In my opinion, the three major themes covered in this biochemistry course are metabolism, protein structure and function, and DNA replication.  Each one is connected to multiple lectures throughout the semester.  Metabolism was covered in the last few lectures and chapters with glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, the electron transport chain, and the structure of the mitochondria.  Protein structure and function was covered during the early portion of the semester when we discussed primary (nucleotide), secondary (amino acid composition), tertiary (hydrogen bond interaction and folding), and quarternary (subunit interaction) structure, enzymes, and DNA.  DNA replication was a major topic during the middle of the semester when we discussed translation, transcription, reverse transcription, and all the inclusive enzymes which catalyze such functions.  I have learned about DNA replication before however not to the depth covered in our class.  I did not know that one strand was continuously replicated while the other was in portions or Okazaki fragments.  All the topics were quite interesting and I enjoyed learning about them.

The best way to explain to a friend the connection between glucose entering the body and energy created by the body is through building models.  Legos would be a great means of building such models because of their different shapes, colors, and ease of manipulation.  I would start by creating a molecule of glucose, denoting the various colors for particular atoms, and then add or remove parts while explaining how its changes via the control of specific enzymes during glycolysis.  Upon creating two molecules of pyruvate, I would explain that there are two separate pathways to which pyruvate can enter, aerobic or anaerobic metabolism.  I would demonstrate anaerobic metabolism first as it is less complex between the two forming only one other molecule, lactate, from pyruvate.  Next I would reconstruct the molecules of pyruvate and demonstrate aerobic metabolism in the citric acid cycle.  As before with glycolysis, I would manipulate the specific molecule with each step in the cycle while explaining how my hands are acting as the associated enzymes.  Once my friend understands how each process functions, I would then finish by explaining how energy is created from the synthesis of ATP in the electron transport chain of the inner mitochondrial membrane.