Blood Typing Lab Report
Introduction: Immunology is the study of the immune system and how it protects our bodies. This has been our most recent unit in NEW School, so we have been learning about viruses, red and white blood cells and the different forms of immunity. Some people have what are called antigens on their red blood cells, and this determines their blood type. Blood types can only be mixed with some other blood types because the differing antigens will attack each other if they are unknown. In our N.E.W. School Science class, we decided to test out and find what our blood types are.
Purpose: What is my blood type?
Hypothesis: If the anti-antigens are added to my blood, then some of the blood drops will have a reaction depending on the blood-type, because the antigens present in the blood will react with the corresponding anti-antigens, but the ones that are not present will not have a reaction, therefore revealing my blood type.
Materials:
1 blood typing slide
1 drop of A anti-antigen
1 drop of B anti-antigen
1 drop of Rh anti-antigen
4 toothpicks
1 wipe w/rubbing alcohol
1 antibiotic ointment
1 lancet
3 drops of blood
1 bandage
Procedure:
- Drop one drop of each anti-antigen in each well of the blood typing slide.
- Rub the alcohol on the person's finger where you will use the lancet. Be fast as you prick their finger.
- Be careful and use the toothpick to drop one drop of blood in each well.
- Clean off the area with the antibiotic ointment, then place a bandage.
- Use each toothpick to mix up the anti-antigen and the blood for thirty seconds or until you see a reaction. The reaction will look like clumping or dots. Do with each well until you can see which have a reaction and which do not. Record.
- Use a blood type table to determine your blood type. If your blood had a reaction to the anti-antigen, then that antigen was present in the blood.
Data Table:
Trial
|
Reaction with Anti-A (Y/N)
|
Reaction with Anti-B (Y/N)
|
Reaction with Anti-Rh
|
Determined Blood Type
|
Emily
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
A+
|
Conclusion: According to the reactions my blood had to the anti-antigens, I have an A+ blood type. This is because my blood had a reaction to the A anti-antigen, meaning the A antigen is present in my blood, and it had a reaction with the Rh anti-antigen. The positive in A+ means that it is Rh positive, and since my blood had a reaction to the Rh anti-antigen, then I must be Rh positive.
The main point of the immune system is to keep out pathogens, or things that will do damage to the body, and if they do enter the body to kill them off. Pathogens can include parasites, fungi, viruses, proteins and bacteria.
There are two lines of defense in the innate response.
Vocab:
Innate: born with it
Non-specific: Not attributed to anything specific
The innate response is the first response the body has and responds to anything that is bad, it does not adapt like the specific response.
The First Line of Defense is to keep things out. These include things on the outside of our body that help keep pathogens from entering it. This includes skin, with oils that are too acidic for some bacteria to survive in, mucous membrane (mucus, like a runny nose or ear wax) and stomach acid that burns up the pathogens.
 |
| Innate Response First Line of Defense |
(phagocyte with antigen)
 |
| Phagocytes and the process of phagocytosis |
What is a virus?
 |
| Avian Flu Virus |
A virus is a complex collection of living matter that is able to self-replicate.
What is the structure of a virus?
Virus infecting a cell
They are mostly a shell of protein that encases either DNA or RNA with enzymes for replication. They are a structure of genetic material, either DNA or RNA, called a genome.
|
| Virus infecting a cell |
How do viruses work?
The genome uses the power of other molecular machines to replicate itself but it cannot do this without infecting another cell. The virus uses its protein shell to bond with the membrane of the cell. This step affects which cells it can enter. Once it enters, it can hijack the protein-making system of the cell and use the cell’s DNA replication process to create viral proteins. These fill up the cell until it bursts, releasing the thousands of viral proteins to infect other hosts.
Viruses are everywhere and can be inhaled, ingested or can generally enter through any entrance into the body.
If a bacteria had eyes, even it would not be able to see a virus.
If a bacteria had eyes, even it would not be able to see a virus.
Viral Tag
In N.E.W. Science class, we played a game called Viral Tag to see how this process would look like to scale. The game was that one team was viruses, one team were blood cells and one group was regular cells. The viruses had to infect everyone in the group, so they had to tag the healthy cells. If no blood cell came to heal the cell, they would become a virus. This displayed how if a cell was infected by a virus, it would produce and release thousands of viruses that would infect other healthy cells. It could easily be seen that the more viruses there were compared to blood cells, the harder it was for the immune system to keep up.
In N.E.W. Science class, we played a game called Viral Tag to see how this process would look like to scale. The game was that one team was viruses, one team were blood cells and one group was regular cells. The viruses had to infect everyone in the group, so they had to tag the healthy cells. If no blood cell came to heal the cell, they would become a virus. This displayed how if a cell was infected by a virus, it would produce and release thousands of viruses that would infect other healthy cells. It could easily be seen that the more viruses there were compared to blood cells, the harder it was for the immune system to keep up.
Name of Vaccine
|
No. of Ingredients
|
Benign Ingredients
|
Toxic Ingredients
|
Limited info
|
Polio
|
9
|
Vero cells, M 199, calf bovine, phenoxyethanol, neomycin, Eagle MEM modified medium
|
Formaldehyde, streptomycin, polymoxin B
|
M-199
|
DTaP
|
15
|
Glutaraldehyde, Dimethyl-Beta-Cyclodextrin, Ammonium Sulfate, Aluminum Hydroxide and Polysorbate 80 (Tween 80)
|
All of them are toxic in high quantities.
|
Fenton medium containing a bovine extract, modified Latham medium derived from bovine casein, modified Latham medium derived from bovine casein
|
MMR 2
(Measles, Mumps, Rubella)
|
13
|
All
|
Only toxic if taken in high quantities: amino acids, vitamins
|
Chick embryo cell culture, W1-38 human diploid lung fibroblasts
|
HIB
|
12
|
Sodium Chloride, sucrose, saline, lactose
|
Modified Mueller and Miller Medium, Formaldehyde, lactose (if intolerant)
|
Synthetic Mediums, Amorphous Aluminum Hydroxyphosphate Sulfate
|
Hepatitis B
|
Yeast protein, mineral salts, dextrose, soy peptone,
|
Formaldehyde, Sodium Hydrogen Phosphate Dihydrate, Disodium Phosphate Dihydrate, Aluminum Hydroxide (when combined with kidney failure), Sodium Chloride
| ||
Hepatitis A
|
16
|
Formalin, MRC-5 human diploid cells, aluminum hydroxide
|
Sodium chloride, sodium borate, aminoglycoside antibiotics, neomycin
|
Amorphous Aluminum Hydroxyphosphate sulfate
|
Varicella (Chickenpox)
|
15
|
Sucrose, hydrolized gelatin
|
urea, neomycin, monosodium L-glutamate, sodium phosphate dibasic, potassium phosphate monobasic, potassium chloride, EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid)
|
Human embryonic lung cell cultures, guinea pig cell cultures, human diploid cell cultures (W1-38), human diploid cell
|
HPV
|
10
|
Vitamins, carbohydrates,
L-Histidine is a main amino acid needed in your body.
|
AAHS has been found to be a neurotoxin. Polysorbate 80 is toxic upon skin contact.
|
Sodium borate, mineral salts, vitamins,
|
Some questions that come to mind when looking at the table above are:
- Who researches these ingredients?
- What if someone has allergies to these ingredients?
- How many people experience side effects?
- How much is "toxic"? Consider age and weight.
Fossil Fuels: energy sources formed over millions of years under intense heat and/or pressure. Different conditions lead to different forms of fuel.
There are 3 main types of Fossil Fuels.
Coal
How is coal made?
380 million years of pressure. It starts as plant life from 3.29 billion years ago in the Coniferous period. The plant life got stuck in swamp water and couldn’t decompose properly.
Stages of Coal:
- Peat
- Lignite
- Subbituminous
- Bituminous
- Anthracite
Oil
Oil is made up of plankton, mostly zion.
Americans collect 9.4 billion cans of oil, meaning there are 352 million cans of oil every day. Each can is equal to 42 gallons. When oil is accidentally burned, it produces carbon dioxide, sulfur oxide. This is not nearly as dangerous as the oil spill itself, which kills millions of animals.
The mining process of oil releases carbon and a carbon tax might stop this.
Natural Gas
Is formed under even more intense heat and pressure than either coal or oil, changing it to gas form.
Environmental Impacts
Air pollution: a mixture of solid particles and gasses in the air that can contaminate the atmosphere
Global Warming: the term used to describe a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth’s climate
(CO2) Emission: the production and discharge of something, especially gas or radiation
Coal leads to smog, acid rain, air pollution, toxins. A ⅓ of our carbon dioxide emissions come from coal-fired power plants.
Lead, arsenic, and mercury are released into the atmosphere with the burning of coal, each of which is disastrous to health.
Oil is used to power vehicles and make plastics. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is released, which contributes to global warming when oil is burned. It can also release sulfur which leads to acid rain.
Oil can destroy the insulating ability of fur animals and water repellency of birds.
The main contributor to CO2 emissions are cars, which use oil.
Alternative Energy Sources
Coal, natural gas, oil -> old energy resources
Fossil fuels are formed over hundreds of millions of years, composed of decomposed organic matter and certain conditions create certain fossil fuels.
Renewable resource: a substance that can be replenished just as fast it is being drawn out and used (fossil fuels are not a renewable resource)
Energy efficiency: The corresponding amount of energy produced by a given amount of fuel
How much do we really use?
Equivalent of 11 billion tons of oil in fossil fuels per year
4 billion tons of oil every year
By 2088, we are expected to run out of most fossil fuels
Clean energy source: an energy that does not pollute the atmosphere when used
Solar, wind turbines, biomass (plants, paper, wood, clothing), tidal energy, geothermal
Alternatives and why aren’t we using them?
Wind, solar, biomass and geothermal are all renewable sources; however, their energy yield is much lower than fossil fuels
Political Ramifications of Energy Sources
Export: when a product is taken to another country
Fossil fuels: hydrocarbons trapped under the surface of the earth
Energy-dependence: not producing all of our own fuels
Continents with most Energy Resources
Middle East: Oil
Asia and Australia: Coal
China burns the most coal, which is why it's highly polluted
North America: Natural Gas
Economy and the Environment
When the cost is high for oil companies, its low for us
When the cost is low for companies, the cost is high for us
There is no perfect energy source
Fossil fuels: energy dense but leads to global climate change
Renewable sources: highly energy inefficient
Hydropower: efficient but leads to problems in the water environment
Conclusion
According to what we have learned today, I conclude that methanol and ethanol would be the most efficient ways to harness energy if we figure out a way to produce enough energy sufficient corn to produce it.
We used a nylon tube to reenact the small intestine, using a toilet paper roll 'sphincter' to carry the chyme from the stomach to the small intestine's opening. Then we squeezed the nylon until it barely had anything left that was liquid, only leaving mostly waste by the time the bile was pushed into the large intestine.
The large intestine dries what's left of the bile and forms it into a shape that can easily leave the human body. We used a sock to serve as the large intestine, since it is flexible and dries things quickly.
Lastly, the large intestine passes the, now considered, feces to the rectum. The rectum was also represented by the sock, since all the rectum does is hold the waste until the organism can dispose of it. It sends the signals to the brain that tell the creature that it needs to get rid of its waste. The rectum pushes the waste out of the body, and all that is left is the unusable junk food that the body can't process. What we had left was the marshmallows, gummy worms, and a bit of so
Station 1: pH and the Ocean
pH - goes from 1 to 12 most of the times but it may go from 7.0 to 10.0 it detects how much acidity is in a liquid
Acidity or alkalinity of a solution
Ocean water is usually 8.0 to 8.4 depends on the time of the day
High number is alkaline, low level is acidic
The environment can affect pH levels
pH strips are pieces of paper that are soaked in pH indicators they are weak acids or bases that change color at specific pH’s Ex: Methyl red is red at pH of 5 and yellow at 6
Acids are molecules that donate a proton or take in an electron, while bases will take in protons and donate electrons.
The color change occurs when the acid is the donor of the proton and the base accepts it.
The release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere are absorbed into the ocean, and turns it into carbonic acid, leading to higher acidity. Limits shell growth in marine animals, damages reproductive systems, disorders in fish, Past 300 million years pH has been 8.2, now it's 8.1
Example of pH strip with a green tint from being soaked in salt water at a pH of 8.1
Vocab:
Alkaline: Basic solutions are bases that will take in protons and donate electrons.
Acids: are molecules that donate a proton or take in an electron
Protons: particle with positive charge
Electron: particle negative charge
Station 2: Chlorine and Lead in Tap Water
Tap water comes from rivers, sewers, ponds, the ground
2% is potable, as in able to drink
Non-potable goes through a treatment plant, gets filtered,
Chlorine is a toxin, irritant, pale green gas
Kills bacteria and microbiological organisms
It reacts with other chemicals and has a low level of harm
When it reacts with other chemicals it can be much worse
Lead
Blue, bright color, then becomes black
Never safe
Lead piping is the most common way to get lead poisoning.
Soft or corrosive
Affects air pollution, affects soil, moves through the ecosystem, organ damage and damages brain growth
Vocab:
Potable: drinkable tap water
Microbiological: small organisms
Station 3: Pond water
An example of pond water with macroscopic creatures
Vocab:
Pond: A body of water that has no other forms of water running into it and the sunlight can go through it
Macroscopic: Anything that can be seen without a microscope
Photoautotroph: organisms producing their own food via photosynthesis
Heterotrophs: organisms that cannot produce their own food
Water bears
Tardigrades: survived 10 days in space, live in temparatures of -458 F to 300 F, can live 30 years without food or water, can outlast 1000 times radiation
Ponds are stagnant, so bacteria are needed to decompose organic waste and ammonia and reduce algae blooms.
There are usually 184 types of bacteria, usually are helpful
Bad bacteria
E.coli. hey are antibiotic resistant and can share the resistance with other bacteria
Salmonella
anything that has waste can have salmonella or e.coli
If there is too much of one bacteria or not enough, algae blooms can grow, then fish will die, which then affects the rest of the ecosystem.
The pond water with pH strips
In the N.E.W. core's science class, we learned about the water cycle. To display this cycle, our teacher made a small model to create a small water cycle.
1) Evaporation
Water that is at the surface level becomes a gas, water vapor, after being heated up by the sun. This is called evaporation. This was simulated by heating up a beaker of salt water to represent the ocean and the heat of the sun then filling a glass bottle with the water, with a smaller bottle to catch the 'rain'.
2) Condensation
Once the water molecules reach the higher levels of the atmosphere, they start to get colder. This was simulated by covering the bottle with plastic wrap (the atmosphere) and putting ice on top (the cold). The atmosphere keeps the heat in, trapping it and the water. As the water molecules begin to slow and cool down, they attach to dust particles and may become ice crystals which form clouds. This is condensation. Condensation can be seen on the sides of the bottle, where the gas starts to become liquid at the sides of the bottle.
3) Precipitation
When the water molecules are heated up more, they begin to melt. The heat makes them go from their solid ice form back to their liquid form, falling back to the ground. This is precipitation. This can be in the form of rain or snow. After water condensated on the plastic wrap, it fell back into the other bottle inside of the bottle. This helped us better see how much it precipatated in the simulated water cycle. Once water reaches the surface, it will either go into the ground, lake or ocean or become part of a run-off. Most rivers and creeks are run-offs, meaning that the ground has already soaked up as much water as it can.
Other notes:
*Sublimation: Going from solid ice to liquid gas. Usually happens in cold, dry places.
*Plants will take in water from the surface where their roots can reach it, then use it to transport nutrients up to their leaves and for photosynthesis.
Station 1: pH and the Ocean
pH - goes from 1 to 12 most of the times but it may go from 7.0 to 10.0 it detects how much acidity is in a liquid
Acidity or alkalinity of a solution
Ocean water is usually 8.0 to 8.4 depends on the time of the day
High number is alkaline, low level is acidic
The environment can affect pH levels
pH strips are pieces of paper that are soaked in pH indicators they are weak acids or bases that change color at specific pH’s Ex: Methyl red is red at pH of 5 and yellow at 6
Acids are molecules that donate a proton or take in an electron, while bases will take in protons and donate electrons.
The color change occurs when the acid is the donor of the proton and the base accepts it.
The release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere are absorbed into the ocean, and turns it into carbonic acid, leading to higher acidity. Limits shell growth in marine animals, damages reproductive systems, disorders in fish, Past 300 million years pH has been 8.2, now it's 8.1
 |
Example of pH strip with a green tint from being soaked in salt water at a pH of 8.1
|
Vocab:
Alkaline: Basic solutions are bases that will take in protons and donate electrons.
Acids: are molecules that donate a proton or take in an electron
Protons: particle with positive charge
Electron: particle negative charge
Station 2: Chlorine and Lead in Tap Water
Tap water comes from rivers, sewers, ponds, the ground
2% is potable, as in able to drink
Non-potable goes through a treatment plant, gets filtered,
Chlorine is a toxin, irritant, pale green gas
Kills bacteria and microbiological organisms
It reacts with other chemicals and has a low level of harm
When it reacts with other chemicals it can be much worse
Lead
Blue, bright color, then becomes black
Never safe
Lead piping is the most common way to get lead poisoning.
Soft or corrosive
Affects air pollution, affects soil, moves through the ecosystem, organ damage and damages brain growth
Vocab:
Potable: drinkable tap water
Microbiological: small organisms
Station 3: Pond water
 |
An example of pond water with macroscopic creatures
|
Vocab:
Pond: A body of water that has no other forms of water running into it and the sunlight can go through it
Macroscopic: Anything that can be seen without a microscope
Photoautotroph: organisms producing their own food via photosynthesis
Heterotrophs: organisms that cannot produce their own food
Water bears
Tardigrades: survived 10 days in space, live in temparatures of -458 F to 300 F, can live 30 years without food or water, can outlast 1000 times radiation
Ponds are stagnant, so bacteria are needed to decompose organic waste and ammonia and reduce algae blooms.
There are usually 184 types of bacteria, usually are helpful
Bad bacteria
E.coli. hey are antibiotic resistant and can share the resistance with other bacteria
Salmonella
anything that has waste can have salmonella or e.coli
If there is too much of one bacteria or not enough, algae blooms can grow, then fish will die, which then affects the rest of the ecosystem.
 |
The pond water with pH strips
|
In the N.E.W. core's science class, we learned about the water cycle. To display this cycle, our teacher made a small model to create a small water cycle.
1) Evaporation
Water that is at the surface level becomes a gas, water vapor, after being heated up by the sun. This is called evaporation. This was simulated by heating up a beaker of salt water to represent the ocean and the heat of the sun then filling a glass bottle with the water, with a smaller bottle to catch the 'rain'.
2) Condensation
Once the water molecules reach the higher levels of the atmosphere, they start to get colder. This was simulated by covering the bottle with plastic wrap (the atmosphere) and putting ice on top (the cold). The atmosphere keeps the heat in, trapping it and the water. As the water molecules begin to slow and cool down, they attach to dust particles and may become ice crystals which form clouds. This is condensation. Condensation can be seen on the sides of the bottle, where the gas starts to become liquid at the sides of the bottle.
3) Precipitation
When the water molecules are heated up more, they begin to melt. The heat makes them go from their solid ice form back to their liquid form, falling back to the ground. This is precipitation. This can be in the form of rain or snow. After water condensated on the plastic wrap, it fell back into the other bottle inside of the bottle. This helped us better see how much it precipatated in the simulated water cycle. Once water reaches the surface, it will either go into the ground, lake or ocean or become part of a run-off. Most rivers and creeks are run-offs, meaning that the ground has already soaked up as much water as it can.
Other notes:
*Sublimation: Going from solid ice to liquid gas. Usually happens in cold, dry places.
*Plants will take in water from the surface where their roots can reach it, then use it to transport nutrients up to their leaves and for photosynthesis.
The Water Cycle
"Biogeochemical cycles" by OpenStax College, Concepts of Biology, at http://cnx.org/contents/b3c1e1d2-839c-42b0-a314-e119a8aafbdd@9.10
The information found in this chart displays how much water is actually usable for organisms. Most of it is saltwater for oceans, while a slim 2.5% is freshwater. Not only is this very little compared to the vast amounts of saltwater, but it is cut down even more. Approximately 70% of this 2.5% is frozen in glaciers and unavailable for organisms to use. The rest is groundwater, which is only available to humans to subterranean creatures, while a tiny .3% is in lakes and rivers. This means that all living organisms above the surface have to share this .3%, and humans waste a large portion of this.
"Biogeochemical cycles" by OpenStax College, Concepts of Biology, at http://cnx.org/contents/b3c1e1d2-839c-42b0-a314-e119a8aafbdd@9.10
This graph goes into further detail about how fast water moves from one place to the other. That 93.7% of water that is in oceans stays there for around 4,000 years. Meanwhile, the 70% of freshwater found in glaciers stays there for 1,000 to 10,000 years and even the 30.8% found underground is stuck there from an almost indeterminable amount of time. If it only takes around a week for organisms to cycle through with water, then that means that they will need to replenish it quickly, but that does not mean that more water will be accessible in time. This further stresses how humans should not waste the supply that they have because it may not be replenished in time to revitalize the organisms around them.
For N.E.W.'s science class, we will be learning the subject of ecology. Ecology is the study of ecosystems, or how living and non-living things interact in their environment. To introduce the topic, we had an activity where we had to get in groups of 11-12 people. One of the people was the leader, while all the rest had labels that had biotic and abiotic factors. A factor that is biotic is something living while a factor that is abiotic is not. Both biotic and abiotic things have to interact in an environment to create an ecosystem.
The leader had to connect all of the biotic and abiotic factors together with yarn, red yarn representing consumers (organisms that eat other organisms) and green representing producers (organisms that produce their own energy). If two organisms were connected, the one with red yarn eats the one holding onto the green end. This led to us making a food web, with water in the middle since all organisms need water. All of the organisms were connected in a variety of ways since some that ate others were eaten by something else.
Once everything was connected, we added vocabulary words from our word bank to our labels. For example, a monkey is not only a monkey but prey, a predator, consumer and a biotic factor. This activity helped us understand what ecology is by teaching us the vocabulary and basic connections between animals, plants, fungi and abiotic things in their environment.
Usually happens in the coding of a protein
Substitution mutation - if RNA is transcribed and one of the nitrogenous bases is replaced incorrectly ex: Sickle Cell Anemia
Insertion mutation - Inserting a whole extra codon ex: Huntington’s disease
Deletion mutation - deleting a whole codon
A silent mutation - when you have a mutation but it fits within the same box so it is used in the coding of that DNA
Frameshift mutation - a nitrogenous base is missing so everything is shifted over (off by one)
In our science class, we were given a block to design and create a water slide for a small toy. All of our groups had to use teamwork, their understandings of physics and design and be able to work under pressure. This was the design our team came up with.
If we were to do this again, we wouldn't use the easel and instead use one of the larger pieces of wood to hold up our slide. We would also make it longer or taller, since the main point of the challenge was to make the longest/tallest slide. We would also cut the top of the cups, since the toy got stuck in slide. All of the teams had a fun time doing this, and learned from the experience, even if their designs didn't work.
 |
"Biogeochemical cycles" by OpenStax College, Concepts of Biology, at http://cnx.org/contents/b3c1e1d2-839c-42b0-a314-e119a8aafbdd@9.10
|
The information found in this chart displays how much water is actually usable for organisms. Most of it is saltwater for oceans, while a slim 2.5% is freshwater. Not only is this very little compared to the vast amounts of saltwater, but it is cut down even more. Approximately 70% of this 2.5% is frozen in glaciers and unavailable for organisms to use. The rest is groundwater, which is only available to humans to subterranean creatures, while a tiny .3% is in lakes and rivers. This means that all living organisms above the surface have to share this .3%, and humans waste a large portion of this.
 |
"Biogeochemical cycles" by OpenStax College, Concepts of Biology, at http://cnx.org/contents/b3c1e1d2-839c-42b0-a314-e119a8aafbdd@9.10
|
This graph goes into further detail about how fast water moves from one place to the other. That 93.7% of water that is in oceans stays there for around 4,000 years. Meanwhile, the 70% of freshwater found in glaciers stays there for 1,000 to 10,000 years and even the 30.8% found underground is stuck there from an almost indeterminable amount of time. If it only takes around a week for organisms to cycle through with water, then that means that they will need to replenish it quickly, but that does not mean that more water will be accessible in time. This further stresses how humans should not waste the supply that they have because it may not be replenished in time to revitalize the organisms around them.
For N.E.W.'s science class, we will be learning the subject of ecology. Ecology is the study of ecosystems, or how living and non-living things interact in their environment. To introduce the topic, we had an activity where we had to get in groups of 11-12 people. One of the people was the leader, while all the rest had labels that had biotic and abiotic factors. A factor that is biotic is something living while a factor that is abiotic is not. Both biotic and abiotic things have to interact in an environment to create an ecosystem.
The leader had to connect all of the biotic and abiotic factors together with yarn, red yarn representing consumers (organisms that eat other organisms) and green representing producers (organisms that produce their own energy). If two organisms were connected, the one with red yarn eats the one holding onto the green end. This led to us making a food web, with water in the middle since all organisms need water. All of the organisms were connected in a variety of ways since some that ate others were eaten by something else.
Once everything was connected, we added vocabulary words from our word bank to our labels. For example, a monkey is not only a monkey but prey, a predator, consumer and a biotic factor. This activity helped us understand what ecology is by teaching us the vocabulary and basic connections between animals, plants, fungi and abiotic things in their environment.
Usually happens in the coding of a protein
Substitution mutation - if RNA is transcribed and one of the nitrogenous bases is replaced incorrectly ex: Sickle Cell Anemia
Insertion mutation - Inserting a whole extra codon ex: Huntington’s disease
Deletion mutation - deleting a whole codon
A silent mutation - when you have a mutation but it fits within the same box so it is used in the coding of that DNA
Frameshift mutation - a nitrogenous base is missing so everything is shifted over (off by one)
In our science class, we were given a block to design and create a water slide for a small toy. All of our groups had to use teamwork, their understandings of physics and design and be able to work under pressure. This was the design our team came up with.
If we were to do this again, we wouldn't use the easel and instead use one of the larger pieces of wood to hold up our slide. We would also make it longer or taller, since the main point of the challenge was to make the longest/tallest slide. We would also cut the top of the cups, since the toy got stuck in slide. All of the teams had a fun time doing this, and learned from the experience, even if their designs didn't work.
Intro to DNA
DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid
D-deoxyribose means a ribose without oxygen
N-nucleic, the DNA resides within the nucleus of the cell
A- comes from the phosphate group that holds it
Wound up within the nucleus, DNA is chromosomes
All living things have DNA, the most controversial are viruses, some have DNA and some have RNA, but some don't
DNA are molecules (right below organelles in the system of order)
Macro Molecules used in our bodies: Lipids, Carbohydrates (glucose), Proteins
DNA is part of nucleic acids along with RNA
The structure of DNA is a double-helix
The 'ribbon' is the phosphate and 5 carbon sugar group
In the middle are purines (2) and pyrimidines (1) there will never be two of the same type put together. This is how the double-helix stays balanced.
There are four nitrogenous bases altogether
GCAT
Guanine - double
Cytosine
Adenine - double
Thymine
C and G are always partnered together and T and A are always partnered together.
In order for DNA to reproduce it needs to separate. It has a really weak bond between the hydrogen molecules, but a really strong bond with the 5 carbon sugar phosphate group.
In between the phosphate group and the nitrogenous base is a Deoxyribose- deoxy meaning missing oxygen.
If someone refers to the 3 prime and 5 prime ends of a DNA molecule, they are referring to the amount of carbon sugars on either end of the molecule. The lines are anti-parallel, since they are parallel but flowing in opposite directions. Nucleotides can only be added to the 3 prime side, which changes the shape and structure of the DNA and effects its reproduction.
DNA is used for genes, coding amino acids, and DNA replication for reproduction.
The sequencing of the nitrogenous bases determines what proteins you make and where they go. The molecules are really long because it stores so much information. The double-helix gives it stability. The weak hydrogenous bond makes it easy to separate.
DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid
D-deoxyribose means a ribose without oxygen
N-nucleic, the DNA resides within the nucleus of the cell
A- comes from the phosphate group that holds it
Wound up within the nucleus, DNA is chromosomes
All living things have DNA, the most controversial are viruses, some have DNA and some have RNA, but some don't
DNA are molecules (right below organelles in the system of order)
Macro Molecules used in our bodies: Lipids, Carbohydrates (glucose), Proteins
DNA is part of nucleic acids along with RNA
The structure of DNA is a double-helix
The 'ribbon' is the phosphate and 5 carbon sugar group
In the middle are purines (2) and pyrimidines (1) there will never be two of the same type put together. This is how the double-helix stays balanced.
There are four nitrogenous bases altogether
GCAT
Guanine - double
Cytosine
Adenine - double
Thymine
C and G are always partnered together and T and A are always partnered together.
In order for DNA to reproduce it needs to separate. It has a really weak bond between the hydrogen molecules, but a really strong bond with the 5 carbon sugar phosphate group.
In between the phosphate group and the nitrogenous base is a Deoxyribose- deoxy meaning missing oxygen.
If someone refers to the 3 prime and 5 prime ends of a DNA molecule, they are referring to the amount of carbon sugars on either end of the molecule. The lines are anti-parallel, since they are parallel but flowing in opposite directions. Nucleotides can only be added to the 3 prime side, which changes the shape and structure of the DNA and effects its reproduction.
DNA is used for genes, coding amino acids, and DNA replication for reproduction.
The sequencing of the nitrogenous bases determines what proteins you make and where they go. The molecules are really long because it stores so much information. The double-helix gives it stability. The weak hydrogenous bond makes it easy to separate.
Forensics and DNA testing
There was a murder, but no one knows who it was. The suspects are Capulet, Lady Capulet, Paris, Benvolio, Friar Lawrence and others at the scene of the murder. It was the murder of Romeo and Juliet.
To learn which one of the suspects did it, the students at N.E.W. school will have to learn how to use gel electrolysis to separate the macro molecules in DNA so that the matching DNA can be found.
The first step in this process was creating the chamber to hold the DNA in. For this project, the chamber was a plastic box. Two wires were measured out, and in the next step, they will each be electrically charged, one positive and one negative. Since DNA macro molecules are negatively charged, they will be attracted to the positive charge.
Then the students had to cut out rivets in a piece of cardboard for each DNA sample to go in. After that, the chamber is filled with agarose for the DNA to go in. Each sample would be compared to the one of the murderer and depending on the mass, they will go farther down the agarose. The one that is right at the same spot as the murderer probably belongs to the murderer.
To extract the DNA, first, the suspects had to chew the side of the mouth. Then they had to grab a cup from a cell, remembering where they got it from. Then they had to swish the salt water in their mouth for 30 seconds then spit it back in their cup. Each of the suspects got a number. Then they repeated the process so there could be two samples.
The suspects were chewing at epithelial tissue, taking off cells and spitting them out. Inside the cells are nuclei, the brains of the cell. Inside the round organelle is a DNA strand of molecules in the shape of a double-helix. To get to the DNA, the cell membrane and nucleus need to be broken with a chemical breakdown. The students at NEW have to do this, dying it so it can be seen under a microscope. The enzyme protease (ends in -ase, like most all enzymes) is what is usually used to break open the nucleus and membrane. Since protease isn't easily available, the students will be using laundry detergent mixed with water.
The groups each had to make a set amount of mild detergent, a 5 mL to 15 mL ratio. Then they extracted DNA from the cups, and the more people they wanted to test, the more detergent and DNA they would need. To extract the DNA, they used a pipette, and took out 5 mL to put into a test tube, then added 5 mL of detergent. After a few minutes of swishing the solution, 5 mL of ethanol are added to the top.
Restrictive enzymes cut the DNA into smaller slices, and in different parts depending on the DNA. Some will be shorter and others are longer so they will traverse the gel faster or slower. The class will have to use whole DNA.
Next, they had to take out the DNA from each test tube and move it to a micro tube. They could start to see clumps forming in the clear ethanol. Then they added .25 mL of blue methylene and one drop of glycerin.
Then a buffer solution was made with water and 1% baking soda. This went over the gel electrolysis chamber.
The comb was taken out and the electric wires were added in. Now the gel chamber and DNA are ready. The methylene is used to die the DNA and the glycerin weighs it down.
To finish off the DNA Lab, we had to put the DNA into the gel electrolysis chambers. To do this we first had to take out the comb from the gel, however, there was a problem with the gel. It stuck to the comb, so the whole block of gel was taken out of the plastic box. The groups then had to improvise and cut slits with a knife, then inject 200 microliters of DNA with a micro pippete into the slit. After that the students then put alligator clips on the stainless steel wires, the negative side on the side of the DNA and the positive clip on the opposite side. Then they were connected to the electric box. Everyone moved away from the boxes to make sure not to get electrocuted.
There was a significant problem. During lunch the power went out, so the results won't be what they want them to be, but we still learned a lot from this experience.
The suspects were chewing at epithelial tissue, taking off cells and spitting them out. Inside the cells are nuclei, the brains of the cell. Inside the round organelle is a DNA strand of molecules in the shape of a double-helix. To get to the DNA, the cell membrane and nucleus need to be broken with a chemical breakdown. The students at NEW have to do this, dying it so it can be seen under a microscope. The enzyme protease (ends in -ase, like most all enzymes) is what is usually used to break open the nucleus and membrane. Since protease isn't easily available, the students will be using laundry detergent mixed with water.
The groups each had to make a set amount of mild detergent, a 5 mL to 15 mL ratio. Then they extracted DNA from the cups, and the more people they wanted to test, the more detergent and DNA they would need. To extract the DNA, they used a pipette, and took out 5 mL to put into a test tube, then added 5 mL of detergent. After a few minutes of swishing the solution, 5 mL of ethanol are added to the top.
Restrictive enzymes cut the DNA into smaller slices, and in different parts depending on the DNA. Some will be shorter and others are longer so they will traverse the gel faster or slower. The class will have to use whole DNA.
Next, they had to take out the DNA from each test tube and move it to a micro tube. They could start to see clumps forming in the clear ethanol. Then they added .25 mL of blue methylene and one drop of glycerin.
Then a buffer solution was made with water and 1% baking soda. This went over the gel electrolysis chamber.
The comb was taken out and the electric wires were added in. Now the gel chamber and DNA are ready. The methylene is used to die the DNA and the glycerin weighs it down.
To finish off the DNA Lab, we had to put the DNA into the gel electrolysis chambers. To do this we first had to take out the comb from the gel, however, there was a problem with the gel. It stuck to the comb, so the whole block of gel was taken out of the plastic box. The groups then had to improvise and cut slits with a knife, then inject 200 microliters of DNA with a micro pippete into the slit. After that the students then put alligator clips on the stainless steel wires, the negative side on the side of the DNA and the positive clip on the opposite side. Then they were connected to the electric box. Everyone moved away from the boxes to make sure not to get electrocuted.
There was a significant problem. During lunch the power went out, so the results won't be what they want them to be, but we still learned a lot from this experience.
Brain Neurons
In N.E.W. we learned about brain neurons and how they control your mood. Neurons are the cells in your brain specifically, and they have a different function than skin or stomach cells, so they have a different structure. Around the cell are small finger-like structures called dendrites that move neurotransmitters through cells. The neurotransmitter then travels through the axon. A layer of myelin sheath helps the signals pass by more quickly, just like a conductor in an electric rod. Each neuron has a space in between called a synapse. To exemplify this, we used brooms and labeled them as if they were neurons. The brush part were the dendrites, the front was the cell body, and the handle was the axon. With two brooms, we could simulate how the neurotransmitters pass through neurons. At the end, each group got to present their brooms and talk about a neurotransmitter that affects mental health (such as GABA in Anxiety and etc.) Overall, we learned about the structure and function of brain neurons and how neurotransmitters affect brain activity.
Brain Anatomy Lab
To learn more about how the physical parts of the brain affect thought, the students at N.E.W. did a lab where they labeled a cauliflower as if it were a brain. They looked at diagrams and found out where each part was, then applied that to the model. Our group decided to color toothpicks, each color or combination of colors representing a label on a key. We labeled large scales things such as the left and right brain, the frontal cortex, etc, but also labeled smaller individual parts like the pons or medulla. Each part has an individual task, such as the cerebellum with balance or the medulla with blood pressure, sneezing, coughing, etc. All together, all the parts of the brain have to be able to work together to be able to have a highly functioning body. So when we were done with labeling, our task was to write about how it would be like not to have a fully functioning brain. Our teacher told us to write a narrative about someone with medulloblastoma, a tumor usually found in young children. You can find the story at the home page, titled A Glass of Water.
Yeast Lab
Yeast is a part of the Kingdom of Fungi. It is an unicellular or single-celled fungus.
Questions: However, is it an animal-like cell or a plant-like cell? What does it produce?
Plants: Oxygen Animals: Carbon Dioxide. What conditions does yeast need to work?
Materials for temp experiment: 21 g Yeast, 50 ml sugar(3) , 2000 hot water, 2000 temp water, 2000 cold water, 1 balloon
Materials for acidic/alkaline: 21 g Yeast, sugar, water, lemon juice(acid),
and baking soda(alkaline), 1 balloon
Procedure 1: Three flasks of each water at different temps. Add 50 ml of sugar to each flask, mix them together. And then add the yeast and measure the reaction differences over time by covering the flask with a balloon. The only variables that are changed are the temps of the water.
Procedure 2: Three flasks of water. Each has 50 ml of room temperature water. Beaker 6 has 25 ml of lemon juice, to add acidity. Beaker 4 has 25 ml of baking soda. The pH levels are the only variable that are changed. Add the yeast and cover the flask with a balloon.
Hypothesis: If the different sugar water that yeast intakes has different temperatures or acidity, then the yeast will create more carbon dioxide in the more neutral water because the cells of yeast can easily intake the glucose and oxygen without the high or low acidity or heat killing them.
Yeast produces Carbon Dioxide like an animal cell, but it ferments into alcohol when oxygen is not present, which is more like a plant. It is used to make bread and beer.
Cellular Respiration Demo
In the N.E.W. Core, we are learning about the process of cellular respiration in animal cells, or the process of converting glucose into ATP (Adenosine triphosphate). To symbolize this process, we used a baking mix, the cakes representing ATP. We were turning the mix (to symbolize sugar) into cake(ATP).
We began with the first step of the cellular respiration process, which is when the glucose that is carried from the blood into the cell by insulin, is split into smaller pieces so that the cell can ingest it better. This is called Glycolysis. To symbolize this, we had two students eat two muffins, since it takes two ATP for glycolysis to function, and then open the baking mix box. Meanwhile, other students were gathering the ingredients to illustrate the cytoplasm, the organelle that ingests the glucose. The cytoplasm is a membrane that surrounds the organelles of a cell. This step creates four ATP per glucose molecule, but since it uses two, the net worth is two ATP.
This led to the next step, where the baking mix (sugars) and other ingredients were mixed together to mirror the Citric Acid Cycle a.k.a. the Krebs cycle. The cycle is represented by the whisk churning all the ingredients together. If there is oxygen present, it carries the broken down molecules of glucose (now known as pyruvate) to the mitochondria, the 'powerhouse' of the cell. The pyruvate are transformed into Hydrogen Plus by the Cycle, and then carried by the co-enzyme NAD+ to the Electron Transport Chain. The waste product is carbon dioxide. Since the Krebs Cycle is aerobic, if there is no oxygen present, then the cellular respiration stops. This is why breathing in oxygen is so important for animals. So after the NAD+ (symbolized by a measuring cup) carries the H+ to the Inner Mitochondrial membrane (a muffin pan) the next step begins. The Krebs Cycle takes two ATP to start, and creates four ATP before the next step begins.
The Electron Transport Chain (ETC) is also aerobic, so without oxygen, it won't work. The H+ passes through the Proton Gradient, found within the Inner Mitochondrial membrane. A certain amount of H+ is required before the ETC can work. An enzyme called ATP Synthase, speeds up the process of ATP. To exemplify this, we used the baking pan as the Proton Gradient, and the oven as the ATP Synthase. After this process, water is the waste product and 24-32 ATP are created. When the energy is released, ATP is called ADP, or adenosine diphosphate.
In summary, without oxygen, only the first step (glycolysis) follows through. Only two ATP are created and lactic acid is produced instead. With oxygen, cellular respiration goes through all three steps, glycolysis, the Krebs Cycle, and the Electron Transport Chain. This creates 32 ATP. Without oxygen, animals would not be able to live, because the glucose in their blood would not be able to turn into the ATP they need.
In the N.E.W. Core, we are learning about the process of cellular respiration in animal cells, or the process of converting glucose into ATP (Adenosine triphosphate). To symbolize this process, we used a baking mix, the cakes representing ATP. We were turning the mix (to symbolize sugar) into cake(ATP).
We began with the first step of the cellular respiration process, which is when the glucose that is carried from the blood into the cell by insulin, is split into smaller pieces so that the cell can ingest it better. This is called Glycolysis. To symbolize this, we had two students eat two muffins, since it takes two ATP for glycolysis to function, and then open the baking mix box. Meanwhile, other students were gathering the ingredients to illustrate the cytoplasm, the organelle that ingests the glucose. The cytoplasm is a membrane that surrounds the organelles of a cell. This step creates four ATP per glucose molecule, but since it uses two, the net worth is two ATP.
This led to the next step, where the baking mix (sugars) and other ingredients were mixed together to mirror the Citric Acid Cycle a.k.a. the Krebs cycle. The cycle is represented by the whisk churning all the ingredients together. If there is oxygen present, it carries the broken down molecules of glucose (now known as pyruvate) to the mitochondria, the 'powerhouse' of the cell. The pyruvate are transformed into Hydrogen Plus by the Cycle, and then carried by the co-enzyme NAD+ to the Electron Transport Chain. The waste product is carbon dioxide. Since the Krebs Cycle is aerobic, if there is no oxygen present, then the cellular respiration stops. This is why breathing in oxygen is so important for animals. So after the NAD+ (symbolized by a measuring cup) carries the H+ to the Inner Mitochondrial membrane (a muffin pan) the next step begins. The Krebs Cycle takes two ATP to start, and creates four ATP before the next step begins.We began with the first step of the cellular respiration process, which is when the glucose that is carried from the blood into the cell by insulin, is split into smaller pieces so that the cell can ingest it better. This is called Glycolysis. To symbolize this, we had two students eat two muffins, since it takes two ATP for glycolysis to function, and then open the baking mix box. Meanwhile, other students were gathering the ingredients to illustrate the cytoplasm, the organelle that ingests the glucose. The cytoplasm is a membrane that surrounds the organelles of a cell. This step creates four ATP per glucose molecule, but since it uses two, the net worth is two ATP.
The Electron Transport Chain (ETC) is also aerobic, so without oxygen, it won't work. The H+ passes through the Proton Gradient, found within the Inner Mitochondrial membrane. A certain amount of H+ is required before the ETC can work. An enzyme called ATP Synthase, speeds up the process of ATP. To exemplify this, we used the baking pan as the Proton Gradient, and the oven as the ATP Synthase. After this process, water is the waste product and 24-32 ATP are created. When the energy is released, ATP is called ADP, or adenosine diphosphate.
Organs to Elements
Systems of Order
All organs have a specific structure and function. Ex. Stomach holds things like a bag, small intestine absorbs things like nylon.
Organs are made of tissue, the fabric of our systems. They each have their own structure and function. Depending on the tissue, the organ will have a different purpose.
Four types of tissue: Connective, Epithelial, Muscle and Nervous
Ex. Spinal Cord and Brain have a lot of Nervous tissue, and our skin is Epithelial
Tissues are made up of cells. The 'thread' of our system. Each cell is an individual unit of life that work together to make up the tissue to give it its specific function.
Every cell has what it takes to live. It metabolizes and reproduces and they all have organs called organelles. Each have a specific structure and function. They have stomachs to digest other cells, food, called lysosomes, and the cells inside the stomach have many more lysosomes.
They are made up of macromolecules called: Carbs, Lipids, Proteins and Nucleic Acids (RNA and DNA)
Molecules are strings of atoms aka elements. They are on the periodic table, the list of all the known elements. Once you string them together they are molecules. There are 6 elements that make up all organisms, Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur.
We are all a system of order and every human body can be tracked down to these 6 elements.
Making Poop Instructional Blog
In the N.E.W. class, we have been learning about nutrition and the effects our food has on our bodies. One of our first labs was to create human waste using synthetic materials to represent the organs within the digestive system.
We began by simulating the incisors (the front teeth of our mouth) tearing the food with scissors. The food that we used for this lab was Pringles, marshmallows, gummy worms, and peppermint patties. The incisors tore up the Pringles, marshmallows and peppermint patties, but had more trouble with the gummy worms.
Then water was added to simulate the amylase in saliva. Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down sugars, so only sugary foods are affected by it. Then we simulated the molars masticating (or chewing) the food using the bottom of plastic cups. We masticated the food until it almost became a liquid that could easily be 'digested'.
To represent the esophagus, the tube that leads from the back of the mouth to the stomach, we used a toilet paper roll to pour the liquid food into the bag, representing the stomach. We had to gather all the food, not just some of it, so there was quite a mess.
Next was the stomach. The stomach digests the food using the enzymes lipase and lactase, which break down fats and the proteins found in milk. For this chemical breakdown we used soap and vinegar, since those break down fats and proteins just like the lipase and lactase. The stomach also churns to break down the food mechanically. To represent this, we used our hands to churn around the food inside the bag.
After the stomach churns and digests the food until it is no longer food anymore, now it is chyme, it goes through a sphincter into the small intestine. The small intestine uses the small finger-like cells, called villi, to pass the chyme through the body while passing bile from the liver and gallbladder into the chyme. The villi absorb the chyme, until not much is left but the bile, water, and possibly other nutrients. The chyme is then considered to be bile.
We used a nylon tube to reenact the small intestine, using a toilet paper roll 'sphincter' to carry the chyme from the stomach to the small intestine's opening. Then we squeezed the nylon until it barely had anything left that was liquid, only leaving mostly waste by the time the bile was pushed into the large intestine.
The large intestine dries what's left of the bile and forms it into a shape that can easily leave the human body. We used a sock to serve as the large intestine, since it is flexible and dries things quickly.
Lastly, the large intestine passes the, now considered, feces to the rectum. The rectum was also represented by the sock, since all the rectum does is hold the waste until the organism can dispose of it. It sends the signals to the brain that tell the creature that it needs to get rid of its waste. The rectum pushes the waste out of the body, and all that is left is the unusable junk food that the body can't process. What we had left was the marshmallows, gummy worms, and a bit of so
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