Nutrition Analysis

     From monitoring my diet over three days, I learned that I do not have a very balanced diet. In order to improve my diet, I need to eat more vegetables and grains. I could also eat a bit more dairy. From the Falcon Market, I learned how to calculate macromolecule percentages. Each meal that my lab partners and I looked at this station had unbalanced amounts of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. But, by combining the meals together, there was a balance of all three macromolecules. At the seasonal produce guide station, I learned that buying produce that is in season is less expensive, more nutritious, and there are lots of variety. I eat most of the produce that was listed on the paper at the station. Although, I did see some vegetables, like kohlrabi and quince, that I have never tried before. At one of the last stations, I learned how to shop for produce when I go grocery shopping. Because of the Falcon Market, I know the best way to improve my diet. I could start by buying more vegetables that are in season like broccoli and brussel sprouts. To increase my grain intake, I could eat foods like quinoa, amaranth, and millet. I could also drink a cup of milk everyday to make sure I get enough dairy.
      If I had the opportunity to coach someone on their health, I would tell them to eat enough grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and protein foods everyday. I would also tell them to try to exercise for an hour. I would also tell them to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep and to manage their time well so they don't get too stressed out.

Three Days of Diet Monitoring:

Day 2

Day 1

Day 3

 

The 5 Pillars of Health Collage

Unit 1 Reflection

     This unit was about anatomical terms, macromolecules, the parts of a cell, and histology. One of the main themes of this unit was the relation between the structure and function of different body parts. Another was knowing the characteristics, functions, and locations of the tissues. To improve in the next unit, I plan to study my notes more and come in to tutorial to make sure I have the best understanding of the material we're learning.

     From this unit I learned how to describe where things on the body are in anatomical terms from the Hana the Banana Lab. I learned about the different organ systems and their functions. The way that each organ is structured plays a big part in the function of that organ. I also leaned about the four macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins. I know what each of their monomers are and their main functions. I learned about the different parts of the cell, like the nucleus and mitochondria, and where they are in the cell. Cells work together to form functional units called tissues which I also learned out. There four different tissue types: skeletal, epithelial, nervous, and muscle. I looked at samples of all these tissue types during the Tissue Lab and that helped me get a better understanding of what each tissue looked like and how that related to it's function.

Histology Lab Relate and Review

     From this lab, I learned what epithelial, connective, muscular, and nervous tissues look like. Most of the epithelial tissues that I looked at had cells closely packed together in layers. This would explain why one of epithelial tissue's main function is protection. I doubt a lot of material would be able to get through that many layers. Each connective tissue sample I looked at was very different from the others. One of the connective tissues that I looked at had lots of layers and parallel tissue, which must have been the dense regular connective tissue. Another had many different shaped cells that were very spread out. Most of the muscle tissues looked the same. The fibers were straight and flat. I could also see the intercalated discs in the cardiac muscle sample. The nervous tissue sample that I looked at had so many cells packed together. It was a peripheral nerve and in it, I could see the nerve fibers and axons.

                   

All About Skeletal Muscle Cells

The Skeletal Muscle Cell

     Skeletal muscle cells are the cells found in about 40% of the body. Skeletal muscle cells help with the movement of all the muscles in the body. The muscles give the body its shape and maintains posture. They also stabilize joints. Skeletal muscle cells form from smaller cells. This is what makes the muscles striated. Proteins, actin and myosin, in the cells make these stripes called myofibrils that can be seen under a microscope. There are hundreds of these cylindrical structures in each muscle fiber. Myofibrils give muscles the strength to move. Myofibrils are divided into sections called sarcomeres. Z discs, which look like dark stripes, mark the ends of these sarcomeres.

     Skeletal muscle cells are covered by the sarcolemma, a plasma membrane, that help with muscle contraction. Cytoplasm is found in all cells, however the cytoplasm in skeletal muscle cells is called sarcoplasm. The sarcoplasm contains lots of mitochondria, which produces ATP. ATP, or adenosine triphospate, is necessary for muscle contraction. ATP also moves around chromosomes and substances around the cell. It is essential that the many mitochondria in each cell produce a lot of ATP or the muscle cells would not be able to function. Sarcoplasmic reticulum, membrane enclosed tubules like the smooth endoplasmic reticulum, store calcium ions, which is necessary for muscle contraction as well. Transverse tubules look like tunnels and they pass through the muscle fiber. Myoglobin, which is also found in the sarcoplasm, stores oxygen and gives muscles its red/pink pigment.

Works Cited:

    "Muscles- Skeletal, Smooth, and Cardiac." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.

    "Structure of a Muscle Cell." (Muscle Fibre). N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.           

    "Muscle Cell Types." InnerBody. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.

Sweetness Lab Reflection

     In this lab, we tasted different carbohydrates to test their sweetness. We found that the monosaccharides, like fructose and sucrose, were a lot sweeter than the polysaccharides were. Fructose is used as a sweetner and sucrose is found in fruit which explains why they were the sweetest carbohydrates out of the eight that we tried. Some of the disaccharides, like galactose and maltose, were slightly sweet but not as sweet as glucose or fructose. The monosaccharides were granular, while the disaccharides and the polysaccharides were powdery. Lactose is found in milk, which is not very sweet. The starch was very bland and not sweet at all. 

    Humans taste sweetness through the taste buds on their tongue. The taste buds send messages to the brain telling us whether what we are tasting is sweet or not. According to Popular Science, people who have lots of papillae on their tongues may find some flavors overwhelming. The taste buds on our tongue detect different molecules. The strength of this ability varies in different people because of evolution. The ancestors of someone who is more sensitive to bitter tastes probably would have developed different receptors depend on the plants they ate at that time.