Photosynthesis

This season we continued to look into cellular respiration and we went in depth into photosynthesis.  Mrs. Girard began this season by passing out contained leaves.  As a class we discussed the differences in our leaves and the important characteristics and what made each leave special.




           Leaf example                                                                          Anni examining her leaves


For backstage we worked on a virtual chromatography lab from mastering biology.  This lab helped us prepare for our real life chromatography lab with leaves.  Each student had to rubbing in a leaf from outside.  The leaves were rubbed on a chromatography slip with a water and then placed into a solution.  The students let the strips run and then the next day the strips were removed from the solution.  The strips revealed the different types if pigments in each of the leaves.

Gina and chromatography strips

Quinlyn working on the chromatography lab

 
Gina being prepared                                                                                      

Our class also began working on our game boards.  The boards are meant to be review of our season five.  Season five has covered cellular respiration and photosynthesis.  Each group is creating their own unique board game that can last no longer than 25 minutes.  Some games are similar to household games like candy land which is Gina, Kyla, Anni, and Alexa's group.  As a class we will play the games on this upcoming Friday.

Helen and Michelle brainstorming


ON Halloween we began out photosynthesis lab.  This lab tested the rate of photosynthesis with leaf discs.  twenty leaf discs were placed in a syringe a the syringe was placed in a solution with soap.   The syringe soaked up some of the solution.  A technique was performed on the syringe in order to fore the leaf discs to fill up with water and sink to the bottom.  Once the leaf discs were at the bottom of the syringe the discs were poured into a cup and placed in front of a light.  Blocking the heat of the light was a large glass container since heat could affect the rate of photosynthesis.  The lab groups waited for each piece of leaf disc floated to the surface.  The next day the same groups created their own lab.  The labs could be based off of color change in light, heat , etc.  Those experiments did not work out as well as planned because hardly any  leaf discs floated to surface.Mrs. Girard showing us how to use the syringes
Veronica, Helen and Keira working on the photosynthesis lab
Photosynthesis lab setup

Season Roundup: Cellular Respiration

This season, we focused on enzymes and cellular respiration. On Friday, October 14th, we continued our yeast catalase lab where each of the four groups tested the effects of pH, concentration, and temperature of enzymes on yeast catalase activity. To determine the effects of pH, HCl (an acid) and NaOH (a base) were added to the yeast solution and see how the pH affected the rate of the reaction. To determine the effects of concentration, different proportions of yeast catalase solution were used and with an increase of concentration, the rate of reaction was also increased. To determine the effect of temperature, the yeast catalase solution was heated or cooled down and the temperature of the solution was recorded. With an increase of temperature, the rate would peak at around room temperature, and either heating or cooling should decrease the rate of this reaction. To summarize our findings, each group created a lab report folder and afterwards, each group visited each of the other groups’ folders to learn about their findings.

Kyla, Helen, and Keira are working on determining the effects of concentration of yeast catalase
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Girard

Several groups are working on putting their lab report folders together!

Then, we took a five day break from school; however, biology never takes a break and we needed to save Jared! Jared was a CIA agent who was poisoned on a top secret mission, and this poison inferred with his ability to make ATP. Without ATP, his cells would stop working. Using our knowledge on cellular respiration, we needed to determine which of the four toxins Jared was poisoned with. To do so, we used healthy muscle tissue as control data and saw the  different effects from pyruvate, NADH, and IM protons on Jared’s muscle tissue. Jared’s tissue had no change from healthy muscle tissue in pyruvate levels, his NADH levels strongly increased, and the levels of his IM protons decreased. We then tested four toxins on healthy muscle tissue and saw how each of these affected the pyruvate, NADH, and IM proton levels. We were able to conclude that cyanide was the toxin in which Jared had ingested as cyanide was the only toxin that also resulted in the same changes of these levels in comparison with Jared’s muscle tissue. We were then able to save Jared!

Save Jared (program by Cogent Education)

If you’re confused about cellular respiration, you’re not alone! While my classroom was waiting to start the ACT the past weekend, two people were having a conversation about how they were completely lost within this complicated biology topic! We just need to make sure to work together and ask questions to enhance our understanding. To begin, the equation for cellular respiration is C6H12O6+6O2+6H2O —>12H2O+6CO2+32-38ATP. This equation is the reverse of the equation for photosynthesis, which makes sense as plants ingest carbon dioxide and sunlight energy to produce glucose. Cellular respiration has three components: Glycolysis, The Krebs Cycle/The Citric Acid Cycle, and the Electron Transport Chain. These components work independently from each other, which we were able to determine from saving Jared, but they also build off of each other and the products each component makes. The purpose of glycolysis is to split glucose and produce two pyruvate molecules. The purpose of the Citric Acid Cycle is to take the pyruvate and use it to help produce ATP, NADH, and FADH2. NADH and FADH2 are electron carriers, which are then used in the Electron Transport Chain, where its main purpose is to produce ATP. We listed to an MP3 tutor to help create this brochure to summarize the processes that take place within aerobic cellular respiration, and I included a copy of mine below.

3 components of cellular respiration:
glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and the electron transport system

This short span of a couple days have been brain packed with labs, simulations, and lecture, but we pulled through! Now onto a season of photosynthesis!

Season 4 Round Up

In Season 4, we participated in the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, which is an international competition that asks students to make a 5-minute video about an interesting topic about the life sciences, physics, or math. The winner receives a $250,000 scholarship, $50,000 for his or her teacher/mentor, and $100,000 for a Breakthrough science lab at his or her school as well as a trip to the award ceremony to receive the prizes. The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. The Breakthrough Challenge is also partnered with Khan Academy, National Geographic Network, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

The Challenge is limited to students ages 13-18 who fill out a short application including their video, uploaded to YouTube. Video submissions were due October 10, after which each applicant was required to peer review five other submissions by October 16, and the winner will be announced at the televised award ceremony on December 4, 2016.

Since we are AP Biology students, we focused our videos on topics about life science, including the science behind laughter, lack of sleep, and the spread of viruses. We started by making storyboards with the visual and audio aspects of our videos. Storyboards are important because they helped us plan what we needed to say and how we were going to emphasize our ideas with our visuals. Storyboards also helped speed up the filming process because we already had all of our ideas planned out on paper. We shared our storyboards with one another through Google Drive to receive feedback and then began creating! Some Rockstars wrote detailed scripts next and others jumped right into filming. Each 2nd and 6th block for Season 4 was dedicated to working on our videos. We shared our progress on October 7, to give final feedback before we all dispersed for the weekend to make final touches and submit our Challenges videos on the evening of October 10. This season ended with the 5 peer-to peer reviews each student had to complete before October 16 to be qualified in the competition which we all had time to complete in class!

Helen is researching.

Michelle is drafting a script.

Michelle is filming in stop motion.

Natalie is reviewing her Storyboard while filming.

Round Up: WATER!

This season, we focused on water, specifically diffusion, osmosis, and water potential

Our AP Bio class kicked off the season with the documentary FLOW - For the Love of Water. FLOW pointed out the advantages that companies take of local people and land when these companies privatize water, a natural, essential, and originally free resource, and sell it to the public at a high cost. The movie focused on how Nestle pumps water from Michigan, but also mentions various other places in the States, even Mount Shasta, which is near us! Coca Cola was trashing the villages in India for their bottling plants and gave the villages free "fertilizer" that was filled with toxins. Suez privatized water and sold it to poor communities in Bolivia, where communities only had water contaminated with blood from slaughterhouses.The entire class was shocked at how cruel the companies are to deplete the earth and communities of water and sell it for profit. To anyone who has not watched FLOW, watch it!

The class then broke up into groups of 3 to make large posters that depicted all the processes that occur in a cell membrane. We drew out the phagocytosis, pinocytosis, endocytosis, exocytosis, active transport, simple diffusion, and facilitated diffusion.

We experimented with the agar cubes and vinegar in our first lab. We were given large and small agar cubes dyed with bromethymol blue, a pH indicator that turns yellow when a substance is acidic. The cubes were places in vinegar, an acidic substance. After letting the cubes rest for about 25 minutes, we saw that the outsides of the cubes had turned yellow. However, the small cube had a much thicker border of yellow than the big cube. This is because the surface area to volume ratio was smaller in the smaller cube, so more of the bromethymol blue could diffuse out of the cell. This lab shows that cells are small because waste products need to efficiently leave the cell and materials need to enter through the membrane, which can only expand so much as volume increases. 

Our second lab was the sucrose mystery lab. The AP Bio team figured out how to uncover the mystery and the entire process of the lab all together! Ms. Girard even said it was one of the fastest she's ever seen :) There were six different solutions of sucrose of water, from 0.0 to 1.0 M, each time raising in increments of 0.2 M. We were to determined the concentrations of each, based on our knowledge of osmosis. Each group of two put some of their assigned solution in a dialysis bag, which is made of cellulose, much like a plant cell. The sucrose would not diffuse out, but water would osmose in. The higher the concentration of sucrose, the more water would enter the dialysis tube. We were almost successful in labeling which solution matched which concentration, just the green and red were mixed up. 

Our final lab involved various vegetables and the same sucrose solutions. The goal was to determined the concentrations of solute in each vegetable. We focused on the concept of water potential, or the likeliness of water to move out of a system. We soaked red potato, sweet potato, and turnip cores in the 6 different sucrose solutions to see if the cores would gain, lose, or maintain the same amount of water content. The vegetables were hypertonic relative to the solutions would gain water, and the vegetables were hypotonic relative to the solutions would lose water, and if the vegetables were isotonic relative to the solutions, the vegetables would remain the same. In the end, we graphed our data and found the approximate solute concentrations of the vegetables based on where the vegetables' masses (affected by water gain or loss) remained about the same after the experiment.

Overall, this was a very fun and lab-intense season. I look forward to more!

Photo courtesy of Ms. Girard

Season 1 Roundup!

             In our first AP Biology season, we covered mostly review from biology and chemistry. We learned about the characteristics of life, water, and organic chemistry. For our summer assignment, we read chapters one, two and three because they were mostly review, so in class, we discussed any questions we had and the new information that was in the text. Chapters four and five were also included in the season.

            In season one we also had a visit from our guest, the candle. We were asked if the flame was alive or not. This helped us go over and apply the properties of life to something. After our properties of life activity, we covered the properties of water. Water is a polar molecule which is the reason for many of the properties of the substance. Organic molecules was another topic we talked about extensively. We discussed the four macromolecules: lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids. To collaboratively learn about the macromolecules we were divided up and created notes for each category.

Carbohydrates notes

Nucleic Acid notes

Protein notes

Lipids notes

             In addition to the material we covered, we also laid the groundwork for an amazing year of biology! We got to know each other, set up our digital profiles and made our twitter accounts! On our very first day, we played four corners as an icebreaker and met each other. Throughout the season we watched each others introduction videos to learn more about our AP bio family! All the videos were very unique and the styles of the videos told us a lot about each individual. Our digital profiles are a work in progress but very interesting and just waiting for a year of amazing posts! The twitter accounts we made will connect us with each other but also with a wider following of people. We will be posting responses, updates and other biology related tweets to our twitter accounts.

             Finally, as a review of the first five chapters, we created a web of review concepts as a class for each chapter. This was a great review of the material in the first season and was a fun way to work as a class. Overall the first season of AP Bio was a great success! I am very eager to see what’s ahead and know it will be an engaging, educational and exciting year!

Our ch 3 review web

Photo courtesy of Ms. Girard

How to summarize our year?

Wow, time passes so fast that AP Biology 2015-2016 is coming to the end. What we have learned in the past year is truly beyond word explanation. When I was sitting on the chair, waiting patiently to open my AP Biology exam booklet, I was engorged by a rush of confidence because I knew that hard efforts will always pay off at the end and that each member of our team will rock the test. The test, for us, was more like a brilliant exposition of our expansive knowledge than anything else.

From an academic point of view, this course prepared us exceedingly well for the AP exam, and we all had so much fun while learning. Dissecting the fetal pig made me reflect a lot on the genius design of our body systems as well as the amazing coordination between them for the sole goal of our fitness and survival; “Save the Bay” field trip helped me realize the importance of citizen science programs and the preciousness of our environment, etc…What’s more, this course taught us to find the most suitable learning technique for ourselves, which helps us save time and study more efficiently.

Technologically, We tried various types of technology, such as WordPressfor expressing our points of view,  Prezi for memorizing difficult vocabularies, Thinglink for presenting a collage of ideas, Stop motion for animating still things, and Voicethread for presenting authentic medical cases. Trying something new is always very interesting and is the best way to learn. Also, using technology to express our ideas in creative ways makes learning a truly fun experience. In fact, technology always makes my life easier since it is a better way to present an idea to the audience and make it interesting and fun.

Businessman and business sketch

This course has taught us that learning is a fun experience, not a hideous struggle. Being successful in this class largely depends on attitude and the effort we have put in. Biology is the study of life and since taking this course, I noticed that I have become more aware of my health and that I have accumulated many good habits.  AP Biology 2015-2016 is an unforgettable experience in my life, and I  will keep everything- the good habits, the positive attitude, the upbeat spirit-I have learned in this class with me, forever.

In the end, I have to say: thank you,  my dear comrades, who made this class so valuable and so revitalizing and thank you, Mrs. Girard, for you truly stroked our passion for the field of science and prepared us so well for the 21st-century advanced world.

Final Preparations for the AP Exam

After months of 80 minute classes every day, we are reaching towards the end of the finish line. However, before we could say hello to summer and graduation, first we had a few more things to do to keep us busy. While some of my other classes seemed to lessen our coursework towards the end of the school year, Mrs. Girard kept us busy until the very end! Some of my favorite activities we got to do were the lab practicals, looking into the new Z Space technology, and preparing for the AP Biology exam. Yes, I know the dreaded four hour AP exam that includes 64 multiple choice questions, 6 math questions and 8 free response questions. Even though we were all nervous and anxious about the exam, our teacher managed to make the last few days of review fun and stress relieving! Let's take a trip down onto the last few activities of the SCHOOL YEAR!

Hard at work (also nice look Julia)

1) Examining pig organs and structures. How fun. If you gathered any sense of sarcasm in that statement, you are partially wrong. Although the idea of dissecting up a foul smelling fetal pig is a tad bit disgusting, it makes for a great learning experience! :) As a class, we looked at mammalian body structures and organs, focusing on the circulatory, nervous, endocrine, excretory, digestive, skeletal, and reproductive systems. Those who felt uncomfortable with physically dissecting the fetus were tasked with the job of the secretary, writing down observations and filling out worksheets.

Lab Practical

2) Back in the good old days (first semester) we visited the Z Space a couple times with our friends from Holy Names School in Oakland (you can check out that post here). This time, we went on to explore more complex programs. We looked at chordates structures using the Z Space 3D technology. This was super cool because it gave a great visual of what we were learning in the science classrooms. My partner, Bianca, and I looked at many creatures such as birds,whales, snakes, fish, and other mammals and amphibians.

3) Last but not least, we reviewed for the upcoming AP exam. All year long we have been preparing for this exam through our labs, tests, discussions, and projects in order to be ready for the exam. During the last few days of review, we played a game that involved filling in the answers to a small slip of paper. The rules are: you have two chances to get ALL answer correct. If you get ALL the answers correct, you get the chance to shoot a paper ball into a trash bin for extra credit points. The game was fun, competitive, and engaging. I was not stressed while playing that game and it helped me to remember some terms that I had forgotten or had trouble with.

Having now taken the exam, I can fully say that this class really prepared me. I learned a whole lot in just the first semester! Sadly, our class days are dwindling down. But it is not over yet! There's still things we have to do (lets face it we're always working)! Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: All pictures are taken by Rebecca Girard

Evolution and Classification

The weeks before Spring Break were packed full of new information on the different kingdoms. Classification is extremely important because it helps us determine the relation of different organisms, shared traits, common ancestors, and relative time of evolution. Our focus has been on how evolution ties into to classification and taxonomy. A key thing to remember is the order of taxonomy levels. The nmeumonic "Dumb Kids Playing Catch On Freeways Get Squished" helps one remember Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species.

First we focused on Kingdom Protista. We examined samples of different protists under a microscope during the Protista Lab. This allowed us to brush up on our microscope skills and strengthen our scientific sketching. We looked at various classes of the kingdom and presented on their sizes, genus and species, movement, method of eating, and notable structures.

To study  plants, we took a more individual approach. Each student chose a topic pertaining to plants that she felt would make an interesting and informative lesson for the Biology and Honors Biology students. Carnivorous plants, fruits versus vegetables, and drugs derived from plants were just a few of the topics upon which the lessons focused. The lessons were all very unique and creative with a focus on interactivity. Multimedia was another focus of these lessons. Websites such as Kahoot and Padlet found their way into these presentations as well as use of home-made podcasts!


 We also focused on animals, specifically invertebrates. This clade includes animals as diverse as sea stars, sponges, spiders, crabs, jellyfish, octopi, worms, and butterflies. Understanding the taxonomy was very important to this section. Phylum and class were the main levels that we learned. These organisms are all animals, and they all lack a backbone. The other group of animals that we will study later is vertebrates (more specifically chordates).

  

To understand fungi, we all collected samples of fungi we found growing freely outside. Usually I can find lots of fungi in my backyard, but this time I couldn't find any. On a search for fungi, I went to a nearby park, and I found what appeared to be a type of mushroom. I brought them in to class as instructed, but when we began to examine them, I found that all I had was a bag of dark liquid. It turns out that I had found an ink cap. Other students had gotten large mushrooms from around campus.

We were able to really dive into the specifics of the different kingdoms during these lessons. Before now, AP Bio focused on the mechanisms, phenomena, and structures that connect all organisms. Focusing on the different kingdoms and phylums allowed us to learn about what makes organisms different.

Originally posted on Christine's blog!

Round Up: Life Organized

Season 9 seemed to go by very quickly. Most of the information was a review from things we already learned in our first year of biology. We started off learning about the origins of Earth and how life began. There are some interesting theories  as to how Earth started, but one of the most common theories is, meteorites containing amino acids came crashing down on Earth billions of years ago and when they did, the impact provided enough energy to produce polypeptides. There is evidence that shows meteorites containing amino acids so this theory is probable.

Mrs. Girard directed us to this pretty cool website that you can definitely spend hour looking at. I found out some pretty interesting information ranging from, 15-25% of all land animals are ants to, The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way that is similar in size and shape and apparently, in a few billion years, these two galaxies will collide to form a larger galaxy which would be known as Milkomeda (contributed by Bianca).

Phylogenetics was the next script we had to rehearse. Phylogenetics was a review of evolutionary history. By using a phylogenetic tree you can find the similarities and differences between species and when the species branched off from each other relative to other species on the same tree.

"File:Phylogenetic Tree.svg." - Wikimedia Commons. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.

"File:Phylogenetic Tree.svg." - Wikimedia Commons. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.

We were assigned to do a class Prezi and everyone chose a designated section to contribute to the Prezi. The Prezi was on Script 27, which is about prokaryotes. The Prezi includes the structure and function, reproduction and mutation, adaptations, phylogeny, environmental role, and impacts on humans of prokaryotes.

Next was the Kingdom Protista. The most prominent thing I remember about this script is the protista lab. I like seeing the things that I am learning about so being able to study some protists under the microscope was helpful in studying Kingdom Protista. My favorite protist is the Blepharisma because of the pinkish color, the way it moves, and the name sounds pretty cool as well.

Before spring break began we reviewed invertebrates and fungi. Invertebrates include phyla porifera, cnideria, platyhelminthes, annelida, anthropoda, mollusca, and echinodermata. For each phylum there was a video to go along with it. The videos gave a good amount of information, but were still interesting and engaging.

Last but not least we studied Kingdom Fungi. Kingdom Fungi sometimes gets overlooked, but fungus are key components in the recycling of nutrients back into the environment. We also use fungus to produce penicillin. Fun fact, the hard white crust on brie is made of penicillium, part of a family of mold that is used to make pencillin.

There are so many species in Kingdom Animalia and I am excited to start learning more  about the wrest of the kingdom.

Dolphins can swim up to 25 mph! They are also pretty smart compared to many 

Round Up: March 13

AP Biology jumped right back in after intersession. To finish up evolution, we watched the movie "What Darwin Never Knew." What did Darwin never know?

What did Darwin never know?

Quite a lot, actually. Darwin would have been surprised at the idea of DNA, at the idea of epigenetics and even at the mechanisms of evolution. Although he came up with the idea of natural selection, Darwin by no means invented evolution or was the first scientist to theorize about it.

Definitely nothing about DNA.

After discussing Darwin's theories, "What Darwin Never Knew," began to discuss HOW human thought exists. Because humans have less muscle power in the jaw, the skull is less constricted than that of an ape. This was the part of the movie that interested me the most, and when Team AP Bio sat down to discuss, we happily chatted for the class period. It's amazing to think about the things that Darwin never knew.

The difference in skulls.

With the end of Season 8 came the start of a new Season. We kicked it off with a bang by watching another movie: "Origins - How Life Began". Delving into the idea of how life was formed on Early Earth, we were presented with different theories and then asked to look for others.

Bacteria in very uninhabitable caves form structures like stalactites.

Julia found a theory about the presence of dark matter creating enough force for essential elements to reach our planet. Isabelle discovered RNA Theory, in which life originated from RNA molecules. M0nica found Stephen Hawking's theory of accidental life formed in pools of primordial soup of amino acids.

Bianca's contribution was the theory that life could have originated in life. Water in ice could have gathered molecules and combined them. I found the idea of spontaneous generation - if you put dirty garments and wheat in a container, suddenly mice are generated. Christine, the idea that meteors carried the simple molecules needed to create single-celled organisms.

Spontaneous generation.

And finally, Sofia presented us with the Clockwork Universe Theory, the idea that God set life into motion.

I love combining all of our ideas into a giant pot and then just discussing. Interesting that out of all of us, only one found a non-scientific theory. Where did life come from? We're still not sure, but at least the world now has seven more people interested in figuring this mystery out.

Works Cited

Bacteria Snots Carve Caves. Digital image. Softpedia. Softpedia, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

DNA. Digital image. Basics of DNA. Youtube, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

Origins of Life. Digital image. NOVA. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

Spontaneous Generation. Digital image. Time Toast. Time Toast, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

What Darwin Never Knew. Digital image. NOVA. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

Who Are You Calling Weak? Digital image. Discover Magazine. Discover Magazine, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.