Week Twelve

This week was a bit short. We had a shortened period and started our project in class. On Monday, we saw a video on how small we are compared to the universe. This represented how everything is part of something bigger and DNA is just a small section of a human.
atoms->molecules->a/t/g/c->base pair->codon->gene->strand->double helix->chromosome
We then wrote a cell analogy. Mine was to how a cell was/is like a household.
A cell is like a household because the parts function the same and have the same purposes. The kids who live there are like the ribosomes because they make everything work.The walls are like the cell membrane because it protects the house and is like a skeleton. The parents are like the nucleus because they control everything. The radio acts like mitochondria because it gives us energy. It also helps us keep moving. The love is just like cytoplasm because it holds everything in place. The dog acts like the Golgi apparatus because he sends (chases) everything out of the house that doesn't belong.
The rest of the week we worked on our project, read from the book, and went to the assembly.

Week Eleven

This week we worked on DNA and only DNA. One of the things we worked on was the puzzle analogy. This was that DNA was like a puzzle because only certain "pieces" (adenine to thymine, cytosine to guanine) fit. Not everything fits together to make DNA.
To prove how DNA works we played a simulation type game. Everyone was in the nucleus (the classroom) and had a special job. I was the DNA and I had a code. No one was aloud to take it out of my hands. Next to me was messenger RNA. The RNA then copied my code on another piece of paper and threw it to the next table (ribosomes). They then decoded the message and the transfer RNA got the message and brought it over to other ribosomes. They then built the protein with the given materials. What just happened was that a protein was built for the cell.
messenger Ribonucleic Acid : get code from DNA and bring to ribosomes
transfer Ribonucleic Acid : moves around to get materials
This whole simulation shows how DNA and RNA work.
RNA is the half of a DNA. Instead of A to T, its A to Uracil. Although they are different, they're both made of amino acids and are inside the nucleus.

Week Ten

This week we finished up respiration and photosynthesis. We also started(and ended) fermentation, and started DNA.

We discovered that the products for respiration are the reactants for photosynthesis and the reactants for photosynthesis are the products for respiration. We then drew a chart that shows how plants are a recycling system.

We now know that anaerobic, or fermentation, means respiration with out oxygen. "A" means without and "aero" means air, anaerobic. We did an experiment to prove this. We put yeast in sugar water and filled the vile to the top so there is no oxygen. We left it there for a day and checked on it 24 hours later. Some of the water is gone and there is some carbon dioxide bubbles. This experiment was the result of alcohol starting.

DNA was the organelle we strated at the end of the week. It is in the nucleus and controls everything. It stannds for Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid. DNA is just a large molecule with a double helix and base pairs. The back bone is were the sugar is in the DNA.