Letter to a Biology Student

        Hello, and welcome to Orre's biology class! I'm Kole, a 10th grader still at Saratoga, that went to Noble elementary school, Piedmont Middle school, and Redwood middle school. I'm a huge band nerd, as I took Advanced Jazz and was a principal player in the combined freshman/symphonic band. I took, as you can tell, biology, as well as Geometry, English 9, French 1, and the required Health/World Geography course my freshman year. I am currently enrolled in a martial arts class, a boy scout group, and 4H. You're probably reacting the same way I did when I entered this classroom, not exactly nervous, but curious at what the teacher is like, and how he teaches, strict or lenient.
        Mr. Orre's class is a place that encourages growth and learning, but can get strict if certain lines are crossed. For example, when doing anything besides listening at the same time as Mr. Orre, he can become angry. Another example would be slacking off, or not doing your work. I made these mistakes during the last lab, and I emphasize the fact that you should, in fact, listen to this information. However, when these rules are followed, you can easily get good grades. Homework is essential to this class, being 35 percent of the grade received in the class. When homework is completed, it is usually easy to score a good grade on tests, but studying wouldn't help. My favorite unit this year was probably on taxonomy, as there were tons of interactive activities. My post to this is here.
        When I walked into class, there was a Do Now, which had you review what you had worked on the night before, followed by a class discussion on it. This class tries to utilize the memorization of ideas through repetition of them through many different ways. This is evident in the fact that you will use a notebook, and post on a blog. On the blog, you will post unit reflections, which summarize the unit. However, vodcasts, which are videos that you will take notes on for homework, will be written in the notebook.
        This class is a good class, and I think that you can learn a lot from it if you work hard. I am taking Chemistry honors next year, and think that this class takes most of the credit for that. From the many lessons covered repeatedly, to the amount of skills I learned, I think that you will have a great year.

Pig Dissection Reflection

        Whilst in the process of this dissection, our group looked at the anatomy of the fetal pig, one similar to our own. Much of this reinforced the content that was covered beforehand, while offering the chance to look at how every system connected with each other in an orderly manner. For example, the esophagus was located right under the trachea and thyroid, and continued throughout the entire body, well into the abdominal cavity. This helped me understand as well how systems intertwined, through function and placement.
        This dissection not only helped me understand the anatomy of the pig, but also empathy and sympathy for the pig. After the dissection, I felt some sympathy for the pig, feeling bad for it, but also kind of understanding it through some empathy. I feel as if I have grown not only through science, but through personality as well.

20 Time Individual Reflection

This 20-time project did not start earlier this year, but long before that. In my elementary school, I often dreamed of the absurd, plausible or not. However, once I thought of this, I became very interested in sound energy in science, as well as nanotechnology. This led me to my current 20-time project, as I hypothesized from initial research that from the disturbance of a water mass with vibrations caused from sound, I could effectively "make water float on water". This interested Tyler, my partner, as well, who was interested in levitation of objects when we discussed ideas for our 20-time project. Our initial plan was to test the limits of sound, by doing the experiment mentioned beforehand. Thereafter, our main goal became to search for capable materials required for our project. However, this is where our plan began to slow, as getting equipment was slow, and even when this equipment was gained, it was barely suitable for the experiment we were about to test. Nevertheless, we pushed on and initiated our tests. From this, we have determined that while sound can be useful, it is ultimately not completely reliable as an energy source. This information, however, may not be accurate with the equipment used in the given tests.
As the project slowly progressed, I learned a great deal not only about sound and its capabilities, but also about teamwork and coordination. This may be because of the countless times me and Tyler had to plan out time from our schedules constantly in order to progress the project. In fact, many times we had to text each other on multiple days in order to determine whether or not our project time had been blocked by an event at the place we tested at. I feel that if I did have another chance at this project, I would try to plan out all of our meetings at once and put them on a calendar, so as to prevent confusion.
This project may be at its end for now, but I plan to continue this project on my own in order to check practical applications for the amount of power given just by sound. This, of course, will be done in the little free time I have, so I do not expect the research to go anywhere anytime soon, but plan to finish this by at the latest next year, depending on whether Tyler will join me or not. This project was fun, and I hope I am able to participate in something like this in the future.

Unit 9 Reflection

         Throughout the entirety of Unit 9, we learned how to classify species, and the vast amount of creatures already classified, of which being but a small percentage of overall discovered species. Some of these species include Lions, Snakes, and Sea Corals, all belonging to their respective domains in the 8 level system of Taxonomy. Domains are split up into a three domain system, being Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya, and slowly go into more specific taxa, such as orders and classes. In fact, the level system goes domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, group, and species, from biggest to smallest. As the Unit went on, we observed more and more phylums, each with their own classes and defining characteristics. Later on, however, I learned that we had barely scratched the surface of Taxanomy and its species, and became intrigued even more.
        As more and more phylums were introduced, our class organized presentations of evolutionary important species. These presentations often emphasized or reinforced ideas taught in vodcasts, but were more specified on organisms that were beneficial to human life. As I did my presentation, I became more aware of these organisms, and understood more about the unit. This was especially in my case, as I researched the Tiktaalik, which was covered more intensely in class through a documentary. In fact, other organisms were specifically mentioned in class that we presented on, including the earthworm and archaeopteryx.

        From the many activities that we had in this Unit, I feel that I have improved in my time management. This is mainly because of me and my partner's planning out of 20 time whilst doing this Unit, meeting after school to test everything. Moreover, the planning of the W.E.E. presentation also required some coordinated planning out as I completed vodcasts and homework. Because of these reasons, I feel that I have not only improved in time management, but teamwork and coordination as well.

Hunger Games Final Analysis: 3.30.2017

1. Throughout the following lab, we separated into different variations of a species, and proceeded to try to oust one another with our traits. This lab simulated natural selection, through the fact that as we were trying to beat each other and survive, the population was slowly becoming more and more like one dominant variation.
2. The pincher was the best at catching food, as you could use both hands, and the angle of grabbing food was much better than the knucklers, as shown in the graph until year four, in which the pincher population was affected heavily by plastic poisoning.
3. The population began to evolve at a steady pace in favor of the pincher population, because of their dominance of gathering power. This forced other variations such as the stumpy to become scarce, until the pinchers were affected by poisoning, which allowed knucklers to rise as the next best population, in terms of gathering power.
4. The lab's biggest disturbance in the natural evolution of the species was the plastic poisoning in year four, which causes a change in dominance from knucklers to pinchers. However, in the last year, there was only one available food source, which damages all variations significantly. until these disturbances, the population shifted towards pinchers.
5. Events that cause drastic change are found in nature all the time, which allowed multiple variations to survive with dominant ones. This would have been evident if the food was bigger or smaller as a variable in this lab. If the food was larger, stumpies would have been more prevalent, as their jaws are much more wider, while pinchers and knucklers would have died out due to the inability to pick up food. This would have been the opposite had the food been smaller, as it is much easier to pick up more food as a pincher or knuckler than a stumpy.
6. The results would have made the stumps extinct if incomplete dominance was not available in variation, as well over 90% of the class was a pincher or knuckler. This would imply that without this dominance, stumpies would be outnumbered by pinchers.
7. Natural selection leads to evolution, in the fact that evolution occurs as a species begins to change. This is driven by natural selection, which is the process of a population changing as time goes on.
8. Throughout the following lab, some people started to cheat, not following the rules that their variation gave them. While many species cannot defy their bodies, they do not play by the rules, and will do anything that it takes to survive.
9. In evolution, species with better traits "evolve", or fill up the population. No variation can evolve, only a population, as variations will dominate or stay hidden in populations. Natural selection, however, acts on both phenotypes and genotypes, as while recessive genes will be dominated, they still show up due to heterozygotes.

Unit 7 Reflection

        Throughout the following unit, I learned about the concept of ecology, and what it entails. Many of the topics covered, however, included ecosystems, and what effects them. For example, multiple nutrient cycles were included into the vodcasts, including the nitrogen cycle, phosphorous cycle, and the carbon cycle. During the course of this unit, I also learned about different biomes, and the huge amount of biodiversity hidden within them, through food chains and food webs.
        However, I have come to realize that many ecosystems are under fire from many different things, all of which are damaging ecosystems at a constant rate, which will only get bigger if nothing is done to save the ecosystems. This is shown in the movies and videos that we watched as a class, such as "Bag It!", and "Story of Stuff". While watching these videos, I found out that much of our trash is being thrown into landfills, of which were previous ecosystems, and the air is becoming more and more polluted from this, as well as incinerators. While recycling can help this, much of our efforts are useless, as our rate of trash being produced is much higher than we can ever hope to recycle. This means that unless government action takes place, much of our environment will be at the mercy of our trash.
        While I watched videos and vodcasts, I felt as is nothing illustrated what we learned better than the group project did on conservation biology. Through this project, I learned much about how ecosystems worked, but also was able to grasp onto the many dangers that threatened the ecosystem currently, and how big the dangers were. I also learned how to work better with other people, as at first it was hard to schedule time in order to put the final product together.
        Although I learned a great deal from these things, this information all relates back to the main themes of ecology, which are interdependence, homeostasis, and cause and effect. For example, interdependence was shown not only in our vodcasts, but in our group project as well, showing that all creatures in an ecosystem relied on each other in order to survive. Homeostasis is also shown through this, showing how populations can boom and bust because of temperature changes, or the loss of a food source. Cause and effect, on the other hand, is shown mostly in the videos seen in class, making me think of how much our trash is effecting the rest of the natural world. Through this, I believe that I have learned not only the nature of ecosystems, but their threats as well, and the dangers that loom over us all.

Story of Stuff

        The "Story of Stuff" explains how broken our economy is in relation to our government. This is illustrated through a diagram, which shows the five steps in our economic system, which has duped the government into favoring corporations, instead of the people. The first step in this diagram is Extraction, where raw materials are striped from the Earth, ruining the land. After this, toxic chemicals are poured into the raw materials in order to make consumables for the public, of which almost none of the chemicals have been tested. Once the products are ready for the public, they are put into stores, where consumers buy products constantly. After they buy new products, they throw their old ones away, which are incinerated into the air, releasing man made toxins into the air. This process is not great, which emphasizes the economy over the environment. However, this system will become obsolete because the environment will not be able to give raw resources to the corporations once depleted. Therefore, the economy would have to change drastically in order for something substantial to happen.
        While the situation seems difficult to get out of, we can help. One method would be through recycling. However, while this method can be useful, it is deafened by the scale of 70 trash cans to every one can of trash that you produce went into. This means that 70 cans of trash went into making the one can of trash that you are throwing away. This is also not a complete option because most products are not recyclable. This means that we as a nation would have to vote to make the government take back power from the corporations, at the cost of our own money. This is proven by the solution of making the government put a tax on extra waste produced. This would make the masses stop buying new things, therefore forcing companies to make more durable, expensive things for products.

Unit 6 Reflection

       

        Throughout the biotechnological unit, I was very excited, as this science is one of my favorites. This unit consisted of a variety of topics, being such that biotechnology is very versatile in the scientific field, relating to other fields such as the agricultural or the mining field. However, biotechnology also taps into bioethics, which consist of moral biotechnological decisions in which controversial topics are discussed which challenge general morals.
We worked on some interesting labs in this unit, ranging from utilizing the process of gel electrophoresis to producing genetically engineered bacteria, all in the small workspace of our classroom. In our groups, we experimented and found that in order to produce our glowing bacteria, we would have to insert plasmids into the bacteria through a freezing process, which is shortly followed by a sudden heat shock. In the gel electrophoresis lab, we learned how to compare known DNA fields to unknown DNA fields, allowing us to look at what substances are made of.
Although the biotechnology unit was really interesting, I would like to know more about the field, curious on what other uses biotechnological organisms have in real life. I also wonder how people debate on how science is progressing currently, and what we should do about it, in relation to bioethics. However, this unit was very interesting in the fact that we as humans can manipulate almost anything to our advantage.

pGlo Lab Analysis

1.

Obtain your team plates.  Observe your set of  “+pGLO” plates under room light and with UV light.  Record numbers of colonies and color of colonies. Fill in the table below. Plate Number of Colonies Color of colonies under room light Color of colonies under   UV light - pGLO LB 0 0 0 - pGLO LB/amp 0 0 0 + pGLO LB/amp 0 0 0 + pGLO LB/amp/ara 6 6 6

2.	What two new traits do your transformed bacteria have?
	The transformed bacteria now glow green in ultraviolet light, and are immune to ampicillin, an antibiotic.
3.	Estimate how many bacteria were in the 100 uL of bacteria that you spread on each plate. Explain your logic.
	I think that the bacteria multiplied to 600uL at least, being that there were six colonies coming from one.
4.	What is the role of arabinose in the plates?
	To give the bacteria energy in order to glow.
5.	List and briefly explain three current uses for GFP (green fluorescent protein) in research or applied science.
	-Vector for genetically modified organisms. -Used to make organisms fluorescent. -Used to make organisms ampicillin resistant.
6.	Give an example of another application of genetic engineering.

                 Genetically making an identical copy of an organism; cloning.

Candy Electrophoresis Lab

        Throughout the following lab, our group was tasked with the identification of chemicals in food coloring dyes found in most candies. In fact, we found that most dyes were different lengths when compared to the reference dyes, with the yellow band being slightly blue after, so much so being blue and yellow at the same time. The orange dye moved toward the cathode slightly.
        Most of the dyes in this lab can be compared to some other dye structures, such as beatnin, a red dye, and carminic acid, which both have longer strands than other dyes. However, the dyes in this lab would not be comparable to dye structures such as FCF, or Citrus red 2.
        Many dyes are put not only in our food, but in dog food as well. Many consumers do this in order to make the product look more appealing to the customer, as the dog eating the food has no preference. Sadly, this process works, boosting sales more a reasonably profitable amount.
        In the lab, factors controlling the distance of migration of the colored dye solutions included the voltage, as well as the centrifuge time.Voltage also helps move the dyes through the gel in the electrophoresis process. I, however, believe that the buffer is responsible for the fact of DNA molecules separating by size. On the other hand, a more powerful chemical might be used in order to break down DNA molecules with molecular weights of 600, 1000, 2000, and 5000 daltons.

New Year Goals: Spring Semester

        Throughout the previous semester, I found myself struggling at first, early into the school year, but eventually gained ground and adjusted to the curriculum that plagued me in the past. This struggle has allowed me to grow, and gives me the opportunity to plan out the next semester, and the rest of my years in high school. Even though most of my work for all of my classes is finished by the time that it is due, the process that I went through to finish it is usually not efficient, taking me multiple hours of extra time trying to finish my jumbled mess of assignments, projects, and self made study sheets.
        This drives me to organize my time more during this semester, as I truly believe that this can save me countless hours in the void that is homework and preparation for upcoming exams. This can be accomplished with my using of earlier resources in class, including the studying habits sheets that I have gotten from multiple different teachers, old and new. In fact, a new studying set up for me could be vital for my education, as the one I use currently is full of distractions.
        This, however, branches into another topic that I will work on, which is participation in class, which goes into not only raising hands and giving answers. While in most of my classes I am quiet and wait for instructions, I do tend to talk more than usual, especially in this class currently. I regret this, however, and will work on this effectively throughout this semester, trying to not get distracted. Although this goal is worth reaching to me, I believe that I cannot prepare for this goal in any way, mostly because you simply cannot prepare for this, but instead have to just put in the effort.
        With these goals in mind, I will work on not getting distracted in general, ranging from at home distractions to in class distractions. Although my behavior and work ethic might not be the best right now when compared to my overall performance in tests and exams, I hope to change that, not only preparing me for the now, but for later, when I am older.