And Cue The Awesome Music...

      DU DU DU DUUUUUUU! Oh hey guys! I was just singing the end music for the trailer to this new movie called The Hunger Games. It's awesome and so are the books! I highly recommend it! So aside from awesome stuff, let's go to boring stuff. Just kidding! This stuff is cool too! Okay so today we are going to talk about moving cellular material. How do materials enter and leave a cell? 




       If you want to get into the cell, you're going to have to get past the cell membrane. There are two ways to do that. And those are passive and active transport. Passive transport is when stuff moves into the cell without using any energy. It just happens naturally. There are three different kinds of passive transport, and they are diffusion, facilitated diffusion, and osmosis. Diffusion is when molecules from a high concentrated area move to a low concentrated area. 




       Some molecules can't get through the cell membrane without a little help. Facilitated diffusion is when the molecule can't get through the cell membrane by itself, so it gets a little help. They go through these things called protein channels and that facilitates (helps) the molecule get through! And now you know how facilitated diffusion got it's name! 




     The last one is osmosis. Isn't that an awesome word? Anyway, osmosis is basically the same thing as diffusion except it deals with only water molecules. So this is the special one. Two important words to remember about osmosis is hypertonic and hypotonic. Hypertonic is when the solution has a higher concentration of solutes. Hypotonic is when the solution has a lower concetration of solutes. 




     Now it's time to talk about active transport!! When cells need to move materials in the opposite direction, against a concentration gradient, it needs energy. Pumps or protein are in the cell membrane and it helps the molecules get across. 







    Two words you want to remember is endocytosis and exocytosis. Now those are some cool words! That's what I love about science. It has such cool words and when you say them, they make you sound all smart. Anyways, endocytosis is when the cell takes in large particles by engulfing them. I don't know why, but englufing reminds me of someone eating a golf ball... weird. Anyways, exocytosis is the exact opposite. It's when the cell get's rid of the particles. 




     Here are some cool links! Click here to learn about passive transport. Click here to learn about active transport. Click here to learn about diffusion and osmosis.
    Well that's pretty much it! So out of this blog you got some new information about cells, and you got to learn some new words! Your welcome. Alright then bye! Science Fun:)

Gotta Love Nicknames!

        Cel? Really? Your going to start calling me cel?! Weird nicknames you guys come up with... Oh hi there! My friends just gave me a new nickname. (sarcastic yay) Well my new nickname got me thinking of something. CELLS! Why don't we learn a little about them? Okay so you probably already know that cells are the smallest part of a living organism. There are lots of different kinds of cells and they each do a different job. All cells work together to keep that living thing healthy.





        Cells, just like us, have stuff inside them that make them work. And I'm about to teach it to you! So first off we have the nucleus. This is the boss of the cell. It tells the other parts of the cell what to do and it also holds the cell's DNA. LIKE A BOSS! Then we have the cytoplasm. Cytoplasm is the liquid-like substance in which all of the other stuff float around. Oh and by the way, the "stuff" inside the cell is called organelles. Another organelle is something called the golgi body. This is takes all the protein and other nutrients inside the cell, and ships it to other parts. Kind of like a post office. 




       Next up is lysosomes. They basically digest and recycle used cell parts. The cell membrane is the protection of the cell. It guards it and makes sure nothing can get in or get out. Like the cell's own personal body guard. The mitochondria is like the power house of the cell. It gives energy so the cell can do all it needs to do. Some people say it looks like a kidney bean! Little fun fact for ya! Anyways, our next organelle is the vacuole. This gets rid of the waste the cell doesn't need. The smooth endoplasmic reticulum, or ER for short, creates hormones. It's called the smooth ER because it looks smooth from microscopic view. The rough endoplasmic reticulum is the transport system for proteins. The proteins collect on these things called ribosomes, which makes the ER looks bumpy and rough from microscopic view. Ribosomes are things that carry protein, as I just said, and it also carries RNA. 




          As I said at the beginning of the blog, there are a bunch of different cells. But those cells classify into two main groups. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Here are a couple differences. I'll abbreviate them to pro and eu. Pro doesn't have a nucleus, eu does. Pro don't have all the organelles that eu has. Pro aren't in humans, eu is. Pro are usually unicellular, meaning they only have one cell in them, and eu is usually multicellular, which means they have lots of cells in them. 





      You also need to know the difference between animal and plant cells. Plant cells have chloroplast and use photosynthesis to make food. They have a cell wall. Plant cells also have something called plasmodesmata, which are like little tubes that carries things to other parts of the cell. They also have one huge vacuole and are rectangular shaped. Animal cells don't have chloroplast. They don't have a cell wall, just a cell membrane. Animal cells don't have plasmodesmata. They only have one small vacuole and are either circular, irregular, or specific shapes based on the type of cell. 

Plant Cell

Animal Cell

    











































     Here are some cool links!
Click here to see cell structure. Click here to learn all about cells. Click here to see an interactive cell. 
    So that's really it on cells for today! Hope you guys liked! I now have to go and see if I can change my nickname... But you know, it isn't that bad. Cel... nah I'm gonna change it. Bye guys! Science Fun:)

Who's Ready To Die?

     IT IS 2012!! WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!! Are you guys ready?! December 21, 2012. The world ends. SUPPOSEDLY. Just because of the Mayans who stopped the calendar there. Little do people know, this is what actually happened:
MAYAN #1: Hey man, we don't have any more room to continue the calendar.
MAYAN #2: It's okay, just do it later.
MAYAN #1: I hope if I forget, no one will think the world's gonna end!
MAYAN #2: No! That's crazy! No one's stupid enough to believe that!
MAYAN #1: Yeah you're right! 
  



   Apparently, people are that stupid. Switching topics, what did everyone do for winter break?! I did a bunch of stuff. You guys wanna hear? *murmur murmur* I'll take that as a yes!





    Well the first day of break I had my friends Anabel and Kate come over and later we went to our friend Sormeh's orchestra recital and then went to TCBY, which is an ice cream place. Here are some pictures!

Me being weird :P

My foot prevails!

My friends and I are such freaks! 

    Yea that was really fun! But I did other fun things. I saw my friend Azira who I haven't seen in a really long time. It was so nice seeing her again! Here are some pictures!

Azira, my sister Zeina, and me! 

Azira and me!!

Me in an awesome hat!

Us in sunglasses!

 Fun! Another fun thing was having my friends Aubrey, Kate, and Anabel sleepover. Pictures anyone?

Aubrey, Anabel, Me, and Kate!

ME!

AUBREY!

Anabel The Robot

Hahahaha Kate!

      One of the funnest things I did was have a Harry Potter marathon with my friend Tala. Here are the epic pictures of the epic marathon.

Lightning Bolt Scar 

Tala is all Gryffindor and I'm all Slytherin! 

    

Good vs Evil

SLYTHERIN SWAG!

    Well I'll finish with that and go to something else. Highlights of 2011! Well one thing that was really monumental was the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. "The epic finale to the world wide phenomena." 

        I also loved going to Rock Eagle, the over night field trip at my school. It was so fun! I also got to go to my first Braves game with Kate and the dance at my school was so fun! I also got to meet new friends and see old ones. So 2011 was a pretty good year! 




       Well now it's 2012! I really have no idea what I'm looking forward to. I guess I can't just think that much ahead of time. And I don't really know what resolutions I have. Sorry guys! But I know its gonna be a great year! Well that's pretty much all I have for you today. Bye bye!! Science Fun:)