Module 6: The Cell
Scene from Inner Life of a Cell
_ This is the largest module in the entire text and will
take 5 lectures to cover it all. That means the lectures will stretch into week 2 instead of all being contained in week 1. Tuesday will be lecture 4 and Wednesday will be lecture 5. Friday will have a lab walk through and a biomystery.
L1: Cell Function
Our first lecture of the module opens up with a discussion of the 11 basic functions of the cell.
Absorption - controlling what gets in and what doesn't.
Digestion - breaking down larger molecules into smaller, more useful ones.
Respiration - converting glucose to ATP
Biosynthesis - Making proteins from amino acids
Excretion - getting rid of the soluble wastes
Egestion - getting rid of the non-soluble wastes
movement - There is a lot of movement going on in cells: cytoplasmic streaming, chaperone cells moving things around, and motor proteins.
Irritability - sensing and responding to changes in the environment.
Homeostasis - 'same status', maintaining steady levels of concentrations of substances, tempearture, etc.
Cellular Reproduction - (we will go in to more detail in the next module).
Absorption - controlling what gets in and what doesn't.
Digestion - breaking down larger molecules into smaller, more useful ones.
Respiration - converting glucose to ATP
Biosynthesis - Making proteins from amino acids
Excretion - getting rid of the soluble wastes
Egestion - getting rid of the non-soluble wastes
movement - There is a lot of movement going on in cells: cytoplasmic streaming, chaperone cells moving things around, and motor proteins.
Irritability - sensing and responding to changes in the environment.
Homeostasis - 'same status', maintaining steady levels of concentrations of substances, tempearture, etc.
Cellular Reproduction - (we will go in to more detail in the next module).
L2 Cellular Structure
In this lecture, we will begin to learn about the varied structures that are in a typical cell. We will move beyond a 2-D static look at the cell by watching a 3-D animated video created by http://www.xvivo.net/, Biovisions, Harvard University, and HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Instutute) which represents the most current understanding of the cell. Watch the video below to enjoy this excellent production and be amazed at all that goes on inside of a typical cell.
L3 Cellular Transort
Scene from Inner Life of a Cell
This short. 30-minute, lecture Takes a close look at the cellular membrane, the transport system of motor proteins and vesciles, and we will revisit isotonic, hypertonic, and hypotonic solutions and how the kidneys work to keep isotonic conditions so that cellular osmosis stays under control.
L4 How Cells Produce Energy
The mighty mitochondria is the start of the show today as well as the cytoplasm. We will be talking about glycolosis, the Krebs Cycle, and the electron transport system. It is how ATP is produced and ATP is the fuel our cells run on.
Enjoy another really amazing video by Biovisions. This time you will get to see what is happening in the mitochondria - 2012/13: http://www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.com/mod/quiz/view.php?id=26791
Enjoy another really amazing video by Biovisions. This time you will get to see what is happening in the mitochondria - 2012/13: http://www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.com/mod/quiz/view.php?id=26791
L5 Protein Synthesis and a Game Where You Can Help Real Scientists
Of all the lectures in the entire biology course, this one is my favorite! We will talk about amino acids are combined via instructions from mRNA via the ribosomes to produce the proteins that make up the molecular machinery of living things.
There is a really neat Metabolic Pathway chart at http://web.expasy.org/cgi-bin/pathways/show_thumbnails.pl . The reason I love it is that contrary to the assumption in the early 1900s that the cell was a simple blob of chemicals and therefore not too hard of a stretch of the imagination that it could have come about by chance and selection what science has found is that the cell is anything but simple. THere are intricate interconnections of complex processes and resources that have to be present for the cell to function. Take a look at the chart and it will be quite obvious. You can click on the blocks and actually get a means to print the parts of the chart out to make one massive biology wall mural. Be prepared to use plenty of ink and paper. It will take 127 sheets of paper!
Here is a 1:53 minute view into the transcription process - http://viewpure.com/5MfSYnItYvg
FoldIt Game - Uploaded screenshots of high scoring folds will get extra credit. This game is much more than a fun special puzzle, it helps the student to realize that we humans may have figured out the human genome, but that by no means has given us the full picture. Proteins have to be properly folded for them to function. A few proteins automatically fold up properly by nature, but most need chaperone molecules and help to get into the correct configuration. Science is trying to understand what folds the proteins are supposed to have to perform their function. A computer program was developed to try to figure that out, but it would take hundreds of years. So what solution did the scientists come up with? They tried distributed computing. You can download their program and when you are not using your computer, it works away at the folds and sends in its work to the central computer. Sound too invasive on your system to try that? How about playing the protein folding game? What the scientists have come to find is that humans think spatially much faster than a computer sometimes. They make a version of the software that plays like a game. Real amino acid sequences are entered in to the game by researchers that they need help figuring out. Players compete to fold the protein into the most efficient, tightly folded configuration possible. The tighter the fold the higher up in the rank the player moves. Scientists have found that ‘nature’ goes for space efficiency and most proteins get folded into the most efficient shape to function. To play the game, download it at http://fold.it/portal/.
There is a really neat Metabolic Pathway chart at http://web.expasy.org/cgi-bin/pathways/show_thumbnails.pl . The reason I love it is that contrary to the assumption in the early 1900s that the cell was a simple blob of chemicals and therefore not too hard of a stretch of the imagination that it could have come about by chance and selection what science has found is that the cell is anything but simple. THere are intricate interconnections of complex processes and resources that have to be present for the cell to function. Take a look at the chart and it will be quite obvious. You can click on the blocks and actually get a means to print the parts of the chart out to make one massive biology wall mural. Be prepared to use plenty of ink and paper. It will take 127 sheets of paper!
Here is a 1:53 minute view into the transcription process - http://viewpure.com/5MfSYnItYvg
FoldIt Game - Uploaded screenshots of high scoring folds will get extra credit. This game is much more than a fun special puzzle, it helps the student to realize that we humans may have figured out the human genome, but that by no means has given us the full picture. Proteins have to be properly folded for them to function. A few proteins automatically fold up properly by nature, but most need chaperone molecules and help to get into the correct configuration. Science is trying to understand what folds the proteins are supposed to have to perform their function. A computer program was developed to try to figure that out, but it would take hundreds of years. So what solution did the scientists come up with? They tried distributed computing. You can download their program and when you are not using your computer, it works away at the folds and sends in its work to the central computer. Sound too invasive on your system to try that? How about playing the protein folding game? What the scientists have come to find is that humans think spatially much faster than a computer sometimes. They make a version of the software that plays like a game. Real amino acid sequences are entered in to the game by researchers that they need help figuring out. Players compete to fold the protein into the most efficient, tightly folded configuration possible. The tighter the fold the higher up in the rank the player moves. Scientists have found that ‘nature’ goes for space efficiency and most proteins get folded into the most efficient shape to function. To play the game, download it at http://fold.it/portal/.
Labs and Biomystery
Fresh, stained onion cells
The labs in this module will give opportunities for hands on exploration of cells. Students will use their microscopes to look at cells and understand cell staining. Respiration of cells will also be explored through learning the varied means of creating and using respirometers. This topic will be followed up my a biomystery where the students will be challenged to help solve the mystery of O2 loss and CO2 excess in a bio-pod in a self-sustaining bio-sphere research lab.
_Scientific Computer Animation
The company that did the 3-D scientific animations for the Inner life of a Cell is XVIVO. Visit their site at http://www.xvivo.net/. The world of 3-D animations are opening up the possibilities for easier understanding of the microscopic world. The day is coming when simple static images of the cell will be replaced with 3-D animated versions that give a truer and more beautiful picture of all the action that takes place in a cell.
Now Let's Have Some Fun and Play a Game!
Cellcraft is a great game to play to solidify your knowledge of what the cell organelles do, how the cell uses energy, and how proteins are made. The music is nice too. You will love it. The game is at http://armorgames.com/play/6347/cellcraft