- To get credit for this week's entry, comment about what your favorite post was over the summer, and what you are most looking forward to learning more about this year.
- If you are registered for Dr. H's class (Block 1 or 2), please visit this website and request access. If you have used PB Works before, you can use your previous account information and will not have to confirm your email. If you are new to PB Works, you DO NOT need to use your school email account to request access. After I accept you, you will receive a confirmation email.
- If you are registered for Miss Drust's class (Block 3), she will provide you with the course website.
- Once you have access to the wiki, feel free to have a look around. It is still a work in progress, so there is not too much there yet. There are some things on the front page for you to do.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Summer Assignment 8.25
This will be the final week of the summer assignment this year. Great
job with all the comments, I hope you found some of the articles I
linked to interesting. There are a few things I have for you to do this
week.
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45 comments:
The posts that I really enjoyed reading were the posts pertaining to the ebola virus. The main reason, being that the high mortality rate, and recent outbreaks make it an extremely relevant topic. Also the disease's similarities with the Red Death intrigued me, mainly because in Poe's book it is shown as an undominable menace. The fact that it is actually out in the world, makes it even more interesting.
As far as what I look forward to learning next year, they incude topics suchas evolution and biochemistry. I found evolution interesting because the common ancestors that are shared between species are interesting to look at. I find it interesting that the common ancestor had one stucture, and its descendants have those same structures, however they are vestigial. As far as biochemistry, I look forwawrd to learning more about that, because that area of science is what explains everything else. It explains photosyntheisis and celular respiration, and it even has a role to play in Genetics. For example, in genetics, the dominant gene in simple medellian genetics is expressed because it is heavily methylated. To understand what it means to be methylated, it is neccessary to know what a methyl group is, which is a part of biochemistry.
Personally, my favorite post this year was the article on Ebola being a non-global pandemic. I guess I’ve been really disconnected with the world because I actually did not know there was an Ebola outbreak in Africa until I read this article. To learn about such a rapid spreading and deathly virus occurring on this planet currently, even it being the largest outbreak in history, made me wonder what factor could’ve triggered this large outbreak and when this will come to an end. Also, it gave me some comfort as Ebola is not something I should worry about.
In biology this year, I hope to revive all that I’ve learned last year while expanding and digging further into the details. One thing I’m looking forward to learn this year is blood – how it is transported throughout our body, its function in maintaining our cells, and how it flows through our heart. The blood plays such an important role in our human living, so it’s a remarkable topic to learn about.
My favorite posts from the summer were the two from August 11th on typos and internet filters. Although these articles may not have directly dealt with biology, it studied the behaviors of people and how the brain works which was extremely interesting. Over the next year, I really want to solidify what I learned last year. When I graduate I'm thinking of studying pharmacy, so I'm more interested in studying about cells, genetics, and relating biology to chemistry. I'm also excited to see all the different labs we do in each unit to get some experience in many different areas in a lab.
During the summer, the post that excited me and sparked the most interest in me was the very first post regarding extraterrestrial life in our solar system and the whole system. The article was about how NASA was deciding to search for aliens on Europe, one of Jupiter’s moons with water on it. Searching for extraterrestrial life in an infinite universe amazes me the most. To me, the miracle of life is so fantastic that in my opinion it can not only take place on a very small isolated planet. The sheer size of the universe makes it highly unlikely for us to be alone. Biology plays an important role in venturing out into deep space because if we determine how life started here, then we could know other planets where life could start. I cannot wait for the day we meet or discover extraterrestrial life, and hopefully it is going to be soon.
The topic I am excited about this year is the human immune system because it is so fascinating to learn how complex our bodies are just to exterminate some extremely small but devastating pathogens. In addition, I think it is astonishing that our bodies have a whole arsenal of cells that are made to kill specific targets in a never ending war with germs. These cells in our blood and our skin will protect us and destroy infections till the day we die and sometimes, it is interesting to know how they get rid of them. Learning about this topic in class will hopefully prepare me if I choose to go into the medical field and help others.
Although I enjoyed reading all the articles and learning about a variety of different scientific discoveries and interesting topics,my favorite article was the one about blood types. It really fascinated me to read how little we know about our blood type even today despite all the progress made in the field of medicine. It was interesting to read how blood types could be a probable result of genetic mutations dominating certain racial groups.
Since freshman year, my interest in biology, specifically the human anatomy, has grown. I am looking forward to learning more about how our bodies work, including genetics, blood types and DNA. The human body is a complex machine responsible and capable of a million intricate things. I find it amazing that simple changes and mutations at the genetic level affect our bodies so greatly. I hope to explore these areas more in AP Biology this year.
This summer’s blog activity was quite fascinating; from articles explaining why humans have blood types to stories about depression in people’s minds to even numerous websites about viruses such as the Ebola spread. However, my favorite post over the summer was probably the 8.18 post of the Podcast explaining what is occurring with the Ebola virus and the controversy behind it. The main reason of my “enjoyment” of the Ebola virus podcast was the fact that the news about it was fairly recent, for me at least, the information was provided in a quirky, but fun fashion, and the way the casters talked was actually quite relaxing. Overall, I quite enjoyed the podcast and the fact that it provided me with the information of the current state. However, with the semester starting soon, I would like to learn more about modern viruses that are highly lethal and don’t currently have a vaccination nor cure. Furthermore, I believe that in the future, diseases might be weaponized and used in wars over resources and cures would be limited. However, most likely it would just be an odd, imaginative world that would not occur.
-David Liu
I would say that my favorite post this summer was the one on depression (assignment 8.11). I really enjoyed reading the perspective of the person who had depression. The other article of that assignment was also enjoyable to read because I like reading articles that discuss the way our minds work. This year I am looking forward to learning more about genes and the diverse types of traits that can be passed down through generations. I hope to learn about some rare biological diseases as well. Also I am looking forward to dissections. I think it will be interesting to learn about the anatomy and physiology of different animals.
Personally, my favorite post was the comic about depression. I had learned about it in psychology last school year, but never truly understood the effects that it had on a person. This really put things into perspective as I was able to see what depression was like from someone who had previously suffered from it. Plus it gave me a few laughs as the illustrations were funny, especially the last one.
This year, i am looking forward to further expanding my knowledge of biology overall. It was my favorite subject freshman year. I am really looking forward to dissections, anatomy and physiology of those animals, and a further understanding of DNA. I'm looking forward for this year and learning many new concepts.
Although I found all of the blog posts this summer to be extremely interesting, my favorite was definitely the assignment for 8/11 which included the web comic explaining depression. This topic is fascinating to me because it connects science to the events that are actually taking place in our world today such as the death of Robin Williams. I have always been intrigued by psychology and how the brain works as well because it is such a vast and delicate topic that can be unpredictable. I enjoyed how this post was not just a standard article, but some sort of witty story adorned with amusing illustrations that helped support the author’s thought provoking views and experiences with depression. The author of the web comic also had a very unique way of explaining and describing her situation and her supposedly accurate perspective on depression made it an educational as well as entertaining post.
This year in AP Biology, I am most looking forward to learning more about the human body, from cells to organ systems. I am also excited to dig deeper into evolution and genetics because I find it to be such a fascinating topic that directly relates to our ancestry and why we are the way we are. It explains the commonly asked question of what makes us different as well. Additionally, I wish to delve further into biochemistry because knowing more about the basic parts of life and what it is made up of will help me understand the more complex topics. I am also eagerly awaiting dissections because I enjoy hands-on activities that help me learn more about anatomy and physiology as well as giving me a great experience that I will continue to remember in the future. In general, I want to explore how our bodies work in more depth because I aspire to follow a medicine oriented career path.
My favorite post throughout this summer was the articles relating to the Ebola virus. I learned that the Ebola virus is not a global issue and how it can affect my daily life and people everyday. Another post I liked this year was the two posts on the finding of an extremely large insect in china and the post on animals creating types of art. Both of these posts stood out to be some of the most interesting ones throughout the summer and left me very interested. I look forward to studying genetics and DNA this year as well as different aspects of the human body and anatomy.
My favorite links included:
-Could viruses be at the root of the entire Tree of Life on the Earth?
-One of the better descriptions of what depression is like, along with some tips on how NOT to help someone going through depression, can be found in this webcomic.
-Do non-human animals create art?
These pertained to things that interested me; the one about animal art was neat because I fancy myself a bit of an artist, I love webcomics and I thought a lot of the other posts on that blog were thought provoking in a humorous way, my favorite though was the first one I read about the roots of the tree of life. That article reminded me about why I love science - searching for answers to awe-inspiring questions that connect to us on a fundamental level. I am excited to find new depths in biology and learn more about each species (sea-life especially) and how they figure into the big picture. I can't wait!
I gained a lot from these weekly summer posts and learned a lot about some things I hadn’t given much thought before. I most enjoyed reading the webcomic about depression since it offered a very personal perspective on a serious topic that is difficult to understand. Paired together, the writer’s expressive narration and illustrations gave me a unique account of what her experience with depression must have been like. Although it wasn’t from a biological standpoint, it gave me much to think about.
I also learned a lot from the posts that were about Ebola and the current outbreak in West Africa. Over the summer I sometimes tend to cut off from important current events and be unaware as to what’s going on in the world. The information in these articles surprised, discouraged, and frightened me, but most importantly, it informed me. I am nearly positive that if not for these articles, I would not know as much about this virus as I do now!
As of now, I’m especially looking forward to learning about cell biology, genetics, and human physiology. I am interested in the function, structure, and overall diversity of the human body in all its levels of structural organization.
My favorite article was the one about depression. The comic was very humorous and came with pictures. The other articles were about external things like viruses and the such, but depression is something that happens inside. Since depression has to do with emotions, I was able to relate to it more. However, I had to do extra research for the Ebola articles since I had no previous experience with it. I also find how the mind works to be very interesting as it has nothing to do with anatomy. Psychology is very interesting as it can be used in real life.
This year I am very excited to learn about the structure of the human body and how all the various systems in our bodies help and support each other. When this year is over, I hope to know enough about all the systems in the human body so that I can just take a step back and appreciate the complexity of our bodies.
-Kausthub Vedantham
My favorite discussion is the blood type blog post because while the discussion answered many of my questions, it also left me with more questions and puzzlement than ever before. I am glad that I became more enlightened about the process of blood transfusion and the clumping of unlike red blood cell types. However, I am still to be convinced by a concrete, convincing explanation of...why blood types exist in the first place? I found it interesting that scientists today are still trying to figure out this mystery.
This year, I look forward to learn more about viruses. I am now interested and quite curious about viruses after hearing about Ebola all summer long.
My favorite post this year was about Jupiter's moon Europa. I enjoyed thinking of the possibility that life may be on others planets, or their moons in this case. I wonder what an alien organism's biology would be like compared to anything on Earth. Perhaps at the origin of life on another planet, an organism was made that is not based on carbon, or does not have usual genetic material like DNA. I like to wonder about places very far away and what secrets they might have. Europa is a place that I can think about for a long time because it is one of the few places that has a plentiful amount of liquid water.
This year, I would like to learn about the nervous system because it is one of the most interesting and mysterious topics. Cells of the nervous system transmit electrical impulses to inform the brain of what the body is feeling, and they control inform the parts of the body of the brains commands. Then nj brain is also a very special organ because it controls feeling, thoughts, and extremely complex actions that organisms without brains cannot do. For example, lying is one thing that humans do often, but jellyfish cannot lie to fish in the sea by pretending to be hurt. In the end, I would love to learn of the marvels of the nervous system.
My favorite post so far was the article about depression. I have seen how a person with depression suffers and it was really interesting to read about it from the perspective of a person who has depression. It was like taking a magnifying glass and looking into their mind. Depression can seem like a sickness that just makes a person sad all the time but this article proved that there is much more to it. I think that the author's colorful language actually added to the effect of the article. It was really easy to read but educational all at the same time. No body really even learns about depression in school unless they're in a psychology class. This is actually pretty shocking since so many teenagers are being diagnosed with depression.
I am most excited to learn about cells this year. Cells are my favorite topic because they are the smallest unit of living things and yet they have so many functions that take place inside of them. Although tumors are not usually taught in detail, it's my favorite part of the whole year.
I really enjoyed reading all the articles this summer. They were all were informative and interesting. However, my favorite article was on the Ebola virus. This was my favorite mainly because it is a current event. Before reading the articles on Ebola, I had only heard a little about the outbreak in Africa. These articles went in depth on how it started and all about the virus. Thus, in addition to learning about the outbreak, I learned more about the virus itself. The articles also made me think. I thought about what would happen if there was an outbreak such as this in our country.
I can't wait to learn more about biology this year. Last year, it was my favorite subject. I love how each topic we learned were somehow connected. I really learned a lot last year, and I hope to improve on my knowledge of these topics. I am most looking forward to learning about evolution. Evolution has always been a fascinating subject to me. It explains how we came to be who we are today. After reading the articles on Ebola this year, I am also looking forward to viruses.
My favorite article that I've read about throughout the summer would have to be about the Ebola epidemic because I was able to add to my knowledge about the virus that acquired through Biology class two years ago. I liked this article most because I guess I was a little detached from the worldly matters around me and did not hear about what was going in West Africa until I read about this article.
I remember some things from my biology class back in Austin, Texas. There were a lot of interesting topics we covered that I wanted to go into deeper, like dissections, genetics, and evolution. Genetics were by far the most interesting topic to me because I found the genes, blood types, chromosomes very fun to learn about. I want a further understanding of how the genes are passed on and the chances of what features of your parents you get. I really enjoy learning about genotypes and stuff related to that so hopefully we get the chance to learn about that in further detail this year. I liked dissections too because I intend to become an Orthopedic doctor one day and I think dissections help with that a little bit. Also dissections are cool.
Ashana P
There were many interesting posts throughout the summer, but the ones that I was the most interested in were the one about extraterrestrial life and the podcast about the Ebola virus. I was always interested in learning about organisms in space that were newly discovered. I have always wondered if there was another place in the universe were humans could survive beside Earth. That’s why the article about life being possible on Europa was so interesting. I thought that the podcast about the Ebola virus was interesting because it gave detailed information about the virus, which I never knew before such as there are different types. The virus in general interests me because it has a very high mortality rate, but it is not spread too easily, but if the virus evolved into being airborne it has the possibility of becoming a pandemic, which can become a serious problem. Those were the posts I found the most interesting.
In the coming year I hope to learn more about organisms that are newly discovered. I want to focus on extraterrestrial life because I think it’s the most interesting. I also hope to gain more knowledge about viruses and bacteria such as the Ebola virus and about viruses in our body that we might not even be aware of. I am also interested in doing more hands on learning such as labs. I am looking forward to biology.
My favorite post form this year was the one about why we create typos. Since I took psychology this year, it was something that I could directly relate to. I remember the article saying that people who touch type, people who don’t look at the screen while typing, actually have an image of a keyboard in their subconscious mind. So now, every time I sit down to type, I think about the image that is in my head at the moment. I also remember the article saying that typos aren’t a result of laziness and it just means that you are giving more attention to the meaning of the essay that you are writing. I guess having typos can mean that the quality of your essay is better. Another thing that I found interesting about the article was that we are blind to the typos that we make ourselves. I thought when we have a typo even after we have reviewed it, it just means that it was overlooked and that we could really find it of we really had to. But, I thought it was interesting that we are actually blind to it and can’t see it all. I thought this was the favorite post of the year because it was something that I could relate to, especially through the upcoming school year. The topics that I am looking forward to reading next year would be DNA, anatomy, and evolution. I am really looking forward to learning many new things this year.
The articles this summer were all very fascinating, but Carl Zimmer’s piece on blood types interested me greatly. Despite all that the human race has done, it becomes increasingly clear to me that we do not yet have a complete understanding of our own bodies, and their components. The theories about blood and its linkage to mutations, maladies, and mortality all intrigued me. I have always found in interesting that we don’t know what’s going on in our bodies, but we seek to find and understand extraterrestrial life.
In the coming school year, I hope to expand my knowledge and understanding of biology and its many branches. In particular, I am looking forward to learning about evolution, biochemistry, and the human body. Evolution is a fundamental theory that explains how humans, and every other living thing developed and came to be. It is important to learn about how organisms worked in the past so that we can better understand the present, and what each species may become in the future. I believe biochemistry, like evolution, to be another unifying theory that explains the world. Biochemistry explains most of the essential processes that take place, the processes that shape the world and all the living organisms in it. Finally, the human body has always intrigued me. It is an astonishingly complex organism that is capable of a vast number of intricacies, most of which is not yet understood. From a very young age, I was interested in how the human body works, along with the complications that can occur. When I graduate, I would like to go into the medical field, I feel that an understanding of the human body is of the utmost importance.
The blog assignments were fascinating! I found myself enjoying the new intriguing topics brought to my knowledge every week. Topics were ranging from blood types to Ebola to depression and more, but my favorite post was the blood types post. Upon reading the article I was surprised at how little I actually knew about blood types, including my own! The article informed me thoroughly on what the differences between blood types are and why we even have them. In addition I was obsessed with learning more about the hh blood group/ Bombay blood group considering how rare it is.
This year I look forward to learn about evolution and human anatomy, especially the cerebrum and nervous system.
In my opinion, the most interesting topic we had learned about was Ebola. I was extremely interested in this topic because it has broken out once again. Some of the other topics were also interesting to me, but Ebola was a special topic because I was able to learn about it on this website, then turn on the news and see it even more.
This year I am extremely interested to expand my knowledge of biology as a whole. Freshman year, I loved biology. My favorite topic of biology was evolution. I hope to learn a lot more about evolution this year. I was so interested in evolution because it is what has made e every single organism the way it is today. everything from humans, to bacteria go through evolution and that's why it is one of my favorite topics.
After looking through all the assignments we had, I decided that my favorite posts were the ones that challenged me to think about something I have never thought about before. One of these articles was the depression comic. People learn very little about depression and rarely ever learn what some who is depressed goes through. The comic clearly described what could happen during depression and anyone could understand it. Another article like this was the one about typos when writing or typing. Everyone misspells words and has trouble finding their mistakes in their writing but I never thought of the reasons behind it. I also enjoyed the article about animal’s creating art because I think that is amazing that animals are able to do that. This year, I am looking forward to learning more about genetics and heredity. I would like to learn about their effects on how people are and diseases that can be passed on by genes. I am also interested in blood types after reading the article about them for the summer assignment. Lastly, I am looking forward to learning about evolution and its effect on the world.
The article about blood types is my favorite one from this summer’s posts. Blood types are a subject that pertains to everyone reading the article, yet so few people know about the origins. I liked reading about the progression of blood transfusions, and how its gradual advancement affected patient outcomes throughout history.
This school year I am most looking forward to learning more about genetics. I’m interested in studying medicine and healthcare, and learning about genetic diseases was always the most interesting topic to me. It’s astounding how a simple mutation in DNA can have such a significant effect on the body and pave way towards very different types of diseases.
In my opinion, my favorite post was the one on the Ebola virus. I found it really interesting and it had a lot of information. I don't really watch the news very often, so it was a good article to read in order to know what's going on in the world, specifically in Africa. I even talked about it with my parents because I knew a lot of information about the Ebola virus and how its spreading throughout African nations. It was important for me to know about a deadly disease that is spreading in our world. This year, I am looking forward to learning about DNA and genes. I want to learn more about how genes affect certain traits that one gets from their parents. I am also looking forward to the dissections. I found the frog dissection freshmen year to be exciting, so I'm looking forward to the other ones this year as well.
Of all the summer assignments I have had to do this summer, I enjoyed reading these articles and blogging about them the most. My favorite article was probably the one about typos. This article had a direct impact in my life and it gave me a better understanding as to why I can't catch my own mistakes. It's not because of carelessness but more because our brains are so intelligent that they focus on the complex aspects rather than the simple parts of any writing. As for this school year, I am looking forward to learning more about genetics as well as the dissections. Overall I want to increase my understanding and knowledge about all the topics we will cover in biology. I am looking forward to a year of learning new things along with rigorous work.
Throughout these assignments my favorite article was the one about typos. I found it extremely interesting how our brains work in such precise system and how fast our brains are truly working. Also, I thought it was remarkable to learn that if we start writing differently we can train our brains to pick up the errors. This year I am mostly excited to learn about Genetics. I have a fond interest in learning about genes and how traits can be inherited and passed down. I can’t wait to learn more this year!
This year I hope to gain more knowledge on all aspects of biology. This subject is so vast and detailed and there is so much to learn. Specifically, Im looking forward to learning more about DNA, Viruses, and the human body in general. These aspects of biology interest me.
This summer I really enjoyed the article about depression. It was the first time i actually had a chance to try and experience what a diagnosed person actually goes through when they are suffering from the disease. I got to understand the cause of depression and what the neurological state of mind is like for that person. The other article which I found intriguing, yet a bit frightening were the articles about Ebola. This virus is taking lives at the moment, and people are helplessly suffering from it in Africa. The fact that it has a 90% mortality rate is quite frightening -especially if it becomes airborne. It leaves me to question and ponder if our scientists will be able to overcome this virus with any newer and more efficient cure than ZMAPP.
After analyzing the variety of fascinating articles throughout the summer; all the topics opened my eyes with flourishing perspectives and questions. Therefore, the post that interested myself the most is Summer Assignment 7.22 regarding different blood types.This article informed me about different blood types and what may be factors that affect our blood type. I learned new information about the Bombay Phenotype and the history about blood transfusions in the past. Although this article was long ; it was composed of compelling innovative theories and fascinating facts. I'm looking forward to learn about evolution and theories of Charles Darwin.Perhaps this will answer many of my questions regarding animal adaptation, genetic mutations and equilibrium. I am interested with learning populations reactions to different stimulus and evolution through different generations. I hope to enjoy the 2014-2015 year of MTHS AP Biology with the new information and questions.
My favorite post this summer was about the Ebola virus, which was on August 18th. I found this article interesting because it is very recent. It made me realize that even in the 21st century, viruses still have outbreaks because there are still places in the world without good sanitation to prevent them. I was relieved to hear that it's not a global pandemic.
This year, I am looking forward to learning about the human brain. I have always found it interesting how it has allowed us to accomplish so many things. People say that the human brain has more neurons than the number of stars in our galaxy. I know that's not true, but it still has a lot. I have a very basic understanding of it, and I would like to expand my knowledge about it.
The topic I found most interesting was the Ebola virus. For one thing there were two posts that we had to do about it. It also opened up a lot of ethics questions which were a lot of fun to discuss with my family. Ebola is a huge modern day issue and it is affecting many modern day people. Because my goal in the future is to be a doctor, this was a very interesting topic which I actually did outside research for as well which I rarely do for assignments that don't require it. Part of my parents' extended family lives in parts of Africa as well so the topic really hit close to home and it was nice to be well informed.
I am excited to learn more about biology. I took anatomy last year so I'm familiarized atleast somewhat in dissections which I'm excited for. I'm also looking forward to go more in depth into biology since it has always been a favorite of mine. I am also looking forward to labs and hands on projects that I won't get to do in other classes.
Out of the many interesting articles that were linked to in this blog, my favorite post was the article about the different blood types. It is a very interesting topic that I had a lot of questions about. Blood transfusions were the first step in understanding this. With many failed attempts, observations of clumping blood were the next step. With the categorization of the clumping scientists found the different types of blood. Because of the different types, doctors could transfuse the correct, specific blood type into a person without killing them.
This year, I am looking forward to learning more about viruses. I find them very interesting because of how they can change lives of so many people. An outbreak can cause so much fear and take the lives of thousands of people.
Out of all of the articles that I had to read and comment about during the summer, the one about depression was by far my favorite one. I got to learn what depression is really like from a person who had been diagnosed with it. It really was different from learning about the disease from a doctor or other form of expert like that since they wouldn't know how it really feels to have depression, at least not in the way that people who have the disease know how it feels. Before reading the article, I thought that depression was about constantly feeling sad and depressed, thus the name, but I was shocked to find out that they don't feel any emotions, not even sadness during that time.
I am looking forward to learning a lot of things this year during AP Biology, but I'm most looking forward to getting to see organisms under a microscope. I was able to do that in seventh grade biology and had a lot of fun doing so, so I can't wait until I get to do it once again.
My favorite post this summer was the article on the Ebola virus. Reading and learning about the symptoms of Ebola and how it infects your body really got me thinking on why this issue is not a global pandemic. As I listened to the podcast on Ebola I was intrigued by the fact that they compared Ebola to the Spanish flu. I was adsorbed by the fact that the Spanish flu’s mortality rate was 2.5% nowhere close to Ebola’s 90% mortality rate. In 1918 the Spanish flu ended up killing three to five percent of the world. I came to a question what would have been different if Ebola virus took the place of the Spanish flu in 1918? This year I am looking to forward to expanding my knowledge on viruses and diseases, to further understand evolution, and last but not least I am looking forward to the dissections that will be taken place in labs.
I learned a lot of new information this summer due to the weekly articles. My favorite article was about ebola. It was useful knowledge that pertains to a current event. I enjoy being educated on current issues around the world, and this one was particularly fascinating to me since it dealt with the medical field. I look forward to learning about more diseases and performing dissections.
Personally, the article that I enjoyed the most was about blood types and the general history behind them. As someone coming into this article having only a basic understanding of blood types, I found this particular one very interesting. It helped me understand the differences between the different blood types, and how they couldn’t be mixed with each other, or it will form clotting. After reading the article on the different blood types, I found myself much more informed and intrigued than in other articles. Not only were the facts about the blood types interesting, but I also found the history of blood transfusion and how it dated back 150 years shocking. Overall, the entire article had be intrigued and wanting to read more and more.
In regards to what I am looking forward to most, I will have to say I am looking forward to learning about genetics and human anatomy. To me, the human body and its makeup has always been a fascinating mystery to me, and through this year’s course, I hope that the mystery of it can be cleared a bit, so I will be able to understand it and everything that makes up a person.
Throughout the summer we read and analyzed a number of different articles but one stood out the most. The podcast regarding the ebola virus and the discussion of the untested Zmapp medication was the most interesting. Very few outbreaks have effected a population as much as ebola has and desperate measures have been taken. An untested drug was given to patients in order to possibly treat the disease. This was very intriguing as it was a controversial decision and drastic measures were taken to cure the disease. This following year, I would like to learn about how processes in organisms are conducted such as DNA replication and gene distribution.
My favorite post over the summer like many others was the about the Ebola epidemic. I felt like it gave us a glimpse into the spread of the disease in Africa especially since many people did not know much about what was going on. It was also my favorite post because of how interesting it was. We do not normally hear about the spread of a deadly infection every day, so it strangely refreshing. I am most looking forward to genetics again because last year I felt that the topic was very important and interesting yet we did not go too in depth with it. I really hope strengthen my knowledge about it.
The post that interested me the most over the summer was the post on Ebola. Before reading the articles i had limited knowledge on the virus and after hearing the news feared an outbreak could occur. I knew it was deadly but i had no other knowledge on it. After reading about it i lost my fear of Ebola because of how hard it is to spread. Comparing Ebola to other diseases, the amount of deaths is nothing. Ebola kills substantially less people than other viruses such as malaria. This intrigued me because of its popularity on the news and hype. I am most looking forward to studying DNA and genetics. After taking Biology freshman year I remember those topics interesting me the most and look forward to studying them more.
I found all of these articles very intriguing, but I believe the ones that I can never forget about are the articles on Ebola virus. Before I did not even know Ebola was a widespread threat. However, once I saw the virus on the news and in the articles, it made me realize that this virus has the potential to be a huge epidemic across the globe. These articles provided me with great insight and knowledge as I realized that this virus is actually not even that contagious and that it can be very hard to spread. In addition, it also provided me with a biological background of this virus and what it is made up of and some possible treatments. Not only that, it also gave me an idea of how much effort the United States is putting in order to stop this epidemic and cure all the ill people in Africa. Overall, hearing about Ebola on the news just scared me because I thought it was going to spread overseas, but these articles provided me with a lot more information and helped me realize that there is so much more to it than it just being a contagious disease. The topic I am looking forward to the most is the blood types. After reading the article about blood, I want to go more in depth about the biological background of blood types.
After thinking about what my absolute favorite post from this summer, I can only narrow it down to two. I really enjoyed reading the articles about blood typing and typos. I feel that I found the article about typos interesting because it was extremely relatable. After writing more then fifteen essays last year between two language arts classes and history, proofreading was something I did very routinely and not finding my own typos was not only extremely frustrating, but also embarrassing! I also enjoyed reading about blood types because we discussed them briefly in biology last year and I found it fascinating that a simple blood type can affect your life so greatly. This year in AP Biology, I am super excited for biochemistry, as well as learning more about viruses in depth.
Reading these articles over the summer, really left my brain at least somewhat attached to school. By having to post comments on a weekly basis, I was able to let my brain work a little, while still being lazy in bed. I really enjoyed being in tact with science while on break. The most thought provoking articles, for me, were the articles focusing on depression, typos, and standardized testing. These three articles seemed to really make me think about simple things that I encounter everyday. I now understand my problem with typos and I also now realize the importance of standardized testing. I also now understand the extremity of depression. I feel like these three articles relate to us as students, and teenagers in general. Although I enjoyed learning about different viruses and bacteria, what surprised me the most was these three articles. They were different, more casual, more thought provoking. Rather than focusing on something rare that we may never encounter, they focused on three topics that we, as students, know a lot about. Science can come in all shapes, sizes, and forms, and as high school students it is our job to keep up with the modern day world of science. Will we ever really know everything in the topic of science? No. But, doing the small reading assignments like these can really help us become more knowledgeable scientists.
Of all the interesting articles that we have been assigned to read the ones that have really interested me are the ones pertaining to the Ebola outbreak. Though the other articles were very informative, the Ebola ones really stood out to me because they involved real human lives and were happening in real time. Diseases have always fascinated me as well, and this ear I hope to learn more about them and the Nervous System's response to battling them off. I am obviously taking this class because I am interested in entering the medical field and after taking Anatomy and Physiology last year and getting an over view of body systems, I hope to go much more in depth in this class.
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