What I Found Under My Microscope Today

Green Algae, from green algae slide:

Blue Green Algae, from blue green algae slide:

And I found this from one of those samples of water in the beakers, not quite sure if it is actually an algae, or anything:

Amazing Creature

 This bizzare animal shown here is called a Pacu Fish. I found this animal interesting because it is a fish with teeth that look very similar to human teeth. Since when are there fish with human teeth? When i think of fish i usually imagine them either with no teeth, or sharp teeth. These strange looking fish are actually considered to be cousins of piranhas. The weird thing is that piranhas have sharp, pointy teeth, while Pacus have flat teeth.These fish have a strange diet. They are actually fruit-eaters,and they use their human-like teeth to crack fruits, as well as nuts! I don't think I've ever heard of a fish that eats fruits and nuts. Another strange, and disgusting, thing about these fish is that they have a liking for human testacles! Their have been many reports of men bleeding to death after having their testacles bitten off by Pacu Fish. Other than this, these fish are actually supposed to be less dangerous than their cousins.

Video of a Pacu Fish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SOgstsCV6o
   

My Protist Under My Microscope

Incase you can't find it in this photo, it is just left of the tip of the needle.

Types of Bacteria and Organelle Functions

These are the three different shapes of bacteria, and the two arrangements of bacteria. From left to right in order the bacteria type is: spirillum, bacillus, coccus, streptobacillus, staphlobacillus, staphlococcus, and streptococcus.

In these pictures the structure of a bacteria is shown, as well as the different organelles. The functions of these organelles are:

Flagellum- the thing that the bacteria uses to move.

Capsule- is a storehouse for nutrients, a depot for cellular waste products, and a protective shield against dehydration and potentially harmful changes in the environment.

Cell Wall- provides a rigid framework for the organism and helps determine it shape.

Plasma Membrane- is a boundary layer and it acts as a transport for material that goes in and out of the cell. 

Pilus- used to help a bacteria anchor itself to a surface, and it also exchanges genetic material between bacterial cells.

Mesosome- serves as a sight for attachment of DNA during replication in bacterial reproduction.

Nucleoid- the region of cytoplasm occupied by the chromosome in a bacteria. This chromosome has no membrane or covering. It is folded over many times.

Plasmid- a smaller molecule of DNA that forms closed loops in the cytoplasm apart from chromosomes.

Cytoplasm- a gelatinous mass of proteins, carbohydrates, and other organic and inorganic chemical substances. 

Ribosomes- the sites of protein synthesis.

Endospore- an organelle used fr survival in harsh conditions.

My Second Bacteria Plate

For my second bacteria plate I used bacteria from a lock from a locker, and I covered the whole plate with it. Except in the first quadrant the bacteria is controlled, nothing was done to affect it, but in the second quadrant I added a piece of paper towel soaked in vinegar. In the third quadrant I added a piece of paper towel soaked in bleach, and in the fourth quadrant I added a piece of paper towel soaked in soap. The purpose of this is to see what kind of liquids stop bacteria from growing. As you can see from the picture of my plate, the controlled bacteria obviously grew and in the second, third, and fourth quadrant, no bacteria grew. So, the vinegar, bleach, and soap works. These liquids kill bacteria. I think this experiment can be done with viruses too.

My Bacteria Plate

As you can see not that much happened on my bacteria plate. The third quadrant has the most bacteria in it, which is still not that much. The first quadrant had bacteria from the classroom light switch, second quadrant had bacteria from the yellow railing of the stairs, the third quadrant had bacteria from a lock from a locker, and the fourth quadrant had bacteria from the classroom's door knob. The lock from a locker had the most bacteria on it. 

Reflection On My Progress

I think my progress in biology is really good. I feel really good about all the assignments I have done so far. Three things that I am proud of are:
1. The classification project (the one where we had to make up our own species and genes).
2. The adaptive radiation and speciation video project.
3. The Classification Quiz.

I chose these pieces because I believe they are some of my best pieces from this course so far. After looking through my binder I found that my work habits are very good. I do not have any incomplete work, my binder is very easy to access, everything is organized, and I have kept up with all the work that has been assigned so far. Some of my blog posts which mean the most to me are:
1. Viruses: Part 2.
2. Viruses: Part 1.
3. Peculiar Animal Research.
These blog posts are important to me because I learned a lot of new information that I never knew about before. We went very deep into viruses which I found very interesting, and I learned more things about a giraffe through my Peculiar Animal Research Blog Post, and I have always liked to learn about animals. To me engagement means engaging with the activitiy, or discussion, or whatever that you are doing, meaning, you are participating in the activity. You are not just sitting there watching. Some examples of me being engaged are, actually completing the assignments, such as the one where we had to take pictures of trees and learn there names. I think I was very engaged in that activity. My main goal for the rest of this course is to keep up my good work, and get a good grade. 

Bacillus Bacteria Under A Microscope

Viruses: Part 2

There was once a rubella epidemic in Beijing, China, caused by the genotype 1E rubella virus from the year 2007-2011. It is not a very lethal disease, the symptoms are usually mild fever and rash in adults and children, but rubella is very dangerous for a fetus. If the fetus is infected with this disease, it can cause stillbirth, miscarriage, fetal death, or a child born with serious birth defects including deafness, heart problems, developmental disabilities, and cataracts. Other symptoms for rubella are joint aches, headache, runny nose, sore throat, and reddened eyes. Rubella is transmitted by direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of infected individuals. It can also be transmitted by breathing in droplets that are sprayed into the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or talks. The biggest reason that people caught this disease was because they were not vaccinated for this disease. If a person is vaccinated for rubella the chances of catching it is very low.

More Information:

http://www.virologyj.com/content/10/1/122

http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/rubella/fact_sheet.htm

Rash:

Rubella Virus:

Viruses: Part 1

1. A virus particle is basically a nucleic acid ( DNA or RNA ) enclosed in a protein shell or coat. Viruses are extremely small. They are about 15-25 nanometers in diameter.

2. The genetic material found in a virus can be double-stranded DNA/RNA or single-stranded DNA/RNA. Then type of genetic material found in a virus depends on the nature and function of the specific virus. The genetic material is covered by a protein coat. The viral genome can consist of a very small number of genes or it can have up to hundreds of genes depending of the type of virus.

3.

4. Animal Viruses:

Plant Viruses:

Tobacco mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus, tomato yellow leaf curl virus, cucumber mosaic virus.

5. I think viruses are living because they are organisms and they reproduce. They are similar to bacteria. They are micro-organisms too. 

6. Yes, there are beneficial viruses. These viruses are beneficial because they can eat harmful bacteria that can otherwise do people damage. These viruses can also help our bodies fight off invading microbes.

Peculiar Animal Research

Giraffes have long necks for more than one reason. One reason is so that giraffes can eat leaves from tall trees, but it turns out that this is not the main reason. The main reason is fighting over a female mate. When two male giraffes fight over a female giraffe, what they do is they swing their heads into each other, and whoever has the longer, heavier neck, wins because often these collisions can be bone-breaking, and a stronger neck will obviously have an advantage. Whichever giraffe wins, mates with the female.


http://www.how-come.net/giraffeneck.html

Peculiar Animal

The animal I chose is the giraffe. Why does it have such a long neck? I think it is so a giraffe can reach up big trees to eat the food that they need. Most giraffes eat leaves off trees so I think their long necks come in handy for that.