In Which I Break down the Cell

     Being the major building block to our lives, we really oughtta know what a cell really is. This Prezi will explain the two major cell types and their varying functions in a nifty tree-shaped presentation!
http://prezi.com/ap9rrbhyssru/composition-of-the-cell-v20/ 

Old Spice Swag Guy thanks you for your time.

In Which I Test Diffusion and Osmosis in a Lab

      Osmosis is more than a character in a poorly written, partially animated film with a Bill Murray cameo. In actuality, osmosis is the process of molecules being able to pass through a semi-permeable membrane according to their size. 

Osmosis Jones is to Bill Murray as Alice in Wonderland is to Johnny Depp.

     To illustrate, imagine the entrance to a bouncy house; sometimes these things are pretty tiny (because you know.... they're not meant for you).  Imagine a massive inflatable wall of these entrances stacked beside and above each other. This disappointment wall represents the semi-permeable membrane. Presumably you are a normal sized adult (maybe even freakishly tall), there is no way you are going to fit through any of those stupid openings. If a four-year-old were to trot up alongside to one of those openings, you can bet your Science degree that he is going to zip through that bouncy door like he's the CEO of bouncy doors. This is the whole point of the dialysis bag, to let solvents pass from a less concentrated solution to a more concentrated one.

cat=cell, guitar=membrane, gif= incredible.

     To begin my experiment, I filled a cup with water. Next, I filled a specially made dialysis bag with a starch concentrate, which was a cloudy white color, and tied it off. After this, I added a few drops of iodine to the water, causing it to turn into an apple juice color. I then dipped a  glucose testing stick (AKA pee test stick) into the apple juice water. The color of the square stayed a light green (for now mwhahahahah).The bag was allowed to sit in the h2o water solution overnight so that it could fully do it's job, though after about 45 minutes, I could see the apple juice color had become slightly lighter.

Looks like apple juice, tastes like death...

          The next day, we found that both the inside of the bag and the contents of the cup were completely clear, aside from a solid white glob that had some purple black that had settled at the bottom of the dialysis bag. Using a new pee stick, I found that the light green turned to a slightly darker green... A turtle green.... Showing a difference in the contents of the solution. The iodine was small enough to pass into the bag and mix with starch over time and eventually settle at the bottom; because the starch was an adult who couldn't fit through the bouncy house door, it had no choice but to stay and mingle with apple juice.

Eagle view of the new clarity of the solution for maximum glob visual

     From this lab we were able to determine the diffusion of two subjects, and further understand how the dialysis process works. Here is a table to recap this lab.

In Which I Take a Quiz on Membrane Structures

     In this post I will be sharing the questions and answers to quizzes that are contained in this google doc. These quizzes will be based off the information and lectures found in these two links. http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/biology/MembranePage/index2.html
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/macampbell/111/memb-swf/membranes.swf