Cell Wars! Project Blog 9/30/16

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Biological_cell_vacuole.svg/2000px-Biological_cell_vacuole.svg.png

Summary: this week I learned about lots of organelles.

Ribosomes:

Ribosomes are small, bumpy organelles that are blue and red. They are found in the mitochondria and chloroplast. Ribosomes make proteins and they don’t stop working. They work all the time.

Golgi: The golgi made the ribosomes. The golgi also packages proteins.

Mitochondria: The mitochondria is the best organelle because I did it. It controls like 90% of the cell. It controls more than any other organelle. It is true that you can get disease from mitochondria. But that I one in one trillion chance that will happen.

Vacuole: The vacuole is in both plant and animal cells. It takes up 80% of the space in plant cells. It stores water, food, and wastes. I am voting for the vacuole because if wastes were floating around in the cell, we would die. I did my project on mitochondria.

Endoplasmic Reticulum: The endoplasmic reticulum is like the post office of the cell. It receives the proteins all bundled up and sends them to all other ends of the cell.

Cell Wall: the cell wall is the one who is only in plant cells and helps the plant stand tall to reach the sun.

Cell Membrane: are in both plants and animal cells. They are protecting the cell.

Chloroplast: is only in the plants. It makes food for the plants.

Backwards Looking: Have you done a similar kind of work in the past (earlier in the year or in a previous grade; in school or out of school)?
Yes, I have. Last year I had done the organelle trail project. 

Inward Looking: What did/do you find frustrating about it?

The video taping part was the most frustrating part. 

Outwards Looking: What do your classmates particularly notice about your piece when they look at it?

They look at the part of the video Daniel added about Donald Trump.

Forward Looking: What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?

Well, in the video we forgot to add "I am the mitochondria and I approve this message."

Cell Wars! 9/26/16

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0ZVGIkgGEzZRnNjX1ZSRXMtem8

SUMMARY: This week we were focused on our posters. Nic made the online meme above. Me, Sasha and Daniel drew our posters. Mine is below:

                            Link

We learned that the mitochondria controls 90% of the cell’s mutations. We also learned that the mitochondria produces aerobic respiration just for you. It also takes part in cellular respiration.

We also started filming our video. We have a script, and my part is highlighted pink, Sasha’s is cyan, Nic is yellow, and Daniel is green. Here is our script.

⭐Font for script: Caveat Brush

Sasha: Interviewer

Nic S: Audience

Annie: Monica the Mitochondria

Daniel: Audience

Ready, Set, START SHOW

Sasha: Hello and welcome to the Cell show! Here today we will be interviewing

someone special.

Sasha: And now may I present MONICA THE MITOCHONDRIA!

Nic and Daniel: (clapp clapp clapp clapp clapp clapp clapp clapp)

Annie: Oh, thank you! I am Honored to be on the show.

Sasha: So Monica How do you think you will be the best candidate for President of cell land?

Annie: Well, the mitochondria controls 90% of the cell’s productivity. It is an organelle that performs the process of aerobic respiration. In aerobic respiration, simple food molecules like glucose are broken down for their energy. The process results in high-energy molecules called ATP.

Sasha: Wow I could barely process that. So Audience what do you think?

Nic & Daniel: wooohooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo woohoo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Sasha: Okay…………. So Monica what do you think you will do to help cell land if you win and do you think you will be better and win?

Annie: Well, the nucleus was the last president of cell land. I feel like I should be president because the nucleus was the one in charge of cell land. But the mitochondria also controls almost all of the cell. Sure, we need everyone else, and I realize that. It just seems like I should take the lead and help cell land back to its feet.

Daniel: That was great Monica. I’m going to vote for you.

Nic: Yes, me too.

Nic & Daniel: Bravo! (clapp clapp clapp clapp clapp clapp clapp clapp)  

Sasha: Why are you better than the other candidates?

Annie: Well, chloroplasts only work for plant cells. They do nothing for the animal cells. And the mitochondria powers more than even the nucleus. If the cell doesn’t have me, it’ll die.

Sasha: Can you tell me what you do for the cell Monica?

Annie: The mitochondria is an organelle that act like a digestive system which takes in nutrients, breaks them down, and creates energy rich molecules for the cell. The processes of the cell are known as cellular respiration. AND… If I win… I will make sure that everyone gets a lifetime supply of glucose sugar! And I will not build a wall…

Daniel: (awkward silence)

Sasha: Okay……..So that is it today folks see you later on THE CELL SHOW!

After show…

Nic: Glucose sugar? Yay! I’m voting for her.

Daniel: Glucose sugar and a lifetime supply of it! Just imagine!

Nic & Daniel: Whoohoo Monica!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daniel: She’s is even better than Donald Trump, I’m so voting for her!!!!!!!

Nic: Isn’t everyone better than Donald Trump. But I’ll say. What a great show.

Daniel: Ya!(in strange voice) she IS better than Donald Trump!!!!!!

Nic: She won’t build a wall!

⭐

That’s our script. We already voice recorded it the way we wanted it to be, and now we’ll face film ourselves. 📹 We all have an equal part in the video. And when we recorded our voices, it took 2 minutes.

S&EP: SP2
We did indeed use S&EP2 when we drew our posters.

Cell Wars! 9/18/16

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Animal_mitochondrion_diagram_en_(edit).svg/2000px-Animal_mitochondrion_diagram_en_(edit).svg.png

     SUMMARY: This week we started the Cell Wars!®  Project. My team, Sasha, Nic and Daniel, were in charge of the mitochondria. I learned  that mitochondria are shaped just right to maximize their productivity. The organelle is made of two membranes. The outer membrane covers the organelle and contains it like a skin. The inner membrane folds over many times and creates layered structures called cristae. The fluid contained in the mitochondria is called the matrix.

     The mitochondria is an organelle that performs the process of aerobic respiration. In aerobic respiration, simple food molecules like glucose are broken down for their energy. The process results in high-energy molecules called ATP.

    The citric acid cycle is the first stage of aerobic respiration. It takes place in the mitochondrial matrix. The cycle is named for the fact that citric acid (also called citrate or Vitamin C) is used in the process.

S&EP: SP7: Arguing from evidence. 
I used the ace strategy to  check my work when I looked at stuff from websites. 

Project Blog 9/10/16

Link

SUMMARY: This week I had to make a scientific method cartoon. Mine was titled "Fred the duck's (And Manny's) scientific method." The first square was where Manny, the main guy, had his favorite toy truck broken. He thought that this was a huge problem. The second square was where Manny was researching different types of glue that might possibly fix his truck. In the third square, Manny made a hypothesis. “So if the type of glue affects the fixture of my truck, then superglue will work better than a glue stick.” Manny then observed the damage to his truck to see how to fix it. Manny carefully smeared glue from a stick onto the wheel of his truck, and it breaks. Part one of the experiment was a failure. The second part, however, where Manny puts superglue onto the wheel, is a success. Manny is overjoyed and carefully analyzes his data in a table. Manny concludes that superglue works the best. And the last four squares are all about Fred the duck’s truck (which is more of a sailboat on wheels) breaks, gets fixed, and yeah. Then, Fred is pleased and shows his gratitude with a cream pie. I like doing the project because it included art and I included funnyness. Congratulations! You have read the whole paragraph! Fred the duck will now show his gratitude with a cream pie!

SPLAT!

    

  BACKWARD LOOKING: Does this work tell a story?

Yes. This work tells the story of poor Manny, and how he learned how to fix things. And how Fred the duck fixed his rolling sailboat. This work also tells a story on how I like to be funny in my work.

INWARD LOOKING: What does this piece tell you about yourself and how you learn?

I like to be creative and funny in my work. I’m just experimenting to see if being funnier gets me a better grade or not. I think that I did a good job being funny.

OUTWARD LOOKING: Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?

I think that my work was different from my classmate's work because mine was funnier. But some kids didn’t include the experiment and some did.
FORWARD LOOKING: One thing I would like to improve upon is …

The fact that my drawings were rushed, because I was running out of time.

The highlighted words are key words. 

problem

researching

hypothesis

observed

experiment

analyzes

concludes

         

Preparation for experiments 9/3/16

Choc-Chip-Cookie.jpg

SUMMARY

This week I learned how to answer a question properly. If your teacher asked you, "Why is the sky blue?" you wouldn't answer, "Because." You could say, "The sky is blue because....." instead of  "Because."  We also did an experiment this week. Mine was "Does the amount of stevia in tea affect how much a cookie disintegrates?" Here is my experiment: 

*Testable Question: Does the amount of stevia in tea affect how much the cookie disintegrates?

Hypothesis: If the amount of stevia in tea affects how much the cookie disintegrates, then ¼ teaspoon will make it disintegrate the most.

Independent Variable: Amount of stevia in tea.

Dependent Variable: Amount of disintegrated cookie.

                   Materials

• Bowls
• Cookies
• Stevia
• Teaspoon
• Tea

Instructions

Pour 80 milliliters of tea into four bowls. Into one bowl put ¼ teaspoon of stevia. In two more, put in ⅛ and 1/16. In the last, put none. Set a timer for 45 seconds. Then, dip one chocolate chip cookie into each bowl. When the timer beeps, take out the cookies and hold them over the bowls for 15 seconds. Some will drop in the bowls, and that’s okay. Then, the person with the most fallen cookie in the bowl and the least cookie in their hands has completed the experiment first. If you still have cookie in your hands, put it somewhere that is preferably not the bowls.

*: All of the things that are highlighted are important to have in a fair test. 

S&EP: SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data

This was the data table that I made after doing the experiment and obtaining the data:

    This was my Data Table.

Stevia in the tea	Cookie left
None	None
¼ teaspoon	1 centimeter
⅛ teaspoon	1 ½ centimeters
1/16	2 centimeters

We put different amounts of stevia in the tea we dipped the cookies into. The tea with no stevia disintegrated the cookie the most. I created a data table that collected the data during the experiment.