20 Time Final Post

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19xa-_HIjs-0LzfMLrIVGh5upecekr780r2hcZNNJNPg/edit?usp=drive_web

This was our presentation. 

Included are pictures of some artwork and some artists we interviewed, as well as several music videos.

Looking back at our TED talk, we really did spend too much time in general. In our practice, we always ran through the TED talk in sessions, which meant we didn't exactly have a ballpark for our time length. We were, however, were shooting for a detailed description of our project, our goals, and a time length of around 7-8 minutes. Also, during the presentation, we tended to say "I guess" a lot, which is actually something we said constantly during our practice time, so we should have paid attention to that. Maybe recording our practice sessions would have been useful, as we could approximate our time and see what was wrong with our wordings and physical postures. From our project as a whole, we both took away a lot of things. One, we learned how arts affected others' lives. And not just anybodys' lives. People that were around us, living in the same area, and around the same age. Arts isn't just an extracurricular we put on our applications and resumes. It's culture, it's lifestyle, it's creativity, it's individuality, it's fun, it's enjoyable. Another is how we actually could incorporate the arts into our lives. Aside from the typical hobby, music and the arts allow for expression, stress relief, social interactions, and proven academic improvement. I think we were able to accomplish a majority of what we had planned, and the real goal was to learn more, and that we both did plenty.

Reflexes Lab

In this lab we tested our responses to certain stimuli and investigated why we had these reactions. This activity relates back to our unit in that it deals with reflexes. Reflexes are rapid, predictable, and involuntary responses to stimuli. There are somatic reflexes, which stimulate skeletal muscles, and autonomic reflexes, which regulate smooth muscle and other automatic responses.

1) In the photopupillary reflex test the reflex of the pupil dilated and shrinking was being tested. In the test the pupil shrunk when exposed to light after being the dark after a certain amount of time. This reflex occurred because the pupil changes size with the amount of light that is present, so with more light it will decrease in size and vice versa.

2) In the knee jerk reflex test the reflex that was being tested was the knee-jerk reflex which is when the knee jerks upward when the knee cap is hit. The arc is a 2 neuron reflex arc where the sensory neuron sends a signal to the spinal cord then travels to the motor neuron then the knee. In the test my knee did jerk upward ,and after doing squats, the reflex actually increased in intensity when it was not supposed to because the reflex is supposed to slow down after exercise due to the decrease in ATP. This probably resulted in the fact that I did not do enough squats.

3) In the blink reflex test the person is supposed to blink when the cotton ball is thrown at them. This occurred during the test. This reflex exists in order for humans to protect the eye from anything that can potentially damage it because it is very sensitive as well as important part.

4) In the plantar reflex test the toes are supposed to curl when the pen is moved across the bottom of the foot. This was apparent during the test when the toes curled inward when he pen moved across. This response occurred because the toes react in a way that makes the foot want to move away from that source of touch in order to protect the foot.

5) In the response time test our time was recorded in catching a ruler that we saw falling through our finger tips and then recorded again while texting. After the trials were complete, I saw that my average time went from 0.155 seconds to 0.175 seconds. There was a significantly slower time while texting. This change is due to the fact that the brain takes time to select what action is prioritized, and texting can slow down the response time, showing the dangers of texting and driving, which I have to admit, I have done in the past. In fact, all distractions while driving are extremely dangerous, as it delays our reaction time to imminent dangers that could injure or kill others and myself.

My Brain Map

1.   What do the frontal lobes do?

The frontal lob controls the personality, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, and impulse control.

2. What is the relationship between selective attention and learning?

      Selective attention allows you to increase memory and allows you to select what is important. When learning, you select what is important to remember and how to use it.

      3. What is the last part of your brain to develop and what can you do to prevent it from deteriorating?

       The frontal is the last part to develop and you can prevent deterioration by being more active and connecting ideas that you learn to bigger ideas.
     4. What does the neo cortex do?

      It helps guide you by controlling motor skills.

      5.  What is the role of the pre frontal cortex?
      It controls your personality and how you act in social situations.

      6. What do we know about the pre frontal cortex’s relationship with multitasking?
      It helps manage what is important and prioritizes one action over another. 

      7.      Which part of the brain is associated with speech and language development?  Give an interesting fact about this region.
      The Broca's area helps with speech development. A person is still able to produce speech even when this area is damaged as functions shift to other parts.

      8.      Which part of your brain is responsible for thinking the following: “Is it hot in here or is it just me?”
      The Somatosensory cortex helps sense if the temperature is too cold or hot.

9. What does your visual cortex do for you?

   It helps differentiate color and identifies faces.

      10. State three interesting or significant facts about your occipital lobe.
      It is the visual processing part of your brain. It allows you process long term and short term memories. You can exercise this part by using your imagination. 

      11. What would happen if your temporal lobes were damaged?
      You will have trouble recalling things from memory. 

      12.    What is your “fast brain” and what does it do?
      The fast brain is the motor cortex and helps control the senses
      

      13. State 3 things that you could do that would influence your synapses, and have a positive affect on your life and health.
      You can exercise and have a healthy diet as well as becoming an active learner

      14.What is the relationship between multi-sensory or multi-modal learning and your dendrites?
      Multiple types of stimulation will help you learn things faster by engaging multiple parts of your brain

      15.How does “big picture thinking” and mnemonics affect dendrites and/or learning?
      It helps by connecting ideas together and using your brain in different ways b actively learning

      16. Describe a neurotransmitter that you feel is very important.  Justify your reasoning.
      I feel that dopamine is an important neurotransmitter because it helps you become motivated to do things and learn things.
17.What does the corpus collosum do?

      The corpus collosum is the only connection between the two hemispheres. It controls oral skills, language, and deals with handwriting as well as eye muscle movement.

      18. What is the relationship between music and the corpus callosum? 

The corpus collosum is strengthened through music as it strengthens communication between the two brains 

19.Why is the thalamus important? 

The thalamus controls motor control and sensory imformation.

  Relate and Review 

     In this activity I learned about the different parts of the brain. The simulation showed the relative areas that the parts covered and how they all fit together. The frontal lobe covered a large portion of the brain and it was interesting to learn how to keep the frontal lobe healthy with active learning. The neo cortex is a part of the brain that controls motor functions. The different neurotransmitters were also interesting to learn about and how each affected the brain and their function in everyday life. Healthy diets and exercise also help with dendrite health. The corpus collosum connects the two hemispheres of the brain and actually serves to help understand language and can be strengthened by practicing music or other arts.

Brain Dissection

1) 


2) Brain stem- regulates automatic systems such as heart beat and breathing
Cerebellum- coordinates voluntary movement
 Cerebrum- divided into four lobes and controls thought and action
Posterior- back part of the brain Anterior- front part of the brain

3) The myelin, part of the myelin sheath, help the electrical impulses move faster.

4) 



5) Thalamus- controls information between cerebral cortex and lower brain helping with sesnory interpretation
Corpus Callosum- bridge between two hemispheres
Medulla Oblangota- controls heartbeat and breathing Pons- controls information between cerebrum and cerebellum
Mid Brain- controls vision and hearing
Hypothalamus- helps control the endocrine system and hormone levels
Optic Nerve- transfers information from optic nerve to brain

6) 


Relate and Review
In this lab we opened up a sheep brain and located the different parts of the brain. In this unit we learned about the parts of the brain, and their functions. With the help of the clay model we did, this lab helped give us a better visual representation of what those parts look like, and how they all fit together. This dissection helped us understand the shape and functions of each of the parts as well as gave us hands on experience. I feel like I got a much better understanding of each part of the brain, and the smaller pieces that make up each part, like grey matter.

20 Time Individual Reflection

Working with Eric on this project has been difficult but very fun. Although Eric and I have known each other for a long time, our strong bond didn't necessarily help us with efficiently completing our final product and working productively. At first, it was hard to find a focus, because we only had a general idea of what we were going to do. When we finally cracked down to narrow our focus, we ended up coming up with tons and tons of different ideas, which was great, but challenging again for us to actually stick to one game plan. Eventually, we picked from our best ideas and combined those goals into one project with one particular mission statement. We will be revealing our thesis statement and our final product at the TED talk. Although this was difficult to get to working, we both knew we wanted to stick with this because of our own passions for the arts. While we might not cover all of the arts and cultures, Eric loves arts, the sketches, the colors, and I love music, the melodies, the arrangements, the rhythms. It's a really large scale that many artists similar to us fall under, and so we can easily use their expertise and experience to the advantage of our project. In the early stages, it was a lot of just researching and digesting and unloading onto our google doc. Information on the correlation between the arts and education and not only academics but wellroundedness in life as well. Then, we got to work as we worked on our passion projects, discovered others' works, held some interviews, and ultimately made huge progress on our final product during and after the spring break. Eric and I learned so much about how music and arts define other students, whether if its their family, their future, or their identity. We feel this is more valuable than all the numbers and "studies" online can bring to the table in terms of encouraging the arts in educational systems, as this information comes from real people with real lives and real emotions, who live currently in contemporary cultures and art forms. I think we actually paced ourselves well in this project. What's next is really up to everyone. I know Eric and I will continue to keep art in our lives, not only as a hobby, but as enrichment to our purposes in life. It's up to the people around us to pursue their own passions, and maybe incorporate what they've been missing as a crucial part of their emotional health and creativity health.

Sheep Eye Dissection Analysis

An excellent view of the cornea, the dark bluish section. The sclera, also known as the whites of the eye, are clearly seen around the cornea in contrast to the bright blue mat behind it.

Extrinsic muscles, fatty tissue, and especially the optic nerve sticking out are very noticeable features on the back of the eye we observed.

This is a beautiful view of the eye split into two hemispheres. The vitreous humor is the jelly and glossy liquid in the lower part, while the upper hemisphere remain rather empty. Some of the vitreous humor is also spilled onto the blue mat. 

Here you can identify the lens in the middle, and surrounding it the ciliary body and suspensory ligaments. Notice that the colors are cloudy, known as cataract. The lens is usually clear, but the eye we observed was from a dead sheep, and so there has been quite some time for this cloudy condition to grow as it continues to prevent or reduce the amount of light reaching the retina. 

Here we have the other hemisphere. It's quite an excellent picture of the sclera, the clearly white border on the outside, the retina, the aqueous humor, and the choroid, with the nice deep blue color.

After removing the pupil and the iris, we were able to isolate the lens and observe its shape.

In this lab, we were able to look at a lot of things which really gave us a deeper understanding of location, size, texture, and function of several parts of the eye. The sclera proved to be the tough boundary its supposed to be. The cornea was a very vibrant color, so we were able to identify it and really see how it worked. Usually, in a dissection we just locate muscles. But in this case, we see the cornea is ovalish and ellipsical in shape, and clearly shows the cloudy condition compared to our current transparent corneas. The fatty tissue is used to protect the eye, as our heads move around a lot, preventing the eye from taking damage from our skull or what not. The optic nerve in the back also really shows that it's going straight to the brain to make the connection so eyes can give proper feedback. As we take a look inside, the vitreous humor is the gooey liquid that surround the lens and the aqueous humor in front of the retina. The choroid, in the back of the eye, is a network of blood vessels that provides noursihment and oxygen to itself and the other layer of the eye. Along with it is tapetum lucidum, which reflects light onto the retina. We humans do not have this, as this only functions as night vision, which we don't have, because we don't particularly need it. We're supposed to have our eyes closed shut when we sleep at night. Additionally, the cilliary bodies are muscles that can control the eye to rotate up down left and right. Suspensory ligaments also help with movement. The pupil is located in the center of the iris, and several muscles layers determine how intense the light comes in. The lens is convex shaped and elastic in texture, which bends the light in. One condition that can occur is glaucoma, which is when fluid pressure becomes so high the eye takes physical damage from the pressure. 

The Clay Brain

Left Hemisphere                                                        Right Hemisphere

The task was to use a visual diagram made from clay to show the parts of the brain.
The left hemisphere is a view from a sagittal plane, and the right hemisphere has a lateral view.
Working with my new group wasn't difficult, but making it look even remotely like a brain was very challenging. From our point of view, when we first laid down the building blocks of our plan, it looked fine and everything was in place accordingly. However, as time passed, we realized we didn't have enough colors, and overlapping parts also made our jobs trickier than it already was. Thankfully, we put all the pieces together in a timely fashion.

The Woman with a Hole in Her Brain

Reading this article, I realized how short it was and actually how little information it gave (or just how curious I was). I wanted to find out whether her cerebellum did not grow as she was developing in the womb, or it did but just faded away or something because of how small it is. I don't know, I'm just throwing out ideas because obviously the article didn't really go into detail about it. However, it was interesting to learn what it did to her in her early years, such as the speech impediment and the walking clunkiness and the headaches. It's always fascinating to know miracles like this can happen. She may have some issues, but she's alive isn't she?

The precentral gryus ties directly with the primary motor cortex, and specifically has control over the leg area medially, the head and face laterally, and hand and arm motors. So essentially, if the precentral gyrus was missing or somehow damaged, we would be looking at someone who has facial palsy, or paralysis in the face. Additionally, we'd be finding weakness in the arms and legs, and even hemiparesis, which is weakness in an entire side of the body, left or right. Such weakness could range from stuck in a wheelchair, to possibly assisted walking with some sort of brace. There's definitely still a huge chance of survival, however, as this doesn't exactly affect any cognitive or respiratory or some other lethal mishap. With help from others and a nonthreatening environment, there's a high chance of survival. The postcentral gyrus and central sulcus could potentially be tapped into for support of the motors, but for the kind of strength and endurance of a normal person, you'd really need the precentral gyrus.

Unit 7 Reflection

chicken lab
https://lgsuhsd.instructure.com/courses/2493/assignments/24868/submissions/802?download=122891

Reflection
From the very beginning of this unit, we were tested in our vocabulary regarding the different movements of the synovial joints and muscles. These key actions were actually very helpful as we went through the rest of the unit, and it served as a sturdy foundation for us to learn about how these movements were made possible. Simple ones like rotation and elevation/depression seemed easy to understand, but supination/pronation and plantar flexion/dorsiflexion were harder to pick up. All the movements, however, really showed us how many different types of movements different body parts made, as they couldn't be all the same, or that would make life a lot harder for us. The contraction and stretching of a muscle really got to me the most as we learned about just how each muscle contracted. There are so many smaller elements like the fibers and the actin and the myosin that really make the process a little bit more complicated than step 1: contract the muscle. There's chemical processes with Ca2+ and ATP and there's also physical processes like the power moves and all of them work together to do one task. Additionally, in our extremely hands on chicken dissection lab, although we only looked through some uncooked food, in reality we actually discovered a lot of names of the different muscles within the bodies of a chicken. While not all of them were sized and shaped like the ones in our bodies, there were similarities between limb muscles that really helped us realize the real life application and learning about the muscles in our own bodies. Learning location and function of each muscle really broadened our horizon on just "muscle." Also learning about the conditioning and steroid abuse helped us gain some world view on how things are happening now, and also how we should take care of our own muscles and our body health to avoid health hazards. There was just so much to absorb, and I know I learned all of the material when I was reading, listening, and noting. I just hope I still remember all of the information by the end of it. Times are surprisingly tough as a second semester senior, and I think there's still a lot of pressure that I really wish wasn't there. I still have the drive and the push to excel in academics, but there are a lot of challenging obstacles in the way. No matter what though, I'm powering through. That's how I've always done it and I'm getting through this dip and moving on.

Performance Enhancements Advertisement

Reflection

I've definitely heard of steroids before, but I had no idea how bad the side effects were. I thought they only had long term negative effects on the muscles, but there were a couple defects I didn't know about, like the reduction of sperm, or even something close to gender swapping, with the women's voice dropping and men developing breasts. It all makes sense, but it still is jaw dropping. I think most of the man made techniques and products are quite hazardous, but there are a few that I would regard as safer. Massages seem to only be positive, and while caffeine definitely can cause insomnia and even addiction, I can't tell you how many times I needed that extra boost to get me through school. Also, the diets were quite interesting, with the carbs and the proteins. I was doing some web surfing, and actually actors like Chris Evans, Hugh Jackman, and Chris Pratt often had to turn to certain protein diets and daily workout sessions to reach a certain physique for the role they were to cast. Most of their days consisted of lifting and eating pounds of chicken and fish, and simple greens like broccoli, but avoiding sugar and alcohol. It's definitely uncomfortable from what I've read, but that's probably because humans weren't exactly made to just be work out machines. It's fascinating that we can learn so much about these things which have so much real life application.

Chicken Dissection Lab

For this lab, we used a chicken carcass and dissected it to identify different muscles within the body. The objective was to learn more about the different types of muscles in the body, identify it by its shape and its look, and compare it to our own human muscles, which to a certain degree have similar aspects. By cutting through the skin and the connective tissue, we were able to see what the muscle really looked like and how it interacted with bones and tendons to manifest certain movements and actions. Initially going down the middle to see the pectoralis major and minor and flipping it over to locate the trapezius and latissimus dorsi, we then moved in on the wings, discovering muscles like the biceps brachii, the triceps humeralis, and the brachioradialis, which all have names that resemble muscles in our own arms. We got to see an excellent example of the tendon, not necessarily at work, but definitely how it functions. Tendons connect muscle and bone for movement, and the tendons at the biceps brachii kept the limb stabilized so when we bent the wings, the contraction was smooth and without disruption. Tendons at the origin would stabilize the muscle, and tendons at the insertion allowed the muscle to contract and move. We only got a good look at the tendons at the origin, but I'm sure the tendon at the insertion was there somewhere. To compare this chicken and our own anatomy, there were certainly several muscles and other things that were notable, especially in the limbs. We both have the humerus, the ulna, and the radius, but not only do we share the relatively same bone, we also share the same muscles attached to them like the biceps and the triceps. The proportions are different however, not only because of size, but because of the specific way they're positioned to advocate movement of the limbs. We don't flap wings because we have arms, and our fingers are much more delicate and more intricate in terms of movement. They are birds, and we are mammals, so that line still remains to differentiate us. 

The Sartorius is the the front of the thigh, allows for flexing

The Latissimus Dorsi extends the wings

The Trapezius is perpendicular to the spine and the shoulders

The Iliotibialis assists the Sartorius in flexing legs and also extends thighs

The Deltoid is a muscle that can be triggered to raise or life wings

Biceps Brachii flexes wings

Quads or Quadriceps, a group of four muscles, helps extend the lower leg

Gastrocnemius is the primary muscle of the medial and dorsal sides of the drumstick

The Brachioradialis is the largest muscle on the superior side of the lower wings

The pectoralis can pull both wings ventrally

The Latissimus Dorsi extends wings

The Peronus Longus is the primary superficial muscle on the lateral side of the drumstick.

Triceps humeralis extends and straightens wings

Peronus Longus

Flexor Carpi Ulnaris flexes the "fingers" and runs from back to elbow from the side of the wing

Pectoralis minor pulls the shoulders down and forward

Tibialis Anterior flexes the foot

What happens when you stretch?

"Just as the total strength of a contracting muscle is a result of the number of fibers contracting, the total length of a stretched muscle is a result of the number of fibers stretched -- the more fibers stretched, the more length developed by the muscle for a given stretch."

This quote summarizes well the limits of the "stretchability" of our muscles. Our bodies are only as capable as the structures within it, so naturally our functions match the number of fibers which are the elements that elongate during the process of stretching a muscle.

"Proprioceptors (also called mechanoreceptors) are the source of all proprioception: the perception of one's own body position and movement."

Alas, a new word. Proprioceptors are also called mechanoreceptors because I believe mechano- refers to the mechanical movement of machines, which our bodies are capable of. Machines aren't necessarily robots or electronic devices. It's actually a simple term in physics that means something that is capable of work. Therefore, our body is a machine, as it can use energy to work!

"When an agonist contracts, in order to cause the desired motion, it usually forces the antagonists to relax."

We learned about the prime mover and the antagonist in a recent lecture, and this goes in further to explain why exactly they are opposites. Not only do they counteract each other in contracting of a muscle, but in stretching as well, they also do opposite actions to stabilize the body while maintaining the action of work and stretching. 

Relate and Review
I'm pretty sure most of us knew that muscles contracted and stretched, because we either learned about it a long time ago, or we just realized it naturally in our daily movements. It's really fascinating to actually find out why and how it works, and it's also really cool to know that it's not exactly a simple task. While picking up a pencil may seem like a difficult task, there's the neurons that deliver the message to move, there's the fibers in our muscles to contract and relax accordingly so we can bend down and wrap our fingers around the object of desire. I can't wait to find out more, because at this point I don't know much, and there's definitely a lot more to the muscular system than contracting and stretching. It's also super fun to be able to know a little bit of physics along the way!

Unit 6 Reflection

In this unit we really reinforced our understanding of Anatomy and Physiology. After all, this unit really reiterated the differences between structure and function within the bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments of the skeletal system. We are first off refreshed with a little taste of Unit 1, where we learned that bones are split between axial and appendicular. Then we learned about the regeneration of bones known as bone remodeling with osteocytes running it, osteoblasts breaking down bone, and osteoclasts rebuilding bone. Different bone types include long, short, flat, and irregular, which all serve different purposes in different parts of our body. We also learned about disorders, or essentially when our "perfect" system has some mishaps or undergoes accidents. Arthritis, osteoporosis, and scoliosis are examples of disorders, and accidents include complete and incomplete fractures. We then dived into a little bit of physics to learn how levers worked to gain an understanding of how our joints worked. We also learned about the different classifications. Functional classifications include synarthroses, amphiarthroses, and diarthroses, which reflects little to no movement, slight movement, and free movement, respectively. Structural classifications are fibrous, cartilagenous, and synovial, which fit relatively into the different functional classifications as well. For example, a synovial joint is almost always diarthroses.

Most of the labs we did in this unit were just investigations into the different bones in our bodies, but one particularly exciting one was the owl pellet lab. It was interesting to discover for our own the different bones in a different animal. Learning how their bones worked and fit together was also very insightful. I am actually really satisfied with the amount of knowledge we hopefully acquired from this unit. I've been thinking for a while now, and I really don't have any questions. I think we learned about this system rather holistically, and I don't see anything that we could've missed. I can't think of anything that I want to learn that I haven't already learned. I'd say good job to myself for learning the material, but I think the credit really goes to our teacher as he was able to fit all the right information into the time allotted for this unit.

I think I've been able to balance all my events rather well, although I could really use some more sleep. 20 time is going to be a blast, but I don't want to reveal anything about that quite yet.

All in all, I learned a lot about the skeletal system, and am really satisfied with everything I've learned.

Owl Pellet Lab

In this lab, my partner and I dissected the pellet of a barn owl, which is essentially the result of regurgitation after the digestion of flesh. The pellet usually contains bones and fur as those are not digested or broken down in the digestion process of the barn owl. We used forceps to dissect the pellets and discovered many bones after clearing away all the fur from them. We deduced that the bones in our pellet were from moles and voles. The first piece of evidence is the piece in the upper right hand corner in the following picture. The only bone that would look like this is the pelvis or hip bone of the mole. Additionally, the other bones in the picture resemble the fibulas and tibias of moles and voles. There are even joints, which look like holes, in them that make them clear to be the lower legs of moles and voles.


For a final touch, we discovered some teeth and some vertebrae. What this tells us is these organisms were definitely not birds, as birds do not have teeth, and their vertebrae is not nearly as large as the ones we found.



1) We noticed that the hip joints were similar to our hip joints as there is a hole for the liquid filled sac to allow for rotation and movement flexibility.
2) In the picture above, the vertebrae resemble ours as they stack with thin layers to prevent friction, just like ours.
3) Although it may seem really obvious, we(humans and moles)both have teeth. This alone, surprisingly, already distinguishes us from birds. Mammals are more closely related to mammals, not birds.


1) We walk on two legs, but moles and voles walk on four legs. Consequently, their hip bones are a lot longer than ours.
2) Again, we walk vertically. So our vertebrae is axial, or up and down. Their vertebrae doesnt exactly have to take as much stress from gravity as we do, so they can be smaller or weaker.
3) Some hip bones look very odd compared to ours, especially the one belonging to the moles. The small, almost rectangular shape really baffles me as it looks literally nothing like our own pelvis.

Unit 5 Reflection

This unit largely talked about more systems in our body that we probably know less about than others. The digestive system unit taught us about the structures and functions of our super long digestive track, shown in the lab in the following link.

http://mzguo.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-digestive-system-lab-how-long-is.html

Additionally, we learned about diabetes 1 and 2, which really shows us the importance of learning about health to actually stay healthy and avoid diabetes. Finally, we learned about the endocrine system and the lymphatic system, which also taught us a lot about the different ways our bodies take care of themselves. I already knew about our immune system for the most part, but I really found the Ted talk regarding sleep and the lymphatic system particularly interesting as it tied into the importance of sleep and actual connections to Alzheimer with evidence through research. One thing I liked about this unit was the further investigation/research we did at the end of the unit. It was brief and easy enough to not become a burden of an assignment, yet it broadened our horizons, especially when we were able to share and discuss with other students. It's all just part of the learning process, and that activity made it enjoyable and informative. I was really able to discover more about a topic I was genuinely curious about, and it was great to finally get some more information about prediabetes. In terms of my goals, so far I think I'm doing well. I've been pumping out covers, but I need to make sure I maintain my grades for all my classes. Glad I'm doing okay so far in this one. 

The Digestive System Lab- How long is your digestive system?

Mouth(Red)- 8 cm
Esophagus(Gold)- 45.6 cm
Stomach(White)- 20.5 cm
Small Intestine(String)- 650.24 cm
Large Intestine(Green)- 162.56 cm

Total Length- 886.9 cm or 8.869 m

1) For this lab, I measured ribbon according to the predicted length of these organs from my digestive system. Putting them all together gives me a bigger and a better picture of the size of my digestive system. According to the instructions, my small intestine is 4 times my height. Combined with my large intestine, that length would be 5 times my height. I always knew these organs were very long, but this gave me a definitive picture.

2) My height is 162.56 cm or 1.6256 m, which means approximately 5.4558 of me stretched out would be around the same length of my digestive system. My digestive system is able to fit inside my abdomen because there are so many folds to fit it inside the small space.

3) My guess is around 30 hours. According to MayoClinic.com, the entire digestive process can range from 24-72 hours. The average times are from 1-3 days, and that's quite a large range. My answer was in the range, but I guess I made my estimate based off what I believed was my time for my own full digestion. Factors that influence time digestion takes include amount of fiber eaten, amount of physical activity, amount of nicotine ingested, amount of caffeine drunk, certain prescription drugs.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/525519-the-normal-time-for-food-to-process-through-the-bowels-colon/

4) The mouth, esophagus, stomach, and small intestine are all involved in digestion, but small and large intestine do all of the absorption. Digestion is just the breaking down of food into smaller pieces, whether done through physical or chemical processes. Absorption is taking in nutrients and water, and using it as energy for the body.

5) If digestion happened abnormally quickly, would that indicate problems of absorption of nutrients?

New Year's Goals

New Year's Goals

I will get at least a 90% in this class. 

I will do every homework assignment and organize all my work.

I will study comprehensively before every test, always questioning and testing myself to prepare.

I will not procrastinate for homework or studying.

I will study early, so I don't cram the day before the test.

I will plan and gauge my time wisely so I can sleep early, and get enough sleep.

I will make sure I have time for all my classes.
I will balance my time so I have time for my other activities. 

I will make at least 15 covers before the end of the year, with at least 5 collaborations with other people. 

I will make at least 3 covers per month.

I will make time to work on covers every week.

I will plan ahead to work with people.

I will schedule and work out audio and visuals. 

I will pour more effort into my channel.