Unit 5 Reflection

     In Unit 5, we learned about DNA.  When I learned about DNA, I learned about the central dogma of biology.  The central dogma states that information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins to an organism.  The process of making DNA to RNA is called transcription, the process of making RNA to proteins is called translation, and the process of proteins to making an organism is called the phenotype of an individual.  The central dogma explains a lot about this unit because it shows me how DNA makes proteins.  Some other things we learned about included what DNA is, semi-conservative replication, Protein Synthesis, mutations, and gene expression and regulation.  All these terms may seem very difficult, but they all are connected in a unique way.  The starting block of all these processes is DNA.  From then, we can learn about how DNA gets the instructions out into the cell.  The two main ways we learned in class were semi-conservative replication and Protein Synthesis.  These two processes are very similar but are also very different.  Semi-conservative replication is when you split the DNA and run DNA Polymerase down the DNA and add the respective nitrogen base to make two DNA molecule strand from the one original.  Protein Synthesis, however, is much more different.  DNA unzips and allows RNA Polymerase to match nucleotides to make an RNA strand.  This strand, known as the mRNA then heads to ribosome.  The ribosome reads three bases at a time, known as a codon, translates the nucleotides into amino acids.  Each codon then codes for one amino acid.  There are start codons to tell to start codon and stop codons to tell to stop coding.  Some of the main themes are DNA and how they replicate.  However, when they replicate, something can go wrong, which is known as mutations.

     This unit was short and sweet.  This unit contained a lot of information about different thing about DNA.  One thing that went well with this unit was that I learned more about myself and how I function as a student.  I enjoy memorizing a bunch of things, but one thing I am not so good at is understanding the big picture.  I need to know the big picture before concentrating on the tiny details that help make up the big picture.  Knowing the big picture helps a lot because I know what I am studying and that helps connects big topics together.  Not knowing the big picture can hurt one because they memorize a lot of facts that they do not know what for.  Understanding the big picture helps you understand what you are studying.  Some successes I learned about my studying is that if I learn all the material a little before the test, I will have enough time to let the information settle into my brain.  Digesting the information I learned can really help for me because I am not a person that is good at cramming and I also want to avoid cramming.  Some setbacks where that some of the topics were confusing so I needed spend more time understanding the topic.  I can do this by retaking CFU's and reading my relate and review.  I did not quite understand gene expression and regulation at first, but once I broke the information down the the key points and drawing a few diagrams, I could understand the big picture vividly and not get caught in all the small details.  The demands of high school biology can be a lot, but as I learn more about myself, I can keep up with the demands using time management skills I have previously learned.

     Since this is our fifth unit of biology, I have experienced a lot since the beginning of the year.  Some things I learned about from experience is that I am a visual learner.  I learn the best when I am watching a video on how the process works or looking at diagrams.  With visuals, I can get an idea of how all this is working by looking at something I can see.  I also learned a lot from labs.  Since I like to see things I am working with, I enjoy labs because they are real life examples of what is happening.  I enjoy labs because I can make something.  While making that thing, I can see it and feel the object.  The process of making that object also helps because there are reasons behind the lab procedure, which relate to concepts learned in class.  The infographic helped me a lot as well.  Infographics cannot contain too much text, so I needed to think about how to deliver the information in a concise manner for the reader.  My finished infographic helped me study the unit because I was able to view the key points necessary for that subject in a clear manner with help of some pictures.  The overall feel of the infographic was clean, so this tool helped me put information into different categories to study.

     I have some questions about DNA.  I do not understand why there are only four different nitrogen bases.  I also do not understand how there is protein language and then gene codes.  I feel that I am a better student than yesterday because I learned more about how I function as a student.  I learned over the semester that I study better when I look at visuals.  Diagrams and videos help me a lot because I can see how the thing is working.  Visuals also help me study because I like to organize information into different places, conceptually mapping inside my head.  Tackling my strengths to study help me study efficiently so I can get the most out of studying.  I cannot force to be a student that is good at reading things to study efficiently.  If I know what I am good at studying, I should stick to that method because it will be the best way to get information into my brain.  Studying in 30-45 minute chunks and then resting for five minutes is a way I study best.  Studying to too long in one sitting will not work for me because at a certain time point, I will not be effectively absorbing information.  In that five minutes, I usually walk around my house, go to the bathroom, drink or eat something, or even talk to my parents about trivial things.  After that five minutes, my brain is fresh again and I am ready to study effectively again.  Some things holding me back is that I usually not very confident in the way I study.  I tend to think that I am no studying the best way or I am not studying right.  This lack of confidence in my studying holds be back because I am not confident in how I study or if it is the right thing to do.  As I said before, I am a very good visual learner and I learned that again in the VARK Questionare.

Protein Synthesis Lab Conclusion

     There are two steps to making proteins.  The first step is transcription.  This is the process where RNA Polymerase reads and copies the DNA code, also called genes, for a protein as a mRNA copy.  In transcription, DNA unzips.  After DNA unzips, RNA Polymerase matches square nucleotides to make an RNA strand.  mRNA, or messenger RNA, is produced and leaves the nucleus and goes to the cytoplasm.  This is the beginning of the second step, translation.  Once the mRNA arrives at the ribosome, the ribosomes read mRNA three bases at a time and translates DNA language, nucleotides such as A, T, C, and G, into protein language, such as amino acids.  Each three base sequence of A, T, C, and G is known as a codon.  Each codon codes for one amino acid.  AUG is known as the start codon because it tells the ribosome to start translating.  There are also stop codons to tell the coding to stop.  As a result from this process, long chains of amino acids are made, which are known as primary structure.  Another thing is that the chain of amino acids twist and fold to combine with other chains of amino acids and become a protein.

Slonczewski, Joan L. Wikimedia Commons. Digital image. Wikimedia. Wikimedia, Web. 12 Dec. 2016. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bacterial_Protein_synthesis.png>.

     Mutations are changes in the DNA code.  There are two different types of mutations.  Substitution is where one or two base pairs are changed.  These mutations are small and very common. The second mutation is frameshift mutation.  Insertion and deletion fall under the frameshift mutation umbrella.  Insertion is when one base pair is added in a spot of the DNA code and deletion is when one base pair is deleted from the DNA code.  The mutation that has the greatest effect on proteins is substitution.  Substitution can change one or two base pairs, but those two altered base pairs can change the amino acid, which affects which kind of amino acid it is.  If you substitute a base pair near the end, it would not matter as much because only the amino acids behind the mutation will be changed.  However, if the first base pair is substituted, the start codon may not exist.  For example, if you have AUG and change it to UUG, the code will never be coded unless there is another start codon in the code.  A code could also have changed the stop codon so where the stop codon does not exist.

RazielWraith. Gene Alterations. Digital image. Gene Alterations. Gene Alterations, Web. 12 Dec. 2016. <http://comicvine.gamespot.com/genetic-alterations/4015-55878/>.

     In step seven of my Protein Synthesis Lab, I chose one mutation to see how much that mutation altered the DNA code.  I chose one of the frameshift mutations, deletion, because I wanted to see how much one deleted base pair would change the DNA code.  Instead of choosing a random base pair in the middle of the gene, I decided to change the very first base pair.  I did this because I knew that this would affect the start codon.  With this mutation, the coding of DNA did not start coding until later on in the gene where there was another start codon.  Comparing this to the other mutations, this does not just change one amino acid, this affected the whole gene because the gene did not start coding where I wanted it to start.  The location of the mutation does matter, especially in frameshift mutations because the gene would not be affected much if I changed something in the middle of the gene, but it would change a lot of I did change the start or stop coding. 

     Mutations can affect our life because if we do not get coded the correct protein, humans would have ears on their feet and eyes would appear on your hands.  In order to keep eyes off your hands and ears off your feet, genes need to be expressed correctly which is called gene expression and regulation.  An example of a mutation that affects a normal persons life is called Progeria.  Progeria is a mutation that accelerates aging.  Most children that have this disorder have a die around the age of 13 but some can live up to the age of 20 years old.  The common death of this disease is a heart attack or stroke.  This mutation occurs in around one in eight million people.  This mutation attacks the LMNA gene, which is a protein that provides support to the cell nucleus.  Some examples of progeria may include rigid skin, boldness, growth impairment, grown abnormalities, and a "sculpted" nasal tip.

HBO. Picture of a person with progeria. Digital image. Gizmozo. Gizmozo, Web. 13 Dec. 2016. <http://io9.gizmodo.com/10-unusual-genetic-mutations-in-humans-470843733>.

DNA Extraction Lab Conclusion

     In this lab, we asked the question "How can DNA be separated from cheek cells in order to study it?"  We found that making a solution composed of Gatorade, laundry detergent, salt, pineapple juice, and cold rubbing alcohol mixed with our cheek cells would cause the DNA to be separated from the nuclear membrane and the arriving near the top of our solution.  In this lab, we took some Gatorade and swished it in our mouth for 30 seconds.  After time was up, we scratched some cells off our cheeks and then spit the Gatorade mixed with the cheek cells into a cup.  We then added a salt, laundry detergent, and pineapple juice.  We placed this mixture into a test tube.  The test tube tilted so when we added the cold rubbing alcohol, the cold rubbing alcohol would be on a different layer in the test tube.  After letting the solution sitting for a little bit, we inverted the tube six times.  We then waited around five minutes to see if the DNA would rise to the top.  When we were waiting, I observed that the red Gatorade did not interfere with the cold rubbing alcohol which created two layers.  Another thing I observed while waiting was that there were tiny particles flying around in the layer of the red substance.  Near the end of the time allotted, DNA rose to the top of the mixture.  The DNA was separated from the cheek cell because of the substances our group added.  The salt facilitates the precipitation by shielding the negative phosphate ends of DNA which allows them to move closer.  The detergent is added to disintegrate the cell membranes and to emulsify the liquids and proteins of the cell.  The pineapple juice acts like the enzyme is added to further break down any proteins such as histones that DNA molecule wraps itself around.  With all this added together, this makes the DNA to come out of the nuclear membrane and then to float to the top of the substance.

     While our hypothesis was supported by our data, there could have been errors due to the time that we let the cold rubbing alcohol on a different layer from everything else.  According the the procedure our group put together, we needed to allot for the cold rubbing alcohol to sit on top of the mixture of Gatorade, detergent, salt and pineapple juice.  Our group did not successfully do this.  Our group put in the cold rubbing alcohol in the test tube and immediately started the invert the tube.  The time to we let the mixture settle was not enough for the DNA to arise from the cell.  Another problem was that the different substances we needed to put in might have been a varied a little bit.  For example, if we needed to put 5-10 drops of pineapple juice, I put five drops but my partners could have put ten of seven.  Also, there could have been a lot of air in the drops that I put in.  This means that I only put two or three drops instead of five.  The different amount of enzymes could affect how long it takes for the DNA to be separated.  This means that if I were to add a few more quality drops of pineapple juice, the DNA could have been extracted in the time frame our group allotted.  Due to these errors, in future experiments I would recommend making sure that there is enough time for the cold rubbing alcohol to settle into the other mixtures and the drops to be a good amount of quality droplets.

     This lab was done to demonstrate how it is possible for DNA to be separated from the cell.  From this lab I learned how different types of substances, such as pineapple juice, had important components which made the lab possible.  The concept that pineapple juice was the enzyme helped me understand a real example of an enzyme, not just some chemical I have no idea what it is.  I understood the purpose of the enzyme coming into this lab, but I did not have a concrete and real example of what it is.  Understanding that the pineapple juice acted like an enzyme helps me understand the concept of different thing such as enzymes.   Learning about the basic function and structure of the DNA really helps because we learned it in Biology class.  Biology class taught me how the different components added into the mixture had their own benefit into helping the DNA emerge out of the cell.   Based on my experience from this lab, I could make my own experiment about what kind of DNA out of different types of cells.  If I wanted to do this at home, I could gather up my materials and perform the experiment correctly because not only know the procedure, but I know background information about how DNA acts and works.  Knowing the background information I learned in my Biology class helps a lot because I know what is going on instead of just doing the experiment because I was told so.

Unit 4 Reflection

     The Coin Sex Lab showed the different probabilities of different crosses.  We also tested if the crosses were predictable.  Entering this lab, we needed to know and understand terms such as genes, alleles, meiosis, recombination, homozygous, heterozygous, and the different types of crosses such as monohybrid crosses and dihybrid crosses.  Many of the traits in people are determined by either autosomal or x-linked inheritance.  In the Coin Sex Lab, we used pennies to demonstrate crosses.  The pennies had a piece of tape on each side.  To stimulate sex, we flipped two or four coins to see what kind of traits our child would have.  For each cross, there is an expected ratio for the outcome of the cross.  We found out that the hypothetical ratio of a dihybrid cross was 9:3:3:1.  Once we tested monohybrid crosses, we got a ratio of 9:3:4:0.  The ratio was very close, but when applying this cross ratio to a real life situation, one should not count on the ratio of being completely accurate.  The ratio is fairly close of around 90% accurate, but it is not always 100% accurate.  This means that the cross ratio is not always completely correct.  Testing on a given day, the cross is very close, but it is not always the same as the hypothetical ratio.  One should not count on the hypothetical ratio when applying to real life situations because the cross ratio is not always 100% correct.  Using this lab as an example, determining the probability of offspring is not always in line in what one predicted.  Probability literally means the extent where something is probable.  Probable is never 100% unless one is very certain.  Probable can very from 30-60%.  Using probability of determining traits are not reliable because one is not certain unless it happens.  Understanding the concept of this lab is significant to our life later on because if one were to have a baby, the parents could see what kind of traits the baby would have.  If the parents knew their genotype, they could draw up a Punnett Square and see if one's offspring would have a bad disease.

     Unit 4 was mainly about understanding the concept of sex.  The topic may be complicated, but this unit discussed various topics of sex such as sexual and asexual reproduction, Mendel's Laws, and different types of inheritance.  There were many weaknesses for me in this unit.  Again, the concepts were confusing to me and I did not take the responsibility of understanding the concepts fully entering class so I could prepare questions I may have for my teacher.  The concepts that I did not understand kept pilling on and I felt very behind.  Next unit, I should take the extra time to prepare for difficult concepts entering class.  I did have some strengths, however.  I kept all the assignments in line and I made sure that I had all the homework done because the vodcasts are the big part of the final grade.  From this unit, I learned a lot about myself and how I could study better.  The infographic was not just another assignment.  The infographic made me slow down a little and ask myself "Which concepts are important and are needed to highlight?"  The infographic should not contain too much text because it would look overwhelming.  The infographic made me think about which concepts I should highlight.  In my opinion, I am a better student than yesterday because I learned more about myself and how I work as a student.  I learned about my strengths and setbacks and also what studying habits work and what do not.  There are many things I still wonder about for this unit.  I still wonder about how scientists could stop the genetic complications.  I still wonder about how cells make mistakes and how to prevent it.

     Learning about how you study is one of the most important things one needs to do.  I took a VARK Questionare and got the following results: 10 visual, 12 aural, 2 read/write, and 8 kinesthetic.  My preferred learning style is looking at charts or diagrams and listening to an instructor or a video.  I expected the results I got when taking this survey because I know a good amount about myself and I am aware of my weaknesses and strengths.  Since I know my preferred learning style, I can better prepare for the test.  Instead of using my weaknesses to study, I could utilize my strengths to help remember everything I learned about and can study both better and more efficiently.  I could draw things out and listen to vodcasts because these study habits are in my strengths, which I could fully utilize for both a better study session and a better test result.

Genetics Infographic

Is Sexual Reproduction Important?

     In one of the chapters in Dr. Tatina's Sex Advice, the author writes about how sex is important in life.  This book was presented in a way not only in a dry way of reading another book, but instead the author wrote the book as a conversation between an asexual reproducing species and sexual producing species.  The book was not only a conversation, it was a daytime TV show argument between the asexual producing species and the sexual producing species.  The main argument between the two groups were about the importance of sex.  The two sides believe in the opposite beliefs and the chapter describes the argument between the two.

     Sex is important because this process is the best way to maintain a functioning and healthy population.  Sexual reproduction has many benefits.  Sexual production creates genetic variation, can allow parents to raise young to ensure survival, and creates competition which allows the best to survive.  There are some costs, however.  Sexual reproduction requires a lot of energy and time, exposes you to parasites or disease, creates genetic combinations that can be bad, and not everyone can reproduce.  There are many benefits and costs, but the benefits outweigh the costs to show that sex is important in life.  There are also benefits and costs for asexual reproduction.  The benefits of asexual reproduction is that it is easy, takes a short amount of time, does not require two people, and can makes lots of offspring.  There are costs to asexual reproduction.  The costs are that there is no genetic variation that can lead to no resistance to change and that the species is more likely to go extinct if a new pathogen attacks or the environment changes.

     There were many arguments made, given that there are two sides trying to prove their respective points.  The first example of an argument says, "Sex may be fun, but cloning is much more efficient." (215)  The asexual reproduction strength is that they can make a lot of offspring in a short amount of time.  Another argument is given by the asexual side, "All else being equal, an asexual female who appears in a population should have twice as many offspring as her sexual counterpart." (215)  This quote shows how efficient asexual organisms are in producing offspring.  The amount is not just a little more than sexual reproduction, it is around two times more.  Another quote shows how productive asexual organisms are, "Each female must have two children for the population to remain the same size ... however, each female needs to have only one child for the population to remain the same." (215)  Again, the asexual organism is proving its point that the production and efficiency of the asexual reproducer can do less work and the sexual producer needs to do more work to remain constant.  This chapter gets evened out as the asexual producer fires arguments at the sexual reproducers.  A quote that supports the sexual production side states, "But although asexuality often evolves - it pops up in groups from jellyfish to dandelions, from lizards to lichens - it rarely persists for long." (216)  This quote shows one of the weaknesses of the asexual producers.  Asexual organisms do not last for long even though they can make many very fast and efficiently.

     I thought that this chapter was very interesting, but I did not know much about sexually and asexually producing in order to make a good viewpoint.  I thought some topics were confusing and I could have understood this topic better if I knew every single thing going on.  I want to learn about how scientists could make the sexually production organisms have less costs so that we would run in to less errors or problems.

Unit 3 Reflection

     In this unit, we learned about cells, how they work, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration.  The major theme I found in this unit was how cells evolve around different functions that keep us alive.  This unit's essential question was "How do macromolecules serve as building blocks of cells?"  In this unit, we first learned about the different parts of the cells and how they function.  On example would be how cells make proteins.  The cells first get the DNA from the nucleus.  Then the ribosomes make the proteins.  After that, the proteins are sent to the endoplasmic reticulum, or also known as ER, where they are finished.  Once the ER, or endoplasmic reticulum, finishes on working on the proteins, the proteins are sent to the golgi apparatus where they send the protein off out.  This concept is one thing we learned about in Unit 3.  After learning about the basics of how a cell works, we then learn how the cells function in different ways such as photosynthesis and cellular respiration.  Photosynthesis produces oxygen and glucose from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide while cellular respiration takes in oxygen and glucose to make ATP, water, and carbon dioxide.

     In this unit, I learned more about myself and how I learn material.  I had many strengths and success that I did not have the previous unit but I also had some weaknesses and setbacks that could really hurt me later on.  One strength I gained this unit was to learn how the vodcasts work and how to take notes in the most efficient way.  I also learned more about how this class works so I can do homework and prepare for this class easier than in Unit 1 or Unit 2.  In this unit, I did not only have strengths, I also had many weaknesses and setbacks.   An example of one of the setbacks or weaknesses I had was that the material had many specific detail and I was too focused on the many details, but I really should get the big picture and what is going on before I study all the details on how it really works.  From all my experience in this class, I learned many things about myself and how I work as a student.  I am a better student than yesterday because I know more information about biology and I learned more about how I function as a student.  I am a better student because I learned more about myself and the content in biology.

     In this unit, I learned many interesting things such as photosynthesis and cellular respiration.  I do have some lingering questions after this unit came to an end.  I am curious about how cellular respiration and photosynthesis can work together or what if both things did not have enough of their resource to make enough of their product.  I also wonder about when animals, such as cows, eat plants, do the photosynthesis happen in their body or do the thylakoids do not get enough of what they need to start photosynthesis.

Microscopic Organism Lab Conclusion

This photo was taken at x650.  One thing unique about this cell is that these look like pink star's like Patrick from Spongebob.  One thing my partner and I noticed was that there was a green star, but then inside the green star contained a red or pink circular shape thing inside the green star cell.  This amoeba is eukaryotic and is heterotrophic.

This photo was taken at x650.  One unique characteristic about this cell is that the cell looks like blue rice.  One observation my partner and I had about this cell was that you could clearly see the small dark black nucleus clearly from the microscope.  This euglena cell is eukaryotic and autotrophic.

This photo was taken at x400.  One thing unique about this cell is that there are no chloroplasts in this cell.  One observation my partner and I noticed was that there are little dots that are chained together to form lines.  This cyanobacteria is prokaryotic and autotrophic.

This photo was taken at x650.  I noticed that the bacteria cell is a lot smaller compared to the other cells my partner and I had observed.  One thing I observed about this cell is that there is not only one kind of cell, there are three types of cells compared to normal cells that usually have only one kind.  This bacteria cell is prokaryotic and can be autotrphic and heterotrophic.

This picture was taken at x650.  One thing my partner and I noticed about this slide was that this cell looks really scattered and does not like like one cell.  One observation my partner and I had while looking at this cell was that there is a dark spot near next to each cell.  This spirogyra cell is eukaryotic and is autotrophic.

The power of the microscope was x650 when this photo was taken.  One thing unique about this slide is that there is one section of the cell that is pink and then there is another section in the cell that is green.  One thing that my partner and I noticed was that you could see the different circular parts of the cell.  This ligustrum cell is prokaryotic and is autotrophic.

The power of the microscope is x650.  My partner and I noticed that this cell was different from the others because the cell has a nucleus that is black.  One observation my partner and I had was that you could clearly see the different strands in the cell.  This animal cell is eukaryotic and is heterotrophic.

     For each organism, I was able to identify different parts.  In the animal cell, I was able to identify single muscle fibers, striations, and the nucleus.  In the ligustrum, I was able to identify the chloroplasts, epidermis cell, and the vein.  In the spirogyra, I was able to identify the chloroplast, cell wall, and cytoplasm.  In the bacteria cells, I was able to identify the three types of bacteria cells named the coccus, bacillus, and the spirilum.  In the cyanobacteria, I was able to identify one single cell out of all the cells linked together to form a larger piece.  In the euglena, I was able to identify the nucleus, chloroplasts and a faint sign of the flagellum.  In the amoeba, I was able to identify the nucleus, cell membrane, pseudopods, and the cytoplasm.  The eukaryotic cells were able to be identified with a nucleus.  The prokaryotic cells were identified without a nucleus.  Most of the autotrophs were smaller and less complex.  The heterotrophic were more complex and some evne had other autotrophs inside them.

Photosynthesis Virtual Labs

Photosynthesis Virtual Labs

Lab 1: Glencoe Photosynthesis Lab

http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/virtual_labs/LS12/LS12.html

Analysis Questions

1. Make a hypothesis about which color in the visible spectrum causes the most plant growth and which color in the visible spectrum causes the least plant growth?

If visible light provides a spectrum of red through violet, then red, blue, and violet light will make the plant grow the fastest and green and yellow light will make the plant grow the slowest.

2. How did you test your hypothesis? Which variables did you control in your experiment and which variable did you change in order to compare your growth results?

I tested my hypothesis by adding different plant seeds and then measuring the different heights the plants grew over 30 days with different color light.  The controlled variables were the duration, same unit of measure (cm), same amount of light, and same amount of seeds.

Results:

Filter Color	Spinach Avg. Height (cm)	Radish Avg. Height (cm)	Lettuce Avg. Height (cm)
Red	17.3 cm	12.67 cm	11 cm
Orange	15 cm	8.67 cm	7.3 cm
Green	2.3 cm	2 cm	3.67 cm
Blue	19.3 cm	15 cm	12.67 cm
Violet	16 cm	10.3 cm	9.3 cm

3. Analyze the results of your experiment. Did your data support your hypothesis? Explain. If you conducted tests with more than one type of seed, explain any differences or similarities you found among types of seeds.

The data I gathered during the duration of this experiment supported my hypothesis that red, blue, and violet light would make the plants grow faster.  For each category of plant seeds, the red, blue, and violet grew much larger than the other light colors.  The red plant heights were 17.3 cm, 12.67 cm, and 11 cm for spinach, radish, and lettuce, respectively.  The blue plant heights were 19.3, 15 cm, and 12.67 cm for spinach radish, and lettuce, respectively.  The violet light heights were 16 cm, 10.3 cm, and 9.3 cm for spinach, radish, and lettuce, respectively.  The green light plants did not even reach 5 cm for any of the plant seeds.  Among all the seeds, I noticed that all the red,  blue, and violet light plants grew the highest and the green light plants grew the least.

4. What conclusions can you draw about which color in the visible spectrum causes the most plant growth?

I can conclude from this experiment that the plants light spectrum absorb the most light from the ends of the spectrum.  The wavelengths should either be really short or really long.

5. Given that white light contains all colors of the spectrum, what growth results would you expect under white light?

Under white light, I would expect the averages of all the colors because the plants will absorb all the different colors in a different way, so the white light would reflect the average.

Site 2: Photolab

http://www.kscience.co.uk/animations/photolab.swf

This simulation allows you to manipulate many variables. You already observed how light colors will affect the growth of a plant, in this simulation you can directly measure the rate of photosynthesis by counting the number of bubbles of oxygen that are released.

There are 3 other potential variables you could test with this simulation: amount of carbon dioxide, light intensity, and temperature.

Choose one variable and design and experiment that would test how this factor affects the rate of photosynthesis. Remember, that when designing an experiment, you need to keep all variables constant except the one you are testing. Collect data and write a lab report of your findings that includes:

• Question
• Hypothesis
• Experimental parameters (in other words, what is the dependent variable, independent variable, constants, and control?)
• Data table
• Conclusion (Just 1st and 3rd paragraphs since there's no way to make errors in a virtual lab)

*Type your question, hypothesis, etc. below.  When done, submit this document via Canvas.  You may also copy and paste it into your blog.

Question:  Will light intensity affect the amount of oxygen bubbles that will be released?

Hypothesis:  If more light will produce more oxygen, then the amount of oxygen bubbles will increase with higher light intensity.

Experimental parameters:

30 seconds

25 degrees

Blue light

Least amt of carbon dioxide

• Dependent variables: Amount of oxygen bubbles produced 
• Independent variables:  Light intensity (0%, 10%, 25%, 50%)
• Constants:  Same time (seconds), temperature (degrees Celcius), and carbon dioxide (empty bottle)
• Control:  0% light intensity

Experiment Data Table (Measured in amount of bubbles)

	0% light intensity	10% light intensity	25% light intensity	50% light intensity
Trial 1	0 bubbles	9 bubbles	13 bubbles	15 bubbles
Trial 2	0 bubbles	9 bubbles	13 bubbles	14 bubbles
Trial 3	0 bubbles	10 bubbles	13 bubbles	14 bubbles

In this lab, we asked the question, “Will light intensity affect the amount of oxygen bubbles that will be released?”  I found that the more intense the light is, the more the plants will produce oxygen bubbles.  After three trials for each light intensity, I found an average of 0 bubbles for 0% light intensity, an average of 9 bubbles for 10% light intensity, and an average of 14 bubbles for 50% light intensity.  This quantitative evidence shows that if the plants that are exposed to more intense light, then the plants will produce more oxygen to areas where there is less light.

This lab was done to demonstrate how the intensity of light would affect the amount of oxygen produced.  From this lab, I learned that the plants need to be exposed to more intense light in order to produce more oxygen.  The conclusion to this lab makes sense because in class we learned that the more of something but in, the more will come out.  Using the equation I learned in class, 6CO2 + 6H20 = C6H12O6 + 6O2, I can conclude that if we added more of one thing on the left side, the more will come out from the equation because the more of one variable you put in, the more of another thing will pop back out.  This lab helped me understand the concept of photosynthesis because I was able to manipulate one part of the photosynthesis equation and see how if affects the amount of product it will produce.  Based on this experience from this lab, if I wanted to grow my own plants in a garden, for example, I would know how to make the plants grow faster.  If I have any problems growing my plants, I could think about what I did in this lab to see how to make the plants grow at the normal rate or even faster than the normal rate.