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.