Unit 5 Reflection

  In this unit, we learned about the digestive system, lymphatic system, and endocrine system. The digestive system is the process of breaking down large molecules into small molecules and absorbing all the nutrients. It starts at the mouth and ends in the small intestines. I found it cool that the small intestine unrolled is almost as large as a tennis court. The lymphatic system consists of organs such as the spleen, tonsils, thymus, and many more. I learned that the spleen helps with metabolism and you can live without it because the liver and red bone marrow can take over its functions. The endocrine system has too with many glands such as the thyroid glands, ovaries, testes, and many other glands.

 Some of my strengths in this chapter was the lymphatic and the endocrine system. The process of how each of them worked was really interesting. My weakness was the digestive system because it was a little hard for me to follow through with.

 We started this semester with a lab where we used strings to see the length of our body all rolled out. The string was surprisingly longer than i expected and it was a really interesting activity. We also did a poster for the different states our body goes through while digesting food. My group was assigned the Fed State. This activity helped me better understand how our body works and it was really fun to do.

 I would like to learn more about the digestive system because i am not extremely clear about it. I would also like to learn more about diabetes because i know many people who have it and would like to learn more about how it is caused and more ways to prevent it to avoid getting it as well.

 One of my New Years goal was to get more sleep and stop procrastinating. Although i am not completely there to complete my goal, i feel like i am getting a little more sleep and getting my work done a little earlier than i used to.

The Digestive System Lab

My takeaway on this lab was that the human body is actually a larger when pulled apart. The mouth was the smallest organ in terms of centimeters while the small intestine was clearly the largest out of them all. Your digestive system is able to fit in your abdomen due to how tightly they are squeezed together. There are many folds in your small intestine because they are so tightly rolled up. I think it takes about a day for food to move throughout your entire digestive system. In reality, it takes between 24 to 72 hours for food to move through your body. The more fiber you eat, the quicker it takes for food to digest. If you don't eat enough fiber, your body can become drier, making it more difficult for food to pass through. Digestion is the chemical and mechanical breaking down of food into smaller components. Absorption is when the body absorbs the nutrients from the food. My height in meters is 1.7018 meters. My string was 9.25 meters. It is significantly larger than my actual height.

New Year's Goals

This year, I will get out of my comfort zone and try new things and improve my grade for this class. Currently, i would view myself as shy and quiet. Because of this, many of the things that i wanted to do last year were not accomplished. I was never confident with myself and i have always wanted to join acting for fun but because i was so shy, i decided not to. Over the summer, i will dedicate most of my time to trying something new, like taking camps to help me further explore my interests. By the end of this year, I will take acting classes and try to have fun. It would be really cool to try new things, things i did not get the chance to do last year. I will also be more open to choices and will have tried at least 12 new things outside of my comfort zone. Secondly, I would like to improve my grade. Last semester, i ended this class with a barely passing grade. This was due to my lack of sleep, lack of studying, and lack of focus. This year, I will sleep for at least 7 and a half hours every night so that i can wake up awake and focused. As for studying, i will cut down on the time that i watch TV to replace it with a little more studying. Every night i will make a specific schedule so that I will learn to be more organized and time saving. By the end of this semester, I will end this class with a grade i will be proud of and will make me and my parents happy. One last thing that i will improve on is my confidence. I would consider myself as insecure and unhappy with myself, especially my body. I will be more healthy and will be proud of m body by the end of the year. I will go to the gym every week and plan a small workout to do every night. By the end of the year, I will achieve these goals and make myself proud.