Friday, January 4, 2013

7-30

This is a modified stem of a plant(Big Idea 1 #30). This potato stem is modified because it transports nutrients and water down underground to the potato. A normal stem travels above ground the the leaves and other parts of a plant. It also stores energy as starch

This is an example of a tetrapod (Big Idea 1 #39). This is a deer track. A deer is an example of a tetrapod because it has four legs and is either a mammal, reptile, or amphibious creature. They mainly refer to creatures that once were in water and somehow made it to living on land. This is a very general term and is used to describe hundreds of creatures in the world. 

This is an example of an anabolic reaction(Big Idea 2 #2). Anabolic is the building up of something.(ex. anabolic steroids.) This stick of bamboo is anabolic because it used energy to build itself up. It also grows very quickly up to 30 inches a day.  The bamboo had to use energy from other sources to transform into the ability to grow to provide food to mainly pandas. 

This is an example of a heterotroph(Big Idea 2 #19). A heterotroph is an organism that does not produce its own energy(ex. all animals). This plant of mistletoe it the tree however is a heterotroph. It takes it nutrients from the tree to grow. This is also an example of parasitism. This is a rare example of when a plant is a heterotroph because they are normally autotrophs, harnessing their energy from the sun.

This shows a modified root structure (Big Idea 1 #29). This root is modified to allow the tree to grow along side the American River. It has to compensate for the constant running and rising water. It must be more strongly root than other trees of its type because water causes continuous erosion if the soil . This root has been modified to allow the tree to still live by the water, and grow. 

This is an example of chitin(Big Idea 2 #9). Chitin composes items in nature (ex. cell walls of fungi, the exoskeletons of insects and arthropods). It is used in the same way as cellulose is used in plant It is used to make sergical string because it will dissolve after time and does not have to be removed like stitches. 

 This is a Bryophyte(Big Idea 1 #13). A bryophyte is a nonvascular plant. In order for a plant to be non vascular it normally is lacking in the vascular tissue in the center of the plant. Bryophytes also shoe alternation of generations.  This particularly is a liverwort which is just one example of the many bryophyte examples.

 This is an endosperm (Big Idea 4 #8). These pop corn kernels demonstrate an endosperm because there is tissue protecting the seed inside. The hard kernel on the outside is protecting the delicate inside containing pop corn. Other examples are corn and wheat.
Aquatic biome (Big Idea 4 #3). This specifically shows the American River, which has its own unique factors that make it different from other rivers around the world. For aquatic biomes the important factors are turbidity(robotics word), depth, and current. Latitude, altitude, and humidity are factors in determining a biome that is not aquatic.


This is an example of flock,school, or herding (Big Idea 3 #9). Almost every type of animal has been observed flocking, schooling, or herding. This was originally due to increase protection of a family and deter predators from attacking. For example, it is easy for one cheetah to attack one elephant, but it is much more difficult for it to attack 10 elephants. The ducks grouping together decreases their chance for attack.
This is an example of a vestigial structure(Big Idea 1 #41).  A vestigal structure is a structure that is still present in the population but are no longer necessary.  The sexual reproductive organs of dandelions are a vestigial structure because they reproduce to make clones of themselves, this is how fields of them look identical. (Some other ex: wisdom teeth, appendix, and the human tailbone.) They no longer need the capability to reproduce making them a vestigial structure.
This is an example of Artificial Selection (Big Idea 1 #11). My dog is a maltese. She was breed to retain certain traits like a rounded skull, black, nose, and brown eyes. Artificial selection is very common in domesticated breeds of pets. Maltese dogs are breed specifically to have these traits. This is not a mutation, but humans have selected only certain dogs to breed to maintain their traits.

This is an example of tropism(Big Idea 3 #21). Specifically this is hydrotropism. This plant is extending towards the water by the American River.  Tropism is the movement or growth of a plant in response to a stimuli. Their response it determined by the location and direction of the stimuli. This plant is moving towards water to increase its water supply.

This photo is an example of paracitism(big idea 4 #15). An oak tree has growths that are created when a gall wasp stings the branch causing the branch to swell. It will grow and eat the interior of the plant. They only emerge when they are done growing. The tree is being harmed but the gall wasp benefits.

This picture is an example of seedless vascular plants(big idea1 #38). This in particular is a fern which reproduce by using spores and are gametophytes. They do have xylem and phloem which make them vascular. They reproduce without seeds of flowers. They are an ancient species of plants.

This is an example of a modified leaf of a plant(Big Idea 1 #28). Throughout evolution this plant, the leaves developed pointy ends giving them an advantage over the rest of the population in terms of defense (I would think). This would begin to make these genes more populous because only plants like these would survive increasing their presence in the gene pool.

This is an example of a xylem(Big Idea 2 #38). The xylem is the transport tissue in vascular plants. Its basic function is to transport water, but it also can transport some nutrients. It is located in the inner part of the plant so it has more protection from the outside elements.  Using root pressure and transpirational pull to move water through the xylem to give water to the entire plant. It supports growth and the survival of the tree.

This is an example of the calvin cycle(Big Idea 2 #5). This plant is an autotroph therefore it goes through photosynthesis which uses the calvin cycle. THe calvin cycle is when the CO2 binds to the rubisco in photosynthesis. If the calvin cycle is run twice a glucose molecule will be produced which can be used in the Citric Acid Cycle in animals to produce ATP to provide energy for our bodies to function.

This is an example of an adaptation of an animal(Big Idea 1 #2). The bill of a seagull is small and long to allow for the bird to scoop up its food out of the water without having to swim for it. This makes it much easier for the seagull to hunt than another type of bird with a short bill.  The adaptation of the longer bill gives the seagull an advantage in hunting.

The picture shows a seed dispersal method(big idea 3 #20). This flower spreads its seeds by releasing them into the wind allowing them to fly for miles until they land again. A flowering plant would have many seeds because they spread in a way that gives very little chance of germination.

This is an example of an arachnid(Big Idea 1 #8). An arachnid is a joint legged invertebrate that has 8 legs. The most commonly known arachnid is the spider.  Making them easily distinguished from insects because they only have 6 legs. Most are terrestrial dwellers but some inhabit freshwater areas.  This is a web of an arachnid which is where they catch their food when they get tangle up in the web. 


This is an example of cellulose(Big Idea 2 #8). Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula  C6H10O5.  It is the structural component of  the cell wall of a plant. It is the most common organic compound on earth, and makes up 33% of all plant matter. This is a plant that has cellulose as its structure unlike some fungi like mushrooms that use chitin as their structural material. 

This picture is an example of adaptation of plant (Big Idea 1 #3).  This berry bush has developed thorns to prevent other animals from eating its fruit. This helps to keep the bushes from losing their berries. It is the primary defense mechanism these plants have from predators coming and not only eating the berries but destroying the plant. They also make the plant painful from which to pick berries.

This picture is an example of cohesion of water (Big Idea 2 #10).   Cohesion is when one substance binds to itself. In this case water is binding to water. In plants, cohesion of water helps to counter act the effects of gravity as well as help moving water against gravity in plants by having water bind to itself in plants. Cohesion is helping to keep water flowing through the plant even when water loss through the leaves occurs. The properties of cohesion help to allow trees to be very tall and still receive water.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting stuff. Mistletoe is an odd one as many species get most of their energy frim photosynthesis but extract minerals and water from their host. At best, they are partially heterotrophic, but I like your thought process.
    Be careful that you don't confuse seed dispersal with pollen dispersal. Pollen dispersal in flowers provides genetic variation while seed dispersal expands an species' habitat.
    Is that actually a tundra? It doesn't look like a tundra.
    The modified stem is a bit of a stretch. Technically, I suppose all stems are modified, but I don't think it is tall because it exists near a river, it is tall anyway.
    Great stuff sp far!

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  2. Ok. Thank you Mr. Lai. I will look for new examples for those photos.

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