Energy!

During this unit we learned about biological systems and how energy moves through out 

them. One specific process was cell respiration. Cellular respiration is the process bu 

which the chemical energy of "food" molecules is released and partially captured in the 

form of ATP. Carbs, fats and proteins can all be used as fuels in cellular respiration but 

glucose is most commonly used. I learned about this by looking at a lot of different 

websites and watching videos about the process. I talked about it with my group and with 

my brothers girlfriend who is a biology major. During this unit we also learned about 

photosynthesis. That is the process of converting energy to chemical energy and storing 

it in the bonds of sugar. I watched a lot of little videos about photosynthesis and through 

our experiments I learned the process by answering questions and having discussions 

with people.

Bye bye second quarter

The second quarter was harder for me. I noticed that I was not paying attention as much and that is evident in my grade. Madison and Jesse have helped me a lot and we work as a great team. We always spilt up our work and make sure we all understand what we are working on. One topic we covered that i found really interesting was genetics. I loved learning about genetics and allies, alleles, dominate and recessive and all the other aspects of genetics. One of my favorite activities we did during this unit was "creating" a baby. Jesse and I were partners and we had a very unique baby. I liked this activity because it shows how random genetics are put together and how some features have multiple parts or multiple coin tossing. Some of those features are, eye color, skin color, hair color, hair texture, etc. We also learned about cells and cell division. That unit was hard for me because it has a lot of different parts and terms and processes that I had to learn. By the end of the unit I felt like i had a better understanding and that was shown through my blog post about cell diffusion.

Debate Reflection

The topic of our debate was In Vitro Fertilization. Eleanor and I were against IVF. During the debate it felt like we were prepared even though we only officially worked on it together. During the snow break my mom and I talked about my topic and we came up with potential pro IVF arguments. We then found the counter argument and I took the appropriate notes. I collected the majority of information and than Eleanor spilt the information up and made me the first speaker and  she was the second. During the actual debate I "talked" with Madison. The first round went pretty smoothly and the cross fire was alright. I read off of my computer so that would be something I would work on in the future. During Eleanor and Jesse's round it went ok. When it was jesse's turn to talk about her side all she really talked about the process so Eleanor and I could not come up with and cross fire questions for that round. During the final cross fire it went really smoothly and everyone in the group had good argument and it was obvious we had an idea about what we were talking about. This was my first debate so on a scale of 1-10 I would choose an 6. I have a lot to improve on and learn.

DNA

Genetic information is transmitted from one generation to the next through DNA and RNA. Genetic information is kept and passed to new generations through DNA molecules and sometimes RNA. DNA and RNA show specific nucleotide base pairing that is conserved through evolution. The sequence of the RNA bases, combined with the RNA molecule, determines the RNA function. mRNA carries information from the DNA to the ribosome. tRNA molecules bind specific amino acids and allow information in the mRNA to be translated to a linear peptide sequence. There have been hundreds of experiments and research studying DNA and all the components. Some of the historical contributors are, Watson, Crick, Wilkins, and Franklin on the structure of DNA. Avery-Macleod-McCarty experiments and Hershey  with the Chase experiment.  DNA replication requires DNA polymerase and many other essential cellular enzymes, occurs bidirectionally and offers  differences in the final product of the leading and lagging strands. Genetic information in retroviruses is a special case and has an alternate flow of information. From RNA to DNA, made possible by reverse transcriptase, an enzyme that copies the viral RNA genome into DNA.  This DNA integrates into the host genome and becomes transcribed and translated for the assembly of new viral progeny. DNA and RNA molecules have structural similarities and differences that define the function. Both have three components, sugar, phosphate and a nitrogenous base. Differences include, DNA contains deoxyribose, RNA contains ribose, RNA contains uracil in lieu of thymine in DNA.  Structure and function in biology result from the presence of genetic information and the correct expression of this information. The expression of the genetic material controls cell products and these products determine the metabolism and nature of the cell. Most cells within the same environment contain the same genetic makeup and instructions. Some genes are continually expressed, while the expression of most is regulated. Multicellular organisms have developmental pathways from zygote to adult but all the cells in the organism start with the same complement of DNA.  

Mendel

Mendelian square

This subject was my favorite. We covered Mendel’s first law of genetics, as well as going over how to do Mendel’s square. Mendel’s first law states: Allele pairs separate during gamete formation, and randomly unite at fertilization. An example of this are out genes. A mother can have fraternal twins who are girls and even though they have the same dad and were born on the same day, they would looks completely different. This is because When the egg is fertilized instead of one single sperm entering the egg, two sperms make their way in. The offspring gets 50% if their genetic makeup from their mother and 50% from their father.  Even though they have the same parents they will look completely different because of the new combinations that will be forming throughout the 9 months. To predict what the children may look like, people use Mendelian square.

Ex:

A mother is having a baby and she has cheek freckles. The father of her baby also has cheek freckles. Cheek freckles are dominate, CC or Cc.

     C                      c

C  CC	Cc
C  CC	Cc

Looking at this example, no matter what the child will have check freckles since it is dominant in both the mother and the father.  

Mendelians square is not can not account for all of our traits. For example, it does not account for incomplete dominance, co-dominance, multiple alleles, polygenic/multiple gene inheritance, linkage, nondisjunction and sex influenced traits.

One example of an inheritance that can not be explained my Mendel’s model is blending inheritance. Blending inheritance is when when traits were determined, randomly, from a range of bounded by the homologous traits found in the parents. An example would be the kids hight. The mom might be really short and the dad is tall so there are different possibilities of the height of the offspring.

I also learned about Chi square distribution. The equation is ∑ (O-E)/E

You use this to calculate if a trait in a population is by chance or not by chance.  

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.