Unit 8 Reflection

     This unit was all about populations constantly changing and evolution of populations.  Some of the essential themes and understands are evolution, the role of variation in evolution, causes of change, why change occurs, what evolves, and natural selection acting on phenotypes.   One of the major concepts about evolution is that natural selection acts on each individual.  However, this is not the case; the whole population evolves.  The natural selection acts on the phenotypes, but the genotype changes because of this.  Another concept that people miss is that evolution is the change of allele frequency in a population over a period of time.  Going in to this unit, I knew what evolution was but I could not have told you a solid definition.  The concept of evolution can be seen by the Hunger Games Lab.  This lab really helped me understand all of the concepts of evolution in a real example and this lab really cleared things up for me.  The Hunger Game analysis can be viewed here.

Pathwayz. Gene Pool. Digital image. Pathway. Ben Himme, Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <https://www.pathwayz.org/Tree/Plain/GENE+POOLS+%26+ALLELE+FREQUENCY>

     This unit covered most concepts of evolution.  However, there is not enough time to learn everything of one subject.  Some things I wonder about are why evolution is evolution and why natural selection is so random.  Natural selection acts on individuals but I do not understand why it acts the way it is.

Get Holistic Health. Screaming in microphone. Digital image. Get Holistic Health. Get Holistic Health, Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <http://www.getholistichealth.com/13375/how-to-develop-assertiveness/>.

     In the previous unit, we learned to be more assertive.  Since then, I have made efforts to try and be more assertive.  One thing I have done that I found really helpful is to stand up like a hawk and not slump my shoulders like a turtle.  I found this to be helpful because standing straight gives me more confidence to become more assertive.  I still need to work on my voice and stating things in a more declarative tone and not in a question-like tone.

Hunger Games Final Analysis Answers

1. In this Hunger Games lab, each student was assigned a different way to eat corks.  There was a stumpy's that had to eat food with wrists, knuckler's that had to eat food with knuckles, and pincher's who had to eat with their index finger and thumb.  The class went outside to the lower field and all stood with their backs to the center and once Mr. Orre blew the whistle, the class would turn around and try to eat as many corks as possible.  After a certain amount of time, he would tell us to stop and count of corks.  If we did not have more than a certain amount, we could not reproduce and died off.  This lab stimulated a real life situation of different kinds of animals fighting for survival.  It also demonstrated natural selection because most of the pincher's survived because they were better suited for survival.
2. The pincher's phenotype of aa was the best for survival.  The pincher's were best suited for survival because the way that they ate was the most efficient.  Instead of picking up one at a time with their wrists, pincher's could grab two at a time with far more accuracy with their fingers.
3. Throughout this lab, the population did evolve and this can be seen with the evidence that I collected.  At the beginning of the lab, the ratio of "A" alleles to "a" alleles were 0.48 to 0.52, respectively.  At the end of the lab, the ratio of "A" alleles to "a" alleles changed to 0.18 to 0.82, respectively.  The population did evolve because the ratio of the different alleles changed.
4. Some random factors in this lab were the assignment of alleles at the start, who stood where in the circle to get food, who was the child of which family, and sometimes the placement of the food.  However, some factors were not random and were done on purpose.  The factors in this lab that are done on purpose are the mating of two individuals and where Mr. Orre decided the place the food in the later generations.  If Mr. Orre decided to put all the food next to the pincher's, the whole population would turn into pincher's fairly quickly.  However, if he decided to help out the stumpy's and put the food right next to all the stumpy's, the stumpy's would have a higher chance of survival and would last a little longer in the population.
5. If the food was a different size, the population would have changed.  If the food was too big for a pincher to pinch, the pincher's would not do as well as the stumpy's because they use their wrists not delicate and precise fingers to grab things.  If the food was smaller, than the pincher's would be favored because they have precise movements and can pick up smaller items easier.
6. If there was no incomplete dominance, then the knuckler's would have not existed and the population would only be pincher's and stumpy's.  The results would have changed because the ratio of alleles would have been far more towards one species and in this case would be the pincher's.
7. Natural selection acts on the population causing the weaker traits to die out and stronger traits to be common.  Over long periods of time, the population would evolve because the population needs to adapt to their environment.
8. Since pincher's provided to be dominant, pincher's commonly got together to mate and produce another pincher baby.  However, later on in the lab, there were only a few stumpy's and knucklers.  The stumpy's bred with stumpy's, making more stumpy babies, which make the ratio of stumpy's in the population higher.  If pincher's mated with only pincher's, the whole and most of the population would be pincher's.  In nature, to ensure survival, same species mate with each other because they want their species to not die out and become extinct.
9. In evolution, a population evolves.  The population would change in order to adapt to what the environment provides.  Natural selection acts on the phenotype.  The genotype changes which causes the phenotype to change.
10. After this lab clearly demonstrated evolution and natural selection, I had a clear understanding of how these concepts work and this lab answered all my questions.

Nap and Studying Testing Progress Report

     For my 20 Time project, I am conducting an experiment to determine how long an ideal nap would be to boost studying efficiency.  The first step of an experiment is to gather data about the topic.  After gathering as much helpful data as I could, I found out a few key things that will help me for my experiment.  I found out about a persons sleep cycle.  Around every three hours, our body repeat a sleep cycle.  If you take a nap and wake up in the deep sleep portion, you will not feel very good.  Another thing I found out was that around a twenty minute nap is ideal because it does not enter deep sleep and the nap does not seem too short.  Over the course of the 20 Time so far, I have learned that I am very curious in my subject.  While I am searching about a particular topic, my mind wanders to compose another question I have about a similar topic.

     So far, I have had a few setbacks.  As of right now, I am about to start my experimental phase.  After gathering enough information and forming a hypothesis, I am ready to conduct an experiment.  However, I need to have a group of people to help me conduct my experiment.  I cannot test myself because I know what is being tested.  I plan to ask my friends that I socialize with outside of class and also ask other biology students in Mr. Orre's class to see if they are interested in joining my experiment.

     My next steps in my 20 Time project is to conduct my experiment.  After successfully running a first round of experiments, I hope to analyze the data and possibly conduct another follow-up experiment to test something related to this topic.  After all the necessary testing is done, I can analyze all my data and come up with a conclusion.  Once I find out what the most efficient nap time is, I can use that information for myself when I am studying for the finals or just studying in general.  I can take efficient nap breaks that can help me get better test grades and also become a more efficient worker.

Unit 7 Reflection

     Unit 7 was all about our ecosystem.  Some big idea of ecology that I learned are homeostasis, interdependence, habitat, niche, biotic factors, and abiotic factors.  Homeostasis is a big thing in an ecosystem because like our bodies, an ecosystem work best at equilibrium.  For example, there cannot be too much of too little sun.  Just right is in the middle where the flowers receive enough energy to produce oxygen and glucose but not too much so where they are out of their tolerance range and die off.  Interdependence is a also a huge factor in an ecosystem.  All the different trophic levels rely on each other to provide food for each other.  The primary consumer all the way up to the quarternary consumer relies on the little primary producer to provide enough energy for them to stay living.  Habitats are important because this is where the species live and perform their daily tasks.  This is where they live and their habitat needs to fit their needs and tolerance range.  Niches are also important because not only does the area need to fit their needs, but the factors also.  The species adaptations are needed to fit whenever something is not going right.  Biotic and abiotic factors are important because a turtle needs other biotic factors such as birds and trees and abiotic factors such as sun and water to survive.  With both of these things working together, the turtle could live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMsB-EkFQtg&feature=youtu.be

Our Conservation Biology Project can be viewed here.

     I do have some questions after this unit has ended.  As our unit ended, I wondered about how I could make our home a better place.  After seeing Bag It, I really wonder about how long we can still last keeping up how much we use plastic and fossil fuels to literally destroy our planet.  Also, I want to know how I could help.  This task seems way to large of a problem to understand what little role I could do to help contribute to solving this problem.

     I think that our Conservation Biologist Project went really well.  My group had a really easy time dividing the tasks equally and meeting deadlines.  Our group did not have any communication errors or conflicts that stopped our progress on working on our project.  I think that the way we divided work went well because we finished everything in a timely manner and everybody knew what to do.  However, I thought that we did not have time to record the project together, so Mitra had to finish it at home.  I learned a lot about how a group project works and I can take my knowledge to apply it to the next project so it runs smoother.  For my survey, I was a little more passive than aggressive but my assertive score was not very low.  A few things that I can do to become more assertive is to stand straight like a hawk not a turtle.  I need to stand up straight and also look people in the eye.  If I think that staring into each others eyes are weird, I can look at their nose of forehead.

Story of Stuff Extra Credit Summary

In this short informational video, I learned more about the process of how to change the process.  From the last video “Story of Stuff”, I learned about what five things contribute into the cycle of burning fossil fuels to creating hazardous toxins.  The video “Story of Change” was a continuation of the previous video.  “Story of Change” talked about how we can change this system.  The answer to changing the system lays in our hands.  We the people have the ability to change the whole system.  There are three different components to changing the process.  The first step is the idea.  Everybody needs to have an idea to start and build off of.  For example, Martin Luther King Jr. needed to have an idea of what he wanted to argue before he could do anything.  He couldn’t just go up there not knowing what he wanted to say.  The second thing is we the people.  We live in a democratic society and we the people have a huge amount of power.  For example, when Martin Luther King Jr. was giving his speech, only 25% of the people supported him.  This may seem like a tiny amount, but that 25% of the people were highly effective.  The third thing is to take action.  The 25% of Martin Luther King Jr.’s supporters did not just stand around waiting for something to happen.  Those 25% of the people took action and made something happen.  This step is very critical because if you have all three things, you can change anything you want.  I think this three step process is very logical and effective.  First, you need an idea.  This makes sense because you need to know what you want.  The second step is we the people.  This means that the citizens have the power to protest and eventually get what they want.  This makes sense because the majority of the population of America is the citizens, not the wealthy.  The third step is to take action.  This makes sense because an idea is only just an idea unless you do something about that idea.  Someone needs to make it happen or else nobody would know about the amazing idea.

Setting the Stage for 20 Time

     In my Biology course, we are starting a project called 20 Time.  Also known as Inquiry Hour or a passion project, I will spend roughly 20% of my time in class or every other Monday working on what I am interesting in and passionate about.  In my 20 Time project, I will ask the question "How will different nap lengths benefit how well one can study?"  By studying, I mean the different aspects of studying such as memory, understanding new concepts, accuracy in subjects such as math, and many other factors that are used in a useful studying session.  Using the scientific method of inquiry, I plan to design an experiment testing different lengths of power naps to identify what would be ideal for the most efficient studying.

     I chose this specific project because I question what the most efficient and effective way to study is and how to achieve this.  I also love sleeping and I am sure everybody values their sleep.  Not many teenagers get the recommended 9-10 hours of sleep daily.  It turns out that the average teenagers get around two hours less than what experts recommend.  In order to compensate for the missed sleep time, I wonder what length of a nap could help boost both how you feel emotionally as well as how to study more efficiently.  This project will answer the question I asked above through a series of experiments and trials.  After running various tests, I will analyze the data and observations I have gathered in the experimental phase and come up with my best answer to my question given the data I received in my experiment.

     My goal in my 20 Time project is to find how to attain a high quality studying session by taking various naps.  Through my course of this 20 Time project, I hope to find the sweet spot for the amount of time each nap should be to have the best studying time afterwards.  By collecting data, I could measure how much progress I have made my determining if I have hit my jackpot yet or not.  If not, I will continue to find the best time and duration.  Moving forward, I plan to use the steps of the scientific method I have learned in class and design my own experiment.  I will gather information, form a hypothesis, construct and run an experiment, and collect data and analyze.  I will repeat the experimental steps if needed.

Unit 6 Reflection

     This unit was called biotechnology.  Biotechnology is the manipulation of living organisms in order to benefit mankind.  Biotechnology is very broad, but in this unit, we focused on the question, "What is the purpose of biotechnology?"  Biotechnology generally focuses on topics such as DNA, proteins, and inheritance.  Throughout this unit, we learned various subjects of biotechnology such as sequencing, PCR, and gel electrophoresis.  Watching the nightly vodcasts, I learned a lot of detailed facts about these various subjects, but there is a bigger scope than just memorizing the facts about the subjects.  Sequencing, for example, can be applied into the bigger world rather than just a biology class.  Sequencing can find the exact order of the DNA.  This is impressive and also can be used in the outside world.  Sequencing can be used for forensics to see who committed the crime with the given DNA sample.  Another example is PCR, which stands for polymerase chain reaction.  This is the process that amplifies a certain DNA segment into making millions and millions of copies.  Again, PCR can be used in the outside world in cloning.  If a scientist wanted to clone something, he or she would use the process of PCR.  Gel electrophoresis can also be used in the real world.  Gel electrophoresis can be used to identify criminals that ran away from the scene.  The forensic scientist would scoop up a DNA sample and can try and find the culprit.  The DNA would be put into the tiny wells into the agar gel to run the gel electrophoresis and analyze the data like in my previous blog post about gel electrophoresis.  These subjects are just a few of the many topics I learned this unit.

     This unit was short and sweet.  Some strengths in this unit for me was that I just came off a nice long vacation after the stressful finals week.  My family and I went out of town to visit family and this was a nice break from the constant stress of school.  My brain was allowed to be relaxed and decompress, which made my mind fresh for this unit.  I also had a clearer idea of how to study and tackle various assignments such as vodcasts, tests, and lab reflections.  Some setbacks, however, included the constant studying I wanted to accomplish.  I wanted to constantly study after each vodcast, but I was not able to do so.  A success I would like to share is the use of note cards for studying for the big unit test.  I convert all my vodcast notes into note cards and this is a neat way to study in short chunks separated by a few minute breaks in between.

     In this unit, we did the Candy Electrophoresis Lab and the pGLO lab.  In the gel electrophoresis lab, I learned about how to get the DNA.  In this lab, we did the candy with dye.  The dye acted like the DNA.  The different DNA would run against the control DNA, and I learned that the results were never exact.  Some were pretty close, but not all of them were 100% perfectly this color or length.  More information about how I analyzed the lab can be found using this link:  http://leibiologyblog.blogspot.com/.  The other experiment we did in the biotechnology unit was the pGLO lab.  In this lab, we tried to use different possibilities to try and see which DNA would glow.  In this unit, I learned the reason for each substance that we used.  For example, the calcium chloride would be used for loosing the membrane and the arabinose would make the bacteria glow.  With all these chemicals, I was able to find out what each substance did to the final result.  My analysis can be found with the same link which is: http://leibiologyblog.blogspot.com/. 

     As always, there is never enough to learn about a various topic.  Biotechnology is so broad that we barely covered the fundamentals.  I wonder about the real world of biotechnology and how it can be implemented to benefit our society to make things easier.  For example, the movie GATTACA.  GATTACA was a dystopian society where everybody was perfect genetically.  I want to prevent things like that, but also use biotechnology to benefit our society.

     In the beginning of the year, we wrote a New Years Resolution.  My goals were to maintain my grades fairly high.  So far after around three to four weeks, my grades are still maintaining a high percentage.  The hardest part of the semester is definitely the first month.  This period of time is the hardest of all because the grades fluctuate a lot.  If you get a 5/10 on your first assignment, you will have a D as a grade.  Right now, I am still around where I would like to be grade wise.  There are a few steps, however, I could start doing.  The first thing for biology is to study proactively.  This means after each vodcast relate and review and CFU, I need to study the material so I could come in prepared with all my questions that needed to be answered.  This way, I do not need to cram the last minute.