Osmosis Questions!

1. What is osmosis? Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from a higher concentration to a lower concentration through a semi permeable membrane.
2. What is diffusion? Diffusion is the movement of substances from a higher concentration to a lower concentration through a permeable membrane.
3. What is the difference between the two? The difference is that osmosis is more specifically water molecules, while diffusion is the general substance.
4. Is energy used in either process? No, energy is not needed.
5. What is a concentration gradient?  Give an example. A concentration gradient is when there is an uneven distribution between substances over a distance.
6. How do the terms solute and solvent fit in learning about osmosis and diffusion? Solutes and Solvents are the substances that are the results of osmosis and diffusion. The Solutes are the substances being dissolved while the Solvents are the substances that dissolve the Solutes. They are the two concentrations left after osmosis and diffusion occur.
7. Is water always a solvent?  Why or why not? Water is always solvent because it cannot be dissolved.

What I Learned From The Osmosis Websites!

Osmosis was pretty confusing at first, but now I think I know what it is. Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from a higher concentration to a lower concentration, through a semi permeable membrane. It's basically diffusion, but more specifically with water. I also learned about the Isotonics, the Hypertonics, and the Hypotonics. Hypertonics are more solute, Hypotonics are more solvent, and Isotonics are fixed. I learned about the concentration gradients, too! A concentration gradient is when there is an uneven distribution between substances across a distance. It takes energy to go against a concentration gradient but it doesn't take energy to flow with it. That's what I learned about osmosis in the websites!

What i Learned From Six Kingdoms Notes

The activity that we did with the six kingdoms was very interesting. I learned about the kingdom I researched and the other five kingdoms. I researched Protista. It's the most diverse kingdom of the six, ranging from parasites to algae. Did you know that Protista can produce sexually? They actually produce spores when the male and females join together. An example would be the Ulva, which reproduce sexually.

I learned some stuff on the other kingdoms too; though I do have some questions that need clearing. My notes say that Plantae are autotrophs, but what about Venus Fly Traps? Don't they capture flies and devour them? It's a question that's been bugging me for a bit.

What I Learned From The Super Duper Cell Websites!

I learned a lot from our activity on Thursday. There was this one fact that astonished me; my body is made up of 100,000,000,000,000 cells! That's more than America's debt! I also learned about Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic cells. I knew what they were, I just didn't learn their scientific name. There was a diagram on a bacteria, and I learned that there were weird organelles in it, like the flagellum.

I also learned things that fixed my head a little. I first thought that the vacuole stores wastes that the lysosomes carry, but now I know that the vacuole stores food and water for the cell. Why would the cell have to store waste; what was I thinking? I also didn't know that there was another organelle in the animal cell called the "cytoskeleton" It's like the skeleton of the cell and provides shape and support.

Those are a few examples of the vast knowledge that I absorbed out of this activity. I hope we get to do this again sometime.