Spring Break 2012

My spring break was so so.  I did not go anywhere on vacation as usual this spring break.  But many things did happen over the break that were good.  First off, my friend Heather Noll and I went to the Imax and saw the movie Titanic, that was really cool!  The Detroit Tigers also had their opening day on Thursday, April 5.  Heather and I went to Fifth Third Ball Park for their opening day party.  They had a buffet of food and raffles, I was only 4 numbers off from winning Detroit Tigers tickets.  But I'm going in June and July anyway.  Last but not least, I wanted to find a job over break and within an hour and a half, I got an application, filled it out, and had an interview at Sundaes at the Park.  I got trained two days later and worked for about 8 hours on Easter Sunday.  I had Easter dinner the Saturday before Easter at my grandpas, his wife is a really good cook!!  My break wasn't great, but I did get a lot of things done!

Colon Cancer Info.

In the near future, I will begin studying for my major in biochemistry. With this major I plan to become a medical researcher and help find the cure for colon cancer, so I decided that it would be fun to inform others on the facts of colon cancer. First, cancer occurs when cells become abnormal and divide without control. Colon cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer-related deaths, 141,210 new cases and 49,380 deaths were expected in 2011. These cases have been increasing greatly over the years. In addition, this disease is the most common diagnosed cancer in the US and the 3rd most common cancer in both men and women. It is very important to get screened by your 50th birthday! When getting screened doctors will usually perform a colonoscopy, where the doctor will put a tube through your rectum to get a view of your entire colon. A lot of research is happening right now to try and rid this world of this disease, but they need your help! You can donate to many websites, like the American Cancer Society. These are just some of the many facts of colon cancer. Below is a picture of happenings of colon cancer screening throughout the US.

Dear Sophomores...

Diffusion, Osmosis, and Active Transport can be hard topics to remember. So, I am here to help.  First of all diffusion is the tendency for molecules of any substance to spread out evenly in an available space.  Diffusion is a result of thermal motion or heat.  A simple rule to remember about diffusion is thast a substance will move from an area of high concertration to an area of low concentration. This is simple diffusion.  Another type of diffusion is called, facilitated diffusion.  This is the transport of molecules across a membrane by carrier or channel proteins.  Channel proteins simply allow a way for a specific molecule to cross the cell membrane.  Carrier proteins bind substances together in order to move them through the membrane. One way to remember the general rule is that the letter "D" is higher up in the alphabet than the "O" in osmosis, so it goes high to low.

 Now on to.... Osmosis!

Osmosis is pretty similar to diffusion, but now you add water.  The definition is water that has moved across the membrane from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration until the concentrations on both sides are equal.  The balancing of the two sides are crucial to organisms.  This process does not involve the input of energy.  Assuming the membrane does not break, this net flow will slow and finally stop as the pressure on the solution side becomes is equal. Those are the basic facts of Osmosis.  To remember this just think that "O" comes later in the alphabet, hence it going from low to high concentration and then add the aspect of water.

Finally, Active Transport!  To move a molecule across the membrane, requires work, so there must be extended energy, this "traffic" is called active transport.  The energy needed is generally referred to as ATP or Adenosine triphosphate.  This is all done with carrier proteins, rather than channel proteins. Channel proteins will not pick up the molecules and transport them the way carrier proteins will.  The materials are moved in the opposite direction, against the concentration gradient. In other words, this time the substances are moved from an area of low concentration to an area of high concentration.  This usually happens with ions, glucose, and amino acids. Active transport is a good example of a process for which cells require energy. This process is opposite of diffusion, in which the substances move from an area of low concentration to high concentration.  This is a good way of remembering the difference!

Cell Organelle

If I were any cell organelle, I would chose to be the lysosome.  Just like the lysosome, I like to clean things out and get rid of things I do not need anymore.  I am a total neat freak, my room is the cleanest in the house and I will still go through it again.  There is nothing in my bedroom now that I do not need or want.  In actuality, the lysosomes, are called the "stomach" of the cell.  The lysosomes digest macromolecules and cleans out broken down organelles.

Enzyme Lab

I'm always nervous about doing new labs in science class, but this weeks lab turned out to be fun and generally easy.  All directions were easy to follow and when following each direction word for word, it was easy to get the reaction intended.  On the other hand, measuring every substance correctly everytime was difficult and easy to mess-up, because of this we had to stop and start over a few times.  One of the only things I didn't like about this lab was how long it took, I like to get things done and over with, but instead this lab lasted about three days.  Overall, this lab was educational since we did not have an introduction of enzymes before hand.  I really enjoyed working with the people I worked with and now it's time to work on finishing the formal lab.   

Excitement & Worries

There are many sections of information that we will try to get through in AP Bio. Some I am truly excited about, while others, I know I'll have trouble in. Some sections I am looking forward to are: anything chemistry related, heredity, and body systems. I am excited for these subjects because they have to do with my future career in biochemistry. I will be dealing with a lot of chemistry while searching for the cure of cancer. During research, I will examining families and their heredity. The subject of heredity also just really interests me in general. Later in my future, I will be attending medical school, where I will be studying and examining body parts and systems, it is nice to have some background information beforehand. In addition to topics I am interested in, there are others that I am a little worried about. These include: plants, evolution, and diversity of organisms. I feel like there is so much involved with plants and their growth, and for some reason I get a lot of it mixed up. I am also more interested in humans than plants. Evolution is a simple concept but there are too many point of views to get straight. With diversity of organisms, there are many patterns and usually I am not good at find patterns, so that may be a challenge for me. I feel like there will a lot of stuff to remember and with all the big words, I will forget some. All in all, I hope no subject is too difficult for me to understand and I will try my hardest to study and be ready for the tests.

The Beginning

Good Morning,

My name is Courtney Marble, I'm a senior in high school starting to take AP Biology.  I like to keep a healthy life style and to challenge myself. Music is my life! I love just about every type of music, from R&B to Country.  I have been playing the clarinet for eight years and have just started playing the tenor sax in the HS Jazz Band.  In addition to Jazz Band, I am also in Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and the Community Orchestra.  I also like writing music!  Another thing I enjoy is running and sports.  I am a part of the SHS Girls Bowling Team and will be joining the Track and Field Team in the Spring.  Finally, I love science, mainly Chemistry.  I plan to go to Central Michigan University and major in biochemistry with a minor in Spanish.  With this major I plan to do medical research at a local hospital. 

I have decided to take AP Biology because it will help me tremendously in college.  It will help me be ready for the harder classes I will have to take at CMU.  With a major in biochemistry, I will have to take many biology and chemistry classes.  This is also a challenging course, that will push me to achieve my full potential. I like to be ahead of the game and with the higher level of information from this class, I will rise above others later in my college career.  Finally, I hope to take the AP Biology test in the Spring so I can start in higher level biology classes when entering college. 

I hope that the knowledge obtained from this class will help me go farther in college and later in life.  I want to get challenged and pushed, so I can realize my full potential.  I also want to step out of my comfort zone to ask questions and fully understand all the concepts of biology.  In the end, I want to be able to think about things more critically and in greater detail.