Thursday's Biome Review

Download it Here

Excellent Biome Resource

eBook The Physical Environment: an Introduction to Physical Geography.

Biome Climate Plot

Biome Information

University of California Museum of Paleontology's online biome exhibit has excellent general information about the conditions in each of the biomes.

Interactive Biome Tutorial

Find it here

I tries to embed it but my coding is sloppy when I tired. I try again later.

As close to a biome music video I can find

Biome Map

A biome map assembled by Ville Koistinen

Biome Lab Handouts

download here

Test Tomorrow: I'll be online from about 8 to about 9 tonight

If you have questions, post them in comments. I will answer as many as I can, but you gotta post before 9.

-S

Food Web and Ecological Pyramid Help

Here
This is a link to an online biology book authored by John Kimball, a retired Harvard Biology Professor. He knows what he is doing. Feel free to roam around in his book/site.

Monday's Practice Quiz

Download here

Nutrient Cycle Handouts

Download here

Niche and the copetitive exclusion principle

Nov. 5, 2008 Vince Stricherz|

DNA provides 'smoking gun' in the case of the missing songbirds

It sounds like a tale straight from "CSI": The bully invades a home and does away with the victim, then is ultimately found out with the help of DNA evidence.

Except in this instance the bully and the victim are two species of songbirds in northwest North America, and the DNA evidence shows conclusively that one species once occupied the range now dominated by the other.

The case started about 400,000 years ago when encroaching glaciers split a single warbler species into two separate groups that eventually became distinct species, with hermit warblers living in coastal areas from northern California to Alaska and Townsend's warblers living farther inland in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

When the glaciers melted, the Townsend's warblers gradually expanded their range northward into British Columbia and Alaska before spilling over to the Pacific Coast into territory occupied by hermit warblers.

That's when things got tough for the hermit warblers, said Meade Krosby, a University of Washington doctoral student in biology who has found genetic evidence of the struggle between the two species. She cited previous studies showing Townsend's males with higher testosterone levels and superior fighting ability than hermit males.

"The Townsend's were brutes and they just smacked the hermit warblers out of the way," Krosby said.

Townsend's males dominated hermit males and mated with hermit females. The result was that the hermits gradually retreated southward from their original range. Today hermits occupy only California, Oregon and Washington. The two species overlap in hybrid zones in Oregon and Washington, and Townsend's occupy coastal areas from northern Washington into Alaska, as well as their original inland range.

The Townsend's warblers that now live along the coast are identical to those in the interior, Krosby said, except for one telling difference -- those on the coast carry in their genes the mitochondrial DNA of hermit warblers.

Mitochondria are the parts of cells that convert food to energy, and DNA contained in the mitochondria is distinct from DNA in the rest of an organism. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from one generation to the next through the mother, so the only way that genetic material from hermits could end up in Townsend's is for Townsend's males to breed with hermit females.

"There is a genetic skeleton in the closet of the Townsend's warbler," Krosby said. "This is a genetic smoking gun of what they have done to their sister species."

Her findings are published in the Nov. 5 Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The Royal Society is the United Kingdom's national academy of science. Sievert Rohwer, a UW professor emeritus of biology, is the co-author. The National Science Foundation, the ARCS Foundation and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the UW funded the work.

Krosby noted that when a single species is divided into two groups by barriers such as glaciers, when they encounter each other again they could simply merge once more into a single species. Or they could have become so significantly different that they would not recognize each other and would not interbreed, having become two separate species.

But the two groups also could fall somewhere in between, she said, having become different but not different enough to prevent them from interbreeding. One might even have changed in a way that would allow it to dominate the other -- precisely what happened in the case of hermit and Townsend's warblers.

But there still are two possibilities for how the mitochondrial DNA of hermit warblers ended up in Townsend's. The hermit genetic material could have been so robust that when the birds interbred in the hybrid zones the hermit genes spread north through the Townsend's population by natural selection. Or the hermits could have been driven south out of their range, leaving their genetic fingerprints behind.

To see which was most likely, Krosby examined the hermit mitochondrial DNA found in coastal Townsend's warblers. If natural selection had caused the genetic material to move northward, there would be very little variation in the mitochondrial DNA among individuals, she said. But if the hermits were driven out of their range, the mitochondrial DNA left behind should show substantial variation among individuals.

"That variation is what I found, and there is no way that could happen if the genes had moved," she said. "It took a lot to convince me this is what happened, but it became clear as day."

Original Article is here

I think I need an image for my blog header

I want to add some visual interest to my blog format, so I'd like a header with some character. Here are a couple examples:
Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Biology in Action
Extreme Biology

I'd like someone with some photoshop skills to help me out here.

Green Man Group

Global Warming by the blue man from Ecologic Construction on Vimeo

Retracing Darwin's Trip to Brazil

Another food chain song

Musically it is not as good as the Bill Nye Video. But it is a little more informative.

Power to the Plankton

I found all of the music videos from Bill Nye the Science Guy over the weekend. I will highlight my favorites over time. This one rules.

Carbon Cycle Stuff!

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Food Web Song

Ecology is about studying connections

Wasp Larva Creates a Zombie Caterpillar Bodyguard

Handouts for the Range of Tolerance/Niche Lab on 12-03-08

Range of Tolerance/Niche Lab

Doctors Find Worm in Woman's Brain

A news story about parasites reported by Fox News in Phoenix AZ. The video is a little crazy. Wash Your Hands!

Story is here

Please Suggest Blog Content

Please help me build the blog. Suggest blog content through the comment feature or through email. Please provide details (accurate url) and a quick explanation why your content is blog-worthy it is obviouly best if your suggestion relates to class content. If I agree and post your suggestion I'll throw some extra credit your way.

The crab spider from today's video

If anyone wants to watch again.

General Ecology Handouts

Here are the download links for all current documents. I will post the chapter handouts if requested, but I'm not going to post if it is not necessary.

General Ecology Assignment Sheet

General Ecology Learning Objectives/Study Guide/Extra Credit

Species Interaction Project Documentation

Reminder: Complete your objectives for study purposes and extra credit

Objectives List

You should have learned all of this over the last few weeks. If you have not learned this material you are in for a busy weekend or a poor test grade. Learning should be active and continuous. Studying is what you do when you are doing homework. Preparing for a test is working on the rough edges. In other words, learn the material the first time out and the rest of your work and time becomes review. As you prepare for the test you should be putting together your own review guide. Your review guide and reviewing should involve OVER PREPARING. Your brain naturally removes weak memories, so if you over prepare you can forget and still do really well.

You should work on Biology every night. There are no vacations in Biology.


You can leave questions in the comment section of any post and I will answer them, if you would like you question to be private just indicate that in the question and I'll post an answer with out your original comment.

Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science

This is more appropriate for last chapter but it is a pretty well done presentation.

Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science

How To Get Better Grades

Get Good Grades at School by Following Simple Tips
By Alessandra Leonhardt


If you aren't happy with your grades at school and need some tips to better your grades, here they are. Follow them and your grades will improve.

1. Sleep a lot and well. You need to be rested to pay attention, and a rested mind learns more than a tired one. Also, if you are sleeping in class, it’s impossible for you to learn.
2. Eat well at morning. Especially milk. Milk makes your memory increase and your brain receive more information, learning more. But don’t eat too much; this will make you feel unwell.
3. Find a good seat in class. Try to sit where you see both the board and the teacher, so you don’t need to move to pay attention. Also, sit where you can hear the teacher clearly; try to sit away from disruptive students.
4. Sit in a way you feel comfortable -- not so comfortable that you could fall asleep, but comfortable enough to be able to drive your focus to the teacher only.
5. Pay attention to the teacher. Don’t talk too much and try not to play with things or think about something else when the teacher is explaining. This is half of the challenge to get good grades. If you understand the content of the class, good grades will follow.
6. Take notes. Writing helps you remember, and also allows you to review the lesson at your leisure.
7. Don’t ask questions until you try to make connections. Especially at Math and History, before asking questions, to understand the lesson and make connections for yourself. This will make you think by yourself, not simply absorb what others tell you.
8. If you don’t understand after trying, then ask questions. LOTS of questions. Until you understand FULLY. Do not go home with questions about the content given.
9. Do all the exercises and homework. And don’t forget to ask the teacher for help if you couldn’t do an exercise. This is really important for getting good grades.
10. Study -- a lot. And not just cramming before tests, but instead study everyday. This will make you remember what you have studied and help you to recover something you missed.
11. Finally, in tests, try to remain calm. Take deep breaths and stay focused on the test. Do not make the careless mistakes; be calm and sure that you know what is asked. This way you will surely get a better grade.

Following these tips is sure to help you improve your grades. You will learn much more. I tested myself and these steps really work; I get the best grades between my classmates. Follow these tips and you will get good grades, too!

Article Via howtodothings.com

Media Portrayal of Evolution

This is a great couch gag from the Simpson's. However it causes problems for me as a biology teacher. Please leave a comment on why this clip misleads people about how evolution takes place. I will leave my 2 cents when a number of you have weighed in with your thoughts. (Think Participation Grade)

Applying the Theory of Natural Selection

This is Tuesday's Classwork. Your job is to apply Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection in 6 specific scenarios. Each of your answers needs to include specific reference to Darwin's four main ideas. Be Specific and thorough.

Here is a sample answer for question 2

In the past a population of lizards had variation in the size of their legs, some with bigger, longer legs and some with shorter smaller legs. In an effort to escape predators the lizards began burrowing through the loose debris on the forest floor and the lizards with the shortest smallest legs had the easiest time burrowing and therefore escaped their predators more often than the lizards with bigger, longer legs. Each generation of lizards receives its traits and characteristics from the previous generation and so through many generations of life and death the lizards legs became shorter and shorter until they no longer protruded outside the lizard's body.

Your Textbook Author on the Colbert Report

Natural Selection in Action

The Video is courtesy of PBS. To look at more video visit PBS videos for students

*FIXED My coding was messed up for a while today I didn't reboot and test, so it was working for me but when I tried from home it would not go. It's all better now.

Calendar

I have added a calendar function -- there will be an agenda list in the right frame -- I will attempt to make sure it remains current.

Please Comment if you have questions on class or suggestions for the blog.

Today

Today in class we reviewed lab questions 1-10 and we completed this analysis activity. Download it if you need it or want a clean copy.

Teddy Graham Lab

Here is the editable file for the Teddy Graham Lab so you can answer 11 c.

Reminder: Lab questions 1-10 are due Monday 11-10. Question 11 is due Wednesday 11-12

Revised Assignment Sheet

Download here

Making Comments

If you make comments in posts, please make sure you identify yourself -- because I can include it in your participation grade.

And the first 5 students to comment on this post can have 5 points extra credit.

Extra Information on Radiometric Dating and the Geologic Time Scale

An interactive exhibit on geologic time from the University of California Museum of Paleontology

The Oldest Rocks on Earth Found in Northern Canada via Reuters news

A description of radiometric dating from the United States Geologic Survey

A very detailed Geologic time scale from the Geological Society of America

Geologic Time Line

Follow up worksheet for the geologic time line activity for anyone who is on the music trip or just absent

A copy of the dates handout for the time line

Chapter 15 Handouts

Chapter 15 is divided into 3 sections and a study guide for downloading purposes.
Section 15-1
Section 15-2
Section 15-3
Study guide

Chapter 15 Assignment Sheet
Assignment Sheet

Follow the links to download the documents as pdf files.

Test Questions

Here are some possible test questions:
-Explain the difference between observation and inference by providing examples from the text or class.
-Is palm reading scientific? Use the criteria we discussed in class and explain whether dowsing is scientific or not scientific. Explain why palm reading seems to work and why people believe it
-What is dowsing? Is dowsing scientific? Use the criteria we discussed in class and explain whether dowsing is scientific or not
-What is graphology? Is graphology science? Use the criteria we discussed in class and explain whether graphology is science or non-science.
-Explain the 6 themes of Science as Identified by Stevenson
- A friend of yours (from another science class not taught by Stevenson) describes a hypothesis as an educated guess. How would you your friend the error of their ways? (refer to the cube activity to support your explanation.)
-How does a hypothesis help scientists understand the natural world?
-Why is it advantageous for scientists to test only one variable at a time during an experiment?
-What equipment did Redi use in his experiment? Why was the gauze important?
-What question was Spallanzani’s experiment designed to answer?
-Why is it misleading to describe science as a collection of facts?
-Explain why you cannot draw a conclusion about the effect of one variable in an investigation when the other key variables are not controlled.

Extra Credit

The process of science diagram fill this in and turn in on Tuesday for extra credit

Scientific American Frontiers -- Beyond Science

PBS Scientific American Frontiers video archive for Beyond Science
You can re-watch or watch the video for the first time if you were absent.

This is the worsheet that accompanies the video Download and print if you lost or want to clean up.

Bio Concepts Assignment Sheet for Chapter 1

Assignment Sheet