Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Cellular Respiration

This blog was a though one for me to get my mind wrapped around but I'll give it my best shot. Anaerobic respiration is acquiring energy while not using oxygen-- it uses fermentation. I think that it is safe to say that humans could not survive with only anaerobic respiration because we are in a constant need for oxygen (brain and heart), and if we didn't use oxygen we would die. Another downside is that anaerobic respiration makes way less ATP then aerobic respiration. Anaerobic respiration is pretty much used, for us, with rigorous exercise when our fast-twitch muscles run out of oxygen.

"Warm-blooded" animals maintain there body temperature through metabolism (aerobic cellular respiration) whereas "cold-blooded" animals do not. This means that warm blooded animals are going to need to use their metabolism more, eat more food, thus create ATP. The more ATP they have, the more energy they have, and the more active they are. Cold blooded animals, in cold weather have their body processes slowed down in cold weather and they do not use their metabolism to mediate their temperature so they don't require all that energy via respiration.

Anaerobic respiration, although it is not used a lot in us humans, it is used in my friends yeast and bacteria. Where would we be without them?

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4 comments:

  1. HollyMarch 12, 2011 at 6:08 PM

    I really enjoyed how informative your post was! You provide your readers with many open ended questions and viewpoints that make us more deeply think about the world around us. It seems like you have a good understanding of the key points of this chapter.

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  2. James McCririeMarch 13, 2011 at 2:51 PM

    you talked about the warm blooded animals and the cold blooded animals and how the the cold blooded animals in cold weather slow down there body processes. it is interesting to see how you can see cold blooded animals lay out on hot rocks or roads to heat up(ex. snakes on the pavement) and yes it is safe to say that humans need both anaerobic and aerobic respiration.

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  3. kaelynMarch 13, 2011 at 5:11 PM

    I that your point about how anaerobic respiration does not make nearly the amount of ATP that aerobic respiration is a good one. Your explanation for why cold blooded and warm blooded animals are as active as they are, and linking that to ATP, was nice as well.

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  4. Ashleen TuckerMarch 13, 2011 at 11:47 PM

    I thought your explanation about cold-blooded animals was a very succinct way of putting it. In addition, we do need both aerobic and anaerobic cellular respiration as humans. The former for the business of day-to-day living, and the latter for burst of energy that exceed our normal supply. And, if that was not enough to convince a human of the value of anaerobic respiration, then your example of how yummy yeast relies on anaerobic respiration should.

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