What are three major themes you would id that connect the various topics discussed in this course?

I would consider the three major themes of the course differences between eukaryotes and prokaryotes, nucleotides and amino acids, and carbohydrates. In almost every topic that we have covered, the difference between eukaryotes and prokaryotes has been discussed. That has ranged from the basic cellular organelles and duties to differences in transcription and translation. Amino acids have been another common denominator in many of the topics that we have covered, including the structure and chemical composition of amino acids and we then broken down into peptides and even nucleotides, which were then discussed in relation to protein synthesis, transcription, and translation. Lastly, in addition to amino acids frequently arising in lecture and reading, the theme of carbohydrates was prevalent. Carbohydrates ranged from basic structure and function (in association with energy) and break down into starches and sugars, including monosaccarides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides. And into further depth with glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, citric acid cycle, and electron transport.
I had some baseline knowledge of each of these topics from previous biology classes, but did not have a chemistry background. It made a difference to combine chemistry with biology to have a complete biochemical understanding of the topics, especially with amino acids, both when they are combined to create proteins and broken down into peptides and nucleotides. With each of these three main themes my knowledge has of course grown, but I think the largest difference is my understanding of the topics, for example of the breakdown of glucose into ATP from glycolysis to electron transport. I have understood each step of each process and why the step has occurred and which enzyme has been responsible for that step and why it has occurred where it did. I feel that only when I understand a topic or theme did I truly learn it.