Exceptions to Mendel's Laws!!

* Incomplete Dominance...
- a BLEND of the two traits
examples: a pink snapdragon (red x white) ; wavy hair (curly x straight)

* Co-Dominance...
- where BOTH are expressed 100%...not a mix (think polka-dots)!!
examples: blood type; roan cattle (spotted)

* Multiple Genes...skin color, eye color, hair texture, heighth etc.

THIS SITE is a GREAT review for all the genetics stuff we've covered (& more if you want it!)

Law of Independent Assortment

Law of Dominance & Law of Segregation

LAW OF DOMINANCE: simply means that the most dominant trait will be seen in the phenotype; always represented with a capital letter on the punnett squares

LAW OF SEGREGATION: each gamete (egg/sperm) will get only half of each allele (trait) to pass along...this law is what allows us to not look 100% like our parents or siblings- thank goodness :)
- this law is easily expressed with your punnett squares in a monohybrid cross


INTERACTIVE on heredity & traits.


Princess and the Wrinkled Peas

Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel is the "FATHER OF GENETICS".

He lived from 1822-1884. He was a Austrian monk who did A LOT of work with pea plants. His work was not recognized until the 20th century, long after his death. He studied how traits are passed on to the next generation. So Gregor Mendel was the first to "see" DNA in action...he just didn't really know it at the time. He knew "something" was happening, but just couldn't explain it exactly!

Know these words:
1. TRAITS
2. HEREDITY
3. GENETICS

Transcription & Translation

Interactive site on transcription and translation...

Use this site for more information...

Lots of useful notes on DNA, RNA, transcription & translation...

Interactive site on "what is a protein"...

Interactive animation on transcription & translation...


Be able to read both the Codon Chart and the Codon Wheel

RNA

RNA is very similar to DNA...it is also a polymer that is made up of nucleotides as the monomers.

Review this chart that COMPARES & CONTRASTS DNA with RNA...

Review this site with RNA information...

The key concepts to remember with DNA are:
* Ribose is the sugar of the backbone
* Uracil is the base that replaces Thymine (only U, never a T)
* single stranded

DNA practice

Once you've completed your DNA origami use the following sites to review what you've learned so far...

Here's an interactive game to play on making complementary base strands

Info, animations, photos on DNA structure

DNA Anatomy

interactive crossword

Tour the Basics of DNA

Journey into DNA (do the non-flash version)

Structure of DNA

DNA is found within the nucleus of all cells. DNA are our genes or our 'blue-print'.

DNA is a large polymer...made up of NUCELOTIDES. (take this time to review your organic macromolecules!!) Here is a sketch of a nucleotide...


The shape of DNA is a DOUBLE HELIX...which is simply just 2 strands twisted together...think of a spiraled staircase, twisted ladder or a zipper


The backbone of DNA is made up alternating of PHOSPHATE and DEOXYRIBOSE (a sugar).

The bases of DNA are: Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Thymine (T) and Guanine (G). These are the only bases found in DNA. The bases will always, always, always pair up A-T and C-G...no ifs, ands or buts!!

History of DNA

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid. DNA is a fairly new discovery in the world of science. It was first seen in the early 1920's, but the actual structure wasn't found until February 1953. Upon it's discovery DNA became known as "the secret of life".
Here's an interactive time-line where you can explore the history of DNA...and here's another one

Mitosis vs. Meiosis

MITOSIS is the division of somatic (body) cells...the stages are INTERPHASE, PROPHASE, METAPHASE, ANAPHASE & TELOPHASE followed by CYTOKINESIS
Mitosis Song...

MEIOSIS is the division of sex cells...same stages x2 as mitosis
Interactive Meiosis...


compare and contrast of the two -
Interactive Mitosis vs. Meiosis...




MITOSIS & MEIOSIS WEBQUEST LINKS

Mitosis Animation - Questions #1-8

Meiosis Tutorial - Sexual Reproduction #1-6, Chromosomes in a Diploid Cell #1-7

Meiosis Animation - Meiosis 1 #1-6, Meiosis 2 #1-5

Photosynthesis vs. Respiration

Interactive Photosynthesis...

Interactive Respiration...


GAMES

Rags to Riches
Rags to Riches
Rags to Riches
Battleship

Egg Lab

Here's a site to see photos of what happened...
Photos...

Interactive on Cell Membrane...

Cellular Transport 'fill-in' Vocab review

Active Transport

Active Transport USES energy!! They work low to high, against the flow...so they have to put up a fight to perform.

SODIUM POTASSIUM PUMP


ENDOCYTOSIS: taking large items/amounts into the cell using vesicles...


EXOCYTOSIS: expelling items from the cell, using vesicles...this is how the proteins that are packaged by the golgi body leave the cell


* great site of diagrams & info on the cell membrane and cell transport
* interactive animations (both passive & active)
* interactive animations for Active transport
* animation of cell transport

* battleship game
* rags to riches game
* various games and more here

Passive Transport

DIFFUSION is the movement of molecules from high to low concentration; passive, no energy needed; will continue until equilibrium is reached. Common everyday examples would be spraying air freshener, food coloring in water, candles or reed diffuser, and even passing gas!!



OSMOSIS is the movement of water (and only water) across the membrane, from a high to low concentration; passive, no energy needed. Three types: Isotonic, Hypertonic, Hypotonic.

* site on Passive Transport
* interactive site on Diffusion
* interactive animations

Animal Cell vs. Plant Cell

Both plant and animal cells have those organelles previously talked about...the main difference in the two types of cells is PLANT CELLS...
1. have CHLOROPLASTS (green, for energy by photosynthesis)
2. have CELL WALL (rigid, outside of the cell membrane)
3. have a LARGER VACUOLE (when empty plant wilts)

Be sure you understand ALL the functions of the organelles and know WHERE they are found (plant, animal, bacteria cell). Remember that certain organelles may be found in all 3, just 2 or even only one!!

ANIMAL CELL


PLANT CELL


Here's a few interactive sites for explore...

* interactive cell diagram

* interactive Eukaryote cells (both plant and animal models)

* great site for Plants vs. Animals (defines all organelles)

* compare all 3 cell types, build the cells, quiz yourself, etc.

* jigsaw puzzles and crossword puzzles

* label the plant cell...label the animal cell

* a "cell city" from BBC (will need to do the HTML version, I don't think you have the proper plug-in)

Eukaryotes

EUKARYOTE = a cell WITH a nucleus and other organelles; includes the animal cell and the plant cell



The typical organelles and their functions can be seen in detail on the following sites...

* site with all organelles and functions...plus more sites to explore

* a simplified table with all organelles and functions

* 'rags to riches' game on organelles

* 'battleship' game on organelles

* 'hangman' game on organelles

Prokaryotes

PROKARYOTES = a cell with NO nucleus...aka- bacterial cell

-remember that even though there is NO nucleus, there is still DNA!!

Use these websites for help in understanding the functions

* great site with definitons and links to microscopic photos of all organelles

Organic Macromolecules

Use these sites to review the organic macromolecules of life...

* detailed info on ALL marcromolecules, plus sketches

* even more details and diagrams...

* concentration game

Themes & Organization of Life

* battle ship game on Life Organization

Scientific Method

Here's a little back-tracking to the first week or so. Just a quick review of the Scientific Method!

Here's a site that explains EVERYTHING!!


A few tips to remember...
* your hypothesis is an educated guess that MUST be testable...that means you can't test opinions
* the CONTROL group remains untouched in the experiment
* the INDEPENDENT variable is what you add to the equation...what are you testing?
* the DEPENDENT variable is what you measure in the end...how do you know the testing worked?

* 'rags to riches' game

* another 'rags to riches' game

* matching game

* hangman

* battleship

'Sup Ya'll...

Hey guys...I decided to make this blog so that you can link to great websites that will be used in this class. I will try to keep it updated as best as a I can. If you come across anything that needs to be added then let me know!
This would also be a great place to post your comments or questions about the class, the lessons or about myself. Please remember to KEEP IT CLEAN though!! :)

I hope that you are enjoying the year so far and let me know what would make it even better. I'm looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you...and having LOTS of fun (and a little learning too!).

I'll try to post items by topics, so you should be able to use the search to help. Let me know if this works...