Author: katiat2016

Diffusion in Agar Cubes Lab

katiat2016

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Agar cubes in solution

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Agar cubes after being cut

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Data Table

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Questions:

In terms of maximizing diffusion what the most effective size cube that you tested? 

The most effective size cube that we tested for diffusion was the smallest cube (1cm cube).This was the most effective because the smaller then cube the more efficient it’s diffusion is.

Why was that size most effective at maximizing diffusion? what are the important factors that affect how materials diffuse into cells or tissue?

The smallest cube (1cm cube) was the most effective at diffusion because it has the smallest volume, making it easier for diffusion to happen throughout the entire cube. Concentration, temperature, type of material, size of cell, and polarity are all important factors that affect how materials diffuse into cells or tissue.

If a large surface area is useful to cells, why do cells not grow to be very large? 

Cells don’t grow to be larger in size because the larger the cell the less efficient they are with diffusion of materials. The process of diffusion will not occur through the inside of the whole wall. When the cell continues to grow there is less membrane for the substances to diffuse through resulting in the centre of the cell not receiving the substance that it needs.

You have three cubes A, B, & C. They have a surface to volume ratio of 3:1, 5:2, 4:1. Which of these cubes is going to be most effective at maximising diffusion? 

The cube that will be most effective at maximizing diffusion is cube C with a ratio of 4:1. Cube C has a higher surface area to volume ratio, therefor for every cubic unit of cytoplasm there is more cell membrane than the A or B cubes. This ensures that the inside of the cube will be the most effective at diffusion allowing more materials to be able to enter the cytoplasm.

How does your body adapt surface area to volume ratio to help exchange gases?

Our bodies have altered larger organs which are formed by small spheres which cover as much surface area as possible in order to efficiently exchange gases. our bodies make sure the surface area to volume ratio is good and is established in the area where gas exchange happens.

Why can’t certain cells like bacteria get to be the size of a small fish?

Cell bacteria can’t be the size of a fish because they need to divide in order to keep a good surface area to volume ratio. Certain cells need to stay small for proper action. If the size of a small fish, the surface area to volume ratio would be too small to ensure proper diffusion through the entire cell.

What are the advantages of large organisms being multicellular?

the advantages of large molecules being multicellular is that they have the ability to grow to a large size due to the number of their cells increasing in the organism over time. Unicellular organisms only have one cell with one function, multicellular organisms contain many cells that have their own specific function within.

Translation

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Initiation: Ribosome holds an mRNA and the “P” site reads the starting codon, which is AUG, the matching tRNA brings an amino acid. The ribosome moves to the right as it is always 5′ to 3′.

Elongation: the amino acid chain grows, and the a-site reads the next codon on the mRNA strand and brings the matching tRNA. The tRNA on the “p” site transfers over to the tRNA on the “A” site.

Termination: once the codon reads the STOP codon, as there is no tRNA for a STOP codon, the amino acid change will stop growing. Termination allows for the polypeptide chain to become a fully functioning protein.

the ribosomes will let go of the mRNA and the tRNA will let go of the polypeptide

This model did a good job of modelling translation by showing the RNA and how the ribosome is holding it, but our group did have a few issues not knowing when we were supposed to take photos and what steps we specifically needed pictures of for our blog post.

DNA & Protein Synthesis

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Explain the structure of DNA 

DNA also known as deoxyribonucleic acid is a macromolecule made up of monomers known as nucleotides which include a phosphate group, a nitrogenous base and 5-carbon sugars. There are 2 types of nitrogenous bases purines and pyrimidines. Cytosine and Guanine are pyrimidines and single ringed structures where Adenine and Guanine are purines and double-ringed structures.

DNA is composed of two strands that are antiparallel, they run in opposite directions but still relay the same message. One strand runs 5′ to 3′ and the other strand runs 3′ to 5′. This just shows the position of the phosphates and sugars on the backbone.

The white pipe cleaners in the images below represent the hydrogen bonding occurring between the two strands called complementary base pairing. Complementary base pairing is when Adenine and Thymine only bond with one another because they form with 2 hydrogen bonds and Guanine and Cytosine only bond with each other because they bond with 3 hydrogen bonds.

After the two antiparallel strands are bonded together through complementary base pairing (shown in the 2nd image) the strand twists due to the force of the bonds to form into a double helix shape (shown in the 3rd image).

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How does this activity help model the structure of DNA? what changes could we make to improve the accuracy of this model? 

The pipe cleaner activity was a good activity to understand the structure of DNA and help visualize its shape and structure. The images we see online don’t give as good of an idea of the actual shape of DNA.  Having an actual model and creating it ourselves really helped me to understand certain parts I didn’t notice in class from lessons and pictures. One thing that we could change to make this activity more accurate would be to show how many bonds are between each nitrogenous base (either 2 or 3).

 

DNA Replication 

When does DNA replication occur?

DNA replication occurs in all living organisms before cell division. It is necessary for genetic information to be passed down and inherited. DNA replication is known as a semi-conservative process where a replicated strand will contain an original or old strand as well as have a new or replicated strand to make a complete new DNA strand.

Name and describe the 3 steps involved in DNA replication. Why does the process occur differently on the leading and lagging strands? 

  1. Unwinding and Unzipping: Unwinding and unzipping occurs when DNA helicase unwinds the double helix and works to break the hydrogen bonds between the nitrogenous bases. Shown in the image below
  2. Complementary Base Pairing: DNA polymerase uses individual nucleotides floating within the nucleoplasm to pair with the original strands that were unzipped. It only builds in a 5′ to 3′ direction therefore it can start on the 3′ to 5′ original strand and work down without interruption, it is known as the leading strand. The second original strands is 5′ to 3′ and therefore has to build backwards creating Okazaki fragments. This strand is known as the lagging strand as there are constant interruptions
  3. Adjacent Nucleotides Joining: The last step is when the nucleotides that were bonded to their complementary bases are bonded together with the sugar-phosphate backbone. DNA ligase is responsible for the joining that ends in DNA winding into a double helix and finishing as a complete replica of the original strand.

1. unwinding and unzipping

2. complimentary base pairing

3. adjacent nucleotides joining

final image of the replicated strands

What did you think of the complementary base pairing and joining of adjacent nucleotides steps of DNA replication? In what ways was this activity well suited to showing this process?  In what ways was it inaccurate? 

To model the complementary base pairing and joining of adjacent nucleotides steps of DNA replication, we used 2 new strands of blue pipe cleaners which represented the sugar-phosphate backbones, with the replicated opposite side of bases with the beads, making it possible for unzipping strands to find a new strand to hydrogen bond with. This activity was good at displaying how the molecule unzips with the help of the enzyme polymerase. Our model shows how one molecule turns into two completely separate copy because of this unwinding process.

The activity was inaccurate because of the way it showed the hydrogen bonding and exactly where the original sugar-phosphate backbone ended up and how a new one forms in a real DNA replication. As well as the true double helix form wasn’t possible to create because of the materials we were using and they would hold the shape. Finally, the model doesn’t show how a parent DNA strand stays intact during replication.

 

 

Narrative Essay Revision

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I was most proud of the fact that I was able to write an essay that met the requirements, was very descriptive and I was able to keep it well organized and put down all my thoughts neatly. I need to improve on developing my conflict so it is more clear to the reader as well as remembering to write out numbers in written format instead of just putting the number (ex: one instead of 1).

Fractured Poetry BkC

katiat2016

1.

 

2. Sentence: This picture was taken this past summer in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta.

Phrase: The people in the picture are my siblings and cousins,

Words: memories, picture, family

Reflection: I decided to choose the 3 words listed above because they describe what I wrote about and they create an image in your mind about what it could be about before even reading the story. This helps me know what words stand out and would be good to use in my poem as keywords to make it more powerful. After doing this excersise I realized that using strong words and the way you punctuate, organize, and space your words can really change the meaning behind what you are trying to say.

3. Poem 

click!

the picture was taken

family standing all around

memories that will last forever

 

 

L’Histoire et Moi

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Les Compétences Essentielles

Compétence de communication— (5pts) 

Ce que tu as utilisé pour transmettre et échanger de l’information, des expériences et des idées, pour explorer le monde. Utiliser de manière efficace les médias numériques. 

  • Les films ont beaucoup aidé dans les projets et le feuilles de connaissances parce que nous avons pu reconnaitre des partis du films et cela nous a fait penser à des choses plus petites que nous n’aurions peut-être pas être enseigner en classe. Ils ont aussi nous aidés à mieux comprendre chaque événement ou unité car ils montraient des perspectives et vu différentes de plusieurs personnes. En fessant du travail, nous avons compris mieux ce dont nous parlions après avoir pu voir physiquement ce qui s’était passé et les paramètres au cours de cette période précise. Sans les films et clips il aurait été beaucoup plus difficile à reconnaitre tout l’information. 
Compétence de réflexion— (5pts+5pts) 

Comment ce cours t’a aidé de perfectionner ta pensée ?  

  • Ce cours nous a permis de perfectionner nos pensées en nous permettant de mieux comprendre tous les sujets abordés en classe. Cela nous a également fait comprendre de ne pas sauter aux conclusions. Vous devez toujours examiner les différents points de vue et opinions de personnes différentes et comprendre toute l’histoire avant de prendre une décision ou de présumer si un événement ou une personne en particulier est bon ou mauvais. Cela vous permettra de mieux comprendre tous les aspects d’une situation plutôt que de vous donner une opinion partiale.  

La pensée créatrice: 

  • Notre créativité a été utilisée pour imaginer ce qui aurait pu se passer dans certaines situations si un autre événement n’était pas arrivé. Nous pourrions discuter des possibilités de savoir comment dans notre société aujourd’hui, les choses seraient différentes si un petit événement s’était terminé différemment dans le passé. Notre projet de 3ieme Reich était un projet ou nous avons utilisé notre imagination beaucoup, car on a du créer un monde imaginatif, et décrire comment notre monde sera si Hitler a gagné la deuxième guerre mondiale. En fin dans ce cours nouas avons dû utiliser nos pensées créatives pour imaginer comment cet évènement se sont passe et comment les gens qui était la pendant cet évènement sentait et pensait.  

La pensée critique :  

  • Dans ce cours on a dû faire les feuilles de connaissance alors on devait utiliser nos pensée critique pour analyser les événements d’histoire et voir comment ils ont impacté le monde à l’époque et le monde aujourd’hui. Aussi quand on fessait de la recherche on a dû distinguer ce qui est des faits importants et ce qui est des détails extra car il y a un très grand montant d’information en ligne et ce n’est pas tout important. 
Compétence personnelle et sociale— (5pts+5pts+5pts) 

Comment ce cours t’a aidée de clarifier ta propre identité, de mieux te comprendre ? 

  • Ce cours nous avons aidé à clarifie notre propre identité car nous avons trouvé nos croyances dans le monde et alors ça nous aide de mieux comprendre comment nous voyons le monde et comment ça fonctionne. Ont été enseigné que tout le monde a le droit d’une opinion et les croyances seront diffèrent dépendant de chaque personne alors tu dois accepter que tout le monde pense différent même si tu n’es pas en d’accord avec ce qu’il croyant.  

Comment ce cours t’a aidé à mieux comprendre ton rôle dans la société, pour mieux comprendre les autres ? 

  • Ce cours nous aide à comprendre notre rôle dans la société car il a nous a enseigné qu’on doit parler à propos des sujets qui nous affects, et si on ne discute pas des problèmes dans notre société, il ne se résoudra jamais.  
  • Ce cours a aussi nous aidé à meilleure comprendre les autres car il a nous enseigne que tout le monde est différent et à leur propre opinion, et que tout la classe pense différent. On a pu voir cela durant le semestre car tous les élevés ont des perspectives différentes et des fois ça peut aider à comprendre le sujet mieux après entendre une perspective de quel qu’un d’autre. Comment ce cours t’a aidé de trouver ta place dans le monde ? 

Comment ce cours t’a aidé de trouver ta place dans le monde ?  

  • Ça m’a enseigné ce qui s’est passé dans notre monde et on était capable de faire les connections entre les diffèrent évènements pour que toute l’histoire pouvait faire plus du sens. Maintenant qu’on comprend notre monde et l’histoire, on sait mieux pourquoi nous sommes ici et les opportunités qu’on a.