Frog Dissection

  In science class, we had to dissect a frog to see the internal organs and to understand how the different organs work. We were given a frog, and we had to cut along the mid line of the body. Once we opened the frog, we could see all of the organs the frog had. The frog that we were given was a male, so we didn't have to take out all of the eggs. We had to remove the fat bodies. At first, they were very hard to get them out, but we eventually got all of them. As soon as we got the frog open, we could immediately see organs such as the liver, the heart, and the stomach.
  On the next day, we were able to examine and take out all of the organs in the frog. After we saw all of the organs, we had to know what each of the organ does to help the frog. I think that this was a fun dissection to do and I hope that we are able to do more like these in the future.

Lab Response: As the Stomach Turns

In science class, we did a lab. The purpose of this lab was to see what conditions are needed for the digestion of proteins in the stomach. We needed a lot of supplies for this lab, including a test-tube rack, test-tubes, pepsin, water, cubes of boiled egg whites, and many more. On the first day, we labeled 4 test tubes A, B, C, and D, and put 3 pieces of egg white in each of them. In test-tube A we put pepsin. In test-tube B, we put pepsin and water. On C, we put hydrochloric acid. Finally, we put pepsin and the acid in D. Test-tubes A and B had immediate reactions, while C and D didn't. The litmus colors were purple for A, blue for B, and pink for C and D.
On day two, we saw that nothing happened to A, B had dissolved to the bottom of the test-tube, and nothing much happened to C and D. The litmus colors were all the same. The only difference was that B's color was purple rather than blue.

Lab Response: Chicken Wing Dissection

This week in science class, our teacher dissected a chicken wing. The purpose of dissecting the chicken wing was to see all of the muscles/tissues that was in the chicken and relating  it to our what is in our body and how they help our body move. While my teacher was dissecting, she would call us up and show us the different types of bones and what they classify into. I think that his was a good way to learn and remember about the different bones/tissues/muscles in the body. I hope that we can do something like this again.

Diffusion Lab Quiz

The purpose of this lab was to observe the diffusion of a substance across a semi-permeable membrane. Diffusion is a process by which molecules move from an area to a higher to lower concentration. Also, the lab had an example of osmosis. One prediction that was made was that the concentration (iodine solution) would go through the plastic baggie and change the color of the starch inside of the baggie. The beaker with the concentration in it was more hypertonic than the baggie, which was more hypotonic. Hypertonic means that it is a solution with a greater concentration than another. Hypotonic is the opposite of hypertonic.  

            This procedure was just like a cell. When the starch and the concentration met, the water and concentration were like nutrients to the cell. The starch is the organelles, and the baggie could act as a cell wall. After we put the baggie filled with starch in the concentration, we had to wait fifteen minutes so we could see how the concentration affected the baggie. In the end of the fifteen minutes, the baggie turned purple, when it was originally white.

            This lab had a lot of connections to everyday life. My first example is if you put a juice mix such as Kool-Aid into a glass of water. This is just like when the iodine came in contact with the starch. My second example is a balloon filled with air. Another example is a fire place when it is filled with fire. My last example is when you bake cookies and the smell goes into the air, this is like the lab because the smell is affecting everyone. 

Lab Response

This lab was a very fun experiment. At the very beginning, we had to put on safety goggles. First we had to fill our plastic baggies with water and starch. After we tied the baggies around, we had to fill our beaker with concentrate and water. Then we put the baggies in the the beaker. At first, the color of the bag was white and the color of the beaker was tan. After fifteen minutes, the bag turned kind of purple. This lab is very fun so far and I hope that we could do something like this again.

Blog 6: Square seeks to replace cash register with revamped app

My sixth blog entry is about how a new app can possibly replace cash registers. According to the article, once you have signed up for this system, you don't need to carry a credit card. It can only work at the retailers who use this. Since the store has to use this system, the company is now encouraging stores to use this system. In my opinion, I think that this is a very good idea. The inventor of this system said, "We want to make paying with your credit card even more magical," he said. "We want to take away all of this clutter, all of the paper, all of the mess." I believe that if a lot of stores and companies use this kind of system, it could save some people a lot of time. 


Here is the link to the article: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/05/23/square/index.html

Blog 5: In a Changing Antarctica, Some Penguins Thrive as Others Suffer

For my 5^th blog entry, I chose to write about penguins and how the new weather in Antarctica is affecting many of them. They say in the article that one of the reasons the penguins are getting affected is because of global warming. Since the weather in Antarctica is warming up, the penguins cannot survive in the area. Another statistic in the article says: “The mean winter air temperature of the Western Antarctic Peninsula, one of the most rapidly warming areas on the planet, has risen 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit in the past half-century…” If this is true, the penguins may not last much longer. Another thing is that the warmer weather in this area affects the food chains too. That means that the penguins are running out of resources and the necessities to live.


Here is the link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/science/10penguins.html?ref=science