"Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom"-- Extra Credit

"Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom".

~George Washington Carver

This quote means a lot to me. Without education, you aren't going to achieve anything in life. If you don't learn anything, you don't know the simplest things, and can't pursure your life's goal. Working hard and understanding why education is needed is going to get you somewhere in life. If you prove that you're worthy of doing things, people are going to accept you more in life. Jobs & money are essentials that you need in life.Therefore, if you have a really good education you'll live life the way you want it. Without those two major things, you aren't going to get anywhere, and nobody is going to need you or want you. You need to study hard in order to have a good life. Education gives us all knowledge. It's something that can get us to even rule the world. Education gives us confidence, and confidence gives us things we want/need. If you aren't education, you be hesitant if you want to do certain things. You don't have the feeling: "I can do this, I know this stuff."  If you just study good and get a nice education, you'll be set for the rest of your life; no need to suffer in your futue. A person who's educated enjoys his/her life and can live the way he/she wants to live. They have their own freedom in what they want to do. You can prove yourself worthy everywhere if you're an educated person.  Without an education you are not free to do what you want. With education comes more choices and therefore more freedom to pursue your life's ambition. Education & working hard to reach goals is what we need to live life the way we want it!

Frog Dissection

        On Tuesday, we dissected a male frog and finished dissecting on Wednesday. First, we cut open the frog carefully and had to pin back its skin. I was really amazed at how the frog had so many thick protective layers protecting the insides of the frog. I knew that there had to be layers of skin, fat, etc. protecting the frog's organs, but what amazed me were how thick they were and how many there were. My group had a male frog, so we didn't have any eggs to remove, but we did have loads of fat bodies to remove. Covering many of the organs in my frog was peritoneum. I found a lot of it near the heart than any of the other organs. Also, as soon as we opened up the frog, we saw the liver. I just thought that the liver would be one whole piece instead of three seperate pieces being everywhere. What amazed me was the color of the frog's gall bladder. I thought it would be a brownish colors like the liver/lungs, but it was green. Another thing that surprised me was the spleen. I never even knew frogs had an area for holding blood until this dissection.









Here are some of the parts of the frog we saw.

   

        


 A frog's body isn't as complexed as a human's but it is quite similar to our body. We have most of the same organs like the frog. Although, they might not look alike, they do the same things and function the same way. For example: the heart pumps blood, the liver produces bile, the gall bladder stores the bile, and many other organs like that. We have the same systems that work together to create a specimen. I really liked how the small intestine and the large intestine were laid out, just like humans. I could just imagine the food going through the frog's digestive system. I just wish we could've saw its brain and its heart actually pumping. That would've been so cool! This frog dissection was really amazingly awesome, and I hope we do more things like this in the future!

         

http://www.biologyjunction.com/frog_dissection.htm        



Digestive system lab-- 11/07/11 and 11/08/11

Yesterday, we started a lab that had to do with our digestive system. We found out how acidic conditions affect protein digestion. We had four different test tubes: A, B, C and D. Each test tube had three cubes of egg white in them. In test tube A, we only put pepsin. This gave no immediate reaction. In test tube B, we added pepsin along with water. Similarly,this gave to immediate reaction either. Next, in test tube C, all we added was hydrochloric acid. Along with the other two, this had no immediate chemical reaction either. Lastly, we added hydrochloric acid along with pepsin. This also had no immediate chemical reaction, although there was a little steam coming up from it. Afterwards, we tested each of the formulas on litmus paper. A and B had no chemical reaction on the paper, but C and D had a pinkish, whitish tint to the litmus strip. Today, we went back to the tubes, and checked the egg white appearance and tested them out on litmus paper again. Same things were notified, except there were some small differences. This is like our digestive system in many ways. Formula D represents our stomach when it's healthy. The hydrochloric acid and pepsin are like the enzymes and acids in our stomach. The lower the pH, the more acidic.

Chicken wing anatomy lab- 10/20/11

Today, we dissected a chicken wing. The purpose of this lab was to see the different types of tissues and organs and to compare them to our body (arm). The skin of the chicken wing was a little bumpy. It was peach white and it's an epithelial tissue. The tissue connects to the muscle tissue. Next, fat is a type of a connective tissue. The fat of a chicken wing is white. The fat connects to the muscle. The muscle has a smooth surface. It is a light pink color, almost pale, and of course, it is a muscle tissue. In addition, it connects to a bone/ligament. A ligament is a connective tissue, and is white. Ligaments connect bones to other bones at joints. In between bones there is cartilage. This is a white, slippery materials that connect joints. Lastly, there is the nerve. The nerve looks like a big piece of thread and is a very dark color. It connects to muscle. These are all the parts that helps the chicken wing work. Chicken wings are similar to human arms because their muscles have to relax and contract to work like humans. But, they're also different than humans since our arms are way bigger in proportion.

DIffusion lab paragraphs/essay 10/14/11

Neha Puttagunta                                                                                             10/14/11

Green                                                                                                     Mrs.Rousseau

                                                     Diffusion lab

            The purpose of this lab was to help understand how the cell membrane works. Basically, what kind of substances it lets in and what it doesn’t let in. A prediction made in this lab was that the iodine would affect the cornstarch. In the lab, the molecules had to move from one place to another. This is called diffusion. Diffusion has to do with the cell membrane also. Diffusion is the process by which molecules move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. Diffusion can happen anywhere, but it also happens in the cell membrane. When this occurs, it’s called osmosis. Osmosis requires water, because it’s the diffusion of water molecules through a selectively permeable membrane. The cell membrane lets in certain substances and the molecules move to get more space from the cell. In this lab, the iodine was an indicator, because when it came in contact with the cornstarch, it turned the cornstarch purple. Concentration is the amount of molecules in proportion to the volume. The molecules in the iodine needed to move from the beaker (the higher concentration) to the baggie and the cornstarch (the lower concentration) because they needed to move around. Therefore, the iodine turned the cornstarch a different color. Dilution is to lessen concentration, by adding water or solvent in a substance. Lower concentration and higher concentration have other names. Hypotonic would be the area of lower concentration and hypertonic is higher or more concentration. If there is equal concentration, that would be considered isotonic. Molecules try and rearrange themselves to become isotonic.

The lab was very similar to an actual cell membrane. The cornstarch combined with water was placed in the iodine that was in the beaker. After 15 minutes, the cornstarch in the baggie was tinted purple. This is an example of diffusion. The baggie was semi-permeable to the iodine, which means it allowed the molecules of only the iodine to enter into the baggie. The affect of that turned the cornstarch that was in the baggie purple. The molecules in the substance needed place to move and as soon as they got the chance, they moved into the baggie. They needed to move to get space. The iodine was an indicator to the cornstarch. The cornstarch also wanted to diffuse, but it couldn’t because the molecules were too big to go through the barrier, and that’s why the cell membrane wasn’t letting them through. The more time the cornstarch is left in the baggie, the more the molecules move into the baggie, therefore, it has more of an impact on the color. This is like the cell membrane, because the membrane lets certain things in that are small enough to go through the barrier, and let’s out waste products just the like the baggie. It controls what enters in and out of the cell.

Diffusion doesn’t only have to do with cells. It can happen in our lives as well. For example, air freshener in a room. The molecules from the air freshener diffuse to get more room, therefore spreading throughout the entire room, causing it to smell. Another example is garbage. The rotten food inside can definitely be smelled from a distance. That is diffusion. One more example is a drop of ink in water. What does it do? It spreads, diffuses. Drinking tea is the last example. If a teabag is used, then it is diffusion because the tea powder diffuses into the water to give it its flavor. These are all examples of diffusion. Remember: diffusion happens everywhere, even in the human body’s very own cells!

Omega science diffusion lab: 10/11/11

Today we did a lab based on the cell membrane. One thing I learned from this lab is how diffusion and osmosis works. Also, I know that idodine is known as an "indicator" because when it's combined with starches, it turns a shade of purple. Molecules tend to move from areas of high conecntration to areas of low concentration, because they need their own space and spread out once they get their space. The plastic bag from the experiment acts like the cell membrane, letting in certain substances that fit in and not letting in other substances that don't.