Wednesday January 20th - DNA structure and Function Day 1

Goals and Reminders for Today:

We only had ONE daily Question Today because of a graded assessment that came AFTER.

The next 10 minutes you worked through the following assignment and we graded it right here in class.

THEN - into a couple notes about the nucleotide structure and we started to build a strand of nucleotides.

Missed out Discussion on DNA structure?????  Check out the following YouTube clip:

p.s.  Don't worry about 3 prime / 5 prime information - you will not need to know THAT much detail!!

Tuesday January 19th - Introduction to DNA

Tuesday January 19th - Goals and reminders for Today:

We started off with daily questions as usual:

Then started into a little bit of notes. These were to give you a little bit deeper look at the terms Genome, DNA, Genes, Chromosomes, etc.

More about the structure of DNA tomorrow!!

Thursday January 14th Cell Growth and Reproduction Introduction

We have our 2nd round of CDTs under our belts and have started into second semester content.  

Before we get into the new stuff... let me remind you that TOMORROW IS A MAKE UP DAY!!!  Retake things, turn in things you are missing, finish your extra credit.  WHATEVER it takes to succeed!!

I also have created a google form for you to fill out if you would like to be exempt from a daily question quiz or assignment.  KEEP IN MIND - IF YOU ARE MISSING ONE OF THESE YOU CAN NOT BE EXEMPT FROM ONE!!  You CAN choose to be exempt from THAT if you are missing it though!!!

Click the image below to be forwarded to the exemption form.

NOW to 2nd semester content:

To start us off we will be learning about cell growth and reproduction.  Some of the big topics in this chapter will be

*  Cell Cycle

*  Mitosis vs Meiosis

*  Cell Cycle Control

We got right back into daily questions.  Here were the DQs from yesterday and Today

AND... We started into our first set of notes for the semester:

WOW it's been a while!! Midterm Exam Info

Alright guys..... So we made it back after Christmas Break and started prepping for our midterm.  All this week I guided your studying by having you create Study Guides.  Remember I have told you that I structure the class so that even if you NEVER looked at things outside of class, you should at least be able to say you succeeded.  You may not be able to ace it, but you will be prepared!!

I encouraged you to login to study island and take the practice midterms so that you can learn from your mistakes!!!

There were three study guides I had you build based on the Keystone Exam big ideas

If you click on the links for each topic it will take you to that sections book pages. In the meantime I have made SUPER SIMPLE outlines of each topic.

• 1st:  Basic Biological Principles
• Characteristics of all living organisms
• Obtaining and using energy
• Homeostasis
• Growth
• Reproduction
• Respond to stimuli
• Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cell Structure and Function
• Characteristics of ALL cells:
• Surrounded by a cell Membrane
• Filled with cytoplasm
• Contain DNA
• Have ribosomes where proteins are assembled
• Prokaryotic Cells
• SUPER small and simple (are always unicellular)
• DNA located in the cytoplasm (they do not have a nucleus)
• Bacteria and Archaebacteria are ONLY organisms that are prokaryotic
• Eukaryotic Cells
• MUCH more Complex
• DNA is found in the NUCLEUS
• Contain many Membrane Bound organelles
• Can be unicellular or multicellular
• Organelle Structure and Function
• Nucleus - stores genetic information
• Mitochondria - the "power house" of the cell - This is where ATP is produced
• Endoplasmic reticulum - Contains ribosomes that assemble proteins that will be shipped out of the cell.  The ER helps package them up into vesicles
• Golgi Apparatus - Continues preparing the vesicles to be transported out of the cell
• Multicellular Organization
• Smallest unit of Organization is a CELL
• Cells are SPECIALIZED in multicellular organisms
• ****STRUCTURE DETERMINE FUNCTION!!!!
• A group of specialized cells make up tissue
• A group of tissues make up an organ
• Different organs together make up organ systems
• All organ systems working together make up an organism
• 2nd  Chemical Basis for Life
• Properties of water that help support life
• Water is a POLAR molecule which allows it dissolve many substance
• Water molecules bond with each other by HYDROGEN BONDS
• This hydrogen bonding is reason water has properties that help it support life on earth
• Cohesion - Waters attraction to other water molecules
• Causes Surface tension
• Adhesion - Waters attraction to other polar molecules
• along with cohesion causes capillary action
• High Specific Heat - water is able to absorb and retain a large of amount of heat without changing temperature
• important for maintaining mile environment for aquatic organisms
• Important for maintaining a constant body temperature in humans
• High Heat of Vaporization:  When water goes from a liquid to a gas a TONE of heat is released which helps animals that sweat to cool down
• Density - Water is LESS dense as a solid which allows ice to float.
• Atomic properties of Carbon that allow it to form macromolecules
• Is able to bond with up to 4 other atoms (has 4 valence electrons and WANTS to have 8 electrons in its valence shell.
• How Macromolecules are Formed from monomers
• Carbohydrates - Made up of Saccharide monomers
• Lipids - Make up of fatty acids and glycerol
• Proteins - Made up of amino acid monomers
• Nucleic Acids - Made up of nucleotide monomers
• Functions of Macromolecules
• Carbohydrates - Energy supply, Cell recognition, structural components (i.e. cellulose and chitin.)
• Lipids - MAJOR energy storage, water barriers (waxes), some types of hormones, insulation.
• Proteins - a WIDE variety of functions based on how the amino acid chain is folded (STRUCTURE DETERMINES FUNCTION!!!) - some examples:  antibodies, enzymes, structure (such as keratin)
• Nucleic Acids - Store GENETIC INFORMATION (DNA and RNA)
• Enzymes
• Act as catalysts in biochemical reactions 
• SPEED up chemical reactions by  lowering the amount of energy needed to start a reaction. (lowers the activation energy)
• Are SPECIFIC to different reactions
• Are NOT USED UP in chemical reactions
• Can be denatured by changes in pH and Temperature. 
• This can change the shape of the enzyme and if the active site is changed it can no longer bind the specific substrate and therefore cannot help that reaction.
• 3rd - Homeostasis and Transport
• Structure and Function of the cell membrane
• Composed of a phospholipid bilayer with proteins embedded within it.
• Is SEMI permeable (allows small nonpolar molecules to move easily through but not ions, polar molecules or other large macromolecules)
• Phospholipids have two regions
• Polar (hydrophilic) phosphate heads that face the surfaces
• Nonpolar (hydrophobic) Fatty Acid Tails that make up the middle of the membrane
• Membrane proteins
• Transport proteins (Carrier and Channel proteins) aid in the movement of polar molecules, ions or larger molecules across the membrane
• Glycoproteins - Located on the outside surface of the cell and act as a "name tag"
• Receptor Proteins - Receive signals (such as hormones) that are transmitted inside the cell to initiate a chemical reaction
• Enzymes - Located on the inside surface of the cell to aid in biochemical reactions
• Passive Transport
• Does NOT require the input of energy
• Movement of molecules DOWN the concentration gradient (from an area of high to low concentration)
• Examples:
• Simple diffusion - small nonpolar molecules such as carbon dioxide and oxygen move directly through the phospholipids
• Facilitated diffusion - movement of polar molecules or ions through transport proteins
• Osmosis - specifically the movement of water across the cell membrane (through aquaporins)
• Active transport
• REQUIRES the input of energy - usually in the form of ATP
• Creates a concentration gradient (by moving molecules from LOW to HIGH concentration.
• Examples
• Molecular and ion PUMPS
• Pump molecules / ions AGAINST their concentration gradient
• BIG example = SODIUM POTASSIUM PUMP
• Movement through vesicles 
• Endocytosis - Moving large molecules INTO the cell
• Exocytosis - moving large molecules OUT OF the cell

• Bioenergetics (You did not do a study guide on this since we just finished this unit and you should have a study guide from the test)
• Basic Energy Transformations that occur during photosynthesis and cellular respiration
• Photosynthesis - Solar to chemical conversion (Chemical energy is store in the bonds of organic molecules like glucose)
• Cellular Respiration - Chemical to Chemical conversion (Stored first in the bonds of glucose and at the end it is stored in the bonds of ATP)
• Relationship between Photosynthesis and Cellular respiration
• The products of photosynthesis and cellular respiration are in essence reversed.  The only difference is that end the end of cellular respiration light energy is not created but instead chemical energy found in the bonds of ATP that is stored by the cell for usable energy to power chemical reaction
• Role of chloroplasts and Mitochondria
• Chloroplasts - Organelle in which photosynthesis occurs 
• Mitochondria - Organelle in which aerobic cellular respiration occurs

YOU GUYS ARE CAPABLE OF DOING GREAT ON THIS!!!

BUT..... at the same time - don't forget this is just the first run at the midterm.  LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES!!  You will have the opportunity next week to retake it.

Thursday December 17th - Light independent reactions / Photosynthesis wrap up.

Today we walked through the book work and I went into some details about the light INDEPENDENT reaction (also known as the dark reaction).

I gave you the book pages to look over since this can be a very tough subject to wrap your brains around!!  We started with these daily questions.


We reviewed the steps of the light dependent reaction and the splitting of water to release Oxygen gas and Hydrogen ions.

 Next up..... Producing SUGAR - Glucose.  Using the following book page we worked through the light independent reaction.

 Finally, I had you write the following wrap up slide in your notes.

Tuesday and Wednesday December 15th and 16th

Tuesday we continued with Photosynthesis and used our pop it bead models to work through the first stage of photosynthesis.

Here is a rundown of the days daily questions, notes and activities

Notes and pics of the activity:

 

This was an INCREDIBLY important step during photosynthesis for two reasons.
#1.  It released the oxygen gas that we need to breathe.
#2.  It helps to power the creation of ATP by adding a phosphate group on the ADP.  This is going to help fuel the NEXT stage of photosynthesis.

Energy from the Sun - Causes electrons to get excited - Water that has entered via the roots.... Gets Split apart......(see next picture)

The Hydrogen ions are then pumped through different photosystems but what WE really care about is that each oxygen binds with one OTHER oxygen to create O2 (molecular oxygen that we breath) which is then released into the atmosphere)

DURING this time - Two energy carriers are created.  Remember.... Energy is STORED in chemical bonds and RELEASED when bonds are broken.  We used out brightly colored beads to represent our energy molecules:

NADP and ADP are in the chloroplast already.

Another Phosphate is Added to ADP to create ATP.

A Hydrogen ion is added to NADP to create NADPH

 These two energy  molecules are what will fuel that second state of photosynthesis.

Wednesday you went through the book and filled out a directed reading about the light dependent reactions.

Photosynthesis and..... Sorry for being a slacker!!!

It's been a while since I have posted!! It's been a busy couple weeks and I haven't done a great job at keeping up on the blog!!

We've had a couple daily questions since the start of this unit

Most of our discussion so far has been based on the book work.  Make sure you stay updated on that!!

Today, after finishing our discussion on the book work, we did manage to get a couple more slides down in our notes:

 Tomorrow we will dive right into Photosynthesis!!

Cell Transport Daily Quiz and Practice Exam

Cell Transport Daily Question Quiz

2nd - Study Island Practice Test!!!