Extra Credit blog

What was your favorite topic this semester? Why?

My favorite topic this semester was about the reproductive system because it was so interesting, i learned many things but i felt uncomfortable at the same time.  

What was your least favorite?

My least favorite this semester was crossing the flies because i dont like flies, and because they kept on moving so it was hard to identify if they were female or male.

What would you change about this class if you could?

Something i would change about this class would be the amount of online work from first semester like the online labs. But i think quizlets and reading quizzes are good to keep doing because it actually works. 

What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment in biology this year?

My biggest accomplishment would be that i learned something new that i did not learn in my normal biology class during freshmen year and that i disected many many many animals in class because  i usually would not want to touch them. 

Comparing 3 Invertabrates

Porifera

Porifera also known as a sponge is one of the most primitive multicellular aquatic animals. It lacks a respiratory organ and oxygen is supplied by a direct exchange between the tissues and surrounding water. It also has absence of a nervous system because it has lack of coordination in the oscula, pores, and choanocytes so the slow reaction of sponges to stimuli shows no nervous system. Sponges are also filter feeders; water is drawn into the spores tiny hair like flagella, passes through small pores and into the central cavities. Some Sponges start sexual reproduction when only a few weeks old while other wait till several years old. They reproduce sexually and asexually meaning only one gender at a time. They have no permanent gonad, instead number of areas of the sponge will during the reproduction period become changed to produce either sperm or egg.

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS481US481&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=nvAZkYOD7H_pnM:&imgrefurl=http://palaeos.com/metazoa/porifera/porifera.htm&docid=5g3xbkVtZ8U0yM&imgurl=http://palaeos.com/metazoa/porifera/images/rigida.jpg&w=400&h=274&ei=F-_LT9e8CcmK2gX86KXaCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=397&vpy=336&dur=405&hovh=186&hovw=271&tx=142&ty=62&sig=102282481332443564820&page=1&tbnh=135&tbnw=196&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0,i:129

http://tolweb.org/Porifera/2464

Nematode

Nematodes (also known as roundworms) exist as parasites or as free living organisms and play a role as decomposers that break down organic materials to be utilized by bacteria. They have a worm structure with a lack of features such as cilia or a well defined head. They have an internal body cavity called pseudocoelom which looks like a tube that runs the whole length of their bodies, which also contains the intestines and reproductive organs of the roundworms. Nematodes have a nervous system contains nerves extending to the mouth and the length of the roundworms. There are two nerve cords to activate the muscles relalying sensory information. Nematodes contains a few small organs and a pharynx where food is pulled in and crushed and then moves to the gut cavity, where nutrients and wastes are spread throughout the body cavity by diffusion and taken out by the excretory canal tube. These roundworms have separate sexes when males use a special spine to inject sperm into the females gonophore, they lap up to 27 million eggs at a time. 
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS481US481&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=TFcRooS8WJuA0M:&imgrefurl=http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/rootnemaid.htm&docid=QreOav2BorCS7M&imgurl=http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/images/lesionnema_i.jpg&w=300&h=168&ei=5PTLT8eDO8Se2gWry_XaCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=423&vpy=435&dur=390&hovh=134&hovw=240&tx=153&ty=49&sig=102282481332443564820&page=3&tbnh=116&tbnw=207&start=45&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:45,i:266

http://www.biocontrol.entomology.cornell.edu/pathogens/nematodes.html

Mollusks

Mollusks are soft bodied invertebrates including snails, slugs, octopus, squid, clams, and mussels. Most of them have shells to protect them. Most mollusks have a muscular foot for creeping for burrowing. Some also have a head with sense organs. The soft body has lungs or gills for breathing and digestive and reproductive plants. Most mollusks have a rasping tongue call radula with tiny teeth which help scrapes its food into tiny chunks. Mollusks reproduce sexually. Slugs and snails possesses both female and male organs but still needs to mate for fertilization. Most lay eggs that hatch into small free swimming larvae. Mollusks have shells in many shapes and sizes to provide somewhere to hide  and to prevent the moist soft body from drying out. 

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS481US481&biw=1366&bih=624&tbm=isch&tbnid=KfZlI4SWQo6LzM:&imgrefurl=http://www.scienceclarified.com/Ma-Mu/Mollusks.html&docid=M_3SSpcCwvO1RM&imgurl=http://www.scienceclarified.com/images/uesc_07_img0379.jpg&w=436&h=256&ei=nfnLT7WVN-Hu2QWdwcHaCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=913&vpy=187&dur=530&hovh=172&hovw=293&tx=197&ty=97&sig=102282481332443564820&page=1&tbnh=91&tbnw=155&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0,i:150

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/taxa/inverts/mollusca/mollusca.php

Intelligence

Why is it important to define and debate our understanding of intelligence and its origins? How does this relate to you? 
It is important to define and debate our understanding of intelligence and it origin because it would help people understand what intelligence they have, so once they know they can start continuing to use their technique instead of using other techniques which wont work and just waste time. Debating about intelligence in class was important because i got to see both sides if intelligence was from environment or innate, at first i chose environment but once the debate went on, people on the innate side made me believe that innate influences intelligence.  There are many different types of intelligence, for example someone can be street smart and book smart, or can know a lot about music but not about other stuff. This relates to me because knowing what intelligence i have can benefit me of knowing how i study best.  I like to study from the book and not by visual or lectures. I am someone that needs background noise when i study because i cant concentrate with other noises. Knowing my studying skills will help me save time from studying another technique. 

How does Nephron work

The nephrons role is for the blood to filtered and urine formed. In each nephron, high pressure in the glomerulus pushes water and small dissolved materials into extravascular space of the Bowman’s capsule and into the tubule. The proximal tubule reabsorbs water, salts, glucose, and amino acids to maintain electrolyte levels in the body. The loop of Henle salts will be excreted in the urine, making a concentration gradient in the medulla. The Henle’s loop is absorbant to particular ions with the cortical thick draining into the distal convoluted tubule. The distal tubule contains cells that active transport and maintains urine and blood pH levels, especially the regulation of sodium and potassium. Fluid later passes from the distal tubule to the collecting ducts. Ultra filtration occurs in the cortex in the cortical collecting ducts, which is the last process of the nephron. The urine then passes through the collecting ducts through the drainage system of the kidney to the ureters and bladder for urination. The counter current system is similar to the nephron because the loop of henle is to be able to create dilute urine or concentrated urine depending on what the body wants and needs. Nephron is also similar to hydrostatic skeleton because their function both removes waste and both needs pressure to remove filters. 

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Functions-of-the-Nephron-of-Kidney&id=1342876

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS481US481&biw=1517&bih=693&tbm=isch&tbnid=JhbjjXlL5GBZsM:&imgrefurl=http://analytical.wikia.com/wiki/Nephron&docid=zAG_sy1Yp0f4rM&imgurl=http://images.wikia.com/analytical/images/f/fe/Nephron.jpg&w=800&h=727&ei=iP3LT-jwFOjB2QWqjq3aCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=323&vpy=172&dur=359&hovh=213&hovw=235&tx=129&ty=120&sig=102282481332443564820&page=1&tbnh=138&tbnw=152&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:142

Starfish

Starfish are composed of a central disc from which arms sprout which makes it a radial symmetry. They are triploblastic because like humans they have three germ layers such as the ectoderm (outside), mesoderm (middle) and endoderm (inside). The coelom of a starfish is the secondary body cavity that forms by the partitioning of three body cavities. Starfish are really unique because they do not have blood but instead use sea water to pump around their bodies. The water vascular system uses cilia and the constant contracting ampullae to keep things moving. An ionic imbalance causes water to flow into the madreporite, entering the water vascular system. Some of this water is turned into another direction into the perivisceral coelom (the large cavity), where it is circulated by the beating of cilia. Most oxygen enters the starfish through diffusion into the tube feet, or the papulae (small sacs covering the upper body surface). The starfishs mouth is located underneath the sea star on the oral or ventral surface, it eats  bivalves like mussels, clams, and oysters; or any animal slow enough to be unable to protect it self. Some have specialized tube feet that can extend and catch preys. Starfish have two stomachs including cardiac and pyloric. Cardiac stomach is pushed out of the organism's body and used to digest food. Starfishes dont have a brain, their ring nerves and radial nerves control their direction and balance. But their tube feet, spine, pedicellariae are sensitive to touch.
Crinoidea

Ophiocistioidea

Asteroidea

Echinoidea

Holothuroidea

http://www.earthlife.net/inverts/echinodermata.html

http://www.junglewalk.com/info/star-fish-information.htm

Double fertilization

Double fertilization is the process in most flower plants where two male gametes enter the embryo sac and both get involve in the fertilization process. One male gamete mixes with the female gamete/egg nucleus to form a zygote , which turns into the embryo. The other male gamete mixes with either the polar nuclei (or the defenitive nucleus) to form a triploid primary endosperm nucleus, which will start the endosperm. 

Pictures are from Google Images

http://www.science20.com/news_releases/fbl17_discovery_gene_behind_%E2%80%98plant_sex_mystery%E2%80%99
http://www.gardenguides.com/87589-process-double-fertilization-flowering-plants.html

Genome BOW 10: Self-Interest

Genomes is broken up into many different paragraphs (called .exons) and in between has long stretches (called introns). Genes are protein recipes, but not  all are the best. The common one in the entire genome is called reverse transciptase, it is a gene that that has no purpose at all. The role of reverse transcriptase is that it takes an RNA copy of a gene and copies it back into DNA and puts it back into the genome like a return ticket for a copy of a gene. It means that aids virus can get a copy of its own genome into human DNA to conceal it and maintain it, to get it copied faster. Selfish DNA adds to the size of the genome and therefore to the energy cost of copying the genome. It is in habit of jumping from one location too another or sending copies to new location  it will land in the middle of the working genes which messed them up and then jumping out again causing the mutation to revert. DNA fingerprinting has changed not only forensic science but other fields as well, it helped proved innocent people were right. It has been simplified so single sites of minisatelites can be used to give unique bar codes. The application of DNA fingerprinting to paternity test changed our understanding of bird song, from am experiment biologist discovered that most monogamous of birds where just one male and one female faithfully help each other to rear the brood and the females mate quite often with neighboring males other then other ostensible spouses. All in all,  male birds sings hard when already married because they are looking for affairs.