Photosynthesis dry lab

In this lab we didn't actually do it, we just did a write up. Doing this you realize that it's pretty had to to a lab without actually doing it. In this lab the facts were:

• Carbon dioxide in water produces carbonic acid
• BTB is a blue green liquid which changes to a yellow color in acid and back to blue green when returned to a neutral pH.
• Carbon dioxide and water yields star and oxygen when chlorophyll and sunlight are present
• animals respire
• Green plants photosynthesize in the light and respire all the time. 
• Sugar and oxygen yields carbon dioxide and water and energy.
• Elodea is in the kingdom planate and is a producer.

     Interpreting the observations, i got that

1. water + BTB----> neutral pH-----> blue green. This means that if you have water plus BTB, it is a neutral pH, which keeps you at a blue green color.
2. Fish----> respire -----> sugar + O2 + CO2 + H2O----> CO2 in H2O----> acid----> yellow. This means that the fish respires and gives off sugar and oxygen, carbon dioxide and water. The carbon dioxide and water all make an acid which makes the color yellow.
3. In this one lodes is in kingdom planate and is a producer. Green plants photosynthesize in light and respire all the time. Which makes carbon dioxide and water yield and sugar and oxygen wen chlorophyll and sunlight are present.  BTB is blue green liquid which changes to a yellow color in acid and back to blue green when neutral.  So it is blue green in light and yellow when left in the dark for 3 hours. 
4. Elodea is pale blue green in light and yellow when left in the dark for 3 hours. The animal is doing desperation, giving off carbon dioxide and giving off BTB acid making it yellow. The plant does something different though. The plant picks up the carbon dioxide and stays blue green, not making any acid. 

Brown Recluse Spider

     The Brown Recluse Spider is a venomous spider. It can cause significant cutaneous injury with tissue loss and necrosis. You can find the Brown Recluse in the United States from the east to west coast, and sometimes in the south. The Black Recluse is different from most spiders because instead of having 8 eyes, it only has 6 eyes that are arranged in pairs. One pair is on front and another pair on either side. It usually has a shy and nonaggressive behavior, but occasionally bites humans because they share the same habitat. It usually just bites when it is being disturbed. They roam at night and hide during they day. They can survive six months without food or water. It bites when it is caught between a part of the body and another surface like when children are playing under house furniture, while a person is sleeping and rolls on to where it is, or when getting dressed with clothes or shoes where the spider has hidden itself.
     The Brown Recluse Spider's venom in extremely poisonous, even more than a rattlesnake, but when they bite, they cause less disease than rattlesnakes. The venom from this spider is toxic to cells and tissues. There are some secondary results that are very rare, but can still happen. The destruction of red blood cells, low platelet count, blood clots in the capillaries and loss of ability to form clots where needed, acute renal failure (kidney damage), coma, and death.  The  symptoms of Brown Recluse spider bites are severe pain at the bite about 4 hours later, severe itching, nausea, vomiting, fever, and muscle pain. The bite is usually red upon close inspection and may reveal fang marks. Most commonly, the bite will become hard and heal with a little scaring over the next few weeks or days. Occasionally, the local reaction will be more severe with erythema and blistering, sometimes leading to blue discoloration, and ultimately leading to a necrotic lesion and scarring. Signs that may be present are blistering, death of skin and subcutaneous fat, and severe destructive necrotic lesions with deep wide borders.
    So researching the Brown Recluse Spider, i can conclude that this spider isn't very common where we live, but if you get bit by one, it can be very serious and dangerous.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/spider_bite_brown_recluse_spider_bite/page3_em.htm

Enzymes action

     In this lab we tested the action of enzymes and for the enzymes we used yeast. We added the yeast to a test tube with 3 milliliters of water (H2O) and 3 milliliters of peroxide (H2O2). After adding these things together we mixed them a little and put the pressure cork on top of the test tube to trap in all the pressure. As the cork was in the tube, it was hooked up to a tube that recorded the data on the computer making a graph that showed the pressure of each tube.
    We did 3 different little labs, and in each one a few things changed. In the first lab we did concentration. We took the 3 milliliters of both water and peroxide and put them in the first test tube, then added 20 drops of yeast. The second tube we did the same thing but with 30 drops, the next with 40, and the fourth and final tube we added 50 drops. We put the pressure cork on all of the tubes after adding the different concentrations of yeast and the data recorded.

     The second lab that we did was temperature. We added the 3 milliliters of both water and peroxide and added 30 drops of yeast to the four test tubes that we had. The first tube that we tested was water and peroxide with 30 drops of yeast that was room temperature. The second tube that we tested was water and peroxide that had been held in an ice bath for a few minutes with the 30 drops of yeast. The third tube was stuck in a hot water bath with the water and peroxide with 30 drops. The fourth and final test tube was stuck in a warm water bath with the 30 drops of yeast.

     The hire and final lab that we did was with different pH levels. We kept everything the same, except for the peroxide. We mixed 30 milliliters of water with 30 milliliters of the different pH buffers and added 30 drops of yeast to them. The first test tube that we did was the water with the pink level 4 pH buffer, and the 30 drops of yeast. The second test tube was water with the blue level 10 pH buffer, and the 30 drops of yeast. The third and final tube we tested in this lab was the yellow level 7 pH buffer, and added to it was the 30 drops of yeast.

     In these labs, as you can see, some of the different things we tested, reacted better and had more pressure than others with the yeast.

Plant Cell Structure

     You pass by a flower shop, or see pretty flowers planted in a yard, or meadow. The flowers you see, and all the plants you get your vegetables from all have a "heart". Every plant is broken down, and all start with  a plant cell. Plant cells are important to cells because they are the basic units of life. There are many parts involved in a cell. All of them are important too, but there is one place where everything starts. The nucleus. The nucleus is en closed in a double membrane and communicates with the surrounding cytosol in numerous nuclear pores. In the nucleus is the DNA,which is responsible for providing the cell with its one of a kind characteristics. The DNA is similar in every of every body, but depending on the cell type, some genes may be turned on and off. This is why a liver cell is different from a muscle cell (giving an example). when a cell divides, the nuclear chromatin condenses into chromosomes that can be seen easily by a microscope.

     The Nucleolus. The Nucleolus is the first thing you notice in the nucleus, it is the most obvious structure. The nucleolus produces ribosomes, which move out of the nucleus and position themselves on the rough endoplasmic reticulum where they are very important in protein synthesis.
     The Cytosol. The Cytosol is what they call the "soup" where all the other cells organelles reside and where most of the metabolism occurs. Mostly through water, the cytosol is full of proteins that control cell metabolism including signal transduction pathways, glycolysis, intracellular receptors, and transcription factors.

     The Cytoplasm. The Cytoplasm is just a collective term for the cytosol, plus the organelles suspended within the cytosol.

     The Centrosome. The centrosome of MTOC (Microtubule Organizing Center) is the area in the cell where microtubules are produced. Plant and animal cell centrosomes play similar roles in the division of cells. Both of them include collections of microtubules, but the plant cell centrsome is simpler and does not have centrioles. 

     The Golgi. The Golgi is a membrane-bound structure with a single membrane. It is actually a stack of membrane-bound vesicles important in packaging macromolecules for transport somewhere else in the cell. The stack of larger vesicles is surrounded by many smaller vesicles having those packaged macromolecules. The enzymatic or hormonal contents of lysosomes, peroxisomes and secretory vesicles are packaged in membrane-bound vesicles at the periphery of the Golgi. 

     The Lysosome. Lysosomes contain hydrolytic enzymes that are necessary for intracellular digestion. They are mostly seen in animal cells, but sometimes in plant cells. Hydrolytic enzymes of plant cells are usually found in the Vacuole. 

     The Peroxisome. Peroxisomes are membrane-bound packets of oxidative enzymes. With plant cells, they play  many roles like converting fatty acids to sugar and guiding chloroplasts in photorespiratioin. Oxidative enzymes in peroxisomes break down hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water.

     Secretory Vesicle are cell secretions of e.g. hormones, neurotransmitters secured in secretory vesicles in the Golgi. The secretory vesicles are then transported to the cell surface for release.

     The Cell Membrane. All cells are enclosed in a membrane, a double layer of phospholipids. The exposed heads of hte bilayer are hydrophillic, which means that they are compatible with water both in they cytosol and outside of the cell. But the tails of the phospholipids are hydrophibic, so the cell membrane acts as a protective barrier to the flow of water that is uncontrolled. The membrane is more complex by the presence of many protiens that are very important to the activity of the cell. These protiens include receptors for odors, tastes and hormones, and pores responsibole for controlled enter and exit of ions like sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride.

      The Mitochondria. Mitochondria provide energy a cell needs to move, divide, make secretory products contract- in short, these are the power centers of the cell. They are small, like the size of bacteria, but can have different shapes depending on the cell type. They are membrane-bound orangelles, and have a double membrane, like the nucleus. The outter membrane is smooth. But the inner membrane is highly convoluted. The cristae increase the inner membrane's surface area. It's on these cristae that food is combined with oxygen to produce ATP, which is the primary energy source for the cell.  

    The Vacuole. A vacuole is a membrane-bound sac that plays roles in intracellular digestion and the output of cellular waste. Vacuoles play a big part in plant cells. They play several roles like storing nutrients and waste products, helping increase cell size during the growth process. They even act like lysosomes in animal cells. It also regulates tug or pressure on the cell. Water collects in cell molecules, pressing out against the cell wall producing rigidity in the plant. Without sufficient water, turgor pressure drops and the plant will wilt.

     The Cell wall. The cell is in plant cells only. Plant cells have a rigid, protective cell wall made of polysaccharides. In bigger planet cells, the polysaccharide is mostly cellulose.  The cell wall provides and helps keep the shape of the cells and serves as a protective barrier. Fluid collects in the the vacuole and pushes out against the cell wall. This turgor pressure is responsible for the fresh vegetables crispness. 

     The Chloroplast. Chloroplast is in plant cells only also. Chloroplasts are organelles found in all higher plant cells. These organelles contain the plant cell's chlorophyll which makes the plants green like they are. Chloroplasts have a double outer membrane. In the stroma are other membrane structures like thylakoids. Thylakoids show up in stacks called grand. 

     The Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum. Throughout the eukaryotic cell, especially those responsible for the production of hormones and other secretory products, is a large network of membrane-bound vesicles and tubules called the Endoplasmic reticulum. The ER is a continuation of the outer nuclear membrane and its functions vary and suggest the complexity of the eukaryotic cell. The Smooth ER has its name because it is shown as smooth by electron microscopy. The Smooth ER plays different functions depending on the specific cell type.

     Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum. The Rough ER shows to be pebbled by electron microscopy due to the presence of many ribosomes on its surface. Proteins synthesized on these ribosomes collect in the ER for transport throughout the cell. 

     Ribosomes. Ribosomes are packets of RNA and protein that play a very important role in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. They are the site of protein synthesis. Each ribosome comprises two parts, a large submit and a small submit. Messenger RNA from the nucleus is moved along the ribosome where transfer RNA adds individual amino acid molecules to the protein chain.

    The Cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton helps maintain the cells shape. The importance of the cytoskeleton is cell motility. The internal movement of the organelles, as well as the cell locomotion could not take place without the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is an organized network of three primary protein filaments such as microtubules, actin filaments, and intermediate fibers.

     

Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of many people in the United States. A defective gene and its protein product cause your body to produce thick, sticky like mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to lung infections, it obstructs the pancreas and stops enzymes from helping your body absorb and break down food. The symptoms and signs of Cystic Fibrosis are: salty tasting skin, persistent coughing with phlegm, frequent lung infections, wheezing or shortness of breath, poor growth, weight gain in spite of a good appetite, and greasy, bulky stools or difficulty in your bowel movements. Today, medical treatments have further enhanced and extended life for children and adults with CF (Cystic Fibrosis). People with the disease can now usually live into their 30s, 40s, and even longer. This disease has about 1,000 new cases of CF diagnosed each year. More than 70% of patients are diagnosed with disease by the young age of 2. A little less than half of the CF patient population have an age of 18 or older. The age predicted to live by CF patients is 30 years old.  Not everyone who has the mutant gene can get CF. You can have 1 perfect copy of that gene, but it takes 2 perfect copies to get it.
      The function of the protein that is defective in CF is usually in the epithelial cells lining the airways of the lung. There are channels in the lining cells where ions can pass. Usually the movement of ions brings water to the surface of the airway and keeps the mucus from getting dry, and staying moist. The gene that is defective blocks the channels, and causes the mucus to dry out. Then it makes it difficult  for somebody to sift the mucus, which becomes prone to infection by bacteria. In the lining of a person with CF, the vital chloride channel is blocked. so there is no movement of chloride ions in the mucus. Having no ionic gradient, theres is no water that moves towards the surface, and the mucus ends up drying out. Sometimes the protein may be present in the cell membrane, but may not function the way it is supposed to.
    There are a few ways that you can treat having the disease of CF and 3 of those ways are; Antibiotics, mucus-thinning drugs, and bronchodilators. The drugs with antibiotics are used to treat and prevent lung infections. They may come in pill form, inhaled in a mist, or delivered intravenously. The mucus-thining drugs are drugs that reduce the sticky mucus that you get, and makes it easier to cough it up, which improves the function of your lungs. Bronchodilators are medications such as albuterol that can be used as inhalers, or nebulizers. They help you keep your airways open by relaxing the muscles around your bronchial tubes. People who have CF have to go through a lot, and you may experience many emotions, but especially anger and fear. They are most common in teens, but openly talking about it can help a lot. IIt would also help to talk to other people with the same problem as you. If you have a child with CF, you can join support groups, or meet with other parents on your own time that also have children with CF. Psychologists are also another a good thing to consider. They can help the children as the grow into their teen years. CF can be a very serious thing that you have to live with throughout your life time.

Cell Membrane Structure

A Cell is composed of two distinctive environments: Hydrophilic aqueous cytoplasm and hydrophobic lipid membranes. Lipid environment is defined by the family of molecules that are characterized by their hydrophobic nature and their common metabolic origin. Lipid molecules are slightly soluble to insoluble in water. Lipids are hydrophobic because the molecules consist of long, 16-18 carbon, hydrocarbon backbones with only a small amount of oxygen containing groups. Serve many functions in organisms. Major components of waxes, pigments, steroid hormones, and cell membranes. Fats are synthesizes from two different classes of molecules: fatty acids attached to the alcohol glycerol. Fatty acids are usually 16-22 carbons long. There are 2 different types of fatty acids, saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fatty acids have no carbon- carbon double bonds, while unsaturated fatty acids have one to three double bonds along the backbone carbon chain. Double bonds introduce kinks in the carbon chain that have important consequences on the fluid nature of lipid membranes. Unsaturated fatty acids have lower melting points than saturated fatty acids. To construct a fat, 3 fatty acid molecules are attatched to the glycerol through an ester bond between the carboxyl group of the fatty acids and the three alchohol groups of a glycerol molecule.  A fat molecule can be composeed of1-3 different types of fatty acids each of which can be saturated or unsaturated. Saturated Fatty acids are usually 16-22 carbons long. Fat stores energy and insulates molecules. Saturated fats don't have any.
     Phospholipids contain two fatty acids attached to the glycerol head. A third alcohol of the glycerol forms an ester bond. Being a triprotic acid, the phosphate head has the potential to form ester links with a variety of other types of molecules like amino acids or carbohydrates.

    This a poster of a Fluid Mosaic Model that i drew with another person in my class, it shows how membranes are structured in a very simple/ cartoonish way.

    Protien channels also play a huge role in your body. Protien channels are trans-membrane proteins found in the phospholipid bilayer membranes in our bodies. These channel proteins allow specific molecules to pass through, crossing the membrane. When you want to move your finger, the protein channels send a message to your brain and nerves to move that finger. The same with any other thing that you move in your body.

                                                                   Diffusion and Osmosis Lab
       We did a diffusion and osmosis lab in our class. In this lab we had a solution of glucose and starch and placed it inside a bag of dialysis tubing. In a cup  outside of the tube, we had water and iodine mixed together. Then we put the tube of glucose and starch mixture inside of the cup with iodine and water, but first tied off the ends tight to make sure they wouldn't mix. After about 30 minutes passed we checked the glucose level of the water in the cup and it came out negative. Over the weekend we let the membrane tube sit in the cup, and the results were that the fluid inside the membrane tube leaked into the cup with iodine and water. The iodine from outside the dialysis tubing also leaked in, because it urned it a different color from mixing with the starch. When we tested both the liquid in the cup and membrane tube, the both had a high glucose level, that was definitely way positive.

     We decided to do another version of the lab and weigh the substances so we could see what left and went into the dialysis tubing. We did four different cups with the substances and water mixed in the dialysis tubing. The four different substances were Corn syrup, Sodium acetate, Antacid tablets, and Sodium bicarbonate. We weighed them three different times to see the results that would come out. The first time we weighed them, we weighed before we put them in the cup of water and cup one with antacid tablets weighed 13.43g. Cup two with the sodium acetate weighed 13.74g. The third cup with corn syrup weighed 11.93g, and the 4th cup with sodium bicarbonate weighed 11.66 g. An hour later we weighed them again, and the 1st cup weighed14.74g, the 2nd cup weighed 23.09g, the 3rd cup weighed 15.88g, and the 4th cup weighed 12.09g. We also did the same thing the day later. Cup one was 14.23g, the second cup was 16.23g,  the third cup was 8.47g, and the fourth was 11.46g. As you can see when we weighed them the hour later, they were at their highest, because thats the time when the water goes through all the little pores in the dialysis tubing, and water moves very quickly because it doesn't have very big molecules, so that is what made that possible. Over night and part of the next day is when the other substances started coming out slowly, because they have bigger molecules than the water and are more dense, so it takes longer for them to go through the tubing. The sodium acetate collected the most water out of all of them, because the molecules of the acetate went through the pores in the membrane easier than all of the substances. Now that we did the lab again in a different way, we really the saw the diffusion and Osmosis come out in the experiments.

Here is a Graph of the data we found out in our lab:

My concept map

Here is a link to my concept map on pop let. (:

http://www.popplet.com/app/#/83146

pH lab

When we did their lab, we first we found the lowest recommended dosage for the baking soda and each of the antacids and recorded them. Next we set out 4 cups and poured 25 mL of vinegar into each one of them and used the pH paper and its color scale to find the pH of it. We had to choose an antacid, crush it, add it to one of the cups of vinegar, stir it then wait 1 minute and record the data. When you have vinegar and baking soda together it acts like the acid in your stomach. so if you ever have time put some baking soda in a glass of vinegar and watch how it reacts. When we tested the generic version of antacid, its
 Ph level was the lowest and it didn't bubble very much. The tums had a higher Ph level than the generic one. This lab was interesting to me and it showed me how the different things you put in your stomach to help you feel better, react in your stomach.

Here is a graph that shows some examples of Ph levels of different antacids:

Macromoecules

A macromolecule is a class of large molecules that are very important biologically. These molecules are involved in all of the structures and processes of cells and organisms. A monomer is any of several small molecular structures that ay be chemically bonded together to form long multi-part polymer molecules. A polymer is a large molecule made up of similar or identical submits called monomers. The four main types of macromolecules are proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. Each perform specific functions for cells and each type usually has more than one function. Macromolecules are shown to undergo a reaction that is catalyzed by a polymerase enzyme. Monomers are joined together by a process called dehydration synthesis also called a condensation reaction, where a covalent bond is formed between the two monomers while a water molecule is also formed by a polymerase enzyme. Polymers are broken down by hydrolysis reactions, where the addition of a water molecule breaks the covalent bond holding the monomers together.

Carbohydrates Lab

I was gone for half of the carbohydrate lab, but doing the other half and going over notes in class has helped me to understand it more. We worked with sacharides. There was Monosaccharide, Disaccharide, and Polysaccharide.  We put the 3 different sacharides in 3 different test tubes and added benedict to them. We then stirred them and but them in a hot water bath.The Mono changed to a different color and had a positive affect, It changed with benedict. When we tested the Di it had a negative affect, it didn't change. The Poly also had a negative affect, it turned black in the iodine. If a benedict is added to sugar and it has a color change it would probably most likely be Di because it is the most likely the only saccharine that changes with sucrose. After we did the benedict we tested each saccharide with iodine. With iodine Mono had a negative affect. Di had a negative charge also, and Poly had a positive affect. They were pretty much opposite from each other with the benedict, besides Di because they were both a negative affect with the benedict and iodine. We also tested some foods in this lab. With the starch there was a negative affect with the benedict and a positive affect with the iodine. Cheerios also had a negative affect with the benidct and positive with the iodine. When we tested the corn syrup it was positive with the benedict and negative with the iodine. With the flour it was negative with the benedict and positive with the iodine. Glucose was positive with benedict and i'm not too sure what it was with the iodine. We tested KIX cereal and it had a negative affect with the benedict and positive with iodine. Galactose was positive with benedict and again i wasn't too sure with the iodine. The three elements that were present in the carbohydrates were Hydrogen, Oxygen and Carbon.




https://docs.google.com/document/d/10C6R_cVZGTSDNptVsjkQu0SvSYTuE5eO99st0MCCEOI/edit?hl=en_US

Water Properties

When you think of water, you usually automatically think of drinking water, or water that you shower or bathe in. But what you don't know, and what i didn't even know is that there are many different things about water. Liquid water is the medium of life, and most organisms are over 80% of water. Water also has a high surface tension. That's how leaves float on top of the water when they fall, instead of sinking straight into the water right away. In this class we did a couple of labs but due to volleyball again, i missed some of them so the only one i got to do was the lab with the water and the string. This lab was interesting because it was weird to see the water travel down the string. Some people's groups got the water to travel all the way down he string, but my group didn't. It was pretty difficult, and we couldn't do it unless we had someone kind of guiding the water down the string. Most of the water just spilt out of the beaker straight onto the floor but some of it went down on to the string. When we tried it we got water to go down the string about halfway down. The lab was cool and fun to try.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHUEtxbDL90

Understanding controlled experiments.

What is science and how does it work? Science is our knowledge of the nature world and the process on how knowledge is built. Science relies on testing of ideas with evidence gathered from the world. Science can't actually be defined, but it can be described as a set of key characteristics.  A Controlled Experiment is an experiment that uses controls and usually separates subjects into one or more control groups. An Independent Variable is a variable that is changed to observe the fact on the dependent variable. A Dependent Variable is a variable that is expected to change when the independent variable changes. A control group is very similar to a controlled experiment. A Placebo is a pill, liquid or powder that has no treatment value. Experimental treatments are usually compared with placebos. A double- blind trial is to investigate efficiency and safety. I understand what a controlled experiment is now, more than i did before because i went through and read all of the different websites that you told us about.

My first blog :)

Well this is my first time ever doing anything like this so.. it's really new to me. I like science, so this year should be fun. I heard that these classes are a little bit challenging, but i think i will be fine. :)