydrophobic (≈ 4:42), and heat capacity (≈ 9:10) — exactly the polarity-driven properties we built in class.
⏱ ~11 min

Reading — "Anatomy and Physiology 2e," §2.2 Chemical Bonds (OpenStax)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/2-2-chemical-bonds
Why it's assigned: the cleanest plain-language statement of ionic vs. covalent (nonpolar vs. polar) vs. hydrogen bonds, with the sodium-chloride (table salt) example and the polar water molecule — a free online textbook page, no account needed.
⏱ ~10 min

Reading (optional) — "Anatomy and Physiology 2e," §2.1 Elements and Atoms (OpenStax)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/2-1-elements-and-atoms-the-building-blocks-of-matter
Why it's here: if atoms are new to you, this section walks through protons/neutrons/electrons and why the number of protons defines the element — the foundation for everything else this week.
⏱ ~10 min

② pH, Acids, Bases & Buffers (the quantitative pocket)

Maps to Lecture Segments 4–5. The pH scale (0–14; lower = more H⁺ = more acidic), the 10×-per-unit rule, why blood pH ≈ 7.35–7.45, and how buffers defend it.

Reading — "Anatomy and Physiology 2e," §2.4 Inorganic Compounds Essential to Human Functioning (OpenStax)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/2-4-inorganic-compounds-essential-to-human-functioning
Why it's assigned: the single best reference for water's roles, acids & bases, the pH scale (it states plainly that "a solution with a pH of 4 is ten times more acidic than a solution with a pH of 5"), buffers, blood pH 7.35–7.45, and acidosis/alkalosis — the heart of this week's quantitative pocket. Keep it open during the lab.
⏱ ~12 min

Reference (optional) — Khan Academy, "pH, POH, and the pH scale"
🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/chemical-processes/acids-and-bases/a/ph-poh-and-the-ph-scale
Why it's here: a concise article on what pH measures and why each unit is a 10× step in H⁺. Skim it if you want one more pass at the count-the-units-then-multiply-by-10 method before the quiz. (Aimed a bit above our level — read it for the pH-scale idea, not the extra algebra.)
⏱ ~8 min

③ The Four Biomolecules

Maps to Lecture Segment 6. Carbohydrates (→ monosaccharides), lipids (fatty acids + glycerol; nonpolar), proteins (→ amino acids; function from shape), nucleic acids (→ nucleotides).

Reading — "Anatomy and Physiology 2e," §2.5 Organic Compounds Essential to Human Functioning (OpenStax)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/2-5-organic-compounds-essential-to-human-functioning
Why it's assigned: the clean overview of the four biomolecule families, their building blocks (monomers), and what each does — including why a protein's shape determines its function. This is the page to skim for the matching item on the quiz. ("Organic" here = carbon-based.)
⏱ ~12 min

Optional one-stop references (free online)

• Khan Academy — Human Anatomy & Physiology. A free unit with short articles and videos; good for returning to the chemistry foundations all term.
  🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/human-anatomy-and-physiology
• PhET — "pH Scale" simulation. The same free sim you'll use in Lab 2; spend five minutes now measuring a liquid's pH and diluting it to see H⁺ change.
  🔗 https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/ph-scale

Pick-one quick path (≈22 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Watch "Water — Liquid Awesome" (covers bonds + water's polarity-driven properties).
2. Skim OpenStax §2.4 Inorganic Compounds (the pH scale, buffers, and blood pH — the heart of the quiz and lab).

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Navarro and use the OpenStax or Khan Academy references above in the meantime.