Pika Boo

[BOW] What Would YOU Do?

2012-01-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

If you were in charge of protecting the US from viruses like Ebola what safeguards would you put in place? Explain your reasoning.

First thing's first is to inform the nation of this serious disease to raise awareness of contagious things or activities. Be sure to include the symptoms, to scare them for maximum effect. Include some advice like avoid eating raw meat, don't touch anyone's bodily fluids, wear a face mask (Ebola can spread through air), don't go to hotels, etc. This will support people being cautious of Ebola.

Next, we need to keep track of who's gotten the disease. This way, we can put them in quarantine so they don't infect others by wandering around or puking on doctor's faces.

From the victims who are already dead, we need to safely send blood or other DNA samples to a Virus Specialist Center for investigation and info about Ebola.

We will tell scientists to quickly develop a vaccine for this condition, ASAP. It's serious.

[BOW] Dominant and Recessive Alleles.

2012-01-12T14:22:00.000-08:00

What are dominant and recessive alleles?

For a genetic trait, one only needs to have one dominant allele for the trait to show. For a recessive allele, there must be a two of them to be expressed over the dominant allele.

Examples?

A dominant allele would be brown eyes.

A recessive allele would be blue eyes.

References:
http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/295258/295258,1300200863,2/stock-vector-vector-cartoon-illustration-of-a-cute-pug-puppy-dog-with-really-big-brown-eyes-73211188.jpg
http://cdn2.mixrmedia.com/wp-uploads/wirebot/blog/2010/10/mew_2.jpg

[BOW] Photosynthesis

2012-01-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

How does photosynthesis help plants make sugar?

In photosynthesis, chlorophyll in plants' leaves need 6 carbon dioxide molecules (6CO2) and 12 water molecules (12 H2O) to start the process.With light, the carbon dioxide and water molecules are converted into oxygen, water, and glucose. Glucose is also sugar, which plants need for energy and food. In this way, photosynthesis helps plants make sugar.

References:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/pix/photosynthesis_equation.jpg

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7569534_photosynthesis-plant.html

[BOW] Biology and Fooood!

2011-12-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

Pickles

Things needed:

3-4 cucumbers

Several Jars+ their lids

clear vinegar

packet of pickling mix

pot

water

1. Get 3-4 cucumbers in dark green color with lots of warts! These are the crisp, pickling cucumbers. Wash the cucumbers thoroughly. Cut about 1cm off from each end and continue cutting horizontally or vertically (however you prefer). Set aside.

2. Sanitize the jars and its caps by placing it in a pot of boiling water.

3. Mix 0.95 liters of vinegar with a packet of pickling mix in a pot and set to near boil.

4. Place the pickles in the sterilized jars. Using a funnel, pour the vinegar and pickling mix the pickle jars.

5. Place the sterilized lids in the jars and seal tight. Boil the sealed jars for about 5 minutes.

How does fermentation cook food?

Fermentation only works in an anaerobic environment most of the time. Fungi and bacteria carry out fermentation by using the oxidation-reduction process, a series of chemical reactions. It converts carbohydrates into organic juices, alcohols, and other compounds.

References:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2062888_make-pickles.html
http://www.pickyourown.org/makingpickles.htm

[BOW] Osmosis Jones

2011-12-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

Similarities:
-The white blood cells protect our bodies from diseases by fighting their cells.
-If a virus is in your body, it waits to become activated and attack like the Red Death
-The white blood cell diffuses through blood to other body part to attack enemy cells

Differences:
-There are no towns in your body, nor are there buildings.
-There should be a ton of more white blood cells in Frank's body; in a normal human body there should be 7,000-10,000 white blood cells but in Frank's body there are not enough white blood cells to be seen.
-Cells don't drive in a normal human body

[BOW] Benefits of Fungi.

2011-12-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

<--- the cutest mushroom I've ever seen in my life.

So now, moving on.

Here are some benefits of fungi :)

-Fungi decompose and break down dead organic matter and therefore returns nutrients into the soil, which benefits many other living things.

-Fungi also breaks down wastes in fermentation. Fermentation is used to make cheese, which many people love. In fermentation, yeast breaks down sugars and produces alcohol as a waste product. Fermentation also produces ethanol, acids, and biological detergents.

-Fungi are the bases of many medicine because of the miraculous anbiotic properties of pencillin.

-Many species of mushrooms (though not as cute as the one above) are edible and are a good food source. Yeast is used to make bread rise.

[BOW] Epidemics.

2011-12-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

H>C and S>D should be high, especially the S>D so that the sick can infect more people and kill them, which is our goal :)

The number of Runs was 50, so the carrier can contagionize more people.

The I>H needs to be kept low because we don't want immune people; we want dead people.

With these properties, everyone died.

[BOW] The Hot Zone

2011-11-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is a nonfiction scientific novel.

I think that The Hot Zone is more gory than playing Black Ops, mostly due to the fact that it's taken place in our reality. The symptoms that the virus gave to it's host made me twitch a little bit.

It fascinates me how the medical world is actually a lot more serious than it seems and how fast viruses spread. The doctors could catch diseases from their patients, and just sitting on the same plane ride as ill people could kill you. Just reading a few chapters of The Hot Zone makes me more aware of contact with other people and things.
Scary :(

References:
http://agoodstoppingpoint.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/the-hot-zone1.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UKDgoS6fs18/TOqJgI5qs8I/AAAAAAAABMk/_EjP64X0Eyo/s1600/dramatic-chipmunk.gif

[BOW] Viruses

2011-11-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

How can a vaccination stop viruses?
Vaccinations are a dead, inactive form of the virus, bacteria, or toxin which purpose is to prepare the body to defend itself when the actual virus comes. So, when the virus attacks, the body's immune system is ready to kill the virus.

References:
http://www.wisegeek.com/how-does-a-vaccine-work.htm
http://www.prisonplanet.com/images/november2007/151107vaccine.jpg

[BOW] Highest Rate of Diffusion

2011-11-14T10:23:00.000-08:00

What shape (radius, villi and dimples) and size allow a cell to have the highest rate of diffusion?

The smaller the radius of the cell, the higher the rate of diffusion. However, a bigger cell shape increases rate of diffusion. The amount of villi and dimples do not matter in the rate of diffusion.

References:
http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/biolink/j_explorations/ch02expl.htm

[BOW] Cell Movement Examples

2011-10-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

Diffusion: the spreading of something more widely
Ex: The sickening scent of cigarette smoke spreads through the air.

Video:

Facilitated diffusion: a passive movement that does not require energy like ATP or carrier proteins
Ex: sodium ions go through facilitated diffusion

Video:

Active transport: the movement of a chemical substance through a gradient of concentration in the direction opposite to
Ex: Fish gills have cells that remove salt from the body by pumping it into the salt water

Video:

Osmosis: the tendency of a fluid to pass through a semipermeable membrane into a solution where the solvent concentration is higher.
ex: when you put salt on a slug, water diffuses the slug and causes it to shrivel up

Video:

endocytosis: the process in which the cell takes in materials from the outside and fusing them with its plasma membrane
ex: skeletal muscle cells taking in neurotransmitters

Video:

REFERENCES
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/diffusion
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080917074441AAXTAsL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STzOiRqzzL4
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/osmosis
http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Endocytosis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitated_diffusion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXJMBgyT_hk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV4PgZDRTQw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdiJtDRJQEc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gLtk8Yc1Zc

[BOW] Same Object, Different Microscopes

2011-10-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

Grasshopper scanned under compound light microscope.

Grasshopper scanned under electron microscope.

Neuron cell scanned under compound light microscope.

Neuron cell scanned under electron microscope.

E. coli scanned with compound light microscope.

E coli scanned through electron microscope.

Red blood cells scanned with compound light microscope.

Red blood cells scanned through electron microscope.

Plant cells scanned through compound light microscope.

Plant cell scanned through electron microscope.

Pros and Cons of...
Compound light microscope:
Pros--easy to use, inexpensive
con-- limited magnification
Electron microscope:
pros-- better magnification and resolution, can view organelles
con-- cells have to be dead in order to view, more expensive than compound light microscope

http://www.ehow.com/info_7852716_pros-cons-light-microscope.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_microscope
ALL PICTURES WERE FOUND ON GOOGLE IMAGES.

[BOW] Three Different Types of Cells

2011-10-19T14:15:00.000-07:00

A neuron is an electrically charged cell that uses electrical and chemical signalling to transfer information. When neurons bond with each other, they form networks. Neurons are specifically found in the nervous systems of most animals. Neurons stop reproducing after birth, so some parts of the brain have more neurons at birth than later in life because neurons are not replaced when they die.

A myocyte is the type of cells you find in muscles. Each myocyte contains very long chains of sacromeres known as myofibrils. There are cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle myocytes. Cardiac myocytes are responsible for igniting the electrical impulses that control the heart rate.

Sperm cells are the male reproductive cells, found in most plants and animals. All sperm cells that meet with an egg of a female grows into a new organism. Without the sperm cell, no plants or animals would be here in existence.

All of these cells are formed from other cells, are the basic structure and function of living things, and exist in all living things.

[BOW] Five Major Nutrients + their properties.

2011-10-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the body.

Many of the body's processes, including chemical reactions, take place in water.
And is crucial for transporting oxygen in blood, because blood is 95% water.

Fats, or lipids help regulate body temperature and essentially reserves energy. Because some vitamins are fat soluble, you need fats to absorb some vitamins.

Proteins carry out many functions in the body including growth and repair, signaling from one cell to another, and defense against diseases.

Vitamins are required as co-factors involved in chemical reactions and other body processes. The absence of various vitamins in our body can result in diseases such as scurvy, for example.

Minerals help your body grow, develop, and stay healthy. They can also strengthen bone and teeth structure, fluid and acid-base balance, and nerve cell transmission.

REFERENCES:
http://www.milk.co.uk/page.aspx?intPageID=130
http://importanceofwater.org/
ALL PICTURES WERE TAKEN FROM GOOGLE IMAGES
https://www.google.com/search?q=google+images&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=2144&bih=1126&sei=%20ggiqTpHONKOGiQKj6fTlCg#um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=this+is+where+you+type+what+you+are+searching+for&pbx=1&oq=this+is+where+you+type+what+you+are+searching+for&aq=f&aqi=&aql=1&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=6339l17740l0l18836l59l57l5l41l45l0l192l1444l2.9l11l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=6b02ea1a9242e7cd&biw=2144&bih=1126

2011-09-21T16:38:00.001-07:00

The first step of the scientific method is to question. After a question is formed, a hypothesis naturally follows. The next step is to design an experiment that will test your hypothesis and conclude results. A proper experiment should have a control group, an independent variable, and a dependent variable. Once you have finished planning your experiment, you carry out your experiment and collect data. From your data, you should be able to draw conclusions and decide whether your hypothesis was supported or not supported. Then you share your results and spread new information :)
observation- an act or instance of noticing something
hypothesis- a proposition, or a set of propositions, set as an explanation for a question
variable- something that can be changed, or monitored, in an experiment
independent variable- a variable that can be changed in an experiment
dependent variable- a variable who's value depends on another variable
inference- a prediction based on a set of observations
data-information gathered from experimenting
communication- the imparting or exchanging of news or information
experiment-a scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, prove a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact

2011-09-21T10:27:00.001-07:00

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