Nathan Miller

Big Idea 1

Adaption of an animal: An adaption of an animal is an adjustment that allows the animal to succeed and survive better. It can be anything from body structure to fur color. Dogs have canine teeth which they have adapted for shredding meat. They are more efficient then the teeth used by herbivores because they are able to grab and rip apart the meat. Canines exist primarily in carnivores. 

Adaption of a plant: An adaption of a plant is an adjustment that allows the plant to have better odds of survival or better odds of reproduction. This is a picture of a rose plant with thorns. They have adapted thorns because it can keep birds from landing on their limbs and because it gives them better protection.

Amniotic Egg: An egg laid on land by a mammal, bird, reptile, or anything with a spinal cord and four  appendages. Also it has a fluid to nourish the newborn organism. This is a picture of an egg laid by a chicken. Chickens lay eggs on land as oppose to in the water. 

Analogous Structure: Structures that are similar to that of other animals and have the same purpose. However these structures don't have the same origin. This is a picture of a cat's paw which is very similar to that of a fox or even a skunk. All of the paws are designed for padding but also strength and durability. 

Angiosperm: An angiosperm is any plant that produces seeds that are eventually enclosed by a fruit. The fruit gives the seed protection and even food for nourishment. This is a grapefruit tree which produces seeds surrounded by a grapefruit. 

Annelid: An annelid is a segmented worm that lives in moist or liquid environments. This is an earthworm that I found in the soil next to a pond. Therefore its' environment was very moist.

Arachnid: An organism with eight segmented legs. They are invertebrates and many of which are poisonous. This is a daddy long leg which I found in my barn. It is rather hard to see because it was pretty small. 

Arthropod: An arthropod is an invertebrate with a segmented body. It has an exoskeleton and a segmented body. This is a fly I found in my barn. It was killed by a spider but never eaten. Flies have a segmented body and an exoskeleton. 

Artificial Selection: Artificial Selection is the process of mating and reproducing for specific traits to appear in the offspring. This is a pink rose which was planted by my father. Artificial selection has made this rose the color pink. They can be reproduced to be other colors such as white or red. 

Bilateral Symmetry: Bilateral symmetry is experienced when an organism is cut in half down one central axis and has equal halves that mirror each other. This is a plant I found underneath a few oak trees. This doesn't achieve radial symmetry because there is a slit at the base that connects to the stem. If you start at the spot where the slit meets the stem and go vertical to the top of the plant, both sides mirror each other. This gives it bilateral symmetry. 

Bryophytes: Bryophytes are nonvascular plants that live on the land. This is moss which doesn't have vascular tissue and is therefore nonvascular. Moss lives in moist areas with plenty of water source. I found it next to a drain which normally overflows during big storms. 

Chordate: A Chordate is an organism with a notochord, lungs or slits for breathing, and a tail for some part of life. This is a picture of a mallard. It has a tail, spine, and has lungs. 

Deuterostome: A deuterostome is an organism which during early development, the first opening becomes the anus. All chordates are deuterostomes. This is a picture of a small bird on my roof. It is a chordate and is therefore a deuterostome.

Fungi: Fungi have cell walls that contain chitin whereas plants do not. Fungi are eukaryotic. This is a picture of a fungus growing on a fence board. The board is made out of wood which the fungi is feeding off of. 

Gastropod: Gastropods are snails and slugs. They are from the phylum Mollusca. Gastropods can vary immensely throughout all species. This is a photo of a slug that I found in moist spot under a rock. 

Gymnosperm: Gymnosperms are seed producing plants.Their seeds aren't enclosed in an ovary, but they are produced on the leaves or in a cone. This is a picture of a plant in my yard that doesn't produce ovary protected seeds.

Homologous Structure: A homologous structure is one that is derived from a similar ancestor. They are structures that have evolved from a common ancestor. This is a picture of a pony. Ponies are very closely related to a horse except that they are smaller in body size.

Lichens: Lichens are a combination of fungus and a photosynthetic partner growing together. They are known to grow in extreme areas. One of these areas being bare rock. This is a photo of lichens on a granite rock. The rock was bare and wasn't around any other vegetation making it an extreme place for a fungus to live.

Mycorrhizal Fungi: A fungi that has a symbiotic association with the roots of a vascular plant. They make up an important part of soil life. This is a photo of mycorrhizal fungi on the base of a willow tree. The willow tree is planted next to the grass near a pond.

Tetrapod: Tetrapods are the first four limbed vertebrates and all of their descendants. This includes birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. This is a picture of a frog which is an amphibian. Frogs have four legs and they are vertebrates. 

Big Idea 2

Adhesion of Water: Adhesion is the attraction of water to another substance. Water can be attracted to itself or another object. In this case, the water is attracted to the leaf even though gravity is pulling it down. The water would have just dripped off except that adhesion is keeping the water on the leaf. 

Autotroph: Autotrophs are organisms that produce complex organic compounds. The compounds are normally produced through photosynthesis. Also, they can reduce carbon dioxide. This is a picture or a bush that uses photosynthesis to produce oxygen after consuming carbon dioxide. 

Carbohydrate: An Organic compound that consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen only.They are products of photosynthesis. This is a picture of wheat bread. Because it is a bread it is classified as a carbohydrate.

Cellulose: Cellulose is an Organic Compound that is the primary structural component of the cell wall in green plants. This is a picture of a plant, specifically a bush. Plants have cell walls which therefore contain cellulose. 

Chitin: It is a derivative of glucose and is found in the Cell walls of fungi. It is also found in the exoskeletons of arthropods and insects. This is a picture of a spiders exoskeleton. Exoskeletons of spiders are made primarily of chitin.

Cohesion of Water: Cohesion of water is the attraction of water to itself. This is a picture of a leaf that has fallen from a nearby plum tree. The leaf has not sunk like the others (as seen in photo) because the water is clinging to itself. This stops the leaf from breaking through the surface. 

Endothermy: An organism that maintains its own body temperature. Heat is generally generated inside the organism. Another term for Endothermy is "warm-blooded."This is a picture of a quarter horse which produces its own body heat. In other words it's "warm-blooded."

Entropy: Entropy is the measure of uncertainty in a variable. In other words it's basically the amount of disorder. This is a picture of ice melting in a warm room. This is an example of Entropy because more "disorder" is being created as it melts.

Hypertonic: A hypertonic solution is one that has more tone or tension. In other words it has greater osmotic pressure than other fluids. This is a picture of orange juice which is a hypertonic solution when compared to water. Orange juice has more tension than water therefore making it hypertonic.

Hydrophilic: A solution that is hydrophilic is one that is attracted to water and normally is dissolved by it. This is a picture of salt which is hydrophillic. It dissolves in water at certain quantities. 

Hydrophobic: A hydrophobic solution is one that is repelled from water. It is the exact opposite of a solution that is hydrophilic. This is a picture of Canola Oil which is largely hydrophobic. If you were to mix water and canola oil, the two would stay separated as oppose to intermixing.

Isotonic: An Isotonic solution is one that contains equal concentrations of impermeable solutes to body fluids. This is a picture of gatorade, which like many other sports drinks is isotonic. Gatorade is designed to easily hydrate the body and was therefore made to be isotonic. 

Long-Day Plant: It's a plant that flowers only after being exposed to sunlight for a certain excessive period of time. This is a picture of Lettuce which like spinach, and some types of wheat is a Long-Day Plant.

Phloem: It carries nutrients in vascular plants. In trees it's the inner most layer of bark. I took a picture of  a log from a willow tree. In the photo the phloem would be located about right where the bark meets the wood.

Saturated Fat: It contains a carbon chain that is completely saturated with hydrogen atoms. Also, there are no double bonds between carbon atoms and fatty acid chain. This is a picture of bacon which contains large amounts of saturated fat. 

Stomata: Small pore-like structures on plants, normally found on the leaf. They serve as a site for gas exchange. This is a picture of a leaf which contains many stomata. 

Territorial Behavior: It is a behavior that certain species use when they feel that their territory is threatened. They will use a certain form of a behavior that will hopefully scare off the intruder. This is a picture of my neighbors dog which is protecting his territory by barking at me when I got too close. He does this to keep me off of his territory.

Transpiration: It's a process much like evaporation, but it's in plants. It is the loss of water vapor through from parts of a plant. They main place on a plant that this takes place is in the leaves. This is a picture of a leaf in the sunlight. At this very moment that the photo was taken, transpiration is taking place in those three leaves. 

Unsaturated Fat: It's a Fatty Acid within at least one double bond. Hydrogen atoms are eliminated where the double bonds occur. This is a picture of almonds which are high in unsaturated fat. 

Xylem: It's a type of transport tissue in vascular plants. Its function is to transport water and nutrients. This is a photo of a recently cut down tree base. The Xylem is all of the wood in the photo. It doesn't include the bark. 

Big Idea 3

Ethylene: It's an organic compound that is hormonally gaseous. It is largely found in fruits and is responsible for the ripening of fruit. This is a picture of an apple which used ethylene when it was ripening. 

Double Fertilization: A fertilization in angiosperms in which two male gametes join to one female gametophyte. This is a picture of an angiosperm which uses double fertilization. 

Evidence of Different Alleles for the Same Trait: 

Hair Color is evidence of an allele for the trait for hair. My hair is brown however it started out as dirty blonde when I was younger. 

I have a cowlick on the front of my head which is evidence of a structural allele for my "hair" trait. 

My hair is straight as opposed to curly like many other people. This is the final allele for the same "hair" trait. 

Flock: A flock is a group of birds that will for the most part feed and fly together. This is a flock of Canadian Geese that I found next to my pond They are currently feeding as one of the geese is on watch. (Notice the goose on top of the rock, middle right side of picture.)

Behavior: It's an action or mannerism done by a certain organism in condition with a certain environment. At the moment, my sister is tired of studying and is therefore overwhelmed. This is the behavior that she shows when overwhelmed. 

Herbivory Responses: It's an adaption that a plant will make to better its well being. In this case this is a flowering bush that grows thorns for better protection. 

Phenotype: It is an organisms visible characteristics. In other words it is an organisms physical traits. This is an picture of grass which is green. The color green is one of the grasses' phenotypes. 

Seed Dispersal Method: It is the way in which a plant spreads its seeds. In order to create new plants, a plant will disperse its seeds. This is a picture of a flower which uses other animals to spread seeds. 

Tropism: It's an organism's movement in order to an external stimulus. This is a tree which originally leaned towards the sun and then gravity began to take over as it's weight was thrown out of proportion. 

Big Idea 4

Climax Community: A community of plants and animals which has reached a steady state. This is a picture of grass which lives in harmony with the surrounding shrub oaks. 

Competition: It's an interaction between species in which they each try to do what's best for their own well being. Usually one organism will do better then the other. In this photo, two cats are trying to get food. One of the cats will get more food then the other which will have a negative effect on the other cat. 

Detritivore: Heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus. This is a picture of a "rolly-polly" which as a detritivore. I found it under a rock next to a large ant colony. 

Introduced Species:   A species which isn't native to a specific area. It was therefore brought in by an animal. This is a picture of a tree that my dad planted in one of our pastures.  

K-Strategist: A species that is larger but it doesn't 't produce rapidly. It has a very stable population. This is a picture of a willow tree which produces few offspring but the population is very stable. Willow trees are just one example of a K-strategist. 

Niche: A niche is an ecological habitat supplying the factors necessary for the existence of an organism or species. This is a picture of oak trees which survive in a particular area that provides sufficient water and food. At least enough to sustain a population. 

Pioneer Species: They are a tough species that are the first to colonize a new ecosystem. This is a small bush I found in an area which was recently cleared of black berry bushes. It was the first in the newly cleared area. 

Population: It is the size of a species and how it interacts with the environment. This is a photo of small black birds on a powerline. The population of this flock for example would be nine. 

R-Strategist: They usually have a small body and produce many offspring. The care for their offspring is usually very poor. This is a picture of an ant which is a perfect example of an R-strategist. It lives in a colony with hundreds of ants and its environment is very unstable (therefore why it came into my house).

Succession: It's the process by which one species takes over another. This is a picture of a plant that has overtaken this entire planter. My dad planted it years ago as a single small plant. Years later it has taken over the entire area.