2/9/2011

Today in class was an overall laid back day because our Unit test is coming up on Monday. What we did in class included...

1. Went over part of our homework
• We specifically went over pages 63 and 65.
• The order that the images went from oldest to most recent was:
• D, C, (E, F), H, A, G, B -> E and F are in parenthesis because they were alive at the same time
2. Finished taking notes in notes packet
• We had a note page that was not in our packet, but it said:
• Science Breakthrough of 2001 Ardipithecus ramidus.
• - rare skeleton
• -4.4 million years old
• - unlike living apes or later homonids
• - walked upright-the historical defining trait of a member of the human family
• - lived in woodlands , not open grassy terrain

• Homo Habilis, Homo erectus, and the neanderthals are three different species that were included in our notes
• Homo sapiens are regionally diverse and the oldest Homo Sapien is over 300,000 years old which can include neanderthals
• - we are homo sapiens sapiens
• 

• Multiregional hypothesis- modern humans evolved simultaneously in different parts of the world. Accounts for genetic similarity due to interbreeding among neighboring populations----- one hypothesis of what happened to Homo erectus descendants
• 1st graph
• "Out of Africa" hypothesis- modern humans arose from a single archeac group in Africa who spread out of Africa 100,000 years ago, some of which became genetic dead ends. (genetic evidence mostly supports this) ----- second hypothesis of what happened to Homo erectus descendants
• 2nd graph
• 

• our erect stance, and enlargement of brain are radical anatomical changes in our evolution
• 3 culture stages
• -nomads
• -Agricultural
• -industrial

3. We watched a video about Ardipithecus ramidus

4. Went over our quiz

• the answer to the first question is D- it is not an error
• question number 19 is c because 160/500 =1/4 = .25. .25 represents q^2. and because the question is asking 'what is the frequency of the undesirable allele in the herd?' we know that we need to find q. Therefore we took the square root of .25 to get q which is .5. Therefore the answer was C.

5. We got a Test Review objectives for unit 7A: Evolution packet

6. Other

• Homework: study for test on Monday
• Scribe: Vinise
• Next Scribe: Lydia

Thursday, Feb. 2nd

Today we watched a movie about the galapagos islands and Darwin's finches, filled out corresponding sheet on UP page 29. we did not get all the way to the bottom.

We also did notes in the note packet p14-17

Homework was read Ch 15

WE ARE IN THE MATH LAB ROOM 478 TOMORROW

NEXT IS COOPER

(you owe me)

01/26/12

EVOLUTION

Homework: Finish UP p. 5, 13-16, and 25-28. Also we are meeting in the auditorium tomorrow.

Due Today: UP p.19-20

In Class:

Today in class we went over UP p.19-20 about the who supported each theory; Darwin, Lamarack, both, or neither. These were the answers:

1. Darwin 2. Darwin 3. both

4. Lamarack 5. Darwin 6. Darwin

7. Darwin 8. Lamarack 9. Darwin

10. Darwin 11. neither 12. Darwin

13. Darwin 14. Lamarack 15. Lamarack

16. Darwin 17. Darwin 18. Lamarack

19. Darwin 20. Neither 21. Lamarack

22. Darwin 23. Lamarack 24. Darwin

25. Lamarack 26. Darwin 27. Lamarack

28. Darwin 29. Darwin 30. Lamarack

*You do need to know Darwin and Lamarack's theories and how they were different for the test.

We also finished our notes from pages 15-16 where we learned about Natural Selection in Action. Some examples are:

• Evolution of finches on Galapagos Islands: the islands were colonized by finches that strayed from the South American mainland.
• Pesticides-do not create resistant individuals, but selects for resistant insects that were already present in the population.
• 2 populations of trees are separated by a river (particularly isolated from each other). Trees are more likely to breed with members of the same population on the same side of the river. Each side of trees could evolve different traits.

Next we did an in class lab on UP p. 25. In this lab we created an artificial environment to demonstrate the concept of natural selection. Are materials were:

• A piece of patterned fabric (artificial environment)
• 10 different colors of construction paper
• Petri dish

Our group used a zebra print cloth and this is the data we recorded:

Our group concluded that some traits help organisms adapt to their environment just like that dots had colors that camouflage them on the fabric. Therefore the dots/organisms that are best fit to that environment, survive.
Next-VShow Jex

01/25/2012

EVOLUTION

Today we took notes during class.

The notes that we took today were about Darwin, his theory, and some of the other biologists.


A few things to know about Darwin (1809-1882)

• he introduced the theory that all life is connected
  



• he was one of the most influential scientists in the development of modern biology




• published the Origins of Species- there are two main points to his book- "decent with modification" or evolution, and natural selection




• he became a naturalist at 22 for a voyage around the world on the ship the HMS Beagle
  



• he was mainly in the Galapagos Islands




• while of the voyage he collected many specimens and noticed that as the animals strayed from the mainland, they began to adapt




• he also found that after many generations, two populations could slowly adapt and change so much so that they eventually became two different species

Darwin explained the adaptations through natural selection and had 3 main points- overproduction, variation, and reproductive success. He also looked at artificial selection and came to conclude that by modifying a species through breeding would end up with the offspring or flowers/vegetables not looking like their ancestors. Artificial selection is when the species is being selected for certain traits and combined to get the desired offspring.

Many scientists during Darwin's day thought that the earth was relatively young, and was full of unrelated species. A few of the scientists to know from his time are-

-Anaimander(Greek)- thought all life arose in water and simpler forms preceded the more complex ones

-Aristotle(Greek)- thought species did not evolve (static)

-Buffon (1700's french)- thought world was much older than 6000 years, and that a species in a fossil could be an ancient version of a living species

-Lamark (1800's french)- said life evolved through adaptation, but had a strange theory on how life evolved. He believed the "Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics" was how life evolved. So if you don't use a limb, then you will pass that on to your offspring and that offspring won't have that limb. So if you didn't ever use your thumb, then your child wouldn't have a thumb.

-Lyell (Scottish)- earth was old and he supported the gradualism principle

-Wallace (British)- developed idea of natural selection identical to Darwin's, but Darwin published his first, so Wallace isn't as well known

Examples that support evolution:

1. The fossil record- fossils can be used to research organisms from the past and are preserved in rocks. In the rocks, you can see different layers, and each layer is a different time period, as you dig further down, the fossils become older. Some of the oldest fossils are about 3.5 billion years old. The people who study these fossils are called paleontologists.





2. Biogeography- the geographic distributions of species. ex. the animals that are found in Australia are found almost exclusively in Australia because it's isolated by the ocean.





3. Comparative Anatomy- similar structure, but with different functions, and indicates that certain species came from a common ancestor (homology),vestigial organs or homologous structures can help trace back to a common ancestor, like in some animals such as the whale.





4. Comparative Embryology- comparison the organisms while they are developing





5. Molecular Biology- a common genetic code shared by organisms ex. there is less than a 2% difference in human and chimp DNA.
   
   

Review:
Over production of offspring, individual variation, and differential reproductive success all lead to adaptive evolution.

Homework:

• UP pg. 19-20




• UP pg. 5 and pg. 13-16 are both due Monday




• If you haven't read the Darwin article, CH 1, and CH 13

1/ 23/ 2012

Today we began our evolution unit. We:

• Recieved the scedule, UP, notes, Darwin packet, and lab 38
• Watched video clips about evolution
• Answered the questions on UP 7-8 (see below)

You can view the videos at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution

Then type the video titles in the convenient little search box in the top- right corner of your screen, and find the link to the video. Note: You need quicktime to see the videos, and the subtitles are really useful!

Video 1: Isn't Evolution Just a Theory?

Question: Is it correct to say that evolution is JUST a theory?

Key Points:

• Charles Darwin pioneered the idea that all life is connected, and the theory of natural selection
• Theories pull together observations to create "rules" for how the universe works

Video 2: Who was Charles Darwin?

Question: Why was Darwin considered a "Revolutionary"

Key Points:

• Darwin's work was highly controversial because it contradicted many established religious and scientific beliefs at the times
• In order to prove his theories, he traveled the world and carefully documented life's great diversity, then analyzed the patterns

Video 3:How do we know that evolution happens?

Question:Describe the transitional fossils associated with whales.

Key Points:

• The evolution of species can be plotted on an evolutionary timeline, which chronologically shows the changes ancient species went through in order to evolve into modern species
• An ancient species that shares common traits with a modern one, and has no similar, discernable ancestors, may be the original ancestor to modern species
• As time passes, the ancestor changes and adapts and become more similar to modern species

Video 4:L How does evolution really Work?

Question: Describe the process of natural selection and how it effects hummingbird populations.

Key points:

• Genetic Variation: different individuals within a species express different traits, some more favorable than others
• Overproduction of offspring: more offspring are produced than the number that can survive
• Struggle for existence: The overload of individuals compete for resources
• Differential survival and reproduction: Individuals without favorable traits are at a disadvantage for obtaining necessary resources. These individuals die. Those left have more favorable traits and have a higher chance of reproduction, so the favorable traits are inherited by the next generation.

Video 5: Did Humans Evolve?

Question: Explain how DNA sequences are used to provided eveidence of a commoon ancestor?

Key points:

• Humans did not eveolve form chimapnzees, but both species shared a common ancestor
• Humans and primates have similar DNA, which helps prove this relationship
• If two species share the same gene sequences, aside from a few mutations, they are related
• Physical trait similarities, fossil evidence, and DNA similarities prove common ancestry

Video 6: Why does evolution matter now?

Question: Why is the theory of evolution an important theory for doctors and the field of medicine? How does the theory affect the way illnesses and treatments are approached?

Key Points:

• Some microbes can evolve to become resistant to antibiotics, which is very dangerous
• If one drug does not kill ALL of the microbes, the remaining resistant microbes reproduce and form an entire population of microbes resistant to a drug. Thus, they have evolved to evade our killing, which can result in difficult to cure diseases.
• In result, multiple drugs are often prescribed

Homework is on Google Docs (hint- read chapter 13, chapter 1 p. 8-13, the Darwin packeet, and begin on UP 5)

Meet in computer lab tomorrow!!!!!!!

Maddy is the next scribe