CAN YOU DO ME A FAVA?

Have you ever heard of a fava bean? Well, apparently, if you eat them and have the disease of Favism, you can die! Favism is a disease where a person has G6PD enzyme deficiency. The G6PD enzyme is known for protecting your red blood cells from Malarial parasites. In some cases, for those who do not have Favism, fava beans can be beneficial to humans. Favism is most likely generated from places that widely cultivated fava beans; therefore, people who live in these certain places have a higher chance of having deathly side effects from consuming fava beans. Which is ironic since usually it is thought that exposure to something makes people immune to it. But not in the case of fava beans. This fatal disease is most common in men due to the fact that men only have one X chromosome while women have two. Women have a lower chance of the favism effecting both chromosomes and they can only be severely effected if malarial parasites attack both. And a male only has one, so if it is effected he has a huge chance of dying. I wrote a pretty cool poem about fava beans. Maybe I'll post it later.  If I do, don't judge me. 

Biochemical Evidence

Last class, we did a Common Descent Lab where we had to determine how closely related humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and a common ancestor are. We showed with biochemical evidence by comparing each organisms' DNA. My partner and I created models of each DNA using different colored beads. We then compared them and observed that the chimpanzee DNA was very similar to the human DNA. Therefore, they are closely related. Gorilla DNA and chimpanzee DNA are also very similar, which makes sense since both gorillas and chimpanzees are primates. This entire process is called sequencing.

Evidence of Evolution Quiz

Honors Biology

Evidence of Evolution Quiz

1. Explain the following in terms evidence for evolution.

       -The image is showing the evolution from a terrestrial organism to an aquatic one. 

2. Which of the following continents did marsupials begin from?

      -e. North America

3. Comparing a dragonfly, bird, bats - explain the type of evolution that these organisms show.

     -The type of evolution that these organisms show is convergent evolution. This means that they have similar functions (i.e. wings, flying).

4. Explain how the Common Descent Lab shows DNA evidence and ancestry as evidence for evolution. Include examples of Primates.

    -The Common Descent Lab shows biochemical evidence (aka DNA evidence) through the use of sequencing. We were able to determine that chimpanzees and humans are about very closely related to humans by comparing their DNA. According to the lab, gorillas are also closely related to humans.

5. Explain homology using some examples from your readings.

    -Homology is when the limbs in organisms look alike. This means the limbs are descended from a common ancestor. In "Your Inner Fish," the example of a fish evolving into a land creature is used. A fish has fins, whereas a land creature does not. The book talks about a Tiktaalik, which is an animal with fins, but different limbs (one bone-two bones-lots of blobs). The bone structure is different. This is homology.

    

Your Inner Fish Ch.1 and 2

Last class, we began to talk about evolution and our inner fish. Our inner fish begins to take form somewhere between the Jawed fish and Amphibians. During lass, our main focus was on fish, specifically the Tiktaalik and its connection to us humans today based on how the bones were arranged in its arm. Its  bone structure in the arm was one bone-two bones-lots of blobs. This bone structure was unlike any other fish. Though the Tiktaalik still had fins, it had wrists as well. Because of this, the Tiktaalik could do push ups. Having the ability to do push ups was great for protecting itself from predators and also for hunting. The Tiktaalik had a lot of characteristics unlike regular fish. For example, it had not only gills but lungs, as well. Its head was not round, as a fish head is normally. The head was flat and the eyes were on top of the head.

     
We also talked about fossil evidence and the process of fossilization. The process includes, of course, the animal dying and then bacteria and scavengers eat away at the skin and tissues. Next, the bones get buried by layers of sediment. Sedimentary rocks are the best rocks to look for when seeking fossils. Sediment pressure then causes the skeleton of the animal to fossilize. The plates then move/shift and erosion occurs (i.e. water). Finally, people are able to locate the fossil. As I mentioned before, when looking for fossils, it is best to look where there are sedimentary rocks. You also need to think about the age of these rocks. If you have the right rocks of the right age, you will find what you're looking for.

THE DREADED UNIT 1 TEST

About a week ago, we took our Unit test. It was awful. No really, it was bad. As bad as it was, I did manage to do better than I expected. Some of the mistakes I made were on questions where I second guessed myself or I just did not read the answer/question entirely. For example, on the question that showed two molecules that were obviously structural isomers, I chose geometric isomers because for some reason structural isomers always seems like the obvious answer anytime there is a question like this. Therefore, I second guess myself and choose something else. It's sad, really.  I am honestly just happy that we are done with biochemistry...for now. Hopefully, for a very long time. Now, on to evolution!

House Case #1

We just had our first house case the other day. It was quite an interesting process. We were told that an eighteen year old senior began to vomit after cross country practice and began having a severe headache. He is now in the emergency room confused as to why he is there. At home, each of us came up with three different diagnoses and ways to test these diagnoses. I diagnosed him with dehydration, heat stroke, or meningitis. In class, we found out more information about the kid and his background by asking "him" questions. We also "gave" him different "tests," and were able to come to six possible diagnoses as a class: dehydration, hypernatremia, heat exhaustion/stroke, gastroenteritis, sleep deprivation, or migraine.

Diffusion and Osmosis Lab

A couple of class periods ago, our class worked on the osmosis part of a diffusion/osmosis lab. We had to create six "cells" from dialysis tubing that contained 7mL of a different color solution. We already knew what the Molarity of each solution was, we just had to figure out what the "molarity order" was. In order to do this, each "cell" had to be massed. Massing was necessary so we could have an initial mass to figure out the percent change later. We placed each "cell" into a seperate cup filled with distilled water. Distilled water was used because it is pure; It prevents side reactions and contamination of products. If we happen to get an unexpected result, we know it will not be because of the water. After 30 minutes, we went back and remassed the "cells." Now that we had the initial and the after mass, we could find the percent change. With this, we were able to determine the "molarity order."

In between those 30 minutes that we had during the osmosis experiment above, we were able to begin a new experiment involving potatoes. Our goal was to find the solute percent of a russet potato. We began by cutting about 24 pieces of russet potato and then massed the pieces four at a time. Similar to the other experiment, we massed the potatoes now to have an initial mass to figure out the percent change later. We then placed each group of four pieces into cups (six) and put 25 mL of each color solution into each cup. After a few hours, we massed the potatoes again and then figured out the percent change, or the solute concentration.