Unit 5 Reflection

Unit 5 Reflection 

This unit was mostly about DNA and RNA. Information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins. Some of the themes of this unit were the structure of DNA, how the body makes proteins, and translating DNA into RNA. Ex: TAGC to AUCG. 

Some of my successes in this unit was understanding Mutations and the different types of mutations. I think that the protein synthesis lab helped me understand better and also the codon bingo. Another success was understanding the differences between DNA and RNA, both structural and functions. RNA is single-stranded and contains U instead of T. RNA also serves as a temporary copy of the gene. It also delivers the copy to the ribosome which they call mRNA.

Some of my setbacks in this unit were understanding gene expression and regulation. I understand the different between exons and introns but I don't understand gene regulation. Introns are not being expressed and exons are being expressed. 

After looking back at my notes and thinking about what I know and what I don't I realized that I need to focus much of my studying on the last vodcast we had which was gene regulation and gene expression. I only understand a small part of the vodcast I think that I understand everything else in the unit from the labs we did in class. 

From the results from Vark I think that I should thoroughly review my labs and diagrams when studying. 

 

Protein Synthesis Lab Conclusion

Protein Synthesis Lab Conclusion

To make proteins first, ribosomes link the amino acids together. In the cell, the DNA directs or provides the master blueprint for creating proteins, using transcription of information to mRNA and then translation to create proteins.         

http://www.science-explained.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Cell.jpg                                               

There can be different effects with different mutations. For example substitution can result in no change or some change. Frameshift and deletion changes the protein because it adds or deletes a base. All of them add some change to the protein but you can't say one has a greater effect than the other because it all depends on what letter is added, removed, or substituted. 

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/images/evo/hemomutant.gif

For step 5 I chose substitution because although we already tested that on out in the specific case there was no change so I wanted to test it out again so see what the effect would be with change. It matters where the mutation occurs because if it a insertion or deletion at the beginning it will differ all the ones following and not have its original sequence. 

Mutations can effect our lives with diseases. Tay-sachs disease is a rare inherited disorder that destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Mutations in the HEXA gene cause the disease. The HEXA gene provides instructions for making part of an enzyme called beta-hexosaminidase A, which plays an important role in the brain and spinal cord.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5M1d7CSS4rF3shkCxNg-gkCqyVbfznT9-dP8syXiAj_O6NVxjTeIXXMeFuGgfz4OJMn725YxcdV0tSgY9n1-oEmkVo_eHilPaKqgAgA3sKXpum9QAPcWDmP6GUY87fHfK4FmG21HQw6_/s1600/Tay+sachs+disease.png

DNA Extraction Lab Conclusion

The question/problem of this lab was how can DNA be separated from cheek cells in order to study it. We separated the DNA by first gargling Gatorade in our mouths and then spitting in back into the cup. WE mixed the Gatorade with detergent, pineapple juice, and salt. After that we added alcohol because the Gatorade is polar and the alcohol is nonpolar which means that they don't mix and that made the DNA go up and be visable. Our claim was that DNA would be visible after we added the alcohol and that is correct because after we added alcohol to the gatorade mixture the DNA was soon visible. My biggest error in this lab was that I accidentally had too much gatorade mixture and when I added alcohol it was too much so when I tried to dump some out I accidentally got rid of way too much and I had barely any gatorade mixture left. The effect it had on my lab was that I didn't have enough of the mixture that barely any DNA came up for mine. The second error was that some of us got gatorade in our DNA when we were trying to separate it and the Gatorade ruined the DNA. 

Two recommendations I would give is first to know exactly what your doing and the next step of the experiment and second don't gargle too much gatorade because we only needed a little. 

The purpose of this lab was to show that it is very easy to find DNA and it can be done anywhere. With just a few steps and materials you can separate DNA from your cheek cells. I can relate this lab to the DNA vodcasts we have went over and also the DNA models we made. This lab can be applied to other situations if your trying to find more DNA, now we know how to separate it. 

Credit: Derek Fung

Unit 4 Reflection

Unit 4 Reflection

This unit was focused on sex and reproduction. Some of my strengths in this unit were understanding the punnett square. At first I didn't completely understand it but after I reviewed my vodcasts and practiced them online they made a lot of sense. Another thing that I was good at was memorizing the benefits and costs of both asexual and sexual reproduction. My setback in this unit would definitely be the mitosis vs meiosis and their processes like interphase, prophase, etc. While doing my infographic I learned more about this unit and it was definitely a fun project because it was a way to learn from colorful pictures and fonts that really draws your attention. Some of my successes during studying would be that I used real life examples that helped me understand better. For the codominance and incomplete dominance I tried thinking of real life situations that have happened to be or my family that helped me remember which on is which. 

My scores were:

• Visual 12
• Aural 13
• Read/Write 8
• Kinesthetic 8

My scores surprised me a little because I thought I would have scored higher on the kinesthetic and much lower on aural. 

Coin Sex Lab Relate and Review

Coin Sex Lab Relate and Review

 In the lab, we tested how coins can represent gene segregation or meiosis. The coins represented the gene. We labeled the coins with specific capital and lower case letters. We flipped the coins randomly to see what we got. For one part of the lab we used a capital B to represent a bipolar allele and a lower case b to represent a normal allele. The probability of having a bipolar offspring would be 50%. Homozygous is two of the same alleles and heterozygous is two different alleles.

In the dihybrid experiment, we modeled the process of recombination when we combined the results of our coins to make traits for the "offspring". X-linked inheritance will give you traits on the x chromosome and Autosomal alleles are disorders that are genetically linked. Monohybrid is the mating between two people with different alleles. 

The limit of using probability to predict an offspring's traits would be how many possible traits the coins have that represent the "parents". 

This understanding relates to my life because now I know how I got my genes and how my parents received their traits. My grandfather had blue eyes and know I know why none of my mothers' brothers and sisters never got blue eyes. This also relates to my life because if I ever have children I can use the punnett square to determine the probability that my children will have certain traits. 

My Infographic

Here's the larger version of my infographic that I published on the original website 

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/9419259-untitled-infographic-conflict-copy

Unit 3 Reflection

Unit 3 Reflection

This unit was about Cells and what is inside them. It was also about photosynthesis vs cellular respiration. We learned about the different organelles in a cell and what there structure and function is. 

In this unit, some of my strengths were learning the difference between prokaryote and eukaryote cells. Prokaryote cells have no nucleus and are typically smaller that eukaryote cells that have a nucleus. One weakness in this unit for me was learning all the different roles of the organelles and how each one is used. One topic that I completely understood was passive transport vs active transport. Passive requires no energy but active requires energy. The labs that we performed in class really helped me use what I learned and apply it in the labs. 

For this incoming test I had/am going to review all my notes and watch the hardest vodcast agin. I'm also going to read the chapter that I didn't chose to take notes on which would be chapter 8.