Project Objective
To understand the scientific method by modifying one variable to further investigate the properties of different curdling agents, and the process of cheese production.
Key Concepts and Terms
Macromolecules: Biological molecules which are polymers (stacked/chained molecules built of molecular sub-units, monomers) which include Carbohydrates, Lipids, Amino Acids and Nucleic Acids.
Carbohydrates: Molecules used for energy, short-term storage, forming cell structures, and serve as indicators. Carbohydrates are sugars, which can be monosaccharides, disaccharides, or polysaccharides.
Nucleic Acids: Designing and "designating" molecules.
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Application to Biology
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Macromolecule Tests
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Monosaccharide Test
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Lab Write-Up
Reflection
Personally, the project itself was not as bad as I had thought it would be. Thinking about designing a lab, we faced the issue of coming to a group consensus on what we wanted to find out. Interestingly enough, once that was sorted, I expected that writing and performing a lab would be an extremely repetitively refining process , but oddly we were able to complete the lab without much hardship. For the macromolecule testing lab, we definitely had some set-backs. Although we ha assigned ourselves with a test to run, some of our group members had neglected their responsibility, delaying the process. In addition, our cheese sample had been cleaned by the next class, causing us to test for string cheese rather than studying the properties of different curdling agents from our samples. This brought another issue, not having the focus for all group members to participate in the lab, causing a few people to carry more of the load than the others. Beside this group communication went fine, but personal responsibility was lacking. I learned that I need to: do more check-ins with my groupmates, by creating an agenda to hold the group to a standard of work-progress, and work more effectively, so that in the event of having low productivity, the end product won't suffer, by calling the team into lunch meetings before being in the thick of the issue. Overall the experiments were able to be completed, with some minor errors, but better than I had expected.
- Nihal Nazeem.
- Nihal Nazeem.