Homework: Photosynthesis and Cellular pRespiration

picture found at: Biology Corner

In photosynthesis, CO2 and H2O are used to make glucose. The energy for this process comes from sunlight, where O2 is given off as a by-product since it needs CO2 than O2.

picture found at: ProgressiveGardens

Respiration is basically the opposite of photosynthesis. Respiration breaks down glucose, using oxygen, and produces oxygen, and produces carbon dioxide and water. The energy that originally came from the sun is then made available to the organism.

Plant Cell

Not one of my good drawings. I'm far too lazy right now to use paint though. lol.

Plant cells contain:
-cell wall - a thick, rigid membrane that surrounds a plant cell. This layer of cellulose fiber gives the cell most of its support and structure. The cell wall also bonds with other cell walls to form the structure of the plant.
-cytoplasm - the jellylike material outside the cell nucleus in which the organelles are located.
-plasma membrane - the thin layer of protein and fat that surrounds the cell, but is inside the cell wall. The cell membrane is semipermeable, allowing some substances to pass into the cell and blocking others.
-mitochondria - The mitochondria converts the energy stored in glucose into ATP (adenosine triphosphate) for the cell.
-nucleus - spherical body containing many organelles, including the nucleolus. The nucleus controls many of the functions of the cell (by controlling protein synthesis) and contains DNA (in chromosomes).
-ribosome - small organelles composed of RNA-rich cytoplasmic granules that are sites of protein synthesis.
-peroxisome - small organelles that produce hydrogen peroxide.
-Golgi appratus - packages proteins and carbohydrates into membrane-bound vesicles for "export" from the cell.
-rough endoplasmic reticulum - transport materials through the cell and produces proteins in sacks(which are sent to the Golgi apparatus, or inserted into the cell membrane).
-smooth endoplasmic reticulum - transport materials through the cell. It contains enzymes and produces and digests lipids (fats) and membrane proteins; smooth ER buds off from rough ER, moving the newly-made proteins and lipids to the Golgi apparatus and other membranes.
-chloroplast - an elongated or disc-shaped organelle containing chlorophyll; where photosynthesis takes place.
-vacuole - a large, membrane-bound space within a plant cell that is filled with fluid. Most plant cells have a single vacuole that takes up much of the cell. It helps maintain the shape of the cell.

Questions:
1. What is the central organelle in a plant cell which holds water called?

2. What three features does a plant cell have in comparison to an animal cell?

3.What relationship does a plant cell and algae have (what chemical process do they go through to obtain food)?

Currents

Currents are produced by gravity, forced produced by the wind, and water density variation in different parts of the ocean.

1. Explain how currents contribute to the distribution of marine organisms around the planet.

Currents affect organisms in a way for transportation. With many organisms in the ocean that use broadcast spawning as means for reproduction, currents aid them in their distribution since they “can not” move around. Taking giant clams as an example, they reproduce through broadcast spawning, in their egg – larvae form, they have little to no movement at all, that’s where the currents comes and aid them. Once they are at a certain stage, they then settle where they were taken off to and continue to live and grow - thus diversifying an ecosystem.

2. The primary factor influencing ocean currents is temperature regulation. What might happen to ocean currents (and has happened in the past) as global warming increases?

I believe that, because of the effects of global warming, which has several disastrous effects, in that it would increase the Earth’s temperature, thus increasing the area of warm currents limiting the cycle area of the colder currents, which will of course limit the amount of oxygen both in dissolved and gaseous form (an effect of global warming in terms of gas exchange).

3. Explain how current contribute to the distribution of marine organisms around the planet.

In some cases, where the water column is said to have low stability – in that the surface water becomes denser than the water below and a downwelling occurs, which displaces and mixes with deeper water, thus causing currents in an upward and downward shift until equilibrium is reached. This usually occurs in temperate and polar regions during the winter when the surface water cools.

The Shape of Life: Episode 1 - Origins

QUESTIONS
1) What organism is thought to be the first multi-cellular animal?
The Ancient Sponge


2) How is it similar (3 examples) and different (3 examples) from animals today?
Similarities:
-Cells are held together by collagen
-Reproduces sexually - has the production of both gametes
-feeds itself
Differences:
-No nervous system
-Regenerate
-Spicules

3) How do scientists know it's an animal?
Sponges eat, reproduce, have a "heart" beat, and has cell communication in terms that it is similar to that of animal cells.

4) What evidence do scientists have to prove that other animals (multi-cellular) evolved from this organism?
The sponge's genetic code - DNA; along with the tracing of the animal tree through genetic sequencing.

5) What more do you want to know?
I would want to know the stages of the evolutionary process in which an organism evolved from in terms of their genetic sequencing from a simple sponge into a more complex organism, such as a squid or an octopus.

Hike to Mt. LaoLao

The Marine Biology Family (everyone's adopted..lmao)

"Free at last, free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!" (Martin Luther King). Well, at least from a place where water is extremely limited to a certain amount that a person can carry! Hahaha.
The hike that we took to day to "Mt. LaoLao" was more than I expected. I thought it would be like another walk in an air-soft park, hence my ski-mask attire. Besides the fact that I had misinterpreted the distance, my water was running low, and quickly too because I supported two geniuses - Arwin and Dan. Parasites~~Haha. I'm like that too when my supplies are low. Anyways, we were toured around by some dude who works for (blank) >_<. Wait..wait...it's coming to me...there we go! His name is Angelo! Right? lol. He explained many things that were happening at Mt. LaoLao and going down to LaoLao Bay. Many of the factors that are affected because of Human/Environmental Interaction are the high ppt of aluminum in the soil - making the soil too sour for many plants to grow and the collection of enriched pollution flowing down from the farms and the golf course onto the via run-off.

Oh yes, and a reminder to the many people who burn down the vegetation to find deer and other what nots they want - Real hunters hunt! And no...I'm so sorry...but marijuana is not an animal....

Virtual Chemistry Lab

Sour Foods

Question(s):

What atoms are in sour foods?
What is it that makes some foods taste so sour?

Hypothesis:

Since pH [potenz power + H (hydrogen)] is the measurement of acidity and alkalinity, then the amount of hydrogen atoms present in a solution should be the deciding factor on its sourness.

Procedures:

The procedures are as followed:

1. Labeling a representative cup for each food bottle.
2. Add 5 drops to its corresponding numbered cup.
3. Add a drop of dye to each cup of food.
4. Using a pH (color) chart, arrange them from high concentration to low concentration of loose hydrogen atoms.
5. Identification of the type of food that was used for the experiment.

Data:

- Because of the color of the added dye, it represents the concentration of loose hydrogen atoms in the food.

- With the concluded arrangement of cups in accordance to their color scale, we are then able to determine the food with the highest and lowest concentration of loose hydrogen atoms; with the highest concentration being the sourest and the lowest concentration being the least sour.

Results:

- Q: What atoms are in sour foods? What is it that makes some foods taste so sour?

A: The reason why foods taste sour is because of the concentrated amount of hydrogen atoms.

- The following is a list of the food used in the experiment in descending order of the concentration of H atoms:

Labeled number:	Food:	Color:
3	Lemon Juice	Pink
4	Vinegar	Yellow
1	Orange Juice	Light green
2	Milk	Green
5	Water	Aqua

Therefore, the sourness of a food is dependent on the amount of hydrogen atoms present.

Holes in Bread

Question(s):

What molecules make the holes in bread?

Have you ever noticed the holes in bread?

Hypothesis:

The holes in bread may be produced by the chemical reaction from the mixing of yeast, sugar, and water producing a by-product of CO₂, which during the baking process gets pushed out of the bread itself through the application of heat which leaves a print of holes.

Procedures:

The procedures are as followed:

1. Add 3 scoops of yeast into a test tube.
2. Add 3 scoops of sugar into the same test tube.
3. Fill the test tube three fourths full with warm water.
4. Using a stick, stir together the ingredients until it is well mixed (water is the same color as the yeast).
5. Wait for a certain period of time to allow the reaction to take place.
6. Shine a flashlight outside the tube.
7. Observe the test tube carefully and look for tiny bubbles streaming up the side of the tube.

Data:

- Yeast, a living organism, feeds on the sugar molecule. It breaks down the sugar molecule apart to produce two new molecules: carbon dioxide gas molecules and alcohol molecules.

- The tiny bubbles that were previously observed in the test tube were the carbon dioxide molecules.

Results:

The chemical reaction taken place in the test tube is also what happens in bread, where yeast, added to the bread dough, breaks apart the sugar molecules in flour. Carbon dioxide molecules are made and trapped in the bread dough and leave holes when the bread is baked.

Sour Foods:

1. What are acids and bases?

Acids and bases (alkaline) is the measurement of a solution based on a pH scale with acidity measuring with a pH less than 7 and alkalinity measuring with a pH greater than 7; both on a given scale.

2. What is a molecule?

A molecule is a combination of two or more atoms.

3. Why is pH important in the ocean?

pH, being a part of the abiotic conditions that exists in the ocean, affects all the organism that live there. Slight increases in either acidity or alkalinity may seem to have little effects on the organisms; yet, on a larger scale, is a huge threat because of gas exchange. The pH may alter several living and reproductive conditions of organisms.

4. What is an ion?

An ion is an electrically charged particle that does not have a natural charge

Holes in Bread:

1. What gas causes the bubbles?

CO₂

2. How was the gas produced?

The gas was produced through a chemical reaction dealing with yeast, sugar, and water where the yeast, becoming active, broke down the sugar molecule to produce two by-products – CO₂ molecules and alcohol molecules.

3. How does CO₂ get in the ocean?

CO₂ gets in the ocean thru a process of gases moving back and forth from the atmosphere and water called gas exchange.

Homework: Endangered Animals

Hey, guess what? Sea Otters are endangered! *gasp*



Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris): Threatened with extinction
Habitat: shallow water areas with kelp beds
Endangered because: oil spills, habitat loss and degradation, food limitation, disease, fishing gear entrapment, and conflict with shellfish fisheries.

information found at: Sea Otter - Defenders of Wildlife