Days 40-45: I need to keep up with my blog…

Hey guys. Sorry things have been really crazy outside of the classroom, and inside the classroom too. So here's a brief overview of the last five classes.

Day 40: The Systems

We did stuff about different organ systems. I don't really remember much, but I think we also did a little thing on enzymes.

Day 41: Jello!!!

We did a lab with jello. Unfortunately, we couldn't eat the jello because we added inedible things to it. I definitely didn't want to digest HCl. My fabulous lab partner Michelle and I tested the effects of pH on the enzyme bromeliad which we added to the jello (pineapple juice). Bromelain, when active, breaks down gelatin. We were testing which pH levels bromeliad was active in. For more information, here's the link to my lab report.

http://bewarethebiology.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-effects-of-ph-on-enzyme-bromelain.html

Day 42: The Life of a Bagel

We went through the digestive system, somewhat literally. The class basically role-played the digestive system starting from the mouth and ending at the rectum. There was a bagel involved and it kind of got squishier and squishier as the day went on. I honestly don't know how to describe this without making it sound weird so I'm just going to leave it at that. 

So yeah, we learned about the digestive system.

Day 43: Cell Respiration

If I was a cell, I wouldn't know how to breathe because cell respiration is the most complicated thing I've ever had to learn. There are three parts to it: glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and chemiosmosis. And somehow, lots of ATP forms from all that. All of this happens in the mitochondria. 

Actually, glycolysis happens near the mitochondria in the cytoplasm of the cell. It's the getting ready step where a six carbon molecule joins with two phosphates and then splits into 2 three carbon molecules with one phosphate. Those go into the mitochondria and something happens with CoA that's like the misstep. It loses a carbon and releases CO2. 

Then the Krebs cycle happens and it's all a blur from there. Lot's of hydrogens. At some point there's six carbons again. CO2 pops up in some places. In the end, there's a 4 carbon molecule that goes back to the 2 carbon molecule entering the mitochondria and the whole thing happens over again. 

Chemiosmosis is when most of the ATP is made. It's kind of like a bouncy house where the electrons bounce through the protein of the inner membrane of the matrix. There's a lot of ATPs and a lot of hydrogens outside the matrix, which causes chemiosomosis to occur making the hydrogens equal in the matrix and inter membrane space. 

Day 44: T'was the day after February Break

It was one of those days. Do I remember what happened exactly? No. This might have been the day of the yeast lab, which went horribly because nothing came out right, but we were testing cel respiration in different pH levels and we did not get the predicted results because everything went to poop. And we had a test the next class!

Day 45: Hello, I am dead. Nice to meet you. 

As the title says, I'm dead. You're speaking with me from the abyss of all those who have failed their biology test. It was awful. I couldn't remember everything that I understood and I the amount of stuff I understood about cell respiration, even after the review sessions, PowerPoints, and many Google searches and animations, I did not get it. Well, life goes on I guess. 

So those were the past few class days. I'll be better at posting things more frequently. 

Until next time.