Pathogens & Immunity

Pathogens and immunity was a very interesting unit. Pathogens is a term that is used to describe infection agents. a microorganism, in the widest sense such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus, that causes disease in its host. The host may be an animal, a plant, a fungi or even another microorganism. Along with pathogens the immune system is is what protects our body from some of the pathogens.  The immune system must detect a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and distinguish them from the organism's own healthy tissue. Pathogens and the immune system play a constant cops and robbers game. One activity I enjoyed doing during this unit was the paper slide project.  My group picked on pathogen and made a little move about it. 

Cell Communication

The cell communication unit focussed  on how a cell gives and receives messages with it's environment and with itself. Cells can communicate directly with one another. They can change their own internal working in response by way of chemical and mechanical signals. In multicellular organisms, cell signaling allows for specialization of groups of cells. In single celled organisms, signaling allows populations of cells to coordinate with one another and work like a team to accomplish tasks no single cell could carry out its own.The unit was very interesting. one activity that I liked was mouse party. During this activity you got to the the effects of different drugs on mice.

Cell Structure, function & transport

Cell structure is a pretty detailed compact thing. There are two cells, Animal and plant cells. They have a lot of the same parts but they also have their own individual parts that the other cell does not have. Looking at Eukarotic cells, they have a nucleus that is the "control canter". The nucleus holds the DNA. Inside the nucleus there are chromatin. It is a material in cells that contains DNA and carries genetic information and direct functions of a cell. The over all structure of an animal cells is, a cell membrane, ribosomes, cytoplasm, nucleus, nucleus, Er, Golgi complex, lysosomes, and mitochondria. The plant cell has a lot of the same parts but there are differences. The structure of a plant cell is like this: vacuole, chloroplasts, cell wall, ER, nucleus, nucleolus, mitochondria, cell membrane, and cytoplasm. Cells all have different forms of transportation but some of the main ways are, flagellum and cilia.
This unit was very interesting and I enjoyed the labs that took place during this unit time frame.

Evolution

Evolution is one of my favorite topics that we cover in science classes. I think it is amazing how we all started from cells and then over millions and millions of years we evolved to be what we are today. It's amazing. During the summer I spent a week in the Galapagos islands and that is one of the home places where you can noticeable see evolution take place. The famous study are the finches. scientist can pinpoint where the first bird originated and then they can map out the evolutionary changes and they can support their reasoning with environmental factors. Another example from the Galapagos are the giant turtles. Every islands has their own special turtle. The general body and is the same but there are slight differences with their shell. Like the finches it depends on their environment.

Biochemistry

When we first started our biochemistry I was worried because it had been awhile since i took chemistry.  Our major lab of this sections with the enzyme lab where we had a container of water, a reaction chamber, graduated cylinder, paper disks and liver. We then watched the chemical reaction that took place and counted the bubbles that formed at the top. The bubbled were the product of the reaction that took place in the experiment chamber. This section was pretty hard for me. I love science but chemistry has always been difficult. I am still trying to figure out a study plan for this class. My test scores have not been the best and I do not remember the exact score but i'm pretty sure this was on of my lowest.

Reflection time

     The first quarter went pretty well. I came into AP Bio with the right expectations. I knew there was going to be a lot of work and I was not mistaken. During the first quarter Jesse, Madison and I have been working together when it comes to labs and other class work. It is a very nice group and no one person does all the work. We all have different strengths and weaknesses. We help each other form new ideas, or hypothesis and then we gather data/research to back up our claim. Areas where I need to improve are, making sure all my work is turned in on time, studying for the test and triple checking my work before I turn it in. How I plan on improving is by writing in my agenda and making sure the last nights homework is done before I start on tonights homework. I also plan on using different forms of studying techniques for the test. I am looking forward to all the labs that are coming up and learning about the brain. The brain is an amazing organ and there is always new stuff to learn about it. This will most likely be my favorite unit and I plan on excelling and taking up as much information as I can.  Here is a link to my first formal lab report. I felt pretty proud of the outcome. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-LseHvHuAiLUzZQpQLEVLGDzraoBKh0Tq2mDROD0R9s/edit#heading=h.752uh6uw7gr

The coolest thing about biology

        The world is one chemical reaction. There is all ways something going on and atoms splitting and babies being born. When you are studying biology everyday you learn something new. You learn about simple things like plant cells to complex things like the human body. I am personally fascinated by the human body and all the fine details that are included. The coolest thing about  biology is understanding the world. Understanding the body and solving problems while looking at them from an educated point of view.