For biology, it has actually allowed me to have a greater understanding of immunology and diseases and well as introduced me to the world of microbiology. In the past, I did not know anything about diseases and merely thought they were just caused by viruses and did not know anything about our immune system. However, after this sabbatical, it has allowed me to know more about the different types of microorganisms, as well as how diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses and protozoan. I was also able to apply this in my life - I know now that warming up cold food might lead to food poisoning as it would accelerate the reproduction of any bacteria present. We also learnt about the accidental discovery of penicillin and that antibiotics have actually no effect on viruses, unlike bacteria! After covering the topic of micro-orgamisms, we then touched on how the immune system actually works, with the two different types of responses - the specific immune response as well as the non-specific immune response. We also learnt how vaccinations can help us build artificial active immunity and how this actually differs from natural active immunity. Lastly, we learnt about how allergies occur, and how we can ensure safe blood transfusion.
After all the theory parts, we finally moved on to the practical part, where we were going to explore more about the ELIZA (Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay), a test that can detect antibodies in oru blood to determine if we have been exposed to a disease. This ELIZA Test has been used in the real world to detect new and emerging disease as it can quickly and easily verify whether the patient has been exposed to the virus. This can prevent the disease from spreading quickly.
Here are some of the pictures taken from the experiment on ELIZA.
When we came back the next day, we covered the final few topics on microbiology and looked into the microscope to discover the structure of bacteria. We also did gram staining for the identification of microorganisms (to distinguish between different groups of bacteria) and looked at the different bacteria shapes and arrangements, before ending the biology part of this sabbatical. This sabbatical (biology) has increased my knowledge on bacteria and viruses, and also gave me the opportunity to explore the different tests like gram staining and ELIZA. Through these experiments, we were able to develop a greater understanding of the topic of microbiology, which can be applied in our daily lives.
Physics
For physics, we first had to learn more about distance and displacement before we conducted our experiment the next day. we were first introduced to the term of scalar and vector. We were also introduced to some fascinating distances and length - light years, the Astronomical Unit (AU), as well as Planck's natural units of time and length, in which nothing in the Universe can be smaller than these units. I was completely taken away by these units as I did not know that things could go so small - I only thought that the smallest thing on earth is a cell, which is not even anywhere near Plank's natural units. After learning more about these units and quantities, we then learnt more about the difference between displacement and distance. And I realised that this was applicable in map reading, when we are asked to final the direct distance and actual distance between two points on a map. We then went on to cover more and more practical questions relating to distance and displacement to make sure that we were very clear about the difference between teh two, as we would be conducting an experiment which revolves around these two terms the next day. many of these questions can be seen in our daily lives, like in a long jump event, a running track and even in cases of recruit punishment. These practices have allowed me to have a greater understanding of how distance and displacement can actually be seen in our daily lives.
The next day, we were told that we were going to conduct an experiment for the entire day. I was very shocked as I wondered how an experiment can be lasting an entire day. My queries were answered when the teacher told us that there were 3 parts to this experimental process - the pre-experimental process, the experimental process as well as the post-experimental process. These 3 processes were very important as we must get to know all the variables do some preparation before an experiment, and also know what data has to be collected and what are the aims for the experiment. After the experiment, we have to collate all the data learnt and draw conclusions from these data, before reflecting on the concepts learnt in the experiment. In this case, we explored the differences between displacement, velocity and acceleration, as well as how their graphs can relate to each other. We plotted graphs to better understand the results, and drew conclusions based on these graphs. All in all, I felt that the physics part of the sabbatical was extremely useful and interesting, as I was able to know why it is so important to have the 3 parts of the experimental process. I was also able to learn how to plot a graph correctly as we did not do this often in our Science classes. It was also an enriching experience for me to get tom know more about distance and displacement, as well as the Constant Velocity Model.
Chemistry
In chemistry, we learnt about the old and new atomic model. Although I had learnt this topic in Term 1 before, we did not venture into the topic of the different types of atomic model. We learnt about how the atomic model developed into Bohr's model of the atom. From John Dalton's atomic theory, to Thomson's Model (discovered electrons), to Rutherford's plum-pudding model (discovered protons and nucleus), to James Chadwick's model (discovered neutrons) and finally to the Bohr's Model of the atom, which we study today. We saw how scientists then were able to discover these components in an atom using different techniques. Without their awesome discoveries, we would not even know that there is something called an atom in our universe today. However, there is limitation in Bohr's Model - it only explained one-electron systems and was unable to explain the emission spectra of atoms with two or more electrons.
And thus, there came teh quantum mechanical model of the atom, which was a completely different type of atomic model, which describes atoms as having certain quantities of energy because o f the wave-like properties of the electron. This was after Erwin Schrödinger, an Austrian physicist, used mathematics and statistics to combine de Broglie's idea of matter waves and Einstein's idea of quantized energy particles, known as photons. I also found the probability function of finding an equation very interesting as the teacher used the Schrödinger's Cat to explain it to us, allowing us to better understand this probability function. We also learnt about the four different quantum numbers. The first quantum number describes the orbital energy level and size, the second quantum number describes the orbital shapes, the third quantum number describes the orbital orientation, while the fourth quantum number describes the property of the electron. By combing all these quantum numbers together, this is where the magic begins - we will be able to find the position of the atom in the periodic table, just by using the details of the valence electrons. Although I spent a very long time figuring out how this works, I find that it was very interesting to see how the valence electrons of an atom can help to determine its position in the periodic table. Quantum Mechanics is the broadest and best theory in physics, covering almost all areas. Quantum Mechanics Rocks!
The next day, we did an experiment to identify metals in unknown solids using a flame test. Just by heating a particular ion gives you a flame of all sorts of colour, ranging from purple to pale orange to red. It was simply amazing. And after finding out what colour flame the ion gives when heated, we used this information to determine unknown solids. It was simply amazing and breathtaking!
Here are some of the pictures taken during the experiment.
No comments:
Post a Comment