Tag Archives: membranes

An egg as a model cell

egg_experiment

Image source

A chicken egg with the shell removed is often used as a model to show how osmosis works – the experiment we did at Federation University, Ballarat, showed how the eggs gain or lose mass depending on the concentration of the solution that they are placed in. It is important to know that the membrane of the egg is not a true biological membrane or plasma membrane. In fact, a chicken egg is a very specialized cell and the membrane is actually composed of keratin fibres – the same protein that makes up human hair, finger nails and rhino horns. Thanks to Andrew Douch for finding this article about chicken egg membranes, with scanning electron micrograph images.

Notice in the image above, the egg in 5% saline solution sinks (indicating that the egg contents are more dense than the solution) and the egg in the 10% saline solution floats (indicating that the egg contents are less dense than the solution). This image should give you a clue as to which egg gains water and which egg loses water by osmosis.

Creating model macromolecules

Biology_sweets

Students enjoyed this class, consolidating their knowledge of carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids using soft lollies and toothpicks today. They were able to show that disaccharides are made up of two monosaccharides and polysaccharides are made up of many sugar units (using fruit pastilles) and that lipids consist of a glycerol unit (jersey caramel) and 3 fatty acid chains (jelly snakes). Phospholipids consist of a phosphate group (marshmallow), a glycerol (jersey caramel) and two fatty acid chains. DNA consists of a sugar (fruit pastille) and phosphate (marshmallow) backbone and pairs of nitrogenous bases (jelly joiners), arranged in a double helix. Some showed the two hydrogen bonds between Adenine and Thymine and the three hydrogen bonds between Cytosine and Guanine.

As our next lesson will not be until after the VCE Study Camp, please continue to read through Chapter 2 (Membranes and Cell Organelles), as the practical experiment we are doing at Federation University is all about cell membranes. You will need to understand the following terms and definitions:

  • prokaryotic and eukaryotic
  • apoptosis
  • plasma membrane
  • phospholipid bilayer
  • partially permeable
  • diffusion and osmosis (passive transport)
  • hydrophilic and hydrophobic (or lipophilic)
  • channel-mediated and carrier-mediated
  • active transport
  • phagocytosis, pinocytosis, exocytosis and endocytosis
  • ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum and golgi complex
  • lysosomes, peroxisomes and endosomes
  • chloroplasts – including lamella, grana and thylakoids

I suggest you create a set of Quizlet flashcards using these terms and definitions.