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.