Taylor+P

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=[|My Blog]= = = =About Me=

I am pretty athletic. I like to play baseball, basketball, tennis, football, and soccer. I am pretty short and kind of quiet. My role models are my parents. I like to go to the beach and swim in the ocean. I also enjoy going to amusement parks. My favorite rides are the roller coasters. I have a pet fish named Bob. My favorite team is the Steelers.

=Sugar Maple=
 * 1) Name: Sugar Maple
 * 2) Scientific name: //Acer saccharum//
 * 3) Organism that infects tree: Tar spots affect the leaves on the sugar maple. Fungi on diseased leaves spread to the sugar maple leaves and create a blackish color on the top of the leaf and a brown bottom.
 * 4) Provides habitat or food for... (don't guess, research): The maple tree provides food for people because it helps make maple syrup with its sap. Squirrels, deer, rabbits, and porcupines are also fed by the sugar maple. Woodpeckers and squirrels normally live in the sugar maple.
 * 5) Justify classification of tree to related trees - create classification scheme as a class, identify related species: The Sugar Maple Tree is closely related to the buckeye and horse chestnut trees. They are related because they have opposite leaf arrangements, palmately compound leaves, and are deciduous.
 * 6) Commercial use of tree: They make maple syrup out of the sap from the tree. They also make floors, instruments, and furniture out of the tree's wood.
 * 7) Twig characteristics: The twig is kind of shiny and has a brownish color. The twig is also pretty smooth. It has a 1/4 to 3/8 inch long terminal bud that is pointed and sharp.
 * 8) Where tree is found in the world (native to pa?): They are found in the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, Nova Scotia, southern Ontario, Georgia, and Texas. They are native to Pennsylvania.
 * 9) Draw or find a picture of a drawing of the leaf to show to the class.

Websites I found information on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_saccharum

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=Cucumber Magnolia=


 * 1) Name: Cucumber Magnolia
 * 2) Scientific Name: //Magnolia acuminata//
 * 3) Organism that infects tree: They are subject to leaf spots and fungi living on them. Also, a disease called Cankers disease will kill the branches on the tree.
 * 4) Provides habitat or food for... (don't guess, research): The seeds in the cucumber like pods provide food for animals such as birds, squirrels, and chipmunks. They usually provide habitat for birds and wildlife that hibernate for the winter.
 * 5) Justify classification of tree to related trees - create classification scheme as a class, identify related species: The cucumber magnolia is closely related to all other types of magnolia trees. They all are medium sized trees. Some are evergreen, but others are deciduous. They also have soft wood and they grow very fast. Also magnolias have flowers
 * 6) Commercial use of tree: The grained wood is used as paneling or trim.
 * 7) Twig characteristics: The twigs are aromatic. They are thin and smooth and have very bold bundle scars from when the leaves break off the twig.
 * 8) Where tree is found in the world (native to pa?): It is found in the northeastern United States and in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is native to Pennsylvania.
 * 9) Draw or find a picture of a drawing of the leaf to show to the class.

This picture is from the Wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucumber_magnolia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_acuminata

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[] =Create an Organism=

Squat

My organism is called a squat. It is a mix between a bat and a squirrel. It is a very unique creature. It lives in caves and is sometimes found living in holes in trees. It has sharp teeth used for gnawing and wings that it uses to fly. In the winter, the squat stores nuts in the ground, so it can eat them in the spring. Also, it has fur to keep it warm in the winter, is warm-blooded, and bears live young. Most of its population is found in southern Africa. Although, it has also been spotted in Antarctica. Its scientific name is //Sciurus myotis//.

=Catalase Activity=

1. When the onion was placed in the warm hydrogen peroxide, it bubbled up just a little. There was not a big reaction in any of the onions with the warm hydrogen peroxide. The onion in the room temperature hydrogen peroxide reacted very little like the onion in the warm hydrogen peroxide. When the onion was placed in the cold hydrogen peroxide, it had a larger reaction than the other ones did. The class average was also the highest for this temperature. One conclusion I got from this was that when the cold and warm hydrogen peroxide came into contact with the onion, it reacted more because the food was at room temperature. The room temperature hydrogen peroxide did not react as much because both the hydrogen peroxide and the onion were the same temperature. Another conclusion I got from this was that the room temperature test was more consistent than the other ones. The test results were all the same except one of them and the odd number was only one number off from the others. I was surprised about the overall recordings because I thought the onion would record higher amounts of reactions.

After I compared the onion to the other ones, I am now comparing the apples to the onions. Some conclusions I came up with were that the onions and apples reacted about the same in the warm and room temperature hydrogen peroxide. In the cold hydrogen peroxide, there was more of a reaction in the apple than in the onion. One conclusion I came up with was that the onion did not react as much to the catalase as the apples because the catalase was not strong enough to speed up the onion reactions because of how acidy the onion is already. It was easier for the catalase to speed up the apples reactions because an apple does not have a lot of acid that would slow the catalase down. I think that the different chemicals played the biggest role in how fast the catalase sped up the reactions in the apples and the onions. 3. What factors affect the activity of an enzyme? The activity of an enzyme is controlled by several factors. One of the factors is what the concentration of the substrate is. The substrate for catalase is hydrogen peroxide. The temperature and pH, which is the measure of the acidity or hydrogen ion concentration of a solution, also controls some activity. Lastly, the salt concentration and the presence of inhibitors or activators affect the activity of an enzyme. Inhibitors are molecules that interact with the enzyme and decrease its activity. Activators are molecules that interact with an enzyme and increase its activity. For the substrate concentration, the rate of the reaction should increase with increasing concentrations of substrate if the other conditions are held constant. Enzymes tend to make chemical reactions occur faster when the temperature rises. pH is measured on a scale of 0-14. Numbers below 7 are acidic. Numbers above 7 are basic. Numbers right around 7 are neutral. As the pH drops into the acidic range an enzyme tends to gain hydrogen ions from the solution. As the pH moves into the basic range the enzyme tends to lose hydrogen ions to the solution. In both cases, the changes decrease the enzyme’s activity. Too high or too low a salt concentration will denature the enzyme. The number of activators and inhibitors determine how the activity is increased or decreased.

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=Biomolecules=

1. What kinds of biomolecules are in each of the food substances you tested? The food that I tested was onion. My results showed that the onion contained simple sugars and fats. For the simple sugars, every one of the other onion tests showed that simple sugar is present. For starches, three out of five people recorded that they did not have starch in the onion. The other two people did see starch. It is hard to tell who is right because the percentages are so close together. For the proteins, every person concluded that there are no proteins in the onion. For the fats, every person put that the onion tested negative for fats except me. I think my observation was wrong because the directions said to look for a deep red color. I think the red that I saw was not deep enough to be observed as fat. For the ground beef that Drew tested, there were only proteins that were present.

2. Do certain biomolecules have the same catalase reactions? Explain. When I tested the onions in the catalase activity, I did not get any results over the rating of one. When I tested for the biomolecules, there were a lot of the same results. The onion did not react greatly to any of the hydrogen peroxide or to the liquids that we used to test for the biomolecules. When the ground beef was tested in the catalase activity, the ratings were all above three. When we tested for the biomolecules, it did not surprise me that there were proteins because catalase is a protein.

3. What other results did you observe in the class that can be used to make a statement of what you have learned? Some other results I observed in class were between the foods on our group’s table. The biggest observation I had during the experiment was that every one of the foods that we tested that had protein in it, had bigger reactions to the hydrogen peroxide in the catalase experiment. This is so because catalase is a protein. Another thing that surprised me was that fats and oils were not found in ground beef, but they were found in the potatoes. I thought that it would be the other way around. My last observation was that proteins were mostly found in the meat and organs that came from animals. That makes sense because animals need more of the protein to perform fast chemical reactions in the body to survive.



=Biomolecule Webquest=

A.

1. Heat affects the rate of reaction because it speeds up the reactions. 2. Surface area affects the rate of reaction because it slows them down because they have to go around more obstacles. 3. Concentration affects the rate of reaction because they speed up and multiply.

B.

1. The types of molecules that make up enzymes are proteins. 2. The thing that determines the function of an enzyme is its shape. 3. Denaturing is when too high of temperatures cause a molecule to be changed. The enzyme molecule may become less effective or even useless. 4. A reaction taking place without an enzyme is not good. When the two molecules come together, they do not have an enzyme to guide them at the right angle to come together. When they have the enzyme, the enzyme attracts the two molecules so they can come together and form a larger molecule. 5. An enzyme speeds up a reaction by creating an easier “pathway” for the two smaller enzymes to come together and form a larger enzyme. 6. Enzymes are particular about reactions because only certain shapes of molecules coming together can fit in an enzyme. 7. The shape of an enzyme is important because if a molecule has a different shape than the enzyme, the enzyme will not be able to help the two molecules come together. 8. An enzyme is reusable because the molecules can keep attaching themselves to the enzyme to form a long chain, or a polymer. 9. Heating an enzyme affects it function because it denatures it. When an enzyme is denatured, it changes shape. Thus, not allowing the molecules to fit in it anymore. The enzyme becomes useless. 10. It always has the same effect because when an enzyme is denatured, the effects can never be reversed.

C.

1. Hydrolysis is when a bigger sugar is taken apart and made into smaller ones by putting water in. The polymers are broken down into monomers. Condensation, or dehydration synthesis, is when smaller sugars are made into bigger sugars by taking water out. The monomers form into polymers. 2. The molecules from our labs that undergo these reactions were proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and sugars.

D.

1. Proteins are made of amino acids. 2. The chemical process that creates the proteins is condensation reactions. 3. Proteins are made when amino acids combine together in an infinite number of combinations. Then ribosomes catalyze the reaction between the amino acids.

E.

1. First, the enzymes in your mouth break down the carbohydrates into glucose. Next, acidic gastric juices are secreted in the stomach. Digestion in stomach begins. The carbohydrates’ digestion continues until the environment becomes to acidic. Then, carbohydrates are broken down to glucose in the small intestine and then absorbed into the bloodstream. Since the glucose channels are closed, the glucose cannot enter fat or muscle cells. So the glucose cannot be burned for energy. Then, the pancreas detects an increase in glucose levels in the bloodstream and pumps insulin into the bloodstream. The insulin unlocks the cell’s glucose channels so the muscles and cells can take the glucose through the open channels. The pancreas during this time detects the falling blood glucose level and turns off the secretion of insulin. This ends the total process of breaking down carbohydrates.

F.

1. Fat is digested by using bile. Bile is stored by the liver and released by the gallbladder. The bile molecules are half attracted to water and the other half is attracted to fat. In this way the bile molecules place themselves in between the fat and water. The water droplets are not able to merge together and are suspended in water. This is called emulsification. This allows the digestive track with the help of lipase, or fat-digesting enzyme, to gain access to the fat molecules to digest them. This is different from carbohydrate digestion because unlike the fats, carbohydrates do not need to be split apart so they do not merge together.

G.

1. Heart attacks occur when blood flow to a section of heart muscle becomes blocked. If the blood flow isn’t restored quick enough, then the section of heart muscle becomes damaged from lack of oxygen and then begins to die.

H.

Primary structure looks like little balls of amino acids came together to form a protein in the shape of a necklace.

Secondary structure looks like the proteins are in more of an organized sequenced. They are linked by hydrogen bonds.

Tertiary structure is when there are reactions between alpha helices and pleated sheets. This causes the protein chain to bunch up a little.

Quarternary structure looks like two chains that are different. They are also bunched up.



=Light Intensity=



For the maximum amount of ATP, you need 200nm in light intensity and 425nm in wavelength. In one minute, the number of ATP was at 10. Those numbers produced the most ATP in a minute and at the most efficient rate. Some other observations I had during the experiment were that when there is the maximum amount of light intensity and wavelength, the ATP percent goes down. Another observation I had was that if there is no light intensity in photosynthesis, no ATP is formed, no matter how much wavelength there is. Also, I think that more ATP was formed when there was a lesser amount of wavelength.

Light wavelengths, or the distance between light waves, factors into how plant pigments absorb and process light energy. Wavelengths above 400nm and above 700nm are not generally usable by organisms that perform photosynthesis. If a wavelength is too low, it can become damaging to the plant’s cells. If the wavelength is to high, most pigments in the plants cannot absorb them.

Light intensity, or how bright something is, is very affective towards photosynthesis because when light intensity increases the number of light photons hitting the chlorophyll pigments increases. When light intensity goes down, the number of photons decreases. The more the light intensity, the more the increase in the rate of photosynthesis is.

The order of the pigments of colors is determined by the wavelengths of light reflected. Longer wavelengths of light make a color redder. Shorter wavelengths make a color more violet. Wavelengths longer than red are infrared, while those shorter than violet are ultraviolet.

=Photosynthesis Webquest= 1 . [|Photosynthesis] is the process in which the sun’s radiant energy that pours onto the earth everyday is turned into carbohydrate molecules.

2. Plants, protistans, and bacteria

3. 6H2O+6CO2--->C6H12O6+6O2 Six molecules of water plus six molecules of carbon dioxide produce one molecule of sugar plus six molecules of oxygen

4. a. Water and carbon dioxide b. Sugar, or glucose and oxygen c. ATP and the sun’s energy

5. a. Leaves b. Mesophyll and epidermal cells c. Chloroplast

6. The water is transported to the leaves through xylem cells present in the stem. Carbon dioxide enters the leaf through the stomata present on the leaf.

7. Stomata are a pore on a plants leaf that is used for gas exchange. These are important for photosynthesis because carbon dioxide and oxygen go into and out of these pores.

8. Chloroplast is responsible for the process of photosynthesis. Stomata and the grana are located in the chloroplast. The stomata opens and closes to let carbon dioxide in and oxygen out. The grana are where the light reactions of photosynthesis occur. Also, thylakoids are located in the chloroplast. They contain chlorophyll. Photosystems are light collecting units found in the chloroplast.

9. It is called light reactions and it takes place in the thylakoid membranes of the chloroplast.

10. First, light strikes chlorophyll a in a way to get electrons to a higher energy state. Then in a series of reactions, energy is converted into ATP and NADPH. Water is then split in the process, which in turn releases oxygen as a by-product.

11. It is called the Calvin cycle, or dark reactions. It takes place in the stroma of the chloroplast.

12. First, carbon dioxide is captured and modified with the addition of hydrogen to form carbohydrates. Then the energy needed to accomplish the tasks of the Calvin cycle are provided by the energy carriers ATP and NADPH that are sent over from the light reactions.

13. Yes they are connected because the Calvin cycle uses the ATP and NADPH that are sent over from the light reactions to accomplish its tasks.

14. No because it does not show what kinds of energy is needed to complete the process of photosynthesis.

=Yeast Lab= State 2 clear, concise conclusions derived from the analysis of the results from the experiments in your class.

With 5% sugar solution, there was the most carbon dioxide put off by the yeast. So, 5% must be just the right amount of sugar to make the yeast produce the most carbon dioxide and be the most efficient. With 3% and 10% sugar solution, the results were not as much as with the yeast with the 5% sugar solution. I think the 3% and 10% sugar solution was too little and too much for the yeast to be productive at releasing carbon dioxide at a consistent rate.

What was the dependent and independent variables in the experiment? Explain.

The independent variable is the sugar because we manipulated it to change the dependent variables. The dependent variable is the amount of carbon dioxide because it is changed because other independent variables are changed.

According to the experimental data, what kind of environment do yeast prefer? How did the sugar concentration change the result? Explain.

They prefer a moist, warm environment. The different sugar concentrations either caused the yeast to produce a lot of carbon dioxide and make the bread rise, or it did not produce a lot of carbon dioxide and the yeast did not make the bread rise a lot. The 5% sugar concentration produced the most carbon dioxide. I know that because that concentration made the balloon expand the most because it was filling up with the most carbon dioxide.

How did the amount of rising change with the different types of sugar solutions used?

With 3% sugar solution, the bread raised the least. With 5% sugar solution, the bread raised the most. With 10% sugar solution, the bread raised a little more than the 3%, but a little less than 5%.

What kind of respiration did the yeast carry out in the experiment? Explain.

It carried out anaerobic respiration because after it went through glycolysis, it changed the two pyruvate into ethanol and CO2.

=DNA Replication=

Key for pictures: The square looking things are the deoxyribose, or the sugars. The dots are the phosphates. The lines are the bonds. The A, T, C, and G are the nitrogen bases.

First, in DNA replication the double helix straightens out because the DNA helicase unwinds it. Next, the DNA strand breaks apart into two separate strands when the hydrogen bonds between the bases are broken. Lastly, the nitrogen bases combine with their matches and form two identical double helixes. The left side of the DNA gets a new right side and the right side of the DNA gets a new left side. The new things that they get include new sugars, phosphates, and bases. The two end products look exactly like the original template. DNA replication occurs in the interphase stage before mitosis and meiosis.

=Cell Portfolio= =Genetic Disease= 1. What causes this condition? (There are two ways to look at this one - In terms of DNA, what causes the irregularity, and also, what can trigger this genetic change?)  **Scientists have not yet figured out what causes people to get Alzheimer’s. Also, only one parent has to pass down a defective copy of the gene for their child to develop the disorder. The apolipoprotein E gene on chromosome 19 is the common link to the disease after the age of 65. The apoE4, which is a form of apoE that everyone has, increases a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Mutations in genes found on chromosomes 1, 14, and 21 are linked to rarer forms of the disease, which strike earlier in life.**  2. How is it diagnosed?  **There is no one test. Doctors use different tests to check a patient’s memory, language skills, and problem solving abilities. These tests don’t diagnose the disease, but they may rule out other diseases that have very similar symptoms.**  3. Who gets this disorder? Discuss percentages, subgroups of people, etc. Is the disorder genetic in nature or is it caused by something environmental?  **The older a person gets, the higher his or her risk of getting Alzheimer's. Only about 1 or 2 people out of 100 have Alzheimer's at age 65; whereas, one out of every five people has the disorder by age 80. As many as 4 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease.**  4. What are the symptoms of this disorder? **The person slowly loses his or her ability to think clearly. At first, they may forget words or names or have trouble finding things. As this gets worse, they may forget how to do simple tasks such as brushing their hair. Also, some people feel nervous or sad.**  5. Summarize other information that is important. **The disease was named after the German doctor, Alois Alzheimer, who first named the disorder in 1906. There is no cure for the disease, but few medicines can slow down the symptoms. People with this disease often need someone to help them get around and do the things that they are not able to do anymore. Alzheimer’s causes dementia, or loss of brain function. It affects the parts of the brain that deal with memory, thought, and language. The brain of a person with Alzheimer’s contains abnormal clumps of cellular debris and protein and collapsed microtubules. Microtubule disintegration is caused by a malfunctioning protein called tau, which normally stabilizes the microtubules. In Alzheimer's patients, tau proteins instead cluster together to form disabling tangles. These plaques and tangles damage the healthy cells around them. The brain also produces smaller amounts of neurotransmitters, chemicals that allow nerve cells to talk to one another.**  6. What level is your disorder? **It is a level three, or a multifactorial disorder, because it results from mutations in multiple genes, often associated with environmental causes and genetic mutations.**