Final 20 Time Post!

At the end of my 20 Time Project, which was related to the Playground Pals Bus Stop Program, I have completed: a guidebook, an official PPBS website, and an official PPBS presentation. I have also successfully shared this program with one school district: the Moreland School District. The special education director of this district has guaranteed that she would implement this program into Payne Elementary School. Mission Accomplished! I am going to talk to 2 other school districts this week and hopefully some of their schools will also accept this program. Over summer and at the beginning of senior year, I will be completing the paperwork necessary for obtaining my Girl Scouts Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can receive. Click HERE to see my website!

 For my TED Talk (which is this video that you can click on to watch!), I explained to the class not only what my 20 Time project was, but more importantly, what I've learned from it. The process of preparing for my TED Talk in itself was a learning process. I wrote down a rough draft of a speech just as a brain dump, and ended up using it to help me format my slides. I also used notecards with small bullet points about each topic I wanted to make sure to mention. To practice and memorize my presentation, I practiced my speech in various ways: sitting down, standing up, reading straight off of the written speech at first, timing, without timing, using just notecards, using no aid, etc. I was extremely nervous right before the presentation, but once I got up there, I felt as if I were simply talking to another person. I lost all my nervousness, and because I know this topic like the back of my hand, I was able to talk about it instead of reading completely off of the notecards. Though I do admit I used the notecards quite a bit, I used them to make sure that I was staying on topic and that I didn't forget any important sentences. I could have definitely worked on memorizing the speech a little better so that I wouldn't have to look at my notecards as much. From this experience, I have learned that I probably shouldn't psych myself out for presentations as much as I normally do and I should focus more on preparation than the aesthetics of the presentation. 

20 Time Final Reflection!!!

My 20 time project is my Gold Award for Girl Scouts and it is geared towards helping others. My project's goal was to spread the PPBS program to at least one other school. I challenged myself because I pushed my boundaries; I had to make requests and be persistent with people to the point where I felt pushy (something I was not comfortable with, but something that had to be done). I’ve learned that everything does not come to us, we have to really fight tooth and nail to get people to notice you in this busy world. You have to be your own advocate. My goal was to propose my idea to the district office, and through that, start talking to school districts to propose my idea to specific districts. My project's still in the process, but I have gotten a date to present to two schools. I am hoping that these schools decide to take up this program (which they most probably will). If I could change anything about this project, I would have started this project earlier so that everything wasn’t clumping up within this last month of May. For my next steps, I hope to fully implement this program into one of the schools in the districts I will be presenting to.

Reflex Lab

In this reflex lab, we tested different reflexes and saw their results. A reflex, as defined by Merriam- Webster, is "an automatic and often inborn response to a stimulus that involves a nerve impulse passing inward from a receptor to a nerve center and thence outward to an effector (as a muscle or gland) without reaching the level of consciousness." Basically, a reflex is a response to stimuli which we respond to unconsciously. We began with testing the photopupillary reflex. This reflex occurs when the pupil is exposed to different amounts of light. When the eye is dark, the pupil opens up. As it is exposed to more and more amounts of light, the pupil constricts. We tested this by exposing one eye to no light for 2 minutes, and the opening it to a flashlight shined directly in the eye. We were able to see the pupil grow drastically smaller because the pupil was reacting to such a contrasting change in lighting. We then moved on to the knee jerk reflex. This reflex occurs because a stimulus hits the patellar tendon. We did see movement of the lower leg when the patellar tendon was hit. After completing 10 squats each, my partner and I tested our knee jerk reflex again. We were expecting to see a reduced movement in the leg, but we saw the extreme opposite; the leg jumped outwards. We believe this occurred because of increased circulation to the patellar tendon. Our third experiment was the blink reflex. This reflex protects us because whenever we feel like our eyes are in danger from something coming towards us fast, we blink to protect our eyes. In this experiment, we held seran wrap a few inches in front of our faces and our partners threw cotton balls at our eyes. These cotton balls wouldn't actually hit our eyes, but we did still see a blink reflex. This shows how overcautious our body is programmed to be. After this we tested our plantar reflexes. This reflex is an important neurological test. My partner had to take the cap of a pen and drag it from my heel all the way to the base of my big toe. My feet curled in. This shows that I did not show Babinski's sign, which means that there is no nerve damage in my foot. Someone with multiple sclerosis would show Babinski's sign because there is nerve damage in multiple sclerosis. Our final experiment tested how fast our hand-eye coordination was. My average time was .203 seconds while my partner's average time was .175 seconds. We expected our average response time to increase while we were multitasking while texting. The opposite happened. My average dropped to .160 seconds and my partner's dropped to .143 seconds. This was probably because we had practice catching the yardstick. 

Avg reaction times for the yardstick-catching part of the lab

Blink reflex. You can see the cotton being thrown and me blinking in response. 

Discovering the Brain!

Discover The Brain!

Cerebral Cortex

1. What do the frontal lobes do?

 The frontal lobes are our "central command center." It is in charge of personality, problem solving, memory, language, judgement, and impulse control. In charge of execution. 

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

 Selective attention is when intelligence levels depend on how selective an individual is with processing certain information. Selective attention IMPROVES learning because selective attention helps compartmentalize information and speed up the understanding process. 

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

The frontal lobe develops last. To prevent deterioration of this part of the brain, try and actively engage with whatever it is that you do. Switch up the way you study at times (the location, the type of studying, the number of people you're studying with, etc.)

4. What does the neo cortex do?

The neocortex is in charge of navigation, spatial awareness, and motor function. It controls senses. 

5. What is the role of the pre frontal cortex?

The prefrontal cortex is responsible for controlling personality (especially in social scenarios). It helps organize thoughts and actions.

6. What do we know about the pre frontal cortex’s relationship with multitasking?

Multitasking is not possible as you are not able to do more than two things at once.

7. Which part of the brain is associated with speech and language development?  Give an interesting fact about this region.

Broca's area is responsible for speech and language development. Those who learn 2 languages from birth onwards have one Broca's area, while those who learn 2 languages later in life have 2 Broca's areas: one for each language.

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.

9. What does your visual cortex do for you?

The visual cortex is responsible for helping distinguish between colors and complex objects.

10. State three interesting or significant facts about your occipital lobe.

Injury to this region can cause hallucinations. The occipital lobe doesn't only deal with real images, but imagination and dreams as well. It is useful for differentiating between imagination and reality. 

11. What would happen if your temporal lobes were damaged?

You would have trouble recognizing words, you may not be able to speak, and your memory will be impaired.

12. What is your “fast brain” and what does it do?

The eye fields. It helps the brain register things really fast.

Neuron

13. State 3 things that you could do that would influence your synapses, and have a positive affect on your life and health.

Not using drugs which mess up hormone and ion balances in brains, exercise, sleeping enough.

14. What is the relationship between multi-sensory or multi-modal learning and your dendrites?

It helps with memory of a subject; the more dendrites in the area, the stronger the memory retention.

15. How does “big picture thinking” and mnemonics affect dendrites and/or learning?

Mnemonics helps us associate one unknown concept with a concept which we do know. This helps us with remembering the definition of the previously unknown concept.

16. Describe a neurotransmitter that you feel is very important.  Justify your reasoning.

Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter because it helps us to remain positive and gives us our character. It is important because it makes us who we are.

Limbic System

17. What does the corpus callosum do?

The corpus callosum connects the left and right hemispheres of the cerebrum.

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

Music study increases the flow of information through the corpus callosum.

19. Why is the thalamus important?
The thalamus is responsible for relaying motor and sensory signals to the cerebral cortex. It is sort of like the gateway to the main brain from the brainstem and spinal cord. 

Relate and Review

Summarize what you learned from this tutorial.  Relate what you learned to your everyday life and how you can make it better.  Use at least 5 of the bolded words from the questions.  5-sentence minimum. You may use the back of this if needed.
This helped to clarify the different functions and locations of the different parts of the brain. I did not know about the limbic system and this website helped to clarify about it. The 3D model helped me to spatially understand the location of different parts of the brain, just like the sheep brain dissection did. I also was refreshed on how the dendrites and synapses help us with signaling and memory processing. I was also really interested in Broca's area and how it can duplicate based on the number of languages learned.

Sheep Brain Dissection

For our brain dissection in class, we used a sheep brain. There are many important structures in the brain. Usually since I end up doing the main cutting in the dissection, I wanted to give someone else a chance to take this role. Because I took a class over the summer on cognitive neuroscience, I feel like I know the brain's anatomy pretty well. So, I chose to be the photographer of this dissection. I saw (and felt a little) how squishy the brain can be. I've always been confused with the location of the optic chiasm as it didn't make much sense to me in 2D, but when I saw it on the brain, I was able to understand it's location and why it was placed there. 

Questions:
1. 

2.

Structure	Color	Function
Meninges	(not shown in our dissection)	Used to adhere to and protect the spinal cord and the brain.
Anterior side of brain	White	Front of the brain
Posterior side of the brain	Black	Back of the brain
Cerebrum	Yellow	Integration of complex sensory and neural functions and the initiation and coordination of voluntary activity in the body
Cerebellum	Green	Recieves information from the cerebrum, the brainstem, and the spinal cord. Coordinates voluntary movement, balance, coordination, speech, and movement of smooth muscle.
Brain stem	Red	Control the flow between the brain and the spinal cord/rest of the body. Controls primitive functions such as breathing, swallowing, heart-pumping, etc.

3.Myelin sheaths are also known as Schwann cells. They are useful because they help to speed up the relay time of an action potential. Instead of rushing down the axon's full length, the action potential jumps from Nodes of Ranvier. These nodes are created by the opening of the axon between axon covered in myelin sheaths. This image provides a visual for this: 

4. 

5.

Structure	Color	Function
Thalamus	Yellow	relay motor and sensory signals to the cerebral cortex.
Optic nerve	Green	transfer visual information from the retina to the vision centers of the brain via electrical impulses.
Medulla oblongata	Red	regulate breathing, heart and blood vessel function, digestion, sneezing, and swallowing, circulation
Pons	Green	Bridge between the cerebrum and the cerebellum Controls intensity, depth, and frequency of breathing Controls sleep cycles
Midbrain	Blue	Vision, hearing, motor control, sleep/wake, alertness, temperature regulation
Corpus callosum	Red	Connects two hemispheres of brain Integrate motor, sensory, and cognitive performance
Hypothalamus	Blue	Links nervous system to endocrine system via the pituitary gland temperature regulation, thirst, hunger, sleep, mood, sex drive, and the release of other hormones within the body.

6. 

The Sheep Eye Dissection

Yesterday, we completed a sheep dissection in class. The images below represents the different stages of our dissection. The first image shows the cornea, which is the clear layer of proteins covering the main portion of the eye. What is fascinating about the cornea is that these transparent proteins do not require any blood or oxygen as there are no capillaries in the cornea. Also shown in the first image is the sclera, extrinsic muscle, and fatty tissue. The sclera is an EXTREMELY tough (it took a bunch of cuts with our scalpel to finally break through it) which protects and contains the contents of the eye. Onto the next image. As you can see, my partner and I (finally) cut through the sclera. In essence, we opened the eye. On the left half of the eye, we see the jelly-looking substance: the vitreous humor. This jelly helps to maintain the pressure inside of the eye. On the right half, the banana-looking structure is the retina. The retina receive light that the lens has focused, convert the light into neural signals, and send these signals on to the brain for visual recognition. The black and iridescent blue film behind the retina is the choroid. This is used to reflect light. The tapetum lucidum, the iridescent blue portion, is used to help nocturnal animals see in the dark. Humans do not have a tapetum lucidum. In the third and final image, the eye is completely take apart. The vitreous humor, the cornea, the choroid, the tapetum lucidum, and the sclera are visible. Three new pieces are the lens, which is to the right of the vitreous humor and to the left of the cornea, and the pupil and iris, which is between the upturned half of the eye (with the choroid) and the cornea. The iris is the brownish region in the sclera. The pupil is the opening inside the iris. The whole job of the iris and pupil is to control the amount of light that gets into the eye. The lens, by changing shape, functions to change the focal distance of the eye so that it can focus on objects at various distances, thus allowing a sharp real image of the object of interest to be formed on the retina.

An untouched sheep's eye

A sheep's eye with the back part removed.

From left to right: vitreous humor, lens, cornea, front of eye,
and back of eye

Almost finished!!!

I have learned that I need to persevere and ask for what I want. I have also learned about the continual slowness and not-promptness of schools and replying. Recently my mom came up with the idea to just send one email to 100 or so school principals and special education directors so that I can hopefully get a reply from someone. And I did!!! The Loma Prieta school district finally replied, and I am in the process of setting up a time to meet the coordinator to present about this program! I can apply this to myself because this project is teaching me that I need to make my own path and make myself be heard. 

The Clay Brain

For our clay brain lab, we created two clay diagrams of the brain: one of the left hemisphere along the sagittal plane and one of the right cerebral hemisphere. We showed the major parts of the brain such as the pineal and pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in the right cerebral hemisphere diagram. We showed the many different sulci and gyri of the brain in the left hemisphere along the sagittal plane diagram.

The Woman With a Hole in Her Brain

This article is about a woman who is missing her cerebellum. The cerebellum's function is to control voluntary movements and balance, and it is also thought to be involved in our ability to learn specific motor actions and speak. She lived in oblivion until she was 24 when she had to go to the doctor because she had reported dizziness and trouble walking. Her brain has adapted to function without her cerebellum and she doesn't report too many hindrances. This woman is defying what we already know since she has lived a lot longer than the other 9 people who have lived without a cerebellum. 

Broca's area is linked to speech production. Broca's area is named this after a man named Broca who discovered that patients with aphasia in this region of the brain were able to form cognizant thoughts, but they were not able to put these thoughts into words or write them down. It is possible to live without this region of your brain, though it would be very difficult to communicate with others as they would only be able to think things and not be able to put them into words or writing. Other parts of the brain may be able to take over so that the deficit is not as apparent, but there would still be detrimental effects if Broca's area was removed or severely damaged. Other areas, such as the area of hand movement for signaling will become more fine-tuned so that hand signaling could be used to communicate instead of words. 

3rd Blog Post: Slow and Steady Progress!

This week, I have learned that this process of spreading this program is not dependant on how fast I work. Now that I am trying to spread this program to other districts, this project is dependent on the people I am trying to pitch this idea to. I have received a response from the Sunnyvale district, but the coordinator said that she would only be able to get back to me sometime in May because they are in the midst of hiring and firing employees. I have also sent an email to the Loma Prieta district, but I haven't heard anything back from them. I have learned about myself that I am not a pushy person as my mom wants me to send a third email to the Sunnyvale district requesting to meet earlier than May, but I do not feel comfortable sending a third email. My next steps include possibly taking my mom's advice and sending the third email, practicing my presentation to other districts, and trying to contact other districts. I have learned that the California Education System is really slow at making changes, although, it is understandable because the change has an effect on all school. I have the feeling that if a district adopts the PPBS program, it will take a year or more to fully implement this program into their elementary schools. 

Unit 7 Refection

 This unit was about the muscular system. To begin this unit, we learned about synovial joints and movement. To deepen our understanding of this, we had to come up with a synovial movement dance, which is basically a dance which is described completely using terms such as adduction, abduction, rotation, hyperextension, etc. Then we proceeded to learn about the muscles themselves, starting small at the muscle fibers. Muscles fibers are made up of sarcomeres, which are actin and myosin filaments arranged in a certain way to help with movement. Here is a picture of a muscle fiber: In our muscle contraction video above, you can see the specific steps of muscle contraction, including the involvement and expenditure of ATP into ADP. During this unit, we also completed a chicken dissection. 

The chickens were bought from Safeway, so they were already hairless and skinless; it was pure bone and muscle. The coolest, and probably at the same time most gross, part of the entire dissection was when I lifted the chicken to flip it over, it's heart, liver, and some other organs, fell out from the inside of the chicken. This lab dissection helped me to get a 3-dimensional view on how the muscles look wrapped around a body and other muscles. I was also able to see (using the wing), how the muscle use pull and push forces to extend the wings. Before this lab, we had a crash course on naming of muscles. To me, this vodcast was a lot to take in and in a way, it confused me a bit more than I already was regarding the topic of muscles. After learning about this, we learned about the different types of muscle fibers, including fast twitch A and B fibers and slow twitch fibers. Fast twitch A fibers rely on glucose stores to fuel their movement. Fast twitch B fibers rely on glycogen stores. Slow twitch fibers have a slow oxidative pathway and are mostly useful for in marathon runners. As our final subtopic, we learned about steroids. Steroids are performance enhancers, most of which are illegal to use during sporting events. A cool fact I remember from class is that music is also seen as a steroid because it shows time and again astonishing increases in athletic performance. Students may take steroids to boost athletic performance, to aid and recover faster, build muscle, increase body mass, and lose body fat. Although logically speaking, the cons of taking steroids (including increasing feminine characteristics in males and also the other way around in females) definitely outweigh the pros of taking steroids. So why take them? I would like to learn more about the psychology behind taking steroids and how people convince themselves that steroids are actually helping them. 

 My New Year's Goals are only getting half completed. My mom is helping me eat healthier by reminding me to eat a fruit salad every day (this includes ~5-7 fruits per serving). I have also started incorporating more vegetables into my diet. I haven't started running continuously yet. I went once, but then I caught the flu so I wasn't able to get out of bed for a couple days. After coming back to school and swamped with makeup work, I didn't have any time. I am sick again now, so hopefully when this sickness passes, I will finally be able to accomplish this goal! 

Performance Enhancement Advertisement

 

These performance enhancers, aka steroids, are very detrimental to our health. Although they may seem appealing to some, the risks definitely outweigh the benefits. People take steroids most of the time to look a certain way. But what they don't understand is that these steroids cause more harm than good. EPO, for example, is a steroid that Neil Armstrong took to help him do better during his races. I am concerned for steroids like this one because not only does it null the sportsmanship of the athlete, but it also puts the athletes in danger of permanently injuring their bodies. Any natural performance enhancement such as vitamin supplements would be considered somewhat safe, although we must still be careful. A wrong dosage of a natural vitamin can severely alter the pH balance (among other things) in our bodies. Any synthetic or chemical steroid which alters normal human processes in any way should not be considered safe and should be taken with medical advice. 

Chicken Dissection Lab Report

In this lab, we dissected a chicken. We used a chicken because a chicken has muscles that are similar to those of a human. We dissected the different parts of the chicken muscle, identified them, and then labelled them. The muscle in our bodies are used to help us move with ease and fluidity. Muscles attach to bones via tendons. On our chicken, tendons were stiff, white and were attached to both the muscle and the bone. For example, the Pectoralis Major and Minor both are connected to the sternum through a tendon. At the origin, the tendon is more stationary, and the muscle usually contracts towards it. At the insertion, the muscle is more flexible. It tends to be more distal and has greatest movement during contraction. Although chickens look very different from humans, we have similar muscular systems. There are some differences though. The flexor carpi ulnaris works on the "thumb" side of the bird while it works on the "pinky finger" side of humans. The latissimus dorsi is present in both species and extends or pulls the wing or arm. The deltoid is in the same place on both humans and chicken and serves the same purpose: extend or pull back the arm or wing.

The Biceps Femoris (flexes leg) and the Semimembranosus (extends thigh)

The Deltoid (helps to raise the upper arm), the Biceps Brachii (flexes (bends) the arm), and the Triceps Humeralis (extends (straightens) the arm)

Iliotibialis (extends the thigh and flexes the leg) and Sartorius (flexes the thigh and allows crossing of the legs)

Tibialis Anterior (causes "shin splints")

Gastrocnemius (attached to the Achilles tendon) and Peroneus longus (extends the foot)

Quadriceps Femoris (used during group leg extension activity in class) and Semitendinosus (extends thigh)

Exposing the Pectoralis Major (the big fleshy muscle) and the Pectoralis Minor (the yellowish muscle)
A tendon is visible (the white object near the sternum near the middle of the chicken)

Brachioradialis (pulls the hand back) and the Flexor Carpi Ulnaris (largest muscle on the posterior side of the lower wing)

Trapezius (shrugs/ pulls back shoulders) and Latissimus dorsi (extend or pull the arm)

Progress Report: Playground Pals Bus Stop Program

I have learned that to help spread this program and to talk to other districts, I'm going to have to jump through a lot of rings. I have also learned that replying to emails on time relays a good impression on the other person. After I went to present to the board of Special Education directors, I got an offer from the Sunnyvale and Loma Prieta district to come and talk to them. I have sent them emails, but the problem is that no one has replied to them yet. To try to fix this problem, if they don't reply to my second email, I will try calling them to set up an appointment. My next steps would be to visit these school districts and present the Playground Pals Bus Stop Program to them.

What Happens When You Stretch Reflection

Title: What Happens When You Stretch
Author: Unknown
Publication: http://people.bath.ac.uk/masrjb/Stretch/stretching_2.html#SEC13
Date: 3/14/16

This article talks about what happens not only at a molecular level but also at a macromolecular level. Our bodies have proprioceptors which are nerve endings which relay all the information about the musculoskeletal system to the CNS. They are the source of the perception of one's own body position and movement. They detect any changes in physical displacement in our bodies. Stretches are used to help lengthen our muscles. 

• "The lengthening reaction is possible only because the signaling of golgi tendon organ to the spinal cord is powerful enough to overcome the signaling of the muscle spindles telling the muscle to contract." 
•  This quote demonstrates the strength of the golgi tendon organ signals. This also describes how some signalling molecules can override others. 
• "This is sometimes called reciprocal innervation but that term is really a misnomer since it is the agonists which inhibit (relax) the antagonists"
• This helps explain how some terms need to be so specific that they cannot be called something else for there is a possibility of misunderstanding. 
• "You also want to relax any muscles used as synergists by the muscle you are trying to stretch."
• This is a key tip to helping relax and stretch out a muscle. The article gives an example of stretching out your calf by flexing your feet. 

Playground Pals Bus Stop Program

Helping Students Feel More Included During Lunch and Recess at Elementary Schools!

Playground Pals Bus Stop program establishes a safer and more inclusive environment for elementary school students. 20% Time is a program which is implemented into our Anatomy and Physiology class. 20% of our class time is used to help us achieve a goal regarding a topic that we've always wanted to learn more about. Usually, we use our Monday class periods to work on our 20 time projects. For my project, I wanted to continue my Gold Award. I started my Gold Award last year, but since I did not have much time to do it due to the demands of junior year, I decided to make it my 20 time project so I would be forced to spend time at least once a week to work on it. My essential focus for this project is to try and spread this program (Playground Pals Bus Stop program which helps special needs children feel more included) to other schools and eventually other school districts. My goal is to spread this program to at least one other school (or preferably one other school district). Moving forward, I plan to pitch this idea to a board of 15 special education directors from 15 different districts on March 8th, I plan to also keep updating a website that I have created, and start creating a guidebook about the program. I will measure my progress by how many districts are willing to discuss the idea of this program and possibly implement it. 

Unit 6 Reflection

3/2/16

This unit was about the skeletal system. Not only did we discuss the different parts of the skeletal system, but we also learned about diseases which are caused by malfunctions in our skeleton. This part of the unit interested me the most. I find that I am more interested in learning more about the pathological aspect of our bodies. I remember once my doctor had told me that I had a very mild form of scoliosis, which is very common in people who grow fast during their childhood. If I could learn more about something, I would choose to learn more about the different diseases that are associated with the skeletal system. I would like to learn more about osteoblasts and osteoclasts and how they function to help out skeletal system grow. This video by Hank Green on Crash Course Anatomy and Physiology helps to describe the skeletal system and it's parts. For this unit, we completed an Owl Pellet Lab. 

This lab helped us identify the different structures of the skeletal system in a pocket gopher. 

For my New Year's Goals, I have started eating a lot healthier than I did earlier. 

Owl Pellet Lab

To start this lab, we were given an owl pellet. We broke apart the pellet using forceps and probes in search of bones from different animals. We believe that the organism we found was a pocket gopher. Through deductive reasoning and a test, we were able to determine that the teeth and skull shape and size of this animal were almost exactly the same as the diagram of the pocket gopher in the handbook. The pocket gopher skeleton and our human skeleton are similar because the skulls both seem to the same immoveable joint structure connecting the different parts of the skull. The humans and animals also have a spinal cord as well as a rib cage. The differences between the pocket gopher and the human include sharp front incisors, a different skull shape, and the pocket gopher has a longer neck segment.

Unit 5 Reflection

Unit 5 Reflection:

This unit covered the digestive system, the endocrine system (as shown in the video, and the lymphatic system (as shown in the picture). As I have learned in the Digestive System Lab, our digestive system is INCREDIBLY long, almost 6 times my original height. Our endocrine system is useful for secreting and manufacturing hormones throughout the body. The lymphatic system is used to store and transport T cells and B cells, which are useful to fight infections. This unit was a lot easier for me to comprehend in some ways because I have learned about immunity and the lymphatic system in AP biology last semester. This unit was harder for me because I had trouble keeping track of all of the different hormones and their functions. We did a digestive system lab and we measured the length of our digestive tract. This helped to put into perspective how flexible our intestines are and how much they fold to fit into our bodies. I would like to learn more about why rates of metabolism change and why so many more people may be genetically disposed to having diabetes. 

My New Year's goals were to 

1. I will start running to exercise more and strengthen the exercise pillar of health.
2. I will eat healthier by eating more fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.

I have not started running continuously yet because I had a foot injury, but I have started dance practice for Bombay in the Bay, which is making me exercise. I have started eating healthier on a regular basis and I plan to start trying to eat at least 5 fruits everyday. 

The Digestive System Lab: How Long is YOUR Digestive System?

1.  For this lab, we measured the length of our mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine to determine the length of our digestive systems. I knew beforehand that our digestive systems were a LOT longer than our full-body height, but I wasn't aware that it was almost 6 times my height. 
2. My entire digestive system was about 9.338 meters long and was approximately 6 times my height. It is able to fit inside of my abdomen because of the many folds and loops it has.
3. I think it takes about 5 hours to have all of your food move through the entire digestive tract. According to Google, it takes 6-8 hours for all of the food to pass through your system. It depends on what kind of food you eat, the amount of fiber in it, etc.
4. Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food while absorption is where the nutrients are transferred to the bloodstream. Absorption occurs in the small intestine and large intestine while the digestion occurs in the mouth, esophagus, and stomach. 
5. I want to learn about diabetes and how it can lead to other illnesses, why people have different metabolism rates and how this affects obesity, and why obesity is so prevalent in the United States.