Final Post

Here's my last standard, SP5. It sure has been one crazy ride!
https://sites.google.com/site/michelleshonorsbio/webb-science-practices-standards/5-using-mathematics-and-computational-thinking
I really hope this counts!

STANDARDS UPDATE

I changed some of the standards around on my website so that each assignment only went for two, and all the standards are on there (except for SP5, which was on a test) Here's the link if you wanna check out my new and improved standards!
SP 4: https://sites.google.com/site/michelleshonorsbio/webb-science-practices-standards/4-analyzing-and-interpreting-data

SP 9: https://sites.google.com/site/michelleshonorsbio/webb-science-practices-standards/9-progress-of-own-learning-self-analysis

Also for all my HBs, I only have one 4, and it's 4/1 (because I wrote down a different answer than I circled on a test):
I can apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.
And since I think I understand Mendelian genetics, I thought I'd just talk about them for a second. So most traits have multiple alleles, or genes that code for a specific phenotype (physical trait). The two alleles, or the genotype, work together to influence what something like eye color or ear shape would look like. So there are dominant and recessive traits. For example, in cats, a dominant trait could be black fur (B) and a recessive trait could be yellow fur (b). The dominant trait will show up even if there is just one allele for it, but the recessive needs both alleles to show. If a cat homogeneous for yellow fur (bb) mated with a cat heterogeneous for black fur (Bb) mated, there would be two distinct genotypes for their kittens: Bb and bb. This cross can be done with a Punnett square, and you would find out that 50% of the kittens would be bb, and 50% would be Bb. It's that easy!

Transpiration Online Lab

(Please ignore the horrible formatting)

Journal questions:
Describe the process of transpiration in vascular plants.
Xylem pushes the water through the stem up to the leaves using cohesion. The water evaporates from the leaves, and adhesion moves the next water molecule to the surface so it can evaporate next.
Describe any experimental controls used in the investigation.
Controls would be the time used for transpiration.
What environmental factors that you tested increased the rate of transpiration? Was the rate of transpiration increased for all plants tested?
The environmental factors are wind, temperature, and light. The rate increased for all of the plants with the fan and heater, but didn't for Dieffenbachia, Rubber Plant, the Weeping Fig, and the Zebra Plant with the lamp.
Did any of the environmental factors (heat, light, or wind) increase the transpiration rate more than the others? Why?
The wind increased the transpiration rate the most because it blows the water off of the leaves.
Which species of plants that you tested had the highest transpiration rates? Why do you think different species of plants transpire at different rates?
Rubber Plant had the highest transpiration rates because the experimental conditions are closer to its ideal environment. Plants transpire more slowly to conserve water, so its an adaptation to dry environments, while plants with fast transpiration come from more wet environments.
Suppose you coated the leaves of a plant with petroleum jelly. How would the plant's rate of transpiration be affected?
It would be slower because there would be something between the leaves and the air that makes it harder for the water to evaporate.
Of what value to a plant is the ability to lose water though transpiration?
It's very important, because it provides energy, cools the plants, and provides water throughout the stem and leaves.

Plant Hormones

Auxins:
Auxins are a class of plant hormone that stimulate cell elongation. Auxins are growth hormones that make the dark sides of plants grow so the plant moves toward its light source. They also are responsible for: cell division, differentiation between xylem and phloem, fruit abscission, setting, growth, and ripening, and flower growth. It also plays a part in the labs were are currently doing (phototropism and gravitropism) because it controls which way plants grow.
In response to: light source
AUXIN=GROWTH

(this information from here and here)

Abscisic Acid:
Abscisic acid, or ABA, helps plants react and adapt to stressors like temperature. ABA is responsible for keeping the plant alive by keeping cells hydrated, stimulating root growth, regulating bud growth, seed maturation, and fruit abscission (which is what the hormone was named for). ABA basically exists to inhibit growth and make sure the plant can survive whatever harmful conditions its in.
In response to: environmental factors
ABA=STRESS REACTION

(this information from here)

Ethylene
Ethylene is produced by mature fruits and makes them ripen.  Ethylene controls the abscission of fruits, drooping of leaves, and seed germination, as well as some different functions in various plants (such as stem elongation in rice).
In response to: fruit maturation
ETHYLENE=FRUIT

(this information from here)

Transcendentalism

We had to observe flowers and their characteristics (male or female, bugs around them, etc.)
Let's talk about that.

White flowers:
-soft petals
-pollen in center (yellow)
-dark stems
-no smell? (my nose was plugged up but I tried)
-compared to the surrounding flowers, big petals
-male part: pollen
-female part: I didn't explicitly see one, but I'm going to guess that it's under the pollen

Pink flower:

-velvety petals

-fuzzy-looking stem

-no smell? (again, the plugged up nose)

-sticky in center

-male and female part in center, where it's sticky and there's pollen

Cute little tree flowers:
-red outside male parts
-green inside female parts
-sticky, sweet inside
-grow in little bunches

Coevolution Pinterest

Lucky for me, I already had an account, so here it is!
http://www.pinterest.com/toolazytodothis/biology/

Wolves and Rabbits

   In our experiment, a pack of wolves was hunting four types of rabbits in an arctic environment.  The white rabbits had the obvious advantage, since they blended in with the snow, but since what the wolves ate was random (our paper throwing skills were not that great) the fact that they were white was not necessarily advantageous.  However, certain wolves had advantages in this experiment, simply because they were bigger and could cover more rabbits (and thereby eat them).  This size variation was essential to their success or failure, while the differences in rabbits were less important.  Every few generations, a type of rabbit would go extinct, simply by bad luck or the growing number of wolves.  As the number of wolves grew, the number of rabbits fell, until there were not enough to sustain the wolves, which would then go extinct as well, and a new generation of both rabbits and wolves would have to immigrate.  The population of wolves would rise and fall in accordance with the population of the rabbits, and when they both reached their maximum, the wolves would begin to starve and die.  This created a graph of almost sine-like curves, which would intersect every couple generations.

Generation	White	Yellow-Green	Teal	Green	Wolves
1	1	1	1	1	1
2	2	2	2	0	1
3	4	2	4	0	1
4	8	4	6	0	1
5	12	6	10	0	2
6	20	12	10	0	4
7	20	14	16	0	8
8	8	8	10	0	16
9	4	0	0	0	6
10	0	0	0	0	0
11	1	1	1	1	1
12	2	2	2	0	1
13	4	4	0	0	1
14	2	8	0	0	2
15	1	10	0	0	2
16	0	18	0	0	1
17	0	30	0	0	2
18	0	46	0	0	4
19	0	50	0	0	9
20	0	22	0	0	16
21	0	0	0	0	6
22	1	1	1	1	6
23	0	0	0	0	0
24	1	1	1	1	1
25	2	2	2	0	1

Population of wolves and rabbits over 25 generations
X axis: generation, Y axis: population number