Ion Channels and Resting Potential in Neurons: A Tutorial

Review how ion channels are responsible for a voltage difference across the cell membrane or plasmalemma:.
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp44/4401s.swf

Create a tool for studying the ideas presented in this tutorial. You can choose a method that you think will help you best retain the information (Different students might choose different methods.) Some ideas are:

• Create a song
• Do a drawing
• Write a memory aid, a mnemonic device
• Create a game
• Choreograph a dance about voltage difference across cell membranes
• Write an essay where you explain in your own words the concept of resting potentials in neurons
• Create a tabbed booklet where each page is a bit longer than the previous page. Use each page to explain a different concept about resting potential. Label each tab to describe the step.
  

Think about how you learn:
In the tutorial, there was a step-through method and an animation. Did you use both methods? If not, try the one you didn't use. Now think about which method of tutorial helped you learn more. Why did you choose one method over the other? How can that help you learn other topics?

Mitochondrial Membrane Potential

The mitochondrial respiratory chain produces energy which is stored as an electrochemical gradient which consists of a transmembrane electrical potential, negative inside of about 180-200 mV, and a proton gradient of about 1 unit; this energy is then able to drive the synthesis of ATP, a crucial molecule for a consistent variety of intracellular processes.

Source: http://www.cyto.purdue.edu/flowcyt/research/cytotech/apopto/data/cossar1/cossariz.htm, Accessed 11-14-09.

Science Literacy News

Here's a quote and a reference to a news story on science literacy. What do you think about the ideas presented?

There is no doubt that American education should be training more scientists and engineers and should be teaching scientific literacy to everyone else.

Source: http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.newsweek.com/id/222791&ct=ga&cd=X0yanNX7biU&usg=AFQjCNH0a1Jcm22kenOtMe3-Avx3WWDxPA

.

Action Potential Animation, Membrane Potential Animation

http://akciospotencial.blog.hu/2007/09/20/videok_az_agybol_az_akcios_potencial

Cell Membrane Potential

Here's a link to some equipment for mesuring membrane potential:

http://www.moleculardevices.com/pages/reagents/f_mem_kit.html Membrane potential assay kit

Turmeric and Curry versus Cancer and Alzheimer's..Building Science Literacy Skills

Curcumin (found in turmeric and curry) attacked [...] cancer cells using an alternative cell signaling system (not, "apoptopsis," in other words).

Curcumin may help stimulate immune system cells in the Alzheimer's disease.

These ideas are from the following article:
http://in.reuters.com/article/healthNewsMolt/idINTRE59R1E020091028?sp=true
accessed 05 November 09.

The article is a story about science. Can you find original sources for the research?

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Curcuma longa is the genus and species name of the plant from which we get the spice turmeric that is used in curry.

• http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/21/21/8370?ijkey=b00e7ff2c0179f5c53fc45cf486c0fbcd461d537
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1702408/
• http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/107555303321223035
• http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/107555303321223035?cookieSet=1
  
• http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0092867407010884
• http://www.curcuminoids.com/rh_2006.pdf

International Net

Internet becomes more international. Here's a brief quote (emphasis, mine...) and a link to more:

One Twitterer, Idir66, chose to note that, in some key ways, the Internet is still struggling after all these years to become a truly international phenomenon, pointing out that it's finally[...]
'opening up its address protocol to non-Latin scripts.'
That's right, the Internet Corporate for Assigned Names and Numbers agreed this week to let countries apply for Internet addresses that are entirely in their native languages. It's about time that the Internet truly belongs to the whole world, not just the Indo-European-speaking portion of it. More