Thoughts on Bio Honors 12-9-16

          Honestly, that yesterday test was super hard. It was especially hard for me because I had a hard time focusing since I had just used most of my brain power on the test that I had had the previous period. The test that I had in math was a long test that was challenging, so I had put a ton of focus and effort into it. When I went into your class, I felt like my brain needed a break. It was so so so hard to focus, and I feel like I made at least a few stupid mistakes on that test.

          With the stress of finals starting to build, this test really didn't help at all. I was hoping that it would be an easier test so that I could have a better grade going into finals, but it was really quite the opposite. Although I have learned a ton of Biology in your class, it would be nice to get an A in your class, especially because it is an honors class, but that hope that I have been working for all semester is slowly drifting away. 

          I wish that I could just not care about my grades, and want to go to school to gain knowledge. I enjoy learning, because most of what I learn is fascinating, but the need to get good grades is always lingering in my brain, and I do not know what to do about it. Colleges look at grades, and it has be embedded in my brain that I need to get into a good college to be successful, and that thought is not going away any time soon. 

          What really frustrates me is the kids who can get good grades without working for them. Not to call anybody out, but there are some kids who do not even need to study and can get good grades without even trying. I train for sports 3 hours a day, and usually do homework or study until midnight, and then I get up at 6 every day, just to start it all over again. It is so unfortunate that grades have become what my generation strives for, but it is not going to change, I guarantee you that.

          Once again, thanks for giving me the opportunity to write these entries for extra credit. Thanks for helping me look deeper into myself. Thanks Mr. Wong!

Thoughts on Bio Honors 12-8-16

          In Bio today, you gave us a final lecture regarding cell respiration. You touched on Glycolysis, the Krebs Cycle, and you went in depth into the Electron Transport system. You also counted the amount of energy that cell respiration gets from food, and you proved to us that our bodies are super efficient in getting energy out off the food that we eat. Although we are super efficient, we could be even more efficient because some energy escapes as head, contributing to energy becoming more and more disorganized.

                                           Here are the notes that I took during class today.

          It continues to blow my mind that we know what happens inside these tiny cells. It is still incredible to me.

Thoughts On Bio Honors 12-6-16

          Today you taught me something bigger than Biology. Bigger than me. People must respect each other, or else they do not get along. To me, this theme goes right along with racism. The theme that we cannot get along due to disrespect or judging somebody by the color of their skin in my opinion is super similar. In both situations, this not getting along turns into something more, depriving others or success. With racism one act leads to the lack of confidence of one person, this leads to the lack of confidence in the people around them. These emotions spread contagiously to everybody around this person, ultimately leading to the deprivation of success for others. In our class, one students lack of respect almost turned into the entire class getting screwed over of the test and the extra credit.
          Although, I did learn one other thing, perhaps more important. If you are a man, and stand up for your actions, you can not only benefit yourself but others. I learned something huge today: we all mess up. Everyone does it. Famous men throughout history mess up. But you can always fix it if you stand up for it and show that you are owning up to it.

Mr. Wong, that lesson is so important to me. Thanks so much for teaching me. I'm not trying to kiss up to you right now, I promise, but you are the most influential teacher I have ever had. You have made me want to be a lawyer to fight for the rights of the people. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I started doing these blog posts thinking that it would be some nice extra credit, but it has actually helped me look into myself.

Thoughts On Bio Honors 12-5-16

          The stuff that we learned today was super interesting. The fact that all of this stuff can go on inside a tiny cell continues to blow my mind on a daily basis. Millions of reactions every second, energy going into molecules and coming out of molecules. Every single day I am more and more interested. I love it.
          When you went more into depth into the Krebs Cycle, I realized for the first time, that whatever I put into my body has a real affect on how I feel, all the way down to a molecule approach. Every day, I have some junk food that lacks the elements that I literally need to survive and make get the energy that is essential to my daily functions.
          One question that I would have is what happens to the stuff that is in food that is not the stuff that goes into cellular respiration. Or does everything go in? How is it broken down and transported? I will ask this in class, but it was on my mind.
          I cannot say how much this still blows my mind. Literally I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that a little thing called an enzyme can put in energy into a bond and put an element onto a molecule. It is actually absolutely incredible. Most kids learn this stuff and they just look at it as more stuff. When I learn it, I think of it as a miracle from God, giving us life. One more time. incredible.

Thought On Bio Honors 12-2-16

           On Friday, we addressed an extremely important subject: racism. At Bellarmine, we can say as much as we want about the diversity of our community, but at the end of the day, we do go to a private high school and we are privileged. Sometimes, when you are privileged, especially white men, you forget to take a step back and look at the different ethnicities of the other people around you and appreciate their culture.You just think about the false stereotypes that aren't even true. This continuous judging of people creates a constant separation between people. The question that comes to my mind, and makes me curious is, "Can we heal that separation? Or will it always be there, always lingering and depriving the people of the tight brotherhood we all crave?"
          After we had this discussion, which I value and think is essential that teenage privileged boys understand, I started thinking. Has my generation of white people come to the conclusion that we don't need Blacks, we don't need Latinos, we don't need Asians. They think that they can be successful without those groups of people. This is completely and utterly sad to me because I believe in a world where everybody uses one another's strengths and weaknesses to accomplish common goals. A world where everybody has mutual respect and love for one another. Although, you proved in class that this world is only a dream, because of the way that the children of tomorrow are being raised.

Investigation 2C Lab Report

Investigation 2C Lab Report

           In this lab, we tested to see the rate of how fast the reaction with enzyme and hydrogen peroxide would create the product of oxygen. What we did was get a "reaction chamber" and put 4 stick 4 paper disks that had been previously soaked in enzyme to one side of it. We then tipped over the chamber so that the side with the disks was facing up. Next we poured 10 mL of hydrogen peroxide into the bottom of the chamber, so that it is not touching the enzyme. Next, we filled up a pan with water and we filled up a graduated cylinder with water. We then flipped the beaker over, so that it still filled with water, but is also upside down (it's mouth is in the pan of water. We then attached a cap to the reaction chamber that only lets gas out, and nothing in. Next we put the chamber into the pan of water, and flipped it over so that they hydrogen peroxide is touching the enzyme.  A reaction happened, letting bubbles go into the graduated cylinder. We did this two times, once with disks and once with three. For 10 minutes we measured how much gas went into the graduated cylinder. These bubbles are oxygen, a product of the reaction.

          We did this experiment so that my classmates and I could have a direct representation of a product of a reaction. My class is studying how organisms gain energy through what is released during a reaction and it was important that we understand how products are made. 

          As you can see by my table, my reactions gave off a ton of oxygen. With four disks of enzyme, and 10 mL of hydrogen peroxide, there was 18 mL of oxygen given off and with three disks of enzyme and 10 mL of hydrogen peroxide, there was 9 mL of oxygen given off. Before this experiment, I had no idea how much less dense gas is than liquid. This showcases it because the liquid goes from 10mL as a liquid, and then only a bit of that becomes 18mL of gas. This was absolutely mind blowing to me. Also, as you can see in my table, the enzyme reacts with the liquid as continuously as time goes on. Previously, I though that this reaction  was immediate. We later learned in class that eventually it would stop reacting because it would run out of materials. In conclusion, this experiment was interesting and taught me a lot. I am looking forward to more just like it in the future.

Calibration of a Color pH Indicator Spectrum Lab Report

          On Friday, September 30th, we conducted a lab that focused on changing the pH of a beaker full of cabbage juice. First, we filled a beaker up to 100 ml and measured the pH of it. My group's probe measured that the pH of the juice was 5.8, as you can see from the table that I included below.

          Next, we were instructed to put in drops of Hydrochloric acid until the pH of our solution drops an entire whole number. It took our's a single drop to go down to a pH of 4.8. Then, we put 0.5 ml of the new solution into a test tube. We did the same process 2 more times. As you can see from the graph below, it took 5 more drops to get the liquid to a pH of 3.8 and 7 more drop after that for it to get to a pH of 2.8. In total, it took 13 drops to of Hydrochloric acid to get from a pH of 5.8 to a pH of 2.8.

          The third and final part of the lab asked us to do what we did with acid, except now with a base. We got 100 ml of cabbage juice that measured at a pH of 5.8. Then we added 7 drops of Sodium hydroxide for it to get to a pH of 6.8 and 6 more drops after that for it to get to 7.8. Finally, as you can see from the graph below, we added 13 more drops for our solution to have a pH of 8.8. We added 26 drops of Sodium hydroxide in total.

          As the picture below depicts, when the pH of the solution changed, so did the color of it. As we added more acid, the liquid became more of a red color, while as we added more base, the liquid became for of a blue/green color. If we ever wanted to know the pH of cabbage juice, we could use the photo below as an indicator to help us know that the pH is. The reason that we completed this lab was so that we could learn about how pH works and get more of a general feel for the affects of acids and bases so that when we go more in depth with pH it makes more sense. Now, next time we talk about pH, I will further understand the strength and efficiency that acids and bases have.

       

          The first thing that really blew my mind about this lab was the sheer number of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions that were in a few drops of liquid. When I realized that there were millions of ions packed into each drop, my jaw fell to the floor. As you can see in "Table 2: Acid" above, there were .0001 times 10 to the negative third power moles of hydrogen ions. That is a lot of molecules. Something else that was fascinating to me was the affect that so little acid had. Originally, we had 100 ml of cabbage juice. Each drop was about 0.5 ml. We only put one drop of acid, as the table shows, and it changed the solution by a whole pH. That is incredible. In conclusion, this lab greatly improved my knowledge of pH, and I am looking forward to more labs in the future.

Problems With Science

     Personally, I think that the biggest problem in science today is not thinking openly. Scientists today say "that is impossible" rather than trying to figure out a way to make it work. This especially applies to space travel, a subject that particularity interests me. Instead of trying to figure out if we are alone or not, scientists have given up on going beyond our Solar System. I believe that there is a way to accomplish anything, even if it does not initially seem possible. Obviously, the science community disagrees with me. The following links are examples of this closed minded way of thinking:

Example 1  

Example 2

Example 3

   Another problem that I see with science today is the lack of help to our Earth. In my opinion, as of now, Earth is our only place that we can live at. And based off of how important it is to us, we do not treat it nearly okay. Science needs to solve problems including global warming and we need to learn how to eliminate waste. If we do not start to focus on these problems, there will not be an Earth for our future generations to live on.