Gasoline Progress

Gasoline Progress

So far in 20 Time, we have researched some articles on different types of gasoline, such as regular, plus, and premium. The main difference between each of these gases is price, at least in the mind of a robust businessman or woman while filling up their Mercedes. In the mind of a person that is trying to make sure that their cars receive the proper gasoline it is a much different story.

The contemporary average price of premium gasoline per gallon in 2015 was 2.8 dollars, costing a 20 gallon refill to be around 56 dollars. We researched the actual differences between different gas types, and encountered an interesting fact. The difference between regular and premium is not only price but its ability to resist knocking, or high frequency oscillations in a cylinder that makes a sharp metallic noise.

We will continue to do more research and end up with a reason as to why you should put a certain type of gasoline in a car, backed up with a few reliable articles.

Bird Beak Lab Conclusion

Bird Beak Lab Conclusion

The feeding rounds of part two yielded much less offspring but most still survived. The spoon didn’t have enough time to collect five pieces of food so it died out, but the tweezer, binder clip, and scissor were able to collect at least five in ten seconds and survive. There were 13 total chicks in the first wave but in the second, with the modification, there was only seven.

My hypothesis was not supported because the spoon had the least chicks in the first part which doesn’t agree with my hypothesis about the spoon being the most potent beak. The second part disagreed with my hypothesis as well because the spoon did not survive.  

If this situation was to continue for a few more decades I can see a decrease in all species except the tweezers because the tweezers were by far the most effective beak for food. The spoon will be wiped out because it cannot pick up enough food in time to survive each wave.

CER

In this lab we asked the question: “If natural selection occurs in a population, how do changes in selective pressures affect the evolution of that species.” We found that the tweezers were the best beak because it was able to collect the most amount of food and create the most amount of offspring. This data does not support our claim because we thought the spoon was going to be the most effective way of collecting food and producing offspring.

PE

Our data contradicts our expected results because instead of the spoon being the best way of collecting food the tweezers were. There could have been errors because we might have not evenly distributed the food around the table. Another problem may be distance away from the food. Some beaks may have had a lesser distance to cover to collect the food, costing precious time. A way we could have gotten past these faults is by taking more time in distributing the food and also being more careful in being the same distance from the feeding grounds.

PA

This lab was done to demonstrate how a certain trait that improves survivability increases in popularity in a population but a weaker trait that isn’t as potent will show up less often. From this lab I learned more about natural selection and how it is able to select the best traits in a population. Based on my experience in this lab, I can understand why certain birds have certain beaks in a specific area, but in another area with different types of food, there are also different types of beaks.

New Addition to 20 time project

My classmate, Eveliina Niva, has joined my 20 time research project. From now on, our 20 time posts will be on this blog and will include both of us. Welcome Eveliina to my blog!

20 Time

20 time, new section of blog, and goals

20 time is a project that we as a class will be working on every monday. We have a goal in mind while researching, testing, and blogging our weekly results and progresses. My 20 time will be on combustion engines and the effect of different types of gasoline on it.

My goal for this project is to understand car engines better, but the primary goal will be to explain to drivers how to maintain their car better on their own. Each type of gas that I finish research on(i.e regular, plus, premium) will have its own blog post.

I will not be doing any real experiments with gasoline as that will be too expensive and I do not want to run the risk of injury. I may interview a person who specializes in gasoline production or has a large amount of knowledge on the topic.

Unit 6 Reflection

Genetic Engineering Reflection

Chapter 13 is extremely useful especially since the concept of genetic engineering is contemporary. Genetic variation was something that is important in our everyday lives, because without it we would not be able to look different, have disabilities, or have different sizes. Selective breeding allows us to pick traits that we want, and keep them throughout generations. For example, if a dog had a resistance to fleas, then that dog would be “selectively bred”, so its genes would be put into another dog, which would also have that flea resistance.

Inbreeding results in unique characteristics being preserved, while the two organisms will create somewhat of a hybrid. Breeders purposely induce mutations to increase the genetic variation in a community, whether it be a good mutation or a bad one.

We conducted a gel electrophoresis lab in class, which demonstrated how scientists separate DNA bases on size. We put the same amount of food color into each socket, and when we ran the current through the gel, whichever color moved the fastest through the gel would be the smallest, and whichever one moved the slowest and the least distance would be the bigger one. It can be used to identify a particular gene in an entire genome.

http://wliubiology.blogspot.com/2016/01/candy-electrophoresis-lab-questions.html

Recombinant DNA is when a gene is taken from one organism and attaching it to the DNA of another organism. First, the DNA is “cut” open in one place, then the gene is inserted. After that, the DNA is spliced back together. We conducted a lab on recombinant DNA where we used two rings, one of them being the DNA, and the other one being the gene.

http://wliubiology.blogspot.com/2016/01/recombinant-dna-lab.html

Cell transformation started with bacteria. When dead bacteria cells were mixed with live ones, the live ones accepted the DNA from the killed ones and it becomes a component of the cell’s DNA. If a plasmid that has the DNA from the dead bacteria enters a bacterial cell, the sequence will replicate the DNA. After the cell duplicates many times, the entire culture is given some antibiotics, which results in only the transformed cells surviving since they have the resistance gene that the other ones did not. Scientists can locate these specific, transformed cells with genetic markers.

Genetic engineering can be used in many ways. It can make fish glow green, make grapes very large, and tobacco plants glow in the dark. It has increased the usage of biotechnology, which we have had a vodcast on. It increased the amount of plants being grown, which results in more food production faster. Cloning has also been introduced. If there is a sheep with a resistance to bacterial illnesses, then it can be cloned to make an identical sheep that also has this resistance. Cloning has resulted in many controversial problems, as well has mutations and other defects or problems. We had a lab on genetic engineering called the pGLO lab, where we inserted the gene for glowing green into bacteria. After a few days, when a UV light was shone upon the bacteria, it indeed, was glowing green. We inserted the DNA into the same container as the bacteria, and after heat shocking the container, the pores of the bacteria opened up and accepted the bacteria. This resulted in the pGLO being duplicated until it made many colonies of glowing green bacteria.

https://lgsuhsd.instructure.com/courses/2529/assignments/12439?module_item_id=46093

pGLO Observations

1.

Plate	Number of Colonies	Color of Colonies under room light	Color of colonies under UV light
-pGLO LB	carpet	dark yellow	slightly purple/ dark yellow
-pGLO LB/amp	none	-	-
+pGLO LB/amp	150-200	dark yellow	slightly purple/ dark yellow
+pGLo LB/amp/ara	47	dark yellow	glowing green

2. One glows under the presence of UV light. One multiplied in colony size greatly, and one didn’t have any colonies at all.

3. There were 47 colonies for the plate with arabinose(counted), and the one with no plasmid but LB had an uncountable amount of colonies, resulting in “carpet”. The plate with no plasmid but had LB and ampicillin had no colonies at all, while the plate with the plasmid, LB, and ampicillin had 150-200 colonies of bacteria.

4. Arabinose is the sugar that essentially turns on and makes GFP glow green and is also an alternative carbon source for E.coli.

5. To test and see if inserting genes into organisms will work.

GFP shows us when proteins are made.

Researching why GFP developed in the Aequorea victoria jellyfish.

6. A) Engineering chickens to be fatter and bigger in order to sell more chicken.
B) Genetically altered grapes that are larger.

Candy Electrophoresis Lab Questions

1.
A ) no
B) no
C) yes
D) no
2. Betanin (beetroot red)- because it most closely represents a dye used for the gel.
3. Dye is added to animal food because it makes the literal food piece look more appetizing. Rather than a bland rough ball its more textured, meaty looking, and looks healthier, which will increase the chance someone will purchase it.
4. The strength of the positive and negative side, and also the structures of the dyes, whichever one is heavier moves less and whichever one moves more is lighter.
6. The current running through the gel pulls the dyes towards the anode.
7. The current running through the gel will attract the dyes, and whichever one can maneuver and pass through the structure of the gel the fastest are the smaller dyes, while the ones that move the slowest are the bigger dyes.

PC: Kimi Uenaka

PC: Kimi Uenaka

8. I expect the 600 to move far, towards the end of the gel, and the 1000 to move a little less, 2000 to move even less, and 5000 to move the least.