Ms. Lee Says - ACCHS Chemistry

" Crop rotations , largely abandoned by industrial agriculture, typically increase yields to 20 - 30%." This claim within the article was one of multiple surprising things shared. My honest truth is I am very very very disengaged from what it takes to grow food. Living in Monterey offered my the opportunity to see the hard work which goes into harvesting berries. I also had the chance to regularly eat some of the most affordable and tasty avocados, artichokes, and other produce. I literally have no clue what a farmer needs to do in order for their crops to yield a bountiful harvest. As far as I was concerned it was a combination of magic and hardwork from migrant workers. It's disheartening to know we are leeching nutrients from our soil and decreasing yield by not rotating crops. As a population we have become incredibly spoiled. A lot of items are year around. I  read Healing with Whole Foods to discover which items are in season or not. Personally, I prefer to decreas...

LOL a better question may be what groups are in my cabinets. I am very mindful when purchasing items which require refrigeration. I do the pasture raised eggs, organic fruits, vegetables, and sauces. Most items in my fridge are Group 1 and Group 3. The whole fruits and veggies fall into Group 1 and the sauces fall under Group 3. The only meat allowed in the home is fresh or frozen fish which falls under Group 1 or 2. The second we step away from my fridge and into my cabinets its a processed food party. There are the occasional bags of fresh uncooked beans, rice, yams, and garlic. There is an unbalanced amount of Group 4 ultra processed foods. Funny thing is I thought I was making healthier options. I purchase spinach pasta, vegan pesto,  organic tortilla chips, and similar Group 4 foods with an organic veggie base. Looking into the depth of my cabinets helped me realize I need to consider buying some of my grains more selectively. I should stick to the bulk bins or purchase items ...

I had a dog in the house from birth to 4 years old. I started developing allergies around the age of 7 and again during undergrad. Reading the article Can Dogs Keep Kids from Getting Allergies made me wonder if allergies would be part of my today if I continued to have a dog throughout my life. Theoretically speaking a dog can only expose the household to contaminants based in the local environment. There is a possibility I have a richer microbiome for San Bernardino County, CA. Shortly after moving to locations such as Orange County and Monterrey County, then I developed resurgence of nasal allergies. As one moves from Southern CA to Northern CA multiple factors change such as local agriculture, environmental moisture, pollutants, wildlife activity, pollen, and trees. While living in Monterey, my housing was next to a huge wildlife preservation. All I knew was life in the suburbs, major cities, and desert. In Monterey from the land to the sea everything was new to me. I saw luscious ...

I didn't realize how far behind I was until reading the introduction to cell and virus structure. Science makes leaps with time and disproves what was previously known to be true. I was taking my first science classes in elementary school. I remember Pluto was considered a planet in our solar system and cellular evolution theory was " key chemicals fell to earth on meteorites from outer space." This means there was only one evolutionary theory being taught. Since then there are three and they all have theoretical validity. I want to take a minute to acknowledge my previous ignorance and celebrate the realization of change in a new way. I recall the progression of technology from it being a luxury to own a box shaped computer with dial up internet to walking around with a mini-computer in our hands. I never considered the developments of science outside of technology. I'm glad this finally hit me and I guess its better late than never.

During class the subject matter of nuclear energy regulations vs elimination of all nuclear power arose. The systemic issue to whats happening on our planet and especially in the US, is a lack of moderation. I disagree with an all or nothing mentality. The absence of nuclear power will not change how corporations develop and utilize power sources. As a country we need to do a better job at moderating our usage of power and corporations need to do the same. Bouncing from one extreme to the other is not going to fix another. The use of nuclear power is not benefiting the environment. A transition to renewable energy such as hydrogen while finding a way to dispose or re-purpose the remaining nuclear energy is ideal to me. This is what needs to be done to all hazordous materials. For example, I don't think RoundUp should stop being used until there is plan in place to transition from RoundUp to a more environmentally friendly option, properly dispose of the remaining RoundUp, and legis...

Biochemistry is a difficult subject for both student and teacher.  As a student, I can say chemistry is difficult and biochemistry as part of the umbrella of chemistry is especially difficult. Chemistry is a combination of science and math which I consider to be complex subjects. I used to enter a chemistry class or look at a periodic table with increasing anxiety. Since, we began looking at chemistry through a lens of how it is part of our everyday and how it may impact our future, my perspective has changed. When I think of chemistry now, I feel a sense of wonder, empowerment, and confusion. If its taken me decades to reach a place of comfortable confusion and wonder. All the while seeing it as a difficult subject matter, how does a teacher see it as difficult. I am not even an ammeter but a teacher is at some level of mastery. I don't understand the difficulty with the subject matter from the teachers perspective. Does their difficulty with the subject matter stem from its cap...

"Billions of Air Pollution Particles Found in Hearts of City Dwellers" I expect air pollutants to be in our lung tissue and in an ideal world our liver could filter all the pollutants before they reach our heart. Unfortunately, this isn't true. Research is being performed on the affect of air pollutants in big cities on critical organs such as the heart and brain. It makes me think about SF and Oakland. Cities which have transportation air pollutants as well as annual fire pollutants. I wonder if we continue to have annual fires which make our air quality show unhealthy and hazardous levels...... how will this affect our health in the long term? Another question is how come we as a nation are investing more money into space rather than our current planet. Its as if financiers to research gave up on our planet and see the only option to spread our contamination to the cosmos.

Lucky for me I have a random assortment of flammable materials underneath my sink. There are Sniffer wipes, paint &primer in one, charcoal lighter fluid, and Palmolive ultra strength dish detergent. Unfortunately, the Swiffer wipes do not have the ingredients listed on the package. According to the environmental working group, Swiffer Wet Mop cloths main ingredients are:  methylchloroisothiazolinone, DDAC, methylisothizalinone, fragrance, acrylic copolymer, monobutyl ether, silicones, and a scary list of other ingredients which are toxic to the lungs. I essentially mop my floors and modestly poison myself everytime the sun warms the floors and scents my house . To top this, I also own lighter fluid and no grill. I am willingly keeping lighter fluid under my sink for a rainy day. Yes, I feel the idiocracy and irony washing over me as I type this entry. The odorless charcoal lighter fluid is clearly highly flammable. After getting past the DANGER signs and poison control inform...

When we were discussing the Alkaline diet, my mind kept drifting back to our discussion on color rich foods. I noticed many of the slightly-moderately acidic foods were beige, brown, and tan. The foods in the alkaline category encompassed a variety of colors within each ph range. I realized the two are connected as in most things in life. This means I don't need to know the ph of every food I eat. If I eat a well balanced meal with multiple colors of the rainbow with a hint of beige/tan/brown then I am doing pretty well. I like having the list on hand as an easy cheat sheet for my most recent grocery shopping trip. I picked at least one food in each category and intentionally bought items which were different colors. I will begin meal prep after class today and see how I feel after the end of the week. I can report back via this blog on what I did and how I feel. I love being my own test subject :)

I have exhaustive conversations with one of my brothers about an alkaline diet. He is strongly in favor of only drinking alkaline water and strictly eating an alkaline meal. He believes this is the way to create internal harmony which allows the body to heal itself.  I believe looking at ph as the only aspect of choosing what we eat or drink is too limited. A blueberry , a lemon, and bowl of rice have different ph levels and offer a different variety of nutrients. I think any dietary changes should be made based on the individuals current state of health. This applies to what foods we choose to eat based on ph. If someone's urine is warm and vibrantly yellow then its likely they may benefit from eating more alkaline foods. If someones urine is mostly clearly and elimination is normal then they can possibly combine alkaline with non-alkaline foods for a healthy diet.

There's a thin line between magic and science. Some things that were considered the dark arts of magic in the 1600's is now part of our regular routines. Flying was an action only performed by divine beings or in ones dreams. Now we can fly anywhere in the world and to select parts of outer space using science. Science offers the structure to hypothesize, test, and prove. This structure known as the scientific method is what allows scientists to discover breakthroughs to propel scientific developments forwards. One person to act upon his curiosity was Avogadro. His ability to think within the box of science and out of the box among most of his peers is what led him to discovering the difference between atoms and molecules. His hypothesis held weight, but his peers ignored his idea for an entire 50 years. I understand this is socially accepted as the rate at which science expands, but I didn't quite get how this could occur until recently. Seeing how politicians are fighting...

The conversation exploring the relationship between the colors of our chakras and the foods we eat was very intriguing,  The weather is increasing in temperature and my appetite is expanding as well. I crave foods with the colors purple, red, green, tan, and yellow. The most desired of all the colors is red and purple which are the root and the crown chakra. There functions are I understand and survival. hahaha I believe those directly relate to where I am in the world and in the process of learning TCM. I find myself constantly attempting to understand what I cannot and find stability through it. In class we didn't discuss what colors are calling to us, but I think its probable we all have a few things in common.

The kitchen is my adorned rainbow of color. There is purple in the beets and plums, oranges, green in the plethora of cruciferous veggies, red in the apples and radish,  yellow in the condiments and peppers, oranges, and other colors such as: black, blue, beige, green, white, and brown. Although there is a variety of color, there is not a high quantity of color. The large majority is green, beige, and red/purple. In the end I like there to be two items of each color rather than only one. Currently blueberries solely represent blue in my fridge and I need to do some research on other blue foods. Sometimes the lack of diversity in our kitchens is economic and other times it is educational. In my case its based on what I do and don't know. At this moment I can't think of another fruit or veggie that is blue, but I will look it up and expand my palette.

I applaud the efforts of green chemists and think their work is priceless and necessary for the survival of our planet with us humans living on it. I think it’s a little discouraging to see there are chemists and organizations with the sole focus of creating a greener future and I don’t see their efforts when I walk outside. I see solar panels and recycling bins, but I’ve quickly learned our Earth requires more than that. All countries are not the same, but my surroundings in Oakland Ca say we need to do more. I recently started following an Instagram account called @reducewastenow. I learned there are alternatives to foil and plastic to preserve food, toothpaste without single use plastics, and greener initiatives in other countries. The most interesting initiative is Milan’s. According to US Nees and World Report Milan has an ambitious objective to plant 3 million trees within the next 12 years. Since Milan is a Mecca for fashion and trendsetting, I am hoping it’s green initiative wi...

The transitional metal of the week is Zinc (Zn). It is atomic #30 and in group 12 on the periodic table.  Zinc valence shell has 2 electrons and this means it’s a metal that can easily give or share electrons with other elements. Biologically zinc is an important component in most living things. It’s most widely used purpose in everyday appliances, tools, and materials is as a coating. Zinc is used as a covering ,galvanized, to prevent or delay the process of rusting on other metals. For example zinc is used to cover some roofing materials as a means to elongate the life of the materials. To personify Zinc is to call it the self sacrificing protector of metals. It will rust and die before it allows the metals it’s protecting to tarnish.

If green chemist's exist and regular people exist who want to create a more sustainable future..... then whats the next step for the future. In Bridget's post she spoke of not knowing how much of our recyclables and compost end up in landfill. If we can use non-toxic substances to biodegrade waste into reusable powders to make more reusable products then that is an ideal situation. I wonder how much is a possible reality and how much is too idealistic. If there is truth to Monsanto seeds, the power of his lawyers, and the near impossibility to of being able to prove your crops haven't been contaminated. My question is how can we create an environment where bio-pesticides stand a chance to make an impact. How can we create a world that is ecologically sustainable when our current world is based on money. I don't think green chemists will be able to utilize there ecological resolutions on a grand scale until it becomes lucrative to the people who are currently making mone...

As many of our class discussions go, we were on the up and optimistic for our class discussion. One things that stood out to me was how little I know about what to do with my own waste and more importantly my view on what waste is terrifyingly narrow. I originally thought of waste as items which are molded, broken beyond repair, and used paper/plastic/electronics products. In the middle of our discussion I started thinking of everything in my bathroom, under my sinks, and whats gets disposed of during a move out. I thought of my nail polish, toxic makeup, bath products, cleaning products, single use containers, expired herbal patents, and more. It's appalling about how much waste I currently have and do not know what to do with.  This lead me to do some research and I found more information on how to dispose of hazard waste, but I am still unsure on how to dispose of items which arent quite labeled as hazardous waste such as: makeup and nail polish.

Element of the week is the one and the only Oxygen. Coming in with with a solid 8 protons and electron and an atomic weight of 15.999. The valence shell has 6 electrons and it takes 8 electrons to complete an outer shell. This means oxygen our lucky element of the week is eager to bond with other elements. It makes a strong covalent bond with other elements such as : nitrogen , carbon, and hydrogen. All of which are essential life supporting elements.

During class we read an article called "Are you Eating Monsanto weed killer for breakfast." It really opened my eyes to how bioaccumalation of pesticides is affecting us. The study performed by the Alliance for Natural Health showed trace amounts of synthetic pesticides in pre-packaged breakfast foods and grains. This wasn't surprising to me because in the back of my mind I believe none of those items benefit my health. The shocker was "the amount detected in cage-free organic eggs actually exceeded the allowable limit under FDA guidelines." This means the chickens are eating so much corn and feed with synthetic pesticides that their bodies have accumulated more than the regulated amount. I never considered how the synthetic pesticides are getting into the animals and for chickens this means its getting into their eggs. I realized I am likely ingesting more chemicals and synthetic pesticides than I am aware. I currently only buy pasture raised eggs, but I have n...

I am unsure whether this weeks blog post is the quick quiz or reflection on our class conversation. For this reason I am doing a little of both. 1. Classify the following as either a chemical or physical change.  Burning wood  (chemical) Crushing a rock  (physical) Dissolving sugar in water  (physical) The rusting of iron  (chemical) 2. Classify the following as to whether or not they are pure substances or mixtures.  milk  (mixture) table salt  (mixture) sugar  (mixture) steel  (pure substance) 3. A cup of black coffee is considered to be __?__ and a/an __?__ substance.  (b) homogeneous�..impure 4. The boiling of water is considered to be a __?__ change and the temperature at which water boils is considered to be a __?__ property.  (d) physical�..physical Reflection on Class Discussion: Although I made a comment on class about the cost of makeup and wanting to use it prior to looking for...

Personal Legend "It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone when they are young knows what their Personal Legend is.  - from The Alchemist It was known as the land of no seasons and all climates. People say it is sunny all the time and everyone spends their day at the beach. As a young girl growing up in Southern California, Ms. Lee lived in sunshine and very little rain. As she grew, she yearned to share herself in a meaningful way and contribute to the land. Unwittingly she stumbled upon coastal travel. In her early 20's she lived in Monterrey. She woke to the seals barking and was mesmerized by psychology late until the foggy nights. After a couple years, she grew bored of the monotony within her undergraduate program. She decided to get out of her mind and into her body. She experienced the extraordinary affects of a 5 element balance in Polarity and the soothing nature of Swedish massage. She thought to incorporate the physical healing (massage) wit...