20 Time Project with Java Post 1

    20% Time is one-fifth of your class time dedicated to following your passions and doing what you want to do. I allows students to explore themselves and make a project to demonstrate their skills. The essential question that I have asked is, "How can you use Java to make complex programs?" I chose my 20 Time project to be on learning some Java each session, and making a project using all that I learned.I chose this because I do not think I learned much in the AP CS class I took last year, and I would like to broaden my coding skills. My project will answer the essential question by creating some type of complex program. My goals are to learn more Java and be able to use those concepts in making something. I will measure myself on this project by seeing how much of the stuff I can remember. I will also test myself by making a project at the end. My plan moving forward is to learn something, practice something, and/or review something during each 20 Time session.

Unit 6 Reflection

    This unit was about biotechnology. Biotechnology was about how people could manipulate biology to improve mankind. It is like technology in biology. But not all the new technology necessarily was ethically good. The new technology may lead to genetic segregation, such as the case of GATTACA. We learned about how to perform the process of gel electrophoresis. In this process, DNA are sorted by their lengths. We also learned about recombinant DNA, which was when DNA was borrowed from one organism to put in another organism. Bioethics is where people decide if something is correct to do, in the context of biology.

    The unit went by fairly well. The "20 Time" was a big change, as it took up a lot of the class time. I got along with my new group well, as there were not much disagreements. This unit was a new topic to me. I had no experience of biotechnology before, so it was more interesting than the other units.

    This unit, we did two labs, the Candy Electrophoresis Lab and the pGLO Lab. In the Candy Electrophoresis Lab, I learned how food coloring was used in foods, such as candies. I also learned how to "run a gel." In the pGLO Lab, I learned how different things can affect the growth of bacteria. I also learned about how plasmids could be used in organisms.

    I'd like to learn more about the different things that biotechnology has impacted, such as cloning animals or artificial photosynthesis. The process of "20 Time" is kind of confusing. The ethics part is also kind of confusing, since it is sometimes very hard to decide whether something is good  or not.

    (See here for goals) For the goal related to biology, I have studied most of the days for the week or two after I made the goal, but I have slacked off recently. I should study more next semester to improve on the goal. For the non-biology related goal, I have transferred sports from track/ field to swimming. Therefore, I will try to make most of the swimming practices from now on.

pGLO Lab

Click the following link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U7Ne5JZkzpNc8uzY68a3UDGtsZyh5K6Pl4n7YZa-CHw/edit?usp=sharing

Bioethics Reading

Original Topic: Bionic Lens (#6)
Biotech has inspired the creation of bionic lens, which can give you superhuman sight (such as Superman). It will give you sight that is 3 times better than 20/20 sight (you can see at 20ft what normal people can see at 20ft). It is mainly used to restore/improve vision for blind people or age-related sight degeneration (or other similar problems). The process of surgery is said to only take 8 minutes and also to be painless. It also is said that vision will be corrected within 10 seconds. The contact lens includes a magnifying ring as well as small aluminum mirrors. The mirrors bounces the the image around the ring before reaching the retina.

Extra Credit Topic: CRISPR Mammoth (#29 Futurism Infographic)
The idea of the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth is taking place in the biotech world. It is made possible by a gene-editing technique called CRISPR to insert mammoth genes, such as small ears and hair length, into the cells of elephants. Harvard geneticist George Church, who is leading this discovery, says that woolly mammoths will not be around for a while, as the gene-splicing is only one part of the whole process. His team is working on trying to bring back other extinct animals, too. Some benefits of the restoration of the woolly mammoth are that it can help improve some ecosystems, the discovery can result in some more modern discoveries, and that it will assist in large mammal conservation. We do not know what the mammoths will do once they come into existence, which may be a risk to society. Overall, I think it is good to restore this ancient animal and to give a try to something new.

Works Cited
Lewis, Tanya. "Woolly Mammoth DNA Inserted into Elephant Cells." LiveScience. Purch, 26 Mar. 2015.         Web. 25 Jan. 2017. <http://www.livescience.com/50275-bringing-back-woolly-mammoth-dna.html>.
"Woolly Mammoth Revival – Revive & Restore." Revive & Restore. N.p., 29 Apr. 2015. Web. 26 Jan.             2017. <http://reviverestore.org/projects/woolly-mammoth/>.

Candy Electrophoresis Lab

    The blue and brown dyes that were longer than the four reference dyes. Some of the dyes were had slightly different colors than the reference dyes. The brown dye separated into two different dyes. None of the dyes were going in the wrong direction. This might happen if the dyes were not exactly the same as the reference dyes, or were made up of more than one dye. It also may have happened because of the difference in the charges of the dye.

    The "Fast green FCF" would migrate similarly to the "Blue 1," and the "Citrus red 2" would migrate similarly to the "Red 40," since the two pairs are similar to each other in structure.

    Dog food manufacturers would put artificial food colors in the food because the dog or the owner would probably gravitate towards getting brightly colored stuff.

    The size of the molecules and the electrical charge of the molecules controls the distance the colored dye solutions migrate. The small molecules move faster than the big ones, and the charge of the dye determines the direction in which the dye moves.

    Electricity helps the dyes move through the gel. The negatively charged molecules will move toward the positive electrode and the positively charged molecules will move toward the negative electrode.

    The gel has many tiny pores, so it acts like a strainer. This allows the electrophoresis system to cause the molecules to separate by size.

    I would imagine that the lighter molecules would move faster through the gel while the heavier ones go slower. This is because the heavier molecules would probably be bigger than the lighter ones.

New Year Goals

    One of my new year goals is to listen more carefully to the vodcasts and actually learn the material instead of doing the stuff just for the test and my grades. I will not procrastinate until the last day to study. I will plan out my studying schedule and stay on that track.

    Another one of my new years goals is to actually participate in track and field. I will not ditch practice for half of the days and make an effort for the coach to like me better. I will also practice on the weekends

Unit 5 Reflection

    This unit was about DNA, replication, protein synthesis, and mutations. We learned how DNA is made of a nitrogenous base, a phosphate group, and a sugar, as well as other details about the structure of DNA. In replication, DNA is split into two strands. Each of those two strands are used as templates for making the new DNA strands. Proteins are made when DNA goes through transcription and translation. There are many different types of mutations, including insertion, deletion, and substitution. One of my strengths were understanding the concepts taught. I also worked with my current group better. One setback was that I did not follow the directions for making the DNA correctly, so it turned into a "slide". I'd like to learn more about gene expression and regulation. I wonder about how it is amazing that processes happen quickly in the cell.

     I have grown as a student, as I learned how to cooperate with my peers better. I participate more with group discussions. I also learned how to focus better when studying. Mr. Orre taught us a process of "active studying", which I found very "useful." A good student means that he or she focuses in class and while studying, and participates in discussions. A good student should also use their time efficiently. The end affect of being a good student is getting good grades. I feel like I am not a completely good student and can try a bit harder, although I am satisfied with my grades right now. I am a better student than I was yesterday, because I learned how to manage my time efficiently, as I need to study for finals as well as not sleeping too late. I also have built on my previous biology knowledge. I tried to do the things that were easier for me, and I guess it helped a bit in my studying.