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Alma d' Arte Biology


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9/24/2018

Week of 9/24 to 9/28: How we know earth and genetics

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dna combination

We have gone over a few ways in which cells have learned to work together all on their own and have even adopted photosynthetic algae to move in the direction of being photosynthetic themselves.  Sometimes we apply pressure for the DNA to be in a species that it would never want to be in.
We see if the DNA is in the plant through PCR Electrophoresis:

agrobacterium tumefaciens


  • (updated scientific name Rhizobium radiobacter, synonym Agrobacteriumradiobacter) is the causal agent of crown gall disease (the formation of tumours) in over 140 species of eudicots.
  • It is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative soil bacterium.
  • Ti Plasmid: A Ti or tumour inducing plasmid is a plasmid that often, but not always, is a part of the genetic equipment that Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Agrobacterium rhizogenes use to transduce their genetic material to plants
  • GMO plants we currently have: corn, soybean, onion, sugar beets (any sugar that is not from cane), rapeseed (canola oil), wheat (not official but due to cross contamination)
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genetic engineering is different from plant breeding 



it takes a long time for plants and species to  adapt and change


  • plant breeding has taken thousands of years
  • people have been farming corn for an estimated 12,000
  • the Earth is estimated to be about 4.5 billion years old

Radiometric Dating: The use of radioactive isotopes as a measure for determining the age of a rock or fossil

Radioactive isotope: an unstable form of an element that decays into another element by radiation, that is, by emitting energetic particles

Half-Life: the amount of time it takes for one half of a substance to decay

Uranium-238: has a half life of 4.5 billion years

Potassium-40: has a half life of 1.3 billion years

Stromatolites: are about 3.5 billion years old, calcareous mound built up of layers of lime-secreting cyanobacteria and trapped sediment, found in Precambrian rocks as the earliest known fossils, and still being formed in lagoons in Australasia.

Prokaryotes: about 3.5 billion years ago, a microscopic single-celled organism that has neither a distinct nucleus with a membrane nor other specialized organelles.
  • Prokaryotes include the bacteria and cyanobacteria.

what alters genes


Mutagen: any chemical or physical agent that can damage DNA by changing its nucleotide sequence

Carcinogen: Any chemical agent that causes cancer by damaging DNA, carcinogens are a type of mutagen.

Proto-oncogene: a gene that codes for a protein that helps cells divide normally, signal cells to progress through the cell cycle at the appropriate time.  Mutation in these genes causes them to be overstimulated, causing too much cell division,

Tumor Suppressor Genes: signal cells to pause the cell to fix mistakes, mutation in these genes cause them to be under expressed, allowing damaged cells to divide inappropriately.  Genes that code for proteins that monitor and check cell cycle progression.  When these genes mutate, tumor suppressor proteins lose normal function.

Oncogene: a mutated and overactive form of a proto-oncogene.   Oncogene drive cells to divide continually.

Meiosis: A specialized type of cell division that generates unique haploid gametes. Generates sex cells.

Gamete: specialized reproductive cells that carry one copy of each chromosome, sperm are male gametes, egg are female gametes 

Haploid: having only one copy of every chromosome

Mitosis: a type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each having the same number and kind of chromosomes as the parent nucleus, typical of ordinary tissue growth.

genetics vocabulary


Gene:  A sequence of DNA that contains the information to make at least one protein

Gene Expression: The process of using DNA instructions to make proteins.

Genotype: Genetic makeup of an organism

Phenotype: the physical qualities of an organism including observable or not observable traits

Alleles: alternative versions of the same gene that have different nucleotide sequences.  ​

Recessive Allele: an allele that reveals itself in the phenotype only if the organism has two copies of that allele

Dominant Allele: an allele that can mask the presence of a recessive allele

Heterozygous: having two different alleles

Homozygous: having two identical alleles 

Punnett Square: a diagram used to determine probabilities of offspring having particular genotypes, given the genotypes of the parents.

Carrier: an individual who is heterozygous for a particular gene of interest, and therefore can pass on the recessive allele without showing any of its effects

Polygenic trait: a trait whose phenotype is determined by the interaction among alleles of more than one gene

Autosomes: paired chromosomes present in both males and females; all chromosomes except the X and Y chromosomes

Sex Chromosomes:  Paired chromosomes that differ between males and females,  XX in females, XY in males

Y Chromosome: of two chromosomes in humans.  The presence of a Y chromosome signals the male developmental pathway during fetal development

X Chromosomes: one of the two sex chromosomes in humans 

gender diversity affirmed in ancient cultures


  • Mishnah: an authoritative collection of exegetical material embodying the oral tradition of Jewish law and forming the first part of the Talmud. The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions known as the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic literature. Transmitted in the aftermath of the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
  • The construction was completed in 515 B.C.E.

gender diversity was recognized


In addition to zachar, male, and nekevah, female, there are four other genders/sexes that the Rabbis recognize:
  •  Zachar/זָכָר: This term is derived from the word for a pointy sword and refers to a phallus. It is usually translated as “male” in English.
 
  • Nekeivah/נְקֵבָה: This term is derived from the word for a crevice and probably refers to a vaginal opening. It is usually translated as “female” in English.
 
  • Androgynos/אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס: A person who has both “male” and “female” sexual characteristics. 149 references in Mishna and Talmud (1st-8th Centuries CE); 350 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes (2nd -16th Centuries CE).
 
  • Tumtum/ טֻומְטוּם A person whose sexual characteristics are indeterminate or obscured. 181 references in Mishna and Talmud; 335 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes.
 
  • Ay’lonit/איילונית: A person who is identified as “female” at birth but develops “male” characteristics at puberty and is infertile. 80 references in Mishna and Talmud; 40 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes.
 
  • Saris/סריס: A person who is identified as “male” at birth but develops “female” characteristics as puberty and/or is lacking a penis. A saris can be “naturally” a saris (saris hamah), or become one through human intervention (saris adam). 156 references in mishna and Talmud; 379 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes.  
              source: reformjudaism.org
              sojourngsd.org/blog/sixgenders

gender diversity in native american tribes


  • Native Americans had no set of rules that men and women had to abide by in order to be considered a “normal” member of their tribe.
  • Genders recognized: Female, Male, Two Spirit Female, Two Spirit Male and Transgendered.
  • The Navajo refer to two spirits as nádleehí (one who is transformed)
  • Lakota is winkté (indicative of a male who has a compulsion to behave as a female)
  • niizh manidoowag (two spirit)
  • Ojibwe, hemaneh (half man, half woman)​

Osh-Tisch, spiritual leader and warrior of Crow Nation was born a male and married a female, but adorned himself in women’s clothing and lived daily life as a female. 

We’wha (1849-1896), of the Zuni nation. We’wha was biologically male and engendered with a female spirit.
​
"The Two Spirit culture of Native Americans was one of the first things Europeans worked to destroy and cover up. According to people like American artist 
George Catlin, the Two Spirit tradition had to be eradicated before it could go into history books. Catlin said the tradition: “must be extinguished before it can be more fully recorded.”

"Spanish Catholic monks destroyed most of the Aztec codices to eradicate traditional Native beliefs and history, including those that told of the Two Spirit tradition.” As a result, Native Americans were forced to dress and act according to newly designated gender roles."

​References: 

  • https://www.the-numinous.com/2016/07/06/native-american-two-spirits/
  • PBS film Two Spirits: ​www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/two-spirits/
  • https://othersociologist.com/2013/09/09/two-spirit-people/

​Muxe


​In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca, a muxe is an assigned male at birth individual who dresses and behaves in ways otherwise associated with the female gender; they may be seen as a third gender. Some marry women and have children while others choose men as sexual or romantic partners.
https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/a-brief-history-of-muxe-mexicos-third-gender/

more examples


  1. In indigenous Hawaii, before its colonization, there was a long standing multiple gender tradition, where the mahu could be a male or female biologically, but decide to inhabit a gender role either opposite theirs, somewhere in between the traditional sex roles, or even both masculine and feminine roles. Instead of being written off as outcasts, as persons of atypical gender identities often are today, these mahu were revered in their social roles as sacred educators of ancient traditions
  2. In ancient Incan culture, the Incas worshipped a “dual gendered god” known as chuqui chinchay, who could only be attended and honored by third gender shamans or servants who wore androgynous clothing as “a visible sign of a third space that negotiated between the masculine and the feminine, the present and the past, the living and the dead.”
  3. Among the Sakalavas of Madagascar, there is a third gender group reserved especially for little boys thought to have a feminine appearance and personality. These boys, rather than labeled as “gay men” after maturing and experiencing the upbringing of a male, are instead raised by their parents as girls from a young age.
​https://sites.psu.edu/evolutionofhumansexuality/2014/02/19/third-genders-new-concept-or-old/

gender diversity has been part of humanity for as long as we have existed, sex of an organism is not as simple as xy vs xx and gender is not as matter of body parts so all we can do is respect the identity of the people around us


genetics


Biology book ch 11, pg 209
Meiosis: a specialized type of cell division that generates genetically unique haploid gametes.

Zygote: a cell that is capable of developing into an adult organism.  Formed when an egg is fertilizes by sperm.

Cross-over: gene swapping between maternal and paternal chromosomes  

Recombination: the stage in meiosis where maternal and paternal chromosomes pair and physically exchange DNA segments

Independent Assortment: the principle that alleles of different genes are distributed independently of one another during meiosis. If one gene ends up in one gamete, the other gene is likely to end up in another gamete.

Polygenic trait: a trait whose phenotype is determined by the interaction among alleles of more than one gene.

Multifactorial Inheritance: an interaction between genes and the environment that contributes to a phenotype or trait
X-linked trait: a phenotype determined by an allele on an x chromosome 

Incomplete dominance: a form of inheritance in which heterozygotes have a phenotype that is intermediate between homozygous dominant and homozygous recessive 

Codominance: a form of inheritance in which both alleles contribute equally to the phenotype 
​Mutation has most likely led to diversity

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9/17/2018

Week of September 17 to September 21: Biological systems

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animals live in communities that coexist with other communities of animals


We have an interdependent system of systems that we call the ecosystem
Each being occupied a trophic level: each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.

Trophic Levels 

Trophic Level
​Where It Gets Food
​Example​
1st Trophic Level
​
​Producer: Makes its own food
P​lants make food ​
2nd Trophic Level
Primary Consumer: Consumes producers
​​Mice eat plant seeds
​3rd Trophic Level
​Secondary Consumer: Consumes primary consumers
​​Snakes eat mice
​4th Trophic Level
​Tertiary Consumer: Consumes secondary consumers
Hawks eat snakes

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Biosphere: the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth (or analogous parts of other planets) occupied by living organisms.

Abiotic Factors: non-living components of a biosphere
  • water
  • oxygen, air
  • sunlight
  • temperature
  • soil/rock/ sand

​Biotic Factors:
  all living components of a biosphere from single celled beings an onward

Symbiosis: interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.
  • a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups.
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ecosystems of the chihuahuan desert


Cyanobacteria: phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis, and are the only photosynthetic prokaryotes able to produce oxygen. 

​Cryptobiotic (biological) soil crust: a living groundcover that forms the foundation of desert plant life.
  • This knobby, black crust is dominated by cyanobacteria, but also includes lichens, mosses, green algae, microfungi and bacteria.
  • When wet, Cyanobacteria move through the soil and bind rock or soil particles, forming an intricate web of fibers. In this way, loose soil particles are joined together, and an otherwise unstable surface becomes very resistant to both wind and water erosion.
  • The soil-binding action is not dependent on the presence of living filaments. Layers of abandoned sheaths, built up over long periods of time, can still be found clinging tenaciously to soil particles, providing cohesion and stability in sandy soils at depths up to 10cm.
  • Nitrogen fixation is another significant capability of cyanobacteria. Vascular plants are unable to utilize nitrogen as it occurs in the atmosphere.
  • Cyanobacteria are able to convert atmospheric nitrogen to a form plants can use. This is especially important in desert ecosystems, where nitrogen levels are low and often limiting to plant productivity. Soil crusts have other functions as well, including an ability to intercept and store water, nutrients and organic matter that might otherwise be unavailable to plants. 

​Nitrogen fixation is a process by which nitrogen in the Earth's atmosphere is converted into ammonia (NH3) or other molecules available to living organisms.

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria: are microorganisms present in the soil or in plant roots that change nitrogen gases from the atmosphere into solid nitrogen compounds that plants can use in the soil.

Nitrogen fixing bacteria: contain symbiotic bacteria called rhizobia within nodules in their root systems, producing nitrogen compounds that help the plant to grow and compete with other 
plants. When the plant dies, the fixed nitrogen is released, making it available to other plants; this helps to fertilize the soil.
Cyanobacteria: Photosynthetic Prokaryotes
Stomatolites: or stromatoliths, fossils, are layered mounds, columns, and sheet-like sedimentary rocks that were originally formed by the growth of layer upon layer of cyanobacteria, a single-celled photosynthesizing microbe.
Animals have learned how to photosynthesize by absorbing genes from photosynthesis species.

animals work in teams where all have equal access to resources even though they have different functions, any time they have access to different, or more energy costing resources, the extra energy is used for the benefit of the entire group


How a Bee Becomes Queen
The bee that comes out first kills the others

ants


Modular communications: ant communication is to a large extent chemical, we investigated the pheromone functions involved in foraging and alarm behaviour
  • They just go with what everyone else is doing, it works for them but probably not for us

​Group think:
 the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility.

humans strive for a world that is beyond insect politics


  • We learn from animals but we are human beings
  • A school is a human biological system
  • We are skilled in finding ways to work together and are skilled in conflict resolution
  • We practice empathy and want everyone to feel respected and included
  • When we see that someone is left out, we integrate them
  • We are currently shifting from a model of authoritarian to egalitarian concepts of education
  • We understand self governance and do not need to subscribe to any one philosophy or system
  • We do not need to be told what to do or conform to anything

animal farm


  • Just some references to things that happened in the past, we have come a long way since then

equality in human systems


  • Humans in the current system are sad because they are not paid living wages that allow them to build healthy communities
  • they are not asking for communism, they just want to be able to have housing security, food, and clothing as a result of their work
  • Inequality can stress our biological system

schools are a place for democracy and customer service, schools are responsible for providing ways to involve parents and community members. decisions may be made DEMOCRATICALLY.


Claiming Human Rights
Article 12

​1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

2. For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law

Convention on the Rights of the Child

symbiosis 


Symbiosis: A close, interdependent relationship between different species 
​Symbiosis: Mutualism, Commensalism, and Parasitism
Parasitism: benefits one species while the other is harmed: ticks, parasitic fish lice

Mutualism: 
symbiosis that is beneficial to both organisms involved: cleaner fish that help bigger fish get rid of parasitic fish lice, birds that eat fleas off a cow

​Commensalism:
benefits one organism but the other one is neither harmed not helped: 
Remora fish that hitch a ride on turtles or sharks

examples of beings working together


Lichen
  • A lichen is a synthesis of two organisms, one fungus joins with green algae or photosynthetic bacteria called cyanobacteria, sometimes both 
  • It can be said that The fungus benefits more from the symbiosis and is acting as more of a parasite on the photosynthesizers that it has trapped
  • In lichen the symbiosis is between a fungus and photosynthesizing algae or cyanobacteria
  • The fungus envelops the cells of the algae or cyanobacteria with tentacle like structures called hyphae 
  • The sugars leak out and feed the fungus, sugars from the algae or cyanobacteria
  • In exchange the fungus creates a habitat for the algae or cyanobacteria
    • more moisture and less sun
  • Thallus: the vegetative body formed by lichen
  • Without algae or cyanobacteria he fungi look like a heap of hyphae
  • On it's own the fungus cannot form any structures
  • Without the fungus the algae live in colonies and their cells look very different
  • So cyanobacterial cell are not very changed by their symbiotic relationship

ants farming


How Ants Take Care of Their Farms
​Activity Inside a Leaf-Cutter Ant Fungus Garden

activity


  • Create art that depicts symbiosis
  • You may work in a team
  • Please be careful with the art supplies so they last as long as possible

some of the art that we created

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9/13/2018

educational philosophy

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Gone are the days of "that's just the way it is". 
​It is well understood that education has been used as a tool of power and control over the people and a tool of oppression against non-conformist identities and people of color


Please note that the studies focus on a certain demographic but the dynamics of oppression are mirrored in the circumstances that are faced by fellow UNDERPRIVILEGED demographics.  An article that talks about latinx students describes dynamics that a TRANS-GENDERED person may be able to relate to.  The patterns of disparity in share of power and control over the situation are the same BECAUSE there is no hierarchy of OPPRESSION.


The Shift in Pedagogy:
​Authoritarian and Egalitarian Styles of Teaching


​Educational Quality and Egalitarian Educational Structures: A Multi-nation Multi-variate Analysis


A Critically Compassionate Intellectualism for Latina/o Students: Raising Voices Above the Silencing in Our Schools

cammarota_j.___romero_a.__2006__-_a_critically_compassionat_intellectualism_for_latina-o_students...__1_.pdf
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Democratic education is an educational ideal in which democracy is both a goal and a method of instruction. It brings democratic values to education and can include self-determination within a community of equals, as well as such values as justice, respect and trust.

Sudbury school. A Sudbury school is a type of school, usually for the K-12 age range, where students have complete responsibility for their own education, and the school is run by direct democracy in which students and staff are almost equals.


Democratic Education is based on the belief that students themselves know best what is good for them.
The job of a school is to provide a democratic structure in which kids can discover their interests and learn how to live in a community that solves conflicts together.

The ideal:
to grow up in absence of fear
and to become responsible, empathic and self-determined citizens.

The idea is not new.

In 1693 the philosopher John Locke wrote that “things children learn, should never be a burden to them.”

The school evolved from ideas introduced by teachers and pupils.
One of the principles was that the students had the right to not listen to the teacher.

  • The first democratic school that still exists, is Summerhill in Suffolk, England. It was founded in 1921 by A.S. Neill who believed that a school should be made for the child, rather than the other way around.
  • Class attendance is voluntary.
  • Some children may spend weeks in the woods or do nothing all day, while others choose to learn math or try out reading class.
  • When they grow older many turn to traditional subjects with full focus when they realise that they need them for college entrance exams.
  • At weekly school meetings, staff and students gather to solve conflicts.
  • Once a conflict is brought to the meeting, everybody in the school can speak up, mediate or come up with a solution.
  • After the conflict was discussed and democratically processed, harsh feelings are often buried and staff and students leave peacefully.
  • The meetings are also used to work on the school regulations and anybody can make a proposal for a change of the rules.
  • If one student requests a change, members discuss and then decide by popular vote whether the new idea will be implemented.
  • Sometimes the kids may vote for the abolishment of all rules. But after a few days of total chaos.
  • Students usually use the same democratic process to reimplement order.
  • Almost as if they all naturally seek structure.

In the 1960s young educators from all over took inspiration from Summerhill and opened so called “free schools”. One was the Sudbury Valley School which was founded in Massachusetts, United States. Sudbury took the ideals of a democratic education even further. Once a year the school meeting is used to re-elect teachers and principals. Those that don’t receive majority vote will be replaced.

Today there are many independent Sudbury and other democratic schools all over the world spanning from Brazil to Israel to Thailand. Using different structures, they all promote the idea that students and teachers should have an equal say in what to learn and how to work with each other. The goal is to give children a deep sense for equality and justice.

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9/9/2018

week of September 10 to september 14: bring it all together

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Project


Pick a form of energy and create a poster that shows the parts that are involved and how energy is transferred in the system, you may work by yourself or in a group.

to design your own ASSIGNMENT Ask Yourself:


Choose your work dynamic:


  1. Do you want to work by yourself or with others?
  2. Would you like to work with a partner or with a team?
  3. If you want to work in a team would you prefer to work with three or four people?

Choose a type of energy:


  1. Sunlight use for photosynthesis
  2. Plankton
  3. Energy from food
  4. Fuel, bio diesel or ethanol
  5. Nutrients going through the cell membrane

Make a poster that shows how that energy moves, label the parts of the system


  1. Present what you learned
  2. Teach the whole class what you learned
  3. Think of an activity or an icebreaker to present your topic
  4. Practice your art skills

SYstems of energy transfer


Photosynthesis
  1. sunlight is absorbed by chloroplasts in the plant leaf
  2. Sunlight has Photons: packets of light energy, each with a specific wavelength and quantity of energy, light is measured in frequency, we measure frequency in nanometers (nm)
  3. Chloroplast: the organelle in the plant cell where photosynthesis occurs
  4. Chlorophyll: The pigment present in the green parts of plants that absorbs photos of light energy during photosynthesis 
  5. Chlorophyll a absorbs light in the blue-violet region, while chlorophyll b absorbs red-blue light. Blue light has a wavelength of 430 nanometers (nm) and red light has 662 nm
  6. Green light is reflected because it is not absorbed by the plant, green light is at about 550nm​
  7. Calvin cycle: the set of chemical reactions that take place in chloroplasts during photosynthesis.

Picture
https://www.quora.com
  • Plants use the sunlight and CO2 from the air to make sugar 
  • ​Carbon Fixation: the conversion of inorganic carbon CO2 into organic forms, sugars
  • We call the energy molecules formed ATP, Adenosinetriphosphate: The molecules that cells use to power energy-requiring functions
  • Oxygen is a byproduct of photosynthesis
  • We need oxygen to breathe

Nutrients going through the cell membrane


  1. cell membranes are made of a lipid bilayer 
  2. Has embedded proteins doors and channels
  3. Simple diffusion – uses no energy movement of small or lipophilic molecules (e.g. O2, CO2, etc.)
  4. Osmosis – movement of water molecules (dependent on solute concentrations)
  5. Facilitated diffusion – requires energy to get done, movement of large or charged molecules via membrane proteins (e.g. ions, sucrose, etc.)
Picture

Plankton


  1. The base of the global food chain, a collection of beings
  2. Single cell organisms
  3. Large animals migrate to the Arctic to feed on plankton... fish and whales
  4. Algae are Phytoplankton, they are protists
  5. Protist: is any eukaryotic organism (one with cells containing a nucleus) that is not an animal, plant or fungus
  6.  They practice photosynthesis, phytoplankton release molecular oxygen (O2) into the water as a waste biproduct
  7. It is estimated that about 50% of the world's oxygen is produced via phytoplankton photosynthesis
  8. They are keeping us alive, the whole planet
  9. So plankton refers to small and microscopic organisms drifting or floating in the sea or fresh water, consisting chiefly of diatoms, protozoans, small crustaceans, and the eggs and larval stages of larger animals
  10. They absorb CO2 and take it down to the bottom of the ocean, to Bikini Bottom, we call this system the biological pump
  11. Whales have been seen helping the plankton sink to the bottom, they are farming, intentionally

Energy from food


  1. Chemical Energy: potential energy stored in the bonds of biological molecules (Food)
  2. Potential Energy: stored energy (Food)​
  3. Kinetic Energy: the energy of motion or movement, (muscle movement, digestion breaks down food and releases energy)
  4. Macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats
  5. Micronutrients: vitamins and minerals that organisms must ingest in small amounts to maintain health
  6. Digestion: we call the process of breaking down food digestion, the point of digestion is to extract energy from food and absorb it, and use it
  7. Enzymes: We use enzymes to break down food , an enzyme is a protein that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction, they accelerate the activation energy
  8. Activation Energy: The energy required for a chemical reaction to proceed, enzymes reduce activation energy to speed up chemical reactions 
  9. Insulin: a hormone that is secreted by the pancreas, it regulates blood sugar.  It is also a protein, a chain of amino acids that is produced by the pancreas.  Insulin binds to cells in the body and enables them to absorb sugar from the blood.
  10. Facilitated Diffusion: Glucose enters the cell through facilitated diffusion using a protein door in the cell membrane's lipid bilayer
  11. Metabolism: all biochemical reactions hat happen in an organism reactions that break down food molecules and reactions that build new cell structures 

Fuel, bio diesel or ethanol


  1. Biofuel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel
  2. A megajoule is 1,000,000.00 joules
  3. Producing one megajoule of Biodiesel removes 183 Kilograms of the greenhouse gas CO2 from the air. 
  4. Good sources are hemp and algae 
  5. As part of the photosynthesis process algae produce oil and can generate 15 times more oil per acre than other plants used for biofuels, such as corn
  6. Algae can grow in salt water, freshwater or even contaminated water, at sea or in ponds, and on land not suitable for food production.
  7. Producing one megajoule of energy in Ethanol from corn adds 81-84 Kilograms of CO2 to the air. 
  8. NMSU is working on biofuel from algae for vehicles and jet fuel

What other systems of energy do we have?

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9/4/2018

week of September 4 to September 7: Energy from food

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Happy Labor Day, Sept 3

Previous week


food

Last week we covered the beginning of energy production, autotrophs make their own energy by turning sunlight and carbon into sugar while heterotrophs eat other living beings to stay alive.

Photosynthesis is the chemical reaction through which sunlight is transformed into sugar to use as: 1). usable energy to power cellular functions 2). stored energy that is kept in oils as potential energy and 3). some energy is used as building blocks for cell structures.  The molecule that cells use to power energy requiring functions is called ATP. 

We learned about Algae, a single celled organism that is not a plant but does photosynthesize.  It is a protist.  Algae can help us as food, fertilizer, and biofuel.  it forms a big part of the base of the planetary food chain along with plankton.

Algae can be grown in open ponds and then the cells can be broken and separated into many components (pg 86).  We can get oil for biodiesel, the carbohydrates can be fermented and used to produce ethanol which can be burned as fuel or electricity, the proteins can be used to feed people or livestock and the leftover biomass can be used as an organic fertilizer or burned for heat or electricity.  It is good to consider our alternative, renewable energy sources.

Energy many be measured in joules, a joule is equal to the energy transferred to an object when a force of one newton acts on that object in the direction of its motion through a distance of one metre.

A megajoule is 1,000,000.00 joules

Producing one megajoule of Biodiesel removes 183 Kilograms of the greenhouse gas CO2 from the air while producing one megajoule of energy in Ethanol from corn adds 81-84 Kilograms of CO2 to the air. 

We breathe out CO2 and plants use it to photosynthesize, a by product of photosynthesis is oxygen and we need a balance of chemicals in the air because breathing in too much CO2 is not good for us.

Here are some of the common symptoms of too much CO2, we call it respiratory acidosis:
  • fatigue or drowsiness.
  • becoming tired easily.
  • confusion.
  • shortness of breath.
  • sleepiness.
  • headache.

We could die in an unbalanced environment.

current energy sources in the us

  • 40% fossil fuel petroleum
  • 8% Nuclear Electric Power
  • 23% Natural GAs
  • 22% Coal
  • 7% Renewable Energy

of that 7% that is renewable energy

  • 1% Solar energy, less than 1%
  • 36% Hydroelectric
  • 5% Geothermal energy
  • 53% Biomass
  • 5% Wind Energy
  • SO you can see, there is room for growth here 
think about the energy that is consumed to produce our food 

energy for us, from food

  • Food is a source of macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats
  • Micronutrients: vitamins and minerals that organisms must ingest in small amounts to maintain health 
  • Carbohydrates: fruits and veggies, grains, legumes
    • Complex Carbohydrate (Polysaccharide): a carbohydrate made of many simple sugars linked together, a polymer of monosaccharides; examples are starch and glycogen
    • Starch: a complex plant carbohydrate made of linked chains of glucose molecules; a source of stored energy
    • Fiber: a complex plant carbohydrate that is not digestible by humans
    • Glycogen: a complex animal carbohydrate made of linked chaind of glucose molecules; a source of stored energy
      • Extra sugar/ glucose is converted into glycogen, this type of starch is then stored in the body.  When your body needs more glucose the glycogen is converted back into glucose.  If the body's glycogen stores are full, the excess carbohydrates are stored as fat.
    • Simple Carbohydrates/Simple sugar (Monosaccaride): a carbohydrate made up of a single sugar subunit; an example is glucose
  • Complex carbohydrates and starch turn into sugars
  • Proteins: Meats, Dairy, Legumes, also grains and veggies
  • Fats: Dairy, meats, oils
  • A nutrient is a component in food that the body needs to grow, develop, and repair itself 
  • WE get energy from food and it gives us the ability to do work like building complex molecules in our cells 

Essential nutrients: substances that cannot be synthesized by the body and need to be consumed, pre-assembled through the diet, this includes certain amino acids and fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.
​
Essential amino acids: there are eight amino acids that the body cannot synthesize and needs to get from food, some books list 9 amino acids, these are: 

In nuts, seeds, eggs, meats, whole grains, seaweed (algae)
​

  • Histidine 
  • Isoleucine
  • Leucine
  • Lysine
  • Methionine
  • Phenylalanine
  • Threonine
  • Tryptophan
  • Valine

Enzymes: We use enzymes to break down food , an enzyme is a protein that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction, they accelerate the activation energy

Activation Energy: The energy required for a chemical reaction to proceed, enzymes reduce activation energy to speed up chemical reactions 

Substrate: is the molecule that the enzyme binds to

Active site: is the part of the enzyme that binds to the substrate 

Catabolic Reaction: any chemical reaction the breaks down molecules 

Anabolic Reaction: any chemical reaction the combines simple molecules to build more complex molecules 

Digestion: we call the process of breaking down food digestion, the point of digestion is to extract energy from food and absorb it, and use it

Enzyme Names:
 some names include pepsin, rennin, and trypsin, most enzyme names end in "ase"

Different types of enzymes can break down different nutrients:
  • Carbohydrase or amylase enzymes break down starch into sugar.
  • Protease enzymes break down proteins into amino acids.
  • Lipase enzymes break down fats into fatty acids and glycerol

Coenzyme: a small organic molecule, such as a vitamin , required to activate and enzyme 

Cofactor: An inorganic substance, such as a metal ion, required to activate an enzyme

Vitamin: an organic molecule required in small amounts for normal growth, reproduction, and tissue maintenance 

Water soluble vitamins:
  • B1 (thianine): cofactor for enzymes involved in energy metabolism and nerve function, found in leafy vegetable, whole grains, meat
  • Folate: cofactor for enzymes involved in DNA synthesis and cell production
  • B12: cofactor for enzymes involved in the breakdown of fatty acids and amino acids and nerve cell maintenance, found in algae, eggs, meat and milk
  • C: cofactor for enzymes involved in collagen synthesis, iron absorption and immunity, found in citrus fruits

Fat soluble vitamins:
  • A (retinol): in eye pigment, supports skin bone and tooth growth, supports immunity and reproduction, found in fruits, vegetables egg yolk
  • D: needed for calcium absorption and bone growth, found in fish and eggs, mushrooms, soy, we need sun to synthesize it 
  • E: antioxidant, supports cell membrane, in green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains
  • K: synthesis of blood clotting factors, in green leafy vegetables, cabbage 

Mineral: an inorganic mineral required by organisms for normal growth, reproduction, and tissue maintenance: calcium, potassium, iron, zinc

Inorganic elements not synthesized by animal bodies:
  • calcium for bone and teeth, fund in dairy, green veggies, legumes
  • Iron: carries oxygen through out the body in hemoglobin in red blood cells found in green vegetables and meats
  • Potassium: needed for electrolyte balance, muscle contraction and nerver function, found in fruits, vegetables
  • Sodium: needed for electrolyte balance, muscle use and nerve function, in salt, bread, milk


Denatured: shape is changed
https://youtu.be/qgVFkRn8f10
https://youtu.be/rlH1ym916Fo 

Metabolism: all biochemical reactions hat happen in an organism reactions that break down food molecules and reactions that build new cell structures 

Insulin: a hormone that os secreted by the pancreas, it regulates blood sugar.  It is also a protein, a chain of amino acids that is produced by the pancreas.  Insulin binds to cells in the body and enables them to absorb sugar from the blood.

Difficulty with digesting carbs:

Diabetes type 1: cannot make insulin
Diabetes type 2: the receptors on the cells do not respond very well to insulin leading to an elevated blood sugar level
Facilitated Diffusion: Glucose enters the cell throgh facilitated diffusion

Illness related to nutrient ABSORPTION 


How to help your body absorb more nutrients:
  • Fat-soluble vitamins A, D, K, and E need fatty acids for absorption
  • Pair foods that are rich in these nutrients (many vegetables are) with a source of healthy fat, like nuts or oil
  • To get more calcium from your yogurt or kale, increase your intake of foods that are high in vitamin D
Exercise increases nutrient uptake

stem cells can help us repair tissues:


Tissue: an organized group of different cell types that work together to carry out a particular function.

Stem Cells: immature cells that can divide and differentiate into specialized cell types
  • Brain stem cells make neural cells
  • Heart stem cells make cardiac muscle
  • Bone marrow stem cells make red blood cells 

Adult Stem Cells (Somatic Stem Cells): stems cells located in tissues that help maintain and regenerate those tissues

Multipotent: a cell with the ability to differentiate into a limited number of cell types in the body.

Embryonic Stem Cells:
Stem cells that make up an early embryo which can differentiate into nearly every cell type in the body

Pluripotent: a cell with the ability to differentiate into nearly any cell in the body
Picture

​​REGENERATIVE MEDICINE



ethics


The research is done on human fetal cells.
Blastocyst: a stage of embryonic development in which the embryo is a hollow ball of cells (or thought to be).  Researchers can derive embryonic stem cell lines during the blastocyst stage. 

HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY ​


Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis 

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    Author: Jazmin Gannon

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