The polysaccharides agarose and carrageenan are isolated from red algae for commercial use. These polysaccharides are found in cell walls. What plant polysaccharide are they analogous to?

Question

A.  Amylose
B.  Collagen
C.  Cellulose
D.  elastin
E.  Mannose

Clarify Question
· What is the key concept addressed by the question?
· What type of thinking is required?
 
Gather Content
· What do you already know about agarose and carrageenan? How does this help you decide which statements are true?
· What other information do you need to determine the answer?

  Choose Answer
· Given what you now know, what information and/or problem solving approach is most likely to produce the correct answer?
 
Reflect on Process
· Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
 

Answer 1

C.  Cellulose

Clarify Question
· What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        o This question is asking you to find the molecule that meets two requirements:
            · It is a plant polysaccharide.
            · It is analogous to agarose and carrageenan.
· What type of thinking is required?
        o This question is an “analyze” question, so it is asking you to break the question apart into a list of requirements. Then, you use what you’ve learned so far to figure out which answer meets all of the requirements.
 
Gather Content
· What do you already know about agarose and carrageenan? How does this help you decide which statements are true?
        o Agarose and carrageenan are polysaccharides that make up the cell walls of red algae.
        o Polysaccharides are very long chains of sugar molecules. Starch is another polysaccharide.Which of the possible answers is a polysaccharide? The others might be proteins or fats.
· What other information do you need to determine the answer?
        o The correct answer is
            · a polysaccharide
            · found in plants
            · is analogous to agarose and carrageenan in red algae.
        o Now that you’ve determined which of the answers are polysaccharides, you should figure out which are found in plants.

  Choose Answer
· Given what you now know, what information and/or problem solving approach is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        o The best way to answer this type of question is to break the question into smaller parts. Then, figure out which answer is correct for all three parts.
        o You figured out which options were polysaccharides.
        o You then figured out which of those polysaccharides occur in plants.
        o You now need to figure out which are analogous to agarose and carrageenan in red algae. What role do those compounds play in red algae? They make up the cell wall. Which of the options make up plant cell walls?
 
Reflect on Process
· Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        o This question asked you to determine which polysaccharid in plants is analogous to agarose and carrageenan in red algae. Answering this question required you analyze each option and determine whether it fulfilled all three parts of the question. It also required you to combine your knowledge of red algae with your knowledge of macromolecules and plants.
        o If you got the correct answer, great job!
        o If you got an incorrect answer, where did your process break down?
            · Did you have trouble breaking down the question into three smaller components?