Victoria Amazonica

 

This is the flower of the Victoria Amazonica. Not too impressive is it. Just wait until you see its true colours.

                           BAM                                      BAM                                             BAM!

       

                        

And here is a video

hi.

Now for the fun educational part lets investigate the lives of these water plants.

Snowberry (Symphoricarpos)

We saw these yesterday when we were looking for supplies for our pine cone crafts. They look and feel like little marshmallows until you squeeze too hard and a liquid barely comes out. Kind of unsatisfying but majestic to look at. Some folks on the inter-webz agree that its fun to jump on them because they make a popping sound, I have yet to try that. Lets discover some interesting things about these innocent looking plants:

• Are not meant to be eaten and are poisonous. If ingested they cause vomiting and dizziness.
• Foam up if submersed in water
• Are said to be eaten by Native Americans to settle the stomach after a fatty meal
• The stems, leaves, and roots are eaten by many animals such as bears, quail, rabbits, mice, deer and elk.
• Seeds from the shrub are dispersed by birds
• Are great for disturbed sites because they re-sprout readily after fires by spreading rhizomes. This restores damaged places to better health ecologically.
• Young snowberry and plant

• Come in many colours such as white, pink, red, and sometimes a blackish purple.
• The name comes from how the inside of the berry looks: like icy snow.
• The scientific name means 'closely packed berries'
• Eaten by birds during hard winters.
• The plant fares well in generally neglected environments and are very tolerant so they grow in many places.
• The berries stay intact throughout winter and fall during the spring.

*Fun Fact: Marshmallows were originally made from a plant called Althaea officinalis and originated in Ancient Egypt. The plant is used as a medicinal plant in Africa.

Sources:
http://www.bentler.us/eastern-washington/plants/shrubs/snowberry.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphoricarpos
http://www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/atoz/symphoricarpos_albus.htm
http://www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/trees/snowberry.htm
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/archive/dickinso/research/2005/range05a.htm
http://www.metrofieldguide.com/wildlife-plants-snowberry/

Acorns vs. Pine Cones

Acorn: 

-produced by deciduous oak trees

-distribute seeds

- are heavy and fall near parent tree but rarely germinate due to lack of sunlight. The travellingmof the seed is done through animals, notably squirrels. 

- need plenty of rainfall and sunlight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn

http://www.ehow.com/info_8007141_life-cycle-acorn-seedling-tree.html

Pine Cone:

-produced by coniferous pine trees

-distribute seeds

-dispersal strategy is to get fertilized and cover the seed. Then it falls off the pine cone and can fly to another location to plant itself. The covering has a wing to help with travel.

-can grow almost everywhere 

http://m.wikihow.com/Grow-Pine-Trees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conifer_cone

Microscope Lab: Vascular Plants+ Parts

Root

Stem

Leaf

Midterm Evaluation

[incomplete]

Discussion:

I have completed all of the assignments to hand in and most of the worksheets. I usually don't colour the colouring worksheets and study/label instead. I have not been fully up to date on my blog with pictures of our labs but I will get those from my partner and update them; however, the large blog assignments are complete. I try to participate in class if I find something interesting and usually give input/ask questions. When I do an assignment I try to put my full effort into it because I don't see the point in aimlessly completing something- the reason for assignments is for me to further my understanding. For that reason I think I spend too much time on some assignments/blog posts when they don't have a big result. Additionally, I think the content of my work is very good but I am not great at art or creativity.

The most powerful learning experience in biology so far has to be when we made the cell out of playdoh. Not only because we got to visualize and experience making it, but also because it helped me memorize the parts and their functions. Also the blog post on taxonomy (scientific naming) really stands for some reason even though its similar to other blog posts we do.

From reflecting on my learning in this class so far, seeing my progress and level of understanding, I think I deserve an A(90-94%) 

Organism Named After Someone Famous

Anophthalmus hitleri

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Carabidae
Subfamily:	Trechinae
Genus:	Anophthalmus
Species:	A. hitleri

(Source: Wikipedia)

The Anopthalmus hitleri is a specied of blind cave beetle found in Slovenia in only five humid caves. Oscar Schiebel named it in 1933 when it was discovered. During this time, Hitler had recently become Chancellor of Germany. The name was a dedication to him.  The full name can be translated as 'they eyeless one of Hitler'. This was acknowledged by Hitler and he sent a letter of gratitude to Schiebel. This beetle has no notable characteristics but is taken by many collectors of Hitler memorabilia and beetles, purely for what it is related to. 

These beetles are assumed to be predators on smaller cave inhabitants and eat insect larvae. They are blind, hence their name. There are 136 species and under-species related to it. These beetles can sell for $1000 on the black market only because they are named after Adolf Hitler. 

The name caused  some backlash but it was eventually accepted by International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. There is still controversy as it is against the rules to name something after a religious figure, I guess Hitler is okay though. The insect is officially endangered because of its high demand. People can go to jail for illegally obtaining one without a government permit.

Links:

http://rosegeorge.com/site/a-beetle-called-hitler

http://hitler-beetle.webs.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anophthalmus_hitleri

Suicide in Non-Human Species

Humans are said to be the only animals that are able to consciously imagine things. Some other animals are also able to, however they are either unable to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, or pretend/play games. In that sense, humans are believed to be the only animals that consciously commit suicide; however, thats not true. Other organisms also have this capacity even if its not in terms of psychology.

Salmonella
"Suicidal behavior has been observed in salmonella seeking to overcome competing bacteria by triggering an immune system response against them."(Wikipedia).

Salmonella kill themselves when healthy bacteria is sure to beat them out of the intestines where they reside. Now that sounds kind of dumb right? But its not, because only 15% go on the suicide mission. The other 85% get to reap the rewards. The suicide mission starts with them invading the intestinal walls. This triggers an immune system response which kills them but also many other micro-organisms. This removes any competition so the other salmonella can proliferate

There have been reports of other animals committing suicide but no real evidence to prove the claims.