AS OCR Biology Planning Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

AS OCR Biology Planning Exercise - Essay Example The blue indicator will go colourless in the presence of active enzymes, therefore indicating living cells are present and are respiring. Reagents: 10% suspension of yeast – in the instructions we were told we could use either dried/fresh baker’s yeast. I will use fresh baker’s yeast due to possible problems with dried baker’s yeast e.g. clumping into grains so harder to count due to dehydration. c. Prepare water bath at 20, 40, 60 and 80Â °C (Independent variables). It’s better to raise the temperature of the water baths gradually as a rapid increase can overwhelm the enzymes and denature them, meaning unreliable results. a. Take 1ml of the yeast solution from each test tube. Transfer the sample to ice bath. The purpose is to reduce the metabolism and reproduction of the yeast but keep them alive. Drop 1 ml of methylene blue respectively and wait for 30 seconds. (Do the same to the control and identify the existence of yeast in the glucose solution.) All of the above procedures were used in my preliminary and the difficulty I found was in counting the yeast cells as accurately as possible with using the microscope. I later discovered another piece of equipment could have been used to measure the total number of cells, called a haemocytometer. I obtained the following results: What the trend shows is that as temperature increases the % of Yeast cells that remain active decrease. Therefore we say the two values are inversely proportional. From the point the temperature reaches 40Â °C there is a rapid drop in Yeast viability as the enzymes become denatured and the high temperatures interefere with the shapes of the active sites. So what I can conclude is that the tempertature of interest for the main investigation is between 40Â ºC to 50Â ºC. Therefore for the main experiment I can can separate the temperature into groups: 40-42, 42-44, 44-46, 46-48, 48-50. I can therefore

Innocence Lost in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas :: John Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is based on John Boyne's book of the same name, which I'd read a few years ago. The cover of the book gave away little of the plot, allowing the reader to discover just what it was about while they were reading it. For instance, I don't think it's ever directly mentioned that the book is set in World War II and that the father of central character Bruno is a Nazi. That gradual unveiling of the plot can't be done in the film - as soon as we see the swastikas in the first frame of the film, and catch a glimpse of Bruno's dad (Thewlis) we know exactly what he is. And we also know the significance of the striped pyjamas worn by the old man who peels potatoes in the kitchen. The story starts with eight-year-old Bruno (Butterfield) annoyed to discover his father has been given a new posting, to a house in the country. He misses his friends until he spots what he believes is a farm through the woods in the backyard. But it's an odd farm, the people all wear those striped pyjamas. Thinking there might be some children to play with Bruno asks his mother (Farmiga) if he can go and have a look. She immediately tells him he is not to leave the yard. But curiosity gets the better of him and he sneaks out through the woods to the edge of the "farm", which is surrounded by an electric fence. Sitting on the other side is another eight-year-old, Shmuel (brilliantly played by Scanlon). The pair get talking and, soon enough, Bruno becomes a regular visitor to the fence. Until that heartbreaking conclusion. The film is largely told from the perspective of Bruno and Shmuel, neither of whom comprehend the true nature of the farm. Indeed, neither understand much of what is happening in Germany at the time. His parents, who most definitely do know what's going on, steer Bruno away from the ugly truth of the "farm" in their backyard. This provides an interesting insight. The father in particular fully supports the persecution of the Jews - to him it is a normal part of life - yet prefers to change the subject rather than offering his son an explanation. It makes you wonder if it's because there's still some small part of him that doubts his actions. Also interesting is the attitude of Bruno's mother when she sees smoke from the camp's chimneys and discovers what they're actually burning.

History of Western Civilization Essay

Civilizations of societies started long before the times Jesus in the Middle East especially in the ancient Greek and Roman Empires. In the 18th century most European countries followed the suit and underwent changes from pre- industrialized to industrialized nations characterized by social and economic changes. There were a lot of technological innovations which led to increased energy production and thus large scale production of most products with ease. Industrialization has over the years been linked to some factors which enhance fast changes for instance cheap skilled labor, political stability, presence of raw materials and available markets of the products produced. Industrial revolution was experienced in England to the northwest and the midlands. People used to make their own furniture, clothes and equipments until industrialization took over whereby they could buy goods already made from the industries. History of Western Civilization England underwent several civilizations in which there was increased agricultural output (Agrarian revolution) which led to increased population density and eventually led to the industrial revolution. New techniques were initiated and allowed farmers to produce more yield than there before. As time passed machines and other equipments were produced by skilled personnel who sold them to those who were specialized in agriculture. The business to make machines and other related equipments boomed and led formation of a class of people who worked in the industries as they expanded. These machines were very advantageous because they substituted the human job since it did not involve a lot of work and therefore people did not get tired fast. Those who worked in the industries earned more than those who were specialized on agriculture. Most of these industries were located in the urban centers and they would obtain their raw materials from the farmers in the country side. Industrialization in England led to numerous increases in population leading to less arable land and therefore some of the people migrated to other countries where they introduced the new techniques for agriculture and industry (Landes, 1969). However, most of the skilled personnel were not allowed to immigrate to the England’s new colonies so that England would remain superior in technological advances. Industrialization in England was characterized by many factors which made this country to be first to be industrialized. Agrarian, commercial and cottage revolutions greatly enhanced the fast social and economic changes in this country leading to a lot of extra money which facilitated the improvement of infrastructure. The industries spread all over England and Europe and since the number of workers were reducing as a result of immigration to England colonies, they resulted in taking people from the countries that were still not in the process of social and economic change especially in Africa and made them to work in their farms and industries as slaves. As more and more industries were built the private sector was also changing as money for expansion and setting up of more industries was needed. This led to the emergence of banks and other financial institutions which financed all these industrialization activities. These institutions gave loans to people to expand and introduce more industries and then repay later with the profits obtained. At around this time of industrialization most people used wood as a source of energy for the industries. The number of industries increased enormously and therefore the number of trees reduced drastically and made the people to think of alternative source of energy. They came up with coal which was used in the industries as an alternative and could be even used in homes. The coal mines were usually flooded with water at times and a method of pumping water out of the mines was innovated but the coal would not generate power. This method was not embraced and therefore coal was not a lasting solution and more innovations needed to be initiated for instance in the textile industry. Textile industry in England was the first industry to be mechanized and utilized wool which obtained from large scale sheep farms in the country. Weaving was usually done in cottages by skilled people after which the yarn was taken to the industries where it would be made in to clothes. England by then conquered many colonies where they would grow cotton in addition to importing cotton and used to substitute the wool. At around 1773 John Kay introduced a machine he named the flying shuttle which made it possible for a person to easily weave. In the textile industry machines that utilized water for energy were introduced. This machinery could reduce the cost of production and at the same time increase the rate of production. These measures were taken when the cost of production started to sky rocket reducing the profits of the merchants and the merchants did not want to raise the goods prices in a quest to maintain their customers. Transportation in England was favored by the fact that it had many rivers and natural harbors which greatly reduced transportation costs because rivers covered most areas and therefore goods could be transported to most parts of the country. Canals were also built on rivers which were not naturally navigable and also facilitated easy transportation of raw materials from farms in England and from distant colonies and transportation of finished products from the industries to the consumers. Tram ways which were pulled by horses were also used especially when transporting goods inland until when trains were made and used instead because they relatively faster. Due to the limitation of the road transport some people decided to borrow loans from the financial institutions ton repair them and then use toll fees to repay the loans. This would also ensure easy transportation of goods in areas where the rivers and coastline was far away. Improvement of roads led to introduction of stage coaches which would transport even people from one area to another. Transport was boosted with the introduction and improvement of railway. The first type of railway was wooden and did not last long until when iron plates were put on top of the wood and the railway became more durable. Another factor that facilitated faster industrialization of England is its isolation from the European mainland. This helped this country to evade the wars that were occurring at this time for instance the Napoleon war. They concentrated more on development and industrialization of their country till the wars were over. After the war the British took advantage of selling their products to the other European countries and the Americas at relatively cheap prices thereby making a lot of profits. The private sector with the government support also helped a lot by offering loans to people for expansion and initiation of new industries and for the repair of roads which enhanced faster movement of goods between places. Conclusion Civilization of England in many ways has influenced the modern world with only improvement of the machineries that were made during the period of industrialization. The support from the government and relative stability of the country made it to develop even faster without any worries of attacks during the war of Napoleon in the mainland. Advancements in technology led to improvement and construction of new transport systems and infrastructure which also facilitated movement of raw materials and finished products to the several destinations within England and other countries. Civilization in England led to migration of people to the urban centers where they would be able to obtain jobs in the urban centers. This situation is the same even in the modern days where especially young people move to the towns and cities in search of better jobs in the industries. References Jackson, S. Western Civilization: A Brief History. 4th Edition. Cengage Learning, 2007. Jacob, F. The Development of Western Civilization : A study in Ethical, Economic and Political Kenneth, P. Steven, T. The world that trade created: society, culture, and the world economy, 1400- the present. 2nd Edition. M. E Sharpe, 1999. Richard, B. Society and Economy in Modern Britain 1700-1850. Routledge, 1991. Evolution. The University of Chicago Press, 1906. Roy, P. David, L. The Cambridge History of Science: Eighteenth-century science. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Jnana Yoga Caught My Attraction - 867 Words

Initially, Jnana stood out due to the implication that Moksha can be achieved using knowledge. Intrigued, I was under the impression that this meant to use facts to understand parts of life that are complicated or that cause stress. Much to my surprise, I came to the realization that the knowledge they speak of is not fact, but a way of thinking. Regardless of this hiccup, this path to Moksha still displayed relevancy to my lifestyle. Jnana yoga caught my attraction because I was operating under the assumption that this was a way to put my love of learning to use. That is, I thought one is required to learn various facts about different subjects to grasp Jnana. My misunderstanding of this led to some research, which was very beneficial and resulted in my increased awareness of the implications of Jnana to my own life. One of the important applications of Jnana yoga is to discriminate what is real from the unreal (Swami Vidyananda,Using Your Discrimination in Daily Life: Youtube). To do this, one must figure out what is real and existing in their life at the moment. This allows a person to be mindful of their life and to take in their immediate surrounding instead of worrying about imminent future. Another way to look at this is to come to the realization that nothing in life is guaranteed and that the situation being fretted over may not come to fruition for a number of reasons. The time spent fretting over the nonexistent future could have been spent enjoying life and