Evolution Weblab: Geologic Time

Lucy: Lucy had long, strong, dangling arms for climbing trees. Her iliac blades curved to form a pelvis basin. It supported her internal organs and upperbody, which allowed her to walk upright. She had a small birth canal, but large pelvis. She was about 3.5 feet tall. She lived 3.2 million years ago.

Hadar skull: The organism has a heavy brow ridge and a forward-jutting face. It has large canine teeth. Lucy and the first family are similar since they have similar jaws, teeth, and braincases. This organism lived 3 million years ago.

 

Laetoli footprints: It moved on two feet. The weight was first on the heel, then the outside foot, and then the ball and toe. This organism lived 3.6 years ago.

 

 

First family: The first family has toe bones that don't curve toward the heel. The males were much bigger than the females. There was a wide range in height and heft. They had canines and large front teeth. They had big toes. There was an arch between the ball and heel in the foot. Lucy and the Hadar skull could be similar. They lived 3.2 years ago.

 

All of these bones/artifacts are most likely similar species.

 

     I learned about the fossils and artifacts found. According to the traits of them, scientists concluded that they are all related in some way.

 

Rating: 8/10. Although this was educational, it was very plain and boring. I was tired of just reading it. It should have some interactive activities, not just reading.

 

 

 

Evolution Weblab: Biology in Motion

      In this weblab, I learned about natural selection. 20 blue creatures were used to demonstrate natural selection. First, the site gave me some insight on the basics of natural selection. Natural selection occurs because of the struggle for existence, individual variation in the phenotype, inheritance, the fact that some phenotypes are better adapted, and the fact that adaptations evolve. Then I proceeded to the little experiment. The creatures with longer hands were more capable of catching the food, reproducing, and surviving. At the end of the simulation, those with longer hands on their hands dominated the population.

Rating: 10/10. This weblab answered all of my questions about natural selection. The simulation was also clever. It allowed me to understand the concept easily.

Diamante Poem

Evolution WebLab: Exploring Evolution

      In this Weblab, I explored how people can find the ancestors of another animal. I studied fossils, bone structure, and DNA. I compared how a whale's bone structure, fossil, and DNA compared to other types of animals. Then I solved the mystery of what kind of animal whales evolved from. I learned that people can find the ancestors of animals. They can do this through studying and comparing DNA, bone structure, and fossils. For example, whales have similar DNA to artiodactyls.

Rating: 10/10. The Weblab was informative and it helped me to stay active. It wasn't all just boring reading and clicking. I had to solve the mystery for myself. It was easy to follow.

Evolution WebLab: Natural Selection

       In the blog, I was able to play around with the species' traits and the population. Then, the weblab would give me an estimate on what would happen to the population and its traits over a few months or years. With the flutter bugs, I learned that the color can increase survivability. If a predator is more attracted to bright colors, overtime the species will change to another color. Also, the population depends on the predator. Finches' beak sizes are dependent on how much precipitation there is. Overtime, animals will blend into their surroundings to increase their survivability, like the mice. When the barnyard was painted yellow, many of them were born with yellow fur.

Rating: 9.5/10. This WebLab was very informative. However, I'm not sure if it is the app or the computer, but it was very laggy. It took very long to go on to the next page.

Evoblog: Conversation between Mendel, Darwin, and Lamarck

Mendel: Did you guys know that the trait of an offspring is determined by its parents' alleles?

Darwin: Yes, however I noticed that throughout the ages, there have been changes in the offspring of species.

Lamarck: That is because over time, species change because of the environment.

Mendel: How does the environment affect traits?

Lamarck: Organisms might have to inherit specific traits to survive in a certain environment. For example, a carnivorous bird will need a sharp, curved beak to tear raw meat while a bird with a sharp, pointed beak can catch insects.

Darwin: This is related to natural selection. If an organism is in an environment where they don't need a certain trait, the trait will gradually fade away.

Mendel: It must take a long time for dominant traits to fade away, since when offspring inherit traits, they have a higher chance of taking the dominant allele from both parents.

Lamarck: Well, the trait doesn't always have to come from ancestors. Any traits that an organism picks up during its lifetime will be passed down.

Darwin: This is how new traits form!

Evoblog: Extinction

If extinction is a natural event should we try to save endangered species?

Yes, we should try to save the endangered species. Most species are endangered because of us, so it is not exactly natural. Also, we could benefit from saving species. They could help to increase our knowledge. The species could also be useful to the environment. They could be responsible for doing something and when extinct, the world will not be at equilibrium. I think the main cause of many species becoming extinct is because we are destroying their habitat, so instead of trying to kill them we must save them.