Homeostasis

Homeostasis: The ability to maintain a stable internal environment, many times in response to the external environment

Main Purposes:

- Buffers for pH

- Temperature Control

- Glucose Levels

- Water Balance

Homeostasis is when the body controls itself to have a stable internal environment. Most of the time, this occurs due to changes in the external environment. The first thing homeostasis does is act as a buffer for pH. They do this because enzymes are weak and require a certain pH. The next way that homeostasis works is through temperature control. The body does this through metabolism, blood vessel contraction, hair and fat, shivering, laying in sun or near fire, and sweat. The 3rd way is through glucose levels. This works by the body releasing different levels of insulin and glycogen. Finally through water balance, which is self explanatory.

Before we learned about homeostasis all I knew was what it was. I did not know what the body did to maintain it. I think it is surprising how much the body can do to change itself so that the organism can survive. I like this subject because of how interesting it is and I think that homeostasis can be used outside of biology. I think that this information can be used in machines possibly so that they may regulate themselves.

Incomplete Dominance

• Incomplete Dominance is a form of dominance where the dominant allele is partially expressed. 
• In the picture you see a brown horse mix with a white horse. Their offspring is a lighter brown because the 2 dominant alleles mixed.  
• I learned that incomplete dominance and codominance are very close but they have some major differences. 

Resources:

• https://online.science.psu.edu/biol011_sandbox_7239/node/7346 
• http://fedinvestonline.info/imalidrm-incomplete-dominance-in-animals.html 

Meiosis

"Meiosis is a type of cell division that reduces the number of chromosomes in the parent cell by half and produces four gamete cells. This process is required to produce egg and sperm cells for sexual reproduction." Thats the general definition according to 'www.nature.com/scitable/definition/meiosis-88' 
What it's saying is that how this varies from Mitosis is these few things.

• Instead of only getting two cells, Meiosis produces four cells. 
• Meiosis produces four different cells, while Mitosis creates two identical cells.
• Meiosis produces four haploid cells. That means that there are 23 chromosomes instead of having 46.
• Meiosis produces sex cells which, again, are haploid cells.

Here is a quick game to help you learn how Meiosis occurs:
 https://biomanbio.com/HTML5GamesandLabs/Genegames/snurflemeiosishtml5page.html

I personally learned a lot during this lesson because I didn't know how sperm/egg etc; were created. I knew that you got some genes from mom and some from dad, but this helped me learn more because it went more in depth. 

Citations: 
"File:Meiosis Overview NL.svg." File:Meiosis Overview NL.svg - Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2017. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meiosis_Overview_NL.svg>. 

Nature News. Nature Publishing Group, n.d. Web. 05 May 2017. <https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/meiosis-88>.

Mutation Addition - Abby Marshall

Mutations: ADDITION (INSERTION) 

Important facts - 

- Change in DNA sequence

- Changes the protein

- Makes wrong amino acids

- Frameshift mutation

- Also known as insertion

- Spontaneous mutations

In Depth - 

There are three main types of mutation; addition, deletion, and substitution. Most of the time, mutations are completely random. Mutations happen when the wrong amino acid is created during replication. Mutations such as insertion or deletion change the number of amino acids causing what is known as a frameshift. These frameshift mutations change everything after them. Substitution mutations are not as severe. Mutations are the cause of most cancers and more medical complications. 

Example:

Original Strand: ATC TGC GCA TAG

Replicated Strand: TAG ACC GCG TAT G

As you can see during this replication, there was a nitrogen base added in the middle of the strand. This caused the wrong acid and wrong protein to be produced and also changed not one amino acid, but all of the acids that followed behind it. 

Citations

 "DNA Mutations | Genetics | Biology". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 5 May 2017.

"Islaslab - Mutation". Islaslab.wikispaces.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 5 May 2017.

Nitrogen Cycle-Tyler Parris

Nitrogen Cycle Picture

Nitrogen Cycle: a continuous series of natural processes by which nitrogen passes successively from air to soil to organisms and back to air or soil involving principally nitrogen fixation, nitrification, decay, and denitrification.


Step 1 (Nitrogen Fixation):Conversion of atmospheric NO2 into forms useful to plants by lighting, bacteria, and cyanobacteria.

Step 2 (Nitrification): Process of converting ammonia to nitrite or nitrate.

Step 3 (Assimilation): Plant roots absorb new form of nitrogen

Step 4 (Ammonifcation):Conversion of organic nitrogen to ammonia by bacteria involved in decomposition.

Step 5 (Denitrification): Bacteria turns the decomposed matter back into N2O, which is released into  atmosphere; repeat cycle.

Reflection

-I learned that Animals get their nitrogen needs by eating plants or eating animals that eat plants.

-This can be used outside of biology to see one of the cycle's that keeps the earth going.

Nitrogen Cycle Video

Carbon Cycle

Visual:

Main Ideas:

- Carbon is attached to oxygen in a gas called carbon dioxide

- Plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight to make food for themselves using photosynthesis

- Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere

- The carbon cycle is the circulation of carbon between the atmosphere and all living organisms

- Carbon cannot be broken down into something simpler since it is an element  

- The amount of carbon in the atmosphere is a fixed amount

Reflection:

During this unit, I learned that the carbon cycle is what circulates all of the carbon through the atmosphere and back to living organisms such as plants, animals, and people. I've realized now that there is a fixed amount of carbon in the atmosphere which I didn't know before. You can apply this topic outside of school by just realizing how the carbon moves while outside. 

2.Cell Organelles: Plasma Membrane

The Plasma Membrane

- The plasma membrane, or cell membrane, is an organelle made up of lipids and proteins and forms     a boundary around the cytoplasm

- Can surround/enclose a vacuole

- Regulates the passage of molecules in and out of the cytoplasm

- Found in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells

- In animal cells, the plasma membrane is in the outer most layer of the cell 

- In plant cells, it is located just beneath the cell wall

Phospholipid bilayer

Structure and Function:

- Composed of a phospholipid bilayer 

           -A phospholipid bilayer is a double lipid membrane, the                 head of the phospholipid keeps the tail of it from getting                 wet, the tail is a fatty acid

- Contains proteins throughout 

- Some proteins serve as channels to let molecules enter and leave   the cell, these are known as integral proteins

- The plasma membrane is selectively permeable to ions and organic molecules

- Boundary that separates the living cell from non-living surroundings

-Marks the boundary between the inside and outside of the cell

Prokaryotic cell

Reflection:
For this blog, I learned a lot about how proteins are involved in the membrane. I already knew a lot about the plasma membrane because we learned about it during class. I was surprised to see what it actually looked like up close. I learned more about where it's located in both plant and animal cells. The plasma membrane can't really be used outside of biology, since it is involved in cells.

Citations:

Study.com. Study.com, n.d. Web. 01 May 2017.

"Plasma Membrane." Plasma Membrane | Structure, Function of Plasma Membrane | Biology@TutorVista.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017.

"What biomolecules are found in the cell membrane? | Socratic." Socratic.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017.