HS-LS1-6: Building Proteins and Large Molecules from Sugar
Also called NGSS HS-LS1-6 · Topic: Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems · Life Science
The Official Wording
Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules.
Clarification statement: Emphasis is on using evidence from models and simulations to support explanations.
Assessment boundary: Assessment does not include the details of the specific chemical reactions or identification of macromolecules.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What HS-LS1-6 Means in Plain English
Students explain, and then refine with new evidence, how the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in sugar become the raw material for larger molecules. Joined with nitrogen from the soil, those atoms form amino acids, and the same carbon also ends up in fats, starch and DNA.
Students use models and simulations as evidence, without memorizing the exact reactions or naming every macromolecule. It builds on photosynthesis in HS-LS1-5 and connects to HS-LS1-7, where cells break these molecules down again for energy.
HS-LS1-6 I Can Statements
- I can trace atoms from sugar into amino acids and other large molecules.
- I can explain why plants need nitrogen to make proteins.
- I can revise my explanation when new evidence comes in.
HS-LS1-6 Worked Example
A two-week growing test, followed by an atom-counting model, that shows sugar alone cannot make a protein.
Can a plant build proteins from the sugar it makes alone, or does it need nitrogen too?
Set It Up: Corn seedlings in jars of nutrient solution, half with nitrogen and half with a nitrogen-free mix, a grow light, and a ball-and-stick atom model kit.
- Grow both sets of seedlings under the same light for two weeks.Same light, water and starting size
- Measure height and note leaf color every few days.Nitrogen-free: shorter, pale yellow leaves
- Build glucose, C₆H₁₂O₆, with the atom kit.Only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
- Try to build the amino acid glycine, C₂H₅NO₂, from glucose pieces.One nitrogen atom is missing
- Revise the class explanation using both the plants and the model.Sugar plus nitrogen makes amino acids
Seedlings without nitrogen grew pale and stunted, and the model showed no amino acid can be built from sugar's atoms alone.
Why it works: Amino acids contain nitrogen, so plants combine carbon chains from sugar with nitrogen taken up from the soil to make proteins and chlorophyll.
Common Mistakes with HS-LS1-6
Thinking food is used only for energy
“We eat sugar just to burn it”
Try this: Food supplies both energy and building material. Some of the carbon we eat becomes part of our muscles, membranes and DNA.
Forgetting the extra elements
“Proteins are made only of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen”
Try this: Count the atoms in any amino acid. Every one contains nitrogen, and a few contain sulfur, which must come from outside the sugar.
Thinking living things make new atoms
“The plant makes nitrogen when it grows”
Try this: Atoms are never created by living things. Track where each one came from, like nitrogen from soil and carbon from the air.
Where HS-LS1-6 Fits
Practice HS-LS1-6
Quick Check
- Glucose is C₆H₁₂O₆. What element must be added to make any amino acid?
- Why do corn leaves turn yellow when the soil lacks nitrogen?
- Where did the carbon in your muscle proteins originally come from?