In Science

On Monday, we saw a simulation about how we live on a street in a city in a state in a country in the earth in the solar system and so on. This is is an analogy for DNA which is in the nucleus which is in the cell which makes up organs which make up organ systems which make up the organism which make up the population.

From this, we learned everything is part of something bigger.

The next day, we learned about codons and furthermore about protein synthesis.

Codons- Triplet nucleotides (bases) that are given for amino acids. These are recognized by the Transfer RNA, or tRNA. They are a part of messenger RNA.

We saw another simulation about protein synthesis that day too.

I learned:

-Ribosomes wait for the RNA, and then the ribosomes pick up the RNA.

Lysosome- Gets the organelles that don't work, out.

Golgi Apparatus- Actually gets it out.

Gets RNA from nucleus, once the ribosome "eats" it, he makes the protein.

The next day, we learned the following things:

- Organisms have to be able to live on their own.

- The cell membrane is like a door because it lets things in and out.

- Molecules contain protein, carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids.

- Lipids are fats.

- DNA are the most important nucleic acids.

- The cell membrane is a thin film over the cell.

- Animal cells don't have chloroplasts.

- Prokaryotic cells usual just contain a cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm and DNA.

The next day, we were introduced to the new project we were going to be doing about either respiration, photosynthesis, fermentation or protein synthesis. I chose to do mine on protein synthesis, and made a poster. For homework that night, we had to make up an analogy for a cell and it's organelles. Here is what I wrote:

A cell is like a library.

The books are like the nucleus- It holds all of the information, like the books who have information.

The walls are like the cell wall- Helps protect the cell and gives the cell structure, like the walls of the library keep the roof off and keep it isolated from the outside.

The doors are like the cell membrane- They let things in and out, like the door lets people in and out.

The Dewey Decimal System is like the ribosomes- They put the books and place and crack the code for where each book should go, like the ribosomes sort RNA.

The Librarian is like the mitochondria- Just like the librarian does for the library, it gives it energy or knowledge and effort for everything to be in the right place.

The Author is like the Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum- It makes things for the cell to use, like the author makes the books to read.

The Editor is like the Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum- It takes the bad things out of the body, like the editor does to the books.

We then learned a little bit of further information about fermentation.

Fermentation takes place in the cytoplasm. It makes food such as bread and cheese using yeast. Fermentation is important because it allows cells to meet their energy needs when oxygen is not present.

On Friday, we read from the books and worked on our projects, so I don't have any noted about that.

That is what I learned about this week in science.

In Science This Week

In science this week, we started learning about DNA structures and how it is shaped. We learned the following statements:

• The DNA structure is called a double helix.
• There are two sugar backbones in a double helix.
• Also, there are base pairs in a double helix.
• There are four different bases.
• These bases are:

1. Adenine
2. Thymine
3. Cytosine
4. Guanine

• Only Adenine and Thymine and Cytosine and Guanine go together.
• This order cannot be switched.

Furthermore, we learned that DNA tells us how to do stuff and is how we look. Also, cells decode our DNA.

We then learned that DNA stands for:

DNA- Deoxyribosnucleicacid.

The next day I was absent, so I didn't get any notes.

On Wednesday, we learned about the functions of the different kinds of RNA, which stands for:

Ribonucleicacid.

Here is what other things we learned:

• The messenger RNA's job is to get the code for DNA and give it to the ribosomes.
• The transfer RNA matches the messenger RNA's code to make new RNA.
• Transfer RNA also gets the materials so that the protein can be built.
• The materials are called amino acids.
• Ribosomes then build the protein.
• The job of a ribosome is to decode the code for DNA and to build the protein.

Next, we learned the following facts about the structure of RNA:

• Must be one strand
• The strand is a helix
• It still has sugar
• Instead of Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine, RNA has Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Uracil.

We also learned the following statement:

DNA unzips to be copied.

The next day, we made a story about the process of making protein. Here is mine:

The RNA makes protein by getting the code from DNA from the ribosomes. After that, it is then transferred by the transfer RNA, or tRNA. Then, the tRNA gets the materials to make protein. The materials are amino acids. Next, they give it back to the ribosomes, which gives the materials, or amino acids, given into protein.

I then added to my story for homework that:

The amino acids come in the form of a string, or row of attatched amino acids. With this string, the ribosomes make a protein.

On Friday, we watched a simulation about protein synthesis.

• A cell gets a message to make a certain quantity of protein.
• A portion of the DNA unwinds exposing the gene for that protein.
• U pairs with A in RNA.
• Messenger RNA is formed.
• mRNA is a copy based on the pairs.
• A codon is a group of bases.
• ATP is energy.
• The binding site is where the amino acids go.
• Anti-codon is the opposite of codon.
• Amino acids seperate and fold to become a protein.
• Different codons need different amino acids.
• They read three codons at a time.
• To leave, the mRNA goes to the cytoplasm.

That is what I learned in science class this week.

The Week of 11/30-12/4/09

This week in science, we learned about products and reactants. Here are their meanings:

Reactant- What we use or the ingredient we start with.

Product- The end

Also we learned the following statements:

• To grow, plants need more CO2
• Plants CAN take in oxygen
• The product of photosynthesis is reused as the reactant in photosynthesis
• The reactant of photosynthesis is reused as the product in respiration.
• The respiration formula is 6CO2+6H2O+light --> C6H12O6+602
• Glucose is C6H12O6

Plus we learned about fermentation:

Fermentation- Respiration without oxygen.

Also, the two kinds of respiration was a part of our discussion. There is anaerobic respiration and aerobic respiration.

Anaerobic means without air because an means without and aero means air.

Aerobic is first respiration we learned about because the first one included air.

Another fact we learned was that bio means living.

This week, we did an experiment too. This experiment was about yeast and sugar water. Here is what we did:

We put yeast in a tube and put sugar water inside with it. We filled it up so that there was no oxygen. Then, we put the cap on and shook it. We then waited for a day to see what would happen. The result of our experiment was that alcohol was starting to be produced. We sniffed it and many classmates inputted that it smelled like wine.

We also made up explanations for why fermentation is different from respiration because respiration produces energy and fermentation produces alcohol.

I also did some extra credit work for science. The question was:

Why do we look at blood during crime scenes if the red blood cells don't have a nucleus?

The answer I found was that the white blood cells are the part of the blood that gives it DNA, or Deoxyribonucleicacid.

This turns out to be:

De-Two

Oxy- Oxygen

Ribo- Sugar

Nucleic- Nucleus

Acid- Good Acid

On the board we also put up the following facts:

• Mitochondria- Respiration
• Chloroplasts- Photosynthesis
• Cell Wall- Structure
• Cell Membrane- Lets stuff in and out
• Vacuole- Storage
• Nucleus- Stores DNA

I noted that DNA is identifies a person and gives them heredity.

We did another experiment in class using lysus solution and our cheek cells. We gargled water then spit it into a cup and poured that into a tube. Then, we added lysus solution and started "swirling" our mixture. Either before or after that, we put another liquid inside the tube and swirled. If you did it right, the DNA would appear to be floating in the solution.

On Friday, we tried to describe DNA (we also ended up putting some prior knowledge into the mix), and here is what the class came up with:

• Looks like a tornado- kind of spiraled
• Nucleus- where it is stored
• Doesn't dissolve in alcohol
• Like a twisted ladder
• Large molecule

Mr. Finley then told us some very important information about DNA. Here is a picture to explain his description.

There is not just one helix (twist) but two. They are connected by base pairs, which are also two. There is also a back bone. Each helix actually has two of these back bones. They are made out of sugar.

That is what we did this week in science.

This week in science, we started by sharing our homework from Friday. Our homework was to find what prokaryotic and eukaryotic meant. Mr. Finley and Mr. Segen did let us know they were words used to describe cells, but that is all of the information they gave us. I found, and shared, that they mean:

Prokaryotic:

-Simple

-No Nucleus

And:

Eukaryotic:

-Complex

-Contains a nucleus

Mr. Finley told us these definitions were correct, and that we would be using these words to describe cells throughout the school year.

On Tuesday, or maybe it was the same day, we made flow charts about what we know about photosynthesis and respiration. Here are some bullet points about what we knew:

Photosynthesis:

-Process of making food for the plant

-Needs sun to perform this task

-This food gives the plant energy

-Photosynthesis makes the plant green.

Respiration:

-Not the same thing as breathing

-Is a characteristic of life

These flow charts we the start of a new unit in science.

The next day, we talked a little bit more about photosynthesis, and Mr. Finley helped us discuss some points about photosynthesis. We added new facts about respirations to our list. Here are some new things and old things that we learned in class that day:

Photosynthesis (it means the plant)

Makes it green.

Green stuff makes it grow.

Green stuff also gives the plant energy.

Green stuff also gives the plant food.

Also:

Needs light to go through this process

Light=Sunlight

Also needs water

Lastly:

Needs air

CO2

What we took from this list as a general statement is that:

For a plant to go through the process of photosynthesis, the plant needs sunlight, water and CO2.

To test this, each group made an experiment to test these things. Our group was given the experiment to try to see if a plant needs water to go through photosynthesis. We put a spinach leaf in a tube with water, and a spinach leaf in a tube without water. We put both tubes next to a light.

The next day, we measured the oxygen level, which is what is produced by the plant if the plant is living. The results showed that indeed, plants do need water to photosynthesize. The other groups also proved that a plant does need sunlight and CO2 to photosynthesize.

The day after that, we looked at a simulation about photosynthesis, which further proved our experiments. It also showed the atoms and molecules in the plant during photosynthesis. That day, we also learned some new termonology.

Atom- Makes up a molecule, made out of elements, non-living, and make up everything.

Molecules- Made up of atoms, which make up everything, therefore molecules make up everything too.

Element- Different types of stuff, all of them on the Periodic Table of Elements.

That day we also learned the below statements:

Plants make a food called glucose.

Glucose is sugar.

Sugar is a carbohydrate.

Carbohydrate is carbon water.

On our last day of the week, we went a little bit further with learning about the molecules. We also learned a tiny bit more about photosynthesis. We learned that photosynthesis happens inside the cell. It happens in the chloropasts of the plant cell. These chloropasts make chlorophyll, which is the pigment that makes the plant green.

Lastly we made up models of molecules that are necessary for photosynthesis such as H2O and CO2. We made these models out f legos.

That is what we did in science class this week.

This week in science 11/2-11/4

This week, we had a shortened week in school so we only had three days of school.

On the first day back from our weekend, we discussed the shape and structure of animal and plant cells. Our table thought that the animal cell looked like the shape of a nerd, the candy. We thought because both of them looked bumpy and we described them both as "3-D blobs."

We thought the plant cell looks like the shape of a gear because of the rectangular spikes on 4 opposite ends of the plant cell, just like the cogs on a gear are on the four opposite sides of the gear.

Here is the link to the picture of an animal cell:

Animal Cell

Here is a link to the picture of a plant cell:

Plant Cell

Hopefully, you can see the resemblences that our table found.

Then, later that day we made a chart of characteristics of both plant and animal cells. Some people gave some 2-D characteristics such as a deformed circle, which we then realized isn't a great characteristic because even thought they are small, both plant and animal cells are 3-D. So, a 2-D characteristic isn't that best way to describe these cells.

That day, we also made a chart of organelles, their functions and which kind of cell has them.

Here is a sample chart that I tried to make (sorry it will probably turn out horrible.)

Nucleus- Both animal and plant cell has it.

Controls everything that goes on in the cell.

Cell Wall- Only plant cell has it.

Gives protection and gives the cell structure.

Cell Membrane- Both animal and plant cell have it.

Helps contain the cell's organelles and controls what goes on in the cell.

Vacuole- Both animal and plant cell have it.

Stores nutrients and waste products and helps increase the cell size during growth.

Cytoplasm- Both the animal and the plant cell have it.

Holds the organelles in place.

Mitochondria- Only the animal cell has it.

Allows the cell to perform cellular respiration.

Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum- Both the plant and animal cell have it.

Transports chemicals.

Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum- Both the plant and animal cell have it.

Structual Skeleton.

Chloropasts- Only the plant cell has it.

Contains the plant cell's chlorophyll.

Ribosome- Both the plant and animal cell have it.

Makes proteins out of amino acids.

The next day, which was Tuesday, we listed some animal cells and some plant cells.

Animal cells:

• Brain Cells
• Skin Cells
• Lung Cells
• Nail Cells
• Muscle Cells
• Tissue Cells
• Tongue Cells
• Blood Cells (Both Red and White)

Plant Cells:

• Berry Cells
• Leaf Cells
• Root Cells
• Stem Cells
• Flower Cells
• Seed Cells

Then, we had to list bacteria cells:

• Salmonella
• Listeria
• Camphylobacter
• Staphlyococcus
• E. Coli
• Dipleococcus

Then we learned something very important:

*Bacteria cells are single-celled and animal and plant cells are multi-cellular (more than one cell.)

Then, our homework that night was to figure out if a paramecium (microscopic organism living in pond water) was an animal cell or not. The other question we had to figure out was how do they move. Here is what I found and shared to the class on Wednesday:

I could not figure out if a paramecium is an animal or a plant cell off the top of my head, so I had to look up this question on the internet. I found that a paramecium is not a plant nor an animal cell, but it is actually is a protozoa. A protozoa is an animal-like cell, but it's not actually an animal cell. It is found where there is moisture. (Like in pond water.)

Paramecium move using a cilia which surrounds the body of the paramecium cell. The cilia makes the paramecium move distinctly quickly.

After sharing our homework on Wednesday, we looked at pond water under a microscope to try to find paramecium and try to identify that they are paramecium by seeing if they have visible cilia. In our slide that Michelle and I made, we unfortunately could not find paramecium. All we saw was algae and air bubbles. Although we couldn't find anything though, Bria and Sarah could, so we took a look at their slide and drew and wrote observations. They looked like oval shaped bubbles with tiny lines around their structure, which we assumed was it's cilia.

That is what we did this week.

Sorry everyone, my chart of my last blog didn't turn out so well. Hopefully, you can still read it!

10/26/09-This Week in Science

On our first day back to school of this week, we made a chart of all of the possible causes of the sickness at Truman Middle School. This was our last step before making our lab report. Here is what I made in my notebook:

Bacteria 1. Bacteria

l l 2. Swabbed Chicken

V V 3. Present

salmonella organisms from pond water 4. What type of bacteria?

Could also be:

-Lysteria

-Camphylobacter

-Staphlyococcus

We disproved that the pond water started the outbreak.

The next day, we made a chart showing the differences between Bacteria and Humans:

Bacteria Humans

-single celled -size is larger

-smaller than humans -communicate

-respirate

-made of cells

-many cells

-different

The day after that, which was Wednesday, we went to the library. I am not positive if we went on Tuesday or Wednesday, but if we did go Tuesday, the chart above is what we did on Wednesday. (Sorry This is Kind of Hard To Follow.) Now I am having second guesses and thinking it was last Friday. Oh well, it was one of those days.

In the library, we found articles on bacteria cells and there was one about a boy that brought a water testing kit to test the water on airplanes. He found that the tap water from bathroom sicks is filthy! It informed the reader not to drink the water at all, and to ask for bottled water if we were thirsty. It has the potential to get us very sick.

On Thursday, (or whatever day, I am just so confused!) we did an experiment on cheek cells. We had to use a toothpick and rub the inside of our cheek. Then, we had to make our sample that was on the toothpick into a slide for a microscope. we had to make two slides; one with dye on it and the other with just water. We had to make pictures of what we saw and our observations on the slide with the low and high objectives. We found that the low objective and dyed cheek cell was the easiest to see. Then for homework, we had to make drawings of plant and human cells and label them.

On Friday, we did an experiment with potato and grass. We gently shaved a sliver of potato with a razor blade three times; one for a water slide, one for a Meathenine Blue dye and the other with Lugle Solution dye. With these slides we had to make two drawings for each; one with the low objective and one with the high objective. We found that the low objective Meathenine Blue was the easiest to work with.

For the grass one, we had to gently razor a tiny piece of grass and make a slide out of it. We only had to do two pictures; one with the low objective and one with the high objective. We found that the view of the grass with the low objective was the best one and the easiest to work with.

Unfortunately, I can not show everyone my pictures, but as I said above, the easiest to work with was the low objective. Above is what I have learned about this week in Science Class.

This week in science, we had more of hands-on classes, rather then taking notes and participating in class discussions. Some of us did the grams test on our Petri Dish Bacteria. We had to lightly swab with a thing with a tiny point. Everyone doing it with our group swabbed their own Petri Dish Bacteria. Then, we had to put the bacteria on a slide, but we didn't need a cover slip. We used tong looking objects to hold the slide and make it go in and out of the fire a few times to make it hot. I don't know the exact names, but we then had to put all these liquids and dyes on our bacteria. But, after every time we put a different kind of liquid, we would wash it off a little under tap water from the class sink. In the end, our slide turned out a tiny bit purple. It went pretty quickly and I didn't have really much time to really take thorough notes, observations or to draw pictures. I also wasn't very clear on what each liquid was doing either. It was a class long production. Hopefully, I can get a more clear description on what we were doing on Monday.

As I said in my last post, as a class, we all agree that we don't think the pond water that we hypthesised earlier was harmful, is actually harmful. We found that the organisms in the pond water were all harmless. So, we are pretty sure it's harmless. Now, we are leaning towards the chicken as the culprit of starting the outbreak. This chicken is from Cheap Chicken Hut. I am pretty sure I mentioned this restaurant in one of my earlier blog posts. We had swabbed the chicken with a swab earlier in the month and then swabbed the Petri Dish. We also did this with Mayo from Cheap Chicken Hut. Our results said that the mayo had a lot of bacteria growth and the chicken only had like 1/3 of the petri dish covered in bacteria. We are now pretty sure that we mixed the two up and accidentally thought the mayo was the one with a lot and then we realized that the chicken was. So now, our class is suspecting that the chicken started the outbreak and maybe had salmonella. It could also be sickly if it isn't kept at a cool temperature when it is not being cooked. Hopefully, I will have a final conclusion by next weekend after looking into all of my results during class this coming week.

That is what I learned this week. I will fill you guys in next week too.

My conclusion about the pond water

Here is the sample conclusion about the pond water that I shared in class today.

I don't think the pond water is harmful because most of the organisms we found in the water were harmless. Many of the organisms such as the gastrostrich, the water flea, the algae, an the paramecium were all harmless. We found that the water flea is eaten by fish, so if it isn't harmful to them, then it probably isn't harmful to us humans either. The algae just shows that the water is dirty, but doesn't have any harm to students. We aren't positive that a gastrostrich is harmless, bet we assume they aren't because nothing was mentioned on the websites we checked about it being harmful. In conclusion, we don't think the pond water is harmful or that it would make anyone sick.

Organisms were very important this week

Yet Another Week In Science Class

This week in science, we concentrated on microscopes. We had to learn all of the parts and their functions.

-The lens (eyepiece) is what you look through.

-The coarse focus makes big adjustments to your view.

-The fine adjustment makes smaller adjustments to you view.

-You carry the microscope holding the arm with one hand and your palm holds the base.

-The stage is where you put your slide.

-The objectives magnify your view.

-The body tube is also what you look through because the eyepiece connects to the tube.

-The stage clips hold the slide in place.

-The diaphragm controls the light.

-The mirror is the light source for the microscope.

We had to take an oral quiz which tested our knowledge on the functions and the placements of the parts of the microscope.

We had to take a written quiz which tested our knowledge as to where each piece is.

Lastly, we had to take one last quiz where we had to make a dry and wet mount slide.

We made up experiments with the chicken samples from Cheap Chicken Hut (the place we think is very suspicious.)With the chicken samples, we swabbed the chicken and then swiped the swab on to a Petri Dish. We did this with the mayo from Cheap Chicken Hut too, just with a different sterile swab and on the other side of the Petri Dish. We thought the mayo would have more bacteria colonies, but we found the mayo had tons more. We aren't sure this makes sense though, and neither does Mr. Finley, so we are going to double check our experiment.

We also made up an experiment with the pond water that many sick children swam in before they got sick. With a pipette, we took a drop of pond water on a slide and looked at it under a microscope. In one of the slides, we found many organisms, which included a Gastrostrich. Later, I will look up as to if the Gastrostrich or some of the other organisms are harmful or harmless.

That is what we did this week in science.