Rat Dissection

The purpose and goal of this dissection is to find out what the internal rat system looks like as well be familiar with what different organs do. It relates to what we learn in class as we find out what a mammal's organ looks like and what it generall includes. The rodent is quite different from Amphibians, birds and reptiles. The rat has fur, a 4 chambered heart and a more complex internal system.
The dissection was good and useful in terms of knowing a mammal's organ parts and knowing what it does how it differentiates from other phylums.

Scorpion

Phylum Arhtropoda
Class:  Arachnida

The Spider is part of this Phyla





 They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger. Scorpions range in size from 9 mm to 21 mm.

The Scorpion has radial symmmetry as all arthropods do.
The Scorpion also has 3 germ layers as all arthropods do; the germ layers consist of: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm.

Scorpions are found everywhere besides Antartica and the deadliest are found in Northern Africa and the Palestine area. Scorpions are nocturnal creatures.


Scorpion

Body Structure




Digestion: Scorpions use external digestion, that is they spit or secrete digestive fluids onto the remains of their prey (which are held in the preoral cavity) and then suck up the resulting soup, using this method they are extremely efficient at digesting their prey

 Circulatory system: is open as their body does not contain blood vessels

Respiration system: The respiratory system consists of four pairs of cuticular book-lungs or pulmonary sacs

Excretion: the prey is initially chewed and mixed with saliva which starts the digestive process. After the food is chewed and broken down into smaller pieces, it passes into the oral cavity which is lined with numerous hairs and enzymes producing cells. The hairs strain out any indigestible food.

Movement: scorpions are motile creatures

Reproduction:  It generally takes about 6 years for a Scorpion to reach the age of maturity. They will go through various molting stages along the way. During that process their body is able to successfully grow. Only a small percentage of the Scorpion population actually live to the age of maturity.

The Spider is part of this Phyla








  Ecological significance: Given the high densities of scorpions in some areas, their importance in ecological food webs, particularly with respect to helping control insect populations, is considerable. Many are sensitive to environmental degradation and are considered equilibrium species.


Defense mechanisms: scorpions usually prefer to kill their prey with their pincers rather tha having to use their sting very often. The reason for this is that producing venom is fairly expensive for the scorpion in terms of energy, and can take around a week to refill after it has all been used. Scorpions can also control how much venom is injected with each sting, and will usually regulate this dependent on the size or strength of the prey that they are attacking. They also have strong exoskeleton for protection

Scorpions are protosomes as they develop as any embryo and their first opening is the mouth

Interesting Facts & why I like them
-Scorpions have florescent materials on their shell. With ultraviolet light, they can glow in the dark.
- All Scorpions are venomous. Only about ¼ of them have a type of venom that is potent enough to make someone very ill or to kill them.
- There is only an anti venom for treatment with certain types of Scorpions.
- Deathstalker scorpion venom could improve gene therapy for brain cancer
-Female scorpions eat male scorpions after sex

squid dissection

On a Friday morning, our biology class were tasked to dissect a squid. Our purpose was to locate and identify internal and external organs of a squid. This would help us relate to what we're learning in class by understanding the terms and using it to dissect a real life squid. I learned a lot like what a pen is, what an ink sac looks like, and where the funnel is located. While I'm not a big fan of dissecting anything, I think it's a good experience to have in a biology class. Interesting experience to dissect a squid and to see one up close and see its organs and so on.

1. 6 arms and 2 tentacles.
2. the arms are used. to swim, the tentacles to grab prey easier.
3.  squid moves in the left direction while the water falls back in the right.
4. tentacles make it easier to grab food and small hooks around the suckers to pierce food.
5. a. mantle
b. visceral mass.

1. it has 4 gills
2. ink empties into the ocean to disguise the anmal's precense.
3. it serves as a site for muscle attachment . It is the remnant of a squid's shell.
4. through the anus.

Pictures N/A

Zooology webquest

Genus: prostheceraceus
Species: moseieyl
Family: pseudocerotade
Order: polycladea
Date identified: 1884
Origin: Spain






















Genus : Maiazoon
Species : Cf. Orsaki
Family : Pseudocecotidae
Order : Polycladida
Date Identified : May 25, 1012
Japan





Genus: Thysahozoon
Species: nigrapapilliosun
Family: Pseudeocecotidae
Order: Polycladida
Date Identified: 1959
Saudia Arabia

Biology Collection

Archaebacteria: Single celled Microorganisms that are somehwat similiar to bacteria in terms of size and the simplicity of its structure but completely different when it comes to molecular organization.



an archaebacteria, through a microscope.


Autotroph: An organism that is able to create nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as CO2

The autotroph creates organic substances from carbon dioxide which the heterotrophs consume

Heterotroph: an organism that relies on complex organic substances and lets out inorganic substances such as CO2 for growth


the elephant is a heterotoph as it relies on plants to gain organic subtances

Niche: is a status or a job or a role a specie occupies in a community or population


the lion's role in the African savannah is a predator. The African lion is an appex predator.


Commensalism: An association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other is neither benefited nor harmed.


the bird eats on top of a cow, and the cow is neither benefitted nor harmed

Analagous Structures: body parts that do the same function of various animals but has a different structure overall. The Butterfly and the bat is an example of this.




the bird wing and the bat wing serves a similiar function; to fly, however they do not have the same structure, hence they are analogous

Homologous Structures: body parts on different species that are similar and most likely evolved from a common ancestor. The structures are used for different purposes as well.


The human, cat, whale and bat all have similiar structures but serve differemt purposes.

Batesian mimicry: Mimicry in which an edible animal is protected by its resemblance to a noxious one that is avoided by predators

venomous coral snakes have red, yellow, and black bands, while the non-venomous scarlet king snake has the same colors in a different order. Animals afraid of venomous snakes would do well to avoid 4 foot long snakes with red, yellow and black stripes, in the process avoiding the scarlet king snake (alternatively, one could remember the rule "Red on yellow, kill a fellow; red on black, friend of Jack").

Exoskeleton: exterior protective hard covering of an animal that encloses the muscle and organs of an organism.


invertebrates especially anthrophods have exoskeleton covering.
The two layers of the cuticle have different properties. The outer, sclerosed layer is very strong under compressive forces, but much weaker under tension.When it fails, it does so by cracking.The inner layer is not sclerosed, and is thus much softer; it is able to resist tensile forces but is liable to failure under compression.

Mutalism: relation between two animals that benefit each other



 the anemone receives protection from polyp-eating fish, like Butterfly Fish, which the Clown Fish chases away. The anemone also gets fertilizer from the feces of the Clown Fish

Keystone Species: important specie  that many others depend on, a vital member in a population or community.


 Otters eat sea urchins and urchins eat kelp Withou he sea otter there would be no balance, hence they are a keystone specie

Hydrophillic: an element or substance that has a tendency to mix with, dissolve or wetted in water.


Asexual Reproduction: is a typeof reprocution with the fusion of gametes


    Aemoeba uses binary fission to reproduce

Introduced Species: a specie not native to an area which was brought intentionally or unintentionally by humans.
 
 an introduced specie of the British Isles, the gray squirrel

Population: A group of organisms that are of the same specie inhabiting a given area


The African Lion inhabiting the savannah in Kenya have been decreasing over time

Parasitism: type of relation where one animal is harmed and the other is benefited

 
Tapeworms live in the digestive tract of vertebrates as adults, and often in the bodies of various animals as juveniles.

Gametophyte:  The gamete-producing and usually haploid phase, producing the zygote from which the sporophyte arises




a gametophyte of the fern

Long-Day Plant: a plant that needs a long period of time than regular in the sunlight to induce flowering

Didiscus caeruleus needs a lot of time in the sunglight to grow during the winter

Xylem: A vascular tissue in land plants primarily responsible for the distribution of water and minerals taken up by the roots; also the primary component of wood

 

the characteristics of the Xylem vessel

  Parenchyma Cells: a type of cell plant cell that is responsible for most metabolic activities

  the microscopic image of a parenchyma cell

Meristem: A region of plant tissue, found chiefly at the growing tips of roots and shoots and in the cambium, consisting of actively dividing cells forming new tissue

 

the meristem on top of the growing root

Littoral Zone Organism: an organism that lives near the shore of a sea, lake or river.

the image shows organisms living in the literal zone

Frond: The leaflike part of palm, fern or other similiar plants




the image shows a sterile and fertile frond, the fertile frond carries a sorus

Pollinator: an insect that carries pollen from one flower to another.

 
the honey bee is the classic example of a pollinator. The bee carries pollen to another which results in pollination 

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Fungus hunt!

On a friday noon, our biology class took a trip to the woods to find various fungi such as sac fungi, club fungi and imperfect fungi to name a few. Me and my partner spent. On the trip I found various fungi.
The most common happened to me. Lichens (Fructoise, Foloiose, Crusticose) were one of the first things to be spotted on the hunt, and we quickly noticed that it's rather common. Then we found 1 or 2 club mushrooms. It was personally challenging for me to be on the look out for small things however. We also found a few shelf mushroom on trees. There was also a puffball fungus if I remember correctly that I had spotted on the trip. The lack of proper clothing did make it hard for me to be attentive but I was able to last the the hour or so. This trip gave me an insight on where mushrooms and various fungi live which was nice to learn. It was an interesting activity, and a swell change from regular activities.
It was good in overall.