Friday, June 1, 2012

Due Today: Crossword
Monday: Finish all previously assigned UP pages, QUEST on Monday, FINAL on WEDNESDAY

Toady in Class:
-Finished reflex labs UP p. 67-79
-Watched video on "The Secrets of the Mind"

Reflex Labs:
Pages 67-70 of the UP can be completed at home. In class today we worked on pages 75-77: Investigaing Senses. FIrst we stood 20 feet away from an eye chart and covered one eye and read down the rows of letters until the letters became uncertain. Then you recorded the number next to the line you stopped at. Repeat this for the other eye.

Next for the taste part of the lab. Your partner would go up to the front of the room and secretly select one of the three candies: peppermint, butterscotch, or cinnamon. The person taking the test would have their eyes shut, one hand plugging their nose, and their mouth open. The parter would then place the candy into the mouth of the test taker and see if they could distinguish what type of candy it was. Record your data. I was not able to detect that the candy in my mouth was cinnamon.

Determining concentrations of touch receptors in the skin. follow the steps on the lab to determine where touch receptors are most concentrated on the body. These are my results:

          Back of Hand-12mm
          Palm of Hand-10mm
          Fingertip-5mm
          Back of Neck-7mm

Video: "Secrets of the Mind"
This video was about Phantom Limb Syndrome where amputees can feel the presence of a limb after it is gone. Dr. Ramachandren is tries to understand why this is happening, and why these amputees feel "phantom pain". Derek who had the lowed part of his left arm amputated, can feel pain in his missing limb.

Dr. Ramachandren say that understanding the human brain is one of the ultimate challenges in science. The brain is the most complexly formed form of matter in the universe. In the brain there is a complete map of the body. Every point on the body surface (of the brain) has a corresponding point on the body map.
Because of Derek's missing arm there is a part of the brain that isn't being used anymore. The part of the brain that controls the left arm is next to the control of the face. When Derek shaves he feels pain in his phantom left arm. This is because the hand part of the brain that isn't being used anymore is hungry for information and is creating neurological pathways to the control of the face.
The pain that Derek, and other Phantom Syndrome patients, feel is a construct of the mind.  The brain is deluding them to pain that isn't there.
There can be solutions to relieving phantom pain. One method that Dr. Ramachandren used was setting up a box that was divided in the middle by a mirror. The amputee would place there intact arm into one side of the box and that arm would be reflected into the other side of the box, giving the illusion that there were 2 intact arms. This would trick the mind into thinking that there were 2 arms and the amputee could relive the pain in his phantom arm by moving and stretching his "phantom" hand.

Next scribe: Sean

Nervous system

5/31/12

Hey guys!

Today in class we went over UP pages 63, 64, 66, and 81-84. Make sure you know the different types of neurons, and know how to label pg 63, 64, and 66.  

We also started lab 70 and lab 20 on pages 67-79.

                There were a few changes made to the labs:

·         Pg 67- get rid of the part about the boiled chickens neck, but still answer the questions and you can still fill out the picture.

·         Pg 68- get rid of the first bullet point about looking at the slide

·         Pg 72- get rid of steps 6 & 7

·         Pg 74- get rid of the ‘further investigation’ and ‘computer activity’ parts

· Put an X through pg 78

·         Pg 77- get rid of the part at the bottom after question k, and replace with instructions Ms. Andrews gave us-

o   Close eyes

o   Put a small piece of candy in partners mouth while they have their nose plugged, and their eyes closed

o   Have them tell you what flavor they think it is before they unplug their nose

Homework:

Ø  Crossword puzzle

Ø  Finish any pages you didn’t complete in the UP

Ø  Study for the QUEST on Monday

Next scribe:

Dana

5/30/12 post

May 30, 2012

Today we finished up our notes on the nervous system, and we watched a short video on how a motor neuron works.

Resting potential
Voltage of a resting neuron across its plasma membrane. It is the way we feel senses. When a neuron is in resting potential, there are positive ions on the outside of the membrane and negative ions on the inside. When there is a stimulus (Anything that triggers a nerve signal to start), it goes into action potential.
Action Potential-When a nerve signal is triggered, the neuron goes into action potential. It is when openings on the membrane open and let in positive ions. other openings open and let out negative ions. The inside becomes more positive than the outside, causing our sense to occur. Eventually, the positive ions return outside and the neg. ions return inside, bringing the neuron back to resting potential.

you can get the specifics in the notes, but that is a basic overview.

synapse-relay point between cells.
Electric synapse-When an action potential "jumps" from one cell to the next. takes place in heart and digestive tract
Chemical synapse-a neurotransmitter is sent from one neuron to the next across a synaptic cleft(Space between two neurons), and the neurotransmitters bind to receptor proteins on the other neuron.


Human Nervous system


Cephalization-concentration of the nervous system at the head
Centralization-separate central nervous system and peripheral nervous system
Spinal Cord-bundle of nerve fibers that communicate between the CNS and the body

Cerebrospinal Fluid-cushions the CNS
Meninges-layers of protective connective tissue

Spinal Cord-composed of white matter(Axons w/ myelin sheath), Gray matter(Cerebral Cortex)
 See notes for the breakdown of the peripheral nervous system, it's somewhat self explanatory



Frontal Lobe-motor skills-sends commands to skeletal muscle
Occipital Lobe-vision
Parietal Lobe-integrates senses from our entire body, taste, speech
Temporal Lobe-Hearing, Smell

Corpus Callosum-connects the 2 hemispheres so that they can process info
Cerebral cortex-large part of the brain, contains 80% of all brain matter
Brainstem- opening to the brain, regulates sleep and coordinates body movements
Medulla Oblongata-controls involuntary functions

next scribe is Maddy

Tuesday May 29, 2012

Hi everybody!

Today we started out finishing our Respiration notes. Here are the notes (know the terms in blue):

• When the diaphragm contracts air is "pulled" into the lungs due to increase in volume and decrease in pressure (negative pressure breathing)
• When the diaphragm relaxes air is "pushed" out of the lungs due to decrease in volume and increase in pressure
• Automatic control centers in the brain regulate breathing
• Nerves tell the diaphragm when to contract
• The normal respiratory rate is 10-14 inhalations per minute, but this changes depending on the level of carbon dioxide in the blood (more carbon dioxide = faster respiration rate)
• Hyperventilation - purges the blood of so much carbon dioxide that the brain stops sending messages to the diaphragm (breathing in a paper bag increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the body and restores normal breathing)
• Oxygen does not dissolve into the blood
• Oxygen will be carried through the blood by hemoglobin molecules in red blood cells
• Hemoglobin = 4 polypeptide chains, heme (chemical group), and iron - it is a big protein
• Every iron atom can bind to 1 oxygen molecule (therefore, hemoglobin can carry up to 4 oxygen molecules)
• Iron deficiency causes anemia
• Hemoglobin also binds to carbon monoxide
• Carbon monoxide interferes with the delivery of oxygen to the body cells, since hemoglobin binds to carbon monoxide VERY QUICKLY, and cellular respiration (it basically causes death - this is called carbon monoxide poisoning)
• Air pollutants can cause respiratory problems
• Tobacco smoke is one of the worst forms of air pollution, and contains over 4000 chemicals
• These damage mucus and cilia, making it difficult to remove foreign particles (think of smokers cough)
• Emphysema - disease that causes alveoli to disintegrate (it reduces the lungs' ability to exchange gases)

Next in class, we did a lab about lung capacity and breathing (UP 57-61). Make sure you know:

• Vital capacity - the largest possible amount of air which can be exhaled after drawing in a deep breath
• Expiratory reserve - the amount of air that remains in the lungs after exhaling normally but which can be expelled
• Tidal volume - the amount of air taken in or expelled during normal breathing
• Residual volume - the amount of air in the lungs that cannot be expelled

For this lab, we took a balloon and found the vital capacity (5 trials), the expiratory reserve (5 trials), and the tidal volume (5 trials). To do this, we had to blow up the balloon, expelling the amount of air required for each type of volume measurement. Then, we had to measure the diameter of the balloon, and record it. To find the lung volume in cubic centimeters, we had to refer to the chart on UP 59, going across for the balloon diameter and up to see where it hit the solid line. We also used a spirometer to measure vital capacity, expiratory reserve, and tidal volume (a spirometer measures the pressure).

Finally, we started the nervous system notes, so here they are:

• Neuron - nerve cell specialized for carrying signals from one part of the body to another
• Nerve - communication line made from bundles of neuron fibers wrapped in connective tissue
• CNS - central nervous system (brain and spinal cord)
• PNS - peripheral nervous system (nerves that carry impulses in and out of the CNS)
• 3 functions of the N.S. (nervous system)
• Sensory input - sensory neurons carrying impulses from sense organs to CNS
• Integration - association neurons or interneurons, found only in the CNS, interpreting the sensory signals and creating a response
• Motor output - motor neurons, conducting signals from integration to effector cells (muscle cells - perform body's response)
• In a motor neuron...cell body - nucleus and other organelles
• Dendrites - branched, short, and receive incoming messages from other cells or the environment
• Axon - long, single fiber, conducts signal toward another neuron or effector
• Supporting cells - protect, insulate, and reinforce neurons
• Myelin sheath - chain of beadlike supporting cells
• Node of Ranvier - spaces in myelin, only points where the impulse can be transmitte (signals = about 150 m/sec - 330 mi/hr)
• Synaptic knob - relays signals to another neuron or effector

• Resting potential - voltage (potential difference) across the plasma membrane of a resting neuron (negative charge inside, positive charge outside)
• Stimulus - anything that causes a nerve signal to start
• Action potential - self-propagating change in the voltage across the plasma membrane

That's it for what we did in class today!! Here is the homework:

1. Finish the lab (UP 57-61)
2. Crossword puzzle (due 6/1)
3. UP 47-54 (do/read/study)
4. TEST ON MONDAY 6/4
5. Study for finals

NEXT SCRIBE: Xavier

Thursday May 24th, 2012

After stamping last night's homework (1) we went through the lab questions. Next, we filled out notes (2). It was a shortened class period as well. Friday is the fetal pig test (3)! Next scribe is... (4)


(1) Pig lab: you have to make sure to answer all of the questions thoroughly with fully colored diagrams (the pre-made ones and the ones you drew in). The cover sheet and completed lab is due tomorrow, 5/25/12.

(2) We got through 4 pages of respiration notes (due to 30 minute classes). The first part of the notes was review; the process of cellular respiration:

In addition to, we also reviewed respiratory surfaces of animals such as earthworms and aquatic organisms. We talked about breathing, and what happens in detail when you take a breath of air. To sum it up: oxygen diffuses into blood vessels, and carbon dioxide diffuses into lungs.

electron micrograph of alveoli

Some main structures/vocab that you should be aware of, and their function: diaphragm, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli (pictured above).


 (3) Homework

(4) next scribe: Kiran

Tuesday May 22 2012

Today in class We.....
Worked on and Finished Lab 54
Turned in Lab 15

Homework is to....
make cover sheet
color code all diagrams
work on parts of the lab at home
Study for pig lab test on friday
Complete pig lab by friday when it will be turned in


The Following are the answers to the questions of lab 54 as it was suppose to be finished in class today.
I will start with 3a. which is where my group began the day.
3a. 4
3b. under/behind the liver
3c. It joined other ducts and ends in the stomach

4d. no because the diaphragm is in the way
4e. no
4f. prevent substanes in stomach from going back up esophagus
4g. prevent substances in small intestine from going back up into the stomach

6. small is thinner, longer, smaller in diameter

7i. villi

7j.

Urogenital

4a. adrenal gland

5b. aorta, inferior vena cava
5c. umbilical cord

Next scribe is jackson.