12/6 & 12/7

We began class by "Unwrapping our Food" an activity to look at nutrition labels on a variety of food products. Our goal is to connect the biochemistry information we are learning about carbohydrates, proteins & lipids. Students made observations about amounts of sugar, fat and calories. Following this, students learned about the increase in Type II Diabetes in the United States. We learned about how our cells typically produce insulin, to allow glucose to enter cells to be processed for energy. In Type I Diabetes, a person's pancreas does not produce insulin. This is typically discovered in childhood. In contrast, people will typically develop Type II Diabetes later in life, although diagnoses are trending younger and younger. In people with Type II Diabetes, the insulin receptors stop working on the surface of the cell. This allows less glucose to enter the cell to be processed. In response, cells send signals to the pancreas to produce more insulin, which over time, will burn out the pancreas. We will continue to study who is at a higher risk for getting Type II Diabetes and what the implications are in our Trial Project.

Diabetes Power Point
Diabetes Lecture Notes and student worksheet