Cells R Us a Brief introduction to Ribosomes

 

Mark Broeffle

10/26/12

Cells r us

Ribosomes are tiny organelles that link amino acids into proteins.  A ribosome is found on the rough endoplasmic reticulum of a cell there are approximately fifteen thousand in each cell. A ribosome is about 25 nm in diameter when blown up to four hundred time scale it is one millimeter in diameter. Ribosomes are found in both plants and animals and in plants as well. They are found in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The ribosome is made of two main parts the binding sites on the bottom which is used to link the acids, and the large subunit above.

The Breakdown

Mark Broeffle

10/13/12

Our group consisted of Ali, JB, and myself overall we did a fair job in our lab, but we could have stayed more focused. The question we were tasked with was. Is the enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide in to water and oxygen found in both plants and animals? To tackle the question our group took three items a potato, an orange, and beef liver. With our test subjects, we cut them up into 1 gram pieces and then filled the test tube with 10 grams of hydrogen peroxide. Our results showed that the enzyme was found in both, but not in all items. With the liver it bubbled at such a large rate that it overflowed the test tube revealing that the enzyme was present. The potato did react to the hydrogen peroxide showing that the plants also contain the enzyme. The orange on the other side of the spectrum did not react which lead us to the conclusion that the enzyme is found in both plants and animals but is not found in all organisms. Our group over all was fairly well behaved. Our one big issue was that we ended up talking a lot about different things then just biology. Jb was like our group leader making sure things got done especially with the power point that we presented. Ali also worked very hard, but he does like to talk to Xavier and Luis. Our group managed the task and finished on time. I am without major concern about how our group managed our time or acted well preforming.

Our own little peice of Ashevegas

Mark Broeffle

Monthly plot reflection

 Honors bio

10/5/12

               As we approached our plot site, our group began to organize our utensils and stake the 11 ft radius. Once marked off we found ourselves in a virtual bubble with four sizeable trees, many vines, mushrooms, and a plethora of small trees. The member that did the most work was Austin (Leader), Helping out with other jobs such as the arborists flagging trees. The photographer X-Man did a fantastic job quickly getting the photos taken. Allowing for other jobs to be taken care of. Our naturalist and I (Arborist) worked together flagging measuring and deciding what type of tree each one is. 

               Our plot is laid out on the side of the old rowing lake, on a large slant. Our plot also contains a downed tree toward the water, a large ditch where the tree roots stood, many hanging vines that wrap around the four large trees, and many small trees. My big question I would like to figure out is how much will the small trees grow and how many more will sprout. The most important observation I made was that the plot is surrounded by human interference with a highway half a mile away and  drainage tubes 20 yards from it make this plot a perfect way to see how much humans actually change the nature around them.