Unit 10 Reflection

In this unit we mainly focused on learning about the different organs and organ systems in humans along with their functions and importance to the body. We learned about the jobs of the different systems and we saw how they all work together to create a body that walks, talks, and is healthy. We also saw how the body wouldn't be able to function correctly if it was even missing one of its smallest organs, which meant that er got to understand the importance of the different organ systems.and we really got to see the importance of the different organ systems.

We first started the unit off by learning about homeostasis and the circulatory and respiratory systems. We learned that homeostasis is when an organism maintains its internal temperature. We also learned that positive feedback is when it goes one way quickly while negative feedback is when it dances around a set point. In addition, we saw that negative feedback is a lot more common than positive feedback. After learning about homeostasis, we learned about the circulatory and respiratory systems. We saw that the circulatory and respiratory systems work closely together in order to maintain homeostasis. We learned that the circulatory system transports blood, gases, and nutrients, collects and carries away waste materials, and separates oxygen-poor and oxygen-rich blood. We then learned that the respiratory system delivers oxygen from inhaled air to the blood and expels carbon dioxide and water.

 After learning about homeostasis and the circulatory and respiratory systems, we covered the nervous, endocrine, and digestive system. We learned that the there are two parts to the nervous system: the Central Nervous System and the Peripheral Nervous System. The CNS includes the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord while the PNS includes cranial nerves, spinal nerves, sensory neurons, and motor neurons. We also learned that the the CNS processes information and the spinal cord controls reflexes. After the nervous system, we learned about the endocrine system. The endocrine system is a system made up of glands that release hormones. The nervous system and the endocrine system work together and coordinate communication in the body. The nervous system uses high speed electrical signals to control other cells while the endocrine system has slower but longer lasting control of bodily functions such as reproduction, growth, and metabolism. There are six endocrine system glands: hypothalamus, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, adrenal gland, and pancreas. After discussing the endocrine system, we moved on to the digestive system. We learned that the six types of nutrients are water, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins and that the two types of digestion are mechanical and chemical. The absorption of nutrients mostly occurs in the small intestine and the folded lining, villi, and microvilli really helps it retain the nutrients.
Nearing the end of the unit, we learned about the immune system and the lymphatic system. We learned about innate immunity (all animals) and adaptive immunity (vertebrates only). We saw how the immune system responds to pathogens and other infections. The lymphatic system is a system of tubes and sacs throughout the body that collect waste and blood from tissues (lymph). We learned that lymph nodes helps fight infection and that white blood cells engulf pathogens.
I want to learn more about the lymphatic system because I think that it is really interesting to learn about how we fight pathogens and infections. An unanswered question I have is why is the small intestine so large compared to all other organs. I wonder more about the nervous system and I want to learn a lot more about because I think it is super interesting to see how it controls basically our whole body.
I think that I have grown a lot since my first post back in the beginning of the year. I think that I have especially gotten better at my unit reflections and relate and reviews. At first I kind of just rattled off the things that we learned about in the unit but now I feel that I thoroughly discuss each of the topics we learned about. I have definitely accomplished a lot throughout the way. I am very proud of my blog and I am for sure going to keep it so I can look back at it when I'm older. I am very proud of my second semester reflections because they started getting better and better for example my Unit 8 Reflection.

20 Time Final Post

              In this 20 Time Project, I had to make a presentation to my class about what I accomplished and my whole process for this project. I had to dig up lots of research and lots of statistics to make some graphs - that was my proof that I had a physical product. However, keep in mind that I did not finish researching my experiment just yet, so it was hard to expand on many graphs.

This is my data from my 20 time project - the graph on the left shows the total green houses gases from different groups and the graph on the right shows how much the carbon dioxide level increases each year worldwide.

       Presenting for my 20 time project I found was way easier than making the presentation. For a lot of my project I felt really lost because of the amount of research that I did and so when I made my presentation I found it really hard because there weren't any tests that I made and so then I couldn't mention them. For example, like maybe mentioning what went well or what didn't. However, not everything went badly. Somethings that I think that I did well was that I did not have any text on my slide, so I was the driving force for my presentation. After looking at the video, which is attached below, I think that I would have given myself a 68 or 69/75 because in my presentation I didn't really talk about my experience with 20 time enough. Doing this was a problem because it did not fill all the criteria for the presentation. Also, this presentation allowed me to understand how important it is for the speaker to be the driving force in the presentation and not your visual aid. The knowledge that I gained from this presentation is something that I can use in the future with projects like these. 

           Listening to all my peers 20 time presentations was a really great experience. Every presentation that was presented I learned something new whether that was the information packed into the TED talks or the style in which the presenter presented.  Every presentation was different, so that really helped keep the viewers attention because there is always something new that you can learn.

Pig Dissection Relate and Review

In this lab we were asked to dissect a pig, identify the different part, know there functions and then create a video going over all the different parts and showcasing our knowledge. Doing this lab really helped to understand better the different parts of the body, there uses, and how they all work together. It gave us a better look into the size and shape of bodies. Doing this dissection also helped to relate what we have learned in class, as we are now able to really visualize the looks of everything looks where they reside. My favorite part of the dissection was probably when we opened up the mouth and Mr. Orre explained to us the purpose of the hard and soft palate because I've been wondering why the top of you mouth is bumpy and then goes soft for a long time. Overall, I think the dissection was really fun but also a very valuable experience as it gave a kinesthetic of learning something new which rarely is brought up and that is how I learn best, kinesthetically. 

20 time reflection

I challenged myself to pick a project that not only interests me, but is really content heavy and important to the well being of the world, thats why I decided to have global warming and climate change the subject of my 20 time. My goal is to better inform myself and my peers on how bad our global condition is in. Then put together some graphs with numbers I have gathered to use as a visual for showing people.

I found that I am just getting started on learning about the world and its wounds. I first started researching at haven't found an end, during 20 time on the recent mondays I still find myself researching something that I could have researched on the first class period on 20 time. I could absolutely say that the topic I picked was really big.

If I were to do this project again I would probably want to hone in on a specific piece of global warming and climate change as it is a very broad subject to research.   When I get up in front of the class and give my TED talk, I wish to share my information to all my peers so that they can understand the severity and big global signs the world is going through right as we speak.

My Inner Fish

In class we watched two episodes out of a series of three, "My Inner Fish", this gave more insight into the evolution of how we came to be and how our ancestors evolved. In the first video they taught us how fish evolved onto land and transitioned from fish into amphibian-like reptiles. One question from our video stuck out to me and that was,  "What did Tiktaalik use its neck for in the water?". They then went on to explain that since the animal had a neck when it was in the water it was able to see it's predators and food, this gave it an advantage. This goes to show that even small evolutionary steps like that affect everyone and everything so greatly. Another question that was asked during the second video was, "Why are mass extinctions important?" Mass extinctions prove to be important in general to almost every species, but certainly to us. They give way for other species to rise and take control of the Earth. The mass extinction was essential the mammals survival, growth, and success. Again this extinction was crucial to humans being and it's importance is undermined. This video has given me a new outlook on evolution and how we actually came from animals that seem so far away from us.