The Wonderous Wonder that is.....the ETC

For homework please watch the following two video clips on the ETC and oxidative phosphorylation. Both are from the Khan Academy video lecture series

The Electron Transport Chain
http://www.khanacademy.org/video/electron-transport-chain?playlist=Biology

Oxidative Phosphorylation and Chemiosmosis
http://www.khanacademy.org/video/oxidative-phosphorylation-and-chemiosmosis?playlist=Biology

Yeast in Action...Day 2

After a rather anti-climatic lab yesterday, students came back to check out their results today.......



How can you explain these results?!?!?

Cellular Respiration in Yeast

In class today you will be completing a lab exploring the process of cellular respiration in yeast. To do this, we will be investigating what happens when yeast are grown in a tube filled with water and sugar and sealed with a balloon....

WHAT HAPPENED????

After you complete the lab you will asked to answer a series of questions and analyze your data. Use your notes from class, the textbook, and any other online resources (just make sure to cite!) to help you in this process.

Here is a link that you might also find helpful:

GLYCOLYSIS EXPLAINED

Science Blogging

This weekend's assignment is fairly broad. The goal is for you to get a better understanding of all science blogs, other science bloggers (besides yourselves), and what they are writing about. I want you to see how they synthesize content and take on current, cutting issues in biology.
In order to do this, please complete the following tasks:

• Take some time to peruse through these science blogs. They have some great information on current topics in biology. Also, make note of any topics that catch your eye. You will be picking a current topic in biology to work with next week (details to follow.....)

http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/

http://www.biologynews.net/

http://www.hhmi.org/news/

• Become followers of each of these blogs. We will refer to them on occasion throughout the year.

• Also, take a few minute to check out this website for educators and students on webtools. There are some pretty awesome ones out there. Jing, Prezi, and Glogster are just the beginning......the possibilities are endless.

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/

That's it! On Monday, we will discuss your findings a bit and I'll fill you in on the plan......

Have a great weekend!

Here is a quick video to show you how to create a line of best fit on an excel graph. I apologize for the audio- my voice is still pretty much gone form being sick! If you can't hear, hopefully you can still follow along and make sense of the steps. let me know if you have any questions. The data set that you will be using in on the class website along with the assignment.

There are three main types of osmoregulatory environments in which animals live: freshwater, marine, and terrestrial. Animals need to adapt accordingly to maintain appropriate water and ion levels (homeostasis) depending on whichever type of environment they call home.

Here are a few examples of anatomical/physiological adaptions that a variety of organisms have to maintain appropriate internal living conditions:

• Cartilaginous fishes such as sharks, rays, and skates, have plasma that is approximately isosmotic to seawater. This unusually high osmotic concentration (compared to that of other vertebrates) is maintained by high levels of urea and trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) in the blood.
• Freshwater fishes tend to take in water passively and remove it actively through the osmotic work of kidneys. They lose salts to the dilute environment and replace them by actively absorbing ions from the surrounding fluids into their bodies through the gills.

• Ticks, mites, and other terrestrial arthropods have the ability to extract water vapor directly from the air. The way they accomplish this is by producing very concentrated solutions that absorb water from air.
• Marine reptiles (iguanas, sea turtles, crocodiles, and sea snakes) drink seawater to obtain a supply of water but are unable to produce a concentrated urine that is significantly hyperosmotic to their body fluids. They compensate for this by the use of specialized glands for the secretion of salts in a strong hyperosmotic fluid. Salt glands are generally located above the orbit of the eye and nose in lizards.
• Because mammals cannot consume seawater, a different method of hydration needs to be found. They have highly efficient kidneys capable of producing very hypertonic urine. These animals also rely on metabolic water (water produced as an endproduct of cellular metabolism) and water from feeding on fishes and invertebrates.
• Elasmobranchs, marine birds, and some reptiles have a structure called a salt gland to secrete NaCl from their bodies. These animals require a lower internal NaCl concentration than the surrounding seawater, which causes a concentration gradient favoring the influx of salt. Therefore, they need a way to secrete it. The solution is provided by glands in the rectum of sharks and the skulls of marine birds and reptiles which produces a concentrated salt solution for secretion

Isn't that AMAZING!?!?!?

Here's your assignment for the weekend:

Pick an organism, either one mentioned above, or one you find out about on your own, and explain adaptations it has in place in order to assist in osmoregulation. Make sure to explain the environment it is up against as well. Videos, links, pictures, etc. might all be helpful in this write-up. Any questions can be posted in the comment section below.

Also, as I talked about in class today, here's a link to info on the kangaroo rat and how this little guy maintains appropriate internal water levels under very hot temperature conditions...

Have fun!

Biology as Art

The Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition is one of the world's leading forums for showcasing the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope. If you have a moment, check out the images on this link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39608968/from/ET/?beginSlide=1

They are truly AMAZING!!!

Bacteria

This weeks blogging assignment: check out some examples of both "good" and "bad" bacteria listed below. Pick a bacteria from the list below or another that you know of and interests you and write about it. Things to include in your post: what does it look like? Where is it found? What function does it serve? What organelles does it posses that assist in structure and function? Is it a "good" bacteria or a "bad bacteria"?

Bacteria are an important group of living organisms. Most of them are microscopic and unicellular, with a relatively simple cell structure, lacking a cell nucleus, and organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts.

Almost 99% bacteria are helpful. Disease is caused by only a few of them. Water, food, and air carry bacteria from one person to another. Bacteria can be classified into three types on the basis of shape. The sphere shaped bacteria, rod shaped bacteria and spiral bacteria are the three types.


Helpful Bacteria

• Certain types of bacteria live in the intestines of human beings. They help in digestion and in destroying the harmful organisms. Intestinal bacteria also produce some vitamins required by the human body.
• Certain bacteria help break down lactose in the digestive tract.
• It is observed that Infants who were administered the bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri or Bifidobacterium had fewer and shorter episodes of diarrhea.
• Fermented milk containing the live bacteria Lactobacillus casei helps in eradicating harmful bacteria Helicobacter pylori in children.
• Saccharomyces boulardii is found to reduce the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in children.
• Some bacteria present on the skin protect us from the spread of certain fungus.
• It was found that DNA damage was significantly reduced by all six strains of lactic acid producing helpful bacteria tested with the exception of Streptococcus thermophilus.
• There are many types of bacteria that live inside the mouth, nose, throat, and intestines of humans and animals. These bacteria get a place to live and feed while keeping other harmful microbes from taking up residence.
• Certain stomach bacteria may work harmoniously with our immune system. There are billions of stomach bacteria, which are friendly or beneficial bacteria.
• There are some friendly bacteria such as intestinal flora or micro flora which are good for human health. These healthy stomach bacteria are helpful to release many useful vitamins such as vitamin B and vitamin K, etc. The most important task that stomach bacteria do is to maintain normal pH level or acid level of human stomach.

Harmful Bacteria

• Certain bacteria act as pathogens and cause tetanus, typhoid fever, pneumonia, syphilis, cholera, food-borne illness and tuberculosis.
• Streptococcus bacteria may cause small infections like strep throat and some serious diseases like pneumonia. Certain streptococci may be fatal.
• Bacteria that usually live harmlessly in the body may cause infections when a person's resistance to disease is reduced in conditions such as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
• Not all stomach bacteria are beneficial, some of the stomach bacteria enter the body through the mouth, and they can survive in the acidic conditions in the stomach and can cause serious diseases and can be fatal.
• Campylobacter is a group of bacteria that can create illnesses in humans and is a common cause of food poisoning.
• Harmful bacteria in food cause botulism, which can cause paralysis or even death if even one millionth of the bacterium is ingested.
• Yersinia pestis or bubonic plague, is a rod-shaped type of bacterium which is well known for its harmful nature. Bacteria-carrying fleas found on animals such as rats and mice transmit the bacteria that are believed to have caused the deaths of millions of people in human history.

(http://www.buzzle.com/articles/helpful-and-harmful-types-of-bacteria.html)

Compounds of Living Things

Do you know what macromolecules are in the food you eat???

Tomorrow in the lab we will complete a variation of the lab found on pg. 698 of your textbook to investigate this. We will be using indicators to identify what macromolecules are present in different types of food. A lab prep is available on the class website. Please make sure you read through it tonight and completely understand the procedure before you get to lab tomorrow. A blog reflection on this lab is due by the end of the week.

Partners and food assignments for this activity are as follows:

Lucy and Sara: apple
Cuyler and Nick: egg white
Peter and Megan: onion
Austin and Mayze: potato
Dawson and Annie: egg yolk
Shelby and Ava: strawberry
Matt: cracker

Intro to Jing and Macromolecules

This week you will investigate how to use a Jing sceencast to support and explain complex content. Before you can do this, though, you need to download jing. It's a pretty straightforward process, but please let me know if you have any questions. Here's a quick tutorial on the downloading process and how the program works.




Okay, once you have the tools in hand, here's the task: create a 1-3 slide powerpoint to explain the function and structure of one of the four categories of macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids). Make sure your explanation is clear and easy to follow. Once you are satisfied with your jing video, please upload it it your blog. Here's a quick little demo jing on dehydration and hydrolysis reactions. Thought it might give you an idea of what I'm looking for (though I'm sure yours will be better than mine!)

Building Carbohydrates

In class on Friday we built carbohydrates. We started with glucose and then created fructose molecules. We then simulated (simplified...) dehydration reactions to make maltose). Check it out!



After we were happy with our maltose molecules we decided to get a little more complicated....Check out our class polysaccharide!!





Now, if we used 8 maltose molecules to make our class polypeptide, how many water molecules were produced??

The Wonders of Water

Approximately 80% of the Earth's surface is covered in water. The human body is more than 60% water. That is a lot of H₂O molecules!!

There are many properties that make this chemical unique and vital to all living things.

Watch this Prezi presentation on the amazing properties of water. The presentation was put together by an 8th grade teacher at another school. Disregard the assignment he poses at the end. Just focus on the properties of water.

8 Properties of Water on Prezi

Next check out these two video clips that show properties of water in action....

Use the information above, your own hands-on experience with water molecules in class today, and any other information you can find on the internet or in your textbooks to write you own post outlining the unique properties of water. Pleas incorporate at least two pieces of multi-media into your write-up (remember, these should enhance your information, not just "make it pretty"!). The post is due by class time on Thursday. Use the comment section below to ask any questions on this assignment. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

First Assignment

Okay, here is your mission: become a blogger.

You have until Monday to create a personal blog and write your first post. The template does not have to be permanent. In fact, you will find that your blog should be ever changing and evolving. You will continue to come across "cool" and new tools to incorporate and implement.

Your first blog post needs to be a personal reflection. After you read through the textbook prologue and also the Honors Biology course description/expectations sheet(on the class website), I want you to write a paragraph explaining what you hope to get out of and/or learn in this class during the upcoming school year. I then want you to give an example of how technology or web tools might make this goal more achievable.

(note: this is a very broad question on purpose).

Please post any questions you have in the comment section below.

WELCOME!!

Welcome to Honors Biology! We have a great year ahead of us with lots of material to cover. My hope is to make this experience as interactive as possible. To do this we will rely on a few new tools. This blog will serve as a forum for classroom discussion as well as assignment posts and announcements. You will be responsible for checking this blog each night as you do the NCCS website for homework. Sometimes I will ask you to post your thoughts directly to this blog. Others times we will use it to collect class data. You are encouraged to use the comment section of this blog as often as you'd like. Just remember to keep your responses respectful and appropriate.

In the next week you will also be creating your own blog. This will be your space to work on throughout the year. I will assign homework that you will need to post directly your page. You are welcome to be as creative as you'd like when doing this. Incorporating other tools and media displays is encouraged (don't be nervous....we will go over that together)

What's the big deal about blogs?!? Ever wonder how they work? Well before you read any further, take a moment to watch this video "In Plain English" video made by Common Craft

You will also be required at times to read and comment on other peoples posts. Links to all of your blogs will be posted on the right side of this class blog so all sites will be easily accessible. I will also help you set up the google reader tool available through your frogtown.com email accounts. This is another great way to track your fellow classmates blogs.

Here is another "In Plain English" video (can you tell that I like them!?!) to give you a better idea on how this tool works:

Don't let all of this blogging talk overwhelm you. We will start slowly to make sure everyone gets the hang of it. I cannot wait to see what you guys are capable of creating; I have high hopes!