Part #3 Conclusion Questions: Animal Diets, Digestion, and Macromolecules

Vocabulary flashcards covering comparative digestion, energy gain, cellulose breakdown, and protein synthesis from the Part #3 Conclusion Questions worksheet.

Lion's Diet

A diet that provides a larger net gain of energy because meat is easier to digest when compared to plant material, requiring less time and energy spent on digestion.

Elephant's Digestive Tract

A long digestive tract adapted to allow elephants to spend more time breaking down long cellulose molecules and extracting energy from plant material.

Cellulose Digestion Time

The duration needed to digest cellulose, which scales directly with molecular length; for instance, a molecule $100$ times longer than a portion requiring $5\text{ minutes}$ takes $500\text{ minutes}$ ($5 \times 100 = 500\text{ minutes}$) to digest.

Nitrogen

The element missing in the cellulose model that is required to synthesize proteins like collagen.

Plant Material

The sole component of an elephant's diet that serves as its source of nitrogen needed to synthesize collagen and other proteins.