Unit 4 Reflection

The coin sex lab was a lab done to demonstrate Mendel's sex laws like the law of independent assortment and segregation. Probability states that in a dihybrid cross, the ratio of phenotypes should be 9:3:3:1. In our experiment, we got a phenotypical ratio of 7:4:4:1. Although this is not exactly what the prediction is, it is close enough to the expected.
Although using genetics you can predict some traits of offspring it is not 100% reliable. When predicting traits, you are predicting the chance of having a trait. For example, by looking at the genotypes of parents, you can predict that the baby has a 50% chance of being colorblind, but you cannot be totally sure. This relates to life, because by knowing your genotype you can predict what traits your offspring may have.

Unit 4 was called "Why is sex so great?" It was about how two a sperm and egg produce a genetically different offspring. Some topics that we learned about were asexual vs sexual reproduction, chromosomes, sex cells, haploid vs diploid, meiosis and mitosis, Mendel's sex laws, genes and alleles (dominant/recessive) punnett squares, autosomal and X-linked inheritance, incomplete dominance, codominance, gene linkage, epistasis, and multifactorial disorders. 

Some things I found difficult to understand were meiosis and mitosis. Some things I understood well were punnett squares and inheritance. 

I want to learn more about is how mitosis and meiosis works.

I learned a lot about genetics and inheritance and more study techniques. I learned from the infographic that visuals help the learning process. I wasa better student in this unit because I managed my time efficiently and stayed on top of all of my vodcasts and notes.


The Vark questionnaire showed that I was more of a kinesthetic and visual learner than an aural and read/write learner. I was not surprised with my results because I remember more of visual information and learn a lot better from labs. To help me study for upcoming tests, I can draw pictures and study those to help me retain the information.

My results: Visual-9, Aural-4, Read/Write-3, and Kinesthetic-12

Genetics Infographic

Is Sex Important?

Some advantages of sexual reproduction are that genes vary between generations. Also, changing genes can get rid of harmful mutations that the parents may have accumulated in their genes according to Muller's theory. When their are offspring that have many harmful mutations, those mutations will not be passed on and will end there. A disadvantage to sexual reproduction, as claimed by Dr. Tatiana is that there is competition between males and that qualities that attract a mate may not be the same qualities needed to survive.

An advantage to asexual reproduction is that to keep the population the same, each female needs to have one offspring, as supposed to two in sexual reproduction. Also, asexual organisms have been living on earth the longest according to Miss Philodina. A disadvantage to asexual reproduction is the susceptibility to diseases. The red queen theory points out that if one asexual organism is susceptible to a certain disease, than the entire population can be wiped out by a single disease.

Something I would like to know is why some species reproduce asexually and others sexually.

Unit 3 Reflection

This unit was all about cells and their functions. The unit started just by familiarizing ourselves with the cells parts and how it works. Once we had an understanding of the cells parts, concepts like osmosis and diffusion were introduced. Having an understanding of that led to learning about photosynthesis and cellular respiration. I did not fully understand the material presented at the beginning, but working as a group on things like labs really helped me understand the content. I was able to finish the homework on time which gave me an advantage during class, but I did miss a vodcast causing me to be behind the next class.

Some major concepts I learned in this unit that may be helpful were diffusion, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration. These things will be useful to know in future science classes. I also learned that finishing the homework on time or early gave me a huge advantage and that missing or putting off homework made it harder for myself.

I want to learn more about the process of photosynthesis. It was a little confusing so I will re-watch the vodcast on it and re-read the textbook on it. I will do this to be prepared for the test. I may also watch some other vodcasts on things I had trouble with and study my textbook notes to be prepared.

Microscopic Organism Lab

Muscle cell: Nucleus, Striations

Ligustrum: Epidermis Cell, Veins, chloroplasts

Spirogyra: Cytoplasm, chloroplast, cell wall

Bacteria: Bacillus, Coccus, Spirilum

Cyanobacteria: Single cells

Euglena: Nucleus, Chloroplasts

Amoeba: Nucleus, Cell membrane, Pseudopods

The autotrophs we observed had cell walls. They also had chloroplast which made them green. The heterotrophs on the other hand did not have cell walls, making them have less structure and different colors. In the eukaryotes, I could identify different parts of the cell and organelles. Prokaryotes, however, do not have organelles and were much simpler than the eukaryotes. 

Photosynthesis Virtual Lab

Photosynthesis Virtual Labs.

Lab 1: Glencoe Photosynthesis Lab

http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/virtual_labs/LS12/LS12.html

Analysis Questions

1. Make a hypothesis about which color in the visible spectrum causes the most plant growth and which color in the visible spectrum causes the least plant growth?

If plants are exposed to different colors of light, than the plant exposed to red or blue light will have the most growth, while the plant exposed to green light will grow the least.

2. How did you test your hypothesis? Which variables did you control in your experiment and which variable did you change in order to compare your growth results?

I tested the hypothesis by exposing the plants to each color of light for 30 days. A variable I controled was the type of plant. I changed the color of light in each test.

Results:

Filter Color	Spinach Avg. Height (cm)	Radish Avg. Height (cm)	Lettuce Avg. Height (cm)
Red	18.3	12.6	11
Orange	14.6	8	6
Green	2	1.3	3
Blue	19.3	14	12
Violet	16.3	10.1	8

3. Analyze the results of your experiment. Did your data support your hypothesis? Explain. If you conducted tests with more than one type of seed, explain any differences or similarities you found among types of seeds.

The data did support my hypothesis. The plants exposed to red or blue light consistently grew the tallest and the green light plants grew the least in each of the tests. The order of best light to worst light was consistent through all of the plants.  

4. What conclusions can you draw about which color in the visible spectrum causes the most plant growth?

I can conclude that the colors blue, red, and violet point to more plant growth, while colors like green lead to poor plant growth.

5. Given that white light contains all colors of the spectrum, what growth results would you expect under white light?

White light would produce a height that is the average of these tests.

Site 2: Photolab

http://www.kscience.co.uk/animations/photolab.swf

This simulation allows you to manipulate many variables. You already observed how light colors will affect the growth of a plant, in this simulation you can directly measure the rate of photosynthesis by counting the number of bubbles of oxygen that are released.

There are 3 other potential variables you could test with this simulation: amount of carbon dioxide, light intensity, and temperature.

Choose one variable and design and experiment that would test how this factor affects the rate of photosynthesis. Remember, that when designing an experiment, you need to keep all variables constant except the one you are testing. Collect data and write a lab report of your findings that includes:

• Question
• Hypothesis
• Experimental parameters (in other words, what is the dependent variable, independent variable, constants, and control?)
• Data table
• Conclusion (Just 1st and 3rd paragraphs since there's no way to make errors in a virtual lab)

In this lab we attempted to answer the question of how does temperature affect photosynthesis in plants. I found that the higher the temperature, the less photosynthesis that occurred. I know this because at 10°C there were the most bubbles indicating photosynthesis was occurring and the more the temperature was increased, the fewer bubbles appeared. Scientific studies show that temperature affects the light independent reaction in photosynthesis. This supports are data in saying that photosynthesis slowed down.

This lab was done to demonstrate how temperature affects the rate of photosynthesis. A major concept learned from this is how photosynthesis works and how certain factors can affect how efficiently it works. Based on my experience from this lab, I know know better on how photosynthesis works which could help me on future labs.

Data:

Water Temperature (C)                                            Bubbles per 5 seconds

10	6
25	5
40	2

*Type your question, hypothesis, etc. below.  When done, submit this document via Canvas.  You may also copy and paste it into your blog.

Amoeba

Power: 400x
This aboeba is unique because it uses its cell membrane to devour other cells. I observed that the aboeba came in many sizes, shapes, and colors. This cell is eukaryotic, because it has organelles and is a heterotroph because it eats other organism to get its energy.