Sheep dissection video

https://youtu.be/F10sQcK_vEw

Heat Dissection

1. What is purpose of the pericardium?
1. The pericardium is the membrane enclosing the heart that has an outer fibrous layer and an inner double layer of serous membrane. It gives protection and lubricates the heart.
2. How do arteries differ from veins in their structure?
1. Veins have thinner walls than arteries. Veins are a one way valve and prevent backflow of blood. This is where muscle contractions and blood flow occurs. Viens store the most blood volume in the body and carry blood to the heart from the tissues. Arteries carry blood away from the heart to the tissues. They are elastic and expand when the heart contracts and recoils when the heart relaxes.
3. What function do you think the auricle serves?
1. The auricles are ear shaped pouches located in the atria that collect blood and increase the blood holding capacity.
4. What differences do you observe in the external structures of the atria and ventricles?
1. The ventricles are a lot larger and have much thicker walls than the atria. The atria are superior to the ventricles, which means the atria are the upper chambers and the ventricles are the lower chambers
5. Find and describe the following structures in the heart:
1. Exit from the coronary sinus: A group of veins located in the heart that deliver deoxygenated blood to the right atrium
2. Exit from the inferior vena cava: The inferior vena cava is on the lower right ventricle of the heart and allows blood to enter the right atrium
3. Right atrioventricular valve (tricuspid): The tricuspid valve is located in between the right atrium and ventricle. We noticed there was a big difference between the tricuspid and bicuspid valve because we saw that the tricuspid clearly had 3 chordae tendinae while the bicuspid valve had 2.
6. Draw a picture of the tricuspid valve, including the chordae tendineae and the papillary muscle:

7. Why is the “anchoring” of the heart valves by the chordae tendineae and the papillary muscle important to heart function?
1. Anchoring of the heart valves by the chordae tendineae and the papillary muscles is important because it prevents the valve from moving and pushing blood in the wrong direction.
8. Using pictures/words, describe what the bicuspid valve looks like:

1. Rather than three cusps like in the tricuspid, the bicuspid valve has two cusps complete with chordae tendinae, string like fibers that attach the cusp to the papillary muscles that power the valve.
1. What is the function of the semi-lunar valves?
1. Semilunar valves prevent arterial back flow, meaning they prevent blood from re-entering the heart. There are 2 semilunar valves. The pulmonary valve which is by the left ventricle and the aortic valve, by the aorta.
2. Congestive heart failure is a life-threatening condition
1. If the valve disease occurs on the right side of the heart, it results in swelling in the feet and ankles. Why?
1. Because blood fails to be contained in the right atrium/ventricle and backflows to the body.
2. If the valve disease occurs on the left side of the heart, what complications would you expect to see?
1. There would be swelling of the heart due to the abnormal amount of blood gathering in the heart.
3. Using pictures/words describe what the left ventricle looks like:

1. Entrance to the left/right coronary arteries: The coronary arteries pass from the inside of the heart to the sides and then to the outside, supplying the heart with blood.
2. Left (aortic) semilunar valve (3 cusps): This valve, like the tricuspid, has three cusps. It prevents blood from flowing back into the heart as the oxygenated blood flows through the aorta to the body.
3. Chordae tendinae of the bicuspid valve: These stringy fibers attach the bicuspid valve itself to the papillary muscles, pulling and loosening as the valve closes and opens.
4. Papillary muscle of the bicuspid valve: The papillary muscle provides the muscle power, pulling on the chordae tendinae to open and close the valve.
1. Describe how the left and right sides of the heart differ from each other:
1. The right side of the heart has thinner walls and pumps blood to the body while the left side of the heart has thicker walls due to the aorta and connects blood from the body.
2. Draw and label all structures visible in the interior of the cross-section:

Unit 3 Reflection

This Unit was all about the Circulatory system and a little bit about the respiratory system. We learned about how the heart functions and the different valves, vessels, nodes, and chambers that make the heart work the way it does. The heart pumps blood through the body to transport glucose and oxygen and to remove carbon dioxide and urea. The heart is the center of the circulatory system, but it goes to other organs that also take part in this system: lungs, kidneys, small intestine, and large intestine. 

Cardiovascular health is making sure the heart is pumping enough blood, in a timely manner, to the correct regions. Heart attack and stroke are caused by atherosclerosis, which is a break in the wall of a vessel, which builds up with plaque and causes a blood clot. This blood clot can cause reduced or halted blood flow to heart which can cause heart attack or cardiac arrest. Or the blood flow to brain could be reduced or halted brain which causes a stroke. Often an artery in the brain can burst (also causing a stroke). 

To prevent heart attack or strokes and help your overall cardiovascular health it is important to control blood pressure, cholesterol intake, diet, alcohol consumption, stress, and weight. Eating healthy, not smoking, and exercising all promote cardiovascular health. 

I want to learn more about the signs of heart disease. How early do these signs come on? What should someone do if they show signs that they risk cardiovascular disease?  Stuff like that.

I really enjoyed this unit so it made it a lot more fun to learn about. I thought I understood everything pretty well. I definitely understood the basics of the anatomy and physiology of the heart, cause and affects of diseases, and prevention of dysfunction. Last unit I said "Next unit I will improve my study habits and make sure I study a week or so in advance." That didn't really happen and it shows. It sucks because I understand the material, but I don't give myself enough time to study and show I know the information.

I've felt less tired recently because I've been sleeping more, but I still need work on my procrastination like I said in the last unit. For the rest of the semester my goals are to not procrastinate and get ahead on homework and studies.

  

Healthy Snacking

Guidelines for snacking: People should snack 2-3 times a day. A healthy snack is something nutrient rich, low in calories, and high in fiber. People should stay away from high in carbohydrates, high in sodium, high in fat, processed foods when snacking.

In class we made a healthy snack out of apples, which are good sources of fiber; almonds, which are good sources of protein, and peanut butter, which is a good source of protein and vitamins. I liked how they made this healthy snack so creative.

Monday Wellness Reflection

Here is a link to this presentation: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1GWQCxRh2lqS35KoIcmU-1ubmw8O0KsoS43_y_-aCimQ/edit#slide=id.p 

I choose this topic because music has always been a big part of my life. I'm a dancer so without music my art form wouldn't be as vibrant or appreciated as it is now. Music has been a great outlet for me especially this year, with lots of homework and tests and overall stress that comes along with it. Listening to music while doing homework or studying calms me down and lets me focus better. So, naturally I was interested in how this scientifically actually worked. 

It was really interesting to see that the people in our class all had very different tastes in music. I somewhat just assumed people would all like pop and then have some sort of other preference, but what we found was the opposite. Some people were die hard alternative rockers, some had a passion for country, and others really liked classical. More scientifically speaking, we found that dopamine does a lot more than just make you feel better. It actually affects the flow of information from other parts of the brain to the frontal lobes, which affects memory, problem solving skills, and attention span. I also didn't know that it affected cortisol levels, lots of studies showed that listening to music you like lowers your cortisol levels. 

This topic is important for health and wellness, because it affects two important signals of the body, cortisol and dopamine. Cortisol is a hormone that affects stress and anxiety and like I previously learned in my Anatomy class, too much stress is bad for your health. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that affects the frontal lobe of brain which controls memory, problem solving skills, and emotional expression. Which are important skills for everyday life. On top of these things Dopamine is known as the "feel good" neurotransmitter and promotes positivity and healthy attitude.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give my project a 9.5. The project was long enough, had appropriate activities and information. But I felt as though we could of asked for specific songs and genres, instead of just genres so we could more accurately compare like and dislike. The information could have gone more in depth, but i felt it was a good amount and type.

I thoroughly enjoyed this topic and I want to learn more about how music affects health. Such as how do certain notes, lyrics, beats, etc., affect the human brain.

Lab: Measuring Blood Pressure

1) Compare the systole and diastole
Systole is the pressure when the heart contracts and diastole is the pressure when the heart relaxes.

2)What equipment is used to measure heart rate and blood pressure?
 A Sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope are used to measure blood pressure and heart rate. 

3)Why is using your thumb to measure pulse not ideal?
Using thumb to measure pulse is not ideal because you already have a strong pulse in your thumb, so it is conflicting.

4)InYour own words, describe how to use a blood pressure cuff (sphygmomanometer). 
Start by wrapping the cuff around your upper arm (where brachial artery is). Place a stethoscope just under the bottom of the cuff. Pump the bulb to about 140-150. Then begin releasing some of the air out(slowly). When you first hear the "whoosh" sound take note of that number(this is the systolic). You should hear the heart beat begin to get louder. Take note of the number when you can no longer hear the heart beat(this is the diastolic). Deflate cuff and remove the sphygmomanometer and stethoscope from patient. 

Unit 2 Reflection

To me health is your overall well-being. Not simply the food you eat or how much you exercise, but your mental, physical, and social health. More specifically relating to the five pillars of health: nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and social. All of these must be in good balance in order to be "healthy". 

I believe I'm pretty healthy. Nutrition and exercise have never been a problem for me, but stress and sleep have. Same with the people at SHS. With all these APs classes and after school activities there is barely any time left to even get a solid 8 hours of sleep in. And less sleep means more stress, more stress less sleep. As to help with this problem, I'd suggest not overloading yourself with courses and not PROCRASTINATING. Sorry for the yelling, but I've found that the root of my stress and lack of sleep is my procrastination.

The essential themes and learning of this unit were the definition of health/aspects, how hormones affect health, how micro nutrients and nutrition play a role in health, how exercise enhances health, importance of sleep, affects of stress, and social connections with health. I learned all of these things, but specifically about the importance and effects of a these things at a more precise level. For example we learned that sleep is good for you, but also went in depth and looked at different stages of sleep  and hormones that make you go to sleep and wake you up.I didn't fully understand the social aspect of health, I thought it was kind of confusing and I wish we could of gone more in depth with the physiological workings of social interactions.

Next unit I will improve my study habits and make sure I'm study a week or so in advance.


A job that I can relate to this unit is a Nutritionist. According to wikipedia A nutritionist is a person who advises on matters of food and nutrition impacts on health. So this directly correlates with the nutrition pillar of health.

Nutritional Analysis

 Over three specific days, I tracked every meal that I was to come into contact with. I had done this before, skeptical of my result considering my diet is not that of the "average american." Yet I did it anyway, I actually improved greatly from last time, my proteins levels are a lot higher. Yet it depends on the day, because sometimes (note on the middle chart) my protein levels are just above fifty percent. This also goes for my vegetable intake, notice the first two charts I'm under fifty percent, and the third I'm right at seventy-five percent. For grains, I need to work on staying away from refined, and going for more whole grains. I'm also under the suggested daily amount. Fruits is pretty consistent, under as shows. Let's just talk about dairy, in these images there is virtually none. Simply because I don't really eat any, some days if I feel like it, but at home we don't use any animal products. Overall, according to this tracker, I just need to eat more. From what I learned at Falcon Market and through this I will eat more low fat, high nutrient protein, more green leafy vegetables, more natural sugar fruits (no added sugar), more whole grains, more calcium rich foods (to meet my dairy needs) like kale, bok choy, almonds, oranges, etc (which also meet other food group needs), and try to avoid high carbohydrate sugary snack foods like chips and cookies. 

If I was a health coach, I'd give you the same advice I'm giving to myself, make sure you are hitting every food group. Eat the best kind of food from that food group. By doing both of these things you are getting, not just all kinds of nutrients you need, but the highest/healthiest amount (in those essential vitamins, and minerals that you need). Skip out on your sugary drink from Starbucks and your big whopper from McDonalds, and make yourself something at home, it almost always tends to taste better and be better for you, if you make it with healthy ingredients at home. When you skip out on the unhealthy foods especially ones with lots of sugar, fat, and salt, you avoid a big mess with your hormones, which try to balance out your bodies nutrient content when you consume food like this. I'm giving this advise, but I still need to work on my own diet too.   

    

What is Health? Collage

Health is an all around experience for me. Not just physical, but emotional and mental. I'm pretty confident in the physical aspect of health because I eat well and exercise regularly. I feel that I really need to focus on the mental portion, especially stress. If you notice in the collage there is tiny white photo in the center, it represents stress. It is so small because I want to keep my stress like the size of the picture. I'm excited to learn about the sleep pillar and see how sleep actually affects chemicals in the body.

Unit 1 Reflection

This unit was about the basic structure and function of tissues.The main themes, other than the structure and function of tissues, were anatomical positions, macromolecules,and simple concepts of anatomy and physiology.

I learned all of the anatomical positions (anterior, posterior, inferior, proximal, distal, etc). I also learned the difference between anatomy and physiology. Anatomy being structure and Physiology being function. Finally I got a in-depth understanding of different tissues. I learned about the functions, locations, and structure of muscle, epithelial, connective, and nervous tissues.

 I didn't fully understand the difference in structure between the tissues. I knew have to differentiate, but identifying them in a picture was a whole other story. Next unit I'll come into see Mr. Orre after class to make sure I understand how to identify it. 

I learned about a lot of this stuff in sports med. Especially anatomical positions, but tissues we only went over briefly.       

            Notes creds to Cayla Zelanis

                    Blood cells

Tissue Lab

In today's lab we viewed the different types of tissue under a microscope. We saw various kinds of epithelial, connective, muscular, and nervous tissue. 

One thing I realized today was the true extent of connective tissue.In my notes i had read that connective tissue is the most abundant in the body, and it comes in many forms. When I actually saw cartilage, bone, and blood tissues, which are all different, I could fully comprehend the range and abundance of connective tissue in the body. 

I also noticed that the epithelial tissues all looked like cells layered on top of each other and nervous tissues all had visible neurons. On the other hand muscle tissues mostly looked like smooth solid sheets and connective tissues all looked very different. 

I thought the bone sample and blood samples were very interesting. I could see how the anatomy of the bone tissue is complex and solid, so it must be good for supporting the body. While blood cells are very small and uniform which must make them move through the body efficiently. 

Bone sample, connective tissue 

Blood sample, connective tissue 

Elastic cartilage sample, connective tissue

Stratified columnar, epithelial tissue 

All About Epithelial Cells

Epithelial cells are some of the most prolific tissue cells out there. They come in all shapes and sizes and they can be found almost anywhere on the body. Most people may know that epithelial cells or epithelial tissue is your skin, but it is present in many other places such as the alveoli (gas exchange area of lungs), lining of most organs including stomach, kidney, and pancreas, and even in salivary glands and bile ducts. They also come in an array of forms depending on where they are located, classified by their shape. There are four shapes, cubodial, squamous, columnar, and ciliated columnar(refer to picture below). These cells vary a little bit from eukaryotic cells, considering epithelial cells include many more means of connection between cells. They have things called tight junction adherens, desmosomes, and gap junctions that keep these cells together. Another difference is the capillaries that usually reside inside of the cell, do not within epithelial cells. 

Epithelial cells have many functions such as protecting body, experiencing senses (sensory receptors), transporting materials, absorbing nutrients, secreting wastes, hormones, and lubricant, and producing hormones. This cell has so many aspects to it, with its multiple shapes sizes and functions, that this post will just touch the surface of the topic of epithelial cells.

Epithelial cells of the stomach lining

Carbohydrates: The Sweetness Lab

In today's lab we tasted various different Carbohydrates in order to determine the relationship between the type of carbohydrate and its sweetness. We tasted a various amount of carbohydrates, including disaccharides (sucrose, maltose, and lactose), monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, and galactose), and polysaccharides (starch and cellulose). We determined that the more rings the carbohydrate had the less sugary it was. (Less rings more sugary)

Personally I can relate fructose to one this I've eaten, high fructose corn syrup. It's well known for being very unhealthy, but still very common in everyday foods. I found myself really enjoying the raw fructose, so I can see why high fructose corn syrup is put in so many foods. 

Works Cited

                                  All about epithelial cells
"Epithelial Cells." Introduction. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/bernd/Lab/EpithelialInfoWeb/index.html
"School of Life Sciences | Ask A Biologist." Epithelial Cells. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.https://askabiologist.asu.edu/epithelial-cells