Biology Scavenger Hunt Photos

Big Idea 1: The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.

     The numbers of the items listed in this document correspond to the numbers of the items on the assignment handout that was posted online.

• #2 - Adaptation of an Animal: Adaptations of animals are characteristics that are the products of natural selection and allow an animal to survive in its native environment. These koi have gills and fins, which over thousands of years have evolved and allowed fish as a whole to survive in aquatic environments. The gills allow fish to extract oxygen from water and the fins allow them to move through the water and steer their bodies.

• #3 -  Adaptation of a Plant:  Adaptations of plants are characteristics that are brought about through natural selection and allow the plant to more easily survive in its natural habitat. This Aloe Vera plant is a CAM plant, meaning that it has a photosynthetic adaptation that allows the plant to open its stomata during the night and close them during the day. This adaptation allows plants in arid environments, such as Aloe Vera, to conserve water during the heat of the day. It is during the night that CO2 enters the stomata and is added to different organic acids. This form of carbon fixation is called crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM).

• #4 - Amniotic Egg: An amniotic egg is an egg that has been produced by an amniote, which is a group that includes animals such as birds, turtles, lizards, snakes, and dinosaurs. An amniotic egg is unique because it allows an embryo to mature outside of its mother and on land without being in danger of drying out. Inside the egg, there are fluid filled membranes which allow the developing animal to survive. Pictured above is a chicken egg, however this egg will not hatch because it has been subjected to certain conditions. Under normal conditions, chicken eggs do hatch into baby chicks.

• #6 - Angiosperm: An angiosperm is any plant with flowers that contains its seeds in a protective pouch called an ovary. These purple flowers, whose name is unknown to me, are angiosperms because they contain their seeds in ovaries. They also obviously have flowers.  

•  #7 - Annelid: An annelid is a worm that is characterized by its body segmentation, which is unique to them. Annelids live in the sea and also in damp habitats on land. The earthworm, pictured above, is an annelid. I found it in my back yard in damp soil under a layer of leaves from the trees above.

• #8 - Arthropod: Arthropoda have a segmented exoskeleton, as well as jointed appendages. Arthropoda include insects, crustaceans, and spiders. Pictured above is a spider, which is in the middle of the board toward the right It is small, but visible.

• #11 - Artificial Selection: Artificial selection is the selective breeding of domesticated animals and plants to produce desired traits in the offspring. My dog Chloe is a pure bred long haired  dachshund, whose parents were carefully selected based on their lineage so that the offspring would have desired traits. The blond fur and long hair on the ears and the back of the legs is highly sought after, and breeders often choose dogs to breed based on their own traits and their ancestors traits.

• #13 - Bryophytes: Land plants are grouped informally into categories based on the presence of vascular tissue, which is cells joined into tubes that transport water and nutrients around the body of the plant. Plants that do not have vascular tissue are called bryophytes. Moss is considered to be a bryophyte, and is pictured above on the rock. Other bryophytes include liverworts and hornworts.

• #14 - Chordate: Chordate are members of the phylum chordata. Most Chordate species have backbones, but there are some species that are considered chordate even though they lack a backbone. Pictured here is a great blue heron. The bird is to the left of the tree trunk on the right side of the picture, just above the bank of the small gully. Great blue herons have backbones, and therefor are part of the chordata phylum. They are common in wetlands and coastal areas. 

• #19 - Eubacteria: Eubacteria is a term that is used to describe all bacteria except archaebacteria. Eubacteria are living single celled prokaryotic organisms that can be found almost anywhere on earth. Some kinds of eubacteria can even cause disease. Eubacteria are essential to the production of yogurt, pictured above. Yogurt is the result of acidic fermentation of milk, and probiotic bacteria assists in the fermentation process by releasing enzymes that convert lactose into lactic acid. A common eubacteria found in yogurt is Lactobacillus Bulgaricus. 

• #20 - Fungi: The Fungi kingdom is diverse and its members can be found throughout the world. They are heterotrophs, just like animals, and can't make their own food through photosynthesis like plants. Fungi break down organic material and recycle nutrients. There are three kinds of fungi: saprobes, parasites, and mutualistic symbionts. Saprobes, also known as decomposers, break down and absorb nutrients from nonliving organic material. Parasites are attached to living hosts and absorb nutrients from their cells. Mutualistic symbionts function as parasites do, but they also are beneficial to the host. The fungi pictured above is a saprobe, and I found it growing in loose soil near a fallen limb of an oak tree.

• #21 - Gastropod: All gastropods are mollusks, so they have a visceral mass, a mantle, and a single muscular foot. Gastropods are distinctly characterized by their developmental process called torsion. Many gastropods are marine animals, but their are land dwellers. This specimen seen above is a freshwater snail.

• #24 - Gymnosperm Cone: Gymnosperms are a distinct group of plants because they do not carry their seeds in chambers such as ovaries. Instead, they bear their seeds on modified leaves that usually turn into cones, such as the one seen above.

• #25 - Gymnosperm Leaf: Gymnosperms, as I said above, are a distinct group of plants because they store their seeds not in ovaries, but in modified leaf enclosures. The gymnosperm group is diverse, but it is primarily composed of coniferous plants, like the one seen above. Coniferous plants are unique because they do not lose their leaves during the winter season.

• #27 - Lichens: A lichen is a symbiotic collective created by the mutualistic association between a fungus and a photosynthetic bacteria. Lichens can be found primarily growing on rocks and rotting wood. The lichens seen above were found growing on a fallen oak branch.

• #28 - Modified Leaf of a Plant: Modified leaves are leaves that have had to adapt to their surrounding environment in order to ensure the survival of the plant. These leaves have visible and invisible spines that protect it from predators and ensure its survival.

• #29 - Modified Root of a Plant: Modified roots of plants are roots that have to adapt to their surroundings in order to ensure the survival of the organism. These cottonwood trees have roots that must be capable of living submersed in water, for in the winter the ground surrounding the trees is under water.

• #30 - Modified Stem of a Plant: A modified stem of a plant is a stem that has to adapt to is surroundings in order to survive and promote the plants health. This wisteria stem is clinging to the fence post so that it can support the vast array of leaves and seed pods that the wisteria produces.

• #38 - Seedless Vascular Plant: Seedless vascular plants are plants that have a vascular tissue system that transports nutrients and water throughout the organism, but they do not have seeds. Vascular plants form a clade, but seedless vascular plants are part of a clade within the vascular plant clade. A type of seedless  vascular plant is a fern, which is pictured above.

• #39 - Tetrapod: A tetrapod is any vertebrate that has two pairs of limbs. The tetrapod seen above is my cat, who has four legs; two on the front side of her body and two on the rear of her body.

Big Idea 2: Biological Systems Utilize Free Energy to Multiply, Reproduce, and to Maintain Dynamic Homeostasis

• #1 - Adhesion of Water: Adhesion is the clinging of one substance to another. In the case of water, adhesion allows water to be seen in distinct droplets that seem to cling to another substance, such as the side of a glass. Seen above is water sticking to the blades of grass.

• #3 - ATP: ATP is the abbreviation for adenosine triphosphate. ATP is a source of energy for many of the functions carried out in plants and animals alike. ATP is created by cellular respiration in animals and photosynthesis in plants. When its phosphate bonds are hydrolyzed, it releases free energy which drives endergonic reactions. The succulent plant above creates and uses ATP.

• #4 - Autotroph: Autotrophs ar organisms that obtain organic food molecules without consuming organisms or substances that come from other organisms. Many autotrophs use energy from the sun or from the oxidation of inorganic substances to make organic molecules out of inorganic molecules. The plant shown is an autotroph and uses the sun to make organic molecules it needs to survive.

• #5 - Calvin Cycle: The calvin cycle is the second of two stages that make up photosynthesis. During the calvin cycle, atmospheric CO2 is incorporated into organic molecules already located within the plant. This process takes place in stroma of a plant. The calvin cycle is currently taking place in the picture of the plant above.

• #6 - Carbohydrate: A carbohydrate is, quite simply speaking, a sugar. Carbs are one of the four major biomolecules. Sugars and polymers of sugars are classified as carbohydrates.  There are three simple sugars that make up carbohydrates: glucose, fructose, and galactose. The bread shown above contains carbohydrates.

• #8 - Cellulose: Cellulose is the component of plant cell cell walls and is present in every plant. It is rigid in structure and helps make up the skeleton of the plant. Cellulose is made up of glucose molecules bound together by strong glycosidic linkages. The jasmine plant above has cells that are surrounded by a cell wall made up of cellulose.

• #10 - Cohesion of Water: Cohesion of water is a very common occurrence that takes place when hydrogen bonds hold together water molecules. The bonds are constantly breaking and reforming with neighboring molecules. This makes the water have a structure that makes it flow, as seen above in this picture of a creek.

• #12 - Ectothermy: Ectothermic animals are organisms that must use environmental energy and behavioral adaptations to regulate their body temperature. Ectotherms include reptiles, fish, and amphibians. The lizards shown above are ectotherms.

• #13 - Endothermy: Endothermic animals are able to regulate their own body temperature from heat generated by metabolism. Birds, like the one above, and mammals are endothermic organisms. 

• #15 - Enzyme: An enzyme is a protein that acts as a catalyst. Enzymes are involved in many reactions and are essential to the functioning of organisms. The photo of saliva above shows the microscopic enzyme salivary amylase, whose function is to begin the digestive breakdown of carbohydrates that is present in the food humans consume.

• #16 - Fermentation: Fermentation is composed of catabolic reactions that make a small amount of ATP from glucose without the use of an electron transport chain. The end product of this process if usually lactic acid or ethyl alcohol. Fermentation is a key step in the production of cheese, seen above. Lactic acid bacteria in cheese is used to convert the sugar in milk into lactic acid through fermentation.

• #19 - Heterotroph: A heterotroph is an organism that eats other organisms or their byproducts in order to get the nutrients it needs to survive. This lizard is a heterotroph because it eats primarily crickets in order to get nutrients and organic molecules.

• #21 - Hypertonic: The word hypertonic is used when differentiating between two substances and is used to specify the substance that is greater in concentration as compared to another that is less in concentration. In the picture above, the blueberry is hypertonic to the water in that the blueberry has a higher concentration of antioxidants when compared to the water its submersed in.

• #22 - Hypotonic: The word hypotonic is used when comparing two substances to specify which of them has a lesser concentration of a specific substance. In the picture above, the water has a higher salt concentration than the popcorn kernels, and therefore the popcorn kernaes are hypotonic. (I added salt to the water)

• #23 - Hydrophilic: A substance is hydrophilic when it has affinity for water. Not all hydrophilic substances must dissolve in water, but most do. The salt seen above is hydrophilic. 

• #24 - Hydrophobic: Hydrophobic substances do not have an affinity for water, therefore they do not mix with H2O. The vegetable oil seen above is hydrophobic.

• #25 - Isotonic: When two substances are isotonic, they contain the same amount of a specific solute. These two glasses of water are isotonic because they each contain 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt dissolved in them.

• #28 - Lactic Acid: During lactic acid fermentation, pyruvate is reduced directly to NADH to form lactate (an ionized form of lactic acid). When O2 is running low in muscles, lactic acid fermentation is used to make ATP. When I longboard up a hill, my muscles begin to feel a burning sensation after a while because lactic acid builds up in them as a byproduct of lactic acid fermentation.

• #33 - Stomata: Stomata are the microscopic openings on the surface of a plants leaves that let the gases used during photosynthesis enter and exit the plant. This laurel bush has leaves that contain stomata.

• #35 - Territorial Behavior: Many animals exhibit territorial behavior specifically around the part of their habitat that is near their home. Many types of animals, including large cats and canines, mark their territory with urine and ferociously defend it. This is a coyote paw print; coyotes travel in packs and are very territorial, especially around their dens. 

Big Idea 3: Living Systems Store, Transmit and Respond to Information Essential to Life Processes

• #1 - Diploid: Diploid is a word used to describe a cell that has two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. Plants go through a process called alternation of generations, in which their cells go through diploid and haploid stages. The diploid stage is called the sporophyte stage. This claytonia perfoliata (miners lettuce) goes through alternation of generations, and therefore has diploid cells. 

• #3 - Eukaryote: Eukaryotic cells are cells that have a nucleus and have membrane bound organelles. The plant shown, arbutus unedo (strawberry tree), above has cells that have a nucleus and also has membrane bound organelles such as its chloroplasts.

• #6 - Haploid: Haploid is a word used to describe cells that have only one set of chromosomes. Plants go through alternation of generations (see description # 1) and the haploid stage is called the gametophyte stage. The pine tree shown above has haploid cells.

• #9 - Flock: Many bird species band together in groups of their own kind in what is called a flock. They travel and live with their own respective flocks. Seen above is a Canada Goose flock on a pond.

• #10 - Behavior: Behavior is what an animal does and how it does it. It is its activities and how it interacts with the environment around it. In this photo, we can see that woodpeckers have stored acorns in the holes they created with their beaks in this ponderosa pine tree.

• #15 - Mitosis: Mitosis is the process by which cells divide and multiply. It is divided into distinct stages: interphase, prophase, pro-metaphase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokinesis. The skin cells on my hand pictured above are constantly dying and need to be replenished, mitosis is constantly occurring in order to keep my skin fresh.

• #16 - Meiosis: Meiosis is the process by which sex cells are created. It is completed in two stages, and results in cells that have only half the number of chromosomes as somatic cells. This coniferous tree is a sexually reproducing organism and therefore has cells that go through meiosis.

#17 - Phenotype: The phenotype of an organism is composed of its visible characteristics that are the results of certain genetic traits being expressed. My cat, pictured above, has genes that express the phenotype of tabby.

•  #18 - Pollinator: Pollinating plants are those that release pollen, which is the male gametophyte of seed plants. The pollen travels to the ovules of another plant of the same species and pollination occurs, which is a prerequisite to fertilization. This ponderosa pine tree contains pollen.

• #20 - Seed Dispersal Method: Different plants distribute their seeds in different ways. Some use seed pods, others have sharp burs attached to their seeds so that they can be carried away by passing animals. Some even have aerodynamic appendages that allow them to helicopter through the air. The seed dispersal method pictured above is seen on this orange tree. The orange fruit protects the orange trees seeds and aids in their dispersal.

Big Idea 4: Biological Systems Interact, and These Systems and Their Interactions Posses Complex Properties

• #3 - Biome: A biome is any of the worlds major ecosystems, categorized by the primary vegetation and types of organisms in the particular environment. The photo above is a wetland biome. One of its defining characteristics is the presence of water and cat tail plants among other aquatic plants. 

• # 4 - Climax Community: A climax community occurs when the the community of plants and animals in a certain area reaches a steady and even state of growth. The area pictured above is a climax community that contains vegetation such as oak trees and wild grasses. The animals in this area include coyotes, deer, pheasants, hawks, and mice. 

• #6 - Competition: Competition occurs when two organisms must compete for limited resources in their surrounding habitat. The weeds and shrub pictured above must compete for the water and nutrients in the soil they share.

• #7 - Detritovore: A detritovore is quite simply put, a decomposer. Detritovores feed on organic material. This fungus on this rotting log is a detritovore because it is feeding on the log.

• #8 - Endosperm: The nucleus of the primary cell of the female gametophyte multiplies repeatedly and develops into endosperm, which contains nutrients and other food reserves. This fig tree seed contains endosperm.

• #10 - Keystone Species: A keystone species exerts a strong control on the structure of a particular community. It does this by the nature of its role in the ecosystem. The keystone species in the environment pictured above is the numerous types of wild grasses. This is the keystone species because it is a key food for multiple animals such as deer and mice.

• #13 - Niche: An ecological niche is the ecological role of a certain organism in its environment. It is the the total sum of an organisms biotic and abiotic resources in its environment. The ecological niche of an oak tree, pictured above, is that it uses up water and nutrients in the soil around it, as well as CO2. However, it also provides a home for birds, and a source of food for squirrels and deer with its acorns.

• #14 - Food Chain Level: Based on the order and how they are consumed, different organisms reside on different levels of the food chain. As you move up the food chain, the amount of energy found decreases. The plant and grasses pictured above are on a lower level of the food chain called the primary producer level and therefore have a lot of energy.

• #17 - Population: The population of an ecosystem is its localized group of individuals that are members of the same species and capable of breeding. These grasses growing on this log are capable of breeding and producing offspring, and therefore are a population.

• #18 - Predation: Predation is the interaction between two species in which one species eats the other. The eater is the predator and the eaten is the prey. The hawk in this tree is a predator that eats primarily mice.