Using the Sisters Video Recap Biomolecules Worksheet
The Sisters Video Recap Biomolecules Worksheet is a study aid designed to accompany a video series on biomolecules — carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. It walks you through key concepts, gives you practice identifying structures, and asks you to fill in diagrams and answer conceptual questions. It's not fancy. It does what it says it will do. The worksheet breaks biomolecules into four main sections. Each section covers structure, function, and real-world relevance. You'll see questions about monomer units, how peptide bonds form, the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats, and how DNA and RNA differ structurally. The video companion provides the lectures. The worksheet is where you work through it. I used this with a group of students last semester who were struggling with the biochemistry unit. Most of them had never properly connected structure to function before. The worksheet forced that connection by making them draw out amino acid structures and label functional groups. It was slow going at first. After two sessions, they started recognizing patterns without looking at the answer key.
How to Work Through It
Don't just read the video and fill in blanks passively. That doesn't stick. Watch a segment, pause, and attempt the questions before moving on. If you get stuck, go back to the relevant timestamp rather than skipping ahead. The worksheet is structured so each question builds on the previous one. Skipping creates gaps that show up on exams. For the protein section specifically, draw out at least three amino acids and show the condensation reaction yourself. The worksheet has a diagram space for this, but tracing someone else's work won't help you remember it. I had a student who kept mixing up peptide bonds and phosphodiester bonds. Writing out the reaction mechanisms by hand fixed that in about ten minutes. The worksheet has a note in the margin about this distinction but it doesn't click until you do it manually. When you hit the nucleic acid portion, pay attention to the difference between ribose and deoxyribose. Students routinely miss the oxygen difference at the 2' carbon. I once saw a quiz where half the class marked deoxyribose as having an OH group at position 2. The worksheet question about this is straightforward if you actually look at the structure provided. It becomes a problem when you rush through it.
Where This Worksheet Falls Short
The biomolecules worksheet doesn't cover Enzyme kinetics or metabolic pathways. It stops at the structural and functional overview. If your course goes into glycolysis or the citric acid cycle, you'll need supplementary material. The worksheet also assumes you already know basic organic chemistry notation — things like drawing tetrahedral carbons and understanding R groups. If you're shaky on that, spend time reviewing before starting. Another limitation: the lipid section is light on sterols and phospholipid bilayers. It touches on them but doesn't go deep. For membrane structure, I'd recommend pairing this with a separate module or textbook chapter. The video companion has a brief mention but the worksheet question set there is thin.
Get the Full Details
Download and Access
You can find the Sisters Video Recap Biomolecules Worksheet on the Sisters educational platform. It's typically available under the biology or biochemistry course section. Some instructors distribute it directly through their learning management system. If you're working independently, check the resource library on the main site. The file is usually a PDF or a printable document. Make sure you have the video series queued up before you start. Going through the worksheet without the video is possible for review purposes but you'll miss context on a few of the more detailed questions, particularly around enzyme structure and the lock-and-key model.
Practical Tips From Experience
Use colored pencils for the biomolecule diagrams. It sounds trivial but color-coding the functional groups — red for hydroxyl, blue for amine, black for the carbon backbone — makes it significantly easier to spot differences between molecules. I've seen students memorize structures faster this way. The worksheet doesn't require it but it changes how quickly you internalize the material. Don't compare answers immediately after each section. Finish the whole worksheet first, then check. That way you identify where your actual misunderstandings are instead of reinforcing correct answers you guessed right on. The answer key is available if you need it, but using it too early defeats the purpose of the exercise. If you're preparing for an exam, use the worksheet as a baseline diagnostic. Mark every question you got wrong, then revisit only those topics. The worksheet covers enough breadth that spending equal time on every section is inefficient. Targeted review based on your mistakes saves a lot of time.
