Unit 10 Reflection

Unit 10 was our final unit this year in biology and the one that I actually enjoyed the most. This unit was titled "Physiology", concerning the functions of bodily parts in living things. We learned about different systems in organisms that essentially keep them alive such as homeostasis, the circulatory and respiratory systems, the nervous system, the endocrine system, the digestive system, the immune system, the lymphatic system, and the inflammatory response. I especially enjoyed a lab we did when we dissected a fetal pig, getting perspective about what it looks like inside our bodies. I feel like this lab also helped us connect organs and systems we had been studying to the literal layout in front our us. Over the unit, essential understandings we solidified each lesson included identifying how organs in each system contribute to the function of that system, and how that system contributes to the survival of that organism. We looked at which systems work together; for example, the circulatory and respiratory systems and the lymphatic system and inflammatory response. In the case of the former, the respiratory system delivers oxygen to the blood of the circulatory system in a gas exchange that occurs in the alveoli of the lungs. The oxygenated blood is then transported by the circulatory system to the cells of the body to keep them alive.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_physiology>

One topic I wondered about as we were studying the connections of all these complex organs that make up these systems, is how do organs grow? At my age, most people I know are still in the process of growing and their height increases each year, but how do organ sizes increase? Do they all increase at once along with our bones and muscles when we get taller? Like our feet that are always slightly different sizes, do our organs grow at different times resulting in some systems being stronger than others?

Looking back on this freshman year, I feel accomplished in the increased professionalism of my blog posts and amount of critical thinking I have become more accustomed to. In my very first unit reflection, I lacked the use of paragraphs to break up my thoughts and my ideas were essentially all thrown into a jumbled paragraph. In the beginning, I also didn't use images to illustrate what I was discussing, leaving my posts looking dull and relatively short. I am proud of the way I have grown as a learner this year, taking more interest in what we have been studying and really utilizing this opportunity to blog as a way to clarify information for myself.

Pig Dissection

I think the essential question for this lab was: what are the functions and locations of the organs found in the pig and what system, or systems, are they a part of. This dissection required us to not only locate the organs, but also to think through how each organ interacts with other organs and why its positioning is useful. This ties right into the vodcasts we have been watching about the many human body systems. The anatomy of the pig and the anatomy of the human are very similar in the function and placement of internal bodily structures. Through our solid understanding of the circulatory, respiratory, nervous, endocrine, digestive, immune, and lymphatic systems in humans, we were able to quickly make connections when we spotted structures in the fetal pig. I found dissecting a pig a fascinating experience and my favorite part was opening the heart because it was interesting to see the mass of arteries and veins that basically kept the pig alive once. It's amazing how a few small tube-like structures within the heart push oxygenated blood throughout the entire body, keeping cells alive and functioning. I think the dissection was a very valuable experience because it gave us perspective on what the internal anatomy of our bodies look like. Many people questioned if the pig was real while doing the experiment because it did resemble rubber or clay very well, but it was valuable to understand the look and connection of our incredible body organs that allow us to be who we are.

20 Time Project Final Reflection

Looking back on the past three months, Reva and I conducted a mostly successful 20 time project centered around the fun theory, and although we do not have a physical product, the conclusions we produced allow us to educate others on our discoveries. Through our experiments that caused people to throw more trash away via a basketball hoop over a garbage can and making written schoolwork more fun by writing with "fun pens" we discovered the core of our classmate's motivation to do things. Although we based all of our experiments off the fun theory, we ended up discovering more about what motivates the human brain in our twenty-first century society. 

 

Data from our trash basketball hoop experiment

As shown from this bar graph, the days we had a basketball hoop over the trashcan (shown in the orange), the more trash was thrown away. People were motivated by the thrill of making disposing litter a game. Recently, in a conversation, I heard about an article written on the subject of new start-up companies hiring specialists to come in and recommend ways to motivate their millennial generation employees. I was able to provide insight in this subject because of our results from our 20 time project. I now know that today's millennials and generation z are not motivated by seeing results, like the baby-boomer generation before them, because our society has technology that produces those results for us and the work positions most commonly found today require the critical thinking behind the producing job of technology. Our most recent generations are motivated by intrinsic motivation: the desire to do things because they are important and/or we have a passion for them. This was the core of our TED talk.

Aside from a few improvements, I feel like our TED talk was successful in getting our message across while still keeping it engaging the entire time. Designing our attention-getter to have props and adjust the focus of the presentation from the right side of the classroom to the left right from the start, I felt, was highly affective. One part we could improve in our presentation was the speed. As most people find is usually the case, when actually presenting, people tend to go much faster than they did in their practice presentations. Our original time for our practice runs was a constant 5min 30sec, however for our actual presentation when we were aware that we were slightly over the time limit, we sped up, causing our talk to end up being 4min 18sec. It might have been difficult for our audience to contemplate everything we were saying when introducing new ideas in such a hurried manner. From this TED talk, I have learned that once all the preparation is complete and you know the time and rhythm for your talk, once you are actually standing in front of the class with your heart racing, it's important to take it steady, relax, and just mentally remind yourself that you're there to teach the class. It's helpful to consciously try to make the information you're presenting to sound fresh, like you're saying it all for the first time, because the audience is hearing it for the first time. I think this mental technique can make your talking slower and you're ideas sound more authentic and passionate. From this TED talk I can actually take something away directly from our project: when presenting, or doing anything in life, find a way to make yourself passionate and care about the topic to both make your presentation engaging and make your life accomplishments more genuine. 

20 Time Individual Reflection

This project challenged my level of creativity, thinking outside the box to come up with ideas and create experiments in order to test the fun theory. When first introduced to this project, I was immediately drawn to the idea of learning and testing psychology. After Reva and I both decided we were passionate about something having to do with the workings of the minds of Saratoga High School students, we came across an interesting theory in our initial research. It is called the fun theory and we figured it would be reasonable to conduct a couple of experiments, using the statement of this theory. Our original goal was never to test or prove the fun theory, it was to use the theory to improve the lives of students. Even though we never stated a clear goal as a final product, we envisioned an end result that looked something like a list of ways the fun theory can make you healthier and improve your happiness.

Overall, our project was not as successful as we had hoped. It took us a few weeks to pass the stage of brain storming and get to the actual planning of our experiments, slowing down the entire process, causing us to run out of time at the end. We were able to successfully gather data for one experiment and are still planning to squeeze in two more experiments later this week before our TED talk. From this experience, I have definitely learned the importance of creating an exact blueprint, or at least a defined product when starting a project. The consequences of having a vague vision of the final result of a project can cause the entire project to be unsuccessful. I don't think I would want to do this project again because it has been proven difficult to find ways to improve everyday life that do not require extensive set-up and are reasonable for people to do on a daily basis. To do it differently, I might want to try observing people and seeing how people naturally use the fun theory to make things more fun for themselves, rather than setting up ways things can be fun. Reva and I are planning to finish up with our experiments and draw conclusions to share in our TED talk. I think in the future we will be able to have valuable conversations with people about ways they can use the fun theory to solve cumbersome areas of their life, but I feel like we won't be able to take the information from our findings much further than that.

Unit 9 Reflection

This unit focused on the big picture behind how scientists organize life. Carolus Linneaus' taxonomy system groups organisms into a species, then genus, then family, then order, then class, then phylum, and finally kingdom. This manner of organization shows relationships between species. He also created a naming system called binomial nomenclature. Each organism is given two names, the first word is its genus, and the second word is its unique species. We began with the three domains: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya. Then, we dove in deeper into the kingdoms within these domains, and the phyla inside the kingdoms. Every time we studied a new phyla, the question was asked, "how do defining characteristics of this phyla show the increased complexity that evolved in this kingdom?". Concentrating on major characteristics, we were able to pinpoint alterations in the way the organisms survive, that prove evolution among that kingdom. We watched a video this unit based on the novel, Your Inner Fish, that explored the fact that all life evolved from one ancestor, meaning that humans evolved from fish. Similar characteristics, especially in the embryos and fetuses, of these two organisms linked them to validate that fact that they descended from a common species.

I am still curious about the water vascular system of echinodermata. Its amazing to me that an organism can survive so efficiently with radial symmetry and only one opening for a mouth and anus. The process of the water vascular system centered around a radial disk is one that I would like to learn about more in depth sometime.

<http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Echinodermata.aspx>

I feel like my What on Earth Evolved? presentation was an overall success, although there are many aspects I could improve for a stronger presentation next time. Inspired by the white-board time-lapse video my group did for our Conservation Biologist Project in unit seven, I decided to make a similar video to present behind me while talking through my presentation. I did my project on the Influenza virus that drastically changed the course of human history, through its retro-virus instability affecting humans and animals alike. Being that the whiteboard video I created was going at a constant speed, it required me to have to talk at the same speed to keep the presentation moving at a good pace. This goal failed when I didn't spend as much time rehearsing as I needed to, causing the timing to be slightly off at some parts of the presentation. Overall, I felt like my choice of visual-aid was unique and was entertaining for my piers to watch. For the TED talk coming up, I will make sure that I rehearse enough because even with a visual aid that does not rely on timing, it is much better to be prepared and comfortable with the timing of the talk.

<https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/cells/viruses/influenzavirus.html>

Here is the link to the white-board time-lapse of my presentation on the Influenza virus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8KsxpARJJU

My Inner Fish Reflection

Neil Shubin's revelation about human's direct connection with our ancestor's the fish changed the way I view the incredible features of man. He pinpointed the origin of our fingers and toes in prehistoric fish and found evidence that our skin, hair, and teeth are originated in early reptiles. Why were fish embryos that Dr. Shubin studied in the summer significant? Fish embryos and human embryos side-by-side are almost identical. This evidence proves the fact that fish and humans stem from the same common ancestor. I can relate this question to a vodcast i watched on evolution in which we learned about embryology, the study of similar stages of embryo development to suggest common ancestry.

<http://www.rationalconclusions.com/citations.embryologyvestigial.asp>

What is the "Sonic Hedgehog" gene responsible for? The Sonic Hedgehog tells cells what their function is, producing a signal for making the array of digits. These genes are positioned at the base of limbs to give direction for "smaller limbs" or fingers and toes to form. These genes reminded me of Hox genes that we learned about this year which control the body plans of embryos, directing parts such as legs, eyes, antennae, and organs. In relation to one another, Hox genes control the formation of the leg, and then Sonic Hedgehog genes manage the making of toes.

Lamellibrachia Genus

The Lamellibrachia is a genus of annelid that includes the giant tube worm. They live in deep sea, cool oceans and rely on the oil and methane in their habitat for nutrition. These organisms can reach lengths over three meters and can live hundreds of years. Lamellibrachia are part of the Animalia kingdom, the annelid phylum, the Polychaeta class, the Canalipalpata order, and the Siboglinidae family. Lamellibrachia, along with other members of the Annelida phylum, have segmented bodies and a coelom, or fluid-filled space completely surrounded by muscle. All these organisms lack a digestive tract and are sessile.

<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Lamellibrachia_luymesi1.png>

Works Cited:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamellibrachia
http://eol.org/pages/393268/overview

Unit 8 Reflection

In this unit we essentially studied why a population's gene pool looks the way it does. Some factors that determine the genotypes in a gene pool include artificial selection, natural selection, evolution, and speciation. Artificial selection, or breeding, occurs when us, humans, select traits from a population's variation that we want, and only mate individuals with those traits. Traits can be selected by nature too, however, and this is known as natural selection. Charles Darwin, a famous evolutionary biologist, drew two simple conclusions from his experiments that explain the results of natural selection. Darwin said that individuals whose inherited traits help them survive better and reproduce more tend to leave more offspring than other individuals. He also concluded that this unequal ability of individuals to survive and reproduce will result in the better traits becoming more common in the population over generations. We tested these two conclusions in our bird beak lab. In Darwin's studies, natural selection caused birds to adapt to the change in their environment and, over time, their species developed new traits that helped them survive. This is known as evolution.

<http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/evolution/notes-on-darwins-theory-of-natural-selection-of-evolution/12277/>

Natural selection is directly connected to evolution because natural selection is the mechanism of evolution which acts upon the phenotype of individuals. Based on that selection, the population is the actual thing that evolves, not the individual. We also learned about how natural selection distributes its traits in directional selection, stabilizing selection, and disruptive selection. Genetic drift, gene flow, mutations, and sexual selection, along with natural selection, are all factors that can alter the genotypes of a gene pool. Speciation is the rise of two or more species from one existing species, and this is caused by reproductive isolation. Finally we studied the history of Earth, learning about the major events in the development on life on this planet through an activity in which we created a geological timeline of Earth. 

<https://www.pinterest.com/ccoombe0014/geologic-timeline/>

I am still not confident about the concepts of RNA monomers evolving into RNA molecules and then eventually into DNA. I also still wonder: if amino acids could have been the building blocks for life, where could the amino acids come from? What created the amino acids? Or what caused the amino acids to form? 

To be more assertive, I have tried to be direct and honest with friends and classmates about my opinions and needs, trying to avoid being rude or pushy. The challenge for me is avoiding being passive completely by not talking about something I dislike about a person behind their back, but instead, directly addressing the problem by talking to them. 

Geologic Timeline Individual Reflection

In this activity, I found that three major events that changed the course of Earth's history are the Cambrian explosion, the Triassic period, and the Quaternary period. The Cambrian explosion followed the Precambrian era, during which organisms capable of undergoing photosynthesis developed, increasing the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere to be high enough to support life. The Cambrian explosion is noted by a sudden appearance in the fossil record when many organisms suddenly began to exist. This is a major event in the history of Earth because all life originated from this one geological event. The Triassic period is a pivotal period because it was during the early times of dinosaurs and the origin of mammals. Dinosaurs eventually evolved into the birds and reptiles of our current time period, making it significant in being the birthplace of many species that we know and love today. The creation of mammals was extremely significant because it was also the birth of the unique characteristics of hair, warm-blood, milk producing females, live births, and much more complex brains. This event set the stage for the population of intelligent species, humans, which drastically changed the history of Earth. Leading up to the third major event in the history of Earth: the quaternary period. This period consists of the first fossils of homeosapiens and our present day. The quaternary period significantly altered Earth's history because we quickly and immensely populated the planet, causing crucial events such as global warming. The mark on the planet that we are making now will cause future generations to look back at our accomplishments and consider them a drastic turning point in the geological timeline.

It was surprising to me that the majority of Earth's history consists of the Precambrian period, before life even existed. I was also astonished at the millimeter of space our species takes up on our 10 meter timeline. Before this activity it never really hit me how insignificant we are in the history of our planet. It's hard to wrap your head around the fact that our lives are so short and our impact on Earth is so microscopic.

I still want to know why marine life developed before land creatures?

<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Timeline_evolution_of_life.svg>

Hunger Games Lab Conclusion

1. In this lab we simulated the evolution of a population but having three different species, each with a unique way to collect "food" and see which population had the most allele frequency change.

2. The knucklers were the best at collecting food because they could easily collect four pieces of food at once, two in each hand. They preformed better at passing their genes on and therefore the population looked more like knucklers.

3. Yes, the population did evolve because the allele frequency changed overtime. At the start of the lab, the population consisted of 52% of the population being "A"allele, and 48% of the population being "a" allele. Halfway through the lab, during the 4th trial, 21% of the population was "A" allele and 79% was "a" allele. At the end of the lab, the "A" allele consisted of 28% of the population and the "a" allele was in 72% of the population. This drastic change in allele frequency proves that evolution did indeed occur.

4. Some random aspects of this lab included the dispersion of food, people's physical ability at moving around and collecting food, and each individual's stomach size and ability to hold the food once it was collected. The flipping of the coin during meiosis also chose random alleles to be part of the offspring. These things affected the evolution of the population because maybe all of the knucklers also had the best places to carry food as well as the people with quick physical skill. The randomness added more variables to the experiment, no longer solely testing if characteristics of each species. A few not random parts of the experiment included the mates people chose and the trait you were given at the begining of the experiment. The original traits were evenly distributed among the class, causing our first trial to have number pretty close to half of the "A" allele and half of the "a" allele. Knucklers and pinchers usually wanted to mate with pinchers, to increase the chance of having offspring that would survive. This shifted the outcome of the experiment because we could purposefully decide which alleles we wanted in the population and which ones we wanted to get rid of.

5. Yes, for example, if the food was something larger like a tennis balls or bean bags instead of corks it would have given the stumpys a huge advantage because the pinchers and knuclers don't have the right mobility to be able to pick up such large objects. Just like the potential of stumpys dominating in this population, in nature when resources change, new traits are favored and the gene pool ends up looking slightly different.

6. Knucklers were the example of incomplete dominance in this experiment because their alleles consisted of "Aa". Without the knucklers in the experiment, the "a" allele would have dominated because recessive alleles are harder to wipe out. The pinchers, with an "aa" allele, would have completely rid the gene pool of stumpys and we would find the population completely consisting of pinchers. The knucklers added that extra variable to keep the pinchers from completely dominating.

7. Natural selection filters out the less fit, leaving only the best to survive under those conditions. As species reproduce and reproduce, these traits become more and more common among a population, wiping out the unnecessary traits. This is known as evolution.

8. When the stumpys reappeared in the population, they band together, working collaboratively to try and produce offspring together, and ensure the survival of their species. This caused the "A" allele frequency to go up for a short while. In nature, organisms are given the choice with who to mate with and most are drawn to mates of the same species because to ensure the survival of that species.

9. Natural selection is the mechanism of evolution which acts upon the phenotype of individuals. Based on that selection, the population is the actual thing that evolves, not the individual. In this experiment, the population evolved from the beginning of the experiment to the end. Even though meiosis determined which genotypes would be in the offspring, the phenotypes caused the parents of the offspring to actually survive the round and be able to reproduce, therefore, the phenotypes were the aspect that determined the selection of certain traits in individual offspring.

Bird Beak Lab 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 Darwin's two conclusions are indeed true. Individuals whose inherited traits help them survive, tend to leave more offspring. The tweezer beaked bird's easily maneuvered beak caused it to be the best suited for picking up rubber bands, macaroni, toothpicks. It produced 21 offspring in the first part, and produced 8 offspring in the second part, more than the scissor beaked bird, the binder clip beaked bird, and the spoon billed bird. This data supports our claim because the tweezer beaked bird, who's incredibly functional beak helped it survive, produced, by far, the most offspring among the bird population. We also found that it is true that the better traits of individuals become more common in populations over generations. The tweezer beak bird's offspring became more and more abundant as the simulation went on from year 1 to year 2 to year 3. This data supports our claim because the tweezer beak bird consistently collected the most food, collecting the most food in year 3. 

While our evidence supports our claims, there could been errors due to the difference size and strength of the hands of the people participating in the experiment. Some people are better at maneuvering their hand to use their given tool to pick up the food. Another possible error that could prove our claim incorrect is the fact that food seemed to be selected to specifically customize the abilities of the scissors, tweezers, and binder clip that could all pinch the items. This caused the simulation to not be completely accurate because if an organism, such as the spoon, could not collect any food in a certain area, then realistically, they would feel the need to emigrate to an area with food that suits their ability to collect the food. Even if one of the purposes of the experiment was to eliminate the spoon species, it was very obvious even before we even started that the spoon did not have any capability of picking up food. Due to these errors, in future experiment I would recommend collecting and recording the overall class data to average out the physical skill level of individuals and get more accurate results. I would also recommend adding a food of larger size to the experiment that could give the spoon at least somewhat of a chance to at least survive the first year. This would also make the results of the simulation less obvious from the start.

This lab was done to demonstrate Darwin's two conclusions regarding natural selection. From this lab I now fully understand the ways natural selection changes the dynamics in an ecosystem, which helps me grasp the simplicity, yet brilliantness of Darwin's findings. Based on my experience from this lab, I can now interpret the reasons for the difference in species I see when I go to natural history museums or read about animals such as wholly mammoths that have evolved into elephants today. The natural environment forced these organisms to adapt or die and the ones that stayed, changed their phenotype as a result.

<http://it.pinellas.k12.fl.us/Teachers3/gurianb/files/8041AE1EF3B946ABB522A47B70C43974.pdf>

Unit 7 Reflection

In this unit we studied the ideas of ecology and focused on the delicate balance that populations of predator and prey have on an ecosystem. In ecosystems, there are trophic levels, that distinguish the where energy is transferred up the food chain. Primary producers, such as plants, make the energy from the sun, which is then transferred when a primary consumer, such as a herbivore, eats the plant. Secondary consumers then eat the herbivore, transferring energy to a carnivore. The movement of energy continues up the food chain to the tertiary consumer and the quaternary consumer following one rule: only 10% of the energy produced at a level is passed on to the next level of the food chain. For example, if a plant produced 1,000,000 calories of energy, only 100,00 calories would be passed on to the primary consumer. By the time this energy moves all the way up to the tertiary consumer, that organism is only left with 100 calories.We also learned about how ecosystems reuse their resources through the water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and phosphorus cycle. These cycles renew the nutrients in an environment. After natural disturbances, ecosystems can also "regenerate" through a process called sucession. Finally, after watching a movie about plastic bags called Bag it! we learned about things we can do in our everyday lives to conserve resources and ultimately save biomes around the world.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_web>

I found it fascinating when presented with the idea that one day us humans will reach our carrying capacity. One day we will reach a point at which we will be fighting for resources and struggling to all survive together on this planet. I wonder if this will happen in a few hundred years or if it will occur in the near future.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_overpopulation>

For our conservation biologist project I think our biggest obstacle is that we did not have a set vision and determined goal from the beginning. We changed the plan for how we were going to make a video several times, even after filling out our project plan, and this was a hindrance to our motivation. After settling on the idea of a drawing video, we were fairly productive getting all the aspects we needed for the video finished in two class periods. What didn't work well was that we did not schedule enough time for editing the video in class and left one of our group members with all of the editing to do outside of class.

My dominant conflict style is a mix between assertive and passive. I can strengthen my assertive approach by being honest and direct when working in a group setting. Instead of allowing my emotions to bottle up inside, I can calmly address the problem to my group to improve both my experience and their experience.

Extra-Credit Bioethics

       Many scientific studies show that if you are studying for a test, the most of the learning occurs while you're asleep because sleep is the time the brain uses for memory consolidation. This same concept was used when scientists implanted false memories into the brains of mice while they were asleep. These memories actually influenced the animal's behavior when it awoke. In order to trick the mice's brains, researches inserted electrodes that targeted two different parts of the brain: the medial forebrain bundle and the hippocampus. The medical forebrain bundle (MFB) is a significant part of our rewards system and the hippocampus serves as our memory and learning central. In the hippocampus there are place cells, which are essentially the GPS of our brains, and are known to "replay" our activity during sleep. Researchers identified these place cells by monitoring neuron activity while allowing the mice to explore new areas. Then, the scientists added the positive and negative factor to each place by giving them rewards in certain areas. After the creatures had fallen asleep, the neuroscientists paired the firing of a selective place cell with the simulation of the MFB. When the animals woke up, they displayed a strong preference for the areas which the electrodes made the mice remember positively. This concept of implanting and recording electrodes directly into an animals brains is an extremely intrusive procedure, making it unlikely that it will ever enter the world of human medicine. Even so, this technology has major benefits for people struggling with addiction, PTSD, or any other memory disorder. I think that the benefits outweigh the costs and that this memory technology could take us far in curing mental disorders. We would have to ensure that the use of this scientific discovery wouldn't get out of hand with people wiping each other's memories and inserting new ones, but as a society I think that we could be capable of keeping any memory procedures confidential. 

<http://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2015/mar/09/false-memories-implanted-into-the-brains-of-sleeping-mice>

Alford, Justine. "Scientists Implant False Memories Into Sleeping Mice."IFLScience. N.p., 10 Mar. 2015. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.

Costandi, Mo. "False Memories Implanted Into the Brains of Sleeping Mice."The Guardian. N.p., 9 Mar. 2015. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.

Noonan, David. "Meet the Two Scientists Who Implanted a False Memory Into a Mouse." Smithsonian. .
Smithsonian Magazine, Nov. 2014. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.

Unit 6 Reflection

In this unit we studied what biotechnology is and its purpose in our modern-day world. Some common themes included applications of biotechnology in the environmental, industrial, medical, agricultural, and diagnostic research fields. After many labs and vodcasts, we connected what we learned to actual scientific processes are used in different fields of study. We also confronted the issues of bioethics, recombined DNA, used enzymes in polymerase chain reactions, and used electricity in gel electrophoresis. I would definitely say that a weakness for me, in this unit, was relating the concepts I learned in my relate and reviews. I have never been previously exposed to any of these biotechnological concepts, making it challenging to both remember the information and relate it to things I have learned before. Practicing the gel electrophoresis lab online on a virtual lab the night before the classroom lab, was proven to be very successful for me. I found that when doing the lab the next day, I was familiar with the procedure and tools used, giving me an advantage.

This unit included recreating many of the biotech processes scientists' use in our very own classroom labs. We created models of recombinant DNA, experimented with gel electrophoresis, and transformed the DNA of bacteria to make them glow. From these experiences I now have a better understanding of things I encounter in my everyday life such as what it means when I go to the grocery store and see "non-GMO" labelled on food, or how they make lactose-free milk, or how the drugs my doctor prescribes for me are so effective. These are all results of altering the DNA or one or more organisms to benefit us as a society.

One section of biotechnology that we briefly covered in the technologies vodcast, was sequencing. I still wonder how we invented the technology to determine exact orders of DNA and how this process works. I also wonder how this process applies to other departments of science and every day life.

I have been very successful thus far in living out my new year's goals. One of my goals was to make a "to-do" list of everything I need to complete that night to make sure I get everything done in time and don't ever get behind on assignments or turn them in late. I have noticed that I gradually became lazier in being faithful to this daily task, and can improve on my consistency with my "to-do" list.

pGLO Lab

1.

Plate	Number of Colonies	Color of colonies under room light	Color of colonies under   UV light
- pGLO LB	carpet	yellowish-tan	Greenish-blue
- pGLO LB/amp	none	-	-
+ pGLO LB/amp	164	yellowish-tan	Greenish-blue
+ pGLO LB/amp/ara	59	yellowish-tan	Greenish-blue

2.  We added arabinose to our e-coli, giving them the ability of glow green under a UV light. The other trait we transformed our bacteria to have is ampicillin resistance.

3. In the 100 uL of bacteria we spread across each plate, there were only one or two colonies. The agar provided nutrients for that colony, causing the bacteria to spread, leaving us with at least 50 more in the positive pGLO petri dishes. 

4. The role arabinose played was activating the gene in the bacteria to glow. It released the active repressor, allowing the RNA polymerase to read the gene, causing the cell to be fluorescent.

5.  

• Fusion tagging: used to tag living things to monitor the positioning of proteins that don't glow 
• Transcription Reporter: placing it under the promoter of interest to effectively monitor gene expression
• Optogenetics: use of light to detect, measure, and control molecular signal in a cell

6. Genetic engineering is used in agriculture to create genetically-modified crops, or genetically-modified organisms. Scientists combine the DNA of one or more organisms for some specific genetic feature. For example, plants are often genetically modified to kill off pests and survive in different climates.

Candy Electrophoresis Lab

1. None of my experimental samples contained dyes that didn't match the four reference dyes. The blue reference dye matched up with the two blue samples as being the slowest, and therefore the longest, strands. The only difference between the blue samples and reference dyes is that the blue samples were slightly lighter in color than the reference. The orange, yellow, and red reference dyes matched up with each of the samples in the distance they traveled through the gel.

2. Citrus red 2 has the shortest structure of all the dyes, meaning, like the dyes in our experiment, it would move the quickest and the furthest. The yellow dye in our experiment migrated similarly to how citrus red 2 would migrate because they have similar length. Betanin is the longest, causing it to move the slowest of all the dyes, much like the blue dye in our lab. 

3. Food manufacturers probably do this to modify the appearance of the food to appeal to customers. 

5. The two factors that control the distance are the length and structure of the dye solutions. The smaller, thinner the strand, the faster and farther it migrates. The larger and longer the strand, the slower and less it migrates.

6. The electric current that runs through the gel helps move the dyes because DNA is negatively charged, causing it to be pulled toward the positive side.

7. With the varying structures of the dyes, each dye will move a different distance based on their size. If a group of molecules all have similar size, then they will arrive at approximately the same place along the gel. Therefore, they separate themselves into these groups of size based on how far they migrate during the electrophoresis.

8. I expect the molecules that are heavier to move slower than the lighter ones, because of their mass weighing them down, it hampers them from moving quicker. I think the DNA molecule weighing 600 would move the fastest, and 5000 would move the slowest. 

Thinking Like a Biotechnician

In order produce recombination DNA, you must find the restriction enzyme that matches up with both the human DNA sequence and the plasmid of bacteria DNA. Restriction enzymes are enzymes that cut the DNA sequence to attach the plasmid to the DNA. The restriction enzyme sequences Bam HI, Hpa II, and Xma appeared on our DNA sequence twice and our plamid once, making them all possible to use, however, we used Xma I because those sequences were located closest to the insulin gene. I would use the antibiotic tetracycine in our petri dish because our plasmid provided resistance to tetracycine. If our plamid actually resisted tetracycine than when placed in a dish of that antibiotic, it would not be affected. If I used an enzyme that cut the plasmid in two places then a section of the plasmid would get cut out, and it would break apart This process is important in everyday life because as a society we use it to easily double and triple our supply of products that are used in medicine, foods, and plants. By altering the DNA sequence we can create new variations of living organisms that benefit our needs. For example, some plants are genetically engineered to protect themselves against pests and be resistant to cold temperatures, strengthening our world-wide food supply. Another example of how is process is used is cloning, an ethical issue that faces much controversy in our modern-day world.

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My New Years Goals

This semester I will improve my long-term memory of the information I learn by breaking up my studying for exams. I will study for at least two nights before the test rather than just the night before. I am hoping that by doing this it will release stress the night before tests and help me remember the information better. This semester I will also focus on my time management. Before approaching my homework each night, I will create a "to-do" list or at least mentally review what order I should do my assignments that night. Instead of blindly going into my work by starting with some random assignment, I will make sure that I am getting the homework I need done by the next day first, before doing homework due later that week. I am hoping that by doing this I eliminate cramming late at night to complete homework.