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.

New Year's Resolution Goals

GOALS:

1. I will start running to exercise more and strengthen the exercise pillar of health.
1. I will buy more comfortable running shoes
2. I will eat healthier by eating more fruits and vegetables on a regular basis. 
1. I will create a balanced diet which includes at least 3 fruits everyday to begin with.