Please Let This Raise My Grade For Data Analysis! :)

Yeah It's a Really Big Word!

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Our Photosynthesis "Dry Lab"! Oh The Excitement! :)

So I guess this week we went backwards.(Actually this last week- I forgot to post this. Oops) Instead of doing an experiment and writing down the observations, Mr. Ludwig gave us a set of observations and we had to write the procedure that went along with this experiment given. I was very confused at first but then I looked at other blogs and worked on it with a friend so this is our (mine and Chapin's) Photosynthesis "Dry Lab." Enjoy!



Materials

• Distilled Water
• Bromothymol Blue (BTB)
• Aquarium Snail
• Elodea
• Large Test Tubes
• Light
• Dark Space

Procedure

1. Put 15 ml of water and 15 drops of  BTB in a large test tube and let it sit for 3 hours under light. Record your observations.
2. Put 15 ml of water, 15 drops of BTB, and an aquarium snail in a large test tube and let it sit for 3 hours under light. Record your observations.
3. Put 15 ml of water, 15 drops of BTB, and a elodea (funny plant) in a large test tube and let it sit for 3 hours under light. Record your observations.
4. Put 15ml of water, 15 drops of BTB, an aquarium snail, and an elodea in a large test tube in the light for 3 hours. Record your observations.
5. Repeat Step 4 procedure but put it in the dark for three hours and let it sit. Record your observations.

(If your water doesn't turn blue after 15 drops of BTB keep putting drops in until it turns blue)


Observations:
Water plus BTB is blue-green.
         Water is neutral. It changes to the color of the substance that is put in it.


Water plus BTB and an Aquarium Snail is yellow in light.
          Animals respire (breath) and they let Carbon Dioxide out. Carbon dioxide in water produces carbonic acid. When there is acid in BTB and water it turns to yellow.


Water plus BTB plus elodea is blue-green in light.
          Green plants respire. Then they photosynthesize and use the Carbon Dioxide. The plant keeps the water from acid it stays a neutral at the blue green color.


Water plus BTB plus a snail plus elodea is blue-green in light.
          The plant and snail respire. But the plant photosynthesizes and uses the Carbon Dioxide so it turns to blue green and there is no carbonic acid.

Water plus BTB plus a snail plus elodea is yellow in dark.
          The snail and plant respire. Since there is no light the plant can't photosynthesize. The carbon dioxide is still in the water so it stays an acid and the color stays yellow.


Conclusion:
When BTB is added to water it turns yellow because Carbon Dioxide and water mixed together make a carbonic acid. It stays blue with just water because water is a neutral.

Photosynthesis

This is the poster that Sierra, Chapin, and I made on Photosynthesis and how plants make the magic happen.

A Little Something About What You Need

     So I am sure you have heard a lot about carbs and how they are awful for you.  You probably especially hear this from those people whose main desire in life is to be super skinny. I bet your thinking, "But all the delicious food has carbs in it! Am I not supposed to be eating anything that tastes good?" That's a disappointing thought! Well have no fear! I am hear to tell you all about these bad boys that they call carbs.
     Carbohydrates (the more technical term for carbs) are a macromolecule. Carbohydrates are used as an immediate energy source in living things but they also give structure to a variety of organisms. Most carbohydrates have the ratio of 1:2:1 for carbon to hydrogen to oxygen.

     Glucose is an example of a carbohydrate, but not just any carbohydrate, a monosaccharide to be specific. A monosaccharide is a simple sugar that canot be broken down by hydrolysis. Monosaccharides have this crazy name because "monos" means single and "sacchar" means sugar. Get it? It's made of only one single sugar; they are a simple sugar. Yeah, well now that you hopefully got that down I can tell you that these simple sugars can have a backbone of three to seven carbons. The molecular formula is some multiple of CH2O. Which means...that with every carbon item it is bonded to a H and a -OH molecule. However, this is not always true, there are a few exceptions. This is just the basic formula. Glucose has six carbon atoms and therefor called a hexose. its molecular formula is C6H12O6. Ribose, on the other hand, is made up of five carbon atoms and therefore called a pentos. But usually these monosaccharaides dont stay that way for long.

     When two monosaccharides combine in a dehydration reaction  you get a disaccharide. For example when you combine glucose and fructose (two monosaccharides) you get the disaccharide of sucrose, also known as table sugar.  Sucrose is the form of sugar that is transported in plants. Another disaccharide, lactose, is made when glucose and galactose are combined. I'm sure you have heard of a few people who are lactose intolerant. This means that that person cannot break down the lactose disaccharide.
     Polysaccharides are the next step up. Polysaccharides are polymers(macromolecule consisting of covalently bonded monomers) of monosaccharides or a bunch of monosaccharides combined together. These carbs can also be called complex carbohydrates.  Some types of polysaccharides are used as short-term energy storage. These can be used as storage because they are not soluble and they are bigger than sugar. because of their large size they can't pass through the plasma membrane. When you need energy the pollysaccharide is broken down to release its sugar molecules.

These are polysaccharides that are found in  plant cells

     So in other words these carbs are not some awful things that you should steer clear from. You actually do need them. Just make sure you are not consuming too much more than you need.

Oh The Joy of Fluid Mosaic Models

   A fluid mosaic model is a model for the plasma membrane based on the changing location and pattern of protein molecules in a fluid phospholipid bilayer. The proteins in the model are just scattered about the membrane. This model was introduced in1972 by S. Singer and G. Nicolson.
   The plasma membrane separates what is inside the cell and what is outside. It controls what enters and exits to help the cell maintain a steady internal environment.
   There are many complex structures that make this what it is.

   The microfilamants help the cytosceketon to maintain its shape, but still allow some cells to move.
   The phospholopids make up the cell membrane. The are made of two major parts: the head and the tail. The head is the polar/hygrophillic phosphate groups. The tail shows the nonpolar/hydrophobic fatty acid chains of phosphate. The heads of the phospholipid face where the water is found, to the inside and the outside of the cell. The phospholipid tails face towards each other in between the heads.
   A glycolipid is a lipid that has sugar attached to it. This serves as a marker for cell recognition and provides energy.
Cholesterol  helps by stiffening and making the membrane stronger. This helps control the fluidity.
 
   Proteins!
There are many different kinds of proteins.
Channel proteins assist with the passage of different molecules through the membrane. They contain a channel that allows molecules to simply move from one place to another.
Carrier proteins also help with moving things across the membrane. They combined themselves with a substance and assist it in moving across the membrane. By transporting potassium and sodium ions across the cell membrane of a nerve it makes nerve conduction possible.
Cell recognition proteins  are glycoproteins. These help the body in recognizing when it is being invaded by pathogens(a disease-causing agent) so it can react with an immune reaction. If we didn't have these pathogens would be able to invade our body without restrictions.




   

 

Something New :)

OK, so I learned something new about water that I probably should have know before. Well better now than never!  So the absorption of heat from when the hydrogen bonds break in water is the reason why we sweat. Crazy stuff!  I guess you really do learn something new everyday.

Lets Talk About Carbs

Carbohydrates Article

In the article "Carbohydrates" that I read, it helped explain to me (in a simple way) what carbohydrates are all about. If you're like me, all that huge talk of scientific mumbo jumbo might be confusing so here is a little bit about carbs in a more "simple" version.

Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for your body so that makes them pretty important. There are two types of carbs- sugars and starches. Sugars are the more simple carbohydrates that are easily digested by our bodies. These carbs include the real tasty foods like candy, pop, cake, and all that good sugary stuff. Starches are much more complex and take longer to be digested. These are more of the foods like grains, pastas, fruits, and vegetables. Some foods like fruits and vegetables are not only good sources of carbs but they are also very good suppliers of vitamins A and C and other minerals.

Statistics show that 60% of the calories that we eat on a day-to-day basis should be carbohydrates. However, that 60% should not be made up mostly of simple sugars. These are the ones that leave waste in your body and cause you to put on the pounds. You should try to focus on eating the more nutritional carbs that give you other good things as well. For example, fiber.

Fiber is a very important kind of carbohydrate that only comes from certain foods such as, grains, fruits, and vegetables(the same things that contain starches!). But of course being healthy can't be as simple as just having any kind of fiber in your diet. Oh no, there are to kinds of fiber- soluble and non-soluble. Soluble fiber helps to control blood sugar and may also lower cholesterol. Non-soluble fiber doesn't seem to help with those problems but may help reduce the risk of colon cancer and helps maintain bowel function. According to the American Dietetic Association, adults need 20-35 grams of fiber each day.

So now that you know some of the science behind what you should eat challenge yourself to have a better diet and eat the healthier things(most of the time =]).

Acids, Bases,and pH scales. Oh My!

Just A Little Something About Water

GoAnimate.com: Stick figures and water by SidneyB

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Is it Really Worth It?: Lab Write-Up

This last week in Biology I have been researching clinical trails.  More specifically, I have been learning about a trail concerning prostate caner called, AVODART After Radical Therapy For Prostate Cancer Study.  This study is still underway but I would be happy to share with you what I have learned so far.

This study was specifically designed to see if they discovered a new medicine to prolong the life of victims of prostate cancer after they have had radical treatment.  This trial is a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment.  This just means that to test Avodart (the drug that might cure cancer) the scientists are using placebo (a sugar pill) as the control. Or in other words, just something to compare it to. Making the experiment double-blind just means that the patients, caregivers, investigators, and outcomes assessor won't know whether the patient is being given Avodart or the placebo.  Having a double-blind trail helps eliminate bias or false results.

To be eligible for this study the subject must be between the ages of 18 and 85.  They also have to have prostate cancer and have undergone radical treatments to try and cure or get rid of it.

The subjects in the study (no matter what pills they are given) are instructed to take one tablet by mouth daily.  They will be given a three month supply of pills every three months when they come for their scheduled clinic visit. All of the patients will do this for exactly 24 months.  

After all the subjects have completed the two year trial the scientists will collaborate the results. The estimated study completion date is March 2011.