Unit 3 Reflection

In Unit 3, we learned about the building blocks of living organisms, cells. Prokaryotic cells do not have a nucleus and are mostly bacteria. Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus along with many other organelles and are animals, plants, and humans. Plant cells have a few different parts like the cell wall and a large central vacuole. The nucleus stores the instructions in forms of DNA and is surrounded by the rough endoplasmic reticulum that holds ribosomes. The membrane is semi-permeable which means it selects what goes in and comes out, causing diffusion and osmosis. Molecules like to move from high concentrations to low until concentration gradient is achieved and the solution is isotonic. Cells are small because it is easier for materials to diffuse in and out in a object that has more surface area than volume. Through photosynthesis, autotrophic cells make their own food in the chloroplasts by converting carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight into glucose and oxygen. Cellular respiration is the inverse of photosynthesis because it converts glucose and oxygen into carbon dioxide, water, and ATP in the mitochondria. Animals and humans only use cellular respiration while plants use both.
From the unit I learned about what are the most basic life functions that occur constantly and unnoticed. As an organism grows, the cells work hard in making energy and and carrying out everyday jobs. My strengths were more in the topics about what the organelles did and their main job in the cell. My weaknesses were the specifics of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. I want to learn more about how the organelles and different cells work together inside an organism, like what other processes are carried out and how they all overlap.

The Yolks on You

Egg Macromolecule Conclusion
The question was asked "Can macromolecules be identified in a egg cell?"

Egg membrane
Macromolecules like proteins can be found in the membrane. In our experiment, we found that the cell membrane tested the most positive out of all of the other parts of egg. It was rated a 8 out of 10 with the purplest color. We knew this because proteins are found in the membrane, cytoplasm and cytoskeleton of the cell. This supports our claim because the membrane has the most protein in the egg. This proved that proteins could be identified in the egg cell by using sodium hydroxide and copper sulfate.

Yolk
Macromolecules like lipids can be found in the yolk. In our experiment, we found that the yolk tested the best for lipids and turned the most orange out of the other parts of egg. It tested a 9 out of 10 on color. This supports our claim because lipids are found in all of the organelles in the egg and the yolk has the organelles.

White
Macromolecules like monosaccharides can be found in the egg white. In our experiment, we found that egg white tested as one of the two most positive for monosaccharides. It tested a 4 out of 10 but it was still more present compared to other egg parts. This supports our claim because monosaccharies are found in the cytoplasm of cells and egg whites are the cytoplasm.

One error could be the judgement of color in the tests by different students. This could affect the true amount of macromolecules in a certain part of the egg. To fix this error, we could have discussed the rated and had multiple eyes judge the color. Another error that could have happened could have been that students dropped too much of an indicator. This would affect the color of each macromolecule test because a tube could appear darker than it should be because it had more drops. To prevent this error, the dropper should be used very carefully and the drops should be all equally distributed.

The purpose of this lab was to find out which macromolecules are present in different parts of an egg. This relates to the parts of the cell we are studying in class and how their components help them function. Different macromolecules can make up various cell parts because they can be used for different functions. This experiment can help in future situations because it taught us how use indicators to test for things our senses can't read. There could be experiments that require the use of indicators and we would know what to look for.

Egg Diffusion Lab Analysis

In this lab, we were asked the question, "how and why does a cell's internal environment change, as it's external environment changes?" We used eggs that had dissolved membranes and soaked one in normal water and one in sugar water.
 In the distilled water, the egg increased in both mass and circumference. In sugar water, the egg decreased in both mass and circumference. The average mass was -47.25% and the average circumference was -22.94%. They decreased because of hypertonic passive diffusion which is when there is a greater concentration of solute outside of the cell and low concentration inside the cell. The solvent goes from high concentration to low concentration of solvent and diffused outside of the cell, shrinking it.
The cell's internal environment changes to maintain concentration gradient and equilibrium. The cell changes like how the egg in vinegar dissolved the cell and also grew in mass and circumference. The cell balances out the amount of solute and solvent both inside and outside of the cell.
This lab demonstrates homeostasis because the cell responds to the environment around itself and adjusts itself to stay in the same internal conditions as before. The egg diffuses solvents and solutes until everything is equal like before it was in that certain substance.
vegetables are sprinkled with water so that they don't shrink as they dry out. The water is diffuses into the cell and the vegetables grow in size a little bit. The salting to the plants makes the plants shrink because the salt adds to a greater solute concentration and makes it hypertonic. Water will leave the plant cells and the plant will wilt.
Based on the experiment, I would want to test if different types of cells shrink/grow at different rates with the same concentration of solutes and solvents because it would be interesting to see if different types of cells change  differently or not.