Fluid Mosaic Model

Last week in class we drew Fluid Mosaic Models. In class we split into groups and each drew our own. I am not very artistic but I really enjoyed working in groups off the computer. And even though I am not very artistic I still enjoyed drawing!

I learned so much while doing this poster. There are many parts in a membrane. On our poster we had the transmembrane protein, cytoplasm, glycoprotein, and many other parts! One thing I learned while researching cells was that Glyco means sugar. So anything that has glyco attached to it means it has sugar on it. For example a glycolipid is a lipid with sugar attached. It is the same with a glycoprotein.

Another part of the cell is the transmembrane protein. When I first tried to Google this I came up very confused. The definition I found did not help me understand at all. Then Mr. Ludwig said to break down the word into parts and figure out each part and then I will be able to understand the word as a whole. Well I know trans means across, like the trans continental is a train that goes across the country. Across being the key word. So a transmembrane protein is a protein that goes across the membrane.

So I wrote the first part of my blog and got to thinking this is all I know! I only know the parts of the membrane and what glyco and trans means. So this kind of scared me but thankfully today in class Mr. Ludwig said that was the point. Last week we were learning the parts of the membrane and this week we are learning the functions of everything. So stayed tuned for a continuing blog!