Macro Molecules - Weekly Blog 9/25/16

https://www.cuteness.com/article/evolution-geckos

Summary

There are four types of macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. These four macromolecules are the main building blocks of life. Carbohydrates provide energy for your body. They're basically just sugar. The monomer (simplest form) of carbohydrates is saccharides. Examples of carbs include bread, rice, and pasta. Lipids are fats. They store energy in your body. The monomer is fatty acids and some examples include oil and wax. The next one, proteins, are what make up all of your vital body parts. Some body parts made of proteins include your muscles, heart, skin, and eyes. The monomer of proteins is amino acids. The final macromolecule is nucleic acids. Nucleic acids are your DNA and RNA. They hold the instructions for your bodies organelles to perform their functions. The monomer is nucleotides.

SP2: Developing and using models

I developed and used models when I created an informational foldable on the 4 different types of macromolecules. My model organized the information I previously took notes on and helped me better understand what my notes meant. I also had to include things that weren't in my notes in my foldable. This included 5 examples of each macromolecule. By transferring the information from my notebook to a neat foldable, I was able to go over all the information I wrote down and remind myself of what I learned about the previous day.

Cross Cutting Concepts: Systems and System Models

Our body is really just one big system made up of smaller systems, made up of smaller systems inside those systems. Within all these systems, there are parts that work together so the system can function correctly. Every type of macromolecule plays big role in the human body. For example, without carbs, our body wouldn't have any energy. Without lipids, our body wouldn't have a place to store our energy. Without proteins... our body wouldn't exist. And without nucleic acids, our body wouldn't know how to function. The point is if our body didn't have even one of these types of macromolecules, we would cease to exist. Everything in our body is there for a reason.

9/18/16 Cell Wars Project Blog

Summary

In the Cell Wars Project, students picked organelles to represent during Cell-Land's new "election", forming groups of 3 and 4 for the project. The project consisted of three elements, posters advertising our candidates awesomeness, smears and replies about why you should vote our organelle for president and a video containing information about your organelle. I personally, would vote for the Ribosome. This is because of several reasons. For one, their group created a highly entertaining, informational, and an easy to understand video. Their idea was unique and definitely got their point across about why the Riboome is the right candidate. Also, they created hilarious posters as well as mini ones that they pinned to their shirts for more advertisement.

Backwards Looking

How much did you know about the subject before we started?

Before this project, my only knowledge on organelles and cells was from the unit we did in 5th grade (also on organelles). In 5th grade we also studies cells but didn't go into as much detail on the organelles themselves. I remember researching the chloroplast. Also, due to the fact that I haven't really learned much about cells recently, a lot of the information I had previously learned was forgotten. In addition to that, this year I learned about more organelles including the E.R, peroxisomes, and cytoplasm. 

Inward Looking

What did/do you find frustrating about it?

While creating my groups video, we ran into a multitude of problems. For one, Powtoon didn't allow any actually editing for voice overs on the actual program. Because of this, I had to edit the audio for each slide on Wevideo separately. In addition to that, I also had to convert the audio on Wevideo into an Mp3 file to be able to import it into Powtoon. Because of this, I had to do a lot more work than I might of had to do if I checked to see how voice overs worked ahead of time in Powtoon.

Outward Looking

Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?

Unlike other groups videos, my group created a Powtoon animation. Most of the other groups created an actual filmed video. However, there a few groups that also created animations. Their animations differed from my group, however, by the application they used and the plot of the whole thing altogether. A similarity I noticed between other groups work was how lots of people were filming newscasts for their video. Either their video was a newscast or it included one. My groups video also included a newscast. However, we just used one to introduce the story line of the whole thing. 

Forward Looking

One thing I would like to improve upon is ...

One really important thing that I know I have to improve upon is time management. This year, despite the fact that it has just begun, I've noticed that I tend to finish a large portion of my project usually last minute. This is because I tend to work slowly and take my time wile doing parts of the project. One solution, I have found is to set small goals while i'm working. Not goals for the day or period, goals for the next 20 minutes or something. For example, while i'm working I might tell myself, "by 5:35 I want to have this much completed" or "I want to have 5 lines written down."

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Cell Wars 9/11

One of my group's posters

Summary

Whenever you work on some sort of project, it is important to make sure that you check

Peroxisomes 9/4/16

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Peroxisome.svg/2000px-Peroxisome.svg.png

Summary

Within the cell, peroxisomes carry out several different tasks. One of their main jobs is to break down the hydrogen peroxide within the cell. H2o2 is a by-product of different enzymes in the cell, created by their activity. Since it is deadly to the cell, it needs to be rid of quickly. That's where the peroxisomes come in. The hydrogen peroxide ends up inside the peroxisome which contains an enzyme called catalase. In the presence of catalase, h2o2 will be broken down into oxygen and water. Other tasks that the peroxisomes carry out include digesting fatty, amino, and uric acids as well as digesting alcohol.

SP7: Arguing With Evidence

I engaged in an argument with evidence when I smeared other organelles in the cell war Edmodo campaign. To do so, I had to argue about why my group's organelle should become president of cell-land and provide solid evidence to convince others. For example, in one smear I made, I created a meme about the ribosome and why people believe the cause of Alzheimers Disease is related it. In addition to creating an entertaining meme, I had to do research on the cause, provide a brief explanation explaining what I am trying to tell others, and provide an informative source. Without evidence, my smear and meme would have no meaning. 

XCC: Stability and Change

The other day, while I was mountain biking I noticed how I was seeing more deer than usual. This reminded me of the deer, food, water, shelter, and mountain lion activity that we did last year in science. I figured what I saw was a real life example of the game taking place in Alum Rock Parks ecosystem. From what I have observed, I believe that the system there isn't stable. This is because of how many deer I saw. If the population of deer is increasing right now, it is probably because there is more resources for them and less predators like mountain lions. I also remember that in the game, when we graphed out the data that we found, the population of deer jump from really high to really low on a yearly basis. Right now, the population is probably in its high time. The reason why the population of deer changed like this was because of the resources. When there wasn't enough, deer were killed off in large quantities which left few deer. The few deer then had more than enough resources so they reprooduced in vast quantites and so on and so on. To make the population stable, I would recommend experimenting with the amount and combination of resources and predators to see what works best.