3/3 Jessica Leussink 14/11/07

What We Did Today!!!

- Looked at the Comparison of Miosis and Mitosis worksheet, Looked at and got answers for the practise quiz (Mitosis/Meiosis Quiz), Looked at Online Meiosis Practice and Karyotyping Exersice, Reviewed Karyotyping and Nondisjunction (Starts on page 455 of your text book), Started the actual Meiosis Quiz (NOTE: Two questions were OMITED, but I think we'll be finishing them later on after we learn the material that goes with it), Recieved a case study Cell Division and Life Cycles, Were assigned the last question on the practise quiz due for tomorrow

Thoughts

The quiz wasn't too hard so if you study it'll be easy. As for the case study, I suggested you use active reading because theres a lot on that page that you may find important or not. It talks about "the reproductive life cycle of plants and how reproductive diversity contributes to the evolution of complex organisms." If you don't understand it, I'm pretty sure he's going to go over it more in depth. Theres pictures of the cycles oo plants and humans on the back side of the page and i thought they were very helpful.

In Addition...

This Karyotyping idea sounds kind of hard, but if you understand the formulas that helps alot.

Audrey Milford Wensday nov.7

What we did: First of all we marked our mitosis quiz.
Then we recived Sexual Cell Reproduction-Meiosis notes.
We went over mostof it with the over head.
You can get the notes in the folder at the front right side of the classroom.
What I thought: I thought that we went over the notes a little to fast, but he said we will go over
meisosi again and again so that is a releif.
I think that mieosis is deffintly harder then mitosis.
Above and Beyond: If you misse this class then my advise would be to really know the stages of
mitosis because meiosis has the same stages, but it happens twice.
No pressure but we have to learn this inside and out, so really ask questions.

Ceanna Mariak: Friday, November 9 (3/3)

Review:

Today we needed to practice our understanding of meiosis and mitosis. So...... Mr.C gave us the task of creating a demo showing both of the processes using props like candy, marshmallows and toothpicks. The organism we modeled had a diploid number of 4. We were to represent the nucleus at all stages, indicate the key activities in each stage and products of each division. We took the class to prepare and present, so we ended up with homework. We were to finish the questions on the back of our assignment sheet, complete the chart handout and read abnormal meiosis on page 454-456 and amniocentesis on page 458.

Thoughts:

During oogenesis I know that four "daughter cells" are produced from the primary oocyte, the first meiotic division produces two cells each with 23 chromosomes, so why does it still undergo another division when only the mature oocyte survives and the other three die as polar bodies anyway? In spermatogenesis it makes sense because all four cells survive so there are larger amounts of sperm. Maybe in oogenesis the mature oocyte needs the nutrients provided by the polar bodies.

Additional:

I wanted to see what meiosis and mitosis looked like in a real cell, I've seen enough cartoons! Also some products of meiosis and mitosis.

Meiosis:

Mitosis

Max's Crazy Useful Blog for November 2nd, 2007- 3/3



What We Did:

We finished our tricky little Reproductive Unit Final Exam in class- only like twenty minutes so I didn't completely finish the written response(curse you Mr. Challoner!). We went over the five stages of Mitosis(think IPMAT people!). We also listened to one of the longest and most convuluted jokes ever, courtesy of good old Challypoo. For those of you who slept through class and need some of the main points about Mitosis(I'm looking at you, Jordan), here you go:

1.Interphase: DNA replication; metabolic activities
2.Prophase: Membrane of nucleus dissolves; chromatin combines through centromeres to become chromosomes; spindles developed at poles of cell
3. Metaphase: Chromosomes come together at cell equator (middle; between spindle fibers at poles);
4. Anaphase: Chromosomes separate(sister chromatids) and migrate to poles(now considered a full chromosome); spindle fibers grow and elongate the cell
5. Telophase: Nuclei begin to develop at each pole; chromatin fibers of chromosomes begin to unravel; cytokinesis(actual splitting of cells) take place

Your Welcome.

Thoughts/ Opinions On Material:

Thank god for that amazing anagram (IPMAT). I don't I ever would have remembered Mitosis without it. Looking at mitosis also gives you an insight into how cancer works. Everyone knows it makes cells mutate and replicate. Oh wait! Mitosis is replication. The more scientists and doctors know about mitosis and how cancer causes it to divide faster while compelling the new cells to have no use, the closer we can get to actually effectively preventing cancer. I also wonder: if we can figure out cancer, like what makes it tick, inside and out, we can possibly use it for good? Like how labs are now "growing" organs for transplant, we could implant "controlled cancer" into a patient whos suffering from heart disease, and allow the bengign cancer to replicate new working heart cells. If we can make cancer our b***h, it would pave a new way to stopping all disease period.

Above and Beyond:

For those of you who still don't get Mitosis(I'm looking at you now, Crabby Patty!) check out this snazzy game:http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/2001/cellcycle.html . I guarantee you'll be hooked. It uses a different system for the phases but still cool. You won't beat it. That's a challenge by the way. If you dig that "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" show, here's something that will appeal(It even gives you hints! Bonus!)http://www.syvum.com/cgi/online/tgamem.cgi/squizzes/biology/mitosis.tdf?0 . And finally, a study guide that lets you know Mitosis like the back of your hand: http://biology.about.com/od/mitosis/a/aa121704a.htm.

Later, you hos.

In today's biology class we...

• we went over yesterdays quiz and discussed the metabolic chemical reactions that take place during mitosis and the characteristics of the stages that occur during the interphase. We also talked about the differentiation between healthy cells and cancerous ones. (Cancerous cells multiply faster and cause problems because they don't perform their functions.)
• Mr. Challoner told me that I was similar to a canceous cell. He said that I am "contagious" to the other "cells" around me. When I talk, (or don't follow through with my duties) I cause other "cells" (classmates) to do the same.
• We went through the crossword puzzle and web with information about the process of mitosis and what happens in each stage.
• We did a quiz that was an overveiw of the mitosis section. It had questions about the different stages of mitosis and questions about cloning and how it is done.
• After the quiz we were asked to read pages 448-449 as an introduction to the next section on Miosis.

November 6th, 2007 Spencer Mousek 3/3 =) (p.s. Sorry for talking all the time)

Jessica Stermanns Blog November 1/07

Today we wrote our final exam on the reproductive system. I found that ¾ of the exam had to do with the female reproductive structures rather than the male. You really need to know your hormones for this test, as well as their functions and targets. In total there were 31 multiple choice questions and about 5 written response. The written response was very similar to what we can expect on our diplomas. There was lots of reading, so make sure you are doing active reading while taking your test. I used a highlighter to help me point out the important parts of the exam. The written response question was all about estrogen mimicking compounds. I researched the topic and I found an interesting article written by Belinda Martineu called Fathead Minnows.

The article is all about male fathead minnows, what happens to them in the presence of estrogen-mimicking compounds can be likened to a sex change. Scientists are checking whether a gene normally turned "on" only in female fathead minnows has, because of exposure to certain estrogen mimicking compounds is becoming unnaturally activated in male fish. The exposure of a male fathead to an estrogen-mimicking for only 24 hours can activate an egg-yolk gene that under normal conditions would never become activated in the wild. Given enough of an estrogenic, a male fathead can become "feminized," exhibiting the easily distinguishable physical and behavioral characteristics of the female of its species. More than a hundred synthetic chemical compounds such as estrogen are known to be capable of interfering with the normal processes of the endocrine systems in fish, birds, reptiles, and mammals.
This phenomenon caused me to think about how this might affect our own species, and me personally. I found my info at http://www.coastandocean.org/coast_spring2006/articles/fathead_minnows_1.htm

Oct.29 // Svenja's Blog // 3/3

What we did today

• finished of the reproductive system
• started Cells, C'somes, and DNA (Unit Learning Objectives)
• made a list of what we know about cells, c'somes and Dna, what we don't know and what we want to know

Thoughts on Material

• I'm glad we finished the reproductive system. I thought it was a really interesting unit but it kind of dragged on and on. I'm interested in learning about cellls, c'somes and DNA because its part of what i plan to do in the future.

Above and Beyond

• Are there any cells in our body that don't contain DNA?

According to Wikipedia there are no cells that don't contain DNA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA)