Claire Smerdon's Science Blog

            Before reading Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to all Creatures , I knew vaguely about the concepts of asexual and sexual reproduction. I could recount that asexual was with one partner while sexual was with two. Questions flowed through my mind: But why would an organism conduct asexual reproduction? How does that even begin to happen?             After reading, I discovered asexual reproduction has quite the list of advantages: it's easy, it's fast, no mate or date, and it enables organisms to make a lot of offsping. There's the added bonus of having thousands upon millions of you. Yet there is one costly disadvantage that defeats most asexual species, species are more prone to extinction. Because everyone is like you, your species can not adapt to its enviornment; there are no mutated organisms that will survive.               On the flip side, sexual reproduction helps counter his threat. In addition, mutations may become positive and in the long run, positi

       In this unit, we learned about the structure, function, processes, etc. of cells. We delved into photosynthesis and cellular respiration. We learned how cells came to be and the discovery of cells. We even observed and identified cells! We understood how essential each organelle is and how they help the cell.        Some setbacks I faced was understanding how some of the molecules factor in. I overcame the setback by asking questions, watching the vodcast, reading the textbook and watching Khan Academy to accumulate different perspectives. A strength for me was understanding photosynthesis and being able to explain it well. In the micro organism lab, Nakul and I found a system that helped us become more efficient with our time.        I'm a better student today because to tart off, I'm more intelligent. A week ago, I would've explained as photosynthesis making food for themselves which is sugar with the ingredients of carbon dioxide, sunlight, water, and nutrients

In this lab, I asked the question of what light intensity on a scale of 0-50 will be most effective in producing oxygen. My hypothesis is that if plants need substantial sunlight, then 40 (80%) will be the most effective. My constants were the type of light (white), amount of carbon dioxide, temperature (10 degrees fahrenheit) and time (20 seconds). My dependent variable is the intensity of light. My independent variable is the amount of oxygen bubbles. My control is the intensity of 0. Light Intensity of 0 (0%) Light Intensity of 10 (20%) Light Intensity of 20 (40%) Light Intensity of 30 (60%) Light Intensity of 40 (80%) Light Intensity of 50 (100%) Amount of bubbles per 20 seconds 0 2 3 4 4 4 I found that my hypothesis was supported, however, the light intensity of 40 and 50 scored the same. They all produced 4 bubbles of oxygen in 20 seconds. Light is well-known as a necessary part in the process of photosynthesis, as stated in our vodcasts and t

Ligustrum Power: 400x This cell is unique because of its immense amount of intercellular space. This slide of ligustrum has its vein in the middle, while other examples tend to have its vein against the lower epidermis cell. It's eukaryotic and an autotroph. Amoeba Power: 400x This cell is unique because it doesn't have a clear boundary line at 400x while the other cells we looked at do. Different amoebas come in different colors, however, it could be the dyes. If so, the next question is why does one dye turn different amoebas different colors. Amoeba is eukaryotic and a heterotroph.  Spirogyra Power: 400x This cell is unique because its shape is long and skinny. In addition, most of its central vacuole takes up its space. It's chloroplasts are very visable on this side, as they are the black dots. It's eukaryotic and an autotroph.  Muscle tissue Power: 400x The muscle tissue is unique as it's polynucleui, meaning it has mor

In our egg diffusion, we diffused the shell of the eggs and observed how osmosis effected the eggs. We put one egg in sugar water and the other egg in deionized water. In the sugar water, the egg was hypertonic. It shrunk with a -42.17% change in mass, going from high concentration to low concentration, and had a -19.67% change in circumference. There is more solute outside the cell and more solvent inside the cell. The solvent tries to balance it by putting more solvent outside the cell, shrinking it. The egg wants to maintain equilibrium, and in doing so, it has to have equal solute inside and outside. When the egg was placed in the vinegar, not only did the shell dissolve, leaving the membrane, but it shrunk with the increase of salt. When it was put into water, the water diffused, a type of passive diffusion, into the egg, enlarging it. After being put into salt, it shrunk. This lab demontrates diffusion, highlighting hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic. the egg clearly show

In this lab we asked the question of what can macromolecules be identified in an egg cell. In the egg yolk, we hypothesized that if the yolk is the cell of the egg, then all macromolecules will be found in it. We hypothesized if lipids are in all membranes, then they will be in the egg membrane. Our hypothesis for the egg white was if egg whites are food for baby chicks, then protein will be in the egg white. We found that the egg yolk had monosaccharides, polysaccharides, protein and lipids. It had a score of eight for monosaccharides with an orangey-yellow hue. For polysaccharides it scored five. Its color was a dark brown. We discovered that proteins have a smaller presence with a score of three. This time it was dark blue to black. The lipid test revealed a score of six with an orange tint. In the egg membrane, we found every macromolecule, but only a small amount of monosaccharides and protein. For monosaccharides, it scored a mere two with a blue tint. In the polysaccharide t