Awesome video!

I haven't posted on this blog in forever and I haven't taken a biology class in a year but this video made me remember why it is one of my favorite subjects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EUAMe2ixCI#t=1117

To those taking AP Bio in the future

AP Biology is honestly on of the best classes I have taken throughout my high school career. It was also one of the hardest. Many of you may be nervous about all the work that comes with taking an AP Biology class and you should be. If you wait until the last minute to do things you are going to have problems. The best way I can explain this to you is to explain my study schedule for this class. Most everyday you will take notes in class. I don't know about you but my notes are always very messy and full of little sidenotes of the things to remember, drawings that describe something, and random tidbits that make little to no sense. I made it a habit to type all my notes out when I got home. This gave me a chance to re-organize my thoughts and go over the main points of the class. When it came to reading the chapters in the book I had the hardest time. Reading a textbook is never something I enjoy and I never really retain anything. I made it a habit to print out all the extra credit reading guides before reading a chapter. I would use the reading guide to help me pick up on the important parts of chapter. I allowed me to avoid reading something I really didn't need to know as well as getting me some extra points to help my grade. Instead of doing the actual study guides as we walked through material I would wait until a couple days before the test. I would sit down and fill out as much of the study guide as I could with out my notes or the text book. When I was finished I would look at what I didn't know and use that as a guide of what information I needed to look over. All in all this class will be as easy or as hard as you want to make it. If you use your time wisely and do a little bit every night this class will not be all that difficult. I absolutely loved this class and I hope that you do too.
Live long and prosper!

Valiant Vacuole

As the cell war begins I think it would be a good idea to introduce the candidate that I am sponsoring. The Valiant Vacuole. The vacuole is a membrane bound sack. They tend to be very large in plant cells. Vacuoles play many roles in a cell. They store nutrients and waste products, increase cell size during plant growth, the removal of waste products, and hydrolyzing of macromolecules.

A very important ability of vacuoles in plant cells is the regulation of turgor pressure. Turgor pressure is when water collects in the vacuole and pushes outward against the cell wall, producing rigidity in the plant. If turgor pressure drops enough a plant will lose its rigidity. This can be seen when a plant wilts.

Now that you know this information vote Valiant Vacuole!

Lauren and Victoria

Valiant Vacuole for President!

Carbohydrates...Yum!

As someone who rows races quite often I understand the importance of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are on of the macromolecules. Carbohydrates are used for fast energy, energy storage, raw materials, and structural materials. Carbohydrates are made up of Carbon and Hydrogen. Carbohydrates are made up of monomers which are sugars. The most common being Glucose. The energy is stored in carbon to carbon bonds. Polysaccharides cost little energy to make and are easily reversible. One carbohydrate commonly seen in animals is Glycogen. Cellulose is a common carbohydrate seen in plants. It is the most abundant organic compound on Earth but humans cannot digest it. Many herbivores have developed a mechanism to digest it though.

Free Write!

So for my free write I did something on rowing. surprise! surprise! It is biology based...somewhat but here's the article.

Rowers lose their senses during races

LONDON – Olympic athletes routinely go to extraordinary levels of sacrifice in pursuit of their competitive dreams, but few endure a greater level of suffering than those in the rowing events.
Olympic legend Matthew Pinsent, who retired after winning the last of his four gold medals for Great Britain at the Athens Games in 2004, revealed how it is not uncommon for rowers' senses, such as their hearing and even their vision, to shut down during a race due to the physical side effects of the sport's torturous test of spirit.
"Towards the end, everything starts to go a bit weird," Pinsent said. "It all starts to go. Your senses are not in control anymore and they start to leave you. The hearing will go, the vision goes out of synch, there isn't much left.
"Your body starts to close down anything it doesn't need at that moment. It prioritizes to the parts of the body that are in trouble, like your muscles suffering the agony of the row."

[ Related: Niger rower's painfully slow finish ]

Rowing, known as crew in American high school and college circles, is undoubtedly one of the toughest events of the Olympic Games. Races are held over 2000 meters and have been described as a "six-minute sprint" that leads to huge lactic acid build-up.
Athletes have been known to suffer from memory loss. The sight of an Olympian throwing up over the side of the boat after a race is not uncommon.
Pinsent described how it takes a few moments for the initial pain to set in, but once it does, the remainder of a race is nothing but punishment for the competitors.
"It won't happen in the first few seconds, even sprinting away from the blocks," Pinsent said. "Our body doesn't register the pain problem for 20 seconds and even then it only starts to really burn after 40. The lactate kicks in after about a minute and stays there, tearing at your muscles and mind for the rest of the race.
"The only way to relieve the pain is to stop and that's not going to happen."
Pinsent was the partner of Sir Steven Redgrave for three of his Olympic victories. Redgrave is the five-time gold medalist who ran the final leg of the Olympic torch relay before it was handed to seven young athletes at the Opening Ceremony.

The credit for this article goes to Mr. Martin Rogers.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--the-brutal-side-effects-of-rowing-s-torturous-test.html

As someone who rows I have to say this is true, although I haven't had anything this severe, I've definitely experienced the pain. I've never noticed my senses going but that being said I don't remember much of a race when it's over. I feel almost as if I've slept through it I'm so tired. Still rowing is a lot of fun.
Live long and prosper!
VanderWall

Hope for Fatal Brain Diseases

A study recently done at Oregon Health and Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital has shown that Neural Stem Cells can  survive and produce functioning myelin in mice that are suffering from severe myelin loss. Myelin is a fatty insulation that protects nerve fibers in the brain and is essential for normal brain function. This is a huge step in stem cell therapy because of the fact that many people that suffer from such illness' are not diagnosed until symptoms begin to show. Some diseases that result from  myelin loss are Cerebal Palsy and Multiple Sclerosis. Other diseases that result in the loss of myalin can be fatal. The study showed that ageing and memory loss is due to a vast change in white matter. This results in the damaged myelin and progressive senility.

The mice used in this study had a genetic mutation that caused proggressice neurological deterioration because the brain is unable to make myelin. Stem cells were transplanted into the brains of the mice and it was found that the stem cells were able to survive as well as make functioning myelin. MRI scans showed that production of myelin had begun just a week after transplantation. This is a huge step for stem cell therapy.

 If this study proves to be a plausable treatment of such disorders. Such an advancement could lead to the furthuring of other stem cell studies.  If such advancements were made who knows the cures or treatments that may be found in the future.

Live Long and Prosper!

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2012/10/10/human_neural_stem_cells_study_offers_new_hope_for_children_with_fatal_brain_diseases.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+biologynews%2Fheadlines+%28Biology+News+Net%29

Homecoming In the Town of Sparta

Ahh homecoming, such a fun time for many but at Sparta it is much more than that. It is a school wide competition that determines the fate of the red apple. The red apple is a prestigious award given to the winning class. How this prize is won is something I would love to inform everyone of but first  I want to describe the atmosphere of homecoming at Sparta.
The week before the Friday of homecoming is filled with dress up days as well as a food drive and penny a point. Class participation is how the base of points is started. It's always interesting to see how into it the classes get. The Freshman are usually unsure of how this process works. They are timid and shy about going all out when participating in dress up days seeing as this is their first year being involved in the competition. This results in participation numbers in the 30% range. Then you have the Sophomores. They have been through this once and are now ready to be true contendors. They are more into taking on aspects of the competition but some don't truely understand the importance of this competition yet as the freshman never come close to winning the red apple. Their numbers tend to hang in the 40% range. And lest we not forget the Juniors. So sure of themselves having done this two times now they believe that they can take away the award from the seniors. Their costumes on dress up days tend to be all out and impressive but still not enough to over take the Seniors who will not let the award fall from their grasp. The juniors love to hover around the 50% mark. Seniors we know how this thing works like the back of our hands. Dress up days call for outrageous outfits as well as a little bit of public humiliation but this is all in the name of continuing on the tradition of the red apple. Thus their numbers hang around the 60% mark.
Now onto the games. On friday all the classes meet in the gym in a battle of the year all for the prestigous honor of having their class be engraved on the red apple. The Freshman fearful, Sophomores self-assured that they have a chance, Juniors Jubilant, and the Seniors salivating for a win. The games consist of the catipillar crawl, orange pass, food structure, kangaroo hop, Scooter relay, HulaHoop game, Tennis ball relay, Pie eating contest, float, and last but not least Mock Rock. Seniors having had three years of experience will win almost every game flawlessly. But the most important competition I believe is mock rock. Every year each grade will present a mock rock that goes along with the theme. This year it was musicals. The poor Freshman presented their misguided version of High School Musical. The Sophomores a cute rendition of Grease. The Juniors their unfortunate arrangement of Footloose. The Seniors their dominating performance of Rock of Ages. All in all this years homecoming was memorable and of course the seniors won with a lead of 20 points. A final note the Sparta homecoming is an event to be seen. Honestly this event should be a tourist attraction.
Live Long and Prosper!