Unit 2 Reflection

   This unit was about basic chemistry, macro molecules, and enzymes.  In the chemistry for biologists vodcast we learned about the elements and the different types of bonding, the properties of water and why water is important, and the ph scale.  From this vodcast I learned how the hydrogen atoms in water molecules are charged so that they attach to things which was interesting.
   Macro molecules was about Lipids, nucleic acids, proteins, and the different types of carbohydrates and sugars.  To apply what we learned to an experiment we did the sweetness lab in which we tasted the different kinds of sugars that we had learned about during the lesson and rated them on how sweet they where to find which ones where sweetest.  I concluded that the monosaccharides where the sweetest carbohydrates, followed by disacchurides, and polysaccharides where the least sweet tasting.  In this lab I learned about a few sugars that I had not known about before.
   The enzyme vodcast explained the properties of a special kind of protein called an enzyme that helps make chemical reactions happen much faster.  To find the optimal conditions in which enzymes operate most effectively we did two labs.  The first lab was a digital enzyme lab in which we tested how ph and the amount of substrate, and found that the test tubes with neutral ph, and larger amounts of substrate created more product.  Then we did the cheese lab in which we tested the optimal conditions for making cheese by testing the ph, temperature, and curdling agent.  The class concluded that the most effective curdling agent was chymosin, and an acidic ph, and high temperature was best for producing cheese.  This lab not only taught me about enzymes but also how cheese is made.
   This unit was interesting and filled with information that answered all my questions, because of this I have no unanswered questions.  The unit was easy to understand so I understand the concepts that where covered.  I want to learn more about enzymes and macro molecules in the future.

Sweetness Lab

  In this experiment I found that monosaccharaides are very sweet, disaccharides are sort of sweet and polysaccharides are not sweet at all.  Fructose that scored a 190, Glucose that scored a 50, and Galactose that scored a 20, where all monosaccharides that scored decently high on this test.  Maltose a 10, and lactose a 0 where both disaccharides that scored low on this test.  Sucrose, however is an outlier from my claim, a disaccharide that scored a 100 on the taste test.  The polysaccharides Cellulose and Starch scored a 0 on the sweetness test, supporting my claim.

  An organism or cell might digest the sugars differently based on their structure.  A monosaccharide would most likely quickly digest because it only has one ring.  Disaccharides might take a bit longer to digest because they have 2 rings.  And polysaccharides would most likely take the most time to be digested by the organism or cell but the bonds it has would in all release more energy than the others.

  Not all the testers would give the same rating for each sugar because of some variations.  The person testing the sugar is taking qualitative data and then quantifying it which can always create some variation since it is mostly based on comparison to the other sugars.  There is no exact number for each of the sugars when it is only based on a person's qualitative evidence.  The sugar that was tasted prior to the sugar tasted could have effected the taste if the prior flavor was still lingering.  Also some people have a better sense of taste and can taste the sugars more strongly than others.

  Humans taste sweetness through the taste buds on the side of the tongue farther back.  The side of the tongue that tastes the sugars could effect how much a person tastes the sweetness of the sugar. Monosaccaraides taste sweet because for survival people prefer the sugars that they can digest quickly and get a quick burst of energy, rather then taking the time to digest a polysaccharide.

Biology Characteristics Collage

Jean Lab

  In this experiment we bleached denim jean squares in different concentration solutions of bleach and water. In the results we found out that the squares in the higher concentrations of bleach became a brighter color, however the fabric in the jean squares that where bleached in high concentration also weakened.  The question of this lab was, What concentration of bleach can make the color lightest without visible damage to the fabric.  The answer to this would be the jean squares in the 100% bleach concentration. Although if you felt the fabric you would feel that the fabric was a bit thinner than it had been before there was no damage that was visible from the outside.
   Our data contradicts the expected results because the 100% bleach solution from the store was not literally 100% bleach, it was a solution this would have made the 100% bleach solution sample not as heavily damaged as it would have been in pure bleach.  Also, our data was unexpected because one of the 25% bleach solution sample was accidentally doused in water right after it was soaked in the bleach, this would effect our results because that sample did not have as much time to let the bleach soak in for 9 minutes as the rest of the samples had.  Our data might have also resulted differently than might happen because we also soaked 3 of the jean samples at a time because we where low on time, this might have caused some of the samples to not get enough bleach for each one, that might have caused the samples to not be as light of a color and as weak of a fabric.  Next time we should take more time for the lab and do the procedure exactly as it says.  We should also make sure that all of us know what we are doing so accidents in the lab don't happen.
This lab was done to demonstrate the lab process, so we know how to do labs in the future.  From this lab I learned how to do a lab which helps me understand the lab taking process.  Based on my experience from this lab I will know how to effectively take scientific labs in the future.