The Toughest Creature On Earth

This is a Tardigrade. A microscopic invertebrate animal, also know as a water bear or a moss piglet, it is what is know as a polyextremophile. Meaning an organism that can survive in environments that would normally be detrimental to most life on Earth. This little critter can live for over 100 years without food or water by taking a hibernative state called crytobiosis.

“They roll up into a dried little ball, and just stay dormant, with no sign of life whatsoever. Scientists have rehydrated them from a piece of moss in a museum collection that was a hundred years old. They’ve been frozen and defrosted, put under pressure, subjected to very high temperatures, and zapped with X-Rays. They come out alive and well. Just add water.” – How to Find Tardigrades, by Michael Shaw.

Now, Tardigrades are able to survive temperatures such as absolute zero and up to 300 degrees farenheight. But with these types of abilities what is their purpose? How do they benefit the Earth? They don't. They do absolutly nothing. They aren't know to cause any diseases, or benefit the human race in any way. But they are good at space travel. Yes, these cute little bears have been thrown into space multiple times to see how spaceflight effects organism on a molecular level. They are the first known animal to survive in space. For 10 days they were exposed to the vaccum of space and the majority of them survived to be healthy and reproduce back on Earth.
Tardigrades could also be able support the idea of Panspermia. When organims that can survive that vaccum of space are somehow ejected of Earth to land on another planet in order to activate the process of evolution.

They may one day help us with the future long-term goal of exploring and extending beyond our solar system.

Play Dough Bacteria

A Flagellum: A whip like tail made of thin protein fibres, it is used primarily for movement by creating a propellerlike motion.

B Pili: The small hairlike strands extending from the surface of the cell. They assist in helping to anchor the cell and with exchanging genetic material with another cell via conjugation.

C Capsule: Composed of complex polysaccharides and small proteins. It stores nutrients, is a depot for cellular waste products, and is a shield againts the harmful exterior.

D Cell Wall: Is a rigid structure that helps determine the shape of the cell. It is made of complec organic acids and found in all species of bacteria.

E Plasma Membrane: The layer of the cell that contains the cytoplasm, it is constructed of protein globules suspended in lipids. Is is vital in the transportation of materials in and out of the cell. It also contains many of the cells enzymes.

F Genetic Material: The DNA of the bacteria cell is not held in a nucleus and is instead floating loosely in the cytoplasm.

G Endospore: Ensures the survival of the bacteria through times of stress. It is highly resistant to gamma radiation, temperature, and starvation.

H Plasmid: DNA that is used to be passed from bacteria to bacteria.

I Cytoplasm: The substance that fills the cell. It's main function is to hold all the cells organells in place.

J Ribosomes: Ribosomes are where protein synthesis occurs within a cell. They link amino acids together by mRNA messages and are the catalyst for protien making.

Interim Report Post

Biology 11 with Mrs.Phillips in 5th period has been like no other class I've taken before. Resembling more of a laissez-faire style of learning, I've discovered new ways of learning and displaying my understanding of main topics. In the class so far, I am most proud of the Evolution Videos (Bio Sock Project) that we did to demonstrate our understanding of evolution, DNA, its role in Evolution, and the structure of DNA. I am proud of this project because, given complete creative range, I choose with my partner, to do sock puppets. But mostly because with such broad topics I was able to look deeper and answer the questions with a better level of understanding, even going so far as to learn things not taught in the class or curriculum. I feel I did more than what I thought I initial thought I could accomplish with this assignment. Secondly, I am proud of the two quizzes that we did so far because I got 100% on both of them. Lastly I am proud of the genus project we did earlier in the year. It wasn't a challengning project, but it was the most fun I had doing a project and drawing odd looking species was very entertaining.
If I were to look through my binder to see my work habits (even though most things are online) I would be able to easily say that I have completed all work and that I have no incomplete work, but I do not think my binder is as organized as it could be.
When I look through my blog I am most proud of my paragraph on the spanish flu because I learned so many new things about this pandemic that I had only ever heard about, and I was pleased to know that I retained most of the information aswell. I am also proud of my inquiry about the maned wolf and it's long legs because I learned something new about an animal I had always wondered about.
To me engagment means that you respectivly participate in discussion when the oppurtunity presents itelf. I have contributed by commenting on blog posts and by volunteering my ideas when I am able to.
My goal for this class would be to retain information. Since this class depends on learning by myself I hope that this way I will be able to remember things better. I also want to be better organized for the rest of the semeste.

Incubated Bacteria

Key: 1= door handle

        2=lock on a locker

        3= button on the water fountain

        4=the inside of a used straw

There is no further space for the bacteria to spread. It is mostly the same type of bacteria but in quadrant 4,some of 2 

,and 3 the Petri dish is overrun by what looks like mold. 

Done by Jaime and Jessica

The Flu of 1918

The flu of 1918, also known as the Spanish Flu, or the Great Influenza, took place in 1918 as World War one was coming to a close and it affected people all across the world even in remote pacific islands and the arctic. The virus infected 500 million people across the globe and killed 50 to 100 million of them ( 3-5 percent of the world population at that time). The flu was a type of H1N1 influenza virus and was spread by person to person contact and by indirect contact with contaminated surfaces or items and from sneezes and coughs. The victims suffered greatly, after feeling the initial symptoms of fever, fatigue, and headaches, the victims would turn blue. Sometimes the blue was so strong that it was hard to see what colour the person was before. There was a harsh cough, and sometimes the victims would cough so hard that they would tear abdominal muscles. Foamy blood came out of their mouths and noses, few people bleed from their ears, some vomited and some became incontinent. Many people died only hours after contracting it and some died days after.

 

A short video is below:

click to see video

Viruses

1. The generalstructure is essentially a nucleic acid enclosed in a protein shell or coat. They are approximately 15-25 nano metres in diameter.

2. The gentic material found in viruses varies depending on the type. It may have double-stranded DNA, double-stranded RNA, single-stranded DNA, or single-stranded RNA. 

3. 

 

4. Viroids are small single-stranded plant pathogens. They lack a capsid and do not code for proteins.

They cause plant diseases that impact crop production, common plant viroids include:spindle tuber viroid, peach latent mosaic viroid, avocado sunblotch viroid, and the pear blister canker viroid.

 

Satellite Viruses are infectious particles that can affect bacteria, plant, fungi, and animals. They rely on a helper virus to replicate, they cause plant disease by disrupting certain plant gene activity.

 

5.I believe they are non living. They cannot replicate alone, they need a host and they do not have cells, therefore biologically speaking, they cannot be classified as living organisms.

 

6. Firstly, viruses are beneficial in general because without the lesser ones immunization would not have been possible, some viruses kill off more complicated microorganisms which can be harmful to humans.

The Maned Wolf Answered

The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is a native of central-west and south-east Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina, and Bolivia. It is the only species in its genus and more closely resembles a fox rather than a wolf. It is the tallest of the wild canids and stands erect at approximetly 1 metre tall. These longs legs of the wolf's are most likely an adaptation of the tall grass lands of its native habitat. This adaptation allows the wolf to see over the tall grasses to see its prey. It also preys on small mammels such as cuis, and rabbits, which are all fast running rodents, and with the maned wolves long legs it is able to run fast enough to catch them.

The Legs Of The Maned Wolf

The Maned Wolf

The oddly long legs of the maned wolf are its defining characteristic. I believe its long legs are an adaptation to possibly out run its predators, it also looks like it has hooved feet which would further emphasize the idea that it might be adapted for running.