Unit 3 Reflection

    In this unit, we started to learn about the cell and all its functions and types. There are two types of cells, prokaryote, no nucleus and no organelles, and eukaryotes, has a nucleus and organelles and has long chains of DNA called chromosomes. Cells are made up of all the different macromolecule.  Eukaryotic cells have nucleus, where DNA is stored it is like the brain of the cell. There are lysosomes that recycle proteins, and endoplasmic reticulum that holds proteins as they are being finished by ribosomes. The cell membrane holds all the content inside, a plant cell will also have a cell wall. The main function of a cell is to produce proteins. There are two types of transports. One of them is passive transport, requiring no energy, there is diffusion, high to low concentration that happen for small molecules, then there is facilitated diffusion which uses proteins to help larger molecules come in. The other form of transport is active transport which requires energy and is only used for the highly needed molecules. Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a lipid layer in the cell. There are autrophic cells, produce own energy, and there are heterotrophic cells, that consume other cells for energy. Photosynthesis only occurs in plant cells and it takes in CO2, water, and light and turns it into oxygen and glucose, which is kept in the cell unlike oxygen, with the help of the chloroplast, which a long time ago was a bacteria, another cell. Cellular respiration occurs in both plant and animal cells. It takes in oxygen and glucose and makes CO2, water, and ATP, energy used by cells, using the mitochondria. During this unit, some of my weaknesses were understanding how photosynthesis and cellular respiration worked, for it took time to go in depth and truly understand how it worked. A strength for me was to easily classify a cell as an eukaryote, prokaryote, autotroph, and/or heterotroph.

     In this unit, we did many labs to further our understanding of the topics. One of the labs included the egg macromolecules lab. This lab consisted in figuring out where each macromolecule was present in each part of an egg, which was used to show a cell. From these experiences, I understand the purpose and the function of the parts of the cell and the cell in a whole new way that makes a lot more sense and makes me understand the basics, so I can now try to deep further into cells. An unanswered question I still have is whether cellular respiration and photosynthesis produce and use up the same as the other produces, so that actually nothing is really being let out of the plant? I would also like to learn more about each specific organelle in a cell, and understand what they bring to a cell. For this upcoming test, I plan to go other all my vodcast notes and read the biology textbook in depth to try to further my understandings of each subject and truly know 100% of what this unit what about. In conclusion, unit 3 was a very useful unit for understanding the basis of biology and what a cell actually does and is.