Unit 5 Reflection

This unit was about the digestive system and our metabolism. We leaned in detail what happens to our food after we swallow it and how we use our hormones to control this process. As always, we discussed how the structure of our organs in the digestive system affect the function that they complete. Learning about the metabolism was very interesting. We extract energy from food in three stages. The first, large molecules are broken down into smaller ones. The second stage is where smaller molecules are turned into Acetyl CoA. In the third stage the Acetyl CoA travels along the Krebs cycle and turns into ATP. We also learned how our metabolism can be affected, such as Diabetes. Essentially, diabetes is when a lack of insulin is produced, resulting in high blood glucose levels. There are two different types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is usually developed at birth or in early childhood and requires the person to inject him or herself with insulin. Type 2 diabetes is typically found in adults and often begins as insulin resistance. Diet and exercise along with medication can usually bring blood glucose levels back down. The endocrine system is all about how different hormones can trigger or regulate different parts of our body. We have all sorts of glands that store and release when needed different hormones. Steroid hormones are lipid soluble and diffuse through cell membranes, where as non-steroid hormones are not lipid soluble and are received by receptors external of the cell membrane. The lymphatic system's job is to gather waste in fluids so we can properly get rid of it. Lymph vessels are throughout our body similarly to our blood vessels, and is moved along by skeletal muscles. Dead cells and excess fluids are transported away. 
I think this unit went a little fast. I found sometimes it was slightly overwhelming trying to retain all of the information, but that just means i need to study harder for the test. I thought the digestive system lab was interesting but that was the only one we did. 
So far my New Years Goals are still progressing along. I haven't gotten any bigger but I am going to start lifting more once basketball ends. I have a C right now because I didn't finish the digestive system lab ;(