Natural product

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/natural-product

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific origin?Produced by living organisms via primary or secondary metabolism
2. What is the primary role in organisms?Evolutionary advantage; defense, competition, signaling, and adaptation
3. What are natural products and why are they important?Natural products are chemicals made by living things like plants, microbes, and animals. They help the organisms survive and can be used by scientists to make medicines. They are very diverse and often very complex.
4. How do plants and microbes help make medicines?Plants, microbes, and marine animals produce special chemicals that can kill bacteria or stop cancer cells. Scientists study these chemicals to create new drugs, like penicillin from mold and cancer medicines from the Pacific yew tree.

Organic Chemistry: The branch of chemistry that studies carbon-containing compounds, often found in living things.
Medicinal Chemistry: The field focused on designing, synthesizing, and developing pharmaceutical drugs.
Biodiversity: The variety of life on Earth, including all species, ecosystems, and genetic variations.