SCIENCE LESSONS 5- 8

CONCEPTION (Fertilized egg cell) AND GESTATION (Forming of baby):

GERMINAL DEVELOPMENT:

❖ It starts at the time of conception, when the sperm and the egg combine to form a zygote. During
this stage, the zygote begins to divide in order to implant into the uterine wall. Once this is complete,
the embryonic stage begins.
❖ The Germinal Period: The First 14 Days
➢ Zygote travels down the fallopian tube
➢ Zygote duplicates and multiplies
➢ When it grows to about 100 cells > BLASTOCYST
➢ At about a week the 100 cells in the blastocyst separate in two distinct masses.
■ Outer cells become placenta
■ Inner cells form a nucleus that will be the embryo.

➔ 0 - 2 Weeks
➔ Zygote (1 cell) > Blastocyst (2 cells/ Implanted in the uterus and undergoes mitosis) (32 cells)
➔ Zygote is the union of sperm and egg cells.

EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT (EMBRYOGENESIS):

❖ After fertilization, the zygote undergoes rapid mitotic divisions and develops into an embryo. From
this until the 8th week of pregnancy, the embryo forms and develops because of embryogenesis.
❖ NEURULATION: (creation of brain and spinal cord)
➢ Critical morphogenetic event occurring during the 4th week of human gestation, converting
the previously developed neural plate into the ectoderm covered neural tube that will
eventually differentiate into the brain and spinal cord.
❖ GASTRULATION:
➢ Process by which the bilaminar disk differentiates into a trilaminar disc made up of the 3
primary germ layers: the ectoderm, mesoderm, and the endoderm.
➢ ECTODERM: (the external layer)
■ Skin cells of epidermis
■ Neuron of the brain
■ Pigment cells
➢ MESODERM: (middle layer)
■ Skeletal muscle
■ smooth muscle
■ cardiac muscle
■ Red blood cells
■ Tubule cell of Kidney
 ➢ ENDODERM: (internal layer)
■ Pancreatic cells
■ Alveolar cells of lungs
■ Thyroid cells

➔ 3 - 8 Weeks
➔ Organogenesis > formation of major organs

FETAL DEVELOPMENT:

❖ 9 weeks to birth
❖ Beginning from the ninth week of gestation, the developing human is called a fetus until birth.
❖ 9 weeks - fetal stage begins
❖ 12 weeks - sex organs differentiate
❖ 16 weeks - fingers and toes develop
❖ 20 weeks - hearing begins
❖ 24 weeks - lungs begin to develop
❖ 28 weeks - brain grows rapidly
❖ 32 weeks - bones fully develop
❖ 36 weeks - muscles fully develop
❖ 40 weeks - full term development

BIRTH / THE 3 STAGES OF LABOR:

❖ Stage 1: Dilation (fully dilated cervix)

❖ Stage 2: Birth
❖ Stage 3: Afterbirth (placenta detaches and exits vagina)
➢ Placenta leaves with baby
❖ Lanugo - plastic covering the baby
❖ Dilation of cervix - widening

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM:

❖ Major control system of homeostasis and the “main processing center”
 ❖ Provides monitoring, response and regulation of all systems in the human body and
other organisms.
❖ CNS and PNS work together to make rapid changes in your body in response to
stimuli.

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM: (brain and spinal cord)

❖ Central because it is the brain and spinal cord that are primarily responsible for processing
sensory information.

THE PARTS OF THE BRAIN:

➔ Largest part is the cerebrum which initiates and coordinates movement and regulates
temperature. It also enables speech, judgment, thinking and reasoning, problem-solving,
emotions and learning. (others relate to function, hearing, touch, and other senses)
➔ Cerebellum - Aristotle referred to it as the small brain based on appearance and is involved with
movement and posture, although also associated with a variety of thinking processes. The second
largest part, coordinates the actions of the muscles and maintains balance. (balance equilibrium,
and posture)
➔ Brainstem - connects the cerebrum to the spinal cord and cerebellum. Composed of the midbrain,
pons, and medulla oblongata
◆ MIDBRAIN - Visual and auditory reflexes
◆ PONS - helps control respiratory functions
◆ MEDULLA OBLONGATA - controls involuntary actions such as heartbeat, breathing and
blood pressure.
➔ THE DIENCEPHALON - consists of three structures, thalamus (relay station), hypothalamus (link
bet, endocrine and nervous system, monitors internal condition), and the epithalamus (connects
limbic system to other parts of brain). (these effectively enclose the third ventricle)

THE SPINAL CORD:

➔ Relays nerve impulses to and from the brain
➔ The brain sends impulses down the spinal cord to the motor nerves of the PNS

PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM: (nerves)

❖ Dendrites - branch like structure and the one that receives information/signal from its neighboring
 neuron.
❖ Nucleus - command center of neuron
❖ Cell body - part where nucleus lies in neuron
❖ Axon - structure that connects cell body to the axon terminals and transmits information from
dendrites to the axon terminals
❖ Schwann’s cells - responsible for processing information received by the dendrites
❖ Myelin sheath - covers/surrounds the schwann’s cells and acts as protection
❖ Node of Ranvier - connects the schwann’s cells together

DNA: DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID, THE BLUEPRINT OF LIFE

DNA - Contains 2 strands, Adenine:Thymine and Cytosine:Guanine (4 nitrogenous bases)

“A STRUCTURE OF DEOXYRIBOSE NUCLEIC ACID,” by Watson and Crick

❖ They described it as a double helix that contained two long, helical strands wound together. In their
model, each DNA strand contained individual units called bases, and the bases with one DNA strand
matched the bases along the other DNA strand.

❖ Unknown to Franklin, Watson and Crick saw some of her unpublished data, including the beautiful
"photo 51," shown to Watson by Wilkins. This X-ray diffraction picture of a DNA molecule was
Watson's inspiration (the pattern was clearly a helix). Using Franklin's photograph and their own
 data, Watson and Crick created their famous DNA model. Franklin's contribution was not
acknowledged, but after her death Crick said that her contribution had been critical.

NUCLEOTIDE:

❖ Basic building block of nucleic acid

❖ Has three components: Base, Sugar (Deoxyribose), and Phosphate Residue

RNA - RIBONUCLEIC ACID’s primary function is to create proteins via translation. 1 strand, A:U and C:G

DNA VS RNA:
 HOW IS PROTEIN MADE?

DNA —> RNA —> PROTEIN

DNA REPLICATION: Process by which a double-stranded DNA molecule is copied to produce two identical
DNA molecules.
KEY PLAYERS:
➔ HELICASE - the unzipping enzyme
➔ DNA POLYMERASE - the builder
➔ PRIMASE - the initializer
➔ LIGASE - the sealer

LEADING STRAND VS LAGGING STRAND:

>Leading - Smooth travel or continuous
>Lagging - stops or lags, discontinuous
❖ A.A - Amino Acids (Individual) are the monomer of protein, the building block
❖ Codon - three nucleotides which form a unit
❖ Protein - when formed as a group
TRANSCRIPTION - process of making an RNA copy of a gene’s DNA sequence. This copy called messenger
RNA (mRNA), carries the gene protein information encoded in DNA.

TRANSLATION - process by which a protein is synthesized from the information contained in a molecule of
messenger RNA (mRNA).

THEORIES OF EVOLUTION: CHARLES DARWIN (Et. al)

Evolution - gradual change in a population’s genetic and physical traits.
 THEORY OF ACQUIRED TRAITS by JEAN-BAPTISTE LAMARCK

❖ A theory that physiological changes acquired during an organism’s lifetime can be passed down
to the offspring.
❖ “LAMARCKISM”
❖ Physical traits can be changed but it is not possible through genetics.

THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION by CHARLES DARWIN

❖ “DARWINISM”
❖ Natural Selection in action
➢ Survival of the Fittest - Herbert Spencer
❖ “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” - provided the most acceptable explanation
as to how living things evolve.
❖ Organisms that are more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on the
genes that aided their success.

GENETIC DRIFT - change in frequency of an existing gene variant in the population due to random
chance.
❖ Founder Effect - a small group of individuals is separated from the original population.
❖ Bottleneck Effect - occurs when most of the population is destroyed.

GENE FLOW - exchange of genes between two populations.

EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION:

FOSSIL RECORDS - remains or traces of ancient living organisms preserved in rocks.

HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURE - body parts that are present in different animal species but are modified to
perform a different function.

VESTIGIAL STRUCTURES - anatomical feature or behavior that no longer seems to have a purpose in the
current form of an organism.

GENETICS - DNA sequence comparisons can show how different species are related. (DNA SEQUENCING)

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to
change.” BY CHARLES DARWIN