Unit 10 Reflection

          In this unit we mainly focused on learning about the different organs and organ systems in humans along with their functions and importance to the body. We learned about the jobs of the different systems and we saw how they all work together to create a healthy body. We also saw how the body wouldn't be able to function correctly if it was even missing one of its smallest organs, and we really got to see the importance of the different organ systems.

          We first started the unit off by learning about homeostasis and the circulatory and respiratory systems. We learned that homeostasis is when an organism maintains its internal temperature. We also learned that positive feedback is when it goes one way quickly while negative feedback is when it dances around a set point. In addition, we saw that negative feedback is a lot more common than positive feedback. After learning about homeostasis, we learned about the circulatory and respiratory systems. We saw that the circulatory and respiratory systems work closely together in order to maintain homeostasis. We learned that the circulatory system transports blood, gases, and nutrients, collects and carries away waste materials, and separates oxygen-poor and oxygen-rich blood. We then learned that the respiratory system delivers oxygen from inhaled air to the blood and expels carbon dioxide and water.
          After learning about homeostasis and the circulatory and respiratory systems, we covered the nervous, endocrine, and digestive system. We learned that the there are two parts to the nervous system: the Central Nervous System and the Peripheral Nervous System. The CNS includes the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord while the PNS includes cranial nerves, spinal nerves, sensory neurons, and motor neurons. We also learned that the the CNS processes information and the spinal cord controls reflexes. After the nervous system, we learned about the endocrine system. The endocrine system is a system made up of glands that release hormones. The nervous system and the endocrine system work together and coordinate communication in the body. The nervous system uses high speed electrical signals to control other cells while the endocrine system has slower but longer lasting control of bodily functions such as reproduction, growth, and metabolism. There are six endocrine system glands: hypothalamus, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, adrenal gland, and pancreas. After discussing the endocrine system, we moved on to the digestive system. We learned that the six types of nutrients are water, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins and that the two types of digestion are mechanical and chemical. The absorption of nutrients mostly occurs in the small intestine and the folded lining, villi, and microvilli really helps it retain the nutrients.
          Nearing the end of the unit, we learned about the immune system and the lymphatic system. We learned about innate immunity (all animals) and adaptive immunity (vertebrates only). We saw how the immune system responds to pathogens and other infections. The lymphatic system is a system of tubes and sacs throughout the body that collect waste and blood from tissues (lymph). We learned that lymph nodes helps fight infection and that white blood cells engulf pathogens.
          I want to learn more about the lymphatic system because I think that it is really interesting to learn about how we fight pathogens and infections. An unanswered question I have is why is the small intestine so large compared to all other organs. I wonder more about the nervous system and I want to learn a lot more about because I think it is super interesting to see how it controls basically our whole body.
          I think that I have grown a lot since my first post back in the beginning of the year. I think that I have especially gotten better at my unit reflections and relate and reviews. At first I kind of just rattled off the things that we learned about in the unit but now I feel that I thoroughly discuss each of the topics we learned about. I have definitely accomplished a lot throughout the way. I am very proud of my blog and I am for sure going to keep it so I can look back at it when I'm older. I am most proud of my Unit 9 Reflection and my Hunger Games Lab because I think that my Unit 9 Reflection was one of my best summaries out of any unit and that for the Hunger Games Lab I did a very good job of relating it to what we learned in class.

Pig Dissection Lab

          In this lab we had to dissect a fetus pig and identify both its organs and their functions. We then had to create a video going over all the different parts of the pig and displaying our knowledge on its anatomy. I think that the main reason we did this lab was to learn more about not just the pig, but also the human body. Although there are a few differences between a pig's anatomy and a human's anatomy, they are actually pretty similar. Another reason why I think we did this lab was to see how different parts of the body work together with each other to create a healthy and well-functioning body. An example of this was when we were asked questions like "What is the importance of the stomach?" or "What does the spleen do?" By answering these types of questions, we really got to envision how the pig wouldn't be able to function correctly if it didn't have these parts of its body. As we were dissecting the pig it also gave us a lot of perspective on how large and small different organs are compared to its body. This lab related to what we learned in class because we were able to see the different organs in the reproductive system, endocrine system, digestive system, etc. We also were able to label the different parts of the pig and explain their functions from our knowledge gained through the information we learned. My favorite part of the lab was probably when we took a closer look at the heart because we could really see the different part of the heart such as the arteries and ventricles. I also really liked this part because we found some differences from our heart and the pig's heart. We saw that the pig had its oracles outside the heart while ours are inside, and I thought that that was really interesting. Overall, I think that doing this lab was a great experience and very eye-opening.

20 Time Final Post

          Now that my 20 time project is over, I would like to share the outcome of my project and just the overall experience in general. Although I didn't have a final physical product, I have gotten pretty close to what I wanted my overall project to be. I plan to carry my project into the summer because I think it is super beneficial for not only my peers, but also me personally. Veda, my partner, and I are planning to test more methods on more people in order to get more accurate results and further our knowledge. I have recently been using our best testing methods for upcoming finals and I have found that it actually helps me relieve a lot of stress. Of course I still feel a bit pressured and stressed out, but that's expected. So far we have created a presentation explaining our project and a data chart with all of our results from our experiment.

          

          This is a photo of a chart that I made showing the research that we did when it comes to dealing with stress. I listed some ways to deal with stress, some ways to not deal with stress, and also some common signs of stress. This was one of the most important steps for building our project because it was the foundation of our whole experiment. We are planning to add more techniques and methods for dealing with stress to this list so that it can continue to help us as we carry this project into the future.

          After being in the near finals steps of our 20 time project, we presented a TED Talk in class to showcase what we did with our time and our personal interests. This is a video of our TED Talk.

          I think that my TED Talk actually went really well. Going into it, I felt really nervous and sort of unprepared. I had practiced a lot and I did it well at home, but I thought that I would freak out. However, once I started talking, my memory kicked in. I felt really comfortable and it helped a lot that I had another person speaking with me. I thought that the best part of my TED Talk was how I didn't have any notes and I memorized all my lines. If I had to do it again, I would definitely try to cite other sources but also try and connect/relate with the audience more. I think my take-away from this experience would be getting better at public speaking. Throughout this year, I think that my speaking skills have grown tremendously. In the beginning of the year, not even in just biology, whenever I had to do a presentation I would tense up and not do my best, but I think that I have really managed to get pretty comfortable talking in front of the class. I still get nervous, but I mean who doesn't?
          I liked listening to others' presentations because not only was it informational, but I also learned a lot more about that person and their hobbies/interests. I felt engaged and I thought it was good to get a small break from learning strictly biology to seeing and becoming aware of other topics. This 20 time project, in my opinion, was a really great experience and the only thing I would change would be to have more time so that people can have more time. There seemed to be the common problem of time for most people and I think that next year it would be a lot better if the students started from maybe the middle of first semester rather than the start of second semester.

Unit 9 Reflection

This unit was all about the evolution of organisms on Earth. We learned how organisms are classified and how they all contributed to our world in one way or another. By watching "Your Inner Fish" videos and doing the What on Earth Evolved Project, we saw the history of many different organisms and how they were introduced onto planet Earth. We also learned about plants, fungi, invertebrates, and chordates, along with the importance of them. We first started the unit off by learning about how life is organized. We found that classification is the grouping of organisms based on their similarities, and we learned about taxonomy and binomial nomenclature. We were also taught the seven levels of classification. Listing it from largest to smallest, the order is Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. I think that one of the themes/essential understandings of this unit was knowing that organisms are classified not only by their physical appearance, but also by their evolutionary descents. In the second vodcast we covered the many kingdoms and domains. We learned that the three domains are Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya and that the five different kingdoms are Monera (Prokaryotes), Protista, Plantae, Fungi, and Animalia. We found that protists are very diverse and can be either unicellular or multicellular. We saw that fungi can be both decomposers and heterotrophs, and plantae can either have or not have a vascular system. We also learned that there are many different types of plants such as gymnosperms, angiosperms, and many more.

         

After learning about domains, kingdoms, and the levels of classification, we were introduced to bacteria and viruses. Bacteria are unicellular prokaryotes and were Earth's first organisms. They come in a variety of different shapes with the three most common being spheres (cocci), rods (bacilli), and spirals. Bacteria is important in our lives because they recycle nutrients, fix nitrogen, and help in the field of biotechnology. Viruses are not cells, but actually a very small infectious particle consisting of nucleic acid enclosed in a protein coat and, in some cases, a membranous envelope. Some viruses have membranous envelopes that help them infect hosts called viral envelopes. Once a viral genome has entered a cell, the cell begins to manufacture viral proteins and use the host enzymes, ribosomes, tRNAs, amino acids, ATP, and other molecules. The reason why viruses make us sick is because they damage or kill cells by causing the release of hydrolytic enzymes from lysosomes.

         

Now that we were familiar with bacteria and viruses, we learned about plants and fungi. The first true plants probably grew at the edges of water and evolved through natural selection. Some plants have a vascular system allowing resources to move to parts of the plant, giving it a huge advantage. The major plant phyla are Bryophyta (mosses), Pterophyta (ferns), Gymnosperms (cone bearing plants), and Angiosperms (flowering plants). There are two major types of Angiosperms, monocots, which have a single seed leaf, and dicots, which have two seed leaves. Fungi, on the other hand, have completely different traits than plants. Their cell walls are made of chitin and they absorb their food through hyphae. Some types of fungi are sac fungi, bread molds, and club fungi. They are important because they can be eaten, used for antibiotics, and act as pathogens.

Finally, we learned about invertebrates and chordates. There are two types of symmetry in animals: bilateral and radial. Some phylums of invertebrates are molluska, cnidaria, and porifera (sponges). Some other examples of invertebrates are crustaceans, arthropods, and insects. Most organisms in the phylum chordates are vertebrates rather than invertebrates. The seven classes of vertebrates are agnatha, condricthyes, osteicthyes, amphibia, and the amniotes reptilia, aves, and mammalia. Reptiles and amphibians have three chambers in their hearts, while birds and mammals have four. They can either be endothermic (warm-blooded) or ectothermic (cold-blooded).

I want to learn more about how transitional organisms such as Tiktaalik and Archaeopteryx because they are the bridges between two completely different species. The "Your Inner Fish" videos really sparked my interest in how humans came to be. An unanswered question I have is are there any other transitional organisms that we haven't found out about yet? I also wonder about how the tallest and biggest animal, can have the same common ancestor as the smallest and tiniest animal.

The What on Earth Evolved Presentation was a huge part of this unit. I thought that the project went really well, and I really liked how we had the freedom to add in information that we thought we were important rather than have set guidelines. We had basic instructions, but we could really customize the presentation for our own creativity. I think that I presented really well and did a good job memorizing my presentation, but I think that I could have done a better job by putting less words on the slides so that the audience could be more focused on what I'm saying rather than my visual. I will definitely apply the skills I've learned from this project into my TED Talk. Next time I will make sure to have less on my visual so I can be the one leading the presentation.

My Inner Fish

The two episodes of "My Inner Fish" really helped me understand how we came to be. We learned how the first transitional fish was discovered, and we learned more about how fish slowly developed more amphibian like traits. In the first video we watched, scientists found that the Sonic Hedgehog was responsible for shaping and generating the pattern of the digits. One of the questions we were asked was "Why do people have extra digits?" We learned that some people have extra digits because they have mutations that alter the signal of the Sonic Hedgehog. One small mutation can cause a huge effect, causing people to have extra fingers or toes. In the second video, we learned how we are closely related to reptiles. Another question we were asked was "Why are mass extinctions important?" We learned that mass extinctions can be both good and bad. Even though it wipes out most species, the surviving ones have new opportunities along with new niches. The extinction of dinosaurs was one of the most important mass extinctions because it gave way to mammals and eventually, us humans.

Invertebrate of Choice: Moon Jellyfish

Aurelia aurita, or more commonly known as moon jellies, are part of the cnidaria phyla. It is a part of the Animalia Kingdom, in the genus Aurelia, and in the class Scyphozoa. Moon jellies are one of the widely studied species of the genus Aurelia. Aurelia aurita live in ocean water temperatures ranging from 6 to 31 degrees Celsius. Moon jellyfish distribution is during the months of July and August where temperatures are high and dissolved oxygen is low. They mainly feed on plankton that includes organisms such as mollusks, crustaceans, and other small organisms. They do not have respiratory parts such as gills, lungs, or trachea. They also don't have excretory or circulatory systems. Their main predators are ocean sunfish and leather back sea turtles, but they are also hunted by a few herbivorous fish. Something unique about this species is that they are capable of lifecycle reversal. This means that instead of growing older, they grow younger. Because of this, Aurelia aurita are nicknamed the "immortal jellyfish."A question that I have is will humans ever be capable of lifecycle reversal. I can relate this to our vodcast when we learned about all the different invertebrates.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelia_aurita)

Unit 8 Reflection

          This unit covered many major topics. We first learned about the gene pool and allele frequency and how when a population evolves, the gene frequency changes. We also learned about the Earth's history, or it's geological timeline and how much it has changed to get to where it is now. But most importantly, we learned about evolution and its effects of it on planet Earth. I think that one of the biggest themes/essential understandings out of this whole unit is the process of natural selection and how it works in the favor of an organism who has a better phenotype than others. When we did the Hunger Games Lab, we saw that when organisms had the most favorable phenotype, they were able to reproduce and have more offspring. Their offspring then had a higher chance of having the same favorable phenotype which caused them to survive better than others. In this way, the population of organisms with that specific phenotype grows until it dominates most of the population. However, the organisms that don't have the specific trait slowly die off because they can't compete with the organisms that do have the better trait. In the end, the population of the organisms with the desirable trait start to look more like "winners" while the other organisms who weren't as lucky look more like the "losers". Another major theme of this unit was how vast the history of Earth was. Before this unit, I thought that a couple hundred years back was so long ago. I couldn't imagine what life was like without the technology and advancements that we have today. But now, I realize that we are only a speck on Earth's timeline. Us humans have only been around for a few hundred years. There have been so many major events before we were introduced to planet Earth. For example, if there had been no increase of oxygen in the atmosphere during the Ordivician period then there might only be a few or maybe even no organisms on Earth right now!
          I still want to learn more about Earth's history and go more in depth into specific eras. I think that Earth's timeline is so immense and I think it's really interesting how much humans have done in such a short amount of time. An unanswered question I have is what caused all of the mass extinctions and explosions on Earth. I also wonder about how such seemingly bad events helped so much to evolve our planet for the better.
          Since writing my Unit 7 Reflection, I have definitely tried to be more assertive. I started giving more ideas when doing projects and being much more involved. I think that before I was more on the quiet side and didn't really contribute as much as I could have, but now, I feel that I am really participating a lot more and even sometimes stepping up to be the leader. However, I still think that I have a long way to go. One thing that I can do to further improve is to try and be more of a leader during group projects but also make sure not to overpower other people and their ideas.

         

Geological Timeline Individual Reflection

          There have been many major events in Earth's history, but there a certain three that have stood out to me. I think that one of the most major events was the creation of Earth. This is arguably one of the most important events out of Earth's history because if Earth hadn't been formed by the collisions that occurred 4.6 billion years ago, there would be nothing. There would be no animals, no plants, no humans, but most importantly, there would be no life. Another major event in Earth's history was the Cambrian Explosion that happened in the Cambrian Era. During this time, there was a lot of diversification in a short amount of time. This event is significant because it introduced lots of new species and created a huge amount of diversity. The last major event was the mass extinction of dinosaurs in the Mesozoic Era because it gave way to mammals and humans. Without this event, dinosaurs would still dominate the Earth and smaller mammals would not have been able to compete against them. Us humans also wouldn't have stood a chance against the dinosaurs let alone dominate the food chain and make as many advancements as we have.

          The scale of Earth's history is massive and it took an extremely long time to become what it is now. What surprised me the most was how so much of Earth's history was so bare and empty. Earth had no life until just recently when life and diversity started growing at fast rates.

          Although humans have only been around for a short amount of time, we have made a huge impact on this Earth. We have made so many advancements in technology, math, science, and so much more. Humans have changed the planet so much, when actually, if you think about it, we are merely a speck on the timeline of Earth. 

          One question that I still have is are other planets capable of undergoing changes like Earth did to create a habitable environment capable of sustaining life. Also, if humans can contribute this much in such a short amount of time, how many more advancements/improvements can they make in the many more years to come.

Hunger Games Final Analysis

1. We competed against each other with different ways of picking up food where only some of us would survive and leave offspring. Some people had the knuckler trait, some had the pincher beak, and some had the stumpy beak. Obviously, some traits were more favorable, and those were the ones that in the end, had the highest population. We simulated evolution, natural selection, and competition in this lab.

2. I thought that the pincher beak would be the best at capturing food, but it turned out that the knuckler beaks actually got the most food. This phenotype was the best at capturing food because this specific beak allowed someone to pick up food in between their knuckles on both hands while the stumpy beak could only pick up one piece of food at a time.

3. The population did evolve. I know it evolved because the gene allele frequency changed. As the years went by, the allele frequency for "a" started to grow bigger and bigger while the frequency for the "A" grew smaller and smaller.

4. The placement of the food in this lab was random. The placement of the food had a big effect on the evolution of this population because if the food was closer to one type of bird then they would probably pick up the most food and therefore leave more offspring. However, who one mated with was not random. Pinchers could purposely mate with pinchers so that it would guarantee offspring that is a pincher as well. This would affect the evolution of the population because one type of bird could dominate the population by using this method and essentially be the "winners".

5. The results would have been different if the food was larger or smaller. If the food was smaller then the stumpy beak would have a harder time picking up the food, and if the food were larger then the stumpy beaks would be able to pick up the food more easily. For example, if the food turned into soccer balls, then the stumpy population would dominate while the knuckler and pincher birds population would diminish. However, if the food turned into gumballs, then the knuckler and pincher birds would dominate the population while the stumpy birds die out. In nature, situations like this can happen and it's all just based on luck. Specific birds might have to find a different type of food to eat, or move to a different niche with less competition and more food.

6. The results would have been different if there was not incomplete dominance because then there would be no knucklers. There would only be pinchers and stumpys. The pinchers would then become the dominant trait and the "a" frequency would grow to a huge size while the "A" would go down to a very small percentage.

7. The relationship between natural selection and evolution is that natural selection causes evolution. The best traits are chosen and the ones with that specific trait survive better and reproduce offspring. The others without the trait start to die off, so as time passes, the population of the organisms with the best traits grow.

8. Some strategies that individuals used were picking up more food than their phenotype allowed by cheating and picking up food by the handful. Some people also used their hoods as extra pockets to put the food into. These actions would have affected the allele frequency by making it somewhat inaccurate. There could have been a higher allele frequency for "a" than "A" because people had advantages over others. These behaviors are similar to the ones in nature because competition is fierce and animals will do anything and everything they can to make sure they "win".

9. In evolution the single organism is not really the one who evolves. The population is what is really evolving. The alleles in a single individual do evolve, but it's really the population that evolves because the gene pool changes to match the best traits. Natural selection acts on the phenotype of an organism, not it's genotype because their physical traits are the ones evolving. Their genes aren't changing just the allele frequency.

10. A question that I still have is if there are ways birds can "cheat" to pick up more food. I also question if there really are techniques that birds use to "cheat", what methods do they use and do birds use them a lot.

Bird Beak Lab Conclusion

Part 1: Analysis

Our claim/hypothesis for the first part of this lab was "individuals with better traits leave more offspring". This statement was supported by our data because the tweezer beak and the chopstick beak picked up the most food the fastest out of all the different types of beaks and therefore, left more offspring. The tweezer and chopstick birds both left 15 offspring while the other birds left a few less. This happened because birds need food to leave offspring, and if a bird can pick up a lot of food, then they can have more offspring. Our second claim/hypothesis was that "populations begin to look more like the winners". Our evidence supported this hypothesis because the tweezer beak bird and the chopstick beak bird will dominate the population more than other birds. This happened because the tweezer and chopstick birds can leave/support the most offspring and their populations would grow to "beat" the other species.

Part 2: Conclusion

         In this lab we asked the question "if natural selection occurs in a population, how do changes in selective pressures affect the evolution of that species?". We found that in future generations, birds would evolve to look more like the tweezer beak birds and the chopstick beak birds because of their ability to pick up the most food and leave the most offspring. Our data showed that the tweezer and chopstick beak birds had the highest number of offspring with fifteen each. They had about 21.4% of all the total chicks. The spoon had fourteen chicks, the binder clip had thirteen chicks, and the scissor had thirteen chicks. This data supports our claim because natural selection will cause the beaks of birds to evolve and become like the tweezer and chopstick birds so that they can have better traits.

         While our hypothesis was supported by our data, there could have been errors due to the different types of food and the timing not being perfect. Some of the different types of beaks could pick up different types of food better. For example, if a binder clip can pick up macaroni the best and a tweezer could pick up rubber bands the best, and there were more rubber bands than macaroni, the tweezer would probably pick up the most pieces of food and therefore leave more offspring behind. This would cause the population for the tweezer bird to grow more and essentially start to look like the "winners" and the binder clip birds would start to look like the "losers". The other error of the timing not being perfect could have caused some people to have more time and others to have less time. For instance, one person could have started picking up food earlier and ended later while another person could have started late and ended early. This would cause some people to have more or less time to pick up more food and thus cause more or less offspring than they should really have. Due to these errors, in future experiments I would recommend having the same amount of variation in the different types of food and try to have the timing as exact as possible.

         This lab was done to demonstrate how natural selection plays a role in evolution of a certain species. From this lab I learned that even the slightest change can cause a huge change in the population and the evolution of a species which helps me understand the concept of natural selection affecting evolution and population showing "winners" and "losers". Based on my experience from this lab I could apply this to another situation by knowing how natural selection plays a role in  evolution and teaching other people that evolution isn't actually as complicated as I thought it was.

Unit 7 Reflection

        This unit's focus was ecology. We learned about how the whole ecosystem works and all the effects of not just trash, but also "stuff" in general. Some themes and essential understandings were that the ecosystem cannot run properly if it is unbalanced and that we need to be very aware of what we are buying and consuming in order to preserve our planet and our natural resources. The ecosystem is actually very sensitive to any sort of changes in the environment. For example, a small temperature change or a new addition of a species could cause a whole ecosystem to collapse. Another theme of this unit was how the population rises and falls in somewhat of a pattern. Usually, when the population rises, over the course of the next few years, it falls again. Then the population rises again, falls again, and it continues this pattern unless there is a major epidemic or a crisis. In addition, we learned about food webs and food chains. Within the food chain, we learned how energy flows from each organism to another and how only 10% of the energy is actually retained. We also learned about all the different trophic levels and how organisms are categorized into their specific group.
          I want to learn more about how humans are affecting the ecosystems and what we can do to prevent/lessen the damage we are doing. Although we did learn about different ways to help save the condition of our world, I think that there is always more to do and that the little things I do will really make a difference. An unanswered question that I have is whether the world will be covered in waste maybe a couple hundred years from now or maybe even sooner. I wonder about how many more years people can live on Earth before it starts becoming too polluted and trashed to be capable of sustaining life.
          The conservation biology project went really well in my opinion. I think our group worked really well together. One thing that went really well was our efficiency in filming and editing our video. Another thing that went well was that all of us pulled our weight and I think that for the most part we all did similar amounts of work. However, one thing that didn't go so well was that we sometimes butted heads but in the end, we finished strong and I am really proud of our finished product. Through this project, I learned about the many endangered environments in the world and also how to work/collaborate with others better. I think that overall our group's collaboration was very good.
          As for my progress with my New Year's Goals, I think that I am continuing to improve.  I feel that I have progressed since my Unit 6 Reflection and that I am going to steadily keep improving. I find that I have less homework to do at home because I focus in class more and work on trying to get my assignment done rather than having to do it at home.

Unit 6 Reflection

This unit's main topics were biotechnology and bioethics. We also learned about recombinant DNA, PCR, electrophoresis, and sequencing. Biotechnology is the study and manipulation of living things including their molecules, cells, tissues, or organs in order to benefit mankind. Bioethics is the study of decision making as it applies to moral decisions that have to be made because of advances in biology, medicine, and technology. A main theme of this unit was that recombinant DNA is the insertion of one organism's DNA into the DNA is another organism. It is similar to generic engineering and the result of recombinant DNA technology is a transgenic organism, or GMO. Another essential understanding of this unit is that electricity is used to separate DNA fragments based on size in a process called gel electrophoresis. Larger fragments of DNA travel less and move slower than smaller fragments. Other main ideas of this unit include using sequencing to determine the exact order of a DNA strand and using DNA Polymerase, primers, extra bases, and florescent dyes to create copies of them. A strength that I had in this unit was understanding gel electrophoresis well and knowing exactly how the process works. However, a weakness that I had was having trouble understanding the pGLO lab and the reasons why bacteria grew in some places and didn't in other places. A success that I had was knowing some real life applications of PCR, or Polymerase Chain Reaction before we learned about them. I knew that PCR can be used for paternity testing, detecting diseases, and conducting forensic investigations. A setback that I have is not knowing some of the steps for PCR and what exactly happens in each of them. For this unit we did the recombinant DNA  lab, the candy electrophoresis lab, and the pGLO lab. In the recombinant DNA lab we had to find the correct restriction enzyme that would cut the plasmid in one place and the human DNA in two places. In the candy electrophoresis lab, we took the dyes of different candies and compared them to some reference bands. We then ran the gel electrophoresis and looked at the results. In our pGLO lab, we took a variety of petri dishes and put bacteria in them. One petri dish had +pGLO with LB/amp/ara, another had -pGLO with LB, and so on. At the end we saw which of the petri dishes had bacteria in them and whether any one of them glowed. All these labs helped me further understand the concepts of this unit. I want to learn more in depth about electrophoresis and its applications. An unanswered question that I have is whether or not the genetic modification of human embryos is really in fact possible. I wonder about if our world will become like the world in the movie GATTACA. I think I am on track to fulfill my New Year's goals. I have been procrastinating less and getting more work done in class than before.

pGLO Lab

1.

2. The two new traits that our transformed bacteria have are glowing under UV light and resistance to ampicillin.

3. I estimate that there were about 1000 bacteria in the 100 ul of bacteria that we spread on the plate. Since there were about 200 colonies in our +pGLO Lb/Amp/Ara plate, I estimated that there had to be much more bacteria that hadn't been transformed/not received the plasmid with resistance to ampicillin.

4. The role of arabinose in the plates is to make the bacteria glow under UV light. The arabinose activates the GFP gene which causes the bacteria to glow.

5. Three current uses for GFP in research or applied science are acting as a cell marker, tagging genes for movement of certain cancers, and showing promoter activity. A cell marker can be used to track where bacteria is present and tagging genes can be used to show the movement of certain cancers. GFP can also be used to show promoter activity in operons.

6. Another application of genetic engineering is how plants are altered to express a gene that isn't native to that particular plant or to modify its genes. It can be used to provide resistance to drought or extreme temperature.

Candy Electrophoresis Lab

1. One dye band was a different size than the reference band. All the dyes were the same colors as the reference bands except for the orange dye. The dye was a bit darker than the reference band. The color difference did not occur in more than one color band. We did not observe any dyes that were moving in the "wrong" direction. These dyes could have had other ingredients in their coloring in addition to the reference dyes causing them to move/look slightly different.

2. Fast green FCF would move similarly to Blue 1 and Citrus red 2 would move similarly to Red 40 because they are similar in size to each other. Fragments of similar size travel together in groups. They move at a similar pace and travel almost the same distance as each other.

3. Dog manufactures put artificial food colors into dog food because they want to make the food look more appealing to their customers and seem less processed. The only reason why they use artificial food dyes is for aesthetic appeal.

5. The two factors that control the distance the colored dye solutions migrate are their length and weight.

6. The positive electrical current helps move the dyes through the gel.

7. Gel electrophoresis causes the molecules to separate by size because the smaller fragments travel further and move faster while the larger fragments travel less and move slower. Fragments of the same size travel in groups and cover the same amount of distance.

8. The DNA molecule with the molecular weight of 600 daltons would move the fastest and the furthest. The next to travel the furthest would be the DNA molecule that weighs 1000 daltons. After that, the molecule with the weight of 2000 daltons, and finally the DNA molecule with the weight of 5000 daltons would travel the least and move the slowest.

Recombinant DNA Lab

          The first step of producing recombinant DNA is to splice open the plasmid. Our plasmid had bacteria that was resistant to ampicillin. We could use ampicillin in our petri dishes to see if bacteria had taken over the plasmid since we had the gene that was resistant to it. We would know if the bacteria had taken our plasmid because if it did then the bacteria would be resistant to the antibiotic and survive. I wouldn't use any of the other antibiotics because our bacteria isn't resistant to any of the others and it would have just killed all the bacteria. After that we tested all of the restriction enzymes to see which ones could splice open the plasmid in one place and the human DNA in two places. Restriction enzymes are bacterial enzymes that recognize a specific nucleotide sequence in DNA molecules and cut the molecules at that sequence. Two of the ones we tested spliced the plasmid and human DNA the correct amount of times. The two enzymes were Eco RI and Hin dIII; however, although both of them worked, the Hin dIII spliced closer to the insulin gene. Therefore, we ended up using the Hin dIII. If we had used an enzyme that cut the plasmid in two places then it would not have joined together with the DNA and it wouldn't have been able to make recombinant DNA. There would have been two extra sticky ends. We then found the areas where the bases of the restriction enzyme and the bases of the human DNA and plasmid had been spliced. The sticky ends then joined with the DNA pieces and formed recombinant DNA. This technology could be important in daily life because it allows the insertion of different genes to give an organism new traits that could possibly prevent/cure certain diseases. A real life example of this technology being used is in the creation of genetically engineered plants that produce a toxin called Bt. It kills off certain crop pests so that farmers' crops don't get eaten away at by insects and have higher success rates.

New Year's Goals

My first goal for this semester is to stay more focused and be on track in class. I will make sure to pay more attention in class and spend more time working and doing projects rather than talking to my peers. In order to achieve this goal I will not talk to my classmates when we are given time to do homework in class. I will also listen more carefully to instructions so that I won't have to ask so many questions later which will further help me be more focused.

My second goal for this semester is to not procrastinate and to go to bed earlier. I will start my homework as soon as I get home and not wait until the last minute to do it. By doing my homework as soon as possible, I will get done faster, and then be able to go to bed earlier. I will also use my time wisely while doing homework and just focus on the one assignment I'm working on rather than watching TV or listening to music at the same time.