Scavenger Hunt Post 8

I think I'm done?

This is a picture from Hawaii, it is a tropical biome. 

 These palm trees have adapted to glow. Not really, but if they had it would be an adaptation of a plant. Adaptations are specific features an organism develops to better suit living in their environment.

This is a type of fungus called alder bracket growing on a tree stump. Fungus is eukaryotic.  A eukaryote contains a nucleus and other organelles enclosed in a membrane. 

This is a plant in its sporophyte phase. This is when the plant is younger or goes through a time where it is not flowering.

This leaf is hydrophobic. Do you see the water droplets on it? The water is being repelled from soaking into the leaf by the leaf's waxy cuticle layer.

Scavenger Hunt Post 7

This sleeping chipmunk named Wilson often takes part in seed dispersal. Seed dispersal is when a seed is moved somehow by an animal, wind, or water and placed where it begins to grow. 

This cat going for a stroll is full of all sorts of connective tissue. Connective tissue supports, connects, and separates different organs in your body. 

Flowers produce pollen. Pollen makes the world go round by helping plants reproduce.

These super cool leaves have a cuticle layer on them. The cuticle layer is a waxy surface plants have that help keep viruses and bacteria outside of the plant and keep all the good stuff inside of it. 

This bird house has a nest in it. Inside the nest there either is or was or will be (who knows) at least one amniotic egg. An amniotic egg is an egg that has a shell or membrane around it to keep the egg from drying up and protects the growing organism inside. 

Scavenger Hunt Post Number 6

These flowers contain gibberellins. Gibberellins are plant hormones that regulate things such as growth, flowering, and dormancy.

 This is a stuffed black squirrel. This is an example of a genetic variation within a population. This explained by organisms of the same species having different physical properties. Some squirrels are black, some or gray, and some are brown.

These are alcoholic beverages. Alcohol is a product of fermentation. Fermentation is the process where sugars are converted to acid, gas, or alcohols.

These delicious banana pancakes have wheat in them. In certain cases, wheat has been a genetically modified organism. Geneticists can alter the properties of organisms to affect their growing and reproducing. In some instances, it is beneficial to the success of a species.

This is plate of sliced mango and pineapple. These have ethylene in them. Ethylene is a plant hormone that has a lot to do with the ripening of fruit. The fruit on the plate is ripe. 

Scavenger Hunt Post 5 (with one extra picture)

This cow is a heterotroph. Heterotrophs can not produce their own food so they rely on eating food for their energy. This cow eats grass to get its energy.

This is me shooting a gun. Guns are used for hunting. Hunting is a form of predation. Predation is the interaction where a predator feeds on or attacks their prey. 

The sushi rolls on the bottom have a combination of salmon and eel in them. In some places, salmon is a key stone species. A key stone species is an organism who contributes to the survival of an ecosystem. The pacific salmon dies after it spawns and several species feed off of them. They almost sustain a whole ecosystem. 

 This is my dog shadow; he is resting. The internal balance that is being shown is called homeostasis. Shadow is content with his surroundings and is physically stable because of it.

This bird is grooming himself, which is also helping maintain homeostasis.

This tree frog is an ectotherm. An ectotherm is an animal that does not have the ability to regulate its body temperature internally. This frog uses environmental factors to maintain the right temperature. 

Scavenger Hunt Post 4

My parrot is an endotherm. An endotherm is an organism that maintains a suitable body temperature by using heat produced by its own body. This organism doesn't have to rely solely on environmental conditions for warmth.

These succulents are CAM plants. CAM plants are able to live in dry and humid environments because they open their stomata during the night, preventing loss of hydration during the hot hours of the day. Succulents hold water inside of them, and collect more when their stomata are open. 

This picture was taken in Lanai City, Hawaii. The population of Lanai City is 3,102. Population is the number of a particular species inhabiting an area. 

This hibiscus is a long-day plant. A long day plant is a plant that only flowers after long periods of exposed sunlight. 

This flower in hawaii is an autotroph. An organism is an autotroph when it produces its own energy. Plants do this through photosynthesis. 

Scavenger Hunt Post 3

These humans are helping baby sea turtles in Mexico get to the ocean after hatching. This is a form of Altruistic Behavior. Altruistic behavior is when an organism is concerned for the welfare of another organism. These humans want these sea turtles to have a better chance of survival. 

This dog feels threatened that he will be forgotten. He then decided to mimic a human by sitting in the car acting like he is going to drive somewhere. This is a form of batesian mimicry. Batesian mimicry is when a harmless species evolves to mimic the tendencies of a more harmful species. This dog is mimicking the tendency humans have to drive. 

This human and this cat both have mouths. These are homologous structures. These different species have anatomical structures that are similar and used for similar things. This cat and human aren't related, but both have mouths that basically do the same thing.

These two 8 year old fire dancers in hawaii are dealing with a redox reaction. A redox reaction is when an electron transfer takes place. The most common redox reaction is combustion, shown in this picture. 

These roots are holding down sand near a beach. You could say that holding down sand and preventing erosion is the niche of this species. A niche is a specific job that a species performs in an environment.

Scavenger Hunt Part 2

I'm a little behind.... I didn't have good access in Boston or Hawaii so I just took a bunch of pictures and now I have to sort through and get caught up.

 This jellyfish at the Georgia Aquarium has radial symmetry. Radial symmetry is best described as pie shaped or having no true left and right side. If you see the top of a jellyfish, you can cut it into identical pieces in a circular shape.

This antelope skin at Scott's Antique market has bi-lateral symmetry. You can see that it clearly has a left and right side. You can split this animal in half (hotdog way) and it'll be mostly identical on each side.

This bear at Scott's Antique Market is showing territorial behavior. It is clearly lunging at me because I am getting too close to him. Animals who exhibit territorial behavior benefit from doing so because they claim control of an area and all of its resources. 

These two bald eagles in Jackson Hole, Wyoming are showing mating behavior. Bald eagles mate for life, so right now these two bald eagles are just chilling. They stick together because they plan to mate again in the future.

This plant in Hawaii is showing tropism. Tropism is a directional movement in response to a stimulus. The stimulus in this example is gravity. These flowers are heavy so they now grow upside down. 

Scavenger Post #7

 Stamen- the pollen producing reproductive organ of a plant. The brown part of this plant is the stamen

Cuticle layer of a plant- it is the protective flim cover the leaf of a plant.

 Ectotherm- An ectotherm is an organism that relies on the sun to keep its body warm. Here is a baby rat snake basking in the sun.

Pollen- is a coarse powder that contains the male gametes for plant reproduction. Here is the pollen on one our begonia plant.

Vestigial Structures- are structures that 2 animals have but are not of a common ancestry. Here is a bee. Its wings are vestigial structures

HOT ZONEEEEEE PART TRESSSS

Guys, I honestly have no recollection of what happened in Part 3. The smart thing to do would be to grab my book and look through it. Instead, I think will just talk about Ebola Reston and what I thought about the book in general.

At this point in the story, I believe the CDC as well as USAMRIID had been called in. I was surprised at the carelessness with which the organizations acted. The arguments between members of each team were unprofessional and dangerous. Something else that shocked me was the refusal of the original discoverers of the virus to go into lockdown after they knew they had been exposed. That seems like grounds to be dismissed. Obviously, they were monitoring each other, yet this does not seem like enough foundation to declare themselves "safe."

If I remember correctly, 3 of the monkey handlers had gotten sick. 1 showed symptoms similar to other Ebola strains. That he recovered is a miracle. This whole process of discovering the viruses and tracking down the source/exterminating it seems so unprofessional. This might be because of the relative obscurity/cutting edge nature of the field.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVu5qH7gw2A
This video has nothing to do with biology, it's really weird to be honest

Scavenger Hunt Week 6

Have you guys ever heard the expression, "better late than never"? That really applies to me right now. For whatever reason, I forgot to post but here they are guys. Please enjoy, as you always do.

This first picture shows a pair of analagous structures. The hawk and the dragon fly both have wings but lack a common ancestor. While both structures perform a similar structure, they operate differently because they did not originate from the same thing.

Olive oil is a hydrophobic substance. When particles of olive oil are thrown into water, the 2 substances immediately separate. Hydrophobic substances will not mix with water.

This bear head that hangs on my wall (and is not real) has bilateral symmetry. Bilateral symmetry occurs when something can be divided in half down the middle and is the same on each side. My father has used this bear to scare me since the age of 2.

In this picture of Carrollton, you can see many people gathered in town. The population of Carrollton is somewhere in the ballpark of 22,000. In biology terms, population refers to all the inhabitants of a particular environment; people, animals, etc.

This cactus is a CAM plant. CAM plants are classified as such because of certain adaptations they possess that allow them to survive in intensely arid habitats.


Guys, these are this week's pictures. I hope you enjoy them. I will be posting again in a couple of days.

Scavenger Hunt Post #6

           1. Xylem - this is one of the two types of transport tissue in vascular plants. Xylem itself means "wood". This is a picture of a tree.

         2.  Epithelial tissue - this is a membranous type of tissue that covers the outer layer of the body. Skin is a great example of this.

          3. Lichen - these are composite organisms consisting of a fungus and a photosynthetic partner growing together. This fungus growing on a tree is an example of a lichen.

        4. Pollen - this coarse powder that contains microspores that come off flowers. This is a picture of a flower.

           
        5. Connective Tissue - this type of tissue supports, connects, or separates different types of tissues and organs in the body. Your knee is a good example of a part of your body containing connective tissue.