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!