Evolution web quest

At the root of the tree if life is chemistry. Early life needed a cell membrane and genetic material. All the ingrediants had to be put in a special way or life would not have been created. Life in earth started by  mixing chemicals together to form RNA and this could have been done in volcanic vents.

Blogpost number 8 Maddie's seed story

Maddie has learned many things this year auch as making punnett squares and learning about evolution. Maddy was interested to learn about how humans and animals adapt to their environments. Maddie has enjoyed working with her classmates and participating in all the class acticities. She likes being in the ecology service learning project and thinks it is a great and creative idea. She thinks we should have worked in our story of the seed groups more and we did not do much with the garden. She says she likes biology and is sad but excited that the school year is almost over. Maddie has helped a lot in class and in the eslp. She is fun and exciting and i enjoyed working with her this year.

The wonders of biodiversity

The name of the plant we studied is Kohlrabi. Kohlrabi looks like brussels sprouts in shape but comes in green or purple and tastes like broccoli stems and is related to cabbage and cauliflower. Kohlrabi is from Germany and is form the cabbage and mustard family and can be eaten cooked or raw. The offspring will have a spherical shape and green or purple leaves. The offspring will look like both parents because they get an equal amount of chromosomes from each parent. There is many different types of brassica oleracea because maybe the original brassica oleracea might have breeded with a closely related plant and the cycle continued until new species were created.

Gattaca quote response

"There is no gene for fate."
A gene can not tell your whole life. The only one who controls your life is you by the way you act and behave because our destiny is not mapped out by genes. Vincent is a strong minded person and he is not going to let genes control his life because it does not matter what race, sex, or age you are. Knowing someones DNA does not mean you know what that person is capable of doing and that is just what Vincent showed us in GATTACA.

Blog Post Assignment #8: Estiven's Seed Story

Over the year, Estiven learned about plants and their certain functions. He has also learned about cells, the human body, and the ecosystems of the world. He was surprised by how hard it is to grow a plant and keep it alive. Estiven enjoyed working with his group members and remembers the good times he had with them. While studying the various organisms during the year, Estiven has thought deeply about how plants and bees greatly affect our lives. He realized how important they were to our daily lives.

Blog Post #7: Anthers and Stigmas and Styles My!

This is the male reproductive system of the flower called the stamen. The stamen produces pollen which will then be released from the anther of the stamen to pollenate another flower.

This is the carpel of the flower which carries the ovary. Bees pollenate the carpel because when they go from flower to flower collecting nectar they pick up pollen from one flower and when it moves to another the pollen from the bee pollenates the carpel fertilizing the ovary.

This part of the flower has been stripped of everything but the ovary. The ovary contains ovules which when pollinated will turn into new flower seeds. The seeds will receive genes from both flowers creating new organisms with varying shapes and sizes.

Estiven's bee essay

Bee Essay

Bees pollinate about 80% of our flowering crops which accounts for about one third of what people consume. Most people are unaware of this so they continue through their everyday lives not knowing how important bees are to the existence of mankind. Humanity needs to stop being so reckless and treat bees like people because without them who knows where humanity would be.

People are so careless they probably will not do anything about the bees’ colony collapse disorder situation until it gets to a point where it is too late to reverse the effects mankind has caused. Many people are making bee farms to keep bees safe from pesticides and other harmful chemicals but just a few people by themselves can’t stop the bees’ situation. Also, companies who use bees for profit can make a difference if they just plant a few crops or flowers that bees can eat so they can survive when they dump them in the middle of nowhere to pollinate our crops but all the industries care about is making a profit. Humanity will probably not do anything to stop the bees colony collapse disorder because most people are selfish and only care about their own problems and they don’t even bother to even think about the bees conflict.

If people do not do anything about the colony collapse disorder then bees will go extinct and that will bring many problems for humanity. For starters we will have significantly less wax to use but most importantly 80% of our plants will not be pollinated which will make food prices go up and many people could die from starvation. If bees die off plants will not be the only ones affected because without plants we have nothing to feed our cows and pigs and that will affect our meat and dairy supply. With all this happening the human race could possibly go extinct along with bees.

We must spread the word about the importance of bees and make a difference because bees are very important to our agriculture and we must start treating them like people and respect them because without bees the human race could possibly go extinct.

Bee Prompt Essay

Gabriela Sumano

Mr.Bursch

Honors Biology

April 15, 2013

I think it will take for plants to start decreasing in number and dieing out for us to realize the necessity it is to have bees around. Without pollination, depending on the plants, plants will not be able to reproduce thus decreasing the number of the plants of such species which will eventually wipe them out into extinction. Some of the vital plants would be “apples, pears, plums, almonds, watermelons, pumpkins, cucumbers, blueberries” and many more. Even though one-third of the food crops we have are pollinated by insects, there are still some that will be able to keep on going such as “corn, wheat, oats, and rice.” These plants can either self-pollinate or have the wind blow their pollen.

    If we do not take care of the bees and realize the severe damage that could happen, the world would soon be in chaos. Farmers will start losing many crops, thus the prices will go up dramatically causing an inflation. The economy will surely go down by a lot. Not only here in the U.S, but all around the world. Food would start becoming scarce, violence will rise, more and more people will fall into poverty. It may seem a bit dramatic now, but it will eventually lead in into this case scenario as time progresses.

Some things we can do from preventing all this is simply not killing the bees. We can create a new type of pesticide which targets only the bad things like fungi and bacteria while not harming the bees and birds. We can also lower the amount used or the intensity. Another thing would be more beekeepers. Even more simple would be not to kill the bees around oneself. Letting them fly away rather than stomping on it is a small thing to do, but it is of big help.

   

Works Cited

Underhill, Richard. "The Peace Bee Farmer." : Food Crops Need Honey Bees. The Peace Bee

Farmer, 19 July 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.

Bee Essay

Christian SyBurschHonors Biology04-05-13

Bee Essay

Traveling from flower to flower, the tiny yellow and black insect is on a tight schedule. With a hive full of other bees, every little bee has their own part in the little hive. To provide for the queen bee and feed the young bees is vital. These little "pests" are what keeps the reproduction cycle of plants going. Not only do they provide honey and wax, they also pollinate crops and flowers to help them grow. The importance of bees is highly underrated. An under appreciated part of a biome, honey bees are decreasing in number rapidly. Colonial Collapse Disorder, the term used to describe the disappearing of the bees, is occurring in North America. Pesticides, abuse, and other factors contribute to Colonial Collapse Disorder. We need to act soon to save the bees from extinction.  

Over the past decade, bees have been dropping in huge numbers, and it is all because of humans. Ignorant farmers spray pesticides to their crops, not caring about the bees who pollinate their crops and help them grow. Commercial beekeepers wrap a makeshift hive with plastic to transport across the country. Because of this, thousands of bees die before even reaching their destination. If the bee population constantly drops at this steady rate, then the whole bee population will become extinct.

If nothing changes, and people who do know of the deaths of these bees continue to ignore the problem then these bees will be forever gone and it will dramatically affect every living organism dwelling on this planet.

What does it take for the population to notice the problem of disappearing bees? I believe that people are mainly too scared of bees and see them as an enemy, but they are wrong: bees are our friends. Bees pollinate 40% of our food. Without bees, our food supply will greatly decrease. If beekeepers and others inform everyone of the situation we are in, I believe that we can protect the sacred bees and hopefully increase their population. To help out the bees, we can plant lots of flowers in our backyards to provide food for the bees. If we all work together, then maybe one of the most important animals in the world can stage a recovery and continue their dynasty.

Evolution Web Quest

Life on Earth probably began with chemistry. First of all, life needed specific ingredients to first begin. Also, the ingredients have to be put in a specific order and in specific circumstances for life to be created. In the early Earth, life was created by special circumstances and a specific order was needed, or else the outcome would have been different.

Laughter evolved from monkeys. First, the orangutan started laughing as a panting sound. Then, the gorilla added a "ha-ha" sound along with the panting. Next, the chimpanzee had more of a "ha-ha" sound than a panting sound. Finally, the bonobo sounded more like humans than any other monkey. Monkeys used their "laughter" when they were roughhousing. They were basically saying,"I'm just kidding. I'm not trying to hurt you".

Responding to Gattaca

 “You can go to great lengths with this guy’s helix.”

Vincent wants to work at Gattaca and fly into outer space, but cannot because he is an invalid. However, Jerome has excellent genes, but is a wheelchair from a car accident and is unable to reach his dreams. He still wants to help someone else in need. Vincent agrees, because he has wanted to work at Gattaca for his whole life, and has something to prove. Vincent has been told many times in his life that he would never be able to work at Gattaca or even see the inside of a rocket unless he was cleaning it. Vincent wants to prove to everyone that he can fly in space even with his heart problem. This is the way he could  follow his dream.

GATTACA Quote Response

When Vincent was working as a janitor for GATTACA, he said "I was never more certain of how far away I was from my goal than when I was standing right beside it." This relates to the movie because Vincent tried to hard to become an space engineer, but he was only genetically able to become a janitor. He was able to work at GATTACA but not be what he dreamed of. For starters, he needed to be a valid in order to qualify for the job. This is how he realized that his goal was an unreachable thing for him. Even so, he tried his hardest to be able to fulfill his dream, and he accomplished it.

Response to GATTACA

"You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back." Vincent, explaining to Anton how he beat him in the swim competition


In their earlier swim competitions, Anton always beat Vincent. Vincent, being sick of losing, finally wins when he gives it his all. He doesn't save any energy for the swim back, desperate to beat Anton. What Vincent is saying is that you should always give your very best effort, and to never look back on anything. This quote can also refer to his success on getting into the space program. No matter about his  physical condition, he can be successful when he gave it his very best.

The Wonders of Biodiversity

The plant we were experimenting with was Kohlrabi. It is a commonly eaten vegetable. Particularly, in German speaking countries. The taste and texture is similar to a broccoli stem or cabbage heart. It can be eaten raw or cooked. There are several varieties such as White Vienna, Purple Vienna, Grand Duke, Purple Danube, and White Danube. What I can tell about the organism is that it is artificially selected for lateral meristem growth. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, and brussels sprouts are all in it's origin of nature. I can predict some traits the offsprings will have a spherical shape and green leaves coming off of it.

The Wonders of Biodiversity, Assignment

The plant we experimented with was Kohlrabi. Kohlrabi is pale green, white or purple and covered in a edible skin. Also, is commonly eaten vegetable. The taste and texture is similar to broccoli stem and cabbage heart. It takes 50 to 65 days from seed to maturity. Also, is created by artificial selection. 

The Wonders of Biodiversity

Kohlrabi was the name of the plant we experimented with. Being a commonly eaten vegetable in German speaking countries, it is very similar to a cabbage heart or broccoli stem. It can be eaten raw or cooked. There are several varieties, such as White Vienna, Purple Vienna, Grand Duke, Purple Danube, and White Danube. Kohlrabi is artificially selected for lateral meristem growth. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, and brussels sprouts are all in its origin of nature. The offspring coming from these plants will have a spherical shape and green leaves.

The steps of Meiosis

There is only one copy of each chromosome  from each parent.

Prophase 1

Homologous chromosomes pair up

Crossing-over may occur

The cell divides into two different daughter cells.

The cells divide once more.

Four genetically different haploid cells are created.