Unit 4 Reflection

Unit 4 primarily about the integumentary system and the immune system. Some of the essential understandings included how the body protects itself from invader, and the different barriers it has to prevents the pathogens from taking over. Other understandings were how the body can prevent itself from getting infected with the same antigen again, and how it fights cancer.

The overall theme of this unit is that the body uses different mechanisms and barriers to fight and protect itself. For example, the body has three different barriers to keep pathogens out. The first two barriers of the body together are known as the innate response. The first barrier is the skin, which is composed of the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. The skin is the outermost barrier and covers the body to prevent any pathogens from getting inside of the body. The skin also contains the appendages glands, nails, and hair to help. Hair and nails provide extra protection from things such as UV light or rocks. The glands are used to create an environment that is unsuitable for the bacteria to live in, causing them to die. The second barrier consists of many different mechanisms to prevent infection. This barrier includes inflammation, natural killer cells, phagocytes, interferons, compliments, and fever. The third barrier is called adaptive immunity. This includes all the specific cells that target and kill the invading bacteria. Two processes of this immunity is the cell mediated response and the humoral response. The main difference between these two responses is that the cell mediated involves T cells, while the humoral response involves B cells. Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of body cells, while tumors are the actual extra masses of tissue. They can either be benign, which are noncancerous, or malignant, which are cancerous. Tumors can be treated and they should be if they are malignant because they can go through metastasis, where they spread to other parts of the body. One common possibility of treatment for cancer is chemotherapy, which can result in the loss of hair.

My strengths in this unit is the immune system because I just learned it in AP biology earlier this year, so this is mostly review for me. However, that may also be one of my weaknesses because I can overestimate how well I know the topic and not know enough for the test. Overall, I believe my greatest weakness is thinking that I do not need that much time to study some topics in general and as a result I do not do as well as I would like to. I also feel like the integumentary system is one of my other weaknesses. I feel like some of the layers of skin and distinguishing the glands are tricky for me. I feel like one success for me this unit is that I understand the immune system a lot better. This unit has reenforced some of the topics that we went over in biology that were confusing. I also learned about how I work okay in groups, but can easily become distracted.

I feel that I understand our body's defense much better than before. One thing that I will definitely take from the debate is by staying on top of the work so there is no last minute cramming and everyone knows their jobs. One thing that I want to know more about is how the memory T cells and memory B cells are different besides the fact that they take part in different responses. How do their functions differentiate?

Based on my scores, my preferred style is kinesthetic. It is a whole four points greater than the next highest category. This does not surprise me because I like to be active and struggle to stay focused on one thing when I study. It was more obvious when I was younger because I would not sit still, but I guess it is not something you really grow out of. Based on this learning style, I can do more interactive studying that is more interesting than just straight memorization from a paper. I could make memory matching games out of vocabulary and its definition to make studying more interactive.  

Wellness Day Reflection

Link to presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ndzrEX3UAvps-eBjMwcg0tAQO5QCVYckR9GxP0szpto/edit?usp=sharing

In this project my partner was Divya, and we chose the topic of core strengthening. We chose this topic because we both knew that the core played an essential role in the body, but did not know to what extent it did. As an athlete, I myself, also wanted to understand the importances of the core. It is interesting to understand why we do so much core at practices, when to the common eye it seems that the core is not used that much in soccer. However, I learned that this is a common misconception and is not the case. The core makes up much of the body. Just like it sounds, it is the center of the body. Something interesting that I learned was that the core included more muscles than just the abdominal muscles. The core includes the glutes, back, and upper legs as well as the abdominal muscles. I was surprised that the core included the upper legs because normally people would not think that the core would be a part of the legs. Because of this, the core has lots of control over leg control and balance. Also, I was surprised that the core correlated towards better posture since it seems like sitting or standing up straight does not require much muscle strength. I also learned that there are different ways to exercise the core, such as isometric, concentric, and eccentric contractions. Isometric contractions are used when a person holds a certain position for a set amount of time. One example of an exercise that uses this type of contraction are planks because in a plank you hold the push-up like position. Concentric contractions are the initial contraction of the muscles, so that the muscles shorten. An example of this type of contraction is when you go up in a sit-up, since the muscles contract by shortening. Eccentric contractions are when the muscle comes out of the concentric stage, and elongates back again. An example of this is when you go back down to your back in a sit-up. The core is essential to health and wellness because it is the center to the body and holds it all together. Without the core, people would be unbalanced and have no control over their body. The core allows people to be active by just reducing chances of injury in general. Having a solid core allows people to fulfill the exercise pillar of health. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give myself a 9.5 on this project. I believe that we did an excellent job on this, but it was not perfect of course. I believe that the presentation itself was complete. We were able to explain the core and how it was important very well. However, the activity itself was a little less than perfect. It seemed a little disorganized and chaotic. Some of the instruction confused some people, so that was a drawback. Also when we demonstrated the exercises, we forgot to grab a mat for ourselves, so we were forced to do it on the tile. Besides those few things, I think that we were successful in teaching the class about the core.

Unit 3 Reflection

The cardiovascular system works together in unison to deliver oxygenated blood throughout the body. It moves oxygenated and deoxygenated blood throughout the body. Without it people would not be able to survive. Cardiovascular health is basically the overall health of your cardiovascular system. Heart disease and strokes are often caused by blood clots in the different vessels getting clogged, which increases the blood pressure in that area, and prevents blood flow.

Heart walk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHQEsz4CwBg

To promote my cardiovascular health I can go running and do more physical activities in general. I want to know more about how people today are solving these health problems. I feel like as a person I have grown with this new knowledge about the severities of heart disease and the symptoms of them. I am definitely more aware about what I am doing and how it may affect my overall health. I found it difficult to learn about the specific types of white blood cells. One of my goals for the rest of this semester is to be able to maintain a steady grade in this class.

Heart Dissection Lab

 Dissection Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1KRKKvoVIM&app=desktop

1. The purpose of the pericardium is to hold the heart in place, provide protection, and reduce friction of heart. 

2. The main difference between the arteries and veins is that the arteries appear to be larger, as they are thicker and need to carry blood towards the body.  The veins are there to return blood to the heart.
3. I think that the function of the auricle is that it reenforces the strength of the vessels, so that more blood can be pumped inside of the heart. It allows the heart to expand more.
4. The main visible difference on the outside of the heart between the atria and ventricles was that the ventricles were skinnier, and because of that smaller.
5. a) The coronary sinus was located on the posterior of the heart, right behind the layer of fat.
b) The inferior vena cava was not exactly visible because it was cut off and vacuum sealed. However, it should have been on the right portion of the inferior part of the heart.
c) The tricuspid valve was located in the right side of the heart, and connects the right atrium to the right ventricle. It has three flaps that are pushed open and closed to push blood through to the next chamber. It is connected to the chordate tendinae, which prevent the valve from inverting. These cord like tendons are anchored down onto the papillary muscles.
6. Picture of drawing of tricuspid valve:

7. The anchoring of the valves is important because it prevents them from inverting and closes them tight. The chordate tendinae are strong enough to slam shut the valves.
8. The bicuspid valve is similar to the tricuspid valve in form and function, except for the fact that it has two flaps, where as the tricuspid valve contains three.
9. The semi-lunar valves are important because it prevents the back flow of the blood back to the heart.
10. a) The swelling would occur in the feet or ankles because the blood that flows to the right side of the heart is coming from the body. If the right valve is messed up, the back flow of blood would go back towards the ankle, causing it to swell.
b) If there were on the left side of the heart, there could be a back flow of blood in the lungs, which would cause swelling in the lungs, and ultimately make it much more difficult to breath and send oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.
11. When we cut into the aorta, we examined the two different coronary arteries. We also located the left semilunar valve, which led down through the aorta to the inside of the heart. We were able to stick the probe through and physically see where it went. The chordate tendinae are really strong, and are can open and close the valves. The papillary muscles seem to be strong and sturdy. The chordate tendinae are attached to the papillary muscles.
12. The left side of the heart primarily deals with oxygenated blood. It receives the reoxygenated blood from the lungs and then transports to the body to be used. The right side of the heart receives deoxygenated blood from the rest of the body. It sends the deoxygenated blood to the lungs, where it returns to form the lungs to the left side of the heart.
13.

Cross Section of Interior of Heart

Anterior side of Heart

Posterior Side of Heart 

Mid-unit Summary

During this unit in Anatomy, we have covered the concepts of the heart anatomy/ physiology, blood composition, blood vessel anatomy/ physiology, and cardiovascular diseases so far.

The heart is composed of four main chambers: Right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, and left ventricle. These chambers allow blood to flow through the heart and be pushed where it needs to go. The heart is covered by the pericardium, which holds the heart in place. The heart also contains valves, which keeps the blood from flowing backwards in the heart. When the heart contracts, the blood pressure is called systole, while the pressure when it relaxes is called diastole.

The circulatory system is used to transport materials that is needed by near by cells and remove waste materials from cells as well. The major organs that compose the circulatory system are the heart, lungs, kidneys, small intestine, large intestine, liver, spleen, and bone marrow. Together, these organs work together to keep the circulatory system functioning. The heart is the main organ running the system. With every beat, it pumps blood in and out of all of these major organs to keep the body functioning.

Blood vessels are used to transport blood towards the heart. Arteries take bloods away from the heart. A disease called atherosclerosis can occur if plaque builds up in a person's arteries. In the article titled "Atherosclerosis: The New View," the author describes how it occurs. It explains that atherosclerosis can occur due to inflammation in the vessel walls, which triggers white blood cells to congregate in that area, which try to consume the fatty deposits in that area. The white blood cell becomes foamy, as it cannot consume that much fat, so it turns into plaque. As time goes on, the cells create a layer of smooth muscle tissue over the layer of plaque, but if it gets reopened it can cause many problems. If the layer of smooth muscle cells cracks, the plaque is released into the blood stream, which causes the blood to clot in the spot of the tear. This blood clot is extremely dangerous, as it can clog the vessel, possible triggering a heart attack.

Blood is another very important thing. It is mainly composed of red blood cells, buffy coats (white blood cells and platelets), and plasma. Blood transports nutrients and waste from cell to cell. It is also used for regulation of pH and body temperature. Also it is used for protection by it clotting and fighting infection. Red blood cells are used to carry oxygen throughout the body. White blood cells are used to fight off microbes.

Heart diseases are the biggest cause of death of people. A heart attack is when the blood supply to the myocardium is reduced, which can lead to heart cells dying. Heart attacks can often lead to cardiac arrests, which is an electrical malfunction in the heart. Often times, atherosclerosis can lead to heart attacks. In the article "A Strike Against Stroke," by Bonnie Liebman, Liebman explains how strokes mostly occur when blood clots form and block the flow of blood. She warns readers to not to ignore the signs of strokes, such as headaches or not seeing out of one eye, as when the stroke occurs, there may not be much time for the person to survive.

Blood Pressure Lab

Systolic blood pressure is the pressure of the blood when the heart contracts and pumps blood out and diastolic pressure measure the pressure when the heart relaxes again. The stethoscope is used to measure the heart rate, while the sphygmomanometer is used to measure blood pressure. Using the thumb to measure pulse is not ideal because the thumb has a pulse in it as well. The sphygomomanometer measures blood pressure by putting pressure on the arm and listening to heart beats when the pressure is released. To take blood pressure of a person, first be sure that all of the air is out of the band. After checking this, double check that the valve is tightly shut. The band attaches to the upper arm and a stethoscope is placed under. Pressure is added to it until the meter reaches 150 mmHg. After reaching this pressure, the valve is opened to allow air to slowly come out. The recorder listens for a heartbeat and marks down when they can heart the first beat. Likewise, when they cannot hear a heartbeat anymore they record that as well. The number that was recorded when the heartbeats went away is the in the denominator of the fraction, while the first number is in the numerator.

Heart Chalk Walk Reflection

In the heart, the deoxygenated blood that comes from the body enters through either the superior or inferior vena cava. It then enters the right atrium and goes through the tricuspid valve, where it comes into the right ventricle. When the right ventricle if full, it flows through the pulmonary valve to go to the pulmonary artery, which takes it to the lungs to be oxygenated. After returning from the lungs through the pulmonary veins, the blood enters the left atrium to then be pushed through the bicuspid valve to the left ventricle. Once the left ventricle is full, it gets pushed through the aortic valve to the aorta, where the oxygenated blood is spread throughout the body.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHQEsz4CwBg&feature=youtu.be

Unit Two Reflection

Health is the measure of the body's efficiency and overall well-being. Health can be categorized into five main pillars: nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and social. Each of these five aspects play a major role in the body's well-being. Four important hormones that control and regulate homeostasis inside of the body are insulin, leptin, glucagon, and cortisol. These hormones work together to maintain healthy glucose levels inside of the body. The four keys to a health diet are adequacy, moderation, variety, and balance. This recommendation basically advises to get a little bit of everything, and not to eat too much of something. Also exercising plays a key role on health. The different types of physical activity are aerobic, muscle-strengthening, bone-strengthening, and flexibility. The amount of time that a person needs to work out for depends on the intensity of which they are performing. The more intense a person is, the less time they need to spend on a certain activity. Sleep is also a critical part of health. Sleep is a time for the body to rest and for the brain to recharge and sort out its thoughts from the day. The two stages of sleep are REM, which is when the body is paralyzed and the brain is very active, and non-REM, where the body is not paralyzed and eyes move more slowly. The next pillar of stress is defined as any event/demand that causes a predictable physiological response. The three main stages of stress are the alarm phase, resistance phase, and exhaustion phase. The alarm phase is the initial "fight or flight" phase where the body reacts to an immediate source of alarm. The resistance phase is more of a long term stress where the body begins to become more impaired. In the exhaustion phase the stress has continued for so long to the point where death can even occur. The social aspect of health focuses on all the benefits of how having a socially active life can lead to many health benefits such as an increased immunity to diseases.

I think that I am somewhat healthy. I wouldn't say I'm perfect, but I think I do think I am healthy overall. I just need to tweak a few things in my lifestyle. For example, in my nutrition analysis I lacked fiber and different vitamins. All I need to do to improve on this is eat more fruits and vegetables in my diet. Also, I want to exercise more often. As of now I am not playing any sports, so I need to run more often on my own. I'd say that I get enough sleep and that I am socially active as well. I would say I am about average on stress, but on the better end of the scale at Saratoga High School. The people at this school are way too stressed and don't get enough sleep. Also, many do not eat a healthy diet since some skip breakfast and eat pizza for lunch everyday. To counteract this school wide problem, teachers should try to communicate on test days or big project due dates. This allows students to not cram multiple subjects in their head the night before the test. It would also help in the sleep category since students would not have to stay up so late just to study. At school, the cafeteria should sell more nutritious foods for lunch instead of the pizza and cup-o-noodles. This would improve health overall around the school.

Some of the key understandings of this unit is what health is and how the 5 pillars of health effect that a person's overall health. Overall, I learned many new things during this unit. I learned the function of the four hormones that effect a person's overall health, and how not eating the right foods can completely destroy the healthy balance of them. From the nutrition section I learned that on average, a person should be drinking half their body weight in ounces of water. In the exercise pillar I learned that one can use the talk test to figure out the intensity of the activity they are doing. I also learned that if you ever feel drowsy during the day that means you have sleep debt. From one of the TED talk videos, I learned that stress is actually good for the body. It means that your body is preparing itself for something and pumping more blood so you are better prepared for it. Lastly, I learned how having a more social life can reduce some cancer developments. One thing that I still do not fully understand is the concept of dreaming. It confuses me on how dreaming occurs in the REM stage, where the body is paralyzed, yet often people twitch when they dream. This counteracts the idea that you don't move when you dream since people do actually move around. One thing that I can improve on next unit is applying what I have learned in this unit to better understand what I am learning next. One job that relates to this unit is the field of neuroscience. In this field, scientists examine the brain and how it functions with the rest of the body. This relates to what we covered this unit since stress and sleep have much to do with the brain. People in neuroscience study and try to understand more and more about the brain. One could look more into the study of concussions, which is very applicable in today's society with many different sports coming up with new rules to protect its athletes. For example, in youth soccer heading the ball has been made illegal to prevent brain trauma at a young age. When a person recovers from a concussion it is important for them not to be under too much stress, since they are prone to headaches. Also sleep is said to be important to recover from a concussion, unlike what the old idea of waking the person up at different times during the night. This shows how the concept of concussions is still unknown, so many take precautions when dealing with it. So much more can still be discovered about concussion and just the brain itself.

https://www.sfn.org/about/about-neuroscience

Sleep Analysis

I monitored my sleep from September 30 to October 4. I think that I could still get more sleep each night. Even though I am pretty alert during the day, an average teenager should be getting at least 9 hours of sleep every night. I currently am getting about eight and a half hours of sleep every night, which is only a half hour below the recommended amount, but I think it would be helpful to still get more. I only drank one caffeinated beverage throughout the whole time of recording my sleep, so that is also good. I was able to stay alert without having to drink any caffeinated things. Overall, I think I get a decent amount of sleep based off of this analysis, and could try to get that half hour more if I wanted to improve on anything.

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Nutrition Analysis

On the week of September 17th to September 21, I tracked my intake of food. Overall, I noticed that I consumed too little of the majority of the nutrition facts. The only areas that I over ate in were the sections of protein and fat.

The biggest area that I need to look to improve on is the amount of protein that I eat. Over the course of the days, I noticed a trend of eating a certain type of meat everyday. I could cut back on my protein my not eating meat everyday, and have a different option such as salads. Also I would have to make sure that there would be no chicken in these salads to reduce my protein intake.

Another area that need to improve on is my iron intake. I was 73% below my recommended amount. I could improve in this area by eating more iron rich foods such as spinach. I should avoid more red meats since I am already about 91% above my recommend amount. One way I could do this is by making more smoothies. When I make smoothies I add a ton of different fruit and about 2 cups of spinach. If I were to make one of these every other day, my iron intake would greatly increase.

I also need to eat more vitamin A rich foods. I was 64.4% below my recommend daily value. One way to increase this is by eating more fish and vegetables. The vegetables could again come from the smoothie that I would make every other day. Also I could eat more salads as meals, like lunch for example. This would increase my vegetable intake as well, therefore raising the levels of vitamin A also. I could eat more fish by eating foods such as poké, or sushi. These foods contain fish, and are very delicious at the same time.

I also struggled in the vitamin C category. I really under ate in this category, going along with the general trend. One way to improve on this category is by eating more fruits, more specifically citrus fruits. Citrus fruits contain a lot of vitamin C, so if I ate more of these fruits it would increase. As stated before, I could make more smoothies, which include oranges, so that could be one way I would increase my vitamin C intake.

I need to also work on eating more fiber. One way to improve would be to eat more vegetables and beans. I noticed that the on day 4, I ate Chipotle for dinner. That was the highest amount of fiber that I consumed thought the whole process, at 24.8 grams for the whole day. This shows how even though I did eat more fiber, I was still below the recommended value of 32.5 grams. I also just need to eat more vegetables in general. I saw that out of the five days I logged my diet, I had vegetables on only three of those. This is really eye opening to the fact that I do not eat enough vegetables. If I were to increase the amount of vegetables that I eat during each meal, on top of that smoothie I would make every other day, then my fiber intake would definitely increase.

Unlike what I thought, I actually under ate in the sodium value. I ate 40.9% below the recommended value of 3117.6 grams. I guess a way to consume more sodium would be by eating more salty foods or ham. However, I would have to be careful with the amount of ham I eat since I already eat way too much protein.

Another surprising category was my calorie consumption. I actually under ate by 27.8% of the recommended value. One result from this could have been because I did not eat much in a certain day. For example, on day 4, I only ate five different items, one of them being water. A simple solution to this problem is to eat more during the day. I also need to be constantly eating a breakfast. By doing this, I would eat more calories, and have more energy during the day.

The two categories that I did well in were in fat and calcium category. I was near perfect for the fat being at 0.12% in over consumption. In the calcium section I consumed 6.1% under the correct amount. Both of the sections correlate to each other in a way because I drink a lot of milk. Milk is high in calcium, and contains a good amount of fat since I drink 2% milk. A way to consume more calcium is by maybe eating yogurt for breakfast. This would increase my calcium, and at the same time having breakfast, which would increase my calorie intake.

What is Health?

Health is the psychological and physical well-being to me. I think that I am the strongest in the pillar of exercise. I am always active, and enjoy the adrenaline rush. I need to work on the sleep pillar. I do not think that I get enough sleep on a nightly basis, so that is something that I need to improve on. I want to learn more about nutrition in general, and how different foods affect the body and its function.

Rods and Cones

Rods and cones are amazing cells that allow the eye to function as it does. They are each a specific type of cell called photoreceptors. Both cells are located in the retina of the eye. These cells both are composed of epithelial tissue. While both structures are very similar, they each have a few distinguishing features. As they sound, the names of the cells describe how they look like. Rods are long and skinny looking, while cones look like an upside down cone with the point sticking up. Both cells contain disk-like disks which contain molecules that allow the light photons to be absorbed. In rods these disks are closed, unlike cones where the disks are partially opened and exposed to the liquid around it. Both contain the typical organelles of an eukaryotic cell such as a nucleus and mitochondria. It also contains an axon, which acts to send signals to neurons that eventually makes its way all the way to the brain to be processed. Also in birds or reptiles, these receptors may have oil droplets, which enhance their color vision.

There are many more rods in the retina than there are cones. The proportion of rods to cones is about 120 million rods to the 6-7 million cones. Rods are more sensitive than cones, but are not sensitive to colors, as cones are. Rods are extremely sensitive to light and are better motion sensors. Rods primarily are used in the peripheral vision, so the eye is more sensitive to light from the sides. Rods take a longer time to adapt to a new environment unlike cones. It takes roughly 30 minutes for the rods to adjust to darkness and function correctly. Cones are used to see the many different colors of the rainbow. They are separated into different types that each sense different colors. For example, there are blue cones, red cones, and green cones. Each of them respectively senses a different color.

Hana the Banana Lab

Hana the Banana was found dead in her cabana in the middle of the Savannah. After examining her body, some conclusions on the way she died were made. What ever killed her had no mercy. Hana had many cuts and claw marks all over her body.

On the anterior side of her body she had one main gash, which was 4.92 centimeters superior to her bottom. It was 5.31 centimeters long. She also had another thinner one, which was 1.19 centimeters superior to the larger gash. The thinner gash was slightly lateral to the left of the larger one. There was another cut that was on the right side and was 0.23 centimeters superior to the right ear. Also there were four slices that were 1.10 centimeters inferior to her right ear.

On the posterior side of the body she had eight cuts and one large gash. The cuts were clustered together in two separate groups, with four cuts in each. The highest cut was 2.63 centimeters superior to her left arm. The bottom gash in that cluster was 2.60 centimeters inferior to the right fingertips. The lowest cut was 0.42 centimeters lateral to the tip of the large gash. The second gash on the right arm was 0.40 centimeters proximal to the first slit. The superior cluster of four cuts was 1.62 centimeters medial to the inferior gashes. The inferior cut on her left arm was 2.20 centimeters distal to her elbow.

It was difficult to identify the internal injuries from the sagittal view. The inferior gash on the left cut all the way to the midline. There were four slits on the superior portion of the body.

After much consideration, the police have decided that she was mauled by some wild animal in the Savannah. The markings all around her body display a randomness that only an animal could replicate. The marks that were in groups of four were claw marks from the wild beast.