Snailed It: 20 Time Project, Final Post

Finally, I am done with my 20 Time Project (or at least the part that was done for a school grade). I have finally published my website, which can be found at triplepproject.weebly.com. To wrap up my project and introduce it the class, we also created a TED talk-like presentation. The video of my TED talk can be found on Youtube here; I have also embedded it below:
I think my presentation went pretty well. I liked my introduction and felt that it got people's attention and made them more interested in what I was saying. However, I felt that my presentation could have been more organized and I could have had a better conclusion talking about how my project matters to everybody else. I could have improved my presentation by starting to prepare for it earlier and practicing it more. Right before giving my presentation, I felt very nervous, but as I was giving it, I actually did not feel as nervous anymore.

Overall, I liked the 20 Time project because it gave me an opportunity to pursue a topic I was interested in. During the project, I learned a lot both about my chosen topic and about time management and organization. From listening to other people's 20 Time projects, I think they learned similar things, as many of them also talked about time management and not getting distracted from their topic.

Supersense

A while ago, we did a "power hour reading" much like the one we did last semester. We had about an hour in class to read a book about the brain and write a summary about it. I read the book Supersense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable by Bruce M. Hood. I read the chapter titled "The Biology of Belief," which discusses the biological basis of why we believe things that are clearly not supported by logic. Basically, he states that belief in superstitions is a result of humans' great capability for identifying patterns even when there are none, our natural self-centeredness, and the way our memory works.

the book I chose to read

To illustrate his point, Hood uses an example that most people would not think of superstition: the belief that one can sense when other people are looking at us. He says that it starts during childhood with a child's self-centeredness and the belief that vision works by something exiting the eyes, rather than light bouncing off an object and entering the eyes. After all, you are the center of your vision; when you move your eyes, what you see changes. This belief is further cemented by society through language like "looking at something," "piercing gaze," and "exchanging glances," as if vision was something physical. Then the belief of being able to sense someone else's gaze begins when we start to turn around and find someone really staring back at us. However, there are just as many times (or perhaps more) when we find nobody, but because of the way we think, we do not remember these times. Instead, we take what we already believe -- that we can sense gazes -- and take the one time when someone really was staring back at us as proof rather than the hundred times we found nobody as refutation. Furthermore, our self-centeredness makes us not think about things from the other person's perspective. Maybe that person only glanced over to see why we had turned around and had not been staring at us, but when we see someone looking at us, we automatically think of ourselves first.

However, not everyone is equal in these beliefs. Some people are naturally intuitive, more readily believing in the supernaturals. Others are more skeptic, requiring more evidence before starting to believe in something. Yet intuitive people are not necessarily less educated than skeptics, they just pick up patterns more readily. In one study, a group of university students were tested to assess their intuitive misconceptions. It was found that intuitive students were more likely to misattribute characteristics of one conceptual category to another; however, they scored just as high on rational tests as skeptics did.

Hood brings up the neurotransmitter dopamine as the basis of all these unbelievable beliefs. All mind-altering substances (such as drugs) and conditions (such as Parkinson's disease) that affect the body's perception of reality are tied in some way to dopamine. Dopamine affects the brain's ability to detect patterns -- too much dopamine and too many patterns are detected; too little and no patterns are detected.

This is quite a practical work, as it takes real-world beliefs and discusses why we believe them even though we know they are logically not true. These reasons can also be applied to other beliefs and used to explain why there are still people who believe that the earth is flat and evolution is not real, even though all conclusive evidence show that they are.

This'll Take a Whale to Finish: 20 Time Project, Final Reflection

For my 20 Time project, my goal was to build a website and design t-shirts to spread awareness about endangered species. I wanted to help the world as a whole (even though I realized that this is a great task that will take a long time). I had originally planned to do more than just two animals, but as I started working on the project I quickly realized that it took a lot more time to research, make webpages, and create designs than I had thought. This does not mean project is a failure -- I think that this is a project that is just getting started, and I hope to continue working on it such as during the summer when I do not have a lot of other things (i.e. school) that I have to deal with. If I had a chance to do this project again, I would plan out my time more carefully and keep to my schedule more strictly, especially when I do my research because sometimes I get distracted by all the interesting facts of all the interesting organisms out there. Next, I hope to continue this challenge as well as start sharing it with others.

For my final presentation, I want to start off asking people and discussing what most people think of when they hear the words "endangered species." Then, I will introduce my project and talk about what I did. Finally, I will conclude by saying that the project is still growing and tell people that they can come follow my progress if they want and that they can help by spreading the word also.

05.10.2016 Reflexes Lab

In this lab, we tested our different reflexes, such as our photopupillary reflex, our patellar reflex, our blink reflex, and our plantar reflex. Reflexes are involuntary reactions in response to a certain stimulus, such as light entering our eye or something hitting our knee. Rather than stimulus traveling all the way to the brain and the brain sending a response back, the stimulus only travels to the spinal cord. This decreases the response time so that the body can react faster and protect itself from danger.

The photopupillary reflex is when the pupil of the eye constricts due to too much light entering the eye. To test this reflex, we had one person cover her eyes for two minutes, then expose one eye to bright light and observe the change in pupil size. We found that the eye exposed to the bright light had a smaller pupil size than the eye protected from the bright light. This reflex evolved to protect too much light from entering the eye and blinding us, which would negatively affect our survival.

The patellar reflex, or the knee-jerk reflex, is when the leg kicks out when a certain area just below the knee is hit. To test this reflex, we had one person sit with her legs crossed so one leg can swing freely. When a certain place right below the kneecap is hit, that leg swung out due to the reflex. This reflex is to help us walk without having to think about it and also to help us regain our footing in case we stumble, which helps in running away from danger.

The blink reflex is what causes us to blink when something comes really close to our eyes. To test this reflex, we had one person hold a sheet of clear plastic wrap close to her face, then threw a crumpled-up paper towel at the plastic wrap. This caused the person to blink. This reflex protects things such as sand or bugs from entering and damaging our eyes, which are very important for survival.

The plantar reflex is when the foot curls in when the sole is stimulated. To test this reflex, we had one person use a capped pen to stroke the bare sole of the other person's foot from the heel to the big toe. This caused the person's toes to come closer and her foot to tense up. This reflex protects us when we accidentally step on something, causing us to quickly draw our foot away from the object so our foot, which is very important in moving around, does not become damaged.

We also tested our response time in catching a falling meterstick -- not a reflex, since our eyes must see meterstick fall, send a message to our brain, which then processes it and sends a message to our muscles to grab the meterstick. We tested our response time both when we were paying attention and when we were distracted by texting on our phones to see how "multitasking" affects our response time. I found that being distracted by texting increased my response time (made me slower). When I was not distracted, my response time was 0.19 seconds, but when I was distracted, my response time was 0.22 seconds. We collected data from all the students in the class and made a graph of average response times when being distracted versus when not being distracted.

being distracted by texting increased response times by about a tenth of a second

Your Brain Map

In this assignment we were asked to go to a webpage called "Your Brain Map," which features an interactive 3-D model of the human brain, to learn about the different parts of the brain and their functions. Then we were asked to answer the following questions:

Cerebral Cortex 
1. What do the frontal lobes do?

 >> The frontal lobes are the "command center" of the brain. They affect personality, impulse control, problem solving, language, critical thinking, and judgement.

2. What is the relationship between selective attention and learning?

>> "Selective attention" is when your brain prioritizes information and only remembers the more important facts, disregarding unimportant information. Studies show that "smarter" people are just people who are more selective at what they pay attention to instead of burdening themselves with unimportant information, thus learning faster.

3. What is the last part of your brain to develop and what can you do to prevent it from deteriorating? 

>> The frontal lobes are the last part of your brain to develop and the first to start deteriorating. You can prevent deterioration by being engaged with your environment, keeping your brain active, and "transforming" facts rather than just memorizing them -- connecting them into bigger ideas.

4. What does the neo cortex do?

>>  The neo cortex controls your senses, spatial awareness, and motor skills.

5. What is the role of the pre-frontal cortex? 

>> The pre-frontal cortex controls your personality, social interactions, decision-making, perception, memory, will, and planning.

6. What do we know about the pre-frontal cortex’s relationship with multitasking? 

>> We cannot actually "multitask." When "multitasking," the pre-frontal cortex is merely switching from one task to another rapidly, which results in inferior quality overall.

7. Which part of the brain is associated with speech and language development? Give an interesting fact about this region. 

>> Broca's area is associated with speech and language development. One interesting thing about this region is the mirror neurons found there. Mirror neurons are neurons that fire when a person (or primate, or some types of birds) observes the same action done by another individual. This helps the person learn languages and recognize subtle cues.

8. Which part of your brain is responsible for thinking the following: “Is it hot in here or is it just me?”  

>> The somatosensory cortex is responsible for detecting temperature.

9. What does your visual cortex do for you?

>> The visual cortex distinguishes colors and identifies complex things like faces.

10. State three interesting or significant facts about your occipital lobe.

>> The occipital lobe deals with both long- and short-term memories, as well as autobiographical events (both real and imagined). It is also engaged when you visualize yourself doing a task. Studies have shown that visualizing yourself doing a task over and over can improve your performance in real life.

11. What would happen if your temporal lobes were damaged?

>> Damage to the temporal lobes would cause long-term memory loss. You would not be able to remember things like the alphabet, so you would not be able to read.

12. What is your “fast brain” and what does it do? 

>> Your "fast brain" is your eye fields. They are called the "fast brain" because they can pick up information in a few milliseconds, faster than the rest of the brain.

 

Neuron
13. State 3 things that you could do that would influence your synapses and have a positive affect on your life and health. 

>> Exercising, eating healthy, and sleeping all improve the health of your synapses as well as improving your overall life and health.

14. What is the relationship between multi-sensory or multi-modal learning and your dendrites? 

>> Multi-sensory or multi-modal learning is when you engage multiple regions of your brain in learning, cross-referencing data stored in your brain. When this happens, your dendrites are stimulated multiple times, resulting in better memory.

15. How does “big picture thinking” and mnemonics affect dendrites and/or learning?  

>> Big picture thinking and mnemonics allows the learner to put abstract facts into context, relating them with other information and making them more concrete and easier to remember.

16. Describe a neurotransmitter that you feel is very important.  Justify your reasoning. 

>> Glutamate is a very important neurotransmitter, as it is vital in the strengthening of synapses and the formation of long-term memories. It is also interesting that consuming monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is commonly found in Asian cooking, may increase the amount of glutamate in your brain, but that too much glutamate can actually lead to brain damage.

Limbic System
17. What does the corpus callosum do? 

>>  The corpus callosum connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, allowing them to communicate with each other. It also allows you to understand how language is structured and is involved in reading and writing. 

18. What is the relationship between music and the corpus callosum?  

>> Music can strengthen the connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, but only if you practice music constantly (not just "used to play the piano" like most people say).

19. Why is the thalamus important? 

>> The thalamus is important because it is involved with so many different functions, from motor control to sensory information to memory to senses to states of consciousness.

From this tutorial, I learned about the different structures of the brain, where they are located, and what they do. Some of the facts I had heard of before, such as how the frontal lobes (more specifically the pre-frontal cortex) are the last parts of the brain to mature, which is why younger people usually have less impulse control and poorer judgement. Something new I learned was about how the occipital lobes are involved in making both long- and short-term memories, and how the temporal lobes are involved in making long-term memories. One thing I wonder about is the neurotransmitter glutamate and how it may be affected by consuming MSG. I know MSG is commonly found in Asian cooking and that some people get headaches from eating it, but I did not know that it may increase the amount of glutamate in your brain, too much of which can cause brain damage. This makes me wonder if MSG in Asian's diets affects the people as a whole, because I have probably eaten MSG more times than I can count and have yet to get a headache from it. This also reminds me about when we had a "power hour" reading session last semester, where I read that eating escolar (a type of fish) could give you gastrointestinal problems. I have also eaten escolar many times, but have not had any gastrointestinal problems. This makes me wonder if this is kind of like how some people cannot eat dairy products because historically their ancestors have not eaten dairy either.

04.28.2016 Sheep Brain Dissection

Today we dissected a sheep's brain to help us learn about the structures and functions of a human brain.

the superior side of the brain

the inferior side of the brain with the meninges (protective covering) still attached -- it is the white stuff

the outside of the brain, labeled (white = anterior; green = posterior; yellow = cerebrum; black = cerebellum; red = brainstem)

a drawing of the outside of the brain

a table showing the different parts of the outside of the brain and their functions

First, we observed the brain from the outside and identified the anterior (front), posterior (back), and the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stem. The brain stem is connects the rest of the brain to the spinal cord and is involved in involuntary activities such as breathing and the heartbeat. The cerebellum is responsible for motor control and coordination, and the cerebrum is responsible for voluntary actions, senses, reasoning, and other higher functions.

cross-section of the brain showing the internal structures

a table showing the different parts of the inside of the brain and their functions

the inside of the brain, labeled (on the left hemisphere: red = medulla oblongata; blue = pons; black = midbrain; yellow = hypothalamus; white = thalamus; green = optic nerve // on the right hemisphere: red = corpus callosum)

a drawing of the inside of the brain

Next, we cut the brain in half longitudinally to expose the inside. We were then able to identify the thalamus, hypothalamus, optic nerve, medulla oblongata, pons, midbrain, and corpus callosum. The thalamus is the "router" of the brain which filters and sends sensory information coming in to the appropriate parts of the brain. The hypothalamus is responsible for maintaining homeostasis and for regulating hormone release. The optic nerve carries visual sensory information from the eyes to the brain. The medulla oblongata, the pons, and the midbrain together make up the brain stem -- the medulla oblongata is responsible for involuntary functions like breathing; the pons is plays a part in senses and motor control; the midbrain also plays a part in senses and motor control. The corpus callosum connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain and allows them to communicate with each other.

cross-section of the cerebrum showing the white and grey matter

a drawing of the cross-section of the cerebrum with the grey and white matter labeled

Finally, we cut the cerebrum in half to study the grey and white matter. White matter is made mostly of axons coated in myelin (an insulating sheath made mostly of fatty tissue that speeds up neural impulses), while grey matter is made mostly of neuron cell bodies and unmyelinated axons.

From this lab, I was able to see the parts of the brain as they really are, not like the brightly-colored pictures one can find in textbooks. The parts of the brain are not as clear-cut as the diagrams in the textbook; for example, there is no clear division between the thalamus and the hypothalamus.

04.26.2016 Sheep Eye Dissection

Today we dissected a sheep's eye to help us learn about the anatomy and physiology of an eye.

a sheep's eye

First, we studied the external structures of the eye. These included the eyelid, the cornea (clear part of the eye to let light in), the sclera (white of the eye), extrinsic eye muscles that move the eye around, fatty tissue that cushions the eye, and the optic nerve that sends visual information to the brain.

optic nerve

extrinsic eye muscle

Then we cut the eye open to study the internal structures. As we cut through the sclera, we found that it was very thick and tough and hard to cut through. Also, a liquid oozed out of the eye as we cut. This liquid, called the vitreous humor, has a jelly-like consistency and is also clear to let light through. On the inside of the posterior hemisphere of the eye, we found the retina, which is a very thin layer of sensory cells that receives light and converts it to nerve impulses that they send to the brain through the optic nerve. Underneath the retina is a dark-colored layer called the choroid layer, which brings nutrients and blood to the retina. It has a dark color so that it does not reflect light around the eye. In some nocturnal animals (i.e. not humans), the part of the choroid layer is bluish and reflective. This is called the tapetum lucidum, which reflects light around the eye and allows the animals to see better in the dark.

the choroid layer and the tapetum lucidum

the thickness of the sclera

In the front of the eye, we found the lens attached to the ciliary body by suspensory ligaments. The lens and the ciliary body, which is made of smooth muscle, work together to allow the eye to focus on an object. The ciliary body can contract to flatten the lens and reduce the bending of light rays entering the eye, or it can relax to allow the lens to thicken and increase the bending of light rays entering the eye.

We also removed the cornea from the front of the eye to expose the iris and the pupil. The iris is the colored part of the eye, and the pupil is the hole in the middle. The pupil is what regulates the amount of light entering the eye by constricting or dilating.

back of the lens showing where the suspensory ligaments once attached (black parts)

the cornea, iris, and pupil

You Otter Help: 20 Time Project, Week 8

These past two weeks, I have been building my website and creating pages for the information I have gathered. I am using Weebly to build my website because I have used it before to build other websites. However, I have found that Weebly has changed their site themes and structure a little, so I am still getting the hang of the giant (and in my opinion, unnecessary) headers that seems to be the default for every webpage.

I have also started drafts of what the designs of the organisms are going to be. I guess for puns I'll settle for "bee aware" and "you otter help," unless anyone has any other suggestions.

A Clay Brain

In class, we learned about the different structures of the brain and their functions. To help us learn the structures and where they are located in the brain, we made a diagram of the brain out of clay. The diagram on the left is an inside view of the brain showing the internal structures, while the diagram on the right is an outside view of the brain.

a diagram of the brain

The Woman with the Hole in Her Brain

Today I read this article about a woman who is missing her cerebellum. The twenty-four year old woman went to a Chinese hospital because of dizziness and nausea and found that there was a hole in her brain where the cerebellum should be. The cerebellum is a small structure located under and to the back of the brain and controls voluntary movement, balance, and learning. Although problems with the cerebellum normally lead to severe mental impairment, movement disorders, or death, this woman only had slight problems, showing the resilience and plasticity of the brain.

After reading the article, I had to speculate what would happen if some other part of the brain was missing or severely damaged. For example, what would a person be like if they had no basal ganglia, a group of neurons in the middle of the brain connected to the thalamus? Normally, the basal ganglia controls voluntary movement, learning, eye movement, cognition, emotion, and decision making. If the basal ganglia were missing or damaged, then these functions would not work properly; for example, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease, which are caused by the degeneration of the basal ganglia, cause loss of motor control. Eventually, these diseases also lead to the death of the victim.

Unit 7 Reflection: The Muscular System

This unit was about the muscular system. Some of the essential questions of this unit were:

• Describe the types of movements that can occur at synovial joints.
• What are the different ways in which we move?
• Starting at the muscle fiber, extending all the way to the body, how are muscles organized and classified?
• How does a muscle work?
• What are the roles of some of the muscles?
• How do muscle fibers facilitate and respond to different types of exercise? 
• What are the causes and effects of using performance enhancing substances?

At the beginning of the unit we made a chart of things we already knew, things we wanted to learn, and things we learned this unit (the last column was left blank until the end of the unit). At the end of the unit, I went back to compare what I had wanted to learn with what I actually learned and was pleasantly surprised that all the things I had wanted to learn, I did learn.
One thing I had wanted to learn (and did) was the names, locations, and functions of specific muscles, such as the trapezius, the intercostals, the gracilis, and the peroneus longus. To help us practice remembering so many muscles, we did a chicken muscle dissection. 
I also learned about the anatomy of a muscle and how a muscle contracts. To help us learn this, we made a silent video explaining muscle contraction.

One of the things I learned about that I did not even think about was performance enhancements. We learned about the truth of performance-enhancing substances, overturning many of the myths and discussing many of the risks. We also created a "advertisement" satirizing one of these performance-enhancing substances.

satirical "advertisement" we made for andro(stenedione)

At the beginning of the year I made some New Year's goals, but unfortunately this month has been hard for me to meet my minimum of eight hours of sleep every night. Hopefully next month (and spring break) will make it better.
We are also spending more time working on our 20 Time projects. I am quite pleased with the progress I am making so far.

Triple P Project: 20 Time Project, Week 6

These past two weeks, I did a little bit of research about sea otters (Enhydra lutris) and how they were hunted to near-extinction but are now making a comeback. Sea otters are very important keystone species because they keep populations of sea urchins, which feed on kelp, in check. Without otters, urchin populations would explode, destroying the kelp that is the basis of kelp forest ecosystems.

I also worked on building my website. I am calling my project the "Triple P Project" -- I want to promote the protection of endangered species, and I hope that once people understand the importance of these species, they will proact (is that a word?) and take steps to stop species from becoming endangered in the first place. Does that name sound cheesy? Other name suggestions?

Performance Enhancements

Today we learned about performance enhancements, in particular performance enhancing-substances. Performance-enhancing substances are any manufactured substance for ingestion or inhalation that contains any substance other than an essential vitamin or mineral (stimulants, amino acids, hormones, herbes, etc.) that are intended to improve one's mental or physical performance. Most of the time, when people think of performance-enhancing substances, they think of drugs that increase athletic performance, such as by promoting muscle growth, inducing weight loss, or increasing endurance.

Some of the substances we talked about in class included caffeine, erythropoietin (aka EPO), gonadotropin (aka human growth hormone), anabolic (androgen) steroids, creatine (monohydrate), and andro(stenedione). Many of these substances are intended to increase performance but come with many risks ranging from cramping to dehydration to hormone imbalance to death. We also discussed other methods to enhance performance, which also range from highly risky, such as gene doping and high-protein diets, to not-as-risky, such as strength training, massages, myofascial release, and carbo-loading.

To emphasize the risks of performance-enhancing substances, we created a satirical "advertisement" for one of the substances. We chose to create this "advertisement" on androstenedione.

we used Steve Rogers (Captain America), who used performance-enhancing substance(s) to gain his physique, in our "advertisement" ; though it turned out well for him, it did not go so well for Johann Schmidt (the Red Skull)

One of the things we learned that especially concerned me was the fact that dietary supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and that often the supplements contain steroids, do not contain what they claim to contain, or are contaminated by other substances such as lead, pesticides, arsenic, or mercury.

The bottom line is, do not use performance-enhancing substances, as they can be extremely detrimental to one's health, as well as being illegal. Instead, use more "natural" forms of enhancing one's performance, such as through strength training to build up more muscle, or through getting massages to relax one's muscles.

2016.03.15 Chicken Muscle Dissection

Today we dissected a chicken carcass to help us understand how muscles work and where the major muscles were located. We skinned the carcass to reveal the muscles underneath and practiced identifying each muscle and their function.

yes, it really is a foster farms chicken; also note that it is missing the distal section of its left wing

the same chicken, with half of its skin removed

The bones, muscles, and tendons of an animal all work together to create movement. When a muscle contracts, since it is attached to bones with tendons, it pulls one bone closer to the other. For example, during the dissection, we pulled on the biceps brachii to mimic muscle contraction, which swung the radius and ulna closer to the humerus. Letting go of the biceps brachii to simulate muscle relaxation allowed the forearm (or forewing, on a chicken) to return to its original position.

We also observed the difference between the origin and the insertion, the two places a muscle is attached to the bone by tendons. The origin is immoveable, and when a muscle contracts, it pulls its insertion closer to its origin. In the case of the biceps brachii, the origin would be on the proximal end of the humerus, while the insertion would be on the distal end closer to the elbow joint. As the biceps brachii contracts, the insertion moves closer to the origin, bringing the forearm closer to the upper arm.

Compared to human muscles, a chicken's muscles are very similar. A chicken has the same muscles as a human, which are located in roughly the same area and work the same way. However, the proportions of these muscles are very different. For example, a bird's chest muscles (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor) are much larger than a human's due to the great strength that is needed for a bird to flap its wings (which are controlled by these chest muscles) to achieve flight. On this particular kind of chicken, the chest muscles and leg muscles are especially large because they have been bred for meat, and the breast, thighs, and drumsticks are the most valuable parts of a chicken. In contrast, the back muscles are extremely small and thin and so weak that the bird cannot even support its own weight upright.

As we studied the chicken's muscles, we labeled some major muscles and took pictures of them:

the pectoralis major pulls the wing down into the flap

the pectoralis minor pulls the wing up after the flap

the latissimus dorsi (1) extends the wing; the trapezius (2) moves the shoulder

the deltoid (1) raises the upper wing; the triceps humeralis (2) extends the wing; the biceps brachii (3) flexes the wing

the brachioradialis (1) pulls the distal section of the wing back; the flexor carpi ulnaris (2) flexes the distal section of the wing

the gastrocnemius (1) extends the foot and flexes the lower leg; the peroneus longus (2) extends the foot; the tibialis anterior (3) flexes the foot

the sartorius (1) flexes the thigh; the iliotibialis (2) extends the thigh and flexes the leg

the semimembranosus (1) extends the thigh; the semitendinosus (2) extends the thigh

the biceps femoris (1) flexes the leg;
the quadriceps femoris (2) flexes the thigh and extends the lower leg

Bee Aware: 20 Time Project, Week 4

Since the last update, I have started building my website and researching endangered species. For my first organism, I chose the rusty-patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis), a critically endangered species of bee native to the eastern half of the United States. I learned about how bees in general pollinate about 80% of the world's plants and 70% of our crops, holding up much of the world's ecosystems as well as our lives and economy. However, many native bee populations are declining in population due to human activity, such as pesticide use and habitat loss to agriculture. Bee populations are also declining due to something called colony collapse disorder (CCD), in which the worker bees simply leave the hive and their queen. There have been many hypotheses about what causes CCD -- from pathogens to pesticides to malnutrition -- but there has not yet been one single, scientifically-supported consensus.

Over the past few weeks, I have realized that doing one organism a week was too ambitious. I think taking two weeks to research an organism and create a design for it is more reasonable, and I will be better able to thoroughly research the organism.

I have also started thinking about how I would sell t-shirts. I know of several websites that freelance artists use to sell their work, since I don't have the time to actually manage a store on my own. I have found several good sites, but I don't think these sites allow printing designs on both the front and the back of a shirt as I had planned. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be a great help.

Someone also suggested that I make the t-shirts funny or entertaining so that more people will be interested and buy them. However, I'm not very good at making puns or jokes, so I'm not sure if I will actually do this.

Next week, I will start researching the sea otter (Enhydra lutris), which is native to the West Coast and closer to home than the rusty-patched bumble bee. Anyone got any good otter puns?

What Happens When You Stretch?

For homework, I read an article called "What Happens When You Stretch."

When a muscle is stretched, it is the sarcomere (basic unit of contraction in a muscle fiber) that stretches first. Then, after all the sarcomeres in a muscle are fully stretched, the connective tissue around the muscle start to stretch also. Fibers in the connective tissue line up along the force of tension, realigning any disorganized fibers -- I have heard something along these lines before, and it's nice to have than information confirmed. Stretching affects many different parts of the muscles from  intrafusal muscle fibers (those that contain myofibrils) to extrafusal muscle fibers (muscle spindles) to
proprioceptors (mechanoreceptros, or nerve endings from the muscular system). All these different parts of a muscle -- and different parts of those parts -- interact to create the stretch reflex, which tries to resist the muscle lengthening, and the lengthening reflex, which occurs when the stretching passes a certain point and stops the stretched muscle from contracting. The article also talks about how stretching can be made more effective by contracting the opposites and relaxing the synergists of the muscle being stretched. This explains why when we do certain stretches in certain ways, for example keeping our leg straight when we stretch our quads.

I chose 3 phrases that I felt held the most meaning:

• "[Stretching] helps to realign any disorganized fibers in the direction of the tension. This realignment is what helps to rehabilitate scarred tissue."
• I remember hearing about this a long time ago, but never really found out if it was true until now. I also find it interesting that stretching can help rehabilitate scarred tissue -- does that mean people with damaged muscles can do stretches to help them heal?
• "Some sources suggest that with extensive training, the stretch reflex of certain muscles can be controlled so that there is little or no reflex contraction in response to a sudden stretch."
• It's interesting to me that reflexes can be trained out of somebody. I have heard of certain responses being conditioned into people, but I didn't know you could condition an innate response out of someone. However, this also sounds a bit dangerous, since the reflex of a muscle to contract is there to stop the muscle from overstretching and becoming damaged, and removing it seems like a bad idea (nature has gone through all this trouble to make sure it's there in the first place, so it's probably quite important).
• "[Y]ou can get a more effective stretch by inducing the antagonists to relax during the stretch due to the contraction of the agonists. You also want to relax any muscles used as synergists by the muscle you are trying to stretch."
• This explains why we do certain stretches certain ways, and why coaches and PE teachers are so adamant that you follow their directions in stretches. It also explains why a stretch done properly "feels better" than one that is not done well.

Saving Endangered Species: 20 Time Project, Week 2

Last week we started our 20 Time projects. 20 Time is when a teacher gives about 20% of his or her class time for his or her students to pursue their own projects that interest them. My 20 Time project is on endangered species, specifically, which endangered species are extremely important to the ecosystem (keystone species), yet are not well known, and how can I raise awareness about these species?

To answer these questions, I want to build a website where I talk about various endangered species in order to raise awareness about them. I also want to design t-shirts for each species, which I can also use to raise awareness as well as raise funds to donate to organizations that help endangered species.

Every week, I want to research a new organism, create a page for it on my website, and create a new t-shirt design for it. I will measure my progress by how many webpages I create, how many people visit my website, and eventually how many people buy my t-shirts.

Unit 6 Reflection: The Skeletal System

In this unit, we learned about the skeletal system. The essential questions from this unit were:

• What are the microscopic and macroscopic characteristics of the skeletal system?
• How do disorders of the skeletal system affect different types or parts of bones?
• What are the effects of vitamins, cells, and the environment on bone density?
• How does a bone repair itself after being fractured?
• What are the defining characteristics of different types of joints?

The macroscopic features of bones include the diaphysis (shaft), which surrounds a hollow medullary cavity, and the proximal and distal epiphyses (flared ends). Compact, or cortical bone, is the smooth, dense bone, while spongy bone is more porous, with cross-hatching supports called trabeculae that help the bone resist stress. There are also two types of bone marrow stored in the bones: red, which produces blood cells and is found in spongy bone, and yellow, which stores energy as fat and is found in the medullary cavity.

At the microscopic level, osteons are what make up bone. They are cylinder-shaped weight-bearing units that run parallel to a bone's axis. They are made of tubes within tubes called lamellae between which are tiny spaces called lacunae, which hold osteocytes (mature bone cells that maintain bone). They also have a central canal that holds nerves and blood vessels to support all of the cells in the bone.

anatomy of a bone (Wikipedia)

Bones are assembled into skeletons, which can be divided into the axial and appendicular skeleton. The axial skeleton is made of the bones along the axis of a body: skull, ribs, sternum, and vertebrae. The appendicular skeleton includes all the rest of the bones, which are attached to the axial skeleton. Bones can also be classified by shape: long, short, flat, and irregular. To help us learn about the skeleton, we did a lab where we dissected an owl pellet, classified the bones we found in it, and tried to assemble them into a skeleton.

Contrary to popular belief, bones do not require just calcium to grow. They also need vitamin K, which can be found in animal-based foods, and vitamin D, which the skin can make when exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D is especially important, since it is needed to absorb calcium so that the calcium can be used to make bones stronger. Severe vitamin D deficiency can lead to rickets, the softening of bones to the point where they may become crooked. Lack of calcium can exacerbate osteoporosis, where the bones become more porous and brittle.

Bone fractures can be classified into many different types. A greenstick, or incomplete, fracture occurs when the bone does not break all the way through. A fissured, or hairline, fracture is a incomplete fracture along the axis of the bone. A comminuted fracture is when the bone breaks into three or more pieces. A transverse fracture crosses a bone perpendicular to its axis, an oblique fracture crosses a bone at an angle, and a spiral fracture occurs when a large twisting force breaks the bone. Simple, or closed, fractures are those that do not puncture the skin, whereas compound, or open, fractures are when the end(s) of the fractured bone(s) break the skin.

After a bone breaks, bone cells called osteoclasts, which build up new bone, and osteoblasts, which break down old bone can repair the bone. Osteoclasts and osteoblasts are also used in bone remodeling, such as when a bone is growing.

 

bone remodeling

Bones attach together at joints, which can be classified by function (syn-, amphi-, and di-arthroses) or by structure (fibrous, cartilagenous, and synovial). Synarthroses are immoveable, amphiarthroses are slightly moveable, and diarthroses are freely moveable. When most people think about joints, like the elbow or the knee, they are thinking about synovial joints, which are diarthrotic. Sutures in the skull are an example of a fibrous synarthrotic joint.

I learned a lot of new things this unit, but there are still a few things I wonder about. For example, if the bone marrow in the medullary cavity is just fat, then is the bone marrow fancy restaurants serve really just fat? What happens to the bone marrow of starving people? Does the body utilize the energy stored in the fat there, and what does this mean for the bones? I would also be interested in learning more in detail about the other types of joints, not just synovial joints.

So far, I have been reaching my New Year's goals of getting eight hours of sleep everyday and not procrastinating on studying for my tests. I hope to continue to keep fulfilling these goals throughout the rest of the year.