Framework

AG1.01 Students can identify atomic geometry/hybridization for a given atom. (Novice)

AG1.02 Students can measure bond angles for a given atom. (Novice)

AG1.03 Students can identify deviations from the ideal bond angles. (Amateur)

AG1.04 Students can explain deviations from the ideal bond angles due to local effects. (Amateur, Expert)

AG1.05 Students can predict the effect of deviations from ideal bond angles on the structure and function of a macromolecule. (Expert)

AG1.06 Students can identify the geometric features of bonds (e.g. peptide bond, glycosidic, phosphoester). (Novice, Amateur)

AG2.01 Students can describe different conformations that a structure can adopt using visualization tools. (Amateur)

AG2.02 Students can describe different conformations of atoms about a bond using visualization tools. (Novice)

AG2.03 Students can distinguish energetically favorable and unfavorable conformations that a structure can adopt. (Amateur)

AG2.04 Students can predict the effect of a given substituent on the structure and function of a macromolecule, e.g. substituent on a carbohydrate/ligand, R groups/rotamers, phosphorylation, methylation of nucleic acids, post-translational modifications. (Expert)

AG3.01 Students can identify a dihedral/torsion angle in a three-dimensional representation of a macromolecule. (Novice)

AG3.02 Students can identify the planes between which a dihedral/torsion angle exists within a three-dimensional representation of a macromolecule. (Novice)

AG3.03 Students can identify phi, psi, and omega torsion/dihedral angles in a three-dimensional representation of a protein. (Amateur)

AR1.01 Students can manipulate rendered structures to illustrate molecular properties. (Novice)

AR1.02 REMOVED (integrated with SF2.02)

AR1.03 Students can describe or label structural differences among multiple structures. (Amateur, Expert)

AR1.04 Students can infer information from rendering a structure in different ways. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

AR1.05 Students can create renderings that distinguish secondary structural features. (Novice)

AR1.06 Students can create an information rich rendering of a structure that depicts structural features found in the literature. (Amateur)

AR1.07 Students can create an information rich rendering of a structure containing ligands, covalent modifications, and noncanonical amino acids or nucleotides. (Amateur, Expert)

AR1.08 Students can use molecular visualization to tell a story about a macromolecular structure. (Expert)

AR1.09 REMOVED (integrated with MI1.02)

AR1.10 Students can convert textbook images of small molecules into 3D representations in a molecular visualization program. (Amateur)

AR2.01 Students can recognize that a cartoon rendering is a summary of the detail in a line rendering. (Novice, Amateur)

AR2.02 Students can describe the atoms and their representations in different renderings, e.g. coloring, showing hydrogens/double bonds. (Novice)

AR2.03 Students can identify or create a suitable rendering, or combination of renderings, for a specific purpose (e.g., a surface rendering overlaid with a cartoon to highlight the van der Waals surface alongside secondary structure, or active site sticks shown over a cartoon). (Novice, Amateur)

AR2.04 Students can identify the limitations in various renderings of molecular structures. (Amateur)

AR2.05 Students can understand the level of detail of different molecular representations. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

AR2.06 Students can transition comfortably between equivalent 2D and 3D renderings of biomolecules. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

AR2.07 Students can use and interpret color in the context of macromolecules to clarify and/or highlight features (e.g., coloring amino acids differently by property, different molecules uniquely in a complex, protein chains, secondary structure). (Novice)

CA1.01 Students can construct and annotate a model of a macromolecule bound to a ligand. (Amateur)

CA1.02 Students can construct a model of a macromolecule bound to a ligand and identify the types of molecular interactions. (Amateur)

CA1.03 Students can construct a model of a macromolecule bound to a ligand and assess the importance of molecular interactions. (Expert)

CA1.04 Students can produce a model of a macromolecule based on a known structure of a related macromolecule. (Amateur, Expert)

CA2.01 Students can design a rendering that conveys properties such as polarity, charge, secondary structure, etc. to suggest the cellular location of a macromolecule. (Amateur)

CA2.02 Students can create protein images with colored polar/nonpolar residues to determine whether they fold with a hydrophobic core. (Novice)

CA2.03 Students can create images to display polar/nonpolar residues and propose a role for the protein and/or how it interactions with its environment ‐ and that the predictions would be plausible based on the protein. (Amateur)

CA2.04 Students can make accurate predictions of the location/function of the protein that incorporates additional protein features, such as transmembrane helices, apparent docking surfaces, etc. (Expert)

LM1.01 Students can use the annotation associated with a pdb file to identify and locate ligands and modified building blocks in a given biomolecule. (Amateur)

LM1.02 Students can visually identify non‐protein chemical components in a given rendered structure. (Amateur)

LM1.03 Students can distinguish between nucleic acid and ligands (e.g. metal ions) in a given nucleic acid superstructure. (Amateur)

LM1.04 Students can explain how a ligand in a given rendered structure associates with the biomolecule (i.e., covalent interaction with residue X). (Amateur)

LM1.05 Students can locate/identify ligands and modified building blocks in unannotated structures and describe their role. (Expert)

LM2.01 Students can look at a given rendered structure and describe how the presence of a specific ligand or modified building block alters the structure of that biomolecule. (Amateur)

LM2.02 Students can explain how the removal of a particular ligand or modified building block would alter the structure of a given biomolecule. (Expert)

LM2.03 Students can use molecular visualization tools to predict how a specified ligand or modified building block contributes to the function of a given protein. (Amateur)

LM2.04 Students can predict how a ligand or modified building block contributes to the function of a protein for which the structure has been newly solved. (Expert)

MA1.01 Students can identify individual biomolecules in a macromolecular assembly. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

MA1.02 Students can describe functions of individual biomolecules within a macromolecular assembly. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

MA1.03 Students recognize the various lipid ultrastructures (e.g. micelles, bicelles, vesicles, and lipid bilayers) in a 3D structure. (Novice)

MA2.01 Students can render a macromolecular assembly to highlight individual structures. (Amateur)

MA2.02 Students can render a macromolecular assembly to illustrate structural features, (e.g. binding interfaces, symmetry, tertiary structure, etc). (Amateur, Expert)

MB1.01 Given a rendered structure of a biological polymer, students will be able to identify the ends of a biological polymer. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

MB1.02 Given a rendered structure, students can divide the polymer into its individual building blocks. (Novice)

MB1.03 Given a rendered structure, students can identify the individual building blocks. (Novice)

MB2.01 Students can describe the physical/chemical properties of an individual building block/functional group in a rendered structure of a polymer. (Amateur)

MB2.02 Students can describe the significance of the location of individual building blocks within the 3D structure of a polymer (e.g. protein, carbohydrate or nucleic acid). (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

MB2.03 Students can identify physical/chemical properties of individual building blocks/functional groups in different local environments. (Amateur)

MB2.04 Using a visualized structure, students can identify stereochemistry (e.g. in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein structures). (Amateur)

MB2.05 Students can modify/mutate a building block to change the 3D structure of a polymer (e.g. protein, carbohydrate or nucleic acid). (Amateur, Expert)

MD1.01 Students can recognize that biological molecules have different conformations. (Novice, Amateur)

MD1.02 Students can correlate molecular movement with function. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

MD2.01 Students can locate potential regions of flexibility and inflexibility in the structure of a biomolecule. (Novice, Amateur)

MD2.02 Students can recognize acceptable/unacceptable movement within a macromolecule by determining whether the movement is within allowable bond angles. (Expert)

MD2.03 Students can recognize acceptable/unacceptable movement within a macromolecule by determining whether the movement results in steric hindrance. (Amateur)

MD2.04 Students can recognize acceptable/unacceptable movement within a macromolecule by considering the atomic packing constraints. (Expert)

MI1.01 Students can distinguish between covalent and noncovalent interactions. (Novice)

MI1.02 Students can identify the different non‐covalent interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonds, ionic interactions, van der Waals contacts, induced dipole) given a 3D structure. (Amateur)

MI1.03 Students can predict whether a functional group (region) would be a hydrogen bond donor or acceptor. (Amateur)

MI1.04 Students can render the 3D structure of a biomolecule so as to demonstrate the ionic interactions and/or charge distribution of the different non‐covalent interactions. (Amateur)

MI1.05 As it relates to a particular rendered structure, students can rank the relative strengths of covalent and noncovalent interactions. (Amateur)

MI2.01 Students can identify regions of a biomolecule that are exposed to or shielded from solvent. (Novice)

MI2.02 Students can identify other molecules in the local environment (e.g. solvent, salt ions, metals, detergents, other small molecules) that impact a molecular interaction of interest. (Novice)

MI2.03 Students can predict the impact of other molecules in the local environment (e.g. solvent, salt ions, metals, detergents, other small molecules) on a molecular interaction of interest. (Amateur)

MI2.04 Students can predict the pKa of an ionizable group based on the influence of its local three-dimensional environment. (Amateur)

MI2.05 Students can propose a change to the local environment that would yield a desired change in a molecular interaction. (Expert)

MI2.06 Using molecular visualization tools, students can determine which intermolecular force is most critical to stabilizing a given interaction. (Expert)

SA1.01 Students can identify symmetric features in a rendered molecule (shown in fixed orientation). (Novice)

SA1.02 Students can rotate a single macromolecule, multi-chain macromolecules (e.g., homo- or heteromers), complexes of macromolecules, and supramolecular assemblies to identify axes of symmetry. (Amateur)

SA1.03 Students can identify symmetric and asymmetric features in rendered molecules after coloring a given rendered molecule to reveal structural features (charge, hydrophobicity, etc.). (Amateur)

SA2.01 Students can explain the functional significance of rotational axes of symmetry (or asymmetry) in a given rendered molecule. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

SA2.02 Students can predict the functional significance of symmetry (or asymmetry) in a given rendered molecule. (Amateur, Expert)

SF1.01 Students can identify functionally relevant cofactors, ligands or substrates associated with a macromolecule and describe their role (e.g., an active site magnesium ion). (Amateur, Expert)

SF1.02 Students recognize that the size and shape of the ligand must match the size and shape of the binding site. (Novice, Amateur)

SF1.03 Students recognize that the polarity or electrostatic potential of a surface complements that of the ligand or substrate. (Novice, Amateur)

SF1.04 Students recognize that the hydrophobicity of a surface complements that of the ligand or substrate. (Novice)

SF1.05 REMOVED (integrated with SF1.03).

SF1.06 Students can use docking software to predict how the surface properties of a macromolecule guides and allows the binding of a ligand or substrate. (Amateur)

SF2.01 Students can recognize structurally related molecules. (Novice)

SF2.02 Students can superimpose structurally related molecules. (Novice, Amateur)

SF2.03 Students can identify functionally relevant features of a macromolecule (e.g., an active site cysteine, a functional loop) (Amateur)

SF2.04 Students can predict molecular function given a binding site. (Amateur, Expert)

SF3.01 Students can structurally alter a macromolecule. (Novice)

SF3.02 Students can propose structural alterations to test interactions in a macromolecule. (Amateur)

SF3.03 Students can predict the impact of a structural alteration on the function of a macromolecule. (Amateur, Expert)

SK1.01 Students can explain that the pdb file is a model based on data and that, as a model, it has limitations. (Novice, Amateur)

SK1.02 Students associate resolution with reliability of atom positions. (Amateur)

SK1.03 Students can identify building blocks (for example, amino acid sidechains) whose orientation in a biopolymer is uncertain. (Expert)

SK1.04 Students can evaluate the flexibility/disorder of various regions of a macromolecular structure. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

SK1.05 Students can reconcile inconsistent numbering of individual building blocks among species and structure files. (Novice)

SK1.06 Students can utilize a Ramachandran plot/steric clashes to interpret the validity of a structure. (Amateur, Expert)

SK1.07 Students can describe the limitations of a macromolecule‐ligand docking simulation. (Amateur, Expert)

SK2.01 Students can evaluate a crystal structure for crystal packing effects. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

SK2.02 Students can resolve differences between the asymmetric unit and the functional biological assembly. (Expert)

SK2.03 Students can differentiate functional ligands (with biological/biochemistry role) from nonfunctional ligands (e.g. most solvents, salts, ions, and crystallization agents). (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

SK3.01 Students can identify non‐native structural features. (Amateur)

SK3.02 Students can propose molecular modifications to facilitate structure determination. (Amateur, Expert)

SK3.03 Students can propose a purpose for the introduction of non‐native structural features to facilitate structure determination. (Amateur, Expert)

TC1.01 Students can trace the backbone of a macromolecule in three dimensions. (Novice, Amateur)

TC1.02 Students can use appropriate terms to describe the linkages/bonds/interactions that join individual building blocks together in a macromolecule or macromolecular assembly. (Novice, Amateur)

TC1.03 Given a virtual model of individual building blocks, students can predict the types of linkages/bonds/interactions that are possible or favorable. (Amateur)

TC1.04 Given individual building blocks, students can appropriately connect them to create a biological polymer (e.g., drawing carbohydrate linkages, a small peptide). (Amateur, Expert)

TC2.01 Using molecular visualization software, students can describe the three-dimensional structure of a macromolecule, including overall shape and common structural motifs. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

TC2.02 Students can identify common domains/motifs within a macromolecule. (Amateur, Expert)

TC2.03 Students can identify connectivity features between domains or subunits in a macromolecular structure. (Amateur)

TC2.04 Students can identify interactions between domains or subunits in a macromolecular structure. (Amateur, Expert)

TC2.05 Students can describe how domains/motifs in a macromolecule work together to achieve a concerted function in the cell. (Amateur, Expert)

TC2.06 Students can identify the levels of protein structure (e.g., parse a tertiary/quaternary structure into a series of secondary structures/motifs) and the ways in which they are connected from a three‐dimensional structure. (Novice, Amateur, Expert)

TC3.01 Students can recognize that the groups that comprise a functional site only require proper arrangement in three dimensional space rather than a particular order or position in the linear sequence. (Amateur)

TC3.02 Students can recognize similarities and differences in two similar ‐ but not identical ‐ three dimensional structures. (Amateur)

TC3.03 Students can describe dissimilar portions of homologous proteins as arising from genetic insertions/deletions/rearrangements. (Amateur)