Human Bio

Major Lab: A Movable Limb

2008-04-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

These are the materials that were used in completing this lab. Not shown are an egg, another type of noodle, some permanent markers, the stapler, and the red exercise shirt that was cut up.

Introduction: This lab is introducing one to the basics of movement. Below you will see two pictures depicting the elbow joint.

Using paper towel rolls, a stapler, pipe cleaners, and a red stretchy shirt, I made a working model of a hinge joint, the elbow joint. This picture is the elbow extended out. As you can see, on the back of the tube is the triceps brachii. In this picture, it is contracted and the tendon is connected at the point of insertion, which is at the ulna. The fabric is loose to show that it is not stretched. On the top is the biceps brachii. This is muscle is relaxed. It is stretched out and the muscle is long. The tendons connect the muscle to the radius.

This picture is of the elbow joint bent. The muscles are working in pairs, as described in an early section. The tricep brachii now is relaxed and stretched out. The bicep is contracted, meaning the muscles have shortened. Under the skin, this is what it looks like, for a clearer picture.

Now that we have the basics, let's jump into one of the muscle cells and look at how actin-myosin fibers make the muscle contract. Remember, the WHOLE muscle contracts, we are just looking at one cell.

First an explanation of the different parts. The orange "zig-zag" on the side is called the Z line. It holds onto the actin filaments and will move in accordance. The pink strips are actin filaments. The blue lines are myosin filaments. The little blue lines coming off of the myosin are the cross-bridges which are vital in muscle movement. This picture is the muscle fiber relaxing. It needs to contract.

What happens are calcium (white puffs) come and attach to troponin on the actin filaments. It then pulls away the tropomyosin to expose the myosin binding sites on the actin.

After that, the cross-bridges perform their "oring" where they reach out, attach to the myosin binding sites, and row. It pulls the actin in and the fibers shorten.

For all of this to happen, a neuron needs to be going to the muscle cell to trigger a contraction.

Here is a picture of a neuron I made out of an egg, spaghetti, and another type of noodle. The egg is represented of a cell body that contains dendrites. The spaghetti is representing the axon and the other noodle, that was colored, is representative of the myelin sheath.

Here is a close up of the cell body.

A close up of the axon with Schwann cells.

What happens here is the transmission of messages. At the top of the neuron would be sensory receptors and the other end would have an axon terminal. The message would travel from the sensory receptors to the axon terminal via the axon. First, there is the action potential.

In this picture, we are inside and right outside of the axon. The blue papers are representative of sodium ions, the pink are potassium ions. In the resting stage, you will see the corresponding blue gate at the top of the axon. It is closed and there is more sodium on the inside than the outside, resulting in a -70mV. When the threshold of a transmitter has been fired, the sodium gates open.

What happens then is the sodium ions go out and potassium ions come in. This results in having a +40 mV. This is the action potential, where messages are going to their effectors. It then returns to the normal resting state.

During this process, is something called propagation. When an action potential is occurring, the message races down the axon. When it is myelinated, it is covered in sections with Schwann cells. The ions cannot pass through this, so they "jump" it. This makes the message move much faster and it does not expend as much energy. The picture below show this.

Conclusion: That concludes how a muscle works. We took a look at the outside, how and where the muscle is attached, which muscle is contracting while the other is relaxing. We then jumped into the muscle cell to see how it actually does contract by way of actin-myosin filaments. Lastly, we took a look at how the message gets sent so the actin-myosin filaments know they need to get moving. I hope you enjoyed!

Lab Two: Muscle Function

2008-04-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to the second lab of the unit. In this lab, I took measurements of my huge muscles, squeezed a ball with a cold hand, and then squeezed it many times in a row. All of this to understand how my muscles work! Enjoy!

For part of the lab, I had to measure my muscle flexed and not flexed. My muscle did not change much in size. :( This is a picture of me taking that measurement.

Then, I had to squeeze a ball for twenty seconds and count the number of squeezes. That information was recorded on a table. Then I submerged my hand in ice water, squeezed again for the same amount of time and recorded that information as well.

Then I squeezed a ball many times in rapid succession to see the effects of muscle fatigue. My special helper, Lady, thought we were playing. I had to tell her this was serious business.

Here is an analysis of my data:

1. What are the three changes you observed in a muscle while it is working? (Contracting)

The first change I observed was the muscle expanded outward when flexed.

The second change was the muscle shortening, which contributes to the expansion.

The last change was they became tired with repetition.

2. What effect did the cold temperature have on the action of your hand muscles? Explain.

The cold temperature had a numbing effect. For me, this gave relief as I have carpel tunnel problems (actually medically diagnosed, not self diagnosed). It did not slow down the movement for me, as it may have with others. When one has carpel tunnel, the carpel tendon in the wrist inflames with action, putting pressure on surrounding veins and arteries which make blood flow constricted.

Temperature	Number of Fists
Normal	42
Ice Water	42

This is a table of the data collected.

3. What effect did fatigue have on the action of your hand muscle? Explain.

Fatigue caused the muscle to react slower as well as causing pain. The muscles are not getting enough oxygen and are using up their ATP energy, which causes the fatigue. The pain is built up because of the acid build up in the muscle.

Trial	Number of Squeezes in 20 Seconds
1	42
2	37
3	38
4	36
5	39
6	36
7	34
8	33
9	33
10	30

This table represents what happened as my muscles became fatigued. I also charted the information.
As you can see, by the graph, my number of squeezes decreased. The numbers on the graph need to be inverted to see the decrease clearly as it starts with 42 and the top is at 30.

Conclusion: At the cellular level, I believe cold and fatigue effect the muscle because of the amount of energy required. The needs to maintain homeostasis in order to continue functioning. When it is cold, it expends energy attempting to warm the area. When it is fatigued, the muscles is using up so much ATP, the cells need to constantly be producing more and more before moving into an anaerobic state that creates cramps!

Skeletal Muscle Fiber Contraction

2008-04-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Now for the last section of Unit Three! We are going to be taking a closer look at how a muscle contracts as well as the different parts of a muscle. First, let's look at some vocabulary.

Slide to the left, then slide to the right (vocabulary):

~Sarcolemma: Plasma membrane of muscle fiber; can generate or carry action

Potential along the length

~Sarcoplasmic Reticulum: Endoplasmic Reticulum of muscle that holds calcium

Ions

~T (Transverse) Tubules: Dip down into the cell and come into contact with

Sarcoplasmic reticulum at calcium storage sites

~Myofibrils: Contractile part of the muscle fibers

*Sarcomere: bundle of myofibrils that has two types of protein

Myofilaments

1. Myosin: thick filaments made up of protein

2. Actin: thin filament made up of protein

~Myosin is shaped like a golf club, with the head sticking out (cross-bridge)

*act as ores during contraction

~Actin contains tropomyosin and troponin

Below is a picture from http://www.mhhe.com that shows the structure of a muscle fiber.

Sliding:

From http://www.mhhe.com, here is a picture that gives a general idea as to how a muscle contracts. Continue further to learn more about myosin and actin and what role they play.

1. Muscle is stimulated

2. Impulse travels down a T tubule

3. Calcium is released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum

4. Muscle fiber contracts

5. Myosin, in a way, pulls the actin past it with its “ores,” going through a

Cycling shape change in the presence of calcium

6. The sliding of myosin and actin past each other is called

The sliding filament model

Below is a picture of myosin and actin at work with calcium attaching to it. This picture was found at http://www.niaaa.nih.gov.

7. Uses a lot of energy

8. Energy is extracted in three different ways

a. Fermentation

b. Aerobic in Kreb’s Cycle

c. Anaerobic using creatine; quick way to produce ATP but
can’t do it very long

Control of Muscle Fiber Contraction:

~Neuro-Muscular Junction: Region where an axon terminal approaches a muscle

Fiber; the synaptic cleft separates the axon terminal from the sarcolemma

Of a muscle fiber.

~Axon terminals have synaptic vesicles filled with acetylcholine

~When nerve impulses get to the axon terminal, the synaptic vesicles release

Acetylcholine into the synaptic cleft.

~When acetylcholine is released, it diffuses and binds to receptors in the

Sarcolemma, down T tubules, to the sarcoplasmic reticulum releasing

Calcium, thus ending in sarcomere contraction

Below is the picture of a neuromuscular junction from http://www.shelfieldpeonline.co.uk.

Conclusion: That about wraps it up! Explore further and you will see a simple lab about muscle workings (which turned out a little different for me!) as well as a lab that includes an egg cell body! Enjoy!

Overview of Muscular System

2008-04-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Now onto muscles! Let's face it, they are everywhere. Even in our faces! This section is going to introduce you as to the functions of our muscular system, the structure of it and how muscles work together. The picture below, from http://www.medicalook.com, not only shows you our muscular system, but it labels it as well!

*Function of Skeletal Muscles

1. Support the body

2. Make bones move

3. Help maintain a constant body temperature

4. Skeletal muscle contraction assists movement in cardiovascular and lymphatic

Vessels

5. Help protect internal organs and stabilize joints

*Skeletal Muscles of the Body

~Basic Structure

*Well organized

*Contains bundles of skeletal muscle fibers

*Muscles are covered with fascia, a type of connective tissue that extends

Beyond the muscle and becomes a tendon

* Tendon often goes past a joint then anchors a muscle to the bone

Above is a picture of a skeletal muscle with various parts labeled. It was found from http://www.medicalook.com.

~Work in Pairs

*Each muscle is concerned with the movement of only one bone

*Origin of a muscle is on stationary bone, the elbow joint for example, the origin is the scapula.

*Insertion of a muscle is on a moving bone, again, using the elbow joint, the insertion point is on the radius.

*When a muscle contracts, it pulls on tendon at insertion and the bone

Moves

*Muscles contract, they shorten

*Can only pull, cannot push so they work in opposite pairs

*One shortens while the other extends; bicep and tricep are a pair

*“Contraction of many cells makes whole muscle shorten, bringing

About body movements” (Slide 11, Movement)

Conclusion: Those are the basics of the skeletal system. Now it is time to take a closer look at the muscle contraction.

Vocabulary

2008-04-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Everything in our world has vocabulary, included the different movements of our body. Synovial joint has also been thrown in there because it is going to be talked about coming up in the muscle sections! All pictures in this section were found at http://content.answers.com.

*Synovial Joint: a joint having a cavity filled with synovial fluid, a lubricant for the joint

Refer to the image below.
Refer to the image below for the rest of the vocabulary section. Not included in the image is the rotation movement. That will be found after the definitions.

*Flexion: joint angle decreases; curling forearm up

*Extension: joint angle increases; uncurling forearm

*Adduction: body part moves toward midline of body; pulling arm into body

*Abduction: body part moves away from midline of body; swinging arm out from body

*Rotation: Body part moves around its own axis; twisting the arm around

*Circumduction: Body part moves so that a cone shape is outlined; circling arm

*Inversion: Sole of foot turns inward; bottom of foot points at other foot

*Eversion: Sole of foot turns outward; bottom of foot faces away from other foot

Conclusion: When going through these terms, I found myself testing out each of the actions. It helped me to remember them, so it might help you as well. Don't forget to look at the pictures! Next, we are going to see what other parts contribute to our ability to make these movements!

Bone Growth, Remodeling, and Repair

2008-04-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

Introduction: After taking a look at the skeletal system, let's take a closer look at bones. This section is going to discuss the cells involved in bones, bone growth, remodeling, repair, and the breaking down of bones as well.

Cells Involved:

The picture below is from http://acadameic.kellogg.cc.mi.us. It shows how osteoblasts form and how they may differentiate into an osteocyte. Osteoblasts and osteocytes are what help build bone. Osteoclast does the opposite. It breaks it down, or reabsorbs it.

*Cells involved in bone growth

~Osteoblasts: bone-forming cells

~Osteocytes: mature bone cells from osteoblasts; maintain structure of bone

~Osteoclasts: bone-absorbing cells; break down the bone

Bone Development and Growth:

The above picture, from http://www.personal.psu.edu, demonstrates the different parts of a bone that critical to know.

*Bone Development and Growth

~Ossification: formation of bone

~Intramembranous Ossification:

1. Examples: Flat bones; bones of the skull

2. Bones develop between sheets of fibrous connective tissues

3. Cells from connective tissue cells become osteoblasts

4. Osteoblasts secrete an organic mix

5. The bones harden when calcium salts add to the organic mix, a process

Called calcification

6. Osteoblasts promote calcification

7. Ends in the thin plates of spongy bone which contains red bone marrow

8. Periosteum forms outside of spongy bone and newly derived

osteoblasts further ossification

9. More thin plates form and fuse, becoming compact bone forming a

Bone collar that surrounds the spongy bone

~Endochondral Ossification

1. Most bones of the human skeleton is formed this way

2. Bone replaces cartilaginous by calcified bone matrix

3. Inside, bone formations starts at center the spread to ends

~Final Size

1. Epiphyseal plates (growth plate) close and bone length no longer occurs

The above picture shows a growth plate and was found at http://www.eorthopod.com.

Remodeling:

*Bone Remodeling

~Osteoclasts are constantly breaking down bone

~Osteoblasts reform them in the adult

~As much as 18% of the bone is recycled each year

~Bone remodeling is the process of bone renewal and keeps bones strong

Bone Repair:

For anyone that has broken a bone, they know it is a long process to repair a bone. Here is a picture from http://www.apatech.com that shows how a bone repairs itself.

*Bone Repair

~Four step process that occurs over several months

1. Hematoma: blood clots in the space between broken bones in about

Six to eight hours

2. Fibrocartilaginous Callus: tissue repair begins; fibrocartilaginous

Callus fills space between ends of broken bones for about

Three weeks

3. Bony Callus: Osteoblasts make thin plates of spongy bones and

Convert fibrocartilage callus to a bony callus and joins broken

Bones in about three to four months

4. Remodeling: Osteoblasts build new compact bone, osteoclasts absorb

Spongy bone which creates a new medullary cavity

Osteoporosis:

Osteoporosis is a very serious problem. The picture below shows what a bone with osteoporosis looks like. It was found at http://www.cprevia.com.

~Condition where bones are weakened due to a decrease in the bone mass

That makes up the skeleton

~Bones build until the ones late twenties; by mid to late forties, body begins to

Give back what it has built and bone mass decreases

~Women are more susceptible to osteoporosis

~Leads to fractures

~Milk is not the only source. A great source is broccoli and cauliflower.

~Supplements are not always a great idea because there is not a lot of study

Behind them

~Prevention includes taking in enough calcium during critical bone growth years

And engaging in weight bearing activities

Conclusion: Those are the many steps that a bone grows through. No matter what, when you get older, your bone will eventually give back some of the calcium it acquired. Remember to make sure you get enough calcium and there are definitely more sources than from milk. Now that we understand a little bit more about our bone structure, it is time to take a look at how we move it all around. The next section is very brief and discusses some of the vocabulary used to describe certain motions.

Overview of the Skeletal System

2008-04-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

(http://www.stpeters.k12.nf.ca)

Introduction: Welcome to the second part of unit three! This unit is going to look through the skeletal and muscle systems. We are going to start with the skeletal system. This section will delve into the functions of the system, the different types of bones formed, what cartilage is and what it does, as well as the tissues involved. Let's dig in!

Functions:

1. Supports the Body

2. Protects soft body parts

3. Produces blood cells

4. Stores minerals and fat

5. Skeleton, with muscles, permit flexible body movement

Bones:

*Anatomy of a long bone

~Medullary Cavity: Cavity within the diaphysis of a long bone containing

marrow that stores fat

~Diaphysis: Middle length of the bone

~Epiphyses: Expanded region at the end of the bone

~Hyaline (articular) cartilage: Covers end of bones to stop hard bones rubbing

On each other in the joint

~Periosteum: Covers entire long bone (except where hyaline cartilage is) and

Contains blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and nerves

Now for a look at the compact bone. This picture was found at http://upload.wikimedia.org.

*Compact Bone: Type of bone that is highly organized and composed of

Osteons that house osteocytes in lacunae

Last but not least, is the spongy bone. Above, the picture used for compact bone, also shows spongy bone. It kind of looks like a sponge, huh?

*Spongy Bone: An unorganized appearance containing a lot of trabeculae. Is

Lighter than compact bone and designed for strength

There will be much more on the different types of bones when it gets to the bone formation section. Next, let us look at red bone marrow. The picture below, from http://www.lpch.org is a Earlier in the semester, we talked some about red bone marrow because that is where the red blood cell is made.

*Red Bone Marrow: often fills spongy bones’ spaces; a specialized tissue that

Produces all types of blood cells

Technically, marrow should be placed in the tissues section.

Cartilage:

Cartilage is all over our body. It covers bones and makes part of our nose as well as forms our ear lobes! The below picture is from http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za. It shows the three different types of cartilage.

*Cartilage: Not as strong as bone, but more flexible

~Has gel-like matrix containing collagenous and elastic fibers

~Chondrocytes lie within lacunae that are irregularly grouped

~Has no nerves

~Great for padding joints

~No blood vessels, so it heals slowly

~3 Types

1. Hyaline: Firm, somewhat flexible; found at ends of long bones, nose,

End of ribs, and in larynx and trachea

2. Fibrocartilage: Stronger than Hyaline because matrix has wide rows of

Thick, collagen fibers; withstands tension and pressure; found in

Disks between vertebrae and cartilage of knee

3. Elastic Cartilage: More flexible than Hyaline because matrix has

Mostly elastin fibers; found in ear flaps and epiglottis

Tissues:

Below is a picture from http://www.cartage.org.lb. It simply points out the tibia bone and muscles involved in the foot and toes. It also picks out ligaments and tendons.

*Fibrous Connective Tissue: rows of cells, fibroblasts, separated by bundles of

collagenous fibers; makes up ligaments and tendons

~Ligaments: Connect bone to bone

~Tendons: Connect muscles to bone

Conclusion: That ends the first section of major topic two! Now that we know the basics of the skeletal system, it is time to delve a little deeper. With bones being such a huge part of our body, it is good to know how they are formed, repaired, and sometimes deteriorated.

Table of Contents: Part Two

2008-04-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

Unit Three: Major Topic Two - Movement

Overview of the Skeletal System
~Functions
~Bone
~Cartilage
~Tissues

Bone Growth, Remodeling, and Repair
~Cells Involved
~Bone Development and Growth
~Remodeling
~Repair
~Osteoporosis

Vocabulary

Overview of Muscular System
~Function
~Structure
~Working Together

Skeletal Muscle Fiber Contraction
~Slide to the left, then slide to the right (vocabulary)
~Sliding
~Control of Muscle Fiber Contraction

Lab Two: Muscle Function

Lab One: Leech Neurons

2008-04-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

Introduction: For this lab, I have "dissected" a leech and isolated a neuron. From there, I tested reactions to different pressures, using an oscillator. Then the type of neuron was identified.

While it is very, very hard to see, this picture is when found the neuron using the manipulator with the oscillope trace. You can see a vertical "blip" on the screen in the upper left hand corner. That "blip" is the electric pulse which let me know I had located a cell.
From there, I injected it with a dye which would make it visible under an ultra-violet light. I then turned on the ultra-violet light and the neuron was visible.
Using different tools, such as a feather and foreceps, I poked the cell to see what kind of response it would invoke. I took that data, as well as the ultra-violet image, and determined it was a dyed "R" cell.

Here are my responses to the questions asked.

1. What is the electrode measuring?

The electrode is measuring the voltage inside of the cell; the transmembrane potential, also known as the membrane potential.

2. Why use leeches in neurophysiology experiments?

Leeches are used because they have a small number of neurons but those neurons are large in size. Also, no one seems to mind opening one up.

3. What is the difference between a sensory and a motor neuron?

Sensory neurons send information from ORGANS to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. They also have long dendrites and short axons. Motor neurons are the exact opposite. They send information from the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM to the organs. They also have short dendrites and long axons.

4. Do you think a leech experiences pain? What is pain?

~Yes, I do think leeches feel pain. They do have a brain, nerve cord, and ganglia. They clearly have neurons that transmit messages. Basically, they have all of the parts required to feel pain. They also have sensory organs on the head and body surface which enable them to detect light, temperature, and vibration.
~Pain is an uncomfortable feeling detected by sensory receptors sensitive to chemicals released by damaged tissues or excess stimuli of heat or pressure.

5. What were the two most interesting things about doing this lab?

The two most interesting things for myself were learning more about leeches (I knew next to nothing about them) and the membrane potential, including the voltage inside of cells.

6. Anything you found confusing or didn't like about the lab?

When identifying the cell, no explanation was offered for what the different types of cells meant. I just guessed it was what they reacted to determined which kind of cell they were.

Conclusion: After a hard day of opening up leeches, I think it is time to come to a close. I hope you learned as much as I did in this lab. It was interesting and humorous, with some of the graphics and clicking on things as they cut for you. Had I been attempting this personally, I doubt I would have gotten a neuron!

Senses of Sight, Hearing, and Equilibrium

2008-04-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Where is touch? You may be asking yourself this. Through out most of this section, we discussed touch because that was a big part of the cutaneous receptors. This section concentrates on sight, hearing, and equilibrium. Hearing and equilibrium also work together, using the same instrument, the ear.

Sight:

From http://www.scientificpsychic.com, here is a picture labeling all of the different parts of the eye. The next section is going to explain what some of the different parts play in the sight.

*Very Complicated for vision!

*What Happens

~Light comes in

~Focused by Cornea

~Fine focused by lens

~Pupil lets light in

~Iris controls how much light comes in

~Image formed on the retina that receptors respond to

~Rods and cones are the receptors

~Light changes the shape of the protein of rods and cones, thus stimulating

a response

Hearing:

This picture was obtained from http://www.tchain.com. This also labels the different parts, but we are now looking at the ear. It shows the outside, which gathers the sound, through the path the sound will eventually travel through.

*Very Complicated for the Ear!

*What Happens

~Sound is gathered by the external part of the ear

~The tympanic membrane vibrates

~3 bones (Hammer, anvil, stirrup) carry vibrations to the inner ear

~Fluid vibrates and the membrane gets it, cochlea, and it triggers neurons

Equilibrium:

Equilibrium is a state of balance. It also uses the ear, but the sound takes another path that helps out equilibrium.

*A lot like the Ear

*What Happens

~All the first stuff of the ear

~When the fluid vibrates, it hits little hairs in the ear

~This triggers the neurons and makes one recognize position

Conclusion: That is it! You just spent time looking through the nervous system, different receptors, as well many other aspects that play vital roles in our lives...that we hardly know about! Next up, we will find out we do things completely involuntary. The second major topic of unit three is all about movement!

Senses of Taste and Smell

2008-04-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to one of the most familiar parts, the senses of taste and smell. We are going to examine taste first and then learn how smell effects what you taste.

Taste

The below picture is from http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au. What I like most about this picture is at the bottom where it shows which parts of the tongue sense different tastes. "Umami" is a Japanese word that encompasses "deliciousness."

~Most limited of the head senses, about five different taste sensations

1. Salty

2. Sweet

3. Bitter

4. Bitter

5. Deliciousness

~Receptors on the tongue respond to chemicals in the food

~Brain surveys the overall pattern of incoming sensory impulses

~Takes a “weighted average” of taste messages and makes it the taste you taste

Smell:

The picture below is from http://freda.auyeung.net. It shows that air passages with the red arrows, as well as where the olfactory nerve is, sinuses, and other important parts.

~Flavor from foods comes mostly from smells

~Protein molecules from what one is smelling works in combination

With neurons in skin of the nose

~The olfactory bulbs have direct connections with the emotion and memory

Centers of the limbic system (why smells remind people of things)

~Smoking and age decline number of olfactory cells

Conclusion: That is it! The two are associated because the smelling works with the skin of th nose. I have always found it fascinating that smells make people think of things and have strong associations. Next, we will explore sight, hearing, and equilibrium.

Proprioceptors, Cutaneous Receptors, & Pain Receptors

2008-04-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Here are some more specific receptors that can be found in the body. They include identifying where one is positioned, all of the different feelings that come from the skin, and pain.

Proprioceptors:

Here is a picture from http://www.pilotfriend.com.

*Proprioceptors

~Mechanoreceptors that gives body position

~Allows one to touch their nose with eyes shut

Cutaneous Receptors:

Yes, this is a picture of the skin, but that is because cutaneous receptors are in the skin. This picture was found at http://upload.wikimedia.org.

*Cutaneous

~Receptors of the skin

~Dermis layer of the skin contains the cutaneous receptors, making the skin

sensitive to touch, pressure, pain, and temperature

Pain Receptors:

Last but not least are the pain receptors (located in the skin). This picture is from http://www.instruct1.cit.cornell.edu.

*Pain Receptors

~Also called nociceptors

~Sensitive to chemicals released by damaged tissue

~Referred pain: stimulation of internal pain receptors is felt as skin pain as well as

internal organs

Conclusion: That concludes a deeper look at some of the receptors in our body. Next up, for the next few, we will be taking a look at the different senses we experience. These are sometimes known as "the five senses." We will not be discussion touch though.

Sensory Receptors and Sensations

2008-04-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Introduction: In your body and all throughout, especially in the skin are different types of sensory receptors that have specific jobs. They tell you if you are feeling pain, pressure, temperatures, as well as where you body is in relation to space.

Types:

1. Chemoreceptors: respond to chemical substances in immediate vicinity

2. Pain Receptors: a type of chemoreceptor that responds to chemicals released

by damaged tissues

3. Photoreceptors: respond to light energy (in our eyes)

4. Mechanoreceptors: stimulated by mechanical forces

5. Thermoreceptors: stimulated by changes in temperature

The How

*The How of Sensation

1. One of the afore mentioned sensory receptor responds to the change

2. The receptor cells trigger the action potential in connecting sensory neurons

3. Spinal cord and/or Brain process the where, what, how much/strong?

Sensory Fields

*Sensory Fields

*Large fields in the brain organize information spatially

1. Visual Cortex: forms the visual field/complete visual image

2. Sensory Cortex: Touch sensation from entire skin surface

Frolich used a great photo of the sensory fields from Sylvia S. Mader's book "Human Biology" on page 258. I attempted to find it to paste here with no luck.

Conclusion: Again, a simple view of how we sense things. The next section is going to introduce us to proprioceptors, cutaneous, and pain receptors.

The Peripheral Nervous System

2008-04-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Again, you are seeing a picture already viewed, but it was found at http://users.rcn.com. Welcome to every other part of the nervous system other than the brain and spinal cord. Here you are going to see that the PNS is broken down into even more systems.
Somatic System

*Somatic System: Voluntary function, Refer to A Simple Example as a somatic function

~Also known as the conscious control of a muscle

Autonomic System

*Autonomic System: Involuntary function, beating of the heart, digestion of food, blood

Blood flow

~Control is sub-conscious and dual innervation

1. Sympathetic: “fight or flight” response

*Crucial in emergency situations

*Inhibits the digestive tract when triggered

*Triggers release of norepinephrine (adrenaline)

2. Parasympathetic: Slows down the response

* “house keeper,” promotes internal response of a relaxed state

*Triggers release of acetylcholine

Conclusion: That seemed brief! Remember to refer back to "A Simple Example" in the first part of this section to get more on the somatic system, which is voluntary. Next, we will take a look at the different sensory receptors we've been mentioning that play a major role.

The Central Nervous System

2008-04-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Above is a picture previous seen, depicting the CNS from http://www.faqs.org. Now let us take a look at the "power house" of the body. We are going to take a look at the spinal cord and the brain. The brain is huge, obviously, and unfortunately, to go much deeper would require enrolling in a psychology course. Here we are going to go over brief information in regards to different parts and their functions.

The Spinal Cord

From http://www.fithealthsite.com is a picture of the spinal cord. It also shows the brain, so technically, it is also showing the central nervous system.

~Functions:

1. Communication between brain and the peripheral nerves

2. Brain initiates voluntary control over limbs

Motor impulses move down spinal cord out to limbs

*If spinal cord is severed, motor impulses can’t move down

And out, so then one suffers loss of sensation and

Voluntary control (paralysis)

*If severed in thoracic region, lower body and legs paralyized

Aka paraplegia

*If severed in neck region, all four limbs are usually affected

Aka quadriplegia

3. Reflex Actions

*Center for thousands of reflex arcs

* Refer back to A Simple Example

Here is a picture that is another simple example. This picture was found at http://tutrin.com/reflex.gif. It highlights the part where the spinal cord is directly affected and used.

The Brain

This picture is from http://www.morphonix.com.

*The Brain

~Cerebrum: largest part of the brain and the last to receive sensory input and

And carry out processing before giving out commands to

Voluntary responses

~Cerebral Hemispheres: two halves of the brains split by the longitudinal fissure,

But connected by “a bridge of tracts within the corpus callosum.” (pg 256)

Below are the "lobes" or regions of the brain. This was found at http://www.science.ca.

~4 Lobes

1. Frontal: Primary Motor

2. Parietal: Primary Somatosensory

3. Temporal: Primary Auditory

4. Occipital: Primary Vision

~Cerebral Cortex: “Region of the brain that accounts for sensation, voluntary

Movement, and all the thought processes we associate with

Consciousness” (pg 257).

~Cerebellum: receives sensory input about position of body and gets motor

Output from the cerebral cortex about where the body parts should be

Conclusion: There you have it. A brief, but thorough deeper look into the central nervous system. Another great resource, for almost anything, is, of course, "The Magic School Bus" series. They are very simple explanations, but it does a great job of giving the gist of things. We know that the central nervous system is an integral part (it does include the brain) but it cannot do it alone. The other part of the nervous system is our peripheral nervous system, that you will see is split even further.

Nerve Impulses

2008-04-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Now we will delve deeper into how a neuron works. In this section you will get the scientific explanation, a simple example, as well as an interesting explanation I was taught in high school that involves the men's bathroom.

*A quick definition:

~Nerve impulses: communicates information within the nervous system

Resting Potential:

~Resting Potential: Axon is not conducting an impulse

--> Unique to animal nerve and muscle tissue

--> Diffusion of charged ions along the cell membrane

--> Neurons and muscles cells are the only ones that do this

The How of Resting Potential

Above is a picture from http://www.millerandlevine. come. It represents the resting potential, moving to the action potential.

~The How of Resting Potential

1. At rest, body is using 1/3 of its energy in maintaining resting potential

2. Sodium-Potassium Pump: moves charged ions out of the cell so the

Inside of the cell is at -70mV comparative to the outside of the cell

3. Happens ridiculously fast (in 1000’s of a second)

4. Holding the neuron at resting state so they are ready to “fire!”

The How of Action Potential

The picture below, from http://www.unm.edu, shows how action potential works close up with the numerical figures of the millivolts.

~The How of the Action Potential

1. A stimulus opens the Sodium-Potassium Pump gates

2. Sodium gates open first, so positively charged ions flow into the axon

Changing the membrane potential from -70 to +40mV

3. Membrane potential change is called depolarization, charge changes

From negative to a positive

4. Potassium gates open second, so potassium flows out and the action

Potential changes from +40 to -70mV.

5. The resting potential resumes and this is called repolarization

*All of this happens within 3/1000 of a second...so REALLY, REALLY FAST!!!

(http://www.inkycircus.com)

The Toilet Example

Now for the exciting part! Here is the example I was given in high school. Our teacher took us into the men's bathroom, stood on the toilet, and commenced his example. I have never forgotten in and I understood it so much better after that.

~The Toilet Example

1. Toilet waiting to be flushed, it is at its resting potential.

2. Threshold: all or none. You either press the handle all the way to flush,

Or only part of the way and it remains.

3. Flush the toilet, “gates open” new water (positively charged ions)

comes in as the soiled water (sodium ions) goes out.

4. New water settles (everyone knows some of the old water is still there so a little bit of potassium stays, but there is more sodium than potassium again) as rest of old water (potassium ions) flows out and
then returns to resting state.

The Synapse

Below is a picture of a synapse from http://universe-review.ca.

When action potential gets to the end of the axon, the neurotransmitter is secreted to stimulate connecting neurons or muscle cells

Transmissions across a synapse is carried out by neurotransmitters. Once secreted, it receives a response from the receiving neuron either toward inhibition or excitation. Excitation results in sodium diffusing to the receiving neuron. Inhibition is a result of potassium being diffused.

A Simple Example

~A Simple Example

1. Get a pin prick on your finger

2. Sensory neurons bring the change in environment (pain, in this case)

From the skin

3. Neurons of the spinal cord process this information and decide what to

4. The motor neurons take this decision, carries output, to muscles saying,

“You should move your hand away from that.”

5. Effectors, muscle, take that advice and move.

Here is a good example of a stretch reflex I found at

http://trc.ucdavis.edu/biosci10v/bis10v/media/ch25/stretch_reflex_v2.html

Conclusion: I truly hope the toilet example made sense. I was so confused when my teacher first explained the whole process, but after going through the toilet one, it was crystal clear. You have just experienced what happens within 3/1000 of a second. It happened a ridiculous amount of times while you read this and even more as I typed it! Next up, a deeper look at the CNS.

Overview of the Nervous System

2008-04-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to Unit Three...we're almost done!!! The first major topic of unit three is the nervous system. In this section, we are going to take a look at the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, tissues involved, the structure of a neuron as well as its parts, and the myelin sheath.

CNS & PNS
~Central Nervous System: Commonly seen abbreviated as CNS. It is composed of the brain and
spinal cord.

This picture depicts different sections of the CNS and was found at http://www.faqs.org.
~Peripheral Nervous System: Commonly seen abbreviated as PNS. It is composed of the nerves
that lie outside of the CNS.

Here is a picture of the PNS that breaks it even further into the parasympathetic and sympathetic that will be discussed later. This picture was found at http://users.rcn.com.

Functions

*Nervous System has 3 Functions

1. Receives Sensory Input:

*Sensory receptors respond to stimuli by generating nerve impulses

2. CNS Performs Integrations:

*Fancy way of saying it processes the information from sensory input, and then it decides what to do

3. CNS Generates Motor Output:

*Nerve impulses got to muscles and glands to stimulate movement (if at muscle) or secretion (if at glands)

Nervous TissuesThis is a picture of neuron tissue. It was found at http://washington.uwc.edu.

~Contains two types of cells

1. Neurons: Transmit nerve impulses

2. Neuroglia: Support and nourish neurons

Neuron Structure

Below is a picture of a Neuron Structure. Further in Major Topic One of Unit three, you can find a picture of my homemade neuron structure. The below picture was found at http://kvhs.nbed.nb.ca

~3 types of neurons

1. Sensory Neuron: takes messages (nerve impulses) from sensory

sensory receptor to CNS

2. Interneuron: take the messages and processes it

3. Motor Neuron: takes nerve impulses away from CNS to the effector,

Muscle or gland

~Other Definitions:

1. Sensory Receptor: detect changes in the environment (pain, heat, cold, etc.)

2. Effector: carries out responses to the changes, internal or external

~3 parts of a neuron

1. Cell Body: contains nucleus and other organelles

2. Dendrites: extensions that receive signals from sensory receptors or

other neurons

3. Axon: conducts nerve impulses, can be fairly long…sometimes

extending to the end of a limb (up to one meter long)

Above is a picture labeling the different parts of a neuron, which was found at http://training.seer.cancer.gov.

Myelin Sheath

~Protective covering over axons formed by a type of neuroglia called Schwann

Cells. (PNS)

~Oligodendrocytes do this in the CNS

~Gaps in between myelin sheath are called nodes of Ranvier

~Long axons tend to have it, but not shorter ones.

~Purposes:

1. Insulator

2. Nerve regeneration if an axon is severed, sheath remains and acts as a

Passageway for new fiber growth

3. Saltatory (“jumping”) propagation: makes action potential jump

To nodes which increases speed and conserves energy

The above picture from http://trc.ucdavis.edu, depicts the myelin sheath. It goes into further detail that will be addressed in the next section regarding the action and resting potential.

Conclusion: That was a brief overview of the nervous system of the human body. As you navigate your way through this section, you will go deeper into different aspects of the system. next up, let's take a look at nerve impulses, which include the resting and action potential.

2008-04-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

Unit Three: Major Topic One-Nervous Function

Overview of Nervous System
~CNS & PNS
~Functions
~Nervous Tissues
~Neuron Structure
~Myelin Sheath

Nerve Impulses
~Nerve Impulses and Resting Potential
~The How of Resting Potential
~The How of Action Potential
~The Toilet Example
~Synapse
~A Simple Example

The Central Nervous System
~Spinal Cord
~Brain

The Peripheral Nervous System
~Somatic System
~Autonomic System

Sensory Receptors and Sensations
~Types
~The How
~Sensory Fields

Proprioceptors and Cutaneous Receptors
~Proprioceptors
~Cutaneous Receptors
~Pain Receptors

Senses of Taste and Smell
~Taste
~Smell

Senses of Sight, Hearing, and Equilibrium
~Sight
~Hearing
~Equilibrium

Lab One: Leech Neurons

Rising Rates - Major Lab Project

2008-03-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to the major lab project for unit two. In this lab, I was to use the scientific method not only to utilize that, but to understand metabolic measurements, rates, and how my body uses oxygen. Following this introduction you will look through my data, analysis, incorrect hypothesis, and some problems occurred. Enjoy!

Rising Rates

Introduction: The purpose of this lab is to determine how metabolic rates are affected after activity. Materials used in this lab were a camera for documentation, my self for the physical activities, and a stop watch to time the duration of each activity as well as take pulse and respirations.

First metabolic rate to be measured is the pulse. I will use the cartoid method, count for fifteen seconds then multiply by four. The average resting heart rate varies but generally is accepted to be between 60 to 80 beats per minute.

Next, respirations will be measured. This I will count a breath in and out as one for thirty seconds, then multiply by two. The average respiration for an adult is about twelve per minute.

Lastly, blood pressure will be taken. If I had the correct tools, I would take it by hand, using the pump and listening with a stethoscope until I could no longer hear the blood rushing. At that point, I would release the pump slowly until I heard a slight pop, which would be the systolic number. Once the last sound was heard, I would record the diastolic number. Instead, I went to Wal-Mart and let the machine do it for me. The average adult numbers are 120/80.

The three activities I have chosen to perform will be: 1. Jumping Jacks, 2. Singing, 3. Kissing.

Hypothesis: I hypothesize that my first and third activity will increase in every metabolic rate. My second activity will increase my respiration rates, but everything else will be close to the resting rate.

	Pulse	Respiration Rate	BP Systolic	BP Diastolic
Activity One: Jumping Jacks	Increase	Increase	Increase	Increase
Activity Two: Singing	Same	Increase	Same	Same
Activity Three: Kissing	Increase	Increase	Increase	Increase

Materials and Methods: The following is a pictorial description of materials and methods I used.

First, I took all of my resting measurements except blood pressure. To do this, I laid on the floor and rested for about five minutes. Then, I watched my clock on my computer because it had a second hand. I took my pulse for fifteen seconds then multiplied by four. While I was taking my pulse, I had my assistant, Michael, count my respirations for thirty seconds, with me watching the time. We multiplied that number by two to get beats and breaths per minute. We then proceeded to do each activity for thirty seconds. Immediately after the activity, I took pulse and Michael took respirations. Then we went to Wal-Mart.

At Wal-Mart, I began by taking my resting blood pressure. A bruise was visible by the third round (I easily bruise). Then I did each activity three times, every time followed by a measure.

I chose jumping jacks for my first activity because I wanted something that I knew was really going to get my heart going and the blood circulating. I knew, positively, that my rate was going to increase as well as blood pressure because my blood needed to be moving faster. After the three repetitions were over and measurements taken, my assistant and I took a five minute break to get everything back to normal.

Next, I serenaded my assistant three times and took measurements. I sang the same song, a Gerber Baby commercial song I have known since I was a child, three times, taking my blood pressure after each song. Again, I took a five minute rest and came back for the last part.

This picture is posted with permission from my assistant. He partook in the last activity, kissing. This one would be appropriately described as laughing, but for the sake of the experiment, we will go with what the activity called for. I chose kissing because I had previously taking a test that measured body temperature after certain activities and kissing was one of them. I wanted to learn how else it effects the body as well.

Data: Below is a table I used to record all of my data. The left hand row represents which metabolic rate I was measuring and the top columns depict which repetition I was doing and then the average of those reps.

	Rep 1	Rep 2	Rep 3	Rep 4	Rep 5	Mean
Baseline
Pulse	68	72	68	64	72	69
Respiration	16	12	14	14	16	14
Systolic	125	120	118	121	120	119
Diastolic	73	65	68	67	71	65
Activity One: Jumping Jacks
Pulse	94	126	132			117
Respiration	18	18	22			19
Systolic	144	149	150			148
Diastolic	74	76	75			75
Activity Two: Singing
Pulse	78	82	76			79
Respiration	16	18	20			18
Systolic	134	132	138			135
Diastolic	72	70	74			72
Activity Three: Kissing
Pulse	100	90	72			87
Respiration	20	22	18			20
Systolic	123	120	123			122
Diastolic	71	62	68			67

Here is the beginning of a series of graphs depicting my data. This graph and the following three show strictly a specific activity as labeled at the top of each. The graph above shows only resting rates. The green, purple, orange, red, and blue bars represent each repetition going from one to five. The last olive colored bar represents the average of those.

The graph above represents jumping jacks only. Please refer to the singing graph below this for what each color of bar means.

This graph represents only singing. The green bar is repetition one, purple is repetition two, orange is repetition three, and red is the average of the three repetitions.

The above graph is strictly the measurements of kissing. These bars represent each repetition
with the mean as well. I chose to include all of the graphs separately so one could see how my rates changed with each measurement. Below, is the final graph, with all averages put together to show that each activity increased my rates.

This last graph is representative of all of the means for each group, as listed on the right side of the graph. This graph shows that every metabolic rate increased in comparison to the resting rate. The closest to resting rate was often kissing, but singing respirations were close to the resting rate as well.

Analysis of Data: After carefully observing the data, my hypothesis was not entirely correct. After performing all activities, each metabolic rate increased. Often, it increased in considerable amounts. For example, comparing base rate pulse to the jumping jacks pulse, my rate jumped up about forty-eight beats per minute. My respiration rates increased from the resting rate, but from each respiration rate involving the activity, it remained fairly steady.

Problems with Data or Technique: Here are some problems that occurred. The blood pressure machine at Wal-Mart, as I was told by the pharmacist, varies its readings depending on how many times it is used. A doctor from Yavapai Regional Medical Center confirmed this information when asked,(yes, I actually went and asked.) Next, there were many times when kissing could probably be described as laughing. During all three activities, I was laughing through some parts, which could greatly skew my data. Another factor that could have influenced the data was I performed five repetitions of my baseline rate and only three for the activities. I limited the amount of times of doing each activity for two reasons: 1. The blood pressure machine had giving me a bruise after doing the resting rates, 2. It was time consuming and awkward in the Wal-Mart. The data provided did match my thoughts on what was going to happen to my metabolic rate, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how much singing affected it.

Conclusion: In general, the effects of different types of activities on metabolic rates generally increase the rates. This is because as the body is pushed to work harder, it expends more energy. One has to breathe harder and faster to get the proper amount of oxygen in, in order for the cells to perform their functions. The oxygen will go to the blood cells, which, in turn, diffuse the oxygen to other cells that need it through exchanges in the capillaries.

Conclusion: Overall, this experiment was joyful and made me laugh often. It also allowed me to exercise my knowledge of the body’s need for oxygen and how it was circulating throughout my body during each activity.

"Lay Off Me, I'm Starving! (Remember Food)

2008-03-25T23:04:00.000-07:00

Introduction: In the event that quote is unfamiliar, it is from a Saturday Night Live skit with Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, and David Spade. They are sitting around as women out to lunch and Chris Farley starts stuffing his face with french fries. David Spade asks if he is still on his diet and the above quote is Chris Farley's response. I found the quote appropriate for this section as we will be talking about where food comes from, The Food Satisfaction Triangle, and diets.

Where Does Your Food Come From

I think we know where our food comes from, but we choose not to acknowledge such a thing. Granted we don't know from where, geographically wise, but we have a general idea. Most of the foods consumed today are coming from factory farms and genetically modified fields. The bigger the better...right?From http://www.cowsarecool.com, here is a picture of pigs in a factory farm. Remember, they never see the sun or eat grass. What is even worse, they eat genetically modified food as well, which ultimately ends up in us. How true is this cartoon from http://www.cartoonstock.com? "Fresh Farm Product." Nothing from the vegetable and fruit isle in any grocery store is organic or "Fresh." In fact, more stuff is put into those items to help it last longer...but actual fresh food naturally lasts longer.

Lastly, I found this picture from http://www.inthesetimes.com. Sometimes I feel like this when the news is smeared with a new gigantic potato or this fruit is better than others because we managed to pump it full of something your body is eventually going to build a resistance to later in life.

I could go on and on as to how horrible the food is for us now. Growing up in Iowa, I had the chance to grow all of my own foods, or drive down the road to get a needed food that a neighbor grows. Here in Arizona, I don't even know if Natural Frontiers really is all organic food because they could be spraying pesticides on it, they could have gotten the seeds from a non-organic plant. All things to take into consideration.

Satisfaction

Since we have all of this horrible food out there, how can we be satisfied? The book says to eat the right servings, exercise, and take in minimal amounts of the bad stuff.

That is one way to look at it...OR one could take The Food Satisfaction Triangle into mind.

There is an image in the Nutrition Power Point, slide number 27. This shows, in order for one to be satisfied and have a healthy diet, these three things should be taken into consideration. They are:

Locally and Sustainably Grown Foods (this comes from small farmers)

Healthy, Satisfied, Longer Lives (minimal lifestyle disease)

Spiritual and Cultural Base for Diet (home-cooked)

A great database for finding small farmers would be at http://www.localharvet.org/organic-farmer.

Another, would be to go to surrounding small towns and their local food marts. Most of those are locally owned and operated. Sometimes that means they do not have the funds for fancy genetically modified fruits and vegetables, so they support their local economy and get those items from local farmers.

As for having a healthy, satisfied, longer life, I think that works, but one also has to take in portion control to an extent.

Lastly, the spiritual and cultural base. These are things where I think about my home-cooked meal. It was, literally, steak and potatoes. We would throw in a salad, or some fruit or vegetable, but every night, a type of steak with a type of potato. Never red steak, it always had to be cooked through. I also think of going outside to our garden and picking what I wanted for a snack, taking the time to wash and prepare it. I also think of going to the farmer's market in Des Moines and buying items we did not grow ourselves, but others had that was not processed.

The triangle works well, but sometimes the cultural based meals are not always the most healthy.

Diets

Here is the frowny face from http://www.amihungry.com.
I really like the "frowny face" because it is true. Foreign foods sometimes can be added into smelly foods. Many associate bad smells with bad tastes, so it is hard to eat those foods. What I do not understand is there are people who hate the smell of alcohol...yet drink it just fine...

Most of the fad diets, or books about diets tend to not be healthy. They usually take out something that is important that YES the body does need...like carbohydrates, for an example. Sure, it makes you lose weight, because your body has to use other energy and nutrient sources to do its job. Meanwhile, your body is probably giving you the frowning of a lifetime.

Some tips to remember for a healthy diet:

The Food Satisfaction Triangle

Avoid processed, packaged foods

Find local farmers that sell their goods

Stay out of the drive through!

Conclusion: This section was so easy to get off topic on and go on rants. We managed to make our way through where food comes from, which most don't want to know anyway, The Food Satisfaction Triangle, and a little blurb about diets. That concludes the second part of Unit Two. I hope you enjoyed!

Nutrition

2008-03-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

Introduction: This section is a brief overview of nutrition that will be concluded with the nutrition lab provided for this topic. We'll start by sorting out some definitions, talking about the different classes of nutrients, and then planning out nutritious meals.

Definitions

*All definitions are from the Mader textbook either taken from chapter eight or the glossary.

Nutrient: A component of food that performs a physiological function in the body.

Glycemic Index (GI): Blood glucose response of a given food.

Essential Amino Acids: Amino acids required in the human diet because the body can't make them.

Essential Fatty Acids: Fatty acids required in the human diet because the body can't make them.

Vitamins: Organic compounds that the body uses for metabolic purposes but is unable to produce in adequate quantity.

Class Time

Nutrients are broken up into five different classes.

1. Carbohydrates: simple or complex sugars used in the body for energy.

2. Proteins: already talked a lot about what proteins can do, in nutrition there are so many essential amino acids that one must get from food.

3. Lipids: also known as fats, there are two types of fatty acids the body cannot make.

4. Minerals: such as calcium and sodium play major roles in bone construction and regulating body water balance

5. Vitamins: used a lot for metabolic processes.

Put Into Motion

Many know of the food pyramid. It has changed from what I remember, but still has the main idea of this is a healthy diet. The book suggests a way of making ourselves more nutritious which include:

~Eating a variety
~Eating more fruits and veggies, whole grains, fat free or low fat products.
~Eat less foods high in saturated, trans fat, or cholesterol.
~Be physically active

Frolich gives a different suggestion known as "The Food Satisfaction Triangle" which will be discussed a little later.

Lab:

To get started with this lab, here is a screen shot of the foods I ate in one day:

This was a little challenging because this program did not have the specific foods I eat. I was horribly frustrated because I could not get just a regular, small sized, raw apple from this. Here is a list of what I ate that particular day.

*2 Over Hard Eggs
*1 Breakfast Ham Steak
*1 Small, Raw Apple
*2 Cups Macaroni and Cheese with Canned Tuna mixed in
*2 Slices of Cheese Pizza
*4 Breadsticks

I only drink water, hence why no liquids were added.

Now it is time to answer some questions.

1. How healthy a daily diet do you think this is? Why?

Thankfully, I happen to be taking nutrition as a class this semester. Our first project was to map out what we ate for three days, then figure out the total amount of calories we eat a day, how much fiber we are getting and the servings from each food group we get.

After doing this, I have learned that I do not have a healthy daily diet at all. I do not eat nearly enough calories for as active as I am, nor do I chose foods that give me the fiber I need and I also almost never meet any serving requirements.

2. -What would you change about this day's eating, if anything?

First, I would up my intake of calories by eating more, but still in healthy portion sizes. Secondly, I would start eating fruits and vegetables as snacks throughout the day to help me get those serving sizes. Thirdly, it would not be a bad idea to eat cereals that are high in fiber and whole to increase fiber amounts. Lastly, I would have to figure out my lactose intolerance problem that I newly learned I have and work that into my diet, ensuring I get what dairy products provide for my body.

3. -Do you find this kind of nutritional tracking helpful? Why or why not?

I do find this nutritional tracking very helpful. I think it would work best for those who are overweight though. Being someone who does not eat a lot, I found it very overwhelming to try to figure out more foods I could eat, and then listing them out in meals made me feel like I could never truly eat that much. It seems like it would work the opposite for an overweight person. They would see the large amounts being eaten (if they were honest about their portion sizes) and maybe start thinking about cutting them back.

Conclusion: That concludes this section! We looked at some commonly seen words in nutrition, very briefly took a glance at the different nutrient classes, saw the book's way of putting nutrition in ones own life, and lastly had a lab of how awful an eater I am. Now, for the last section of Unit Two, which includes Frolich's method of incorporating a healthy diet.

Digestive System

2008-03-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Now we are on to the part that every one of us uses on a daily basis, our digestive systems! This section will address different parts, mechanical and chemical digestion, and a brief touch on Diabetes.

Parts

Here is a diagram of the digestive system from http://www.medicalook.com. This diagram shows every part in great detail. A brief overview of digestion would be something like this:

First a person takes a bite of food and chews it up. As they are chewing, saliva is secreted from the various glands shown at the top. The food, once mixed with saliva, is then called a bolus. It is then swallowed. It is pushed down the esophagus by means of peristalsis. Peristalsis is the squeezing movement of the esophagus that is so strong, one can drink water standing on their head. It then passes through the esophageal sphincter in the stomach. The top part of the stomach is called the fundus, the middle part is the body, and the last part is the pylorus. While in the stomach, secretions happen that are enzymes to break down the food. The bolus then is called chyme. The chyme move through the pyloric sphincter into the duodenum, or first part of the intestine. More enzymes and bile are secreted to further break down the chyme. Also, in the small intestine, nutrients and other such things are being absorbed at this time. It goes further through, passing through the jejunum and ileum, finally reaching the large intestine. It continues to move through, the rest of what can be absorbed is and the rest is secreted.

Mechanical Digestion

Mechanical digestion is anything that does NOT have to do with chemicals. These processes are basically chewing the food. This image, from http://images.encarta.msn.com shows mechanical digestion, but once the glands secrete anything, it becomes chemical digestion.

Chemical Digestion

As mentioned before, chemical digestion is where any chemical actions are taking place. Such as salvation breaking down food, gastric juices in the stomach, and any of the secretions from the pancreas and other organs that involve enzymes or food break down is chemical digestion. Unfortunately, I did not find an images that really brought to light what chemical digestion is.

Diabetes

Lastly, let's take a brief look at Diabetes. Heredity and Obesity are the two leading causes of Type II diabetes. Type II is the most common and it is an insulin resistance problem. The pancreas is making and releasing insulin, but the body is either not using it or it is ineffective.

Here is a picture from http://www.dva.gov.au depicting some of the problems Diabetes may cause. Diabetes is a huge epidemic in the world and is only increasing. A lot of what comes into play is a person's personal habits, such as eating healthy, taking in less calories and exercising more.

A great database to learn more about diabetes is at http://www.diabetes.org.

Conclusion: That brings this section to a close. We took a look at the digestive process, the different types of digestion, and a brief look at diabetes. Next up is basic nutrition.

What A Cell Needs

2008-03-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to the second part of unit two! This part involves nutrition! In this particular section, we are going to reverse some and look at what a cell needs, such as energy, and the cycles it goes through. We are also going to look at how glucose enters the cell.

ATP

First off, cells need oxygen for respiration. As a reminder, respirations are the metabolic reactions that use energy. Here is a picture of ADP gaining energy and being turned into ATP to be used in the cell from http://ghs.gresham.k12.or.us.

Glycolosis & Kreb's Cycle

Glycolosis & Kreb's are the main way that cells make ATP. I remember in high school I had to memorize each of these cycles, be able to diagram them, and then explain them. Unfortunately, I can look at the cycle and have a general idea as to what is going on, but nothing like I used to know.

Here is an image of the Glycolosis process also obtained from http://ghs.gresham.k12.or.us.
Then there is Kreb's cycle. Again, I used to know much more about it than I do now. Here is an image depicting the Kreb's cycle from http://www.uic.edu.
This is a simple diagram showing that the cell takes two Acetyl-CoA and eventually turns it into ATP by multiplying it and taking out certain elements.

Welcome Glucose

A good question is How does glucose enter the cell? Glucose is energy and enters the cell through controlled diffusion. This means it goes through the cell membrane by way of a special protein spore. Insulin, the protein secreted in response to glucose, stimulates cells to either take the glucose, store it, or use it in cellular metabolism. This is a very complex process, that I have just made sound very simple. Unfortunately, I did not have any success in locating images of controlled diffusion.

Conclusion: That wraps up our rewind to cells. This section informed, in a very simple manner, as to how glucose enters the cell. It also showed images of glycolosis and Kreb's as well as a little information on ATP. Next up is the digestive system!

Table of Contents: Part Two

2008-03-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Unit Two-Topic Two: Nutrition

What A Cell Needs
~ATP
~Glycolosis & Kreb's Cycle
~Welcome Glucose

Digestive System
~Parts
~Mechanical
~Chemical
~Diabetes

Nutrition
~Definitions
~Class Time
~Put Into Motion
~Nutrition Lab

"Lay off me, I'm starving!" (Remember Food)
~Where Does Your Food Come From
~Satisfaction
~Diets

Circulatory System

2008-03-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to Unit Two, Major Topic One! This section is going to begin by exploring the circulatory system. In this section, you will find the different parts of the circular system, functions, and a little mention to the lymphatic system.

Parts:

The main part of the circulatory system is, of course, the heart. The heart is what pumps the blood throughout the system. Some fun facts about the heart-->

*Your heart is about the size of one fist grasped by the other hand.
*"The heart can create enough pressure that it could squirt blood at a distance of thirty feet."
*"The human heart weighs less than a pound."

*(The credibility of these "fun facts" is questionable but may be found at www.funshun.com)*

Found at http://www.coral-lab.org, here is a picture of a real human heart that has been preserved.

The next part of the circulatory system is the blood. The average adult carries about 5 quarts of blood. Luckily, it is created so quickly in the body, that giving blood is safe. I will never forget the first time I gave blood and the only thing I kept thinking was, "Wow...are they going to leave me any?!"

Below is a picture of red blood cells from http://science.uwe.ac.uk
There will be more about blood in the next section.

Last but not least are the blood vessels that travel all throughout the body. Again, more of this will be in the next section.

Here is a nice picture depicting blood vessels from http://www.accessexcellence.org.
Functions:
The circulatory is obviously very important. The book describes different functions of the Cardiovascular System. They are as follows:

1. When the heart pumps, it creates blood pressure, which moves the blood through blood vessels.

2. Blood vessels transport the blood

3. Many exchanges occur at the capillaries, refreshes blood and then tissue fluid.

4. Heart and blood vessels regulate blood flow according to needs of the body.

(Pg. 86)

Personal Assistant:

I am sure many of us would not mind having a personal assistant to do our chores and errands. We do have a personal assistant, but it assists our circulatory system. This is called the lymphatic system. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov)

The lymphatic system is there to collect excess tissue fluid, and then return it to the circulatory system. This is the main purpose. It also absorbs fat and fat-soluable vitamins from the digestive system. Lastly, and probably the most well known, is that the lymphatic system is the defense against invading microorganisms and disease.

Conclusion: We have just taken a very brief look at the circulatory system, its parts, functions, and assistance system. Not it is time to go a little bit more into detail. The next section is dealing with different blood vessels involved in the body. We will look at a few dfinitions, and some of the exchanges that occur at the capillary level.

2008-03-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

Unit Two: Topic One - Oxygen/Microbes/Immunity

Circulatory System
~Parts
~Functions
~Personal Assistant

Blue, Red, and Microscopic Tube
~Definitions
~Great Exchange

Pump, Pump, Pump It Up!
~Parts of the Heart (Definitions)
~Control Freak
~Pulse
~Being Regular

Lab One

Bleeding!
~Functions
~Definitions
~Types
~I Need Air!

Being Immune
~Definitions
~Invasion!
~Defend the Body!
~Antibody!

HIV/AIDS

2008-03-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Now is the time to move onto a very serious disease. This section is going to give a brief history, the difference between HIV and AIDS, how it is transmitted, and how Helper T-Cells are effected.

A Brief History

Generally, it has been accepted that HIV started in Africa and moved from there. It is now found in every corner of the world. Scientists believe that HIV may have evolved from an immunodeficiency virus during the late 1950's. Some scientists identified an ape in West Africa as the source, which contributes the "Green Monkey" theory. In school, I once watched a video about how HIV was spread. It was absolutely ridiculous because it blamed one guy from Europe who was a stewardess and slept with many men and women, of whom he often met in bath houses.

Here is a website that has some background on HIV and much more: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/basic/index.htm#origin.

HIV/AIDS Difference

Many people put HIV and AIDS hand in hand. Yes, AIDS is caused by the HIV virus, but they are not the same thing. HIV infects and destroys cells of the immune system; AIDS is the advanced stage when a person gets "opportunistic infections." An opportunistic infection is one that has the chance to occur because of the severely weakened immune system (Pg 344).

Transmission

HIV is transmitted through blood and fluid contact, sexual intercourse, saliva, sharing needles with an infected person, a mother passing it to her baby during pregnancy.

Viruses attack cells. It gets inside the cell, takes part in reverse transcriptase (reverse transcription) which makes viral RNA to viral DNA. Then it replicates and begins the RNA process, eventually leaving the cell to infect other cells. It is the same process to an extent.

Not So Helpful Helper T-Cells

When HIV infects the Helper T-Cells, it makes the cell present itself as an antigen. Then, T-Cells and B-Cells come in and eliminate it. Eventually, this highly impairs the immune system, moving HIV into AIDS, so on and so forth until the immune system is so incapable an opportunistic disease takes over.

Here are some websites I got hung up on reading about HIV/AIDS:

http://www.avert.org

http://www.who.int/en/

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/basic/index.htm#origin

Conclusion: That wraps up all of Unit Two - Topic One information. This section included information about HIV/AIDS and previously sections discussed the circulatory system, the heart, blood vessels, blood, and more of the immune system. Unit Two - Topic Two is going to address nutrition.

Being Immune

2008-03-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to the next section of Unit II - Topic One. This section is going to deal with some definitions of terms involved with immunity, recognizing foreign invaders, how the body defends itself, and a quick look at antibodies.

Definitions:

*Definitions are from Mader textbook, chapter seven.

Immunity: "Ability to combat diseases and cancer, includes lines of defense" (pg 128).

Bacteria: Single-celled prokaryotes without a nucleus.

Virus: Not composed of cells and are obligate parasites. Viruses don't live without a host.

Antigens: Foreign molecules to the immune system.

B cells and T cells: lymphocytes that are capable of recognizing antigens.

Lymphocytes: Specialized white blood cells that function in specific defense (Pg G-11).

Helper T-Cells: T-cell that secretes cytokines that stimulate all kinds of immune system cells (Pg G-9)

There are many more vocabulary involved in immunity system actions, but these are a few commons one that will be used during the rest of this section.

Invasion!

There are two main classes of foreign invaders. There is bacteria first. Here is a picture from http://www.researchmagazine.uga.edu entitled "Bacteria Gone Bad."

I found this to be an appropriate picture because most bacteria are not disease causing; bacteria can go bad. Here is a more traditional view of bacteria from http://www.ou.edu.

The other class are viruses. According to Frolich, slide 19 of 'Blood, Oxygen, and Immunity,' "Viruses are escaped parts of genome or DNA." Viruses rely on a host to live. Here is a common depiction of a virus from http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu.
Here is a picture of the influenza virus I found at http://www.rkm.com.auI really like this picture of the flu virus. It looks like a very colorful other part of some system that actually would of some assistance, but in actuality, it makes one feel pretty awful.

Viruses and bacteria are are considered to be "invaders." What happens in the body is very neat. During development, the body is exposed to its own cells and the proteins. The immune cells that begin to attack our own cells are eliminated and the remainders are what become the T- and B-Cells. This process is known as "clonal selection." Once developed, the T- and B-Cells recognize invaders and kill them, but won't kill the bodies own cells.

Defend the Body!

There are two types of defenses: Nonspecific and Specific. Nonspecific is further broken down into two lines of defense which are: barriers to entry and inflammatory response.

Barriers to entry has a first line of defense which is the bodies built-in barriers, such as skin and mucous membranes. It also has some chemical barriers, such as secretions of oil glands, perspiration, saliva, tears, and acid pH of the stomach.

Inflammatory response is like the second line of defense. It is characterized by four symptoms: redness, heat, swelling, and pain. The body then sends out all of its signals to get white blood cells, platelets (if needed), and any other things needed.

The whole idea of inflammatory response reminds of a hospital emergency situation. For example, an alarm goes off. Everyone has their specific duties. At least two doctors closest to the emergency are to respond. Nurses come with crash carts and defibrilators. Then come nursing aides or patient care technicians as more support staff. It seems like the inflammatory response does the same thing. It sends out the alarm to the brain saying there is something going on here, usually characterized by pain. Excess blood flow occurs, which is like getting everyone to the scene. Then the white blood cells come, which is like the doctors who determine what action needs to be taken.

Antibody

On page 132 of the Mader textbook there is table 7.2 at the bottom of the page. It explains the class, presence, and function of certain antibodies.

An antibody is protein produced in response to the presence of an antigen; each antibody combines with a specific antigen (Pg G-2). Here is a picture of antibodies attaching to a virus to prevent it from reproducing or being transported further throughout the body. This picture was found at http://images.healthcarecentersonline.com.Antibodies float freely in the blood stream but are considered T- and B-Cell receptors when attached to one or the other. Susumu Tonegawa was recognized with the Nobel Prize for his discovery of antibody diversity. Here is a picture of an antibody from http://www.biology.arizona.edu that depicts the binding sites, variable, constant, and light and heavy chain.

Conclusion: There you have it! We just went over major information about what all helps one out to be immune. Next up, we are going to take a very brief look at HIV/AIDS. The next section is going to give a a few websites that give great information.

Bleeding!

2008-03-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Every one of us has blood coursing through our bodies. Most of us don't think about what our blood does during the day or how it helps us. This section is going to go through the functions of blood, some important words to know, different types of blood, and why our blood needs oxygen. (Picture from http://ochealthinfo.com)

Functions
As described in the Mader textbook on page 106, the functions of blood fall into three main categories.

1. Transport: "Blood delivers oxygen from the lungs and nutrients from the digestive tract to the tissues, where an exchange takes place" (Pg 106). In short, blood is what moves our bodies basic needs around the body.

2. Defense: Certain blood cells are in the body to specifically fight diseases. We will discuss the different types of blood cells later.

3. Regulation: Blood helps to regulate body temperature by picking up heat and moving it around the body.

Definitions

*All definitions can be found in the Mader textbook, pages; 107 through 108

Plasma: The liquid where cells and cell fragments are suspended, classified as a liquid tissue.

Plasma Proteins: Most abundant organic molecules in the blood.

Osmotic Pressure: A force that prevents excessive loss of plasma from the capillaries into tissue fluid.

Hemoglobin (Hb): Iron-containing pigment in red blood cells that combines with and transports oxygen (Pg G-9).

Types

Red blood cells are the most common in the body. According to our book, "there are 4-6 million red blood cells per mm of whole blood" (Pg 108). That is a LOT of blood. Red blood cells carry oxygen, help transport carbon dioxide, and are produced in bone marrow.

Below is a picture from http://science.uwe.ac.uk that we saw earlier, depicting red blood cells.
White Blood Cells do not have a nucleus, or hemoglobin. They are see-through unless stained. White blood cells tend to be larger than red blood cells, also. Primarily, the function of these blood cells are to fight infection. The different types of white blood cells, as described in the book on pages 110 through 111 are: Granular leukocytes and agranular leukocytes. Each of these classifications have the multiple different kinds of white blood cells in them.

Here is a picture of white blood cells found at http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk.

Last but not least are the platelets. These come from "fragmentation of certain large cells in the red bone marrow" (pg 113). Platelets are involved in clotting.

Here is a picture of activated blood platelets that was found at http://biomed.brown.edu.

Here is a picture I found that I really liked that showed most of the objects in a vein, artery, capillary. (http://cache.eb.com)

I Need Air!

On of the main goals of red blood cells is to carry oxygen. All of our cells need oxygen in order to survive, just like we need it. Cell respiration needs oxygen. Frolich put it best when describing how oxygen gets into blood. He said, in the powerpoint, that oxygen diffuses across tissues of the alveolus, across tissues of a capillary, across red blood cell membranes, and is there held by hemoglobin protein molecules (Slide 15).

Conclusion: There are some of the major items need to be known about blood. There are three different types: red, white, and platelets. Red blood cells carry oxygen that every other cell needs to survive, and hemoglobins not only give red blood cells their color, they hold onto the oxygen. Next up, is immunity, which deals largely with white blood cells.

Lab One

2008-03-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to the first lab of this unit. In this lab, I gathered groups of people in certain age groups, took their pressures, found the means of each group, and graphed them. I formed a hypothesis and made notations about those with possible hypertension. Below are the results.

Lab Questions

Journal of Lab One, Unit Two

1. State a problem about the relationship of age and gender to blood pressure.

-- A problem about the relationship of age and gender to blood pressure is that not enough experiments have been conducted to state information about it as fact. It is generally thought that young men and women do not suffer high blood pressure, yet older men and women are more likely to experience it.

2. Use your knowledge about the heart and the circulatory system to make a hypothesis about how the average blood pressure for a group of people would be affected by manipulating the age and gender of the group members.

-- Using men only, I hypothesize that the older the group of men, the higher the blood pressure will become. Using women, I would say the same effects would happen.

3. How will you use the investigation screen to test your hypothesis? What steps will you follow? What data will you record?

-- I will select all men at a young, adolescent, and adult age then use women of the same age groups. I will take the blood pressure of the young a designated amount of time then find the mean. This will continue for each group until an average blood pressure for each gender and age group is found. I will record every blood pressure measurement and the final mean value. The table only allows me to find the mean, so I will record the initial measurements on a separate sheet of paper.

4. Analyze the result of your experiment. Explain any patterns you observed.

-- The results of my experiment were as such. The older each group became, the greater the difference between genders. For example, the males age 18-24 had a blood pressure of 127/79 and the women of the same age group had 113/17. Specifically with men, the average systolic and diastolic pressures increased with age. Women, on the other hand, maintained almost a constant until reaching the age group of 45-54. The oldest age group spiked average systolic pressure by 21% and diastolic pressure by 20%. I also noticed the men, as they grew older, showed signs of hypertension, whereas the women were usually within the normal range.

5. Did the result of your experiment support your hypothesis? Why or why not? Based on your experiment what conclusion can you draw about the relationship of age and gender to group blood pressure averages?

-- The result of the experiment did not support my hypothesis. As you recall, I hypothesized that men and women's blood pressure would increase as they became older. This was true in the case of men, but not so much for women. Granted, the oldest group of women did spike in their average, but was a consistent range of 110 -120 until they reached the age group of 45-54. My hypothesis stated each age group would increase, but this was not the case for women, only one two age groups increased.

Based on my experiment, I can draw the conclusion that women's blood pressure should remain around 117/74 for most of their adult life. Men's average blood pressure should increase with age about 20% every six years.

6. During the course of your experiment, did you obtain any blood pressure reading that were outside of the normal range for the group being tested? What did you notice on the medical charts for these individuals that might explain their high reading?

-- During the experiment, there were times when blood pressure readings were outside the normal range. In most cases, after reviewing the medical charts of the individuals with high readings, it was an issue of hypertension history in the family or a lack of exercise. Other bad habits in conjunction with lack of exercise, such as a high salt diet and/or alcohol consumption, with out hypertension history seemed to be a contributor to having high blood pressure.

7. List risk factors associated with the hypertension. Based on your observation, which risk factor do you think is most closely associated with hypertension?

-- Some risk factors associated with hypertension include: a high-salt diet, lack of exercise, history of hypertension in the family, and alcohol consumption.

Based on my observations, I believe that having a history of hypertension in the family is closely associated with hypertension; having a lack of exercise and poor diet come in a close second place, though.

8. What effect might obesity have on blood pressure? Does obesity alone cause a person to be at risk for high blood pressure? What other factors, in combination with obesity, might increase a person's risk for high blood pressure?

-- Obesity has quite the effect on blood pressure. First off, that may mean a person has a poor diet and exercise, which is associated with high blood pressure problems anyway. Secondly, having all of that extra fat on the body makes the heart work harder. Other factors, added to obesity, that may increase a person's risk include: having hypertension history in the family line, and alcohol consumption in unhealthy amounts.

Here is a picture of the graph created after all data about the average blood pressures was inputed. The top two lines are systolic numbers, the bottom line being for women and the top being for men. The bottom two lines are the average diastolic numbers, again the top line being for men and the bottom for women.

Here is the table used to help create the graph above. It is hard to see, but to the left is the different age groups. As you go across the columns, it says, "Male Systolic" "Male Diastolic" and the same for women across the board.

The next two pictures I wanted to put up to show that the men had were more susceptible to hypertension than the women in the test groups. Both groups are age 35-44, take not of the multiple red numbers compared to the women.

Conclusion: That concludes the lab write up for the blood pressure test. My hypothesis was somewhat correct, but I was disproved when it came to women's blood pressure. The men in my study tended to have hypertension, mostly coming from heredity or obesity. The next section will move onto blood.

Pump, Pump, Pump it up!

2008-03-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to the MOST important part of the circulatory system, THE HEART. As you first enter this section, there is a labeled heart picture. It labels the different parts. This picture was obtained from http://www.know-heart-diseases.com. In this section, you will find information about the parts of the heart, the control of a heartbeat, pulse, and the regulation of blood flow.

Parts of Heart

*These definitions are coming from the Mader textbook, pages 88 through 89.*

Heart: Cone-shaped, muscular organ located in the thoracic cavity whose rhythmic contractions maintain blood circulation.

Pericardium: Thick, membranous sac that that supports and protects the heart.

Atria: Atrium singular, upper chambers of the heart that receives blood.

Ventricles: Lower chambers of the heart.

There are, of course and as depicted above, many more parts of the heart. These are some basic parts described in the book.

Control Freak

"Each heartbeat is called a cardiac cycle" (Pg 90). The first paragraph on page 90 does a great job explaining the cardiac cycle. Further down the page, you'll find information about a heart murmur. I found this very interesting because I developed a heart murmur later on in life (most are born with it and it goes away.) So I had to go get an ultrasound performed on my heart. We found out that a valve of my heart was smaller than it should be, which was probably the cause. I never knew how or why I could have developed a heart murmur, but they told me if it did not go away, I would have to have surgery. It was nice to read in the book, years later, why the surgery would have been necessary.

There is nternal and external control of the heartbeat. Internal control, as explained on page 90, is due to Nodial tissue, "which has both muscular and nervous characteristics" (Pg 90). The SA node initiates the heartbeat, acting as a pacemaker to keep it regular. The medulla oblongata is the external control by means of parasympathetic and sympathetic parts of the nervous system.

Pulse

I really enjoyed the link provided on how to take a pulse. I am putting it here for easy reference. www.tutorials.com/09/0902/0902.asp
This picture was taken from www.nlm.nih.gov.

REMEMBER!!!! NEVER USE YOUR THUMB WHEN TAKING A PULSE! Your thumb has its own pulse. Some people will put their two fingers on the wrist, but then grasp the underside with their thumb. This is INCORRECT.

As the book indicates on page 92, "Pulse Rate Equals Heart Rate"

Being Regular

I really feel the book did a great job in the sections concerning the heart. Here are some terms to know all from the Mader textbook on page 92.

Blood Pressure: Pressure of blood against the wall of a blood vessel.

Systolic Pressure: Highest arterial pressure that is reached during ejection of blood from the heart.

Diastolic Pressure: Lowest arterial pressure occurs while the heart ventricles are relaxing.

Here is a picture that shows the cuff placed on the arm and which artery is being pinched shut momentarily. This comes from http://www.knowledgebase-script.com.

Conclusion: That concludes this section of the heart. We had a brief look at different parts of the heart, pulse, blood pressure, and keeping the heartbeat regular. Now we are going to move onto the first lab. This project involved discussing hypertension, taking blood pressures, and using the scientific method.

Blue, Red, and Microscopic Tubes

2008-03-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Welcome to the colorful part of the body. Most of our organs are hopefully a skin color, except for fats, which are yellow. If you look at your arms, legs, or if you are pale skinned enough...anywhere really, many can see their veins. Those are those blue lines running all along the body. These are a type of blood vessel we are going to take a look at. This section is going to address arteries, veins, and capillaries. After capillaries, a look at some of the exchanges happening at the capillaries is going to be discussed.

Definitions:

Arteries

Above is a picture seen in the previous section from htt://www.accessexcellence.org. The red, top vessels is an artery. The arteries job is to take blood away from the heart. The artery has a very strong, tri-layer wall to support it when blood enters under pressure (pg 87). Part of the layers is an elastic tissue that allows for expansion to "absorb the pressure" (pg 87).

Veins

Veins are the blue, bottom vessel in the above picture. Their primary job is to bring blood back to the heart. According to our book, the vein wall is thinner than that of the artery because there is less smooth muscle and less connective tissue. Yet, this seemingly disadvantage allows for greater expansion, allowing more blood to be flowing through (pg 87).

Capillaries

Capillaries are narrow microscopic tube that branch off from the arterioles. Arterioles are small arteries. Networks of capillaries (often referred to as capillary beds) are in all regions of the body. The function of the capillaries is to exchange materials with their surroundings.

Here is a picture of a capillary from http://www.jdaross.cwc.net.

Great Exchange

After briefly going over different types of blood vessels, let us get even closer to discuss some different exchanges that occur at capillaries.

At this website, http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072464631/291136/Fluidexchange.swf
you will find the video that was in the web links. I found this to be very helpful. It explains fluid exchange in the capillaries.

The capillaries are involved in gas and tissue fluid exchange in regards to the circulatory system.
Another web site I thought was great at explaining capillary functions was this one:

http://faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu/faculty/michael.gregory/files/Bio%20102/Bio%20102%20lectures/Circulatory%20System/circulat.htm

Hopefully that link will take you directly to the Circulatory System page. Scroll down some and you will find capillaries and interstitial fluid information. It also includes images to help process the information.

Conclusion: That was the basics of blue veins, red arteries, and the tiny tiny capillaries that do so much. A fun fact, capillaries are so small, blood cells travel through in single file (you can find that on the previously provided website about capillaries). Next up is the heart. Every part of the circulatory, and our body to stay alive, depends on the heart.

Reflection

2008-02-19T11:51:00.001-08:00

I think my head is spinning!!! There was SOOOO much to cover in this unit. Each one could have a separate unit on its own! Some things I would like to reflect upon include the big lab project and the compendium review.

I had a lot of fun with the lab project. If you've taken the time to look through ALL of this information, you will see that I turned mine into a powerpoint video. It really helped me understand different processes and retain information by going through everything more than once. The lab definitely covered everything. Not only the major lab project but the two little labs to go with it.

I felt way too over whelmed with the compendium review. After looking at other people's, I am uncertain if I did it right. I went over everything that I had known or learned and there are some who just did an overview of the chapters to read. I do like how I did mine because, it took me through everything for probably the third or fourth time.

Lastly, this was fun because I discovered I did learn and retain something from all of my high school biology classes. When I first sat down and started going through this, I felt like I wasn't really learning or focusing. Then, I started to realize it was like a review for me, but so much more. Granted, biology is a class that is usually a two semester ordeal and covers everything into depth what we just briefly touched upon in this unit.

The compendium review was the hardest part for me, and my second topic compendium could definitely have been better. Now that I have a general idea as to what I am doing, hopefully the next unit will not be quit so overwhelming.

Looks Normal, Feels Abnormal

2008-02-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

An Ethical Issue Essay

Cloning has been around since 1970. A successful, healthy cloned lamb was completed in 1997. Scientist continue, day in and out, to perfect cloning with high hopes of using the technology to help cure diseases. It may sound like a good idea, but the offspring being produced give more of a chilling effect. Right now, there are many different types of cloning, and the battle of viewpoints makes it even more complicated.

The first type is recombinant DNA technology. This is cloning DNA fragments and producing new cells. Right now, bacteria are the most common used host cells for this type of technology. They are working to use this technology to learn about other technologies, such as genetic engineering. It seems as though DNA cloning is the basic building block of learning how to properly clone. Instead of waiting until that was perfected, scientists decided to jump ahead and work on reproductive cloning.

The purpose of reproductive cloning is to make an animal that has the same DNA as another currently existing animal; hence the cloned lamb dolly. This has been the most successful case, so far. Many articles and news stories involved the idea of reproductive cloning. It also led to the knowledge that specialized cells can, and do, change in the body. Some people think that the success of reproductive cloning is a huge step in human knowledge. Others think it is completely unethical. This is understandable. The produced offspring does not seem real. Especially when they are talking about endangered species. Humans are trying to use reproductive cloning to repopulate species we destroyed in the first place. It seems very unnatural because of how these animals are made. It is no longer the story of the ‘birds and bees.’ Not only have we been experimenting with animals, it has now moved up to experimenting with humans.

Therapeutic cloning is producing human embryos for research. To do this, scientists are extracting stem cells from embryos, which ultimately destroy them. It is obvious as to why this is such an unethical act. We are killing unborn babies to make test tube babies. Right now there have been no successful cases further than it dividing into six cells.

Cloning is a very unnatural process. We have completely taking out nature and substituted chemicals. Another thing to consider is when did animals become nothing to use? If we can successfully use reproductive cloning, we can mass produce pigs and work on using their body parts as organ donations. Do we not already mass produce pigs in factory farms? Do we not already religiously practice genetic engineering? Yet we do not know enough about it to be doing this. Many of the offspring created have several health problems and are born abnormally large, which is extremely dangerous for the host. We are experimenting with more and more, but we do not seem to know enough about one type of cloning before it moves on to the next.

GENES!

2008-02-19T00:26:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Genes, according to our textbook, are a unit of heredity exisiting as alleles on the chromosomes. This section is going to look at the Punnett square and alleles.

Genotype and Phenotype

Genotype is the genes of the individual and Phenotype is the physical characteristics.

Alleles one of two or more alternate forms of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on a chromosome.

*A quick story. When I was in high school, my biology teach was obsessed with the Human Genome Project. He had a big poster up in his classroom that was only partially complete. Now, it has been completed. It is neat to grow up with something like that.*

To finish up the gene section, here is my lab write up concerning the Punnet Square.

Lab Write Up

Introduction: My mother has blue eyes, straight almost black hair. My father, sister, and brother, all have very very dark, straight hair and brown eyes. I have blue eyes and naturally dirty-blonde curly hair. How did that happen? Either I am adopted (which I wouldn't be surprised) or it had something to do with genetic inheritance. Somewhere along the line, the recessive trait of blue eyes and curly hair became dominant.

Definitions:

Genotype: The actual genes of a person for a particular trait. For example, in the dragon lab, you can see the chromosomes and it highlights the genes found on each.

Phenotype: The physical traits from the genotype. Again, looking at the dragons, you see they have horns, which comes from the dominate trait H.

Allele: Alternative form of the gene. In the “Scenario Five” example you see the Punnett square. In the upper right hand corner you have the genotype of LL. The allele to that would the Ll genotype.

Cross: Breeding to organisms to create an offspring. The Punnett square shows two adult flies and if they were crossed, the square gives an estimate of what their offspring would look like.

Dominant: Referring to alleles; it is the primary trait in the heterozygote, stomping the expression of the recessive trait. For example, the long wings would be the dominate trait in the flies.

Recessive: Again referring to allele; only shows through in a homozygote. In the dragon lab, looking at the traits displayed on the right, you can see that breathing fire is a recessive trait.

What you have just seen are the definitions with some examples pertaining to the pictures above. These are from the online lab. Let's begin with the one with dragons. In this lab, you had to match up the genes to get something that looked completely different to the top dragon to what you see now. To do this, one needs to go through and determine which traits are dominant and which are recessive in the dragon you want it to look like. From there, you change the traits in the bottom one and you end up with twins!

After that, you go into the Punnett square example. This example is to give you an idea as to what potential offspring might look like. You pick two adults. In this case we had two heterozygotes, so I chose the differing alleles (Ll). From there you lay out the traits along the out side of the squares then match them. Three of them will look a like, and the fourth will have a slightly different phenotype.

Conclusions: After going through these labs, it has been determined that I was the kid in the fourth square in the bottom right hand corner. My parents have all of the traits I have, the only problem is they aren't visible on them. This lab gave significant definitions as well as examples from the online simulator.

Cancers

2008-02-19T00:25:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Most of us have known or heard of someone who has suffered from cancer. You might have seen the movie “I am Legend” that gave a fictional foreshadow of what might happen if a cure for cancer was found. Unfortunately this is a very real disease. We do have a lot of information on cancers, but not enough.

Characteristics

~Cancer Cells Lack Differentiation

This simply means they do not contribute to the functioning of any body part.

~Have Abnormal Nuclei

The nuclei tends to be enlarged; possibly with an abnormal number of chromosomes.

~Have Unlimited Replicative Potential

Simply put, there is no stopping them from replicating. They will replicate as many times as they want.

~Form Tumors

Cancer cells begin to pile upon each other in multiple layers; that makes a tumor.

~Have No Need For Growth Factors

Chemical signals saying when and when not to divide are pretty much ignored by cancer cells

~Gradually Become Abnormal

~Undergo Angiogenesis and Metastasis

Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels.

Metastasis is when a piece of the tumor breaks off and begins to form somewhere else.

There are many types of cancers and if one was to study cancers they would be called an oncologist. There carcinomas, which are cancers of epithelial tissues. Sarcomas are cancers in muscles and connective tissues. Leukemias are cancers of the blood. There is also lymphomas, which are cancers in the lymphatic system.

Conclusion: There you have it. There are a lot of foundations out there working to fight cancer, as well as many people. It is wise to know symptoms and to avoid bad habits to expedite your chances, such as tanning beds and cigarettes.

~Note~ I chose not to include pictures in this portion. I believe that cancer should be treated as a deeply personal event and not propagandized by pictures that people can't help but look at.

Part Two of Lab Project

2008-02-18T23:52:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Here is another video containing the second part of the lab project. In this, you will see DNA replication, mitosis, translation, and transcription.

Conclusion: The diagrams may have been a little confusing, but I hope the point got across. Now for a much more serious topic, cancers.

Cell Division

2008-02-18T23:44:00.001-08:00

Introduction: Cell division, also known as mitosis, is exactly what it says. It is the dividing of cells into new ones. In order to remember the phased think of I-P-MAT. The best way to explain this is to look at a diagram. Here is one from www.ivy-rose.co.uk.

Here are the parts broken down:

Interphase: During this phase, you will see:

G1à Growth

S à Growth and DNA replication

G2 à Growth and final preparations for division

Then comes Mitosis: During this phase you will see:

Prophase à Nucleolus has disappeared, duplicated chromosomes are visible, and the centromeres begin to move to opposite poles.

(www.fresno.k12.ca.us)

Metaphase à Centromeres of chromosomes line up along the equator and spindle fibers attached to the sister chromatids come from the spindle poles.

(www.ivy-rose.co.uk)

Anaphase à Chromatids are pulled apart and move to opposite poles.

(botit.botany.wisc.edu)

Telophase à Daughter cells forming, nuclear envelopes and nucleoli appear, and a cleavage furrow forms.(bomi.ou.edu)

Meiosis is a little different and here is a chart explaining the differences.

(www.ivy-rose.co.uk)

Conclusion: Here is a very brief overview of the process of cell division. It is something, for years, that I have only been able to understand by looking at pictures. If someone made a picture book about mitosis, I would understand it very well. Now it is time for Part Two of the Lab Project. I decided this was a good place to put it because it demonstrates mitosis, translation, and transcription.

Genetic Expression

2008-02-18T23:37:00.000-08:00

Introduction: After getting a brief look at the basics concerning DNA and RNA, now it is time to look at transcription and translation. These are the two steps in genetic expression. An important thing to remember is that DNA is transcribed and RNA is translated.

Transcription
“DNA is read to make a mRNA in the nucleus.” Simply, the DNA will open up and an mRNA is made from the DNA template. Remember that RNA is a single strand. So after it is formed, it is separate from the DNA and the DNA will have closed back up.

(This example of transcription came from www.scientificpsychic.com)

Translation

“Reading the mRNA to make a protein in the cytoplasm.” This is not going on in the nucleus. After the mRNA has been made, it travels outside the nucleus to the cytoplasm. It finds a ribosome and they connect, lining up amino acids according to mRNA sequence.

(oak.cats.ohiou.edu is where I found this image of translation.)

The two of these combined make up genetic expression, but it is also controlled. Here is a list of the different ways regulation may take place:

Transcriptional Control: Mechanisms in the nucleus regulate which genes are transcribed and/or the rate at which transcription of genes occurs
Posttranscriptional Control: Occurs after DNA is transcribed and mRNA is formed. It will determine how mRNA is processed before it leaves the nucleus and also how fast it may leave.
Translational Control: This happens in the cytoplasm and it looks over the life expectancy of an mRNA in the cytoplasm.
Posttranslational Control: Also happening in the cytoplasm, but occurs after protein synthesis. The mRNA may need to undergo some additional changes.

DNA Technology

The technology surrounding DNA is ever growing. Some things that are happening now include:

Gene Isolation

Gene Cloning

Specific DNA Sequences Cloned

Genetically Engineered Products

Most, if not all, of this technology is shrouded by ethical issues though. Especially when it comes to cloning and genetic engineering. Many people are fearing for their overall health.

Conclusion: After a very brief over view of some key highlights about RNA and DNA, it is now time to look at how cells divide.

DNA and RNA Structure/Function

2008-02-18T23:25:00.000-08:00

Introduction: DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic material and is largely found in the chromosomes. RNA (ribonucleic acid) is made up of nucleotides containing sugar ribose. When these two work together, they build the amino acid sequence in a protein. This section is going to look at them individually.

DNA

Here is the structure of a DNA. As many have heard, or possibly made models of, the DNA is a double helix. This simply means it has two strands that spiral around each other. In the middle of these strands are nucleotides that are bonded by hydrogen bonding. The bonds created are: A with T, and G with C. These are called complimentary paired bases.

This colorful DNA structure image was found at www.biologycorner.com.

The function of DNA is to replicate. Its job is to make an exact replica of itself. The fancy scientific term for this process is called: DNA replication. Here is a brief explanation of how DNA replicates. This is pulled straight from our text book, but I found it to be the simplest and most clear.

Before replication starts, the two strands of the original DNA are hydrogen-bonded together.
An enzyme unwinds and “unzips” the DNA
New complementary DNA nucleotides, which are always in the nucleus, fit into place by the process of complimentary base pairing. These position and are then joined by the enzyme DNA polymerase.
To complete replication, an enzyme seals any breaks in the sugar-phosphate backbone
The two double-helix molecules are identical to each other and the original DNA.

This general overview of DNA replication is from fig.cox.miami.edu.

RNA

Now for an RNA structure. We now know that DNA is made up of the A,T,G, and, C nucleotides. RNA, on the other hand, is made up of C,G,A, an U nucleotides. RNA is also single stranded. There are also three types of RNA. Let’s explore them. (Below is an RNA image from www.jncasr.ac.in)

The first is Ribosomal RNA or rRNA. It is produced in the nucleolus and its main job is to join with proteins made in the cytoplasm to form the subunits of ribosomes.

(This image comes from www.biocrawler.com)

Next up is Messenger RNA or mRNA. This is made in the nucleus, as opposed to the nucleolus. mRNA carries genetic information from DNA to the ribosomes in the cytoplasm.

(This image is from http://www.cofc.edu/~deavorj/102/notes/biochem/jpdnucla.html)

Lastly, you will find Transfer RNA or tRNA. This structure is also made in the nucleus. tRNA transfers amino acids to the ribosomes.

(Last but not least is this image from www.kensbiorefs.com)

All of these help form a protein.

Table of Contents: Part Two

2008-02-18T23:20:00.000-08:00

Unit One: Topic Two-Genetics
DNA and RNA Structure and Function
~DNA
~RNA
~Genetic Expression
~Transcription/Translation
~DNA Technology

Cell Division

Part Two of Lab Project

Cancers
~Characteristics

Genes
~Genotype and Phenotype
~Lab Write Up

First Part of Lab Project: Build a Cell!

2008-02-18T18:04:00.001-08:00

Introduction: Here it is. What you have all been waiting for! MY LAB PROJECT. Well, most of my lab project. I thought this part fit here well and the the second half, concerning DNA and Cell Genetics would go best with the second topic. I hope you enjoy this short film.

Conclusion: There you have it! I hope you enjoyed that little presentation. Now on to Genetics!

Tissues Please!

2008-02-18T01:34:00.001-08:00

Introduction: This section is about tissues found in the body. This is not a detailed section.

There are four major types of tissues in the human body. Those consist of : Connective, muscular, nervous, epithelial.

Types of connective tissues found at

http://www.bv229.k12.ks.us/bvnwbiology/biology/handouts/cellular_respiration_overview.jpg

Some muscular tissues from http://www.up.ac.za/academic/medicine/telemed/Hist/018/img/018-001.jpg

Here is nervous tissue from http://www.okc.cc.ok.us/biologylabs/Images/Cells_Membranes/nuero.jpg

Last but not least, epithelial tissue found from http://www.stegen.k12.mo.us/tchrpges/sghs/ksulkowski/images/20_Simple_Columnar_Epithelial_Tissue.jpg

Final Conclusion: Now you have seen it all! You just spent time looking through the basics of science all the way to our basic building blocks. There is a lot of information presented there and it may be overwhelming. One just needs to take it step by step. It eventually all fits together, just as the levels of organization shows. To emphasize some points of the cells, here is a video of the first part of the lab project: Build a Cell.

Cell Action!

2008-02-18T01:24:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Welcome to the most exciting part of this topic; all of the metabolic processes in the cell. Here you will see pictures of different types of diffusion. These include: facilitated transport, active transport, endocytosis, and exocytosis.

Again, definitions are from “Human Biology” by Mader, Sylvia S.

Facilitated Transport: A molecule is transported at a high rate from an area of higher concentration to lower.

Here is a picture from http://fig.cox.miami.edu/~cmallery/150/memb/c8x16types-transport.jpg

that shows facilitated, or passive, transport. It also has diffusion and active transport.

Active Transport: A molecule is moving from lower to higher concentration. This needs energy to happen.

http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/enger/student/olc/art_quizzes/genbiomedia/0645.jpg

This website shows the active transport of the sodium-potassium pump.

Endocytosis: A portion of the cell membrane takes in substances and forms a pouch. The membrane pinches off to form an endocytic vesicle in side the cell.

Here is a great picture of endocytosis from

http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=4946&rendTypeId=4

Exocystosis: A vesicle fuses with the plasma membrane as secretion happens.

Here is a simple visual of exocytosis from http://www.linkpublishing.com/exocytosis5.jpg

Conclusion: For a little bit more information, diffusion is the random movement of molecules from high to low concentration. Osmosis is the diffusion of water across the cell membrane. Now that we have seen the cell in action, it is time to move on. Remember, back up top, the organization of a bunch of cells make a tissue? Well, we have a talked A BUNCH about cells, so now to tissues.

Cells and Organization

2008-02-18T01:12:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Congratulations! You have made it far enough to wander into the CELL! In this section, you are going to see what a eukaryotic cell looks like as well as what each part does.

Definitions (All from “Human Biology” by Mader, Sylvia S.)

Cell: Smallest unit of life.

Eukaryotic Cell: Type of cell that has a membrane bound nucleus and membranous organelles.

Prokaryotic Cell: Type of cell that lacks a membrane-bounded nucleus and organelles.

Here is a labeled eukaryotic cell from http://www.daviddarling.info/images/plant_cell.jpg. It shows how cells are organized. Further down, you will find information on what each part does.

Explanations of the parts of the cell are from “Human Biology” by Mader, Sylvia S.

Plasma (Cell) Membrane: Outer surface that regulates what comes in and out of the cell.

Microtubles: cylinders of protein molecules present in cytoplasm, centrioles, cilia, and flagella.

Centrosome: microtubule organizing center that play a part in mitosis.

Lysosome: vesicle that digests.

Vesicle: membrane bound sac that stores and transports substances.

Cytoplasm: semifluid matrix that holds everything in the cell.

Nucleus: powerhouse of the cell.

Chormatin: diffuse threads containing DNA and protein

Nucleolus: region that produces subunits of ribosomes

Endoplasmic Reticulum: Rough à studded with ribosomes

Smooth à no robosomes, synthesizes lipid molecules

Ribosomes: particles that carry out protein synthesis

Mitochondria: carries out cellular respiration producing ATP molecules

Golgi Apparatus: Processes, packages, and secretes modified cell products.

Conclusion: Well, there you have it! Different parts of the cells, what they do, and a diagram to show you how they are organized. Further on, you will find the first part of the home lab project that will go over this. Next up is cell action.

Carbs, Fats, And Proteins, OH MY!

2008-02-18T01:01:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Welcome to the molecules of life. Here are going to take a brief look into carbohydrates, fats (lipids), and proteins. You will also find some structures of each molecule.

Break it Down

The best way to simply break down these molecules is to look at the chart presented in the power point by Dr. Frolich. Here is a remade model with the same information.

MOLECULE	MADE OF	FUNCTION
Carbohydrates	Simple Sugars	Energy
Proteins	Amino Acids	Catalyze Reactions
Fats/Lipids	Fatty Acids	Cell Membranes
DNA/RNA	Nucleotides (bases)	Information

A few tidbits:

*Carbon can form into LONG chains.

*These are four basic things every single cell in our body is made of.

PHOTO SHOOT!
The following are pictures of structures of the different molecules.

Here is a carbohydrate structure from http://www.seachem.com/home/images/carbohydrate_structure.jpg

Here is a lipid structure from http://www.thebestlinks.com/images/4/42/Basic_lipid_structure.png

This is a very basic lipid structure.

Here is a protein structure from http://www.avalosdesign.com/body.JPG

Just kidding! Here is the real one which I found at http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/104/proteinstructure.jpg

This picture is showing the folding of a protein molecule.

Conclusion: Short but sweet. That was a very, very simple description of the molecules of life. You will learn much more about these if you enroll in a nutrition course. Now it is time for…CELLS! As you may know, cells are the basic building blocks of life. Let’s take a look at cells and how they are organized.

Life, As We Know It

2008-02-18T00:55:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Welcome to life! In this section, you will have the opportunity to see how life is organized, shared characteristics and the differences between human and ape. An interesting fact found in our textbook is that humans cannot have evolved from apes because we are living on the earth at the same time. Yet we do share a common apelike ancestor.

Definitions (All from “Human Biology” by Mader, Sylvia S.)

Metabolism: All of the chemical reactions that occur in a cell.

Development: Groups of stages where a zygote becomes an organism or an organism changes during its lifespan.

Homeostasis: Maintaining internal conditions.

Evolution: Descent of organisms from common ancestors with adaptations.

What All Living Things Share

Here is a great way page that goes through the seven characteristics of life. It really cannot get simpler than this. http://infohost.nmt.edu/~klathrop/7characterisitcs_of_life.htm

For a quick reference, here is a list:

Living Things:

-Are composed of cells

-Are organized

-Use energy

-Respond to their environment

-Grow and develop

-Reproduce

-Evolve/adapt

Organization

This is best explained by graphics.

Here is a very simple chart from http://infohost.nmt.edu/~klathrop/7characterisitcs_of_life.htm that leaves out the first level of atoms and doesn’t expand much into community, ecosystem, and biosphere.

I find the best way to think of this organization is this: All things are composed of atoms. A bunch of atoms make a molecule. A bunch of molecules make a cell. A bunch of cells make a tissue, so on and so forth until you have a bunch of ecosystems to make a biosphere.

Differences

Some of us (or most of us) may look like apes, but we have a lot of differences. According to our textbook, here are a few differences.

HUMANS	APES
Highly developed brains	Not so highly developed
Stand completely upright	Use front arms and back legs to walk
Creative language	Grunt and make other noises
Ability to use lots of tools	Use sticks and rocks

Conclusion: You have just gone through a very brief introduction to life and our organization. Next we are going to delve a little deeper in the molecules of life. From there we will go into depth about cells.

Microscopy

2008-02-18T00:22:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Welcome to the microscope section of the compendium review. You are about to see slides from an online microscope simulator that can be found at www.udel.edu/biology/ketcham/microscope/. There is an excellent tutorial and video clip to get you started. The most commonly used microscope, the compound microscope, is the one that is going to be discussed.

A Brief History

This website www.southwestschool s.org/jsfaculty/Microscopes/ind... has a great page where you can see a pictorial evolutionary history of the microscope. Zacharias Janssen is given credit for the first compound microscope. It was as simple thing of a tube with a lens at either end. Many believe it was actually his father who invented it, considering Zacharias’ age at the time. This invention came to being around 1590. From there, Robert Hooke, in 1660, improved it by research and publishing “Micrographia,” coining the word cell. Later, a man with no wealth or formal education, Anton van Leeuwenhoek was known as the best microscope maker for the time period (early 1700s).

Things to Know

Things to know about a compound microscope:

-Most commonly used

-Light illuminated

-2-D image

-View individual cells (even while the cells are still living)

- High magnification and low resolution

-Uses glass slides

-Focuses mechanically

-Uses glass lenses

How Parts Work

Ocular Lens: The piece at the very top that magnifies the image of the specimen formed by the objectives.

Body Tube: Supports the eyepiece and the oculars.

Revolving Nosepiece: Allows one to move the objectives to different magnification powers.

Arm: Supports the body tube.

Objectives: This is the microscope. Objectives are the tiny lenses that produce the image seen through the ocular lens. The powers labeled on the objectives (e.g. 4) are multiplied by ten because that is what the ocular lens is set at. For example, if you were using the 10 objective, you would be seeing the image magnified by 100.

Stage: What holds the slide as well as h

aving an opening where light can come through.

Stage Clips: Holds the slide in place.

Iris: Determines how much light is let through. It works like the iris of your eye, the more light, the wider the opening and vice versa.

Coarse Adjustment Knob: Moves the stage up and down.

Fine Adjustment Knob: Sharply focuses the image.

Light Source: Where the light comes from.

Base: Holds the microscope.

Here are some pointers from www.udel.edu/biology/ketcham/microscope/. and www.southwestschools.org/jsfaculty/Microscopes/ind... for instructions on how to use the microscope.

Before looking into the microscope

1. After placing the slide on the stage, make sure the lowest objective is in place and the stage is either all the way up or all the way down.

2. To move the slide around, use the XY controls. Be careful, if you are looking through the oculars, the slide may move opposite of the way you are turning the knob.

3. Turn the light on and open the slide to center your specimen.

4. Ensure the iris is closed after slide is centered to avoid blinding yourself when you first look through the oculars

Now look into the microscope

1. Look into the microscope with both eyes open.

2. Adjust the oculars so there is one circle and keep your face a slight distance from the oculars.

3. Depending on if you started with you stage all t

he way down or up will determine which way to move your coarse adjustments. This should also be the only time you use the coarse adjustment. This moves the stage up and down. Move it very slowly until you can see your specimen.

4. You may need to adjust the iris.

5. Once you have found your specimen, use the fine focus knobs to make the image clear.

6. Remember to use the XY controls to move the slide.

7. Place the desired part of the specimen in your field of view before you increase the magnification.

8. Adjust the iris accordingly once further magnified.

9. When you are finished, lower the stage all the way and rem

ove the slide.

Some very important tips

*When carrying a microscope, grasp the arm and use your other hand to support the base.

*Only use lens paper to clean the glass, paper towels and other like items will scratch it! NEVER TOUCH THE LENSES WITH YOUR FINGERS.

*When finished, make sure the base is all the way down and the lowest objective is in place.

Microscope Slides

Now is your chance to see some slides from the online microscope simulator.

This image is while looking through the microscope. What you are looking at is a cheek cell sample at magnified times forty. It may be hard to tell on this picture, but it is in focus with the iris at the right level.

Try as I might, this image did not want to get any bigger. Here you are looking at the same slide, but magnified times 100. In order to get this, I had to adjust the fine focus knob and open the iris a little bit. Again, this picture is (believe it or not) in focus with the correct amount of light.

Last but not least, here is the same cheek cell. Now you are seeing it up close and personal magnified four-hundred times! As the picture is not that large, this one is a little better to see that is is focused. Again, I had to adjust the fine focus and iris, but did not touch the coarse focus. That only happened when working with the 4 objective.

Conclusion: After browsing through this section, you found information on a compound microscope. You saw images, got written directions, as well as a brief history. Now that you hav

e the basics of science under yourbelt, it is time to move on. We are about to work our way up to the workings of a cell. We will begin by discussing the characteristics of life and move on from there. In the next section, you will learn that all life shares the same seven characteristics. You will also see how life is organized.

Science and Scientific Study

2008-02-18T00:07:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Welcome to my compendium review of the first major topic about cells. I have broken it down into eight different topics. Within these topics I have also included the first part of the lab project, the parts of the cell and how they work, as well as the online lab. To get started, it is best to go over the basics of biology. We begin with what biology is. From there, you will find information about the scientific method. Lastly, in this topic, will be the different types of scientific studies.

Definitions (All from “Human Biology” by Mader, Sylvia S.)

Biology: Scientific study of life. Human biology is a specialty in biology.

Scientific Theories: An idea that is supported by a broad range of observations, testing, hypotheses, and coming to conclusions.

Scientific Method: Process of learning by making observations, testing hypotheses, and coming to conclusions.

Here is an image from http://lowimpactdevelopment.org/school/images/scimethod2.jpg that is a very simple outline of the scientific method.

There are five important parts of the method. They often vary in terminology, but essentially, all steps are the same. These include:

Observations, which is figuring out the problem.

Hypothesis, making a statement as to what you believe the outcome will be.

Experiment, conduct experiments to prove or disprove your hypothesis.

Observe or Conclude, analyze your results.

Scientific theory, explain your conclusions and determine if your experiments supported your hypothesis.

I want to know why my boyfriend always burns dinner. (Observations)

So my question is, Why can’t my boyfriend cook? (Developed Question)

He can’t cook because he doesn’t know how to follow directions. (Hypothesis)

For my experiment, I will ask him to cook dinner using a cookbook. My other experiment will involve him cooking but me giving him directions. (Experiment)

During the first experiment, my boyfriend read the directions, but chose not to measure anything. The food came out runny and overcooked. The second experiment, I instructed him on how to cook the recipe. He listened to what I said and measured. This time, he became distracted by Facebook and let it cook too long, so it burned. (Observe/Analyze)

After analyzing my evidence, I have concluded that he can’t cook because he becomes easily distracted and has a hard time following written directions. (Conclude)

My experiments supported my hypothesis and then some because it was also noted that he has a short attention span. (Conclude/Scientific Theory

Research

Now let’s take a look at the different types of research used in scientific studies. Here is a chart from the textbook “Nutrition: concepts and Controversies” by Sizer, Frances and Whitney, Ellie that has included important terms often used in a scientific studies.

Type of Research	Description
Blind Experiment	An experiment where the subjects don’t know if they are part of the experimental group or the control group.
Case Studies	Studies of individuals, in a clinical setting where researchers can observe treatments and apparent effects.
Epidemiological Studies	Studies of populations, usually by polling and in the natural environment.
Intervention Studies	Studies of populations in which observation is accompanied by experimental manipulation of some population numbers.
Laboratory Studies	Studies that are performed in tightly controlled situations and are designed to pinpoint causes and effects.
Experimental Group (Definition)	People or animals who receive the actual treatment.
Control Group (Definition)	A group of individuals who are similar in all possible respects to the groups being treated in an experiment but who receive a sham treatment instead of the real one.
Placebo (Definition)	A sham treatment where a harmless medication (or maybe a Tic-Tac) is used on the control group.

Conclusion: After taking time to look through this information, hopefully you have learned the very basics of what goes into a scientific study and different types of research. In some studies, it is necessary to observe a cell. In order to do so, one must use a microscope. In the next section, you will see images from an online microscope simulator. The images are of a cheek smear. The section will also cover microscope basics, some important tips, and how different parts of the microscope work.

2008-02-17T23:55:00.000-08:00

Unit One: Topic One - Cells
Science and Scientific Study
~Definitions
~Scientific Method
~Research

Microscopy
~A Brief History
~Things to Know
~How Parts Work
~Before Looking Into The Microscope
~Now You Can Look
~Very Important Tips

Life, As We Know It
~Definitions
~What All Living Things Share
~Organization
~Differences

Carbs, Fats, Proteins, OH MY!
~Break It Down
~A Few Tidbits
~Photo Shoot!

Cells and Organization
~Definitions
~Labeled Cell
~The Parts

Cell Action!
~Facilitated Transport
~Active Transport
~Endocytosis
~Exocytosis

Tissues Please
~Types
~Photo Shoot!

First Part of Lab Project: Build a Cell!

Introduction

2008-01-28T09:34:00.000-08:00

This is my blog for a Human Biology Course.

Some things to know about me:

My favorite artist is any member from the Rat Pack, especially when they sing together. While this may lead you to believe I am old...I am actually not.

I am taking this class because regular biology is a little overwhelming with it being so broad. This course appears to be a little more directed.

During this class I hope to understand human biology.

Now for the interesting stuff. Here are three interesting things about me:

1. I grew up on a farm. Not interesting? This is not your conventional farm. My family rehabilitated wildlife and after they were well, released them into the wild! I have handled everything from a hawk, owl, shrew, rabbit, to deer, skunks, foxes, coyotes. Anything living in the wild in Iowa, I have seen, touched, nursed back to health.

2. I used to be an online sex columnist for "Juice" magazine.

3. I make my own bread.

Test Blog

2008-01-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

Testing....Testing...