Unit 9- Cell Energy Reflection

I found the unit of cell energy to be initially very confusing, but later felt that I began to understand it better. However, judging by my performance on this test, I will still need to review this unit before the AP exam. That said, I still feel that I was able to demonstrate the AP science practices throughout my work.

I felt that I was able to use SP6 in the DNA Fingerprinting lab. In this lab, we applied our knowledge of DNA and DNA length to attempt to solve a murder. My lab group and I were able to apply the theory about how DNA works to effectively create a gel electrolysis, which we then compared to other gel electrolysis to find which suspect committed the murder.

I was also able to apply SP4 in the Caliometry Lab. In said lab, we were attempting to measure the number of kilocalories in a gram of common food items. To do this, we designed our own lab set up, and then conducted the experiment. Unfortunately, we wound up with a large percent-error, but this is mostly do to the lab equipment. 

• LO 2.1 . . .explain how biological systems use free energy based on empirical data that all organisms require constant energy input to maintain organization, to grow and to reproduce. [SP 6.2]
• LO 2.2 . . .justify a scientific claim that free energy is required for living systems to maintain organization, to grow or to reproduce, but that multiple strategies exist in different living systems. [SP 6.1]
• LO 2.3 . . .predict how changes in free energy availability affect organisms, populations and ecosystems. [SP 6.4]

• LO 2.4 . . .use representations to pose scientific questions about what mechanisms and structural features allow organisms to capture, store and use free energy. [SP 1.4, 3.1]
• LO 2.5 . . .construct explanations of the mechanisms and structural features of cells that allow organisms to capture, store or use free energy. [SP 6.2]

AP Science Practices 

• SP1:The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
• SP2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.
• SP3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course.
• SP4: The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.
• SP5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.
• SP6: The student can work with scientific explanations and theories.
• SP7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts and representations in and across domains.

DNA Unit Reflection

The learning outcomes for this unit is cell oriented. DNA are the most basic unit of replication, and have obvious important implications for the rest of biology, especially in the human systems that we study (nervous, endocrine, and immune systems).

I feel that I was able to fulfill science practice #4 in this unit via the DNA fingerprinting lab, where I was able to empirically discover how DNA works.

I additionally was able to apply SP7. Unit 1 was about DNA, and how different creatures and bacteria evolved into what they are today. The Endosymbiotic cell theory is the theory that the mitochondria was actually a prokaryote that for some reason or another entered a modern eukaryote and helped it. This gave it an advantage, and the characteristic spread until eventually it spread to the extent that it has today.


AP Science Practices
SP1:The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
SP2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.
SP3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course.
SP4: The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.
SP5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.
SP6: The student can work with scientific explanations and theories.
SP7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts and representations in and across domains.rent creatures and bacteria evolved into what they are today. The Endosymbiotic cell theory is the theory that the mitochondria was actually a prokaryote that for some reason or another entered a modern eukaryote and helped it. This gave it an advantage, and the characteristic spread until eventually it spread to the extent that it has today.

2nd Quarter Reflection

The 2nd quarter has been a struggle. I am at a point where I don't want to complete work anymore, but still must do my work. However, what I liked learning the most about in the 2nd quarter was Mendelian Genetics. I find it interesting that Mendel was able to derive his rule by picking simple pea plants, when most other plants would have posed problems for him when creating his new rule. Additionally, the test on Mendelian Genetics was my best test grade :-), so there's him to thank for that too.
Something that I struggled with was cell division. While cell division is not overly complicated, I feel that I didn't study enough for the unit. In the future, I want to study harder, despite my senioritis.

Unit 5: Pathogens & Immunity

Out of all of our units so far, I have found this unit to be the most interesting. The ability of the immune system to hunt down and destroy bacteria and suppress unkillable viruses is something that I find to be amazing.

The human immune 

AP Science Practices

• SP1:The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
• SP2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.
• SP3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course.
• SP4: The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.
• SP5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.
• SP6: The student can work with scientific explanations and theories.
• SP7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts and representations in and across domains.

• Populations are subject to natural selection which selects more successful phenotypes over time.
• Biological systems are affected by disruption to dynamic homeostasis.
• Organisms have a variety of chemical defences against infections that affect dynamic homeostasis.
• Viral replication results in genetic variation, which can introduce genetic variation into the hosts.

Debate Reflection

I thought that the debates went well, and went much better than I expected. Even though I had done my research, I hadn't expected to be able to speak for a full 3 minutes.
Overall, I thought that the debate was productive and that I learned more about the issue of Genetically Modified Foods. Before the debate, I hadn't really seen any problems with genetically modified foods, but now I think that we should be a little bit more cautious when using GMO's.
From Hannah's debate, I learned that fish are friends not food. Seriously though, I learned more about the issue of stem cell research, an issue that is important, yet one that I hadn't pursued to learn about because I didn't care before.

2nd Quarter Reflection

Getting work done my senior year has been difficult, and AP Biology has been no exception. I feel that the overall quality of my work has decreased during the 2nd quarter compared to 1st quarter, which surprised me because I expected it to be the same. On the plus side, when I did do the work, I found myself able to complete it and able to understand it.
Given these two facts, a clear route for improvement is to complete the work and put time into studying. Since I have already started studying more for other classes, I believe that AP Biology will be the same. For instance, I have almost completed reading the chapters for the next test, and already have questions that I plan on asking tomorrow.
Something that I am looking forward to is learning more about biology, and connecting it back to evolution. Everything we have learned so far relates back to the first unit, and almost everything animals do, ranging from the epigenome to their DNA, makes them more fit for their environment. I think it will be interesting to find out what else makes animals more fit.

Unit 4: Cell Communication

Following up from last unit, cell communication is another important part of biology. Cells communicate with each other in a variety, ranging from the endocrine system to the nervous system.

From this unit, I was able to effectively learn about the various forms of cell communication. Cells in the body typically communicate with chemical signals. However, the many external signals are taken in from the body, and are then sent to the brain via electrical impulses. Neurons send these signals to the brain.

In this unit, I was able to effectively apply science practice 1. Drawing and modeling neurons, the brain, and how drugs affect the brain was important. Through computer generated models, I was able to learn how the different drugs affect the brain and was able to replicate them. Furthermore, I was able to replicate and model the endocrine system and how a neuron fires.

In this unit, I had trouble recognizing and remembering the different parts of the body and the different glands that produced chemicals. I think that part of this was because I put particular focus on learning the systems themselves instead of the actual human organs that were responsible for them. However, I think that this can be corrected by focusing on these organs in future units and possibly just through constant exposure to them. As Unit 11 is "Animal Structure and Function", I believe that we will go back over them again, so I will review the different glands then.

AP Science Practices 

• SP1:The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
• SP2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.
• SP3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course.
• SP4: The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.
• SP5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.
• SP6: The student can work with scientific explanations and theories.
• SP7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts and representations in and across domains.

• Organisms use feedback mechanisms to maintain internal environments and to respond to changes in the external environment.
• Cell communication pathways enable cell-cell communication and reflect a common ancestry.
• Signal transduction pathways link environmental changes and stimuli to cellular responses.
• Animals have a nervous system that respond to stimuli .