My group had pages 51-59. My role was to create around 5 interpretive and analytical questions that would give insight into the big ideas in our section. I also led the group’s discussion to answer these questions with my group to make sure I wasn’t missing out on any information and to expand my group’s knowledge. Leading up to the presentation, I kept checking in to see how much work we had accomplished and how much more we needed to get done.
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How did the discovery of DNA prove that Darwin’s theory of evolution was correct and how does it change the way we view evolution today and into the future?
During the 1800’s scientists started to believe that species were changing and modern organisms came from ancient organisms but it wasn’t until Charles Darwin proposed a revoluntionary theory of evolution by natural selection. He suggested that organisms change in either physical, heritable or behavioural traits. He also proposed that organisms who do such develop higher fitness, meaning the changes in physical traits and behaviours allowed them to become more adapted in their environment, thus, increasing the chances of survival and reproduction rate. Darwin’s theory also stated that populations increase at a geometric rate meaning they multiply rapidly, resulting in a struggle for existence. There is also variation in each species, and the more favourable ones get passed on to the offspring. Darwin theory was high in accuaracy but lacked evidence. Then almost 100 years later, after many try’s to prove his theory, DNA properties were discovered. This allowied scientists to expand on Darwin’s theory and justify it. In the movie “What Darwin Never Knew” we explored many examples of how the discovery of DNA proved Darwin’s theory and changed how we view evolution today and into the future. DNA and genes is what makes us all so different on earth. Every organism has a different set of genes, this is caused by mutations. For example mutation occurs when one of the nitrogenous bases accidentally gets replaced by another which can either be fatal or helpful in some cases.
Images showing evolution:
How did the discovery of DNA help prove Darwin’s theory? And how does it change the way we see evolution into the future?
Let us look at the genetic comparison between chimpanzees and humans, tikaalik, Hox genes and embryology. Darwin came up with a theory that humans descendened from monkeys, he was mocked at the time for coming up with such a thought. But after the discovery of DNA, scientists found that there is only a 1% difference in the DNA of a chimpanzee and a human. The difference is in some switches in genes that involve the human brain. This shows how just a slight change in DNA can cause such a massive effect. Tikaalik shows transition from fish to amphibians. This shows that since much varied vertebrates did once exist, but this animal evolved on land instead. Another massive discovery was of the “switches” that turn specific genes on and off. An example would be Hox genes that are a group of genes that control the body plan of embryos. They were found in many complex animals going back to 600 million year worms to modern day humans. This idea of switches is proven though embryology; the study of organisms in their early stages that change over the course of time. Switches explain how one creature can become more like another. An excellent example would be the Galapagos finches, and how the same genes are responsible for the different types of beaks. The only different is which gene is switched on or off. “Darwin’s finches speciated into 14 different species in under 2 million years and they are the best-known example of vertbrate evolution and the most recent example of adaptive radiation.” All these examples can be used to verify Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and his idea of the tree of life. The discovery DNA established a solid foundation for evolution and caused researchers to start focusing more on genetics. It has answered some very complex questions we have such as where we came from, what makes us up and what sepereates us from all other creation. There is still much to be discovered out there, but DNA was the first step in the process.
Sources:
http://www2.nau.edu/lrm22/lessons/bird_lab/bird_lab.html
Documentary: What Darwin Never Knew. Produced by Matthew Barrett. 2011. DVD -Nova
https://earthwatch.org/Scientific-Research/Our-Scientists/Sonia-Kleindorfer
1. Archaebacteria – Staphylothermus marinus and Methanosarcina rumen
Both of these Archebacteria are prokaryotes, also known as having no cell nucleus.
2. Eubacteria – E. coli and Streptococcus
These Eubacteria areusually a couple micrometres in length and come in many different shapes and sizes. They are complex and single celles, and are found everywhere.
3. Protists – Giant Kelp and Paramecium
Both of these protists are one-felled organisms and have diverse “reproductive and nutritional modes.”
4. Fungi – Amanita rubescen and Rhizopus stolonifer
These Eukaryotic fungi live by decomposing and absorbing organic material.
5. Animalia – Coccinella septempunctata and Pterophyllum altum
Animalia meaning the highest taxonomic group where all living or extinct animals are included in.
6. Plantae – Vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry) and Opuntia phaeacantha (desert prickly pear)
These are multicellular and are eukaryotes.
Sources: classificationofthekindoms.weebly.com
https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Halophiles
https://kingdomsoflifecarrier.weebly.com/eubacteria.html
In class we had to discuss about a political ideology that was given to us. We were put into groups. My group was conservatism. It was very interesting to learn about something that i had no background knowledge about. We then came up with arguments on what our political ideology would do in specific situations. We learned that conservatism in on the right wing. The conservatists dont like change and want to keep things the same. (Referring to the status quo) They are very strict on maintaining law and order, with very strict punishments. Something interesting was that we were put into random groups and no one in my group had any background knowledge on this ideology. A challenge was coming up with an argument that we disagreed with. Some things we thought were unfair and unjust but we had to share what our ideology would have done. Another challenge was trying to share what our ideology would do in a situation without making us look bad. Overall, my group and I really enjoyed this activity.
Conclusion: in summary, after observing part 1 and 2, our hypothesis should be refuted. Even though the hypothesis for part 1 was proven correct, the hypothesis for part 2 was proven wrong. In part 1, we hypothesized that Brand A (Hubba Bubba) would make bigger bubbles because it is thicker/stronger and won’t break as easily as it grows and will be more sturdy than Brand B (Big League Chew). According to our observations and measurements our hypothesis was supported as Hubba Bubba’s average bubble size was 17.6cm vs. Big League Chew’s average of 11.6cm. In Part 2, we hypothesized that the size of the bubble does relate to stretch ability size because the gum that blew the bigger bubbles will be stronger and stretch further. (Hubba Bubba would stretch further.) Then after observing and collecting data we came to the conclusion that if one brand of gum has a bugger bubble size than another Brand, it doesnt necessarily mean the stretchability is larger as well. Because if it blows a bigger bubble it’s because it is stronger and wont break as easily as the thinner, breakable but more stretchy gum. Hubba Bubba stretched 46.1cm and Big League Chew stretched 82 cm. There were many factors that affected the outcome of this lab, especially for part 2. I think Brand A was sitting, drying up before we stretched it vs Brand B that had recently been chewed. (Still soft/stretchy) Some other factors are -the ability to blow bubbles (experience). – The length of time that the gum was chewed while trying to blow bubbles. – Whether or not the gum was chewed for too long.- the chewers strength, how soft it got. And – the saliva of the chewer. The measurements of the bubbles and stretchability is described as quantititave and the observations like texture and appearance are described as qualititave. SI units were also used in the beggining of the lab to measure the weight of the gum in grams and to measure the circumference and length of the gum.
Article 1:
There were many adults who fell for this hoax and I am obviously more naive and should really be paying attention to what I do online. I need to be more aware of who they are and if I have met them face to face because of the lack of knowledge I have. I didn’t know people in politics would ever do this. The age group I am currently in has always been pressured around popularity. We always try to make as many “friends” as we can which can possibly lead us to meeting and befriending someone like James Galan. We need to be more mindful of who we accept into our social lives because they might not be who we think they are. There are many people who are like James Galan, people who use fake profile pictures, and catfish others.
Article 2:
There are people who are trying to find their loved ones and trying to find their family while others keep posting fake things for absolutely no reason. People who have the need to seek attention and achieve a certain amount of retweets need to realize that what they are doing is wrong. What they’re doing is misleading people and it needs to stop. This article doesn’t have connections with my life because I have not experienced what these people have, but it affects me because it helps me realize that many things online can easily be fake and I need to be aware of that.
1. I think statistics are used for many different thing in our society, such as: medical research, weather forecasts, quality testing, predicting disease, genetics, and political campaigns. Statistics help people come to a conclusion on wether something is accurate or not.
After reading the article: http://www.truthpizza.org/logic/stats.htm
2. Something new I have learned about the importance of statistics in our society is that statistics give make us look at the picture as a whole and gives us a much more precise and accurate way of understanding what is going on in the world around us and is easier to look at statistics then from individual observations. I also learned that tons of information out there can be extremely misleading. So I have learned to be cautious and judge the credibility of the statistics before I can fully trust that it is accurate.
3. Describing different types of problems with statistics.
Faulty statistics- “86% of statistics are made up on the spot, you know – the remaining 24% are mathematically flawed.- from an internet message board.” Statistics can be false, they should use specific numbers and have a quality of authority about them.
Bad Sampling- Bad sampling can be incorrect because statistics based on a small group of poeple is more based on luck, probability and response bias is involved.
Unfair Poll Questions- Statistics that have some type of voting component can be unfair because people can word questions differently and purposefully lean towards the answer they want. People can influence others very easily and make others think how they want them too.
Statistics that are true but misleading- Even when statistics are supposedly accurate, some facts can be truly misleading. When someone chooses the starting and ending points for data used is an efficient way to manipulate statistics.
Ranking Statistics- Ranking statistics are ” based on comparisons with other quantities rather than specifying specific amounts, there are special problems we need to be aware of.” Ranking statistics are also not clear what the categories are that are being ranked.
Qualifiers on statistics- Qualifiers make things seem much more impressive and interesting than they actually are.
Percentages- When dealing with facts on a bigger scale, look at numbers as percentages or in proportion to other quantities. If the stats were based on a small amount, percentages would show more of an impact and large amounts. But should use the actual number to show its quantity.
Here is the link to my Sway on Grassland Biomes,
https://sway.com/GAphM2fhnqXdRmCU
Today, Ethan, Toby, Laily and myself made 4 sways on four different biomes found in the world. First, we each picked a biome and started researching information. We all helped each other find pictures, videos and good websites. The. we all wrote our own text for our biome, including interesting information and facts.
Overall, I think our group did an excellent job working together and creating cool sways. Everyone was open to different ideas and getting help from others. There wasn’t any problems that we faced throughout the whole process, which was a great addition. Something I think we could improve on is our interaction with each other, we did have discussions but not as thorough as they could have been. However, I think that we did a great job and everything worked out in the end. I really enjoyed doing this collaborative project and I look forward to another one in the upcoming years.
-Karina
-Karina
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