TSOTS Assignment #7

This is a picture (40x) of the carpel. It consists of the ovary and a stalk called a style with a sticky tip called a stigma. Pollen grains get stuck on this sticky tip. If you look you might be able can see a yellow dusting of pollen on the stigma in the picture.

This is another picture (40x) of the carpel but it is split in half. As you can see the inside of it is a lighter green, this is because that is where the sticky residue that catches pollen grains is produced.

This is a picture (40x) of the stamen, the male reproductive part of the flower. It has a stalk called the filament which comes up from the base of the flower. At the end of this stalk is the anther, which produces pollen grains that contain the plant's male gametes.

GATTACA Quote Response

"You wanna know how I did it? This is how I did it Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back." -Vincent

      This quote from the movie, in my opinion, means that you should not wait for the last minute to do something. Also I think this quote means that whenever you do something, you have to give it all you have. Vincent tells Anton this whey are playing the game called chicken, where they swim from shore as far as they can without turning back, which is when you lose because they have got scared of swimming into the sea. Whenever Vincent and Anton would play this game, Anton would always win because Vincent was born an in-valid. The last two times they played the game chicken, Vincent finally won. On the last time they played chicken, Anton ended up drowning and was saved by Vincent. Vincent brought him back to shore and they never again played this game.  

Ryann's seed story (by Henry posted by Ryann)

Ryann has learned more about gardening than she had before and that plants can survive in very diverse conditions. What surprises her was that everyone in our group worked like a well oiled machine and got along great. What made her laugh was our team name "pots" because we asked James to bring in some pots to plant our plants in and the "pots" that he bought were these really tiny plastic pots. Things that made her pause an think deeper were how the plants grew faster in the sand rather than the soil and how to get the best results out of this project. Some of the questions that she had were; How did the plants survive in the sand but not in the soil? And What could we do to make the project better?

Henry's seed story

Henry has learned that working together as a team and cooperating constantly is vital. He was amazed and surprised at the fact that people actually worked in our group. Like me what make Henry laugh was when James brought the "pots" which were these tiny little plastic pots. These "pots" resulted in the creation of our team name pots. Something that made him pause and think deeper was how could he make himself as efficient as possible for our team. A question that Henry had was how can such a small environment contain such an amazing ecosystem?

Responses to NOVA: Evolution Web Quest

PBS:NOVA, Revealing the Origins of Life 

   Chemistry is a major part of how the earth and the beings on it were created. Through chemical processes that formed parts of the RNA such as the phosphate and half of the nucleic base containing genetic information and then the process of evaporation started the recipe for life. The hybrid of RNA would fall from the sky, meet the other half, and then connect and form the RNA helix. Light would then hit the ribo-nucleotides and change the C base into U.


A Neanderthal Burial 

   In the video, there were many skeletons found but one stood out to the researcher. It was that of a young female. She was positions as if asleep but that didn't make sense to the scientist. What they once believed was the site of a cave in, they now think is that of a burial place. The girl had a panther paw next to her and scientists hypothesize that this is a trophy for hunters, much like that of bear hunters cutting off their claws.

Evolution Web Quest

Chemistry was a major role in how Earth probably began. Through chemical reactions that formed some RNA is how single cell organisms were created. This RNA had the base of C and when in sunlight it created the RNA strand with the base of U. This RNA created the basis for life on Earth.

Article: Evolution of Laughter

Laughter is a key to survival for babies. It makes adults get on babies side or pay attention to them. Laughter binds people together by creating a bonding moment. Laughter is not only used by humans it is also used by gorillas. it first comes from the arangatangs then the movas then human babies. Laughter connects people together because everyone can laugh.

Interview: The DNA of Human Evolution
In this interview Katie Pollard explains that she has been curious about what makes people human. So to figure this out she is bringing in new types of data and machinery into her lab. When she first started to study human evolution her team had access to artifacts and bones which they dug out of the ground. Then they observed the earth today and how they would have lived back then. Later she began to compare human DNA to chimp DNA since they are out closest relative. When she finished her studies she found out that the human and chimp genome lined up. She ended up finding that sequencing of humans and chimps were very close to each other. 

Anthers and Stigmas and Styles (Blog Post Assignment #7)

       

This is a picture (40x) of the stamen which is the male reproductive part of the flower. It has a stalk called the filament which comes up from the base of the flower. At the end of this stalk is the anther. This part of the stamen produces and releases pollen grains, that contain the plant's male gametes. This is a picture (40x) of the carpel. It consists of the ovary and a stalk called a style with a sticky tip called a stigma. Pollen grains get stuck on this sticky tip. If you look you might be able can see a yellow dusting of pollen on the stigma in the picture. This is another picture (40x) of the carpel but it is split in half. As you can see the inside of it is a lighter green, this is because that is where the sticky residue that catches pollen grains is produced.

The Buzz about Bees (original draft)

In the past decade, monoculture in America and pesticides/insecticides has been largely focused on. The pesticides keep bugs and contaminating organisms off the products. Monoculture is a large part of the economy in the US. The food produced. What are the ingredients for a successful harvest in monoculture? Sunlight, water, different conditions that produce a better product are all important factors. There is one key component, however, that we don’t ever think of in considering these products. That component is the bee population! The bees! Yes, who else?. The people eat the product, the farmers profit from it, and the bees are needed to pollinate the product. Each year, millions of bees from across the country are imported into California for the largest monoculture event in the world. The biggest problem with monoculture events such as this is the pesticides. Pesticides are sprayed on the products to prevent the spread of pests and other pesky insects. This creates a problem for the bees. When the bees go to pollinate the products the chemicals confuse the directional senses of the bee. The bee cannot find it’s way back to the hive and therefore dies off in it’s own confusion. This is a major problem for the bees. Their populations are dying off and disappearing because of monoculture, pesticides, and even genetically altered foods. We fail to recognize in society that not only does this affect the bees but us as well. We are only allowed to eat the food provided to us by the farmers because they are pollinated by the bees. We are killing off bees with monoculture. We are killing off bees with exterminating chemicals because we are not educated about the benefits bees provide for us. We need to provide safe environments for bees so not only they can thrive but they can regrow our environment.

Final Draft of Bee Essay

Honey bees are a huge contribution to the world we live in today. They pollinate 40% of  

the plants that make up the food we eat. Without them we would not have the diverse plant life we do now. The bees are suffering from the Colony Collapse Disorder. All around the globe bees are disappearing and dying. The very creatures who help the world survive are declining and rapidly. This fact goes unnoticed by the majority of the population of the world, something that needs to change dramatically.

   Several organizations and individuals want to help the honey bees. Some believe the disuse of pesticdes and chemicals will help, while others think the bees need to live a natural exsistance. The queen bee is no longer taking the marriage flight and mating as she once would. Now virgin queen bees are sedated and the injected with sperm from a single worker bee rather than a dozen. The wondrous and elating expirence of the marriage flight has been robbed of the bees. Another problem bees face are the burrow mites. Burrow mites are parasites that live on bees and drain them of life as time goes on. Scientists have attempted to find an antibiotic that can help the bees fight te burrow mites but the mites have become accustomed to the chemicals and seem to just get stronger with each new medicine introduced. 

Honey is a gift from the bees. Many people like the taste of honey and its texture in their mouthes. Most like the sweet taste and the fact is a natural sweetener. This wonderful product would be the first of many to disappear with the bees. This would show people how important bees are because as honey goes way so will some of people's favorite food.

  As scientists scramble to find a solution to the problem many beekeepers have looked beyond the surface to what the bee are telling humans as a whole. Bees are imported and exported around the  world. Many swarms are mixes of bees from different continents. Organic beekeepers look upon this practice with disapproval. They believe the bees are telling us these ways of pollinating need to end. The way many people will become educated on this matter is when the objects they have taken for granted start to become a rarity when they had before they had been the norm. Until we can start being the caretakers we can be the bees will continue to disappear and with them, all life.

Queen of the Sun

Gerardo Martinez

April 5, 2013

Period 4

Queen of the Sun

Currently, most people around the world are finishing, or killing, bee populations because they believe bees always attack people. Many owners of farms and land, used for agriculture, are paying for pesticides that are eventually harming insect populations such as bee. When the bees are infested with the pesticides and herbicides used on plants they pollinate, they tend to be affected in the way that they become blind and don’t know where they are going, but also don’t remember which plants they have pollinated already. Furthermore, the pesticides used on the plants the bees pollinate are harming the bees in the way that they affect the bees in their reproduction of new generations. Even though many people are killing bees because they can sting people, many other people have comprehended that bees just sting others to protect themselves and that they are really important in many ways, so many people have become beekeepers.

The honey bees are really important for both the plants and the people living on Earth. Although many people believe the bees need human support in order to survive, the honey bees, specially, are helping humans on the planet to survive because they pollinate 4/10, or 40%, of the food people, like us, consume. By pollinating the flowers and other plants in the fields they create a cleaner air in the environment because by pollinating the plants, the plants are able to survive longer. Also, they provide the beekeepers with a large amount of honey from which they make a large amount of profit. Many of the other bees may be really harmful to the humans, but people always confuse them with the honey bees and that is why many honey bees are dying because of humans who don’t understand them.

In order for people to stop killing bee populations, they need to see drastic changes in the environment and in prices of honey and other goods coming from plants pollinated by bees. One way the people would stop eliminating bees and understand that they are important is when they start to see that global warming is affecting the world more than now. If this serious problem continues on Earth, there will be less plants that won’t be able to decompose, or eliminate, the pollution in our air because plants are the ones who clean the air in the atmosphere. Also, they, the people getting rid of bees, will understand this is a real problem once they stop to see the selling of natural honey and the lack of plant diversity around the world. Finally, the worst reason that can make them change with be once the people start to see a lot of people dying from diseases thanks to the pollution in the atmosphere of the planet.

Queen of the Sol

Henry Tran
Bursch
Honors Biology
4-15-13

Bee Essay

The bee is a very important factor in a plant-based ecosystem. Each and every single stripe of black and yellow has some form of contribution to the hive. The bee pollinates each plant, and produces useful honey and wax.  Provided the competence of the bee, it is commonly taken for granted because its swarming, intimidating appearance.  Dangerous toxins and poisons are one of the leading attributes killing the bees. Pesticides and fertilizers used on plants directly affect the bee.  We the people have been destroying the bee populations without even realizing it.
Many people in the world have forgotten the vitality of bees, and have mistaken them as an annoying, home-settling, useless hive that only endangers humans to toxic stings. However, the truth is, bees are nearly harmless and only retaliate when forced upon. They are overshadowed by lethal insects such as yellow jackets, and people go through unnecessary means to eliminate swarms and hives. This includes usages of pesticides and harmful, anti-environmental gases.
What people do not realize is how bees have not been appreciated. Due to lack of care and/or responsibility, bees have begun falling into Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD for short. CCD is caused by monoculture, neutralization by gasses, and constant transportation across thousands of miles. Bees are dying by the hive, and at least millions have already been lost.
To raise awareness, urban and rural people alike have taken interest to beekeeping. Citizens have demanded for beekeeping to be legal, and have started their own colonies, with the help of experts, in their backyards or on their rooftops.  People must realize that bees are in danger, and that they are to blame for.  Human interaction with bees have been excessive, but in the wrong way.  We are using the bees, instead cooperating with them.  Humans have to wake up and see that bees are really important, and must live harmoniously with us.

Final Draft: Queen of the Sun - Ryann Smith posted by Emily Solano

Ryann Smith

Bursch

Honors Biology

4-5-13

Honey bees are a major factor in the bio diverse world we live in today. They pollinate over 40% of the plants that make up the food we eat. Without them we would not see the wonderful plant life we do now. People need to "wake up" and realize that without these little creatures the world would not be what it is today. For that to happen some of the seasonal products need to disappear and honey prices to increase.

Most of the seasonal products that are popular are pollinated by bees. These products vary from fruits to vegetables and are bought by almost every household in the United States. Without the bees people would not be able to acquire these goods. Pollination makes plants thrive which helps to produce the fruits and vegetables that our world eats daily. If these products were to disappear because lack of pollination people will "wake up" and realize that there is an increasing problem with the bees in the United States.

Honey is a favorite in every household in the United States, it is used in many ways such as a sweetener in tea. Most people like how it is cheap, organic, and chemical free. All people in the world know that honey comes from bees but not all of them know about the colony colapse disorder. If there were an increase in the honey prices people will understand that there is a reason for the increase and that is the colony colapse disorder.

Queen of the Sun

Honey bees are a huge contribution to the world we live in today. They pollinate 40% of  

the plants that make up the food we eat. Without them we would not have the diverse plant life we do now. The bees are suffering from the Colony Collapse Disorder. All around the globe bees are disappearing and dying. The very creatures who help the world survive are declining and rapidly.

Several organizations and individuals want to help the honey bees. Some believe the disuse of pesticides and chemicals will help while others think the bees need to live a natural life. The queen bee is no longer taking the marriage flight and mating as she once would. Now virgin queen bees are sedated and the injected with sperm from a single worker bee rather than a dozen. The wondrous and elating experience of the marriage flight has been robbed of the bees. Another problem bees face are the burrow mites. Burrow mites are parasites that live on bees and drain them of life as time goes on. Scientists have attempted to find an antibiotic that can help the bees fight the burrow mites but the mites have become accustomed to the chemicals and seem to just get stronger with each new medicine introduced.

  As scientists scramble to find a solution to the problem many beekeepers have looked beyond the surface to what the bee are telling humans as a whole. Bees are imported and exported around the  world. Many swarms are mixes of bees from different continents. Organic beekeepers look upon this practice with disapproval. They believe the bees are telling us these ways of pollinating need to end. Until we can start being the caretakers we can be the bees will continue to disappear and with them, all life.

Evolution Web Quest

1.  Life on Earth began with simple chemistry.  However, it is much more than simple.  First of all, the 'ingredients' had to be under certain circumstances.  Also, the ingredients are more delicate than just putting it altogether.  They were mixed in a certain order rather than randomly.  However, in the early Earth, formation of life was bound to happen.

2. In the interactive simulation "Evolution in Action," you are in control of the creatures.  Their traits are represented by seven different colors, and must correspond to the background color respectively.  You get to control and change the background, making it so that other colored creatures will die off in a matter of seconds, whereas the same color creatures thrive and reproduce.  However, there is a 20% chance that the offspring will result in a mutation, and it will be a different colored creature of random selection.  These creatures have between 5-20 seconds to reproduce, and die off 5 seconds after they reproduce.  This is a simple yet near accurate description of how an environment works but the definitive factors are fixed, therefore making the game the same all the way through.  Also, you have the ability to move the creatures to a different area to discourage clumping together.

GATTACA Movie Post

"They have you looking so hard for flaws that in the end that is all you look for" - Vincent, after a confession to Irene 


This quote relates to the movie because everyone was looking for flaws in other people's DNA. They are looking for anything that would make them in-valid or valid. The quote shows how other people are looking for ways to discriminate against more people. Also, it relates to how flaws in peoples genetics in the movie puts them in two categories, the valid and the in-valid people.

Response to GATTACA Quote

"You can go to great lengths with this guy's helix" -Man who brings Jerome to Vincent
In this quote, the man who introduces Vincent to Jerome refers to Vincent becoming an impersonation on Jerome. His reference to a helix structure most likely means Jerome's DNA. The man recommends Vincent take over the Jerome persona, and transform himself. By doing so, he can fake his way as the perfect valid, and bypass the limits held on invalids. This means he can truly go to true lengths, whether he is Jerome, or just Vincent.

One of a Kind: The Wonders of Biodiversity

I am experimenting with the broccoli calabrese.  It is a delicate little stalk of green that, within enough time and resources, can grow into a magnificent grassy green mini-jungle.

I can infer that the organisms from which my plant descended from are similar to that of my plant because the traits and characteristics of derived from the parent plants. I can predict that the offspring of my plant will most likely be green because that seems to be a dominant trait. Also they are more likely to be tall stalks than short ones. The offspring will have a high chance of receiving these traits because the traits will pass down from the parent cells to the offspring through meiosis, the production of gamete cells. These cells carry the genes that hold the traits. However, the offspring may not look exactly like my plant, but it will relatively be the same. They will look a little different because of crossing-over and independent assortment.

The Brassica oleracea is the ancestral plant of my plants and also my classmates' plants.  However, our plants have many differences.  This is because of the genes being altered through generations and generations of independent assortment and crossing-over.  Over time, there will be many variations derived from this ancient plant, one such example being the Broccoli Calabrese.

One of a Kind:The Wonders of Biodiversity

        Our group has been experimenting with the plants grown from broccoli calabrese seeds, which turned out to be very thin, short plants with large leaves. Just by looking at these plants, we can predict that they were descended by really short plants with large leaves. We can predict, using a punnet square with the plants genotypes, that the traits of the offspring will be short with large leaves because in their "family" these are dominant traits. The offsprings will recieve these traits through their parents gametes joining together and the way their genes line up during independent assortment. The plant we are experimenting with will pass on the genetic information onto the next generation through a process known as meiosis where four new and different haploid daughter cells, which are mated and the genes are passed on to the next generation. Our plants offsprings might look like them or probably not because of process known as crossing-over, where chromatids of homologous chromosomes pair up forming an x and then they are broken into segments. These segments are then exchanged with the other chromatid of the homologous chromosome. So many different forms of came to be from just one ancestral species because of meiosis and it's creation of four geneticly different haploid daughter cells.  

                   

Meiosis Model!

This link shows a picture of the begining of meiosis when the DNA synthesizes.

This is a picture of prophase I when the nuclear mambrane dissolves and homologous chromosomes start to move together.
This is a picture of when the homologous chromosomes pair up.

This is a picture of the homologous chromosomes that may do crossing over, which is giving parts of their chromatids to the other chromosome.

This is a picture of metaphase I when the spindle fibers attach to the chromosomes.

This is a picture of anaphase I which splits the cell into two genetically different daughter cells.

This is a picture of the two cells that are to then go on and divide one more time each to create four genetically different daughter cells.

This is a picture of the four haploid daughter cell that are made at the end of 

meiosis which would become sperm cells for men or eggs for women.

Wonders of Biodiversity

The plant that we were experimenting with was the broccoli calabrese. From what I can tell the broccoli's parents plants were short and had large leaves. The way I would be able to predict The traits of the parents plant's offspring would be to use a punnet square with the genotypes. The way that I would be able to tell that the offspring would get these traits from their parents is from their parents gametes joining and how the genes would line up in independent assortment. The parents would pass their genetic information by meiosis, which would create new haploid daughter cells by mating and passing on the information. The offspring would look like a mix of their parents sometimes more than others depending it the genes that the plant got were dominant or recessive. The plants can look different or the same as their parents because of the alleles that the offspring got from them. The Brassica plants all look different because of their parents genes that were passed on to them could be more dominant or recessive than the other plants. There are among 3,000 species of the Brassica plants known to man.

One of a Kind

We experimented with broccoli calabrese. It is a green, leafy plant that can be eaten. This plant grows extremely fast and is easy to take care of. The parents were short and had large leaves. Using a punnet square I could predict what the plants would come out as. The offspring receive these traits through the parents gametes joining and the way the genes lie up in the parents sex cells. This then determines how the zygote's nucleic acid is formulated. Our plant will pass the genetic information by meiosis creating new haploid daughter cells and then mating and passing the genes to the next generation. The offspring of our plants may or may not look like them. It depends on the chromosomes and how they line up, whether or not they cross over, and the matching of dominant and recessive alleles. Different plants of the same type can look completely different because of the massive array of alleles in genes. Whether or not the allele is dominant or recessive plays a big part as well as the parents involved in the making of the offspring.