Unit 10 Reflection

This unit was about the anatomy and physiology of the human body and how the different components work together to maintain homeostasis. Homeostasis is the process of maintaining the bodies internal conditions and making sure everything is stable within it. The different systems are the circulatory, respiratory, nervous, endocrine, digestive, immune, and lymphatic. The circulatory and respiratory system work together to supply oxygen to the body through a system of arteries and veins which supply oxygen rich blood. Once the oxygen diffuses into the cells, oxygen is replenished through the lungs and supplied to the the body once again. The nervous system and endocrine system use electrical impulses and hormones respectively to communicate throughout the body. The nervous system is faster, while the endocrine system is longer but has a more lasting change. The immune and lymphatic system fight against pathogens and destroy waste within the body through the use of white blood cells and muscles. Some things I wanted to learn about more were how the lymphatic and immune systems are connected and what exactly a inflammatory response is, since I did not truely understand that.

Posts from this units:

• Pig Dissection Relate and Review
• 20 Time Final Post
• 20 Time Individual Reflection

     Since the beginning of the year I have not only grown as a scientist, but also as a person. I have learned to cooperate with others through our many projects and tested my limits by accomplishing different tasks and gaining valuable experiences. I am proud of my blog and the work I have put into it. At the beginning of the year I was skeptical about the idea of blogging, but running this bio blog has not only made science more interactive, but also made it more interesting. 

Pig Dissection Relate and Review

     In this lab we dissected a pig and discovered its different body parts and how they correlate to each other. This dissection tied together all of our previous topics within this unit because we were able to see where everything is and how the blood and different molecules move throughout the body. The video itself tested our skills and knowledge since we not only had to recognize the different parts but also point out their function and how it works within the body. It related back to previous years of biology where we did dissections. but also within this unit where we learned the knowledge behind the dissection. 

Pig Dissection Video:

Final 20 Time Post

Here is the data we collected from our project which helped us reach our conclusion. The conclusion we reached is that impaired senses can in fact improve you memorization and concentration. Below is our ted talk on the matter and links to other blog post pertaining to this matter.

Our TED talk went as anticipated due to our preparation and hard work on this project. Our fluency and passion were well articulated due to our knowledge on the topic and our previous public speaking experience in speech and debate. If I was to do anything differently I would have timed myself up there and I would have properly changed the slides to our content changes. The timing was important since we spoke faster due to our nerves and thus forget critical information and fell slightly under time. If we had timed ourselves it would have forced us to stretch our content and speak slower. I would keep our grade since it gave points in the areas which we deserved and took of points due to our incorrect picture citations. It was a really fun experience though it felt a little rushed due to the time constraints it really helped my presentation skills and public speaking. 

Links:

• http://bio20timenevinronit.blogspot.com/
• http://nevinsbioblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/20-time-individual-reflection.html

20 Time Individual Reflection

During my 20 time project experience, I challenged myself in many ways. My group had a very hard time choosing topic since the majority of our ideas were either to large to accomplish with our resources and current knowledge or were very simplistic and un-impactful. Our main challenge was to tailor our project in a way that could have an impact on people and that can be used by others for their own benefit, and we sought to accomplish this through our project itself. Our goal was to come to a definite conclusion in our project and to hopefully discover an idea that would help others. In the process I also created the goal of self improvement since I had to learn to compromise and work with my partner to achieve a unified goal. Our plan to achieve this goal was through multiple experiments that would test a base question that we had and to see the applications of this research in real life.
The question for out project was "Can impairing different senses enable students to retain information better?" We tested this question through multiple experiments in which we deprive the sense of one patient and leave the other untouched. We would then have them memorize a piece weather through hearing or sight, and recorded which patient had the better results. We found that in the case of hearing and sight, depriving one of their senses did in fact allow them to memorize information more efficiently and increase concentration. However, we had to run our experiment multiple times in order to come to a definite conclusion, and in doing so ran into the problem of finding willing test subjects. Luckily, we found members in our class who were willing to participate, and their results corroborated our conclusion. We learned that sensory deprivation can improve concentration and memorization not only through our tests, but also the research we did on brain plasticity and other information of interest. 
If I had a chance to do this project again, I would try to collaborate with professionals within our field of research so as to gain more insight into our question and use different tools to see weather parts of the brain had actually plasticized or weather the results were the result of different outside factors. In the future we hope to share our experiment and results with others and if given the opportunity do more research into our challenge and further our goal.

Unit 9 Reflection

     This unit was about organisms and how they are classified into evolutionary relationships. Organisms are classified based on their similarities and are named through the study of taxonomy. The largest taxonomic level is the domain, which consist of eukarya, archaea, and bacteria. Archaea live in the most extreme of environments and look very similar to bacteria, but are genetically unique.  The kningdoms under Eukarya are the Animals, fungi, protista, and plantae. Their are many phylums under the kingdoms within eukarya, but they all fall under invertebrates or chordates. This refers to weather an organism has a backbone or not. We also learned about transitional organisms through the documentary our "Inner Fish". Transitional organisms such as Tiktaalik and Archeopteryx show how we have evolved over time and the evolutionary changes that have stayed with in our most recent days. All organisms can be shown to connect in a phylogenetic tree, which shows our evolution over time and the different nodes at which we interconnect.

Link

Link

   One of the major projects done in the unit was the What on Earth Evolved project, I did my project on the yeast, and it helped me learn a lot about not just organism interdependence, but also to make a presentation and publicly speak. I had to research information about my organism but had not guidelines as to the critical information or how to present it, so this project forced to become independent and judge for myself what is important and what is not. Having created presentation in previous classes, I knew that it was important to only place the critical content on the board and to speak the rest of it since the audience will lose interest otherwise and will be waiting for the next slide. Using this tactic also forced me to memorize my content and truly understand my organism instead of reading of the slides and being an un-engaging speaker. This experience will help me in my TED talk since I will mainly be speaking and there will be few supplementary slides for the audience. It will teach me to be engaging and to understand my content rather than read from slides.

Blog Posts From This Unit:

• Blue Ringed Octopus Relate and Review
• Inner Fish Reflection

Your Inner Fish Reflection

     For the past week we have watched the documentary "Your Inner Fish" starring Neil Shubin and it went over our inner fish and reptile and how many of our characteristics evolved from them and the physical characteristics which we adapted to own. This series not only taught me about the evolution of man kind but provided insight into my own biology and how fit into the grand scheme of earths history.

Link

     One of the questions asked was "What are some of the forms the descendants of Tiktaalik evolved in their limbs?" This question surprised me because it showed how similar we were to early amphibians and the how their was a transitional fish that filled the evolutionary gaps. Some of the different forms include amphibians, claws of reptiles, arms of primates, and the human hand. This showed how all animals originate from some form of a common ancestor and how only the most vital of adaptations have survived evolution.

Link

     Another question that interested me was "What is significant about the master gene EDA?" Master gene EDA is the gene that controls all of our skin organs such as teeth, hair and feathers. It helped to connect all animals as this gene is present in all species and develops some of our most defining characteristics. It connects to our unit about genes since it shows the regulation of genes and traits, but also about how this gene has survived natural selection and evolution to allow us human beings to evolve.

Blue-Ringed Octopus Relate and Review

The blue-ringed octopus is a mollusk with venom powerful enough to kill humans. They are a apart of the kingdom Animalia, phylum Mollesca, class Cephalopodo, order Octopodo, family Octopodidae, subfamily Octopodinae, and genus Hapalochlaena. The characteristics of mollusks include a complete digestive track, shells, and fully developed organs. The blue-ringed octopus has all the characteristics, and is able to mate through a mating ritual that includes a packet of sperm being forced into a female of the species. The behavior of the blue-ringed octopus is unlike that of regular mollusks, as it can use chromatophore cells to camouflage itself and feed on other sea dwellers. Its diet include other mollusks such as crab or shrimp, and it uses its horny beak to break through the exoskeleton of these species. When in danger, the octopus will turn yellow with blue rings on it as a warning towards danger. This organism relates to our vodcast "Invertebrates 1" since it is a type of invertebrate and fits under a specific phylum. This organism shares all the characteristics of this phylum and has grown more advanced with an advanced warning system and a way of protecting itself from harm.

Picture

Reference:

Wikipedia

The Cephalopod Page

Unit 8 Reflection

This unit was about evolution and how it occurs in our everyday lives, and what factors effect evolution. The themes of this unit were evolution, and how evolution is connected with geology and the geological timeline. The parts of this unit include natural and artificial selection, allele frequency, speciation, the structural evidence of evolution, and how populations evolve. Natural and artificial selection act on the phenotype of different individuals, who must adapt to constant changes within their environment. Natural selection acts on these phenotypes  and in the process decrease the allele frequency within the population. This allows for speciation, in which related species no longer are able to reproduce with each other, and thus evolve into new species. The types of change that cause evolution within populations include genetic drifts, gene flow, mutation, natural selection, and sexual selection. These all change the allele frequency and affect evolution. Another theme that we learned about was how populations evolve. The three types of change are directional change, stabilizing change, and disruptive change. These show how the genotypes and phenotypes change, and are caused by the different types of change. Another theme we learned about was earths geological history and how earth formed. Earths history was caused by many major events, which include mass extinctions and adaptive radiation, in which their is rapid speciation from a common ancestor. Scientists use radioactive dating of radioactive isotopes in the rocks to determine age. Earths history is split into Eras, Periods, and Epoch's. This unit greatly relates to our previous units about genes, since evolution affects phenotypes, but has a greater impact on the genes of individuals. The labs we did in this unit include the:

• Hunger Games Lab
• Bird Beak Lab 
• Geological Timeline Reflection

Link

Link

In my Unit 7 Reflection, I learned about my conflict style and found that my dominant style was assertive, though my second one was passive aggressive. I have taken steps to be more assertive in projects by making sure that I am not overpowering or aggressive to my teammates and to make sure that all people win, and that I am a good teammate. 

Geologic Timeline Individual Reflection

       Three of the most significant events that have occurred in earths geological history are the "Cambrian explosion:, the Permian extinction, and the Cretaceous extinction. The Cambrian explosion is the time period where a large amount of new species arose, and the diversification of current species rapidly grew. It created a prosperous time for new animals and allowed for a diversification in sea life, which led to the Permian era. Without the Cambrian explosion, much of earths current life would be non existent, and the Permian era sea life growth would never have occurred. The Permian extinction was the largest mass extinction ever, and caused the destruction of 70% of all species. This extinction caused decimated the large amount of aquatic species on earth, and created a niche for the Dinosaurs and other animals to step into. The Permian extinction is thought to be caused by a drastic increase in temperature, which caused many glaciers to melt and allowed for the continents of Pangea to dry up. with this extinction, Earth would still be largely aquatic and have much larger glaciers. The Cretaceous extinction is the third significant event because of its lasting effect on humans and its destruction of the Dinosaurs. Without this extinction, the earth would still be ruled by the Dinosaurs, and humans would hav
e never found and inhabited their niche.

http://www.basfeijen.nl/evolution/pic/cambrianfauna.jpg

     Despite the scale of earths history being so large, what surprised me is how little time humans have been on earth, and how in the grand scale of time, our actions and lives have had a minuscule effect on what has occurred over time. As seen in the Cosmos video, if earths history was a calendar year, we take up the last second of the last day, which truely shows how small we are in the grand scale of things. Despite us having been on earth for such a short time, we have had a large impact on our planet. From global warming to the extinction of many species, we have caused much harm to our earth and have created a lasting impact. With continued increase in temperature, we may be causing our own extinction.

https://spongebobquh.wikispaces.com/file/view/geological_time.jpg/128735281/geological_time.jpg

Hunger Games Lab Analysis

1. In this lab we simulated evolution and natural selection through the process of feeding and reproduction. We had the population split evenly among three different phenotype and had the different groups feed and gain as much cork as possible to simulate feeding. After the birds who gained enough food survived they reproduced and created a second generation which continued the process of feeding and reproduction.
2. Pinchers were the best phenotype at capturing food because they had the use of there oposable thumbs and were allowed to reproduce the most. Contradictory to these results, knucklers continued to reproduce the most and had the largest population due to sexual selection, in which people were more likely to mate with knucklers rather then pinchers despite the data and phenotypic advantages.
3. The population evolved from natural selection because of a change in allele frequency. After the first round, the allele frequency changed greatly in that the A gene dropped in percentage while the a gene rose, showing a change that fit the pattern of phenotypes and how they work in the lab. The percentage of A gene started as 52%, while a gene was at 48%. After the first round, the A gene dropped to 31%, while a gene rose to 69%. After this round, the ratio stated constant and the a gene greatly outnumbered the A gene. This shows how the population evolved quickly and that there was a change in allele frequency.
4. The random events that occurred in this lab were sexual reproduction, the food placement, and the method in which mates were chosen. The non-random events included where people were placed on the line towards the food and phenotype of every bird. These random events had a large effect on the evolution of the population since mating was random and not chosen based upon successful phenotypes, which allowed unsuccessful genotypes to live through sexual reproduction, which slowed evolution of the gene pool. Food placement also affected evolution since individuals closer to food piles survived and gained more food through sheer luck, so natural selection was unable to take place.
5. If the food was larger or smaller, the results would have been different because the different phenotypes would have to adjust to this change, so the data would change based on which phenotype was best suited. If the food became smaller, chances are that the pinchers would be best adapted due to there maneuverability, while stumpys would adjust to larger foods best. This would change the data, as the Stumpys became endangered with the current food size. This is similar to nature in which natural events change the availability of food, so animals must adapt to new foods, which allows the population and gene pool to evolve.
6. If there was no incomplete dominance, the results would be different since knuklers would become stumpys with a higher chance of reproducing, so the population would not evolve due to the stumpys continuously living.
7. Natural selection acts on the phenotypes of individuals, and in turn changes there genotype and decides weather they will survive. This alters the frequency of this genotype in the gene pool, which is evolution, the change of gene frequency in a population.
8. Some strategies that individuals adopted included mating with exclusively pinchers or by having a very aggressive approach to mating. Pinchers had the best equipped phenotype, so only mating with them increased your chance of survival and created offspring that could survive.This relates to nature, where certain individuals only mate with those who have the best traits for survival rather than sexual reproduction, which change the gene frequency and selectively breeds to evolve the population.
9. In evolution, populations evolve, and the frequency of alleles changes. Natural selection acts on the phenotypes, but through acting on the phenotype changes the genotypic frequency for the population. 
   

Bird Beak Lab Analysis

In part one of our lab, our claim was that "Individuals with better traits leave more offspring". The evidence of this occurrence is that the tweezer and spoon had 22 and 23 chicks respectively (shown on graph), while the scissors only had 14 chicks. This is because the tweezers and spoon were easier to use with the given materials and thus were the better trait, allowing them to leave more offspring.

Another claim of ours was that "Populations begin to look more like winners."The evidence of this occurrence is that the tweezer and spoon had 39% and 37% of the population, while the spoon only had 24% of the population. This is because the tweezers and spoon were the "winners" in terms of the amount of chicks they had and the quality of their traits were better then that of the scissors. This increase in the amount of chicks allows them to have a larger amount of the population and thus, the population reflects them.

In part two of this lab, we asked the question of "If natural selection occurs in a population, how do changes in selective pressures affect the evolution of that species?" Our hypothesis was that if natural selection occurs within a population and selective pressure mainly effects traits that are not suited for it, then only the traits that are suited to survive a certain selective pressure will continue the process of evolution. The scenario assigned to us was that we were only able to use 1/4th of our food source, which made food very scarce and allowed instruments that pick up large amounts at a time to survive. Our claim was correct since the tweezers and spoon were able to intake large quantities at a rapid pace, with a respective 12 and 11 chicks born between the two. On the other hand, the scissors, which take time to gain food, were unable to compensate in either loading capabilities of speed, and thus only had 7 chicks. This result is likely caused by how the traits adapted to the selective pressures, and those that were less suited had a lower chance of survival.

While our hypothesis was supported by the data, there have been errors due to first, the uneven partition of our food supply, and second, the differences in the techniques for using certain beaks. The cause of the uneven food partition was human error, as we partitioned it through the eye test rather than quantitatively partition it, which may have allowed for a wrong amount of food to be used in the test. This could have effected the number of chicks hatched and changed the effect of the selective pressure itself. The cause of the difference in technique was also human error. One example of this was the spoon, which was used by some to push food against a wall and collect it, which was easier that outright collecting food. The effect of this was that the number of chicks hatched for the spoon may have been altered due to an illegal advantage. Some solutions to these problems include using a scale or another type of quantitative measurement and to clarify instructions over the usage of the different beaks.

This lab was done to demonstrate the process of natural selection and two of Darwin's main principles, which are that individuals with better traits leave more offspring, and that populations begin to look more like winners. From this process I learned how different traits survive in a population, which helps me understand the concept of natural selection, where only certain traits are able to survive selective pressures and control the majority of the population. This relates back to the vodcast called "change, its all natural" where we learned about the basics of Darwin's conclusions and to 7th grade science, where we learned the concept of natural selection, but never experienced a life like example of it. based on my experience from this lab, I know how to create an experiment through the use of competition and how to change variables but still keep the same principle concepts.

Unit 7 Reflection

This unit was about ecology and how different factors and decisions affect the biological lives of different species. The parts of this unit include energy movement, food webs, succession within ecosystems, and conservation biology. Energy move throughout the ecosystem through the use of the food web. The layers of the food web include: primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers. They also consist of herbivores, omnivores, carnivores, and decomposers. The health of an ecosystem changes greatly based in a number of factors, including population, birth and death rate, and succession. Succession in the process in which new species will enter the ecosystem after the destruction of itself. A major theme of this unit was how everything about ecology connects to our everyday lives and how our ecosystems are threatened and that we should do something about it. One thing I want to learn more about are the solutions to many problems facing our environment and how everyday people can do their part in solving them. I wonder about why our government hasn't passed more laws concerning the well being of our planet and why we ignorantly continue to allow our plant to be destroyed. The content within this unit was easy to understand as the majority of it was big picture thinking or review from previous years, but it challenged me in more of a personal way in how all of the things i have learned affect me everyday and the impact they have on my life.

http://eschooltoday.com/ecosystems/images/Levels-of-Organization-in-an-Ecosystem.jpg

The main project we worked on in this unit was the Conservation Biologist project, in which we looked at the in-depth problems facing a specific biome. My group consisted of Andrew Gao, Sam Tiles, and Pranay Jalan and we focused on the African Savanah and the poaching problems facing this region. It was fun collaborating with others as I had the ability to bounce back ideas and have people to review my work and offer constructive criticism on my work. It also allowed my to focus more on my individual part knowing that others were taking care of theirs. It was a little hard mixing the multiple personalities, and the team contract was more of a burden to fill out rather than a tool to ensure proper collaboration, but it helped me learn how to deal with others and properly work together to achieve a common goal.

Link to Project: African Savanah Conservation Biologist Project

After taking the self assessment test to identify my preferred method of conflict management, I found that I was generally assertive, while my secondary response was to be aggressive or passive aggressive. I should try to be more passive at times, as that will help my assertiveness and tone down my aggression when working with others.

https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_800_800/p/3/005/0b9/1e4/32af486.jpg

Unit 6 Reflection

This unit was about the technologies in biology and their different applications in everyday life. Biotechnology is the study of the manipulation of living things and how they are changed in order to benefit mankind. The four applications of biotechnology are: industrial and environmental; agricultural; medical; and diagnostic research. Despite the many benefits that these four applications have given to mankind, there are many questions that are posed about the bioethics of gene manipulation and weather they fit our values and morals as a species. This part of biotechnology is important since scientists are constantly creating organisms and making different discoveries, but weather the applications of these discoveries the moral thing is something that must always be asked in science that changes the natural order of things. We also learned about recombinant genes, and how they are used to mass produce and create bacteria with a desired protein to be extracted. This involves extracting a gene using a restriction enzymes, inserting it into a plasmid, and mass producing the plasmid in order to create and extract the protein that is created from the gene. The three main technologies used in biotech are Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR), Gel Electrophoresis, and DNA Sequencing. The process of PCR is to denature strands of DNA with heat, add a primer to specific DNA sequences, and to use DNA polymerase to read the DNA and mass produce it, creating multiple copies for analysis. Gel electrophoresis is when DNA is placed into a gel and ran through with a an electrical current, which separates the DNA by size and allows for them to be more easily analyzed. DNA sequencing is used to determine the exact sequence of a gene and uses DNA polymerase and dyes to allow a computer to read it and analyze it. This was a fast paced unit and I had a hard time understanding some of the concepts until we did the labs, which gave us hands on experience and allowed us to truly see how the technologies are used and their  applications in real life.

We did three labs in this unit which all helped me understand the concepts behind the different technologies. In the Recombinant DNA lab, we used paper models to help us understand the role of restriction enzymes and how they cut plasmids and DNA to allow them to combine together. In the Candy Electrophoresis Lab, we ran different dyes in candy through a gel electrophoresis and analyzed them next to sample dyes, which helped us understand how gel electrophoresis is used and how it separates DNA by size.  In the pGLO Lab, we did the replication and combing part of Recombinant DNA, by combining DNA and plasmids through a process of cooling and heating and then mass producing the plasmids inside of bacteria to see how they are actually created and combined.

Links to Labs:

• Recombinant DNA Lab Analysis
• Candy Electrophoresis Lab Analysis
• pGLO Lab Analysis

I want to learn more about the industrial applications of biotechnology, since we learned about the diagnostic and medical applications through the pGLO lab and how that technology can be used to mass produce insulin and other medicines and how gel electrophoresis can be used to study DNA, but not about how biotechnology can be used in the industrial setting.

My goals from the New Years were to gain a 4.0 GPA in the second semester and to final in at least one speech and debate tournament by the end of the second year. I have yet to complete the first goal, but am making good progress towards the goal. The second goal is also incomplete but I have come very close in many tournaments, I need to continue practicing and become more knowledgeable on the analysis of current events in order to complete this goal and achieve future success.

Recombinant DNA Lab 

Gel Electrophoresis Lab 

pGLO Lab

pGLO Lab Analysis

pGLO Observations , Data Recording & Analysis

1.

Obtain your team plates.  Observe your set of  “+pGLO” plates under room light and with UV light.  Record numbers of colonies and color of colonies. Fill in the table below. Plate Number of Colonies Color of colonies under room light Color of colonies under   UV light - pGLO LB Lawn White None - pGLO LB/amp 0 + pGLO LB/amp 6 White Purple White + pGLO LB/amp/ara 2 and Satellite Colonies White Green White

2.	What two new traits do your transformed bacteria have?
	The two traits that the transformed bacteria have are resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin, and the inclusion of the GFP gene in the bacteria.
3.	Estimate how many bacteria were in the 100 uL of bacteria that you spread on each plate. Explain your logic.
	We estimate that there were around 5000 - 10000 bacteria since their were about 15 bacteria colonies in every unit, and those have a multitude of bacteria, and because many bacteria died due to the ampicillin, there are approximately that many bacteria at the beginning of the lab.
4.	What is the role of arabinose in the plates?
	The arabinose is a promoter for the GFP gene, and it is needed in order for the RNA polymercase to be allowed to read the GFP gene and express it.
5.	List and briefly explain three current uses for GFP (green fluorescent protein) in research or applied science.
	It is used in many animals alongside another resistance gene to test whether it has actually entered the organism and is active inside of it. It can be used to track organisms since they glow under UV lights and can properly be used to check where they are in a contained environment. It is used in monkeys to track the entrance of diseases into the monkeys brains can better help these diseases be studied.
6.	Give an example of another application of genetic engineering.

Another example of genetic engineering is the introduction of pest resistant genes into plants in order for them to better grow in impoverished areas and to yield better crop results.

Candy Electrophoresis Lab Analysis

All the dyes that were found matched up with  reference dyes in color, size, and area in the gel except for the green dye, which split in 2 and had a blue band and a yellow band. This is probably because the color green is created from a combination of those colors. and the mixture was split during the electrophoresis. 

The citrus red 2 dye is most similar to the dyes in the lab, specifically red 40, because it has the relatively same structure and size un like the other dyes, which are oddly shaped. Due to the similarities between these dyes, they would probably move at the same rate and to the same area in the gel.

Dog food companies probably put different color dyes in their foods because it might make the food seem more appetizing and the color may attract dogs towards it. Also, the color may give it the artificial look of meat and can make it look better compared to an all natural look.

The reason people might prefer artificial dyes over natural dyes is because artificial dyes can come in a larger variety and are cheeper to create and process, while natural dyes must be obtained from a natural source and may not have the desired quality or color.

The forces that control the distance tin which the dyes migrate are the size of the pieces of DNA along with the structure of the dye. These two control the distance because if the piece is smaller, then it travels farther and the structure may cause it to be larger or smaller.

The force of the electricity running through the gel moves the dye, which moves them from a negatively charged side to a positively charged size.

The movement caused by the charge distribution allows the DNA to move in little holes in the gel, thus splitting them by size since the smaller particles take less time to move than the larger ones. 

The DNA molecules with those weights will separate through the holes, but some will just take longer to migrate. In order of farthest to closest from the starting point it would be: 600, 1000, 2000, with 5000 lagging far behind.