20 Time Garden Project Update

Lots has happened in the past few weeks pertaining to my 20 time garden project. My path has been redirected slightly, but in a good way. I talked with Mr. Fitzgerald, a science teacher at Redwood Middle School, about the Redwood school garden. He is in charge and has a lot of ideas on how to make the garden and the campus a better place. I would like to dedicate my 20 time to helping him achieve this. He has ideas on planting native plants around the school to beautify the campus and teach students about the importance of native plants. He also has projects planned for the garden such as a greenhouse and a worm composting bin. I have spent time researching these things to ensure these projects are as successful as they can be. I would like to further research these topics and make a landscape plan for the native plants.

Unit 7 Reflection

This unit was about ecology and some of the harmful effects humans have on the planet. One of the most important concepts in ecology is trophic levels and the food web. This explains how energy moves through an ecosystem and also shows how an ecosystem can collapse. Population is another factor that influences ecosystems. Populations change frequently and are dependent on factors like water, resources, food and space. When the growth of a population levels out, it is said that the species has reached its carrying capacity. Humans have not reached the carrying capacity yet but population growth has slowed down. Limitations of resources are the main limitation for species. To keep resources available, several crucial cycles such as the water cycle, carbon cycle, phosphorous cycle, and nitrogen cycle.



Humans are exploiting these resources and endangering ecosystems and species across the planet. Habitat destruction, climate change, and over exploitation are some of the main reasons the planet is this way. We need to act fast to preserve biodiversity, slow climate change, and reduce the amount of resources we use and pollutants and waste we create. If everyone makes a conscious effort to save the Earth, it will add up for the benefit.

Some questions I have are is it too late? What will happen when we exhaust all the natural resources? How are animals adapting to these changes? What can we do to help?

Our conservation biologist project went pretty well. We worked well as a group to complete the project on time. Everyone finished their share of work so we didn't have to worry. Like all group projects, it could be frustrating at times because you have to compromise and things don't always go as planned.

On the self assessment, I was not surprised with my results. I am fairly assertive but also sometimes passive. In my everyday life I have noticed that I do not always speak up when I probably should. I think if I act assertive like it says in the video, it will definitely make me a more assertive person.

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/732996661223096321

Saratoga High School Garden

In short, 20 time is spending 20% of your time on something you are passionate, in the form of a project or anything else you can think of. It is meant to be creative and self motivated. The essential question I am asking is could there be a garden at Saratoga High. For my project, I am researching, and if possible, I want to see what needs to be done to create a rooftop garden, or any garden, at Saratoga  High. I have always liked gardening, and I know that there are many benefits to having a garden at a school. SHS does not have a garden, so implementing a garden could help many people. My goals are to have either a garden at the school, or have the administration or staff strongly considering a garden by the end of the year. I will measure my progress by researching and answering all of my obstacles and questions that need to be answered to get this built. In the future, I hope to use class time to  figure out logistics involving the garden, and contacting administration in hopes they will support this project.

Unit 6 Reflection

This unit was about biotechnology, its uses, and the ethical questions it raises.  We learned how DNA can be recombined and inserted into a new organism through a plasmid. By inserting a gene into a plasmid and inserting the plasmid into bacteria, the bacteria will treat the new gene as its own and produce whatever protein it codes for. After introducing the plasmid to bacteria, they place the bacteria in food to make them grow and then put them into the antibiotic the plasmid provides resistance too. This ensures that all bacteria without the plasmid will die.

To learn how to analyze DNA and how to measure the lengths of the strands of DNA we did the gel electrophoresis lab. http://nakulbiology.blogspot.com/2017/01/candy-electrophoresis-lab.html We cut out DNA using restriction enzymes and tested their lengths by running them through a gel.

The pGLO lab incorporated all the things we had learned about biotech. We had several different samples of bacteria and treated each with different things. After the lab, as expected, the bacteria with the pGLO gene inserted, the ampicillin resistance, and the arabinose glowed under UV light.  http://nakulbiology.blogspot.com/2017/01/pglo-lab.html


I understood this unit pretty well. It was not very long and the hands on labs helped me in my understanding. While reading the concepts of the labs I was confused, but after doing the lab it made perfect sense to me why everything happened as it did. Seeing the concepts in action really helped me see what was going on. I wonder how biotech will play a role in society in the future. Will altering multi-cellular organisms be common? Will we ever alter human DNA or clone a human?

I think I have done a good job on my New Years resolutions. I finished my chapter notes early so I wasn't stressed or piled up with work. Also, I finished most of my homework assignments early or on time. I could still improve by preparing for tests sooner instead of procrastinating my studying.

pGLO Lab

1.

Plate	Number of Colonies	Color of colonies under room light	Color of colonies under UV  light
-pGLO LB	covered	brownish yellow	whitish blue
-pGLO LB/amp	0	N/A	N/A
+pGLO LB/amp	100~	brownish yellow	whitish blue
+pGLO LB/amp/ara	22	brownish yellow	glowing green

2. The bacteria from the +pGLO LB/amp/ara plate gained two new traits. The transformed bacteria are resistance to ampicillin and the ability to glow under UV light. They did not die in the presence of ampicillin, and glowed under the light.

3. Each transformed bacteria must have multiplied into a colony, so about 100 bacteria were transformed in the +pGLO LB/amp. The bacteria that did not pick up the plasmid would have been killed by the ampicillin. Probably half of the bacteria died in the plate, so probably over 250 bacteria were present in the 100 micro-liters.

4. The purpose of arabinose is to "turn on" the GFP or Green Fluorescent Protein. This causes the bacteria to glow green under UV light. 

5. There are several uses for GFP for biologists. It can be used as a marker when inserting a gene into a cell. If the cell glows, it means the other gene inserted is also being expressed. The protein has also been altered to react to different wavelengths and express several different colors. 

6. Another practical application of genetic engineering is in food production weather it be animals or crops. Genetic engineering can make an animal or plant stronger, bigger, or more resistant to disease. 

Source: https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/green-fluorescent-protein

Candy Electrophoresis Lab

I this lab, we asked the question of can molecules in food dye be separated in gel electrophoresis. We found that the dyes did separate, by observing the different groups of dye after electrophoresis. We learned from our textbook and the vodcasts, that smaller molecules of DNA travel faster and farther in electrophoresis, and larger molecules travel slower. The data is consistent with these scientific principles, because the dyes with the larger molecules did not travel as far as the smaller moleculed dyes.

1. In our experiment the bands were about the same size as the reference dyes. In some cases, our dyes were different colors than the reference dyes so they did not match up. None of the dyes moved towards the negative charge.

2. Of the dyes listed, betanin and citrus red 2 would move like our red dye, but citrus red 2 would move faster because it is a smaller molecule. Also, fast green FCF would move similarly to our green dye because it is similar in size.

3. Dog food manufacturers would put artificial colors in the food to make it more visually appealing and consumers are more likely to buy a food that is colorful and nice looking than a food looking unappealing and bland looking.

5. The factors that control how far the dyes go are time and size of molecule. The longer the electrophoresis is on for, the farther the dyes will travel. Also, the smaller molecules will travel faster, and therefore farther in the allowed time.

6. The force that allows the dyes to move through the gel is electricity. When the current runs though the gel, the molecules are repelled by the negative charge, because they are also negatively charged, and attracted to the positive charge, which propels them through the gel.

7. The gel is the component that separates the molecules by size. If it was a liquid for example, all the molecules would travel at the same speed, but the gel makes it harder for larger molecules to travel, separating out the sizes.

8. DNA molecules with different weights would separate out in different groups. The DNA with the molecular weight of 600 daltons would form a band ahead of the rest. Following would be the 1000, 2000, and 5000 in that order.

New Years Goals

1. This semester I will be more organized in my work.

I often struggle to find things and get things done efficiently because my things are not in one organized place and are often strewn across many places. Having things in one place will make it easier to finish work on time and study. Also, a schedule will allow me to organize my time better.

2. I will finish textbook notes earlier.

I have sometimes done this and sometimes not. By finishing the textbook notes earlier, it will allow me to learn better and be less stressed about completing them. When I procrastinated and put off the notes, I did not learn from them because I was more focused on finishing then obtaining the information.