Final Blog: Blog #16

Reflect on your semester and year in biology What were your successes? What were your failures?
What did you learn that you will never forget? 


I think my successes were learning all of the concepts from doing the book work and worksheets. It helped me understand the material and actually read the book without reading the unnecessary information. I think my failures were the dissection chapters because it was kind of hard to see all the internal organs since they aren't as easily visible as the pictures in the books. Some things I will never forget are the major concepts of biology such as ecology, genetics, and the anatomies of different organisms.

Blog #15

Blog 14 Compare two of the organisms that we have dissected Discuss at least 2 similarities and 3 differences


 For the fish dissection we find out that it had a complete digestive system such as mouth, esophagus, and stomach like the frog. Also they both show cephalization because they both have a brain. However they have many differences such as the fish has a swim bladder to help it float in water, while the frog doesn't because it mainly lives on land. The fish contains gills to help it breathe underwater but the frog doesn't because it doesn't live in water. Lastly, the frog has legs to help it move/jump while the fish has fins for it to swim.

 

Blog #14

Blog 14 Which specimen that we have dissected so far seems most like humans? Why?


I think the crayfish is most like humans because it has many internal organs that we have. Some examples are a heart, brain, esophagus, stomach, intestine, anus, and ovary. For their digestive system, they have a digestive gland that acts like our human liver. Also their chelipeds act like our hands because they use it to grab things like us and their walking legs are like our legs because they use it to move. 

Blog #13

What was most interesting about this week's dissections? 


          I think the most interesting of the dissections for me so far was the clam because it was so different from the rest of the other dissections. It has an incomplete digestive system and it has open circulation which means it has less internal organs than the other animals. They contain siphons, which the other animals don't have either, that takes in food/oxygen and releases waste/carbon dioxide. They also lack a brain/ganglia and doesn't move.

Blog #12

What surprised you from the worm's dissection?


          The worm dissection sort of surprised me because I never dissected anything before. When i saw the worm's anatomy in drawings, I expected it to be easier to spot when I'm doing it hands on. Instead, it was hard to tell the difference between the parts and see the tiny details such as the brain. Also, in the body I thought there would be more too it but it was just mainly an intestine and dorsal artery that were visible. It was interesting though to see its internal organs and learn how they function.

Blog #11

Get a picture of alternation of generations put it in your blog and explain how it relates to plants

          Alternation of generations relates to plants because it represents the life cycle of their alternating asexual and sexual reproductive forms. In plants, this involves the alternating generations of haploid and diploid forms. Mostly, one of these generations are more dominant than the other, making the other generation dependent upon it or growing as a smaller plant. Examples of this is mosses or angiosperms because the haploid phase is more dominant in mosses, while the diploid phase is more dominant in the angiosperm.

Blog #10

Why is dissection an important part of a biology curriculum? Which animals and/or plants should be included in biological studies?


          Dissection is an important part of biology because it helps us understand the anatomy of the organisms we dissect. When we dissect something, we are able to see all the internal parts of the organism, where they are located, and how they function. Animals and plants that should be included could be frogs, worms, or just any small organism that would be easy to dissect and understand.

Blog #9

Define the different forms of community interaction: competition, commensalism, mutualism, predation, parasitism Give an example and a picture for each.


Competition: Competition is when two or more organisms use a common resource for supply. It sometimes results in a reduction or one or both of the competitors. Competition can occur among members of the same or different species. An example of this is bluebells vs. poppies for the bee's pollination. 

Commensalism: Commensalism is occurs between individuals of two different species where one benefits from the other without harming the second one. An example of this is trees and birds because birds uses trees to build a nest but they don't harm the tree. 

Mutualism: Mutualism is a relationship between two organisms that both benefit from each other. An example is a butterfly and a poppy because the butterfly drinks the pollen from the poppy.

Predation: Predation is where an organism acts as a predator and catches and feeds on another organism. An example is stinkbugs eating a caterpillar.

Parasitism: Parasitism is when an organism benefits from another organism but hurts or injures its host. An example is tapeworms and their vertebrate hosts.

Blog #8

 Your choice talk about something you learned or ask a question about something that is confusing you


I learned about ecology and how different animals interact with each other under one ecosystem. They all have relationships with one another and adapt to their environments and other species around them such as the food web/chain. I also learned about different biomes and how they each have a set of distinct characteristics. Earth's time periods/eras have distinct characteristics too such as different types of animals and extinctions.  In addition to learning about Earth's history, I learned about Earth's first atmosphere like how they contained different gases than the ones we have now. 

Blog #7

Compare and contrast two biomes describe them in detail include pictures of plants and animals you are liklely to see


Coastal Desert: Coastal deserts have cool winter and long, warm summers. The soil is fine- textured with some salt content. The plants that live there have extensive root systems that extend to take advantage or any rainfall. Also the plants with thick and fleshy leaves or stems can hold the water and save it for later. The plants living in these deserts include: salt bush,  buckwheat bush,  rice grass, black sage, and more. Some animals that have special adaptations to deal with the desert heat like laying dormant eggs or seal themselves in burrows with gelatinous secretions. Animals living in these deserts include: coyote, badger, toads, great horned owls, golden eagle, bald eagle, lizards and snakes.

 Temperate Grassland: Grasses are dominant in grasslands while trees and shrubs are absent. Temperate grasslands have hot summers and cold winters. They also have moderate rainfall. The soil in these grasslands are deep, dark, and have fertile upper layers. The grass roots hold the soil together to provide food source for the living plants. Trees, plants, and flowers include: cottonwoods, oaks, willows, purpleneedle grass, buffalo grass, and blue gramma, clovers, sunflowers, and blazing stars. Animals include: gazelles, zebras, coyotes, foxes, badgers, owls, snakes, and deer.

Compare and contrast: These two biomes are alike because they both have warm/hot summer and cool/cold winters. Their plants also use their roots as an advantage to adapt with their environment. The also have some animals that are alike such as coyotes, badgers, and snakes. However they are different because coastal deserts have sand while temperate grasslands have grass. Their soils are also very different. Coastal deserts' soil are fine textured and have some salt content while grasslands' soil are deep, dark, and full of nutrients.

Blog #6

Which level of a food pyramid is the most important? Support your answer


I think grains are the most important food group because they give us energy because of their complex carbohydrates , reduce risk of some chronic diseases, and provide us with nutrients for our bodies. Whole grains can reduce constipation and the risk of coronary heart disease. Also it helps with weight management. Grains with folate could also prevent neural tube defects during fetal development of pregnancies. Grains provide us with a lot of nutrients too, including dietary fiber,  B vitamins, and minerals. These nutrients can help reduce high blood cholesterol levels, lower the risk of heart disease, form red blood cells,  build bones, and more. You also need the most servings of grains out of all the other groups.

Blog #5

Blog #5 There have been 5 major extinction events throughout history, are humans impacting the 6th? Why or why not?


Humans are impacting the sixth major extinction because we are the direct cause of destruction to the ecosystem and species. By transforming landscapes, introducing alien species, polluting the environment, and exploiting animals we are hurting the environment and the animals. Humans cause animals to go extinct by overhunting them and possible spreading disease-ridden organisms. Also, since the human population is growing, we clear lands to help feed the new generations and spread agriculture through higher fossil energy, therefore modifying the environment more. 

Blog #4

Describe the three types of selection: directional, stabilizing and disruptive and give an example of each in your own words

• Directional Selection: Directional selection is selecting the individual with the most extreme variations in traits in a population. An example is choosing the fastest greyhound dog among a group of them. Then you pick the fastest one from their offspring. When you continue this, you end up with a really fast greyhound.
• Stabilizing Selection: Stabilizing selection is selecting the individual with the common, average traits in a population. An example is a Siberian Husky. If a Siberian Husky had heavy muscles, it would sink in the snow but if it had lighter muscles, it wouldn't be able to pull the sled. So choosing a medium Siberian Husky would be able to move through the snow and pull the sled.
• Disruptive Selection: Disruptive Selection is selecting the extreme traits in a population that would survive a sudden change in the environment. For example, when the Earth was hit by a meteor, there were large tidal waves,  increasing number of earthquakes, inadequate supply of food, and little oxygen. Larger animals would not have survived in this because they needed a lot of food and oxygen, but evidence shows that disruptive selection actually picked the traits that would help the animals in these conditions, thus making them survive.

Blog #4

Describe the three types of selection: directional, stabilizing and disruptive and give an example of each in your own words

• Directional Selection: Directional selection is selecting the individual with the most extreme variations in traits in a population. An example is choosing the fastest greyhound dog among a group of them. Then you pick the fastest one from their offspring. When you continue this, you end up with a really fast greyhound.
• Stabilizing Selection: Stabilizing selection is selecting the individual with the common, average traits in a population. An example is a Siberian Husky. If a Siberian Husky had heavy muscles, it would sink in the snow but if it had lighter muscles, it wouldn't be able to pull the sled. So choosing a medium Siberian Husky would be able to move through the snow and pull the sled.
• Disruptive Selection: Disruptive Selection is selecting the extreme traits in a population that would survive a sudden change in the environment. For example, when the Earth was hit by a meteor, there were large tidal waves,  increasing number of earthquakes, inadequate supply of food, and little oxygen. Larger animals would not have survived in this because they needed a lot of food and oxygen, but evidence shows that disruptive selection actually picked the traits that would help the animals in these conditions, thus making them survive.

Blog #3

Blog #3 Explain what microevolution is? What are the three ways that variation occurs?


Microevolution is small-scale genetic changes that lead to new subspecies. Microevolution ocurs from mutation, migration, and selection. Mutation is when there are random changes in the organism's composition or number of DNA molecules in their cell. Selection is when "weak alleles" that hurt the chances of an organism's survival are eliminated from the gene pool and the adaptive alleles that help an organism's survival are passed to a larger proportion of the gene pool. Lastly, migration is when organisms move into or out of a population and it effects the gene pool when the organisms carry a different genotype different from the population because the effect is greater on allele frequencies than if these organisms carry a similar genotype. 

Blog #2

Blog # 2 Why is fossil record hard to interpret?


Fossil records can be hard to interpret because sometimes the older fossils that are about more than three billion years old becomes fragmentary. Also some fossil records that are in mountainous areas are eroded by wind or water,  destroying the fossil. Fossils are also unreliable because not all bones of the same animal survive equally the same such as larger lightweight bones deteriorate more quickly and aren't that fossilized but small, delicate bones are crushed and carried away. Other fossils may only have a bone or two, making it hard to interpret what kind of organism it came from.

Blog #1

Evolution is a theory not a law because it has yet to be proven and supported with evidence. The definition of a scientific law is that it is a phenomenon of nature that has been proven while the definition of a theory is that it is an explanation of scientific observations. Evolution fits the definition of a scientific theory because it is an explanation of what has been observed and tested over thousands of years. There's also not a lot of information to prove evolution since it can't be repeated.

Blog #14

Favorite Topic: My favorite topic of this semester was viruses and bacterias because we got to see how they work and how they affect us. The book we read and the movie was also really interesting because it showed how deadly viruses and bacterias are. This topic relates to us, especially me because I get sick easily so it shows us what to do and how it happens.

Least Favorite Topic: My least favorite topic of this year was photosynthesis and the photosystem because it was really confusing. I didn't really understand how the plants work. I also didn't understand how the calvin cycle and light dependent cycles came into the topic because I didn't really get what they do.

If I could change one thing, I think it would be on how we take notes. The assignment is simple and I'm glad we are able to take notes from the screen but it kind of goes too fast so I don't get to write it all down. Also I'm not able to listen to the teacher because I'm too busy writing down all the notes so I can't understand what I'm writing. I just hoped that we could've slowed down a bit so we are able to take in what we just wrote down.

Blog #13

DNA changed the way we investigate crimes by giving us an idea of who the suspect is and concluding the case. By using the DNA found at the crime scene, we are able to narrow down who committed the crime. The two main types of tests are PCR and RFLP. PCR (polymerase chain reaction test) isn't very accurate but it is quick to process, usually a week. Also the DNA evidence doesn't have to be recent. It could be years after the crime and you are able to still use the DNA sample. RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) is considered more accurate than PCR testing. It involves DNA fingerprinting or profiling and requires the DNA cells to be fresh, undamaged, and recently dead. Also, you would need large amounts of the samples, such as several strands of hair and large splatters of blood. Although this test is very conclusive and finalizing, it takes a long time to complete, about three weeks to three months.