Tuesday, December 18, 2012

What To Study For Tomorrow

These are the following assessment anchors that I have based the test on.  Keep in mind I will be more concerned about OVERALL processes on this.  See the description below each anchor for more info on what I will expect.

PLEASE bring your notecard with you tomorrow, put as much as you want on it, but remember, these are the KEY areas I will be assessing!

Be able to tell me where photosynthesis and cellular respiration occur.
Be able to describe how each organelle (chloroplast and mitochondria) are involved in different energy transformations.

Be able to discuss how light energy is transformed into chemical energy during photosynthesis and then
during cellular respiration how one organic compound it transformed into another more usable form
of energy for the cell to use.  Know the products and reactants of each as well as how the two processes are
related.
Be able to discuss how there is energy stored in ATP and that the splitting off of one phosphate group
releases energy for the cell to perform biochemical reactions

Monday, December 17, 2012

Cellular Respiration


Monday December 17th
The second part of photosynthesis does not depend on light and therefore is known as the Light Independent.

During this stage Carbon from Carbon Dioxide is added to an organic molecule found in the chloroplast to produce Glucose.  The enzyme that catalyzes this reaction is called Rubisco

Where does the energy come from to fuel this reaction?
From the ATP and NADPH created during the light dependent reaction.
I then had you answer today and Friday's daily questions on another sheet of paper (using your notes) so there is NO reason anyone should have scored less than an 8/8 on that!

We moved into the cellular respiration notes.  Since I want to get through this before break I printed out an outline and you filled that in as we went.  Here were the slides (Not every class got through each of these, but we will by tomorrow.)




Please be familiar with this diagram and what it represents - We will
spend more time on this tomorrow


Obviously I don't expect you to know all these steps of glycolysis, the reason
i even put this in the notes was to show you how the carbons are transformed
and also to show you how many enzymes are required to aid in these.  I do
not want you to forget how important enzymes are in biochemical reacions.



Again - these last two slides will NOT be tested on in detail but it
did give me a chance to show you where/how this all happens and once
again point out important enzymes.






Friday, December 14, 2012

Light Independent reaction


Friday December 14th
During the first stage of photosynthesis there was a transformation of energy.  Which of the following best describes this transformation.
A.  ATP to Chemical
B.  Chemical to Heat
C.  Heat to Chemical
D.  Light to Chemical - Light energy (in the form of electromagnetic waves) is transfered into Chemical energy in the form of different energy storing molecules.
This energy transformation resulted in two energy-storing molecules known as ATP and NADPH.
How do these molecules store energy?
Within the chemical bonds of these molecules.  Recall we have been focusing a LOT lately on the importance of understanding that energy is stored in chemical bonds and when those bonds are broken, energy is released.


After this we finished up notes on photosynthesis going through the following slides.  These focused on the light independent reaction (also referred to as the dark reaction because it does not NEED sunlight - but it can still occur when the sun is out)










Thursday, December 13, 2012

Absorption of light energy and water splitting

Thursday December 13th
During the first stage of photosynthesis energy is captured in the form of Electromagnetic Waves.
The colors that we SEE are the wavelengths of light that are Reflected.
The energy that is captured causes what to happen in the Thylakoid membrane?  Electrons get excited.
That causes Water to be split into H+  + O2.
First we emptied all the contents of our photosynthesis bags
We were able to SEE how this happened while we did the following activity.  Check out the images and their descriptions to see what we did.





Then water molecules are split to form Hydrogen ions
and oxygen.

















Oxygen molecules bond with each other to form O2 which
is the Oxygen we breathe
After this we continued with the light dependent reactions.  This included the following slides of notes and activities:
Adenosine TRIphosphate is a molecule made up of
THREE phosphate groups.  This is created by added a phosphate
group (the red bead) to a molecule of Adenosine DIphosphate ADP
(the yellow bead)
Why did I WANT you to know this?!?!  
I  REALLY want you see that energy is stored in the
chemical bonds of organic molecules.  We will actually
use this molecule during the next stage of photosynthesis
to provide energy.


NADPH was created by adding a hydrogen ion (blue) to
a molecule of NADP
Then.... SOME classes were blessed with watching the following rap that is actually a VERY accurate descrpition of the stages of photosynthesis.......
THEN - some of you watched the following video that gives you an even better demonstration of how light is absorbed and reflected.  This concept really can blow your mind, but it is an awesome demonstration to see!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Photosynthesis Introduction

Tuesday December 11th
Diagram the flow of energy through an ecosystem labeling the following things: Names of the two processes, where they occur, the reactants and products of each and how they are related.



Then -  in WORDS describe the relationship between the products and reactants of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
The PRODUCTS of photosynthesis are the Reactants of Cellular Respiration (and then the Carbon dioxide that we breathe out will be used again in photosynthesis.)

After This we started into the Photosynthesis Notes.  These are the slides that we got through.  Please check Edline for all the notes! 







OPEN NOTES QUIZ TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Energy Flow Overview


Monday December 10th 
*There are two main processes that occur that allows energy flow in an ecosystem.  The first is photosynthesis, which captures energy from the Sun and converts Carbon Dioxide into Glucose. 
*The second is cellular respiration.  During this process cells take the carbon from Glucose and turn it into Carbon Dioxide.
After this, we went through the Basics of Bioenergetics notes.  Instead of having you write these down we went through the packet and filled in all blank spots.  The area I focused a lot on was the diagram that showed the flow of energy in an ecosystem. 
This is crucial for you to understand how energy is neither created nor destroyed but it does change forms.  ALSO make sure you know that during cellular respiration ATP is made but that is NOT light!!!  This diagram has ATP and Sunlight both in yellow just to show that they are both forms of energy.  You do NOT make light though!!
After going through the first section I had you answer the "Quiz" questions and turn in for credit. 

Friday, December 7, 2012

Bioenergetics introduction continued....

You are all working well on the directed reading that I made up for you so I gave you time to finish up the first two sections today.  We will start into the notes on this chapter on Monday.  I did start you off with the following daily question.

How do organisms use and store energy?
  They store energy in the form of chemical bonds found in organic molecules.  The breaking of these bonds releases energy for the organism to use during biochemical processes.

Have a nice weekend!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Intro to bioenergetics


We started today with an overview of how you scored on the CDT's.  Please refer to yesterday's post as to what everything means.  In the near future I will be giving you each individually your scores.  The goal is to see progress throughout the year as we take this test at least 2 more times.  
After that we got into today's daily questions:
Thursday December 6th
Ultimately, all the energy that we have originates from where?
The Sun 
What is the name of the process that turns energy from this into chemical energy?
Photosynthesis 
What macromolecule is our MAIN source of energy?
 Glucose
What molecule is that then turned into for our cells to use?
ATP
After this you did introductory work out of the book and we will start into the first section of notes tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Why we are doing this!!

Many of you have been complaining about how difficult these CDT's were.  REMEMBER - we are only a quarter of the way through the content that it was testing you for!  This is just to see where you are at.  ALSO keep in mind though, if you scored in the green area that does NOT mean that you are ready to actually take the keystone.  It is a nice starting point but by the time the test comes around I would like you all in the blue in all four areas!!  No complaining guys!!
This is a sample of the data that I receive after you have taken the exam.  I am glad to see that there was a majority of you in the green in the first two sections.  We have covered the first section and half of the second section (Bioenergetics, Homeostasis and Transport).  I am also not CONCERNED that many of you were in the low green or red areas on the last two.  These are topics that you have covered in previous science classes but will not learn in detail until the second half of the year.  My goal is to see you improving throughout the year.  Again - Just because it is green does NOT mean you are Keystone ready, but it DOES show me that we have a nice starting point!

Monday, December 3, 2012

CDT

For the next couple of days we will be taking our first CDT exam to get a baseline of how you are progressing in this class.  We will be taking this at least two more times as we continue through the year.  Hopefully I will see progression as we take them throughout the year!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Cell Membrane / Cell Transport Review

Yesterday when I was at a Genetics Update workshop, you all started to review for our test tomorrow.  The study guide first had you go through your notes and get down some of the basics, then it had many different sample questions.  Today I used previous posts on the blog to act as a review as well as guided you through the review packet.

MAKE SURE YOU BRING YOUR REVIEW PACKET WITH YOU - IT IS PART OF YOUR EXAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also had you watch the "Crash Course" video that I used as an introduction.  Here it is again below.  I also encourage you to check out the following playlist of some of the videos that I used as reference this chapter, or ones that help explain different topics in a similar manor to the way I did.  PLEASE take advantage of this stuff!!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT_3xjjmTinb8SGH4nqQtTacMpV-DxEWB&feature=mh_lolz


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Active Transport Intro and endocytosis demonstration


Tuesday November 27th 
If you go to the hospital for dehydration they will administer IV saline solution to you.  This contains about 1-2% dissolved substances and 98-99% water. 

When you FIRST go in with a low concentration of water in your cells what direction will water flow (into or out of your cells).
INTO your cells.  What type of solution would this be at this point? Hypotonic

Eventually you will be rehydrated and the saline solution is now the same concentration as that of your cells.  What direction will water flow now? It will move into and out of our cells at an equal rate (any excess will be removed as urine then)  What type of solution would this be considered? Because it is the same concentration as your own cells it would be considered an isotonic solution.

Those daily questions wrapped up our discussion on osmosis and we started into the notes on active transport.  This is the last section of this chapter and I plan on having a test on Friday.  Check edline for the notes.  Below is a demonstration I did on how endocytosis works.
 
Here we have a cell - the clay represents the cell membrane

Some molecules are too large to move through the phospholipids
or transport proteins but SOMEHOW find a way to make it
into and out of the cell

First the cell membrane starts to fold around the molecule

It continues to "engulf" the molecule and begins pinching off

Eventually the molecule will be released inside the cell
and the cell membrane will never have "opened up"

If we could take a look at the inside of the cell we would see
that molecule is now found in a vesicle which is made up
of part of the cell membrane

A look inside the vesicle