Shannon's Story of the Seed

After experiencing this TSOTS year long project, Shannon has learned how to start and maintain a garden. While this project has progressed, she has learned a lot about their functions. She noticed how the reproduction of plant cells is different to animal cells. She also realized how fragile plants are to their gardeners. Shannon was surprised how quick it is to grow a garden and be able to grow edible food. Shannon has enjoyed working with her group, despite some difficulties, because she has become interested in this subject. Something that made her think deeply was how we have the ability to change whole communities simply by planting a garden. As a whole, she enjoyed the Story of the Seed project.

Cameron's Seed Story

By: Leah Poapst

P. 4

While interviewing my teammate Cameron, he states that he has learnt much about the life span of a plant. Something that surprised him was watching the plants sprout and observing their rapid growth each day. During his experience in The Story of the Seed project he thought that the funniest thing was when he and his teammate fooled around while watering the plants. Something that had made Cameron pause and think a little deeper was understanding the complexity of plants and the everyday benefits that they give us.

FRANCISCA'S SEED STORY

 

 

FRANCISCA’S SEED STORY

                                                       by Shannon Hanley

                                                                    Period 4

                           During The Story of the Seed project, Francisca has learned the parts of a plant and how it functions.  By working closely she learned a lot about the plants. She experienced the difficulty of growing and maintaining a plant. She has also learned about the reproduction of plants . Francisca was surprised how complex plants are and how there is many different parts. Francisca has enjoyed working with her group, because of the good time she had. Something that made her think deeper was how plants affect us  and how we take them for granted. Overall she enjoyed the Story of the Seed project.

Blog Post #8: My Seed Story

By: Leah Poapst

P. 4

Throughout my experience in The Story of the Seed project, I have learned much about the parts of a plant, what they need in order to survive, how they reproduce and also about the processes of meiosis and mitosis. In particular, I was amazed by how plants can reproduce, passing on the same traits to their seeds. During this project some of my teammates made me laugh, it was a good experience working in as a team. Something that made me think a little deeper were how certain traits could be passed on to the next generation, in addition I thought it was very interesting dissecting a flower and closely observing the parts, inside and outside, of a plant.

What questions do you have about things you observed or experienced in the garden? OK, now, guess what? You are going to write about the experiences of one of your teammates! Work closely with one other person in your group and summarize that person's  answers to the questions above in a short paragraph that you will post under your name. Your post title should include your teammate's name (e.g., "John's Seed Story").

Blogpost #8

           I have learned about the lifespan of plant life. I was surprised when I came to school a few days later and the plants were fully sprouted. The funniest thing was our group threatening to spray each other with the hose. It was very interesting when we were discussing our plan and seeing the plants grow. I would like to know more about our greenhouse.  Renato

Bees

Shannon Hanley

Mr.Bursch

3 April, 2013

Period

Bees

Many people do not know that honey bees’ lives are in danger. Over the last

decade the population of honey bees have decreased, because of chemicals and mites

attacking the bees. What people do not realize is that honey bees provide pollination of

seeds in which necessary plants grow. Not only honey bees but wasps, butterflies, and

bumblebees provide similar jobs in order for humans to survive.  Many people believe

bees are trying to tell us they need our help in order to survive. It is people’s jobs to

raise awareness of colony collapse disorder and help save the bees. Some things

people can do to help save bees are more people can become beekeepers and  raise

awareness.

One thing people can do is re-populate the bees . One way you can

re-populate the bee population is by becoming a beekeeper. By becoming a beekeeper they are

strengthening the bee gene pool by adding healthy local bees.  This is important,

because beekeepers help to increase the population of the  honey bees. When people

become beekeepers they are not only increasing the population but keeping the human

race alive.  Without bees people and animals will eventually starve because of lack of

food. Bees provide food by pollinating flowers and other plants. Also people can become

backyard beekeepers and learn about bees and how they work while giving back the

environment. After becoming a beekeeper and getting closer with the honey bees, some

say they get very attached to their new hobby.

Another thing people can do is to raise awareness. By raising  awareness people

are giving bees a voice.  One thing people can do to raise awareness is protest  to the

way bees are treated. This is important because, people need to recognize  bees

provide a lot for humans and the environment. Also, beekeepers should travel and visit

different schools to teach them the importance of bees and what they do for us and the

earth.  If enough people raise their voices, things can change for the better.

In many eyes, bees are seen as threatening and scary, but bees are sacred creatures

and should be treated as such. Instead of killing bees with chemicals and transporting

them across the country, changing their natural habitat, people need to help repopulate

the bee population. Without bees it would be a struggle for people and animals to

survive. Its time we give back to the bees and raise awareness and repopulate the bees.

Queen Of The Sun Essay

All throughout history bees have been recognized as a sacred animal by many cultures. Now days, people are acting as if bees were hostile creatures that would sting you on sight. The bees are dying because of the lack of resources and hostile environments. We need to help the bees.

When we think we are helping the environment grow it is actually making things worse. The world might finally realize what is needed until someone admires the way of the bees or a famine occurs from under pollenation. That is what I think is what it takes for people to understand the importance of bees.

If people take the good route and admire the bees, people would help just for the love of 

bees. But if people under appreciate the way of nature, a bad consequence will occur and 

people will then understand the bees importance. Obviously the first example is the smarter 

choice, but most people don’t always see eye to eye.

Be Stuff Final Draft

Louis Pelletier

Period 4

Bee Paragraph

The bees are a very useful population of animals. They create honey and pollinate our plants so we can grow foods. Without honeybees over 40% of our food wouldn’t be able to grow. Thats Alot of food. If we don't save them agriculture in america would collapse and food prices would skyrocket. Knowing all this one wonders how it all happened and how we can help.

Bees are in danger for many reasons. The main reason is the use of chemical fertilizers. These fertilizers make the bees sick so they don’t know how to get home. If bees can’t get back to the hive they die and this leads to colony collapse disorder. Another reason is farmers now grow plant in a monoculture with little to no diversity in the plants. The bees get tired of  only one plant and eventually die off.

Ways that farmers can help the bees include not using chemical fertilizers and plant other types of plants in their farms like wildflowers or shrubs. Another thing that can help is the planting of organic seeds instead of . Genetically Modified Organisms make the bees go  malnourished and die of illness. Keeping your own hive in a backyard or on a rooftop is also very helpful. With many peoples help we can save a large chunk of the bee population and continue making food for the greater population.

Response to "Queen of the Sun"

Leah Poapst

Mr. Bursch

Honors Biology

4 April 2013

Queen of the Sun Response

          Who knew that such a small organism could have such a great impact on our lives without realizing it. Bees have been recognized as sacred animals to many human cultures, and unfortunately, an enemy to others. Most people were raised believing how harmless bees can be, but we were very wrong. Due to the Colony Collapse Disorder, which is the cause of the disappearance and killing of bees, we could lose about one fourth of our crops. We need bees in order to survive.

          Bees have been informing us not to use pesticides, artificial breeding, and other industrial beekeeping practices, but we recalcitrant humans have ignored them. Therefore, in order to obey and prevent further damage to the bees and risk of our lives, we should support organic farmers and boycott industrial agriculture. With the purpose of doing so, and “waking up” the mass of people to the plight of the bees, we should begin spreading the news, informing and encouraging others, before it is too late.

          If we do not act now, this issue will become a great dilemma, causing many deaths of bees and a shorter term of our own survival. Bees are beneficial to the world, and we should appreciate everything they have provided us with and return the favor of helping them live.

Response to Queen of the Sun

Shannon Hanley

Mr.Bursch

3 April, 2013

Period 4

Response to Queen of the Sun
                               

                   

    Many people do not know that honey bees’ lives are in danger. Over the last

decade the population of honey bees have decreased, because of chemicals and mites

attacking the bees. What people do not realize is that honey bees provide pollination of

seeds in which necessary plants grow. Not only honey bees but wasps, butterflies, and

bumblebees provide similar jobs in order for humans to survive.  Many people believe

bees are trying to tell us they need our help in order to survive. It is people’s jobs to raise

awareness of colony collapse disorder and help save the bees. Some things people can

do to help save bees are more people can become beekeepers and  raise awareness.

    One thing some people can do is become a beekeeper. By becoming a

beekeeper they are strengthening the bee gene pool by adding healthy local bees.  This

is important, because beekeepers help to increase the population of the  honey bees.

People can become a backyard beekeepers and learn about bees and how they work

while giving back to environment. After becoming beekeeper and getting closer with the

honey bees, some say they get very attached and find a new hobby.

 

 Another thing people can do is raise awareness. By raising  awareness people are giving


bees a voice.  One thing people can do  to raise awareness is protest  to the

 

way bees are treated. This is important because, people need to recognize  bees

provide a lot for humans and the environment. If enough people raise their voice thing

 

can change for the better.

Response to Queen of the Sun

Honors Biology 

4 April 2013

Period 4

Queen of the Sun Response

After experiencing this movie, a certain realization came upon me. How can I have gone so long without knowing the truth and startling facts introduced to me by this video? I have now realized the greater influence these bees have on life as a whole and also how delicate and fragile our bond is. I was now daunted by a new question creeping into my brain, what if we do not realize the severity of the problem before it is too late?

Beekeepers are becoming tangled into a competition to earn money but they must realize that our diversity is decreasing. Using pesticides that kill plants, insects, and humans nearby is also killing those who eat foods drenched by chemicals. One way, which may seem the simplest, is to disentangle ourselves from this never ending battle by stepping back and thinking our decisions through. Innovation is not defined by poisoning the life around us, we must better that life. By reducing or even stopping our use of chemicals, we would be innovating.

These deadly toxins are not just killing, they are mutating problems that were already present. Bees have been found to receive a mite that sucks their blood, but instead of leaving this situation to the wonders of mother nature, we took it into our own hands. We developed an antibiotic to kill the mite yet that antibiotic also kills the bee and contaminates the honey. If our world can not wake up soon, it will be the death of us. By doing these deadly acts of contamination, we are limiting our resources. Bees are responsible for pollinating one fourth of our crops. With those bees in danger, we are putting ourselves into a very fatal game not worth playing.

Response to NOVA

The video we watched today explained about the recipe for life. We heard their point of view about how the elements needed to survive came together to create the simplest forms of life. From that, they believe that these forms have evolved to modern life now.

While playing the evolution in action game, it clearly portrays how evolution works. When the  environment changes too quick, then the organisims have no time to adapt and they die. If they are not spread out evenly the animals have a harder time feeding themselves and may die but when they are too isolated, they wont wont be able to reproduce quick enough. Only with perfect conditions can these organisms adapt, reproduce, and thrive. Finally, genetic variation plays a role since 20 percent of the time a mutation occured making it easier or harder to survive.

Response to NOVA

How did life on earth probably begin?
Every organism that exists or existed comes from a common ancestor billions of years ago. Life emerged from the following elements in chemistry: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. These elements form the building block of RNA, known as a ribonucleotide. Many scientists believe that RNA, or something similar to it, was the first molecule on Earth to self-replicate and begin the process of evolution that led to more advanced forms of life, such as humans. John Sutherland discovered a recipe for life which required sunlight. Although another possible recipe which contains no sunlight occurs in volcanic vents, thousands of feet below the surface of the Earth.

Anthers and Stigmas and Styles oh my!

Shannon Hanley 

Mr. Bursch 

Honors Biology period 4

2 February 2013

Anthers and Stigmas and Styles oh my!

Reproduction in Angiosperms takes place within the flower. Following pollination and fertilization, the seeds develop inside protective structures. Reproduction in angiosperms takes place within the flower. After pollination, the seeds of angiosperms develop inside protective structures. The anthers are part of the stamen, and stigmas are part of the pistil.  Anthers store the pollen while stigmas collect the pollen. The stamen (male part) contains the anther and filament. The anther produces pollen grains which are transferred to other flower’s stigmas. The filament and the polllen contained in the stalk produce the organ anther. The pistal (female part) contains the stigma, ovary, and the style. The stigma receives or raps the pollen. The ovary protects and stores the ovule. The style connects the ovary to the stigma.

   

Anthers & Stigmas & Styles, Oh My!

How do flowering plants (angiosperms) like our Brassica oleracea plants reproduce? 
Flowering plants reproduce through their pollen. The female part of a flowering plant is called the pistil, and on top is the stigma, also known as the "sticky stigma". On the other hand, the male part of flowering plants is called the stamen. Above the stamens are anthers, which inside pollen is produced. Once the pollen meets the stigma, it (pollen) acts as the sperm for the flowering plant. Reproduction begins when the pollen goes down the pollen tube and meets the egg.

• In the photo shown above, the green, centered & stem-look figure is called the style. Above the style, with the circular shape is the stigma where pollen meets and enters the pollen tube. Around the pistil are the anthers (yellow, fuzzy parts). Inside the anthers is where pollen is produced.

• Here we have a photo of a long stalk called the style and its sticky tip called the stigma. The pollen from a flower can get in touch with the stigma, either by wind, birds moving them around etc. 

• In the image shown above shows how the ovary has been cut open and contains small ovule, which are the unfertilized seeds that contain the female egg cell. Shown in the photograph, the ovule is the small, green ball near the stigma.

Anthers, Stigmas, and Styles, Oh My!

Above is the stamen, or the male reproductive system. Stamens produce pollen in saclike structures called anthers. The number of stamens is usually the same as the number of petals. Stamens usually consist of a long slender stalk, the filament, with the anthers at the tip. Some stamens are similar to leaves, with the anthers at or near the margins.

Here is the carpel, or the female reproductive system.It is the female part of the plant which produce fruit once pollination has taken place. The fruit contains seeds. (Carpels, stigma> top where it gets pollen, style > pollen travels down, ovary > where fruit is formed)

Above there are anthers surrounding the stigma. Pollen is typically highly desiccated when it leaves an anther. Stigmas have been shown to assist in the rehydration of pollen and in promoting germination of the pollen tube. Stigmas also ensure proper adhesion of the correct species of pollen.

Displayed is the female reproductive system, the ovary. The ovary contains ovules, which develop into seeds upon fertilization.

Responding to GATTACA

"They have you looking so hard for flaws that in the end that is all you look for" Vincent, after a confession to Irene. 

        This movie is based on perfection in genetics and any invalid is discriminated against. While Irene herself is not completely perfect, she has been engineered to seek out it. He tried to make her understand that although imperfections are not sought after, they are acceptable. With flaws, he faces adversity and accomplished what some valids never could have.

Responding to Gattaca

Shannon Hanley

Mr. Bursch

31 January 2013

Honors Biology period 4

Responding to Gattaca

   

    “You can go to great lengths with this guy’s helix.”

    Vincent wants to work at Gattaca and fly into space, but cannot because of his genetic makeup.

However Jerome has excellent genes, but is a wheelchair and is unable to reach his dreams. He

still wants to help someone else in need. Vincent agrees, because he has wanted to work at

Gattaca for his whole life, and has something to prove. Vincent has been told many times in his

life that he would never be able to work at Gattaca or even see the inside of a rocket unless he

 was cleaning it. Vincent wants to prove to everyone that he can fly in space even with his heart

problem. This is the only way he can.

Responding to GATTACA:

by Leah Poapst

"You can go to great lengths with this guy's helix"– man who brings Vincent and Jerome together.

Vincent Freeman, an invalid, who is always genetically discriminated, has a dream to travel in a spaceship into space. Unfortunately, invalids are incapable of going. The only way for him to be close to his dream is by being a janitor, but luckily he was introduced to Jerome Morrow, a man with a perfect genetic profile. This quote is important and significant, because it indicates everything Vincent can do by using Jerome's identity. Therefore, in order to reach his dream and become valid, Vincent impersonates Jerome and uses his DNA. In the end of the movie, after working for GATTACA and passing all tests by using Jerome's DNA, Vincent accomplished his dream.

One of a Kind: Wonders of Biodiversity

We have been experimenting with cauliflower, however it has died. We didn't water the plants enough, so they became dehydrated and died. The parent plants are unknown because we got the seeds i  a pouch. They will not have offspring since they died, but if they did they would be leafy green plans with with white flowers.(I dont exacly know what the part you eat is called) Our plants all had white heads, which is most likely the dominant trait.  Other cauliflower variations can be purple or orange. Another Variation is with the head of the plant there can be complex patterns in the growth, seen in fig 1.

                               (fig 1)

One of a Kind: The Wonders of Biodiversity

      -Leah Poapst

     Our group was experimenting with a cauliflower, which has died. The cauliflower is a vegetable that reproduces by seed. Our cauliflower was white (most common color), although cauliflower can vary in different colors such as orange, green, purple and white. My teams cauliflower came from a package of multiple seeds, therefore we can only predict what it would look like from the photo. Our plant would have inherited a large, fluffy, and white center like its parent plant. The cauliflower would acquire some of these traits (if it had survived) by meiosis, in which the result of the two divisions of a diploid cell would be four haploid cells. This means that the next generation of the plant would have half the genetic material of the original cell. We cannot predict the traits of the offspring but we can imagine a similar look, due its dominant traits.
The varieties of Brassica oleracea was probably changed during the process of meiosis, due to crossing-over. Although my classmates plants look different they may still have some similarites.

One of a Kind: Wonders of Biodiversity

We are experimenting with cauliflower but since it died, we are no longer doing so. It was thriving, but the lack of water killed it. The parent plants are unknown since they came from a pouch but I can assume they were unhappy with our doings. They will not have offspring but if they did they would be growing outside healthy without Arizona, salt water, or sugar water. They would be green, obviously, and have offspring of there own, but since I did not see my plant in its glory, I can not make more assumptions. They would acquire these traits by going through meiosis and could be unique by crossing over and independent assortment. After meiosis occurring multiple times they would be nearly unrecognizable from each other. Just like our classmates' plants, our plant had been through meiosis a lot and their parents produced unique offspring. Even though our plants originated from a single Brassica oleracea, they have changed extremely since then creating all these plant species.

Prophase 1

Metaphase 1

Anaphase 1

Crossover

Still Anaphase 1

Still Anaphase 1

Telephase 1

cytokenisis

2 Daughter cells

Mitosis 2 and final Result