A. Factual knowledge
- Please describe, briefly, one new piece of factual knowledge that you acquired or developed so far in the course.I learned that cleavage is a stage of development where cells of an embryo divide but they do not grow in size. This means that there will be many more cells but the total size will remain the same.
- Please describe how you know that you have acquired or developed this piece of factual knowledge, and provide some evidence for it.I have heard of this term before and I knew it was a stage in development of an embryo. From a previous class, I only remembered this term as the division of cells. I did not however remember that cleavage had a more specific meaning. I learned that the cells divide but I did not know that the cells did not grow which means the embryo stays about the same size throughout this stage. Now I am more aware that cleavage means more than just a division of cells.
B. Conceptual knowledge
- Please describe, briefly, one new piece of conceptual knowledge that you acquired or developed so far in the course.I learned that enhancers and silencers cannot be determined by the DNA sequence alone; they may have different effects depending on the protein that bind to these regions of the DNA. In one cell, a protein that binds to this region may increase gene expression (enhancer), while in another cell, a different protein that binds to this same region may decrease gene expression (silencer).
- Please describe how you know that you have acquired or developed this piece of conceptual knowledge, and provide some evidence for it.I now understand that I cannot say an enhancer is an enhancer for across all cells. A method of classifying these regulatory regions is through experiments. You must test if this region increases or decreases gene expression in order classify them as enhancers or silencers. A better term for these parts of the DNA is regulatory regions since this is a more neutral term. I am now aware that I cannot just assume that an enhancer would act like an enhancer in a different cell type.
C. Skills
- Please describe, briefly, one skill that you acquired or developed/are developing so far in the course.Although it is not in this course, I have learned how to make concept sketches in my EOSC 112 course. By drawing and annotating, you can connect key points together visually in order to make a concept map of things learned in class. There is an emphasis on finding and drawing relationships between different points taught in class.
- Please describe how you know that you have acquired or developed this skill, and provide some evidence for it.At the beginning, I was struggling to grasp what I am asked to draw for a concept sketch. I found it difficult to identify key points to include in my sketch. When I saw what concepts could be included, I started to see how to map things together. I usually do this in my head just when I am studying. However, this is the first time where I have physically drawn this map out. I found this to be an interesting way to lay out my ideas and also to reinforce relationship between points. I believe that it helps remember facts and concept when I have tied two together through a connection. I believe I can apply this to my other classes and I will continue to develop my skills to draw out a concept sketch.