Unit 2 Reflection

   In this unit, we started to learn about biochemistry, but most importantly carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. There are electrons, protons and neutrons. Electrons are negative, protons are positive and are with the neutron, which has no charge, in the nucleolus. Carbohydrates are sugars that have ring structures of one, two, or three+. Our body breaks the bonds down to get energy. Lipids chains of carbon and hydrogen called fatty acids. They are nonpolar and are used in our body for storage of energy. Proteins are large molecules of smaller molecules named amino acids that are chained together. Proteins are used in our bodies to made into our protein. There also enzymes that are used to speed up chemical reactions. Enzymes turn substrates(molecule enzyme works on) into products by attaching with them at the active site. Enzymes work best where it is not too acidic or basic and also where it is not too cold or warm. Lastly, we learned about nucleic acids. These are composed of nitrogen, phosphate, and sugar. These make our DNA(two strands) or RNA(one strand).

  In the labs, we furthered our understandings of the concepts in unit 2.  We did the Cheese Lab, which furthered our understandings on how enzymes' functions are effected by temperature or pH and the curdling agent. From this lab, we learned that for making cheese, the best conditions were a warm and acidic environment. We also preformed the Sweetness Lab, which taught us about how the number of rings a carbohydrates has affects the sweetness of the carbohydrate. This lab taught us that the carbohydrates with the least rings were easier to get energy from them, for they are less dense and their bonds are easier to break. Here is the data for the Sweetness Lab.

  From these labs, I learned a lot more about carbohydrates and enzymes then I could have learned from a textbook. For example, we got to taste in person how carbohydrates are like. We learned the difference between monosaccharides(one ring), disaccharides(two rings), and polysaccharides(3 or more rings) through tasting them and tasting their differences. Another enriching lab was the Cheese Lab. With the Cheese Lab, we learned/saw how enzymes work in front of us. We saw how enzymes, with the optimal conditions, could cause milk to become cheese by speeding up the chemical reactions. In summary, the labs helped us understand more how the different macromolecules work in everyday life. 

   Last but not least, after learning Unit 2, I still have some unanswered questions. For example, do all enzymes prefer warmth and acidic conditions? Also, are nucleic acids found anywhere else than just RNA or DNA? In conclusion, Unit 2 was a very helpful unit to learn the basis of biology.

Sweetness Lab

    The structure of the carbohydrates directly affects the sweetness. Monosaccharides are the sweetest, disaccharides are not as sweet, and polysaccharides are not sweet at all. A carbohydrate's rings affect the taste, the more rings, the less sweet. For example, the monosaccharide, glucose, has a sweetness of 95/100 meanwhile the polysaccharide, cellulose, has sweetness of 0/100.

   The structure of a carbohydrate affects how a cell/organism uses it. If the carbohydrate has three or more rings, its function for a cell and organism is more complex and is also used sometimes for storage. The one ringed carbohydrates are very commonly used by humans to sweeten their food. It will be easier for organism to use a monosaccharide compared to a polysaccharide, because it is less dense and easier to break down to get its energy.

    Not every tester gave the same rating for each carbohydrate, but to have a accurate experiment, we took the average of all four ratings if one or more disagreed. Because everyone perceives taste a bit differently  while someone might have thought it was very sweet, another tester might not think of it as sweet. Another reason for having different ratings, would be that maybe the sample could have been contaminated. Last but not least, some testers might have not rinsed their mouth of the previous carbohydrate.

  Lastly, humans are able to taste sweetness by small sensory cells. There are specific cells that taste sweetness. Because sweetness is considered part of the fifth basic taste, only the sensory cells for the fifth taste can sense them. Because of this, each tester could have perceived the sweetness differently because either their sensory cells were not as sensitive or they did not have the same quantity of sensory cells for the fifth taste.

Biology Collage

Jean Lab

    In this lab, we asked the question, what concentration of bleach is the best to fade the colour out of new denim material in ten minutes without visible damage? We found that 25% was the best concentration of bleach to fade denim without excessive damage. The average for colour removal and fabric damage ,for the 100% concentration, was eight for both. Meanwhile, the 25% concentration had an average of four for fabric damage and three for colour removal. The colour of the 50% concentration became light blue, but the 100% concentration became completely faded, losing its colour. Meanwhile, the 25% concentration faded enough that it was no longer dark blue. Bleach is known to break down pigments and also damages the structure of the material. This data supports our claim because it shows that when there is too high of a bleach concentration, the material will endure severe damage and lose of its colour.

     Our data contradicts the expected results because some errors came up during the experiment. Because we did not have timers, instead we relied on the clock, the period of the jeans being soaked in the solutions were not all equivalent. Another error was that because of time constraints, not all the denim rested for nine minutes. Because of this, the 100% concentration pieces did not fully reach its most faded. To improve the lab, I would have provided the groups with a timer to time the soaks perfectly. Another improvement that could have been done, would have been to have more time to carry out the experiment.

    This lab was done to demonstrate to us how to set up and carry out labs for biology class in the future. From this lab, I learned to do an experiment with controls which helps me understand the concept of creating and doing an experiment using controls, dependent variables, independent variables, and constants. Based on my experience from this lab, I now am able to create experiments and labs for other classes but most importantly for all my science classes to come.