Amoeba+-+JL

= = =Introduction= = = toc

Did you know amoebas can eat your brain? You can’t see them but if you could you would see their shape always changes. Brain eating amoebas can be life threatening, most people do not survive if they get one in their brain. = = =Function=

Amoeba have a very simple life cycle. After they eat and grow an ameba reproduces by binary fission. This is when the ameba becomes pinched in half, forming two amoebas that are exactly the same. Sometimes, when environmental conditions become unfavorable, certain amebas form resistant stages, called cysts, in which a thick outer wall develops around the cell body. This outer wall persists until a changed environment stimulates the amoeba to emerge. ("Amoeba")

=Structure=

Amoeba are sarcodines that live in either water or soil. They feed on bacteria and smaller protists. Amoebas have two vacuoles, the food vacuole and the contractile vacuole. The contractile vacuole collects excess water from the cytoplasm and gets rid of it. The food vacuole is where the ends of two pseudopods fuse, forming the food vacuole. Food is broken down here. The pseudopods, are also called false feet. Because the amoebas cell membrane is very thin and flexible its shape is constantly changing. You need a microscope to see an amoeba. (Padilla et al 76)

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=Real World Connection=

12 year old Kali Hardig from Arkansas survived a brain eating amoeba. She is one of two people in the last century to survive. Kali was swimming in a water park when she got infected with the usually fatal brain eating amoeba. Survival rate is less than 1%. Kali was in the hospital for 7 weeks.  According to the CDC, amoebas or N. fowleri normally eats bacteria b ut when the amoeba gets into humans, it uses the brain as a food source. Studies show that amoebas are attracted to the chemicals the nerve cells use to communicate with one another. Amoebas usually enter the body through the nose .( Cohen)

(google) =Conclusion=

In conclusion the Amoeba is so small that you can’t see them. This is important because you would not know if a Amoeba went in your nose and began eating your brain. Studies show that amoebas like the chemicals the nerve cells let off. Humans should be concerned about swimming in warm dirty water because it could impact their life if they got an amoeba in them.

=Citations=

Works Cited

Works Cited

“Amoeba.” Qsstudy, www.qsstudy.com/biology/what-is-amoeba.html.

Brain Eating Amoeba. Webmd, 2005, www.webmd.com/brain/brain-eating-amoeba#1. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.

“Kali Hardig, brain-eating amoeba survivor, to begin school next week.” CNN, Elizabeth Cohen, 23 Aug. 2016, www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/health/arkansas-amoeba-survivor/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.

MLA (Modern Language Association) style:Balamuth, William. “Ameba.” Encyclopedia Americana. Scholastic Grolier Online, ea.grolier.com/article?id=0012410-00. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.

Padilla, Michael J. Prentice Hall Science Explorer. Teacher’s ed., Needham, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.

“PROTOZOA.” BrainPOP, www.brainpop.com/science/diversityoflife/protozoa/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.