# data[].attributes.body
Hello! My name is Cameron Trice, and I'm a transgender boy who lives around the Ambler/Maple Glen area.

I like watching Breaking Bad, drawing, playing video games, theater, and cooking.

I'm trying to find the motivation to start working out so I get less scrawny.

My favorite music genres are Rock and Metal. My favorite bands/artists are Weezer, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Jimi Hendrix, Radiohead, and Queen.

I have 2 cats and 2 dogs, as well as 1 younger brother and 2 older half-sisters. And I do love them, even if they sometimes drive me up the wall.

My zodiac sign is Capricorn cusping Aquarius since I was born on the last day of Capricorn season (January 19th), and the day before Aquarius season.

I try to act mature, but I still find myself still liking childish things like stuffed animals and the Pokemon series.

I have ADHD, so I often have trouble paying attention in class and getting tasks done, but I always try my best to get on top of things and turn in my work on time.  As a learner, I often overwhelm and stress myself out. But, I have found that as long as I have time to do my work during the day, I'll usually be fine.

My goal for this year is to be able to get a better understanding of biology and to get a satisfactory grade, (a B- or higher, hopefully.)

My question for this year is: "What can I do to better understand this classes subcategories?" Since we are going through five units, I assume we'll be covering a lot, so I want to know what I can do to be able to absorb all of the information I'll be receiving.

# data[].attributes.body
Grow- This unit has shown me that I need to improve on how I word my reasoning

Glow- I believe that I have gotten much better at taking notes, I have gotten in the habit of paraphrasing my notes instead of just being lazy and copying the text word for word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Characteristics of life:
Every living organism is diverse and so completely different from one another in its own way. However, every living organism has similarities that define them and can help people identify if something is living or not. Such as if they can reproduce, if they are multicelluar, if they can evolve, or if they grow and devlop as they age, just to name a few.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CER
(Claim, Evidence, Reasoning)
While making claim in any world but science, we may simply just make it, with maybe a small amount of reasoning. But in Science, you have to do more than just that. Firstly, you have to make your claim. No "I think" or "Maybe", you must be certain and confident in your claim to make it, and you must state it as so. Secondly, there is Evidence. Making a claim without evidence is like eating chicken nuggets without any condiments. It is essential and must fit and support your claim. (After all, you wouldn't put balsamic vinegar on a chicken nugget, would you?) Lastly is Reasoning! No, the evidence itself isn't enough, though many people (including me, at first) confused the two with each other. The reasoning isn't just restating the evidence, it is you using the evidence to further prove and justify your claim.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DV and IDV
When making a scientific experiment, there are many things you must take into consideration. Firstly, you must come up with a question, and research to see if there is already an answer. If there isn't, you can move on to step two, which is making a hypothesis, which is usually an "If, Then" statement. EX: If I touch this hot pan, then I will get burnt. Afterwards, you must preform an experiment to see if your hypotheis is correct or incorrect. In these experiments, there are many things that come into play. An Independent varible is the "cause" and influcnces the change of the dependent variable, which, as the name suggests, depends on the independent variable. There are also "Constants" which are things that stay the same through out the diffrent experiments. EX: Using the same type of pan, same person's hand, etc. Lastly is the control. The control, or, "control group" is where nothing is done/changed as a point of refernce for the actual experiment. EX: touching the pan when it is NOT hot.
After your experiment, you can record and analyze your data, and from there, determine if your hypothosis is correct. If it is, you can wrote a CER (mentioned above) to cement your hypotheis as a claim. If your experiment proves your hypotheis wrong, you can either try again, or revise your hypothosis to match the expermient's results.

# data[].attributes.body
Grow- This unit had a lot of things I need to memorize. It showed me that I need to make sure I'm focused so I don't miss anything.

Glow- I have gotten much better at cooperating with others during labs in this unit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atomic Structure: In an atom, there are many things that you need to take into consideration in order to identify which atom it is. Those things being, the number of protons, atomic mass (the number of protons + electrons), and the number of electrons in its valence shell.
When Atoms bond, there are two different ways it can happen. An Ionic bond is where electrons are taken/given in order to make one (or both) of the atom's valance shells full. Depending on if atoms were taken or given, they can be a cation (positive) or an anion (negative). If electrons are shared, then it is called a covalent bond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Water Properties/Hydrogen bonding:
Water is a polar substance (meaning one side has a positive charge while the other has a negative) and gets less dense when frozen. Due to the polarity of water, water molecules will attract other water molecules, because the somewhat negatively charged oxygen is attracted to the slightly positively charged hydrogen from another water molecule (opposites attract). However, water isnt just attracted to itself. When it sticks to other things, it is known as adhesion. When it sticks to other water molecules, it is called cohesion. (hence the word "co" in it.) When a substance is mixed with another, it has a chance to dissolve, but this is only possible if the two substances are both polar, or both are nonpolar. If a polar and nonpolar substance is mixed, it will not dissolve. A solute is a substance that gets dissolved by a solvent. EX: The sugar (solute), will get dissolved by water (solvent.) Water is special in the way that it has an odd heat capacity. Heat capacity is the ability to hold or retain heat. This is why the ocean is cold in the summer, because it had been cooled down over time due to the cold conditions in the winter, and is warm in the winter, due to the hot conditions of the summer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
biomaromolucules: the 4 biomacromolucles are protiens, which are catalysts for chemical reactions, Carbohydrates, which give the body energy, lipids, which store and insulate energy, and neucleic acid, which carries genetic information. A monomer, is the smallest part of a biomacromolucule. The monomer of a carbohydrate is monosacchridide, otherwise known as glucose. The monomers of lipids are glycerol and 3 fatty acids. The monomer of a protein is an ammino acid, and the monomer of nucleic acid is a neucuotide. Polymers are monomers put together. The Polymer of a Carbohydrate being dissacaride and polyssacraide. The polymers of a lipid are waxes and oils. The polymer of a protien is polypetide. And, finally, the polymers of neucleic acid are RNA and DNA.

# data[].attributes.body
Grow-When it comes to all of the cells in their different functions, I sometimes mix them up if they sound similar/do similar things that are similar, I will study harder on terms I mix up or do not understand to make this change.

Glow- I have done much better at being motivated/paying attention in this unit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prokaryotic vs Eukaryotic Cells: Cells makeup everything, and can be divided into 2 categories, prokaryotic and eukaryotic. Prokaryotes are unicellular, meaning they make up single-celled organisms, like bacteria. Eukaryotic cells are often multi-cellular, and makeup things like plants and animals, which are organisms made up of many cells. To list some other differences, there is no nucleus in a prokaryotic cell, but there is in a eukaryotic one. Eukaryotic cells have a membrane-bound nucleus, to be specific.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cell parts: Every part of a cell has an important job to maintain homeostasis in the cell and throughout the body. There are a few variations of different organelles (fancy word for cell parts) depending on what type of cell it is. They are called organelles because they act similar to organs, as all cell parts have different jobs, and some work together. For example, plant cells have cell walls, which provide strength/structure and protection, and chloroplasts, which aid in photosynthesis. Many of them have jobs that relate to each other, For example, ribosomes, the rough ER, and the Golgi. Ribosomes make protein, and they are packaged and stored in the rough ER, then the Golgi takes it to wherever it is needed, whether it be inside or outside the cell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Transportation: In the cell membrane, there is a lipid bilayer that helps protect the cell, but sometimes, particles need to pass through the cell. Particles usually follow the concentration gradient, going from places with a high concentration of things, to a place with a lower concentration of things. Sometimes, certain particles are too large to go through the lipid bilayer, so they must go through the protein pump, which allows larger particles to follow the concentration variant. If something is going against the gradient, it requires energy, or ATP, to pump them to either side of the cell. This process is called diffusion. Osmosis is a type of diffusion that foucuses on the difusion of water.

# data[].attributes.body
Grow-
I need to make sure that i remember everything, which is hard because I have a lot of

Glow- I'm finally starting to understand the processes in biology.
------------------------------
Autotrophs and Heterotrophs:

Organisms can be one of two things, autotrophs and heterotrophs. autotrophs make their own food, and do not consume any other organisms. Heterotrophs get their food by eating other things, those could be autotrophs or other heterotrophs.

Autotrophs, which are plants and some bacteria, can be put into two other distinct categories. Chemoautotrophs get their energy  from chemicals that are not from another organism, while Photoautotrophs get energy from the sun/light in a process called "photosynthesis."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration:
(sun---> glucose---> ATP)
The reactants of photosynthesis are: H2O  +  CO2
The products of this process are C6H12O6  & O2  (Oxygen and glucose)

Many plants are green due to the pigment in chloroplasts that are in their cells that aid in photosynthesis.

Cellular respiration is a processes where oxygen makes energy from sugars.

Glycolosis, which takes place in the cells cytoplasm, is the process of turning glucose into ATP, because by breaking the second and third phosphate group of ATP, energy is released.

The krebs cycle happens after glycolosis, and it oxodies carbon atoms. The krebs cycle is a chain in reactions that happens in the mitochondria  during areobic resperation. it uses oxygen and produces acetyl CoA, NADH, FADH2, ATP or GTP, and C02 as its products.

Lastly is the ETC, or the electron transport chain. It also happens in the mitochondria, and is used to transport energy. Electrons carried by NADH and FADH2 are transferred to oxygen by electron carriers, and ATPs are formed. Three ATPs are formed from each NADH, and two ATPs are formed for every FADH2.

# data[].attributes.body
Grow- I need better time management skills but it has gotten difficult since classes have been assigning much more work.

Glow- I have gotten better at remembering terms

Ecology:

Ecology is the study of biomes, and what goes on inside them.

Biomes consist of both biotic and abiotic factors.
Examples of abiotic factors are: The sun, rocks, dead animals, and water
Examples of biotic factors are:
Producers (plants) consumers (animals like mice or rabbits) secondary consumers (animals like snakes or foxes) and primary consumers (animals like bears, wolves, or hawks).

Every abiotic and biotic factor of an environment can affect one another. Especially in a food chain, which is a diagram that shows one of the main interactions between biotic and abiotic things, eating/hunting.

Most food chains almost always start with the sun, or in other, rarer cases, chemicals.
This is because plants (autotrophs) are the first level in something called "a trophic pyramid" A trophic pyramid helps people understand how many calories biotic creatures get from consuming one another. The higher an animal is on a pyramid, the fewer calories they get, and therefore, must eat more than what animals in a lower trophic level must eat. It usually goes down around 10% for every trophic level it goes up.

Because of this, there are fewer "primary consumers", (animals at the top of the food chain) than others that are on a lower trophic level than them, because there is less food to go around because of the amount they need to consume. For this same reason, the lower the trophic level, the higher the population they usually have because of the vast amount of resources they have to eat since their food has a much higher nutritional value and contains more Kcalories than things animals in higher trophic levels consume.

Since there is usually more than one primary consumer, different species often must compete with each other for food. Some animals compromise by hunting at different times, like Hawks and Owls. This brings us to the 3 different relationships animals can have in a biome.

The first is parasitic, where one animal, the parasite, lives off and benefits from the other animal, called the host, that suffers on the parasite's behalf. An example of this could be how mistletoe lodges its roots into other trees and sucks out all of the nutrients it gets.

The second relationship is called commensalism. This is where one animal benefits and the other is unaffected. An example of this is a barnacle and a whale. Barnacles will attach themselves to whales to get them from place to place. The whale is not bothered or affected by the barnacle, and the barnacle gets a free ride.

The third and final relationship is mutualism. This is where both animals are benefitted from their relationship. An example of this relationship is a honeybee and a flower. A honeybee will land on the flower to take its nectar to make honey that will feed its colony. The flower is benefitted because the honeybee spreads the flower's pollen to another flower, which allows them to flourish and reproduce.

# data[].attributes.body
Grow- I need to get better at communicating with others during group projects

Glow- trying to pay attention more in class

DNA and Protein synthesis

DNA codes for proteins and stores genetic information.

It is made out of sugar and a phosphate base.

The four bases are adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T)

A goes with T and C goes with G.
in RNA, T is switched out with U, uracine.

DNA is stored in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell because it would be harmed by the enzymes in the cytoplasm of the cell otherwise.

The first step is called transcription. This is when  When a segment of DNA is copied onto a molecule of RNA During transcription RNA polymerase reads the DNA code and creates a complementary RNA molecule. The RNA polymerase binds to a specific region of the DNA. When the RNA polymerase binds it unwinds the double helix by breaking the hydrogen bonds between the base pairs. This allows the two strands of the DNA to separate, exposing the genetic code so that it can be read by the RNA polymerase.

The second one is Translation. it uses the genetic information in RNA to build amino acids, from a protein. Translation occurs in ribosomes.
After, the ribosome binds to the mRNA (messanger RNA) and tRNA brings in the first amino acid at the AUG start codon. The ribosome scans the mRNA until it finds the start codon, AUG, and it binds to the mRNA. Then matches them to the complementary tRNAs, bringing in the correct amino acids to add to the growing polypeptide chain. The ribosome moves along the mRNA, reading the codons and adding the complementary amino acids to the protein chain.

Then, theres a stop codon, which tells it to stop coding and that the protien is finished.

# data[].attributes.body
Glow- working together/paying attention
Grow-remembering what each of the phases do

Cells divide to repair tissue and replace old cells. When a cell dies on purpose, it is called apoptosis.

Before a cell starts dividing, it is in Interphase. Though Cells are always dividing, each cell  spends most of its time in interphase. Interphase is when a cell gets ready to divide (G1, S, G2).  A preexisting cell that divdes is called a mother cell and one that divided from the mother cell is called the daughter cell.

mitosis has multiple phases. interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and (not apart of the previous 5), cytokinesis.

INTERPHASE-

G1- cell grows larger and copies organelles

S- copies DNA

G2- the cell grows more, makes proteins and organelles, and prepares for mitosis. Also checks for any previous mistakes that may have been made.

MITOSIS-

Prophase- cell starts to break down and chromosomes condense. Spindle fibers form and starts to organize the chromosomes.

Metaphase- spindle fibers line up the chromosomes in the middle of the cell.

Anaphase- chromatids are pulled apart to opposite sides of the cell

Telophase- Cell starts to divide/pull apart, spindle fiber breaks down, two nuclei form.

CYTOKINESIS: cytoplasam divides, seperating the two cells.

# data[].attributes.body
Glow- memorization

Grow- motivation.

Genetics and evolution:
(I used my notes I took on this for some of the bioboard, which is why some phrases are bolded. Here is a link to my notes : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w0KVu_07jSTnC8A95ZQZfvzLicE1c9moKKR6qSsITF0/edit?usp=sharing

Allele: Letters used to represent the alternative forms of a gene

Genotype- the actual  genes you have for a trait (by letters)

TT (homozygous dominant) Homozygous means 2 of the same, in this case, 2 dominants

tt-(homozygous recessive) 2 recessives

Tt- (heterozygous) Two different alleles

The letters represent actual genes inherited (one from each parent)

There are 2 alleles for every gene.
Phenotypes- the appearance of what trait shows

-The way the trait shows itself

-if T is the allele for tallness and t is the allele for a dwarf plant-

A recessive trait ONLY shows if its homozygous recessive

TT-tall plant

Tt-tall plant

tt-dwarf plant

there are 22 pairs of chromosomes are autosomes and there is one pair of sex chromosomes

Most sex-linked diseases are on the X chromosome

Biological males are most likely to receive these, as they only have one X instead of two.

Inheritance traits:

Regular Dominance- 3 possible genotypes, 2 phenotypes

codominance (traits mix) and incomplete (both traits show) dominance 3 possible genotypes and 3 phenotypes

X-linked genotype must include the sex chromosomes XX or XY, phenotype can depend on sex and trait

Polygenic-Multiple genes- Polygenic traits can produce a large range of genotypes. AMAB people, (assigned male at birth) have a higher chance of getting recessive diseases because they only need one recessive allele to get it.

Evolution:

A theory popularized by charles dawrin,  Darwin proposed that evolution, the gradual change of an animal through many years,  was influenced by natural selection, a process in which the “fittest” animals are the one that survive and reproduce, and therefore pass on those same genetic traits that made them successful.  Darwin was a naturalist, someone who studies nature and collects things like animals, plants, and rocks.

At 22, he sailed on the HMS Beagle for 5 years. It was his job to collect and study the specimens found  when they came ashore. Observing different types of plants and animals helped him develop his theory on evolution. However, most of his more important findings were discovered on the Galapagos islands.        Darwin was inspired by many people, including a few geologists because they suggested the earth was much older, and was around for many more years than humans have been around for.

# data[].attributes.body
Frogs have many biological similarities to humans. For example, they have a similar digestive system as well as a similar respiratory system. They have spongy lungs just like us. They also have a small and large intestines, as well as a stomach that looks similar to ours and functions in the same way our digestive system does.

However, frogs have external reproductions, meaning the male frog fertilizes the pre-laid eggs that the female produces. Humans, however, have internal reproductive systems.

# data[].attributes.body
At the start of the year, I had a very minimal understanding of biology, I had no idea it was as vast as it was. The first few units, like cell functions and cell reproduction, was more or less what I had learned a few years prior. However, things like DNA and genetics were completely new to me, and it was very interesting to learn about those topics.

I liked the first five, as it wasn't always related to the topic, but still got us thinking for class.

The labs were fun for the most part, though sometimes I wish they weren't so group-oriented, so somebodies grade wouldn't suffer because of someone else's poor job.

The tests were okay, and we were given plenty of heads up before we had them.