Sheep Dissection Videos

Sheep Heart Questions

1. The pericardium surround and protects the heart, holding it in its place
2. Arteries have thicker walls, but are smaller in size compared to veins
3. The auricle enables the atrium to hold larger amounts of blood.
4. The ventricles have thicker walls compared to the atria. 
5. (10a) the coronary sinus the wide venous channel on the posterior surface of the heart that collects blood from the coronary circulation and returns to the right atrium.
6. (10b)  it brings the oxygen deprived blood from the body
7. (10c) the tricuspid valve is located between the right atrium and ventricle and prevents backflow from the right atrium
8. (Q6) 
   
9. (Q8)
10. (Q9) The semilunar valves are located between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery and prevents blood from flowing from the artery back into the heart
11. (Q10a) The restricted blood flow causes pressure in the vessels that goes through the rest of the circulatory system; the pressure causes fluid to leak into surrounding tissues which can cause swelling in the legs and feet.
12. (Q10b) Valve disease on the left side of the heart can cause irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), which can eventually lead to heart failure.
13. (Q11)
14. 
    (Q12) The right side of the heart deals with deoxygenated blood and pumps blood to the lungs; the left side of the heart deals with oxygenated blood and thicker walls since it has to pump oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.
15. (Q13)

Unit 3 Blog Reflection

  In this unit, I learned about how various lifestyle choices can directly impact one's circulatory and respiratory system. The respiratory removes small particles from entering the body and includes the nose, pharynx, bronchioles, trachea, and lungs. On the other hand, the circulatory system includes the heart, small/large intestines, and kidneys, where it specializes in regulating pH, transferring nutrients to different parts of the body, and providing the blood with oxygen. When one rarely exercises, bombards his or her diet with large amounts of unhealthy fats (omega 6) and salt, it puts the individual at a greater risk for high blood pressure, aneurysm, atherosclerosis, stroke and other harmful diseases. By consuming more Omega 6 instead of Omega 3 and filling your diet with healthier cholesterol, one can increase HDL in the bloodstream, which can actually decrease the amount of harmful cholesterol, LDL. Overall, I really enjoyed this chapter since I was able to learn a lot about the circulatory and respiratory system; I found it really interesting that men and women had such different stroke symptoms since I perceived that the same disease would affect everyone in the same way. 

   While I understood the majority of the chapter, I found it difficult to memorize the different parts of the heart and which part was responsible for what function. While the sheep heart dissection was helpful in having me learn which parts were responsible for what function, it was still kind of difficult to learn which part went where because the actual heart differed greatly from the diagram. 

   After Unit 2, I realized that I definitely needed to sleep more because I was averaging about 5-6 hours of sleep nightly. Overall, I've realized that I've been sleeping around 6-7 hours nightly; in order to be less sleep-deprived, I intend on waking up slightly later or taking more naps in the afternoon. 

Monday Wellness Reflection

 Monday Wellness:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-tHQTdbCjJW7XtZ2bez8AKy3iyRTWwcbgfhJehLBqdM/edit


 After briefly discussing ideas for our Monday Wellness presentation, we decided that we wanted to have a project that related to either anxiety or stress since it was a topic that the majority of the class could easily relate to. A fellow classmate advised us to talk about the importance of self-esteem and how it could either positively or negatively impact a person's life choices. Not only was low self-esteem a topic that the bulk of the class could relate to but it was also an ideal that students weren't exposed to very often.

   Before starting the research for the presentation, I knew very little about self-esteem. While I was aware that self-esteem could cause individuals to lose drastic amounts of weight and can lead to numerous weight problems including bulimia as well as anorexia nervosa, I was unaware that it could lead to increased amounts of cortisol (the stress hormone), increased blood pressure, irregular heart rate, hypertension, as well as fatal diseases including heart disease and even cancer. It shocked me that there were such dire consequences for having a low self-esteem. Also, I was shocked to learn some of the reasonings behind having a low self-esteem. For instance, I was surprised to learn that self-esteem is heavily shaped by childhood experiences or memories; if an individual encountered a traumatic experience at a young age, he or she will almost always have low self-esteem. Contrary to the research, I originally perceived that having a low self-esteem was heavily influenced by social media, where one is constantly attempting to change his or her diet or exercise regime in order to be like a specific celebrity. Furthermore, I never realized how having a low-self esteem can heavily impact one's entire life, from his or her simple decisions to the fear of pursuing difficult goals, simply due to the fear of failure.

  If an individual constantly has low self-esteem, it can negatively impact the individuals around us as well as our critical life choices. This challenge can easily be solved by exercising, doing activities that one enjoys, avoiding comparison to others, or simply sharing stressors with friends or family. By doing so, one can be sure that his or her self-esteem will be elevated greatly. However, by hiding stressors from others, comparing yourself to other individuals, or stressing about minor things, it can lead to individuals forming toxic relationships and avoiding healthy ones, harm one's self-confidence, and may cause individual to be fearful of pursuing difficult aspirations that can benefit them either professionally or educationally.
   Overall, I would give myself a 10/10 because I completed my part of the PowerPoint and researched the physical benefits of having a high self-esteem, so I was educated on what self-esteem is, why it is so important, and possible ways for individuals to positively impact it. In general, I really enjoyed learning about the relevance of self-esteem in our daily lives, since many individuals in our society may be affected by a low self-esteem due to the large amounts of stress and constant comparison to others; however, possessing a low self-esteem is definitely reversible and can benefit one's overall well-being. 

Monday Wellness Blog Post

Snacking plays an important part of one's health; however, overeating unhealthy, processed snacks are problematic. One should eat a healthy snack 2-3 times about 2-3 hours before each meal to prevent overeating. Healthy snacks are generally less than 200 calories, have 10 grams of protein, and have at least 5 grams of dietary fiber. Some unhealthy snacks include chips, candy, and soda pop, which generally are deemed "empty calorie foods" because they have little nutritional value and are generally filled with artificial colours, unnatural sugars, and very few vitamins. Overall, this Monday Wellness enabled me to realize that snacking it a healthy part of one's diet; however, one should be careful about what they consume during a snack. 

Heart Rate/Blood Pressure

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JivpT3t9gwK5lB-wJrFd2wnRj15CGl4nQQVS6WHhkag/edit
(Data Table for Heart Rate and Blood Pressure)

In class today, we learned how to measure blood pressure and heart rate. While both require the use of a stethoscope, measuring blood pressure also requires the use of a sphygmomanometer, or blood pressure cuff. To measure blood pressure, one rolls up his or her sleeve past the elbow and extends their arm, palm up. The other person deflates the air bladder of the cuff and wraps it around the first person's arm and places the head of the stethoscope under the edge of the cuff. After, one inflates the cuff until it reaches about 150 mmHg. The measurer should watch the pressure gauge and concentrate on hearing a slight noise that usually appears between 110-140 mmHg, or the the systolic blood pressure. When the noise stops, the number on the pressure gauge is the diastolic blood pressure. While the systolic pressure is the result of the ventricles contracting, diastolic pressure occurs during ventricle relaxation.

On the other hand, measuring heart rate is less complex, where one can measure it by measuring their pulse. However, one should not measure their pulse using his or her thumb because the thumb has its own pulse, so it would be difficult to determine the correct heart rate.

Unit 2 Reflection

Overall, health is attempting to find a balance with mental, social, and physical health, where one must receive enough sleep, incorporate varied types of exercise, have limited amounts of stress, communicate with others, and have a proper diet. These aspects greatly affect our body's efficiency and overall well-being. While our school attempts to incorporate a healthy atmosphere for the students, many are not getting the recommended 9-10 hours of sleep due to the increased amount of stress from homework and tests/quizzes. However, this can easily be changed by altering our schedules and procrastinating less on assignments. 

Some essential themes in this unit include getting adequate nutrition and getting proper sleep. Filling our lives with processed foods and limiting our sleep causes issues, including increase in stress and weight. While the majority of the chapter seemed related and easy to comprehend, I was slightly confused on identifying whether a person is in non-Rem/Rem/awake phases through the varied graphs. To improve this, I would look more closely at the examples in the classwork. 

This unit relates to my intended college major, psychology, where one studies the way people think/behave. Many of the issues covered in the unit, including sleep (Rem/non-Rem sleep, Sleep Stages, Cortisol, Melatonin), social health (communicating with others instead of chatting through social networking websites), and nutrition (limiting processed foods and getting a balanced diet) related to some of the psychology classes I took in the summer, including Social and Abnormal Psychology. 

Nutrition Analysis

  After interpreting the results from the diet results from Food Tracker, I learned that I need to alter my diet through eating more calcium-enriched foods and finding an equal balance between fruits and vegetables. Through the Falcon Market lab that we did in class, I learned that several foods, such as various snacks, frozen meals, and fast food, are high in trans fat, sodium, carbohydrates, and sugar, showing that although they are less time-consuming to prepare, they can lead to several health problems, including obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Furthermore, several Starbucks drinks are bombarded with large amounts of fat, sugar, caffeine, and even sodium; these caffeinated drinks not only dehydrate the body but also fill our diets with hundreds of empty calories.

 Currently, I'm eating about the right amount of protein and carbohydrates; however, I've noticed that I often eat excess fruit or vegetables and not enough of the other. In order to change this habit, I could eat some fruit or vegetables as a snack, or incorporate it into my meal. Also, I realized that I haven't been including enough calcium in my diet. In order to increase the amount, I could add a slice of cheese to my sandwich at lunch or eat some yogurt for breakfast.

 The goal to having a healthy lifestyle would be to have a balanced diet, filled with protein, carbohydrates, calcium-enriched foods, fruits, and vegetables, with less than 2300 mg of sodium. Although this can be difficult with eating processed foods (snacks, frozen meals, fast food, etc.), it can be easily accomplished through eating freshly made foods. Contrary to processed foods, freshly made foods are filled with more vitamins and nutrients and less unhealthy fats (trans/saturated fats) and sodium. Furthermore, one should drink several cups of water daily (6-8 cups) instead of unhealthier alternatives such as soda pop, juice, and coffee since these are often filled with excess caffeine or sugar.

Health Unit 2

This week, we started our unit on Health. We learned about the 5 pillars of health, which states that having 5 pillars of health , have adequate exercise, maintaining a balanced lifestyle, getting enough sleep, and interacting with others. While I feel that I have been able to maintain a balanced lifestyle with classes and activities, I feel that I could improve on getting enough sleep.

Unit 1 Reflection

In the first unit of Anatomy and Physiology, we learned about the structure and function of the body, the various anatomical terms, the biological molecules, and histology. Through learning more in depth about the presence of different macromolecules and their arrangement directly affecting the behavior of the cell and its corresponding tissue, I learned about the 4 types of tissues (epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous) and about the biological molecules (nucleic acids, lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates). While I was able to learn a lot through the first 3 weeks of school, I am still slightly confused of how to differentiate between the different types of tissues (e.g. the different types of cartilage) because they all seem somewhat similar. In the next few units, I hope to read the book and read the notes in order to gain more knowledge on certain topics.

 Since a couple of my family members suffer from Pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes, I thought it was interesting to learn about the 3 types of carbohydrates (monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates)). I found it interesting to complete the Sweetness lab, where we sampled various types of carbohydrates such as glucose, sucrose, and lactose. Through completing the lab and learning about the carbohydrates in notes/lectures, I was able to think more in depth about how individuals with diabetes were negatively affected by the disease. 

Tissue Lab

 After completing the Tissue Lab, I was able to get a get a better understanding on the different types of cells and tissues. By seeing the nucleus and various organelles of the various tissues, I was able to make a connection between what I learned about the function of the tissue. While the connective and nervous tissue looked very smooth, it seemed to be very scattered. However, the muscle tissue had a clearly defined shape. The epithelial tissue seemed to be composed of several layers and had a distinct shape; however, it wasn't as distinct as the muscle tissue was.

 For instance, the bone tissue resembled a large mass of cells instead of a single cell. Since bones play a vital role in supporting the body and controlling both involuntary and voluntary movement, the microscope image clarified the fact that bone cells are composed of several cells.
 Similarly, the blood smear slide was composed of several dots that had a slight distance in between them. By being located throughout the body, the blood cells are able to transfer nutrient and hemoglobin throughout the body. 

Some of the cells we looked at in class

Red Blood Cells

Red Blood Cells

 Red Blood cells, the most abundant blood cell, is located through 40-45% of the body. Shaped like a disk with a flattened center, 5 million of these 6-8 micrometer diameter cells are present in every cubic millimeter of blood.  Originally, red blood cells begin as immature cells located in the bone marrow and is later released into the blood after approximately a week with the help of erythropoietin, a hormone produced from the kidneys. These connective tissues play a vital part in the human body, such as regulating metabolism, getting rid of harmful bacteria, and transferring oxygen from the lungs to tissues.

 While red blood cells have lipids and proteins, red blood cells are missing a nucleus.   Unlike most cells, red blood cells don't need to divide to replicate, there is no need of a nucleus. Without a nucleus, red blood cells can also carry more oxygen and fit into smaller blood vessels due to its flexibility. Unfortunately, this limits the life of the cell since the cell's membranes become damaged more quickly. On average, red blood cells can survive about 120 days, or 4 months.




http://images.medicinenet.com/images/illustrations/blood_cells.jpg










http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/MedEd/Histo/HistoImages/hl2B-51.jpg

Sweetness Lab Reflection

  Today, in Anatomy and Physiology, we completed the Sweetness Lab, where we sampled 8 types of carbohydrates. We determined the type of carbohydrate, the degree of sweetness, the color, the texture, and the functions of each one. After sampling the various types of carbohydrates, we concluded that the carbohydrates with fewer rings were sweeter, making monosaccharides sweeter than disaccharides and polysaccharides. For instance, we rated starch and cellulose, both polysacharides, a "0" in terms of sweetness. Both of these carbohydrates resembled the bland taste of paper due to the fact that both carbohydrates were derived from trees. On the contrary, both fructose and sucrose, both disaccharides, were much sweeter. Both of these disaccharides are found in numerous sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup and honey.

  In the NPR article, Getting a Sense of How We Taste Sweetness, Dr. Robert Margolskee explains how one can taste something sweet. Margolskee claims that when the sweet receptor protein and the sweetener encounter each other, the sweet taste sends a signal to the brain, which causes certain parts of the central nervous system to respond to sweet. Margolskee believes that it closely resembles a "lock and key" since "when they (sugar and sweet receptor protein) encounter each other, it opens a lock. The door opens up."



(Photo of the carbohydrates we sampled)