Monocot vs. dicot, mini experiment
The purpose of this experiment was to better our understanding of different plant characteristics, as well as learn how to format experiments that one is performing.
Mung bean: Dicot
Corn: Monocot
I think that I may have drowned them because once their "shells" broke, they completely stopped growing.
I found that my predictions were correct as to which was a monocot and which was a dicot, evidence of this is the web formations on the leaves that I observed, such as on the corn, the veins ran parallel to each other.
yeah, my plants drowned, despite me expecting them to grow.
Photosynthesis Lab
The purpose of this experiment was to show in real time, the process of photosynthesis, especially the part that is light dependent.
My interpretation of the results that I received was that we didn't receive very much data because of the lack of sufficient time. I saw mostly that none or almost none of the leaf circles ended up floating.
Result
In this experiment, for the sake of variety, I decided to test spinach leaves with a purple light. almost everyone was doing aspen leaves with a normal light, so I wanted to gather some different data.n for a majority of the time, I found that when I checked every minute to see if any of the leaf disks were floating, none of them were. it took until approximately the 21-minute mark for me to find one leaf disk floating. I also briefly came back later at the 60-minute mark and found that three more of the disks were floating, making the total four floating in one hour.
Ecology Project
In this project, every group split off and decided on a topic that they were interested in, and then dove deeper into that topic and ran tests on it. We each were required to have a sample of at least 20 plants, and one control group to compare the results too.
Why this research matters:
Astronauts on the International Space Station can experience a dose of up to 2,000 millisieverts of radiation while on a 6 month mission. Our research was designed to test if its safe for those astronauts to grow food in space. The atmosphere blocks out most frequencies of high energy radiation like gamma and x-rays. Once a plant has left the atmosphere it is exposed to different types of invisible light that might affect growability and safety to consume.
Mitosis
Mini-Project
In this mini-project, we studied the process of mitosis, and what it looks like in the process. in order to achieve this, we first studied the process by reading multiple very descriptive articles about the process and looking at pictures. We then used this knowledge to create a short "stop motion" animation of the process (below and to the left), which allowed us to better understand the process and what it looks like. for the past couple of weeks, we have been working on a project with planarians, experimenting and observing how they are able to regenerate full parts of their body and even grow clones of themselves. This research ties into that project, because it is the process used by planarians to be able to regenerate that tissue. this research could also help us when tackling the question of human regeneration, as it is the closest thing to actual regeneration, and it occurs very frequently.
What is Mitosis?
Mitosis is the primary mechanism by which organisms generate new cells is through cell division. During this process, a single "parent" cell will divide and produce identical "daughter" cells. In this way, the parent cell passes on its genetic material to each of its daughter cells. First, however, the cells must duplicate their DNA. Mitosis is the process by which a cell segregates its duplicated DNA, ultimately dividing its nucleus into two. This process occurs when the body is in need of repair, mostly in the situation of a wound or something of that sort. this entire process takes around 20-24 hours.
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Interphase (also known as interkinesis) is the period in which the cell is not dividing.
This does not mean that little is happening. Interphases are very active periods during which cells perform all the functions necessary for life, including the synthesis of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) so that both of the new cells formed by the miotic phase will contain a complete copy of the original and hence have all the necessary information.
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Prophase
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Early in the prophase stage, the chromatin fibers shorten into chromosomes that are visible under a light microscope. (Each prophase chromosome consists of a pair of identical double-stranded chromatids.)
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Later in prophase, the nucleolus disappears, the nuclear envelope breaks down, and the two centrosomes begin to form the mitotic spindle (which is an assembly of microtubules, which are components of the cytoskeleton).
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As the microtubules extend in length between the centrosomes, the centrosomes are pushed to opposite "poles" (extremes) of the cell.
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Eventually, the spindle extends between two opposite poles of the cell.
Metaphase
Metaphase is characterized by the "metaphase plate". This is a mid-point region within the cell that is formed/defined by the centromeres of the chromatid pairs aligning along the microtubules at the center of the mitotic spindle.
Anaphase
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The centromeres split separating the two members of each chromatid pair - which then move to the opposite poles of the cell: When they are separated the chromatids are called chromosomes.
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As the chromosomes are pulled by the microtubules during anaphase, they appear to be "V"-shaped because the centromeres lead the way, dragging the trailing arms of the chromosomes towards the pole/s.
Telophase
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Telophase begins after the chromosomal movement stops.
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The identical sets of chromosomes - which are by this stage at opposite poles of the cell, uncoil and revert to the long, thin, thread-like chromatin form.
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A new nuclear envelope forms around each chromatin mass.
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Nucleoli appear.
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Eventually, the mitotic spindle breaks-up.