Midterm Evaluation

Biology 11 topics- What I am proud of:

Classification and Taxonomy: For this I chose the big project of creating our own animals and naming them> This showed my creativity as well as my understanding of Taxonomy (names). 

Also, I would like to add the blog post of the 5 different animals we had to choose, and then comparing their domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. 

Post of the different animals.   My comparison of the animals.

For Evolution, The main project I am proud of Is the Evolution Video we made. This might actually be one of my best projects in Biology so far because of all the effort and information me and my partner put into it. 

( unfortunately, I don't have a link for this because it failed to upload to YouTube many times)

For the virus section, I am really proud of a research blog I did. It was the Virus Questions as well as Information on Smallpox. I was so genuinely curious about this virus that I continued to research it after.

Virus Questions and Answers  Smallpox Research 

Finally, for Bacteria and Protists, I chose the quiz that we did. I feel like I tried my best and tried to put in as much information as I could.

Just because this is a general quiz, I'm also going to mention the play dough cell lab as well as our protist microscope lab. I loved making the play dough cell because I'm a hands-on learner, therefore it was an excellent way for me to understand and engrave the names onto my brain. Looking at the protist on the microscope was really interesting. I thought everything looked so cool and beautiful in a weird microscopic way (especially the volvox) 

 

Play Dough Cell blog post

I think that I am a good student. I finish my projects in time and try to engage with the class in my own way. I really do enjoy this class and put a lot of effort into my work and projects. I think that just being in this class has been a powerful learning experience. I am a learner that likes to be on my feet, using my hands and stimulating my brain. Sitting in a classroom copying notes from a Powerpoint everyday doesn't help very much. This class is great because not only are we doing all these activities, but were learning by discussing in class and voicing our opinions. I feel that everything we do in this particular class has so much effect on my learning outcome (in a good way). So as you can see, its really difficult to chose a specific event when the whole experience has been full of learning, but if I had to, I would chose searching up for things we pass by everyday. For example, how slugs mate or why does a goldfish turns white in the dark, or even the fact that people name organisms after celebrities.  I also feel like I'm doing very good in this class and learning so much. Because of this, I want to give myself an A or specifically 90-95%. The rest is all up to Ms.Phillips. One thing I definitely don't want to do is push my mark where it shouldn't be but from all the projects and labs, this is what I hope to receive as my midterm report card grade for Biology 11. :) 

Celebrity bugs

My bug is named after Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's called Agra Schwarzeneggeri and it doesn't have a lot of information because there have been a minimal amount of appearances in the past 3 decades. It is a species of the Carabid Beetle. The main reason it's named after this fit actor/ boxer is because of its markedly developed middle femora which resembles the actors built physique. So in other words, the bug looks like it's really fit and built so it resembles Arnold's abs. :) 

Pictures From the Pond and the Microscope.

Goldfishes turn white?

My interesting fact today is that goldfishes turn white in the dark.

As goldfish owners might have noticed, your goldfish turns white sometimes. You may ask why in the world is this happening? I learned that goldfish change color in response to light levels. Just like many other animals, they have pigment production which is the same thing as us getting a sun tan. The fishes have cells called chromatophores that produce these pigments and either give coloration or reflect the light. Goldfishes that are kept indoors are much lighter than goldfishes who are exposed to sunlight.If you keep the fish in the dark all the time, the chromatophores wont produce any more pigments so the fishes color will start to fade. This causes those chromatophores who have the natural color, to die and the new cells won't be stimulated enough to form the new pigment. So, to sum this up short and sweet, just like us losing a tan in the winter time, goldfishes get much paler, or a whitish color when they are not exposed to light.

Mid- Term Reflection

1) I love biology this year. There are so much interesting things to learn and know about.  This year in Biology, I'm most proud of the evolution video project I completed with Jaime. This particular project is important to me because I put so much time and effort into it. I'm glad that in the end, it turned out a success. Another project I'm proud of is the different creatures project. That project required a lot of creativity and was really fun to do. I as well as my partner, put our brains to work and tried to think of a way we could combine all these different creatures together, but creatively. Last but not least, I'm extremely proud of my virus blog post. I worked hard to find out the history of the small pox epidemic and found it quite interesting at the same time. I honestly enjoyed learning a bit more about biology as well as a bit of our history, no matter how disgusting the smallpox pictures were. 

2) My binder is generally clean ( well as clean as a teenagers binder can get.) I have all out "talk and write" papers and all the assignments. I like to keep everything I am given just in case I need it for a test or a quiz. I have been a bit late on maybe one or two blog posts but I'm usually on time with every other blog post and assignment.

3)  The blog post that means a lot to me is the Hammerhead Shark post. I love this one just because of the fact that I was so interested on the reason they are shaped that certain way. I love learning interesting facts so I was determined to figure it out. 

4) To me, engaging in class means that you are participating and are well aware of what is going on. I'm not much of a person that speaks up when I'm not called in class. Whenever I have a question, I raise my hand and ask it. I do listen to everything that is going on and engage in my own quiet way. When we get out of the classroom and go to the forest, pond, etc... is where I excel in engaging. I really like our class and have no problem saying my opinion and giving advice. I really enjoy when we get out of the classroom it gives me a chance to learn in a different environment actually witnessing things instead of looking at pictures of them in the overhead projector. 

5)  My goal for the rest of the semester is to continue my work ethics, if not, improve them. I also want to try something new and get out of my comfort zone a little bit. Overall, I want to be successful in this class and learn lots of new things in Bio 11.

Play dough cell

For the first shapes and arrangements photo:

A: staphlococcus

B: coccus

C: streptobacillus 

D: bacillus 

E: spirillum

The labeled cell photo: 

A: endospore - Used for survival in harsh conditions 

B: genetic material - Basically the DNA clumped up in a part of the cytoplasm

C: plasmid - Made of DNA

D: ribosomes - Where protein synthesis occurs

E: cytoplasm - Holds everything up in the cell

F: flagellum - Used for movement 

G: capsule- Used for protection of the cell. Extra defense before the cell wall. 

H: cell wall - Also used for protection. 

I: pili - Exchange of genetic material (via. conjugation)

Bacteria Lab

Some of the pictures from the bacteria lab today. It was really interesting to see how it looks like up close. It was nothing like I expected.