Saturday, October 27, 2012

What's coming up next in the world of bio?!?!?!

The next chapter we will be going through is on the structure/function of the cell membrane and cellular transport.  Here are the areas of the keystone exam we will be covering
To get a sneak peak at this weeks content - check out the video below.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Monday and Tuesday Daily Questions


 Daily Questions 
Monday October 22nd
I look under a microscope and see rigid cell walls and green structures inside cells.  Because of this what can I infer about the cell?
 That it is most likely a plant cell.  Just the presence of a cell wall does not automatically make it a plant cell because bacteria also have cell walls.  The presence of the chloroplast does that indicate that it is a plant cell.

Some disorders are caused by a lack of lysosomes in the cells of a particular tissue, what would result from this? (what would happen in the cell?)
 Since lysosomes aid in breaking down cellular "junk" and removing it from the cell the lack of those would cause a build up of wastes and the cell would become "toxic"

If the golgi apparatus was out of order in a cell, what would the direct result of that be regarding protein production and transportation?

Since the golgi apparatus is responsible for putting finishing touches on proteins that were made in the rough endoplasmic reticulum, it these were out of order protein that were meant to be shipped out of the cell would not.

Tuesday October 23rd
A Scientist observed a protein that had been processed in the endoplasmic reticulum of a cell and then entered the cytoplasm.  Where will the protein most likely go next?
       A. It will move to a ribosomes that will release it outside the cell
     B.   It will move to a ribosomes to be packaged in a vesicle for transport
     C.   It will move to a golgi apparatus that will then release it outside the cell
       D.  It will move to a golgi apparatus to be packaged in a vesicle for transport
Which statement BEST describes the role that is common to chloroplasts and mitochondria in plant cells?
     A.The both use light to produce energy
      B They both are involved in protein synthesis
     C.They both convert organic compounds into ATP
     D. They both are involved in energy transformations
Which structure and function are common to both prokaryotes and eukaryotes?
     A.Mitochondria that generate usable energy for the cell
     B.Mitochondria that control what enters and exits the cell
     C. A cell membrane that generates usable energy for a cell
    D. A cell membrane that controls what enters and exits a cell
Ribosomal subunits made of protein and Ribosomal RNA are assembled within the nucleus.  To which organelle will these ribosomal subunits MOST LIKELY be transported?
    A.Vacuole      B.  Mitochondria      C.  Golgi apparatus       D.  Endoplasmic Reticulum
Which feature is common to all prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms?
a. Endoplasmic reticulum that stores fat reserves
b. Ribosomes that produce complex carbohydrates
c. Nucleic acids that code for genetic characteristics
d. Mitochondria that are sites for cellular respiration.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Organelles Wrap Up

We started with daily questions from older material (on the introduction to cells and the cell theory)
Thursday October 18th

The cell is the basic unit of Structure & Function in all living organisms.
The human body has about 200 different types of cells with VERY different functions.  What determines the function of a liver cell compared to a kidney cell? The structure of the cell.  Remember, all cells have similar structures found in them but they look incredibly different because they have incredibly different functions.  Below are some pictures of different eukaryotic cells.
Liver Cells



Kidney Cells
Lung Cells
 See how each of these cells have VERY different strcutres because they have VERY different functions!!




The main difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells is the presence or absence of what? A nucleus.  The term prokaryotic literally means "Before Nucleus" or "Before Kernel" because have no nucleus and they are much more primitive than Eukaryotic cells.  Eukaryotic literally means "True Kernel/Nucleus" because it DOES contain a nucleus.What are three features of a cell that are common to both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells?While prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells are very different, they ALL contain DNA, are enclosed in a cell membrane, are filled with cytoplasm and contain ribosomes

After this we had a brief discussion on the organelles and we answer the following two questions together as a class.

The structures found in a living cell can be compared to the parts of a factory that produces cars. Which part of the factory is most similar to the nucleus of a living cell?
(1) a conveyor belt that transports materials (Incorrect - that would describe either the endoplasmic reticulum or the golgi apparatus which transports proteins)
(2) a storage bin that holds the pieces needed to assemble a car (Incorrect - that would by the vacuoles)
(3) the computer room that controls the assembly process - Correct!!!  Since the Nucleus stores the DNA, it basically is in charge of EVERYTHING that happens in the cell!
(4) the generator that provides energy for the factory (incorrect - The generator would be the mitochondria which converts organic molecules into usable energy.)

Certain poisons are toxic to organisms because they interfere with the function of enzymes in mitochondria. This results directly in the inability of the cell to
(1)  store information (Nope - information is store in the nucleus)
(2)  build proteins (Nope - Proteins are built in the ribosomes)
(3)  release energy from nutrients (DING DING DING!!! That is correct!)
(4)  dispose of metabolic wastes (nope - that happens in the lysosomes!)
After this I passed out a worksheet that first made you match up organelles with their functions and then started to apply the function of those organelles with different disorders.  Using the examples I have done in class, i asked you to choose the correct answer AND tell me what is wrong about all the other statements!
DAILY QUESTION QUIZ TOMORROW!!!!!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Cell Structure and Function

Well it has been a WHILE since I have posted on here guys!!!  We are full force into our chapter on cell structure and function.  You have all the notes you need on the cell theory, the two types of cells (prokaryotic and Eukaryotic) as well as the different organelles and their functions.  We will spend a little more time going over these different organelles and how they all work together to make a cell run.

We did have daily questions today and last wednesday.


Wednesday October 17th

These groups of cells represent different
(1) tissues in which similar cells function together
(2) organs that help to carry out a specific life activity
(3) systems that are responsible for a specific life activity
(4) organelles that carry out different functions

Which sequence lists the levels of organization in the human body from simplest to most complex?
(1) organ system >tissue >cell >organ
(2) tissue >cell >organ >organ system
(3) organ >organ system >tissue >cell
(4) cell >tissue >organ >organ system

Tissue is composed of a group of
(1) similar cells working together
(2) different organs working together
(3) organ systems working together
(4) nuclei in a cell working together

Humans require organ systems to carry out life
processes. Single-celled organisms do not have
organ systems and yet they are able to carry out
life processes. This is because
(1)  human organ systems lack the organelles found in single-celled organisms
(2)  a human cell is more efficient than the cell of a single-celled organism
(3)  it is not necessary for single-celled organisms to maintain homeostasis
(4)  organelles present in single-celled organisms act in a manner similar to organ systems

Wednesday October 10th
If a cell is like a city, what part of the cell would be the: 
“control center” - The Nucleus
“Recycling Center” - The Lysosomes
“Post Office” - The Golgi Apparatus