Blog #15

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


The frog and fish had differences and similarities that we have dissected. The frog had slimy skin while the fish had scales which made it scaly. Frogs move by using their jumpy legs and webbed feet. The fish moves by swimming. Fishes breathe by using their gills but frogs uses their lungs to breathe. Frogs and fishes both has their circulation closed. They also both show cephalization. Fishes shows cephalization in the brain, organ, and kidney while the frog shows cephalization everywhere. 

Blog #16

Reflect on your semester and year in biology What were your successes? What were your failures?

I had many successes and failures this year in biology. One of my successes was that i got through the first semester with an A in bio but now i have a C. The dissections were successes because it has taught me a lot about different kinds of animals like marine and land animals. One failure would be my biology notebook. It was a fail because I kept on losing track on what's suppose to be in my notebook. I always would have to compare my notebook with other people on my table to see what i was missing. The quizzes were also a failure to me. I sometimes would forget when the quizzes were closed so I ended up not doing it making me get a bad grade. 

Blog #14

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


The fish was very alike to humans. Their organs were similar to humans. Their liver, skull, stomach, kidney, intestine, and heart are very similar to humans and are important to survive. The fish doesn't look like humans but they still have similarities. 

Blog #13

What was most interesting about this week's dissections?

 The most interesting dissection this week is the fish dissection. I liked how the fish's scales were rough and scaly. It was hard to cut unlike the other dissections. The gills were almost the same as the clam's gills. The fish dissection is the most interesting dissection this week because I like learning about marine animals and how they can breathe underwater.

Blog #12

What surprised you from the worm's dissection?

I wasn't surprised about anything in the worm dissection because I done a worm dissection when i was in eighth grade. When I dissected the worm in 8th grade i was surprised about how dirty worms are. I couldn't tell between the anus and the head of the worm until after the dissection. I was also surprised by how long the worm was. It didn't think it would be that long until i saw it.

Blog #11

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

This cycle begins with a seed. The seed is planted and then will be waited to be grown. The plant grows from using the process of photosynthesis. When the plant is fully grown, insects will take the spore from the flower and hand it down to another flower. The spore will then go into the ovary and an egg will be produced. This egg will produce a fruit. As the fruit gets old the seeds will fall to the ground and this process repeats.

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 a biology curriculum because it helps us learn about the different parts of animals/plants. Biology is about life of living things and learning about the different parts of living things help us about learning on what they eat or the way they live. I think that fishes should be included in biological studies because we can learn about animals that lives in the water. Fishes can teach students on what they eat in the water.

Blog #9

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

Predation is the interaction where a predator feeds on other organisms. An example would be people living on a ship and eat fishes. 

Competition is when organisms fights for survival and food. An example of competition would be the same animal fighting for a girl.

Commensalism is the relationship of two organisms, where one organism benefits but the other is neutral. An example of commensalism is a flatworm attaching to the horsecrab and eating the crab's food while the crab is unaffected.

Mutualism is the relationship where two organisms interact and both benefit. An example of mutualism is sea anemones and hermit crab. The sea anemones give protection to the crab using its stinging cells.

 

 Parasitism is relationship where one organism lives in other organism, where one benefit by harming the other one. Hookworms consuming blood from inside an animal's intestine.

Blog #8

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

I am excited to complete the project we just started on with 2 guppies, 2 plants, and a snail. I just want to raise these organisms into a successful A at the end of this month. I just want to know how to make sure that the living things in this project will not die.

Blog #7

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

There are two biomes which are tundra and taiga. The trundra is a treeless plain. It is also the coldest biome out of all the other biomes. It is known for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. The Arctic fox lives in this kind of area. It makes its home in small burrows in frost free ground, often in low groun, or in rock piles.

 

Taiga is the Russian word for forest and is the largest biome in the world. The taiga is located near the top of the world. The taiga biome are very cold with only snowfall. The summers are warm, rainy, and humid. Gray wolves are one of the animals found in the taiga biome. They are the biggest canine found in this biome. It is easily identified by its yellow eyes and pointed ears. 

Blog #6

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

The most important level of the food pyramid is the vegetable group. The vegetable group help humans on keeping healthy and on a good diet. Vegetables also contain a lot of vitamins and minerals. It contains very low fat and calories.

Blog #5

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

Humans are not going to be impacting as the 6th major extintion because our world population of humans is proximately 6,903,000,000. Right now the population is increasing rapidly throughout the year. The population is expected to reach between 7.5 to 10.5 billion on the year of 2050. Even if a major disater occurs on Earth, humans will not be extincted.

Blog #4

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

Directional selection is a mode of natural selection in which a single phenotype is favored, causing the allele frequency to continously shift in one direction. Stablizing selection is a type of natural selection in which genetic diversity decreasesas the population stablizes on a particular trait value. Disruptive selection describes the changes in population genetics in which extremem values for a trait are favored over intermediate values. An example for directinal selection is breeds of dogs. Dogs are used for this example bcause you can use directional selection to see which dog can run faster. an example for stablizing selection is baby birth weight. Babies with low weight loses heat more quickly and can get ill easily. An example for disruption selection would be if different color skin rabbits were placed in dark or white spots. They would hide from predators and see which rabbits with the same skin would blend in.

Blog #3

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

Microevolution is the change in gene frequency within a population. One way that variation occurs is when crossing over occurs during meiosis. It also occurs when mutation alter the order of bases in the nucleotide DNA. Mutations are rare and most mutations are harmful, but some instances the new allele can be favored by natural selection.

Blog #2

Why is fossil record hard to interpret?

 Fossil record is hard to interpret because the fossil record becomes fragmentary and hard to interpret. Since the fossils have been there for at least 10,000 years or more, it would be very hard to notice the shape of the animal/plant. The fossil has to be broken down in order for the main part to be taken out.

Blog #1

Why is evolution a theory and not a law?

Evolution is the change over time in the proportion of individual organisms differing in one or more inherited traits. Evolution can be observed through changes in traits of a population over time.The theory of evolution is the framework that explains the observed changes of species over time. It best predicts the new observations that continue to be made in evolutionary biology.

Blog #14

What was you favorite activity/topic this year? Why was it a favorite?
I enjoyed doing all those labs in this biology class. Not only were the labs fun but it also taught me many different things. I like to do different biology experiments. 

What was your least favorite? Why?
My least favorite activity this year would be doing the fingerprint lab yesterday. Even though I like labs, I hated this one because it got my fingers all black after. Using water and soap together didn't help get the marks away. 


If you could change one thing (Not the amount of homework) what would it be and how would you change it?  
I didn't get good grades on all of my tests. I wish i could change the grades on my tests. If I knew that I was going to get a bad grade, I would have studied harder than I did. 

Blog #13

How has DNA changed how we investigate crimes? What are the two main tests? Describe them.

DNA has changed how we investigate crimes by showing us their identity. DNA is part of your blood, saliva, hair, and fingerprints. The two main tests are PCR and RFLP.

PCR(polymerase chain reaction) is a single or few copies of DNA. It generates thousands to millions of DNA sequence. It consists of cycles of repeated heating and cooling of the reaction for DNA melting.

RFLP(restriction fragment length polymorphism) is a technique that exploits variations in homologous DNA sequences. It refers to a difference between samples of homozygous DNA molecules.