Genetics :D

     Hi there! My name is Genny Etics. You can call me Gen for short though. So today I'm here to talk about the interesting topic of...ME! Well basically we're talking about you too. I am you if that makes any sense. Genetics are what make you, YOU!If you want to find me, just look here; In the DNA!

     Genetics can determine a lot of things about you. They determine your hair color, eye color, and basically your physical appearance. Where do you get all of these traits you ask? Well from none other than:

YOUR PARENTS!

     Passing genes from parents to children is called heredity. Say, your mom has green eyes and you also have green eyes. That is a hereditary trait passed down from her to you. It also works the same with some of your personality. You can inherit some from your mom or dad or it can be learned from your parents doing it so much. Say your dad always pauses after saying every sentence. Well you might do that to due to picking it up from him doing it all the time.

 

      We have 46 chromosomes. 23 from our mom and 23 from our dad. We get these chromosomes from the sperm cell and egg cell which both have 23 chromosomes forming together to make YOU! 

 

    Have you ever wondered why you might look like more like your mom than your dad or visa verse? Well this is because some traits are dominant and some are recessive. Dominant traits are basically traits you are more likely to get. Dominant traits can "overlap" recessive traits. It means that the recessive traits are still there but the dominant ones are just hiding it. If your parent had a recessive trait that they passed on to you but the dominant trait ruled it out, it could come back again in your children or even your children's children.

     

    You may not like peas but believe it or not they actually helped discover the idea of heredity and genetics. Gregor Mendal, an Austrian scientist in the 1800s, begin to become curious of how children got traits from their parents. He started an experiment with pea plants, combining them together and observing their outcomes. He found the idea of recessive and dominant traits through many different generations of pea plants.

     Mandel also invented something called the Punnett Square. It was a way in which you could predict the outcome of offspring between a homozygous short pea plant and a tall one. Homozygous means having the same genes. Okay so say the tall pea plant is TT and the short one in tt. When they get multiplied together you get Tt. The tall gene is dominant so odds are, the plant will be tall.

     This table can determine a plant's genotype and phenotype. Genotype is an organism's genetic structure such as metabolism and cell shape, while phenotype is basically the all around physical appearance. 
 
Here are some links:
Punnett squares!
Genetics and Heredity
Genetic game.

      

MUTTATIONS! Oh sorry, I mean mutations.

       Oops! Wrong kind of muttation! I meant mutations. Anyway, a mutation, is sort of a mix up of DNA sequence. Mutations can be inherited, or you get them throughout your life. Example of an animal mutation:

        There are three different types of mutations.
Substitution mutation-
    A substitution mutation is when one base is switched with another. It can cause major damage to protein structures resulting in the organism being wrong.

Insertion mutation-
    An insertion mutation is when a random extra base is inserted into the DNA.

Deletion mutation-
     Deletion mutation is exactly what it sounds like. It is when a base of the DNA is missing or got deleted.

This picture explains the 3 different types of DNA:

       Some diseases known today such as autism and cancer are formed because of mutations. Cancer makes cells duplicate too fast.
 It's really bad to have a mutation in your DNA because DNA does a lot for us. It determines our eye color, our skin color, and etc. Also, down syndrome is a sort of DNA mutation.
Links:
 http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/mutations_01
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/archive/sloozeworm/mutationbg.html
 http://www.genetichealth.com/g101_changes_in_dna.shtml

Science fair 2012

 How the judges look at me when I'm presenting my science fair project. 

             
     No I'm just kidding but that would be extremely creepy. So this year for the science fair, I decided to do mine on multi-tasking. 


     
         I decided to do this project because I think the human brain is really interesting and I wanted to figure out if it's good to multi-task or not. After my project, I figured out it really wasn't good to.

This year was actually a lot better than last year because I actually knew what to do this year. It was a lot easier to get everything done and I think things were a lot more organized. Also, this year I had more time to do everything. Last year, I was sort of rushing around at the last minute trying to do everything. 

My reaction when I was finished.

    I had a lot of trouble with getting volunteers last year. This year it was a lot easier to get volunteers than it was last year. Plus, this year they were a lot more cooperative and actually willing to volunteer.

Sorry, I'm a Panemaniac.

    So enough about last year, let's talk about this year. I really didn't have that much trouble putting everything together. My experiment was relatively simple and didn't take long. The only thing that was really pestering was that I cannot cut straight at all so everything was a bit slanted. Also I couldn't use black font because my poster was black but that turned out being good because I used purple! Another bad thing was the printer didn't work so I couldn't get everything on the board till almost the day before!

This is what I felt like doing.

      The day of the science fair, I was really nervous about presenting to the judges. I was really scared they were gonna ask me all these questions with big words in them and I would be sitting there like....uh..what? But luckily, that wasn't the case. They were actually really nice and asked simple questions. Hopefully, they liked my project! 

  BYE!

P.S. I won second :)

      
      
    

Don't no about? (DNA)

     Dinosaurs never age? Dogs neglect ants? What exactly does DNA mean and what is it? I think we'll talk to a friend of mine. Double Felix.

Double Felix

      Me: Hello Felix, can you tell us a little about what exactly DNA is?

Felix: Deoxyribonucleic acid is what DNA stands for. DNA is what makes you, you. Each cell you have contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. DNA is located in these chromosomes. DNA determines your physical traits such as hair and eye color. 

    Me: How do we know about DNA today? Were there people who first contributed to the knowledge?

Felix:  Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins, James Watson, and Francis Crick  were all a team of scientists. James Watson and Francis Crick used an X-ray to find out about the double helix (me!) of DNA. Rosalind Franklin originally thought of the idea.

        Me: What is DNA made up of?

Felix: DNA is made up of nucleotide. There are four different sections of nucleotides. They are adenine(A),thymine(T),guanine(G),and cytosine(C). Each one has a different shape.  They help proteins form and help your body grow too.

      Felix:Believe it or not, only 2% of DNA is useful and contains genetic material. The other 98% is unknown and called "junk DNA".    

As far as we know, the junk DNA isn't used for anything.

           Me: So how does there get to be more of you guys?

Felix:  Well DNA self replicates itself. Two strands of DNA go through a process and when the cell divides, it has its own replicate of the DNA. 
 
       ME: Ok so my last question is what are the similarities and differences between RNA and DNA?
Felix: RNA stands for Ribonucleic acid. Unlike DNA, which is double helixed, RNA has only one strand. Also RNA is allowed to leave the cell since it's sort of a messenger while DNA stays put. 

    Well bye from Felix and me and remember, ONLY 10 MORE DAYS!

       Yes, I know it's a science blog. But for now, it's going to be Kate's Social Studies blog. So in honor for Black History month, I'm going to tell you guys about John Brown.

     When he was younger, John Brown hated slavery. He saw his friend Cyrus beaten with a shovel. When he moved to Massachusetts in 1846, he helped slaves move to Canada. Then in 1849, he went to New York to help slaves. He did this for six years. Also, he was part of the Underground Railroad. 

      In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska act let people vote on weather or not a state could be a slave state or not. Since John Brown really hated slavery he traveled to Kansas to free the state of slavery.

   While Brown was in Kansas there were many threats of violence. Many people wanted Kansas to be free and many wanted it be a slave state. On March 30th, 1855, five thousand people from Missouri who protested against Kansas being a free state took over Kansas's voting poles and threatened anyone who wanted it to be free. In 1856, Brown and his sons traveled to Pottawatomie Creek where they murdered 5 people who wanted slavery.

      After that, anyone who protested against Kansas was brutally murdered by Brown and his crew. Lots of people though he was an evil person. To people against slavery he was a hero. In 1858, Brown led men to Missouri to free slaves. There was many battles. One that led Brown to his death was the raid on Harper's Ferry.

   
      On October 16th, Brown's men got hostages and begin to march towards Harper's Ferry. People shot at them and Brown knew they were losing but he stayed and fought. The next morning, when the remaining soldiers gathered into a house, they were surrounded by soldiers outside. The soldiers said they would let them surrender and they could live but yet again John Brown refused to surrender. Brown was captured and hung.
 
    Even though some people say that John Brown was a cold hearted murderer, he did those things for the right reason. He was fighting for what he believed in and even though a lot of lives were lost, his actions still helped all of those slaves. Also his life, and many of his men's lives were lost too but they were sacrificing them selves for others to be free.

      Yesterday we learned about how awful the Civil War was. Many soldiers didn't get to see their families for over 2 years. If they were lucky, they might get a letter. Also when they got shot in the arm or leg or something, they would have to get it amputated. If they were lucky, they would not get disease. They didn't get food or supplies until 3 days at a time. I really liked how we got to choose what options to do as a soldier.

Bibliography:
https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQBCHgxlVrZt0LfigEH8uq1Z1koxZZa7pzqgfg-1HzkTsQi1ZhP
https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSi6zMyVQwyuerDWkQ6CuT3VApm-Cxx8ViEViOGY6kPC7DXtW--IQ
https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2IRpxZGz23JxmENm36X5EHI4Gzh9Vr5WEg-KHh27nEcX3ZboP
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/usaweb/Images/kansas_c_brown.jpg
https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQHLGMRtxGeRSKe4uSv5Q73bh1d-KqB4Bw2rMMvQIZrThtFWaGe
https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR5Vs49gY_VmJa71PHLWTtHhqzGyMQklEmrq6LTbL7e_sG2Jdee1A

https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKPhl5FxxOIL6fhK4c127zir-dfUxW6do8FEjN_K0iNFQu0lWu

From WAAAA! To MY HIP!

    If you're confused by the title, it's the phases of life! To toddler up to elder. So today we're going to be learning about different phases. But in cells! The first major phase in a cell is called interphase. In interphase, organelles in the cell are doubled. DNA is included in this process. It makes it so the cell can divide. In this stage ( also known as the "living stage") the cell gets nutrients and grows. So basically interphase is the stage where it gets the cell ready for mitosis: cell division, which is the next main stage of cells. It has phases inside it though.

       


     The first stage of Mitosis is Prophase. In Prophase, chromosomes become visible. The nuclear membrane begins to disappear and spindle apparatus form at opposite ends of the cell.
  
    The next stage in Mitosis is Metaphase. In Metaphase, Chromosomes become arranged on something called the Metaphase plate, which is in the very center of the cell.

     Anaphase, the next stage, chromosomes move two ways away from the Metaphase plate. At the end of Anaphase, there is two complete sets of chromosomes at each end of the cell.

    In Telophase, the chromosomes have been completed and the cell membrane for another daughter cell (other cell) forms around it.

    The last stage of Mitosis is Cytokinesis. In Cytokinesis, the cell is actually divided. The cytoplasm stretches in the center and the cell is completely divided.

       

You are now entering cell 1859274973

     
    That's how WE get out and in of a building. Simple right? Well how do substances get into cells? DA DA DA! It's time for an adventure! *travels to cell*
   AHH! Why can't I get in?! LET ME IN!

   Cell membrane: HEY YOU! You can't get in here! This cell is meant only for certain molecules that are helpful for the cell! 
  Me: *runs away screaming*

   
    Okay so now onto our next topic. DIFFUSION! Here's an example:

    When someone sprays something like air freshener or perfume, it's an act of a diffusion. When the person sprays the air freshener right in front of them, that's a high concentration area. Eventually, the air freshener begins to spread around the room (with its smell too) and those places are called low concentration areas.


     There are also different types of movement. One is passive transport which requires no energy from the cell. That leads into facilitated diffusion which is means of transport to substances. entering the cell. 

      Unlike passive transport, active transport needs energy...just like in real life.  In order for you to be active, you need energy! It needs energy because it pushes the molecule along the cell membrane and the molecule can't do that by itself.

   Ugh sadly there are more complicated words! Osmosis is when water molecules are diffused across the cell membrane. Endocytosis moves things outside of the cell to the cytoplasm and Exocytosis is moving things in the cytoplasm to the outside of the cell. Okay I think we're done with the big words!


    


     
     Wait...wait...WAIT! What happens when two cells are different sizes? Does it effect the diffusion process? I sense another adventure! 
Cell membrane: The bigger the cell membrane is, the faster substances can be diffused so we can't keep track of anything getting in so membranes tend to be smaller.
Me: Thanks buddy!
  Here are some links:
CLICK FOR PASSIVE AND ACTIVE TRANSPORT!
CLICK FOR OSMOSIS!
http://www.maxanim.com/physiology/Endocytosis%20and%20Exocytosis/Endocytosis%20and%20Exocytos
is.htm
Okay well bye! *exits dramatically*