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Class started off with a dress count. Eight out of the nine students participated in “New York Pride Day” where students were allowed to wear anything that was related to New York.
We then took the Ch 8 quiz which was a tough one. Everyone in the class did not receive good grades on it so our instructor let us take it home in order to correct our mistakes. He strongly supports this method of learning since fixing our mistakes will allow us to learn the information that we did not know. It helped me tremendously since I learned the information and since our instructor awarded us a half of a point for every corrected answer on our first unit test. The corrected quiz is due on 10/16 because seniors have no school on 10/15 while everybody else does which really sucks for them who have to take standardized tests.
After our quiz we took notes for the rest of the class period. The first part of chapter nine was about cell respiration and glycolysis. All organisms are endergonic systems which means they absorb energy from outside souces. The obtained energy is then used through Exergonic (catabolic) reactions to fuel Endergonic (anabolic) reactions. They use this energy coupling for synthesizing biomolecules, reproducing, moving, regulating temperature (Endothermic organisms only), and using active transport within cell membranes.
Adenine Triphosphate (ATP) is a modified nucleotide which is composed of a Ribose base with an Adenine and three Phosphate groups. Each Phosphate group is covalently bonded with either the Ribose base or with another Phosphate group which means the bonds store huge amounts of energy. The bond between the 2nd and 3rd Pi molecules holds the most amount of energy. It is very unstable since it is bonding two negative Phosphate groups and it is easily able to release energy like a spring-loaded mechanism. The negative aspect of ATP is that it can’t be stored for a long period of time because it is too reactive and releases the Pi easily. When ATP loses the third Phosphate group, it is converted into ADP and the Phosphate group is transferred to other molecules which makes those molecules unstable. This process, called Phosphorylation, is used when the cell is building polymers from monomers and it is seen in the first steps of respiration.
The ATP Cycle. Photo found at http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~simmons/Enzymes/img013.jpg
