Egg Macromolecules Lab

In this egg lab we asked the question, "Can macromolecules be identified in an egg cell?"
In the egg membrane, we identified macromolecule that could be found. One of the macromolecules we found was protein. We know there was protein because the egg membrane turned light purple. We also learned in class that proteins are in cell membranes because they let things in and out of the cell. This evidence supports the claim that a macromolecule could be identified because we identified protein when the membrane turned light purple, and because of the information we learned in class.
In an egg white, we also identified a macromolecule. We found lipids. We know there were lipids because the egg white turned to a bright orange. In class, we learned lipids are in the cytoplasm, or egg white, of the cell, because lipids hold a lot of energy and are also in mitochondria, which are also in the cytoplasm, or egg white, of the cell. This evidence supports our claim because we identified lipids when the egg white turned bright orange, and because of the information we learned in class.
In the egg yolk, we identified monosaccharides. We know there were monosaccharides because the egg yolk turned from blue to green. We also learned in class that monosaccharides are in the cell nucleus, or egg yolk, because the chain of monosaccharides allows the nucleus to receive energy and get rid of waste. This evidence supports our claim because we identified monosaccharides in the egg yolk when the yolk turned from blue to green, and because of the information we learned in class.
One possible error we had was that when we were putting the egg yolk in a beaker, we accidentally put some egg white in there with it. This could have effected our data because when we were testing the egg yolk for certain macromolecules, we could have found certain macromolecules that are only in the egg white and thought it was in the egg yolk, too.
A second possible error we made was not cleaning the cell membrane. When we tested it, the membrane still had egg white on it. This could have effected our data because when we were testing the egg membrane for certain macromolecules, we could have found certain macromolecules that are only in the egg white and thought it was in the egg membrane, too. Two possible fixes for these problems are to be more careful while pouring the egg yolk into a beaker, and to clean the egg membrane.
The purpose of this lab was to find which macromolecules were in which parts of the cell. This relates to what we learned in class because we learned a lot about what macromolecule was in each part of the cell. This information could be used in other ways that finding out what macromolecules were in the egg. We could use this data to find out what other macromolecules are in other foods we ate, how much of the macromolecule is in the food, and to create a better diet.

Inquiry Hour Blog Post 1.2: Generating questions

One of the questions I am most interested in is, "What makes us human?" This is an interesting question because many animals have similar traits as humans, yet they do not not create and destroy things nearly as much as we do. A possible hypothesis to help answer this question is "If the mastery of fire makes us human, then teaching another animal to make fire will help it to advance to human levels of intellect."
Here is a list of twenty questions that I am interested in:

1. Why is the sky blue?
2. Why do we see colors?
3. Why do boomerangs come back?
4. Why don't spiders stick to their webs? 
5. Why are flamingos pink?
6. What happens when you faint?
7. Why do bruises change colors?
8. Why do people go bald?
9. Why do men grow facial hair?
10. Why do things fade in the sun?
11. Why does black heat up in the sun faster?
12. How do glasses work?
13. How do contacts work?
14. Why do things look darker when they are wet?
15. How does hair know when to stop growing?
16. Why does your stomach make noises?
17. Why do I have to use a number 2 pencil?
18. Why am I upside-down when I look in a spoon?
19. Do plants get cancer?
20. Why are we ticklish?

Unit 2 Reflection

This unit was about an introduction to chemistry for biologists. We learned a lot about the anatomy of an atom, learning about the positiveness of protons and how electrons circled around the atom's nucleus, able to be shared or taken from other atoms and/or elements. Things like this was the easiest for me to learn about, mainly because I had already learned and memorized their functions and structure in eighth grade. I also knew a little about macromolecules, such as carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acid, and proteins, but I did not know nearly as many details as what was taught in class. We learned about how carbs can join together to form rings. Monosaccharides have one rings, disaccharides have two rings, and polysaccharides have three or more.
Lipids make up cell membranes and are used to make hormones and for energy storage. Lipids break bonds between carbon and hydrogen to get energy when glucose is running low.
Proteins are large molecules made of smaller molecules called amino acids. There are two types of proteins. Structural proteins are the building blocks of bodies. Some examples of structural proteins are hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in blood, muscle proteins, which make up muscles, and collagen, which is the most abundant protein in your body. It is in skin, tendons, cartilage, bone, and more.
Enzymes are the other type proteins. Enzymes make chemical reactions happen; they break molecules apart or pule molecules together.
I want to learn more about disease in the body, how it is treated, and what happens when it is not.

Cheese Lab Conclusion

In this lab, we asked the question, “What are the optimal conditions and curdling agents for making cheese?” We found chymosin and rennin the best curdling agents. Our evidence for this is that we found that 0.25 mL of lemon juice in chymosin and rennin in hot water were the best curdling agents. These three agents curdled the fastest, for they curdled in five minutes.

One error that we had is that we could not watch the test tubes all the time; we only checked in on them every five minutes. This could effect our data because some of the agents might have curdled faster than five minutes, but we will not know because we only saw the amount of curdling after five minutes. A second possible error could be that we did not have the perfect amount of lemon juice in the test tube. This could effect our data because it would change the speed that the substance in the tube curdled.To improve these errors, we could check the test tubes more often and get more precise droppers.

The purpose of this lab was to understand enzymes more and how they affected the curdling process. In the lab, I learned more about denaturing enzymes, which is also something I learned in class. Learning how enzymes can be sped up or denatured could come in handy in preserving food and understanding why we use refrigerators.

Class Data
Curling Agent	Chymosin	Rennin	Buttermilk	Milk (control)
Acid	5	5
Base
Cold
Hot	5	10
Temp Control	15	15
pH Control	15	10

Sweetness Labs

The question provided in this lab was, "how does the structure of a carbohydrate affect its taste (sweetness)?" We found that monosaccharides were the sweetest, disaccharides were the second sweetest, and polysaccharides were the least sweet. On average, the sweetness level of monosaccharides was 95, while disaccharides was 66, and polysaccharides was 9. This evidence shows the levels of sweetness and which saccharides are the sweetest.

Carbohydrate structure affects how cells use them. More rings in a structure would hold more sugar and energy, and less rings would hold less sugar. There are three reasons why the sugars would taste different for different people. First of all, some people have more papillae, meaning they are more sensitive to tasting certain things. Also, some people have certain genes, probably arising from evolutionary pressure in different parts of the world, which detect bitter tastes more highly. Lastly, the nose is also involved in tasting. Because our noses detect smells slightly differently and some of us could not have smelt the sugar before we tasted it, the sugar could taste different to different people.
People having different amounts of papillae is the number one reason why we would think certain things are sweeter or more bitter than other people.

Identifying Questions and Hypotheses

The experiment I found was asked if increasing daily coffee consumption reduced type 2 diabetes risk. The hypothesis was similar to if people who increased the amount of coffee they drank by more than one cup over a four year period had a lower risk for type 2 diabetes, then increasing coffee intake helps reduce type 2 diabetes risk. Previous studies had shown that higher coffee consumption was associated with lower type 2 diabetes. At the end of the experiment, they found this was a true statement, for those people had an 11% lower risk for getting type 2 diabetes.

Original Study: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/increasing-daily-coffee-intake-may-reduce-type-2-diabetes-risk/

Biology Collage