Studying Heracles

Heracles is a demigod, the son of Zeus and Alceme. Alceme is the last mortal Zeus slept with.  Zeus had the power to appear to women as whatever they loved the most. Alceme was devoted to her husband and while he was away at war Zeus took advantage and went to visit Alceme in her husbands absence. Zeus made the night last 36 hours, and by the time it ended Alceme was pregnant with Heracles. Heracles was named after Zeus' wife Hera, obviously because he was conceived  from Zeus cheated Hera had a immediate hatred for Heracles. Shortly after Heracles was born Hera sent 2 snakes to kill him, but he grabbed both snakes by the neck and strangled them both.

As Heracles got older he had the same sexual stamina that his father had. On his 18th he went hunting to kill the lion that was killing king Thespius's  flocks. Heracles then got with 49 out of 50 of the kings daughters in one night, in some tales he got all 49 pregnant.

Heracles trained, armed, and led the Theban army to victory against Orchomenus forcing them to pay back twice the tribute. He had 12 labors. The first one was the Nemean lion. It was a monstrous animal that neither bronze or iron could wound. Heracles strangles the lion then skinned it with its own claws. The second Labor was the Lenora Hydra, which is a monster that lives in the swamps of Hydra. It had a dog like body and many snake like heads, whenever one head was chopped off two more would grow in its place. The third labor was The Cerynean hind, Hercules was given orders to bring it back to Eurystheus. The Cerynean Hind was a harmless deer which had golden horns. The Erymanthian Boar was Heracles fourth labor, just like the Cerynean Hind Heracles also had to bring back the Boar to Eurystheus. The fifth labor was The Augean stables. Heracles was ordered to clean out the stables of king Augeas of Elis, where dung of vast herds of cattle had accumulated over many years. Getting rid of the Stymphalian birds was Heracles' sixth labor. These birds were like geese, except they had bronze beaks, wings and claws, and sought both animals and humans as their prey. The Cretan bull was the seventh labor, and the mares of Diomedes was the eighth. The Diomedes were accustomed to eat human flesh. The ninth labor was the Girdle of Hippolyte. This was a magical belt given to her by her father, Ares, the god of war. The tenth labor was the cattle of Geryon, were Heracles had to travel to the end of the world to steal these beautiful red Cattle from Geryon, the son of Chrysoar and Callirrhoe. The eleventh labor was the golden apples of the Hesperides, Eurystheus demanded Heracles to bring him back these apples. Heracles last labor was the capture of Cerberus. This was the hardest Labor Heracles faced. Cerberus was three headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld.

Art Blog

Term 1

This week during art we have worked on developing themes for our art folio. I have decided to head towards the idea of how humans are destroying nature and the effect it is having not just on the environment but on the animals (Marine life mainly).

Ideas:

• Humans destroying nature
• Whaling
• Deep sea drilling-Pollution
• Animals, marine life- turtles
• Rubbish, plastic
• Color palette- warm tones-blue, green, yellow
• Acrylic and oil paints (oil because its easier to layer and create texture)
• Realism

Artist Models:

• Joanna Braithwaite
• Franz Marc
• Serophine Pick
• Frieda Kahlo

Joanna Braithwaite

Joanna Braithwaite is a surreal artist who focuses on the issues with objects, animals and humans. She was born in the  United Kingdom and moved to New Zealand in 1965 and studied at the University of Canterbury School Of Fine Arts, and graduated in 1984.

I have chosen Joanna as an artist model as her type of painting related to my theme of humans destroying the environment (mainly focusing on marine life  e.g. rubbish , whaling, and deep sea drilling). It is also due to her painting style that she has, it shows more realistic detail in her artwork.

This is one of her pieces from her catch of the day exhibition in Queenstown, New Zealand from May the 13th to the 7th of June 2017. It is an Oil on Canvas that focuses on the issue of climate change and how its effecting the animals in Antarctica (In this case Polar Bears).

Bacteria And Disinfectants

 Bacteria and Savlon

Aim: I want to investigate how the different concentration of Savlon can effect the growth and reproduction of Bacteria.

Hypothesis: I believe that the higher concentration of savlon the more effect it will have on the reproduction and growth of bacteria.

Fair test: 

-Which variable will be changed? The concentration of the Savlon

-How will the independent variable be changed? By adding water to the solution 

-Give a suitable range of values for this variable? There was 4 different values for the variable. for quadrant 1 there was 0% Savlon and 100% water. For quadrant 2 there was a dilution of 1/10. For quadrant 3 there was a dilution of 1/100, and finally for quadrant for there was a dilution of 1/1000.

-Which variable will have to be measured or observed in order to get some data or information from the investigation? The inhibition zone/ clear zone

-How will the independent variable be measured or observed? The variable will be measured by the diameter of the clear zone in mm.

Other variables that need to be controlled to make your results more accurate

Other variables	Describe how this variable will be controlled or kept the same
Temperature	Storing the agar plate in the same room meaning the bacteria can grow in the same heat.
Bacteria	Making sure to use the same type of yoghurt on each plate
The size of the disc	Using the same cut hole punch to ensure the discs are the same size

How will you ensure that your results are reliable?
We will ensure that our results are reliable by doing this experiment 3 times, and get an average result.

Equiptment:

1. Vivid

2. Agar plate

3. Savlon

4. Cotton bud

5. Yoghurt

6. Savlon

7. Water

8. Hole punch

9. Filter paper the

Method:

1. Using a vivid you need to draw two lines on the agar plate which splits it into four even areas.

2. We then get a cotton bud and dip it into the beaker of yogurt and then spread it evenly on the agar plate, and then shut the lid to ensure that the plate stays sterile. 

3. Using a plastic pipette you want to create your dilutions.
-1 drop of Savlon to 9 drops of water (1/10 dilution)                      
-1 drop of mixture above to 9 drops of water (1/100 dilution)  
-1 drop of mixture above to 9 drops of water (1/1000 dilution)

4. Each dilution is placed in a spot of the spotting tray

5. Get filter paper and cut out 4 small holes with a hole punch

6. Dip the tweezers in the jar of Ethanol to sterilize them and pass through the flame of the Bunsen Burner.
-With this step make sure the lid of the Ethanol jar is closed at all times apart from when you are dipping in the tweezers.

7. With tweezers pick up each hole punched piece of filter paper and dip it in each concentration of savlon.
- 1. The control/Neutral-water
- 2. 1/10 dilution
- 3. 1/100 dilution
- 4. 1/1000 dilution

8. Place the disc on a paper towel to remove excess savlon solution.

9. Place each disc in the center of the quadrant.

10. Once all discs are placed on the agar plate then shut the lid and sellotape it shut.
                 

11. Get your  agar plate, and store in a warm place overnight.

12. Repeat this process with 3 agar plates to ensure and even result.

Change in method: We changed step 2 of the method. Instead of using a cotton bud to apply the yogurt on to the agar plate we decided to water the yogurt down and pour a thin layer onto the agar plate and swish it around until the plate was completely covered. We changed this step to decrease the chances of contamination.

Data

	Concentration of the savlon	The clear zone (mm)		Average diameter
		Plate 1	Plate 2
Concentration 1	Control	0 mm	0 mm	0 mm
Concentration 2	10%	13 mm	20 mm	16.5 mm
Concentration 3	1%	9 mm	10 mm	9.5 mm
Concentration 4	0.1%	5 mm	6mm	5.5 mm

Diameter of Clear Zone Around Different Concentration Of Savlon.

Conclusion: In conclusion my hypothesis was correct. The higher concentration of savlon had a bigger effect on the growth and reproduction of Bacteria. After looking at the graph we can see that there is an increase in the trend line with an increase in the concentration of Savlon. There is a larger diameter around the disc where there there is a higher concentration of the savlon which is how we can see the effects on the growth and reproduction.

Discussion and evaluation of the method and data:

Savlon is an antiseptic used to help infections and clean wounds, cuts, burns, grazes and stings. The active ingredient in Savlon is Cetrimide C₁₉H₄₂BrN and Chlorhexidine C₂₂H₃₀Cl₂N₁₀. When cetrimide comes in contact with bacteria it inhibits the bacteria within 15 seconds. Both Cetrimide  and chlorhexidine kills bacteria because they have a positive charged molecule and bacteria has a negative phospholipids in the cell wall. This would be considered active transport. Active transport is when there is a movement of molecules across the cell membrane from a lower concentration to a higher concentration. This causes a rupture in the cell wall leading to the chlorhexidine fluid to leak into the inside of the cell and attacks the cytoplasmic membrane which leads to the death of the bacteria. Bacteria is a single cellular micro-organism. On the outside it has a layer called a capsule, it works as defence against immune systems. The inner layer is called a well wall, this is a strong layer that protects and provides shape of the cell. Next we have the cell membrane which is a flexible barrier that works as a control of what enters and exits the cell. Inside the cell we have the cytoplasm which holds all the cell organelles such as a nucleotide which is the genetic information of the cell, we also have two small circular pieces of DNA which codes for essential processes of the bacteria called plasmids, and ribosomes which is the location of protein synthesis in the cell structure of bacteria. On the outside of the cell we have many pili's which works as a bridge to connect to other bacterias and allow them to grow. We also have a flagellum which is the tail of that cell that aids the cell in movement. Bacteria replicate asexually, this means they are genetically identical to each other, although they can still mutate.  Bacteria also replicate using Binary Fission. Binary fission is when a single cell divides into two identical daughter cells. With this form of reproduction bacteria then start to form colonies which contains thousands of bacteria. We clearly could start to see the bacteria on the agar plate when the colonies had formed. Bacteria has many phases it goes through when it comes to growth. The first phase is the lag phase, this is when the bacteria is initially placed in the culture they begin to take the nutrients and synthesise their RNA. Phase 2 is the exponential phase, this is the phase when there is a huge spike in bacteria reproduction. Phase 3 is the stationary phase when the bacteria growth and death rate are equal due to a reduction of nutrients. The last phase, phase 4 is the death phase which is when there is a drop of numbers of bacteria due to the bacteria dying from lack of nutrients. With the Cetrimide and Chlorhexidine in the Savlon on the discs they would have killed the bacteria and stopped the growth in a particular area which we would consider the clear zone, or the zone of inhibition. MRS GREN is an acronym that is used to remember the life process of living organisms. It stands for Movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, nutrition. Bacteria mainly use growth and reproduction.

Evaluation:

Overall our experiment i would say was not reliable. I believe this is because only two out of three of our agar plates had reliable data.We were unable to measure the diameter around the discs on plate three, this is how it was unreliable, so we chose not include plate three's data in our graph. We also chose to change step 2 of our method to lower the risk of contamination. We poured a thin amount watered down yogurt on the agar plate instead of swabbing yogurt onto it with a cotton bud. If we were to do this experiment again i would chose a different range of variables making the concentration of savlon higher so there would be a larger clear zone to measure.  The bacteria in the yogurt we used was Streptococcus thermophilus and lactobacillus bulgaricus. Streptococcus thermophilus is a probiotic strain of bacteria. It is used to break down sugar in milk. Lactobacillus bulgaricus is one of the healthy bacteria, which works to keep the pH scale lower in the gastrointestinal tract so that bad bacteria can not take a hold and colonize. For our experiment we used nutrient agar which is a general purpose medium that contains 0.5% peptone, 0.3%yeast extract, 1.5% agar, 0.5% sodium chloride and water. For our experiment the agar plates were kept in an incubator at a temperature of 25 degrees celsius. If the incubator was set at a higher temperature the bacteria would get a chance to grow more rapidly.

Bibliography

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/whats-inside-savlon-antiseptic-cream

http://chlorhexidinefacts.com/mechanism-of-action.html

https://nootriment.com/lactobacillus-bulgaricus-streptococcus-thermophilus/

Reading Log #6

Reading log #6
Title: The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Text type: Novella
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is a Gothic Novella which was published in 1886. The main characters are Dr Henry Jekyll and and Mr Edward Hyde. These two characters are infact the same people. Dr Jekyll is seen as a well respected man of the Victorian society. He struggled with his inner demons, and some type of guilt. He decided to create a potion that separates his good self from his bad self. The name he gave to his bad self was Mr Edward Hyde. Now Mr Edward Hyde is described as having a "Strong feeling of deformity", and has no guilt what so ever for any of his actions.

This Novella amazed me with the strong message it conveyed about the 'Duality of human nature'. Stevenson showed us this with the two characters Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He believed that "man is not truly one, but truly two". I think that this quote means that we all have two sides to us a good side and a bad side. Some of us struggle to hide our bad side so we resort to using other options to contain our true self, just like how Dr Jekyll resorted to using a potion to separate his to personalities . This makes annoyed and upset that we feel like we have to do this because if we are seen as anything other than what is up to  'society's standards' we are frowned upon.

Jekyll believes that 'Both sides of me were in good earnst", this was him explaining how good and evil exists equally in himself. Eventually Hyde took control over Jekyll. Dr Jekyll states that " This brief condescension to evil finally destroyed the balance of my soul". I believe that this is Stevenson again trying to convey the message that good and evil exist in all of us but our true self will always over power the other.  Hyde eventually over powers the little good that was left in Jekyll and could then no longer control when he transformed into Hyde.This shows us that Jekyll although he came across to be your "well respected upstanding man of the Victorian society' his true personality is the complete opposite, or in other words the personality of Hyde. This shocks me because it shows that although one can come across so pleasant and polite they really could be your worst nightmare. With Hyde constantly taking over Dr Jekyll it lead him to kill himself. "  Here, then, as i lay down the pen, and proceed to seal up my confession i bring the life that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end". I believe that we never know how much one is suffering by just looking at them. Just like Dr Jekyll no one could see that he was getting driven to madness that would be the leading cause of his death.

Reading Log #5

Reading Log #5
Title: If i stay
Text type: Novel
Author/Director: Gayle Forman

If i stay is a young adult novel by Gayle Forman published in 2009. It is about a young 17 year old Mia Hall who plays the Cello. She is in a battle  between perusing her dreams at Julliard or stay with the love of her life Adam. This all changes in a flash when her and her entire family are in a car crash which results in her Parents and Brothers death. Mia was put in a coma and and had outer body experience. Throughout the book Mia was given the choice to stay alive or to let go, which was the biggest struggle.

I was amazed in Mia's determination to keep fighting for her life when all she wanted was for it all to just stop. " I want it all to be over". But Mia chose the choice to keep fighting even though her parents and brother's lives had been taken, Mia then felt lost and alone, as if she didn't belong in this world anymore. This upsetted me because Mia is a unique individual, and no one should ever feel like they do not belong. " I'm not sure this is a world i belong in anymore. I'm not sure that i want to wake up. If i stay. If i live. Its up to me". This made me feel emotionally torn because the easiest option would be for Mia to just let go, but in the end she made the harder choice to stay. " i realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard".

The book also tells us a very important life lesson. When Mia's father says " Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you". I think that this quote means that you can make choices but the choices that you make is what shapes your life from then onward.

After the traumatizing experience that Mia went through it has built her up to become a stronger person. " I have a feeling that once you live through something like this, you become a little bit invincible." This makes me feel a sense of relief and happiness because although Mia has had it rough she still came out on the brighter side and is still fighting for her dreams.

Reading Log #4

Reading Log #4
Title: Mocking Jay
Text Type: Novel
Author/ Director: Suzanne Collins

Mocking Jay is the last novel from the Hunger Games Trilogy written by Suzanne Collins and published in 2010. Following the quarter quell Katniss wakes up with a deep breath in the complex beneath District 13. District 12 has been blown up only left with the rubble of her district. Her "star crossed lover" Peeta Mellark has been brainwashed by President Snow. She then becomes aware of the rebellion spreading across Panem against president snow. Katniss then agrees to become the face of the rebellion using the symbol of the Mocking Jay.

An important idea of this book is the price of War. This is seen throughout the trilogy. Panem is still suffering from the war. Because of this all 12 districts live in poverty while the capital thrives and holds an annual hunger games to prevent another uprising. In mocking Jay the setting is in the midst of war in District 13. Katniss agrees to be the "Mocking Jay" which is the face of the rebellion against President Snow. There is no official Hunger games in Mocking Jay but Katniss plays a role as if she is fighting for survival like she did in the games just with different rules, and President Snow is a tribute.

Now that Katniss has stood up to the capital, they start to gain their merciless tactics against there oppressors. This is seen when Gale, Katniss's best fiend designed bombs for the Hospital which killed Prim. I particularly felt Katniss's pain when Prim dies.  This is because Prim is a main character in the book, also throughout the trilogy Prim has been Katniss's hope since she took her place in the arena, and when prim died Katniss's hope for the future died with her. " You will never forget the face of the person who was your last hope". The quote "She was too young, too gentle, and i couldn't save her. I'm sorry" was said to Rue's family in district 11. I think that when Prim died Katniss felt like she had failed two little girls because "She couldn't save them". This plays with our heartstrings because they again were "To young, and too gentle.".

Even though Gale is loyal to Katniss he will do whatever it takes to destroy the capital and get revenge for bombing district twelve. This shows us how powerful war can be and how it can change someone from a person who wants to save everyone to someone who destroys everything. Katniss is then given the choice to hold another hunger games, except with the capitals children, she agrees. Peeta then reminds her that the games is what rebellion is fought against. War changes who a person is. "It costs your life" says Caesar. "Oh no it costs a lot more than your life. To murder innocent people?" says Peeta. "It costs everything you are".  In my opinion Peeta's quote highlights the reality of war, that even the winning side pays a price. But then no one really wins at all as the things you do is just as bad as the enemy.

Reading Log #3

Reading log #3
Title: Ode to sleep
Text type: Song Lyrics
Artist: Twenty one pilots

The song “Ode to Sleep”  is a deep and meaningful song that masterfully bends the rules music with combinations of electronic, indie rock and rap. Tyler Joseph portrays a struggle between voices of darkness and trying to overcome this darkness.The alternation of light and dark tones of the instrumentals representing the night and day. The verses are a reflection of nights where one's thoughts can be more pessimistic and filled with doubt. Then once the chorus hits with a more buoyant tune representing the day where Tyler tries to fight the demons in which are haunting him.

The theme of the song “Ode to Sleep” takes a self-destructive path toward hopelessness and giving up. Some lyrics also seem to indicated that he may be struggling with guilt over his hypocritical thoughts and actions that betray his faith and beliefs. Tyler contemplates on the failure of living his life the way he wants to, and pleads for answers as he continues to fight off the darkness pulling him down and telling him to give up. Tyler is upset as he knows he’s not living in the freedom that is meant for him, and asks “is this living free?”

One of the lyrics that really stands out to me is "I'll stay awake 'cause the dark's not taking prisoners tonight." This phrase can be interpreted in many ways, but I see it as choosing to stay alive and not allowing your doubts to take your life. To stay awake against your struggles and not being “asleep” to the evil in the world. Tyler then writes about the voices of the demons that were speaking "crazy words" into his brain, telling him he "was gone” that his life is hopeless, and he might as well give up. He invokes the demons on why they continue to torment him, as he believes that he has no significance to God and that his life will not threaten the plans of the enemy. He clearly states that his testimony for God is absent because he is afraid to tell others who he adores. “I'm afraid to tell you who I adore, won't tell you who I'm singing towards,
Metaphorically I'm a whore, and that's denial number four.”

The demons lies make Tyler believe that he is insignificant to this world, which is part of the struggle he is fighting against. The lyrics "I will set my soul on fire" portrays that he is so deep in the darkness of his thoughts that he wishes to destroy his life. In all this deception and denial of faith he asks "what have I become?" Even though Tyler's beautifully written lyrics have a deep spiritual meaning, they can be interpreted in many different ways, making it engaging to anyone struggling with their lives. I really enjoy listening to the honesty of the lyrics that deal with his real problems which are relatable to so many, and are not really talked about enough in everyday life.