Muddiest Point 5/13

My muddiest point for this unit is recognizing the antigens and antibodies reactions involved in transfusion reactions and predict which type of blood (ABO system) can be the recipient and donor in transfusion. I am kind of confused how you figure that out.

Muddiest Point 3/20

My muddiest point for this unit is number 9 on the objectives page. It says, understand life cycle of angiosperms including the process of double fertilization and seed formation. (pollen tube, polar nuclei, ovule, endosperm). I know that angiosperms are plants that flower, but I am confused on this whole idea.

Muddiest Point 2/22

My muddiest point in this unit is the humanistic and economic importance of invertebrates. What are those again?

Scribe 2/17

The first thing we did in class on Friday was turn in the homework that was due. Then, we took the invertebrates quiz. We were allowed to use the green chart that we filled out. After everyone finished the quiz, we went to the back of the room to finish the labs we were working on. There were two different labs that we had to do. The first was in the UP packet, pages 13 and 14. The second lab was in the UP packet, pages 19-27. Pages 13 and 14 were looking at 15 jars with different invertebrates in them. We had to then find out what phylum the organism was by looking at it, then using the DICHOTOMUS KEY on page 13. The second lab was spread between all of the lab benches. There were 8 different stations with several things to look at and find out. In pages 19-27 there were multiple questions that you had to answer according to the different stations. (I can't put pictures on here, cause something is wrong with my computer) Some pictures that i took were of Starfish at station #7, molluscs at station #6, and phylum porifera at station #1.

**Homework:
1) Invert Profile (UP 3 and 4) due Tuesday

2) Chordate Chart (Pink chart) due Wednesday

3) Work on TV ad due 2/28

***The next scribe will be: Sara***

Muddiest Point 2/7

My muddiest point is all about Darwin. What was his theory? What is the concept of "survival of the fittest" and "descent with modification?" I am kind of confused with those.

Thanks,
Jessie

Muddiest Point 1/9

My muddiest point is number 5 on the objectives sheet. It says know the terms in the context of hormones and the menstrual cycle. The terms are negative feedback and positive feedback. Is that the chart where if the estrogen and progesterone are high, they tell the hypothalamus to turn everything off? If not, what are they?

Canavan Disorder

Canavan disorder is inherited if both parents are carriers of the defective gene. Both of the parents need to be carriers in order to have an affected child. If both parents carry the gene mutation, there is a 25% chance for the pregnancy to have a child that will be affected with the disease. Canavan disorder is a degenerative disease in the brain. It is also located on chromosome 17.

Symptoms of Canavan disorder usually appear in the first 3 to 6 months of childhood and increase rapidly. Symptoms include lack of motor development, trouble with feeding, abnormal muscle tone (stiffness or weakness), and an abnormally large, poorly controlled head. Blindness, hearing loss, and paralysis may also occur.

Canavan disease can be identified with a blood test before the birth of the baby. The blood test can screen for missing enzymes or mutations in the gene. Canavan disorder causes progressive brain atrophy. There is no cure for this disease or a standard course of treatment.

Although this disorder can occur in any ethnic group, it is mostly common throughout Ashkenazi Jews. Studies show that this disorder affects 1 in 6,4oo to 13,500 people in the Ashkenazi Jewish population.

The life expectancy with Canavan disorder varies. Many affected individuals only survive through childhood. Only some may survive into their teen years or beyond.

This is a picture of a boy who has been affected with Canavan disorder.

Muddiest Point 11/5

One of my muddiest points is the difference haploid and diploid. I am confused with the 2N and N stuff. Another muddiest point are the pedigrees. I don't really know how to read them or decide the genotypes, or whatever you have to do them. Is there an easier way to understand them?

Class 9/15

Today at the beginning of class we handed in UP 7-14. Then, we had a reading check on the reading from last night, which was 12.3. After the reading check we took some notes. Below are the notes we took today.

DNA & CHROMOSOMES: LARGEST- Chromosome (46)

Gene: segment of DNA which codes for protein.

Double Helix

SMALLEST- nucleotides (sugar-dexoyribose, phosphate, nitrogen bases)

DNA REPLICATION:

~During S-phase of interphase

-2 copies needed for mitosis

~Each strand serves as a template for the new strand

~produces 2 identical DNA molecules

~semi-conservative replication: each new molecule contains one old strand and one new

Here are some links to help with these notes:

http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/~biology/teaching/genetics/animations/transcription.htm

http://www.susanahalpine.com/anim/Grolier_Anims/DNA.htm

Homework:

1. Read 13.1-Double Bubble Map: DNA vs. RNA- due tomorrow (11/16)

2. Read 13.1 and 13.2- Flow Map: "Protein Synthesis"- due Thursday

3. Tribune Article- due Monday

4. Unit Test- Tuesday

The next scribe will be GABBY

Muddiest Point 11/5

I have a couple of muddiest points. First, on the objectives page number 8. Describe how the immune system reacts when the disease AIDS or H5N1 is contracted and its effect on the immune system. Include: Infection, Effect on the viruses on cells, Spread of the Disease, and Treatment and prevention for the Disease. When it says describe how it reacts when the disease is contracted, does that just mean how it occurs or how it is diagnosed?

Also, number 9. Explain how the following impact infectious disease: global warming and local habitat disruption, overpopulation and urbanization, and poverty and quality of health care. I don't think I remember learning about these. If someone knows the answer to any or all of these please comment. Thanks!

My Muddiest Point

Cells are very confusing for me because there are so many different parts to it. I think one of my muddiest points is sister cells and daughter cells. What do they do or what are they? Also, what is the difference between chromatin and chromosomes? Overall, I think cells are very confusing. Please help me!

Thanks,

Jessie W.

Jessie's Muddiest Point

One of my muddiest points is the energy pyramid. I understand how 90% of the energy gets lost each time, but it sometimes confuses me. For example, on the Ecology Quiz, the question gave us a food chain. (Algae--->Zooplankton--->Herring--->Trout) It asked if the algae gets 500,000 kcal of energy from the sun, how much would be available to the trout? The answer could be either 5,000 kcal, 500 kcal, 50kcal, or 5 kcal. I was confused because if 90% is lost, how could it get to one of those answers? Also, for every energy pyramid, once you get the concept, is it the same thing every time? Thanks!

Class 9/15
We only did a couple of things today in Biology. First, we took our Chapter 3 and 4 Quiz, which you can find the objectives sheet on the first page of your Ecology packet. When we finished the quiz we had to take out our stamp sheet and our homework. The homework was to read lesson 5.1 and 5.2 in our Biology books and write 6 questions and answers according to the reading. Ms. Stein gave us sheets to help us write the 6 questions. The sheet told you how and what to write and some examples to help you. That is what we had to show after the quiz. Once we did that, we went to the back of the room in groups of 4 people and we asked each other the questions. Then, we came back to our seats and took out our Community Interaction notes that we started on 9/14. On 9/14 we talked about predation, (an organism kills and feeds on another) symbiosis (living together) and the 3 classes of symbiotic relationships in nature, (mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism) and niches (physical and biological conditions of an organism) Today, we talked about exponential growth. (J-Shaped on a graph) Exponential growth is growth under ideal conditions and there is a rapid increase in population. We also talked about logistic growth. (S-Shaped on a graph) Logistic growth slows or stops following rapid growth and the carrying capacity is the number of individuals and environment can support and the population levels off. Next, we took notes on the Limits to Growth. The first limit is Limiting Factor. A limiting factor is anything that causes a population to decrease. The second limit is Density Dependent Limiting Factor. The DDLF is a factor that affects larger/ denser populations. MORE: food availability, disease, competition (space, food, mates,), predation, and parasitism. The last thing we took notes on was Density- Independent Factors. It affects populations regardless of its size density. Such as hurricanes, fire, or extreme temperature.

The next scribe will be Breck M.

JessieW- Unit 1 Reflection

The first unit of Biology was a good way to start off the year because there were many things that were review from last year that I did not remember. Some of the materials that were refreshed in my memory, were the different variables and the microscope and it's parts. I used to get confused with the parts of the microscope, but going over it again helped me remember them. I also learned how to write a hypothesis and the trick to remember how to write it. We learned about the difference between quantitative and qualitative data.

Overall, I think this class will be challenging, but also fun and interesting. I look forward to learning a lot this year.

Jessie W-First Post, Justin Bieber

This is Justin Bieber! The famous and inspirational 17 year old, teen sensation throughout the world! Justin Bieber came from a small town in Stratford, Ontario in Canada. He did many talent shows when he was around the age of 14. His mom, Pattie Mallette, made videos and put them up on YouTube just so friends and family would be able to see and hear him sing. Random people just started finding these videos and were subscribing and commenting! Then one guy, named Scooter Braun, found Justin's videos and thought he was really good! So he kept trying to get a hold of Justin's mom and she just didn't want to answer. She kept saying things like leave us alone, and we don't want any of this. One day Scooter and Pattie had a 3 hour- long conversation about Scooter wanting to be Justin's manager and get Justin out there! Then, they flew down to Atlanta, and took a car over to the recording studio. They got out of the car and Justin saw Usher get out of his car. Justin ran up to Usher and asked him if he could sing for him. After Justin sang, Usher wanted to sign him right away. From day 1 Justin had thousands of fans! And me, I was one of those thousands. Justin Bieber is one of my all time favorite singers and celebrities! One of my favorite songs is Down To Earth. The second verse goes, Mommy you were always somewhere, and Daddy I live out of town..(Justin's parents split when he was 10 months old) So tell me how could I ever be, normal some how? (He just wants to have a normal life) You tell me this is for the best, so tell me why am I in tears? So far away and now I just need you here. (He wants his dad to be in his everyday life and it's so hard for him to handle that he can't see him everyday) I absolutely love Justin Bieber because he is so talented, I love his hair and his music, and he is just so inspiring! Don't Forget, Never Say Never.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJCN3Mhr14

(His movie, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never is such an amazing and inspiring movie!!!)

What am I most excited about?

~I think what I am most excited about is meeting all the freshman that I didn't know before.

What am I least excited about?

~ The thing I am least excited about is probably the homework, tests, and quizzes. But we'll see, maybe things will change.