Starfish Dissection Procedure

Specimen: Starfish
Starfish are found living in all of the worlds oceans. From tropical habits to cold sea floors. There are about 2,000 different types of starfish. They live can live as far as 20,000 feet below. Starfish has a diet of open clams and oysters. Starfish have a unique way of digesting their food. Starfish have a sac-like stomach that emerges from their mouth that crawls into the shells of clams and oysters. Once inside it mutates the prey to digest it, and then the stomach goes back to the body. Starfish breath through their feet. Their tube like feet are consisted of a thin tissue, allowing gases to flow through with ease. The tube feet and papulae allow for transport of oxygen from seawater to the starfish tissues. A interesting and fun fact about starfish is that they have no brain and blood. Their nervous system is spread through their arms.

Lateral Canals: Long tube that runs down each arm. The tube and feet are connected.

Central disk: Very center of Starfsih body. This is the mouth

Pyloric caeca: Is to secrete enzymes that that help with digesting food

Gonads: This is where the sex cells are produced

Clam Dissection Procedure

Specimen: Clam
Clams are found living in both freshwater and marine habitats. Clams are filter feeders which mean that through pumping water through their bodies to eat such organisms as plankton. Clams are bivalves because they have two hinged shells identical in shape and size. On each side of the Clams foot is a big, thin, dual purpose gills. Clams much like fish breathe through gills. A fun fact about Clams is that eating one serving of cooked Clams has a total of 49 grams of protein. That is 98 percent of your daily value from one serving. Another interesting fact Is that a Giant Clam can grow to become 4 feet and weigh about 441 pounds. 

Umbo: The oldest part of the shell of bivalve from which the shell grows.
Inhalant: The siphon that takes water and nutrients inside.
Exhalant: Tube through which water exist the mantle cavity.

Growth ring: The development and age plus growth of the clam

Adductor: Muscle of bivalve that keep the shell tightly closed.
Gonads: Gland in whichh the gametes are prouced. (Sex cells)
Gills: Help clams breathe oxygen
Foot: Used to help Clams move in sand

Grasshopper Dissection Procedure

Specimen: Grasshopper
Background Information:

1. Grasshoppers are insects falling under the order of Orthoptera.
2. Grasshoppers are herbivores meaning this diet is solely based off of plants.
3. They have powerful hind legs and wings which allow them to fly short distances as a means of travel.
4. Fun Fact: Grasshopper's ears or auditory organs are located on their abdomen.

                                                              External Anatomy

Antennae: They are very thin and sensitive used to help the grasshopper feel it's way around

Compound Eyes: A grasshopper’s compound eyes are made up of many separate lenses which work together to form a complete picture

Forelegs: Used for walking 
Hind Legs: Used for jumping
Ovipositor: Organ used for laying eggs

                                                          External Anatomy

Appendages: Used for sensing materials and assisting movement of food into grasshopper's mouth

Fish Dissection Procedure

Specimen: Fish (Perch)
Background Information:

1. Perch are freshwater fish that belong to the Percidae Family.
2. Perch are carnivorous fish predating on smaller fish, larvae and insects.
3. Three species are widely recognized, the European Perch, Balkash Perch, and the Yellow Perch which are found in North America but originated from released European Perch.
4. Fun Fact: Perch lay their eggs in long connected ribbons.

                                     Labeled diagram of Perch fins and body regions.

                                                                Internal Anatomy

Heart: Only has one ventricle and atrium and pumps blood throughout the perch

Gallbladder: Stores bile produced by liver

Liver: Aids in digestion through bile production and maintains blood pH levels

Kidneys: Filter blood

Intestines/Stomach: Chemical and mechanical breakdown of food for digestion

Spine: Sends signals from brain to body

Crayfish Dissection Procedure

Specimen: Crayfish
Background Information:

1. Crayfish are members of the crusteacans and are cousins of the lobster.
2. They are primarily detrivores feeding of dead animals and plants.
3. They breathe through their feather-like gills and can breathe out of water for a period of time.
4. Fun Fact: Crayfish can be yellow, pink, red, dark brown or blue.

This the external anatomy of the Crayfish from the dorsal view. The abdomen is one of the divided parts of the crayfish. The Carapace is part of the exoskeleton that covers the cephalothorax. The uropod is the 6th segment of the abdomen. It can be found on both sides of the crayfish telsons. 

External anatomy from the Ventral view.  The cheliped is a claw the crayfish uses to catch pray and use for defense. The walking legs are a locomotion. The swimmerets are functioned appendages that create water currents over gills.

Internal features Dorsal view. Anterior gastric muscle is referring to the stomach. The green gland is apart of the excretory system. It filters waste from the blood.  The mandibular muscle is used to move mandibles. The pyloric muscle is for food that enters the crayfish from the stomach. The gills are the breathing structure of a crayfish

Internal Features of the Crayfish. The digestive gland function is to create digestive substances from their nutrients. The maxillae is responsible for letting pieces of food get to mouth.undigested substances are destroyed by the anus. All intestines are attached to the lobed stomach.

Earthworm Dissection Procedure

Specimen: Earthworm
Background Information:

1. Earthworms are both male and female, therefore they produce both eggs and sperm.
2. Earthworm species vary in what they eat, but through their devouring of fallen leaves and/or soil allows the worms to move nutrients such as potassium and nitrogen into the soil.
3. Earthworms breathe through their skin, because they lack lungs or other respiratory organs
4. Fun Fact: If an earthworm stays outside in the light for more than an hour, they will die. They may also be in danger if they are either in soil that is too wet or too dry.

Mouth: Used for absorbing and consuming nutrients
Segment: Important structural functions
Setae: Helps the earthworm to anchor through the soil
Septum: Helps separate an earthworm's internal cavities into sections of different organs.
Genital Pore: Used for self reproduction
Clitellum: Egg depository

Intestine: Where enzymes break down food chemically and the blood circulating through the intestine walls absorbs it.
Gizzard: muscular organ where food is forced from the crop. The rhythmical contractions cause grains of sand to rub the food particles together. It grinds up food.
Crop: thin wall organ that acts as a temporary storage place for food.
Hearts: Pumps blood

Frog Dissection Procedure

Specimen: Frog
Background Information:

1. Frogs are amphibious creatures, because while it will live some of its life on land, it must return to the water to reproduce.
2. Frogs are carnivores, therefore they eat meat. Small frogs eat insects like flies, mosquitoes, and/or moths.
3. Frogs breathe through two external nares, or nostrils on the outside of its head.
4. Fun Fact: Instead of drinking water, frogs soak it into their body through their skin.

External Anatomy
External Nares: Nostrils to help the specimen breathe
Mouth: Inside the mouth there are two vomerine teeth in the middle of the roof of the mouth and two maxillary teeth at the sides of the mouth.
Eyes: Both of the eyes have three lids. The third lid is called the nictitating membrane, and it is transparent
Tympanum: Eardrums so the frog can hear

Undisturbed Internal Anatomy

Intestines:  Absorb nutrients from food, collect waste, absorb water
Liver: Make bile to aid the digestive process

Kidneys: Filter Blood

Spinal Cord: Relays motor signals coming from the brain to the muscles of the body, and sensory information from the body to the brain. In this image, we illustrated the path from the spinal cord to a muscle in the left leg.

pGLO Transformation Lab

Purpose

The pGLO transformation lab was designed to transfer genes from different species into the bacteria E. Coli. We needed to insert two genes into the E. Coli, a gene resistant to ampicillin and a jellyfish fish gene that causes it to glow under UV light. We also counted how many colonies in each of the cultures and whether they showed the pGLO gene. There were four cultures, two with the pGLO gene and two without. The two with the pGLO gene were labeled LB/amp and LB/amp/ara, the two without the pGLO gene were labeled LB/amp and LB.

Introduction

This lab is all about gene transformation and cells ability to assimilate foreign DNA. Cells have a natural ability to accept genes as their own but to a degree. Genetic transformation is used in many areas of biotechnology. This ability to create new more successful organisms strongly supports the use of biotechnology. The lab was designed to show how effective biotechnology is can be in present day science. Some cells such as eukaryotes have more layers which make it harder for some genes to get through. However some cells such as prokaryotes have few layers such as E. Coli so their assimilation of foreign DNA is much easier. The goal of this lab is to get bacteria to grow, be ampicilin resistant and have it glow in the dark. To makes this happen, it was necessary to know how move genes from one organism to another. This only happens through the use of plasmids. Through the use of plasmids you are able to add genes that you desire and have the plasmid act as a medium or a method of transportig that gene. 

Method

In the lab we took the plasmid or the pGLO gene and put it in the +pGLO test tube, and didn't put any plasmid into the -pGLO tube. We then took the tubes put them on a rack and put them in a cup of ice for ten minutes after that we put E. Coli into the test tubes and gave the tubes a quick heat shock for fifty seconds and then left the tubes with the plasmid and E. Coli to incubate for ten minutes at room temperature before we added liquid broth or LB to all the cultures to help fuel cell division by giving them food to use. We took all the agar plates with the various combinations of the pGLO gene and ampicillin resistant gene and E. Coli and taped them upside down (to prevent condensation) and put them overnight into a 37*C incubator. 

Addition of E. Coli to the petri dishes.                             Tubes chilling on ice before being added.

           
                                           Our lab group's undesired results.

                                         Desired results from a different lab group.


Discussion
This pGLO transformation lab gave us unpredictable and highly undesired results. The intended goal was to have E. Coli grow and integrate the pGLO gene so it would glow under UV light. The data and results were not what we expecting even though we followed the instruction, however for such skewed results to occur there must've been a human error somewhere along the lab. Comparing our four plates we only had growth on one dish. The bacteria was a white opaque color. When we tested the E. Coli to see if it transformed accepting the pGLO by using the UV light we had no glow meaning the pGLO gene unsuccessfully integrated into the E. Coli. Looking over our data, results, and the conversation we had with our teacher we concluded that we did not add enough plasmid to get the E. Coli to transform. Finding out what our mistake was a critical component of realizing ow important certain steps were such as cooling the tubes and keeping them o the ice. The chilling kept the DNA closed, preventing it from mutating. Heating the tubes for fifty seconds was very crucial because it gave the plasmid an opportunity to enter the DNA when it was denatured and be assimilated into the E. Coli. Adding and following the directions precisely is really important for the success of a lab because if it doesn't work out your lab's results can be invalidated.

Conclusion
The pGLO transformation lab was a definite and obvious failure for our lab group as it did not glow under UV light as was the intended goal. Although we had disappointing results where our bacteria did not glow we did however have a minor success due to the fact we had some E. Coli growth. We followed the instructions correctly, but we have come to the conclusion that due to the fact we did not dd enough plasmid nor pGLO gene, E. Coli did not have anything to transform or assimilate as it's own DNA.

Reference
"PGLO Transformation Lab." Flashcards. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

"PGLO Transformation Lab." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

"PGLO." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

Restriction Mapping

Introduction: The goal of this lab to see and compare the DNA sequence strand to three others. The original strand will be placed next to the other strands and compare and see what sites are close and related. We used three restriction enzymes Pst1, Hpa1, and Ssp1. These were the different restriction enzyme digesters. Then after setting up the DNA it is key and essential to store it in the electrophoresis chamber over night to get the results and look over. 

Purpose: The purpose of the restriction mapping of plasmid lab is to know that a restriction map of a piece of DNA is like a fragment of the DNA. The importance of knowing the number of cuts sites present in DNA sequence for each restriction enzyme, but the needed positions of those cut sites relative to another. These steps make it easier to determine similar and unfamiliar DNA sequence strands. 

Methods: 

In this lab, we had 3 different restriction enzymes in different combinations, and 5 identical DNA samples. We were provided with 5 different tubes that contained the combinations. We then took very small pipettes and placed the samples into the gell's wells. These are the specific combinations of what was placed in each well.

1. Marker Lane

2. BLANK

3. DNA & Pst1
4. DNA & Pst1/Hpa1
5. DNA & Pst1/Ssp1
6. DNA & Pst1/Hpa1/Ssp1

Once the mixtures were placed in the wells, we put the gel tray into the electrophoresis chamber. Once in the chamber, an electricity is run through all of the gels to move the DNA through the gel. The smaller pieces moved farther than the bigger pieces that stay closer to the wells. After the process was finished, we were able to put our gel on a "light-box" so we could see the bands and measure the distance of the pieces movement and compared them to the marker lane. Pictures of the gel on the light box are below.

Data:

This picture shows the distances of the marker lane as they compare to the other lanes. 

Discussion: The restriction mapping of plasmid DNA gave us near perfect results. We had a variation of strands and cutting sites. When looking at our gel tray on the light box, you can see the relationship between the sites. For an example the last strand has the same distance of cutting site. It is difficult to see the multiply cutting sites on the fourth row. This shows how the relationship between each strand of DNA differs for each other. We consider the consistencies of our trends to be very similar. No one strand is far different. Yes, there will be different cut sites, but nothing was drastically abnormal. The results from this lab were great. Anyone looking at the results could tell the correlation between each one. The results came as we predicted and how they should actually look. Again the whole of Lab Group 2 views this restriction mapping of plasmid DNA lab as a complete success, and as one of our better resulting labs. 

Conclusion: The restriction mapping of plasmid lab was a success. As the results were close to perfect, we got everything we thought we would see, and it had great variation. The lab was so successful due to the fact that we followed the instructions to the T.  When we examined the stained gel over the light it made the cut sites clear as possible. We consider this lab VERY successful. 

Reference: 

● "Circular Restriction Mapping." Circular Restriction Mapping.N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. 

● "Restriction Map." Wikipedia.Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. 

● "Restriction Mapping." Restriction Mapping.N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.

DNA Extract

DNA Strawberry Extract Lab
1. The first step to extract DNA from a strawberry is to correctly have all the supplies and tools needed to make this lab possible.
Ziplock Bag
1 Strawberry
Dish soap solution
Counter store Alcohol solution
Test tube
Coffee filter
Pipette
2. Next, take the strawberry and place it into the ziplock bag. Once the strawberry is in the bag, zip it up. Smash the strawberry into little pieces inside the bag.

 3. Once the strawberry is smashed into little pieces, then open the bag and pour in the soap solution. Recluse the bag and continue to smash for 30 seconds.

4. Take the coffee filter and place it into the test tube. Once the filter is placed into the test tube, open the ziplock bag and pour the strawberry solution in the filter. Let the the strawberry solution drain out.

5. Once the solution is drain into the test tube. Take a pipette and suck up the alcohol solution and then slowly pour it on the side of the test tube. Once you have pour all the solution then let the test tube settle for 5 minutes.

9. Lastly carefully place out the DNA from the solution using the stirrer.