Structure of the Earth: Plasticity Lab

Response Blog

In class we did a lab.  The materials we needed in this lab were cornstarch, water, 2 small beakers, stirring rod or spoon, eyedropper, food coloring, and newspaper.  The procedure was to add about 5 teaspoons of cornstarch to one beaker and put 20 milliliters of water in another beaker.  Then stir the two together and add food coloring.  After playing with the outcome for a little while, we were given questions to answer.  The mixture was really watery but when pressure was applied on both sides, it turned to a solid.  When handled, the mixture would slide around and at the occurrence of force being applied to it, it turned to a solid.  This is similar to mantle because when pressure from two sides, in this case hands, it would stay in place.  But, when that pressure ceased, the mixture began to liquidate and move around.  This is just like what happens with the mantle.  Pressure from the crust and the core force the mantle to stay in place but when one of the forces move, so does the mantle. 

Response blog to October Sky

In class we watched a movie called October Sky.   After watching carefully and taking notes on the general ideas of this movie, we were asked to write a response blog.  Well, I will start off with a basic summary of the movie.  The time period of October Sky is during the "cold war" in a little town where mining was pretty much your only job choice if you were a man.  After the first successful rocket launch of Sputnik, a teenager was inspired.  He saw the rocket shoot across the sky and felt liberated.  He wanted to go to outer space and create a rocket that people in his home town and China would be able to see.  Throughout the movie, Homer struggled a lot.  Everyone went against him, they called him rocket boy and told him he would fail.  Even his own father didn't believe in him.  After his father was hurt while mining, which happened frequently, he could not work.  Homer knew what he had to do.  He stopped with the rockets and worked in the mines.  Mining was very dangerous.  One of the boys fathers was killed in a mining tragedy, his head was cut right off.  Also, coal mining is very bad for your lungs and body. Homer tried to cooperate with his family but after discovering that his rocket didn't start the fire that had been blamed on it he was back to building and testing rockets.  The way he proved his rocket was not what started the fire was by using his new math skills that he acquired from science. His father told him he respected him for what he was doing in the coal mines, but when he found out Homer quit, he told him he was ashamed of his own son.  I think Homer had great self control because there were many times where if that was me i would have lost it.  In the end, Homer and his friends were able to successfully launch many rockets.  They went to the National Science Fair and won first place.  This opened up many doors for them, including pretty much their choice of any college they wanted with a full scholarship.  This movie taught me so much. Over all science is really important and helpful but in order to succeed in science you have to experiment, persevere and believe in yourself, even when no one else does.

Response to Flowersx3's blog

In class we were asked to read someone else's blog and the blog i selected was about a genetic disease called Phenylketonuria. From this blog I learned a lot about the disease. For instance, in order to inherit this genetic disorder both parents have to be carriers and sadly, there is no cure. The symptoms of Phenylketonuria are skin rash, excessive restlessness, irritable behavior, body oder, and more. What happens on a molecular level is an enzyme doesn't function properly and can't separate amino acids. Due to a large amount of "Phe" building up in the blood, the body is not able to convert "Phe" into tyrosine. The information i learned from this blog is surely information that will stay with me the rest of my life. I am extremly greatful that i am not one of the 1 in 70 people that are diagnossed with Phenylketonuria. This article makes me really think about how lucky I am because this genetic disorder is very common. I am sad that there are so many children who have to deal with this disease on a daily bases where I hardly have any complications in my health besides seasonal allergies and the occasional virus. I thank Flowersx3 for posting this blog.
To learn more about Phenylketonuria click here.

Canavan Disease

In 1931 a genetic disorder was discovered; commonly known as Canavan Disease. This is an extremely rare disease and there have only been 30 reported cases in the United States. However, one in five thousand Ashkenazi Jews are diagnosed. Infants who are affected with Canavan Disease are most likely born with it. This disease is most common in children of the Jewish decent. A child who has Canavan Disease may experience a variety of symptoms including lack of head control, rapidly increasing head circumference, reduced visual responsiveness, abnormal muscle tone; such as stiffness or floppiness, and may suffer from mental retardation. At the molecular level, whats going on in is a genetic mutation on chromosome 17 that causes a deficiency of an enzyme called aspartoacylase. The chemical imbalance causes healthy tissue to degenerate. In order for a child to be affected they have to inherit one copy of the mutated gene from each parent. Basically, both parents need to be carriers of Canavan Disease for a child to be infected. Sadly, there is no cure for Canavan disease and the life span of infants infected with Canavan Disease does not generally last long. Most children diagnosed with the disorder will face death before the age of four. However, gene therapy is an option for children with Canavan Disease. In this procedure functional ASPA genes are introduced into a child's brain. Another procedure would be putting functional neuronal stem cells into an affected child's brain. The goal is to increase the levels of aspartoacylase. Doctors are still searching for treatment. Personally, I feel that this disease is very serious and we need to find a treatment to save many infants lives. This information is important to know because people need to be aware of different types of genetic disorders and get tested to see what they should look for when they have children.

I got my information from:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders.canavan/canavan.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/canavan_disease/article.htm