Chapter 3: Water and Life

­Chapter 3: Water and Life
            Water is the most essential molecule for all life. It comes in all physical forms: solid, liquid, and gas and can be found all over our planet. Ice is also very essential to life here on earth for many different animals. Reading about the polar bear in figure 3.1 on pg. 46 and looking at the picture made me think about global warming and the effects it has on changing the landscape for these animals.
            Much of water’s ability to sustain life comes from its shape and form. The polar covalent bonds that hold the molecule together result in millions of hydrogen bonds with other molecules thus creating a chance for life. I learned that although the water molecule has a very simple form, it can create very special things.
            The four special properties of water that help jumpstart life are: cohesion, its ability to moderate temperature, expansion upon freezing, and versatility as a solvent. Cohesion works with adhesion to cling molecules together and form a tight bond. For example, water’s adhesion property helps it cling to walls and fight the force of gravity. Water’s kinetic energy helps generate heat which is essential for life. The constant movement of water makes it valuable for life because it can form energy. Water’s high specific heat gives it the ability of evaporative cooling which occurs when the hottest molecules evaporate into a gas. An example of this is when we sweat because the sweat evaporates off our skin which cools us down. Water is also called the solvent of life because it can dissolve many things over periods of time. This is also seen throughout life in blood, the sap of plants, and the liquid within cells. Since water is so essential for starting life many astrobiologists are using it to look for life on other planets. The short paragraph on pg. 52 gives insight on the Mars study. This captivated me because I also believe it would be very interesting and exciting to search for life on other planets. I also believe that one day we will find life on other planets because our research is vast and the universe is endless.
            Another property of water that helps it support life is its acidic and basic tendencies and how changes of the pH can affect life. Pure water’s pH of 7 means that it is not extremely reactive or harmful to life. Since most biological fluids have a pH of around 6-8, water will help sustain them. However, there are many threats to our water systems on earth such as ocean acidification. This occurs when carbon dioxide in the air dissolves in the ocean and lowers the pH of the water. As more carbonate forms in the ocean, ecosystems will begin to die off such as the coral reefs. We have a role in this by trying to lower fuel emissions which contribute to the carbon in the air.
            After reading this chapter many things came to my mind, but the one thing that stood out to me was how precious the water on our planet is. It evoked a lot of thought about our justice summit last year concerning the environment and sustainability. Many of us take our clean water for granted and we pollute the earth with many bad things. Although not all of us can see the consequences it has on our oceans, it definitely has a strong effect. Many species on earth need water including ourselves, so when we pollute the earth it affects the water quality and thousands of different species of marine life. This made me think about sustainability and how I can help keep the environment a healthy and clean place. This chapter also made me think about global warming and how it can be a major threat to our planet. Without water, all of life on earth would die so it is our responsibility to help conserve our planet and save our water resources.
Evolution Connection

            Astrobiologists would be interested in studying the extremophiles because of their nature to withstand toxic metals and high temperatures. They could be a major help in trying to research their environment or trying to find life on other planets. Astrobiologists can also experiment with the different attributes of the extremophiles to see what makes them so resistant to their harsh environment. Their existence in their extreme environment can help researchers believe that there is life on other planets such as Venus that have hot, toxic, and volcanic qualities. Astrobiologists could send extremophiles to other planets to see whether they can live or inhabit the planet. Species such as the extremophile prove to be very useful in studies that concern life on other planets and research about different animals and their ecosystems.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Phylogeny EC

Image
Review/Discuss Phylogeny What did I learn?: Through this activity I learned a lot more about phylogeny and the cladograms. For example, it is important to know the relationship of the lines and how they represent the amount of time that separates each species. This is important to know because it makes reading the cladogram much easier and we get to compare common ancestors and which species are related to each other. Through this activity I learned a lot more about phylogeny vocabulary such as the root, branches, and what each branch separation represents. It was also interesting to see how to tell different sequences apart and this is important because it helps us learn about how related two different species are. I also learned about SNP and Indels which are important to understanding mutations in DNA and how different sequences are made. Overall, I feel a lot better about phylogeny and learning about evolution now that I know the basics of cladograms. Answers to Worksheet
Read more

Corn Genetics Lab

Image
Corn Genetics Lab Conclusion / Results: At the end of this experiment we learned a lot more about chi-square analysis and the dominant and recessive genes of corn. By being able to count the number of yellow, purple, shrunken, and smooth corn, we were able to conclude the ratio of genotypic ratio of 9:3:3:1. By using the data gathered from our experiment and the chi-square values, were able to predict the parents of the corn. Here, we believed that the parents were black eyed and were Bb x Bb. We were also able to predict how the corn came to be by determining what kind of cross it was. We believed that the ear of corn was produced by a dihybrid cross (PpSs x PpSs) that involved two pairs of heterozygous genes. In the end, our predictions were correct because we were able to determine the genes of the corn and their parents. This is important to us because we can use these genetics to figure out human ancestry and genetics. Genetics is a new, unique, and always c
Read more

pGLO Lab Report

Image
pGLO Lab Our experiments within the test tubes LB/AMP and LB/AMP/ARA Petri dishes, pGLO+ Our colonies of E.Coli Our dishes with the UV Light Our dishes without the UV light Conclusions / Results: This experiment turned out well because we were able to produce hundreds of E.Coli colonies in our pGLO+ LB/AMP/ARA dish. We learned about the production of DNA and how we can combine this bacteria, in this case E.Coli, with the GFP or green fluorescent protein. By doing this, we are able to see how quickly the E.Coli reproduces under certain circumstances. We used ampicillin (AMP) to kill the bacteria in the dishes without Arabinose (ARA). However, our dish with lysogeny broth (LB) in presence with arabinose, creates beta lactamase which is a resist protein to ampicillin. This also results in the expression of the GFP protein, giving the E.Coli its fluorescent glow in the UV light.
Read more