Final 20-Time Post

         My final product for 20-time turned out the way I'd wanted it to, and I was satisfied with it. I created a powerpoint summing up Alzheimer's and what prevents it or causes it, and then I listed symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and symptoms of regular aging and compare/contrasted them. All in a single powerpoint. You can view it here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17JjTVLahi1eA_7uQBRrQOUUcryRKux_lHGlLHv1kPT4/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

          I researched a lot on this project and worked really hard on learning the differences between these two common ailments, but this project also took me a while to get started on. So overall, I think I'd give myself an A-. My very first blog post was my favorite, you can view it here http://lizziebio.blogspot.com/2017/02/catch-it-before-its-too-late-alzheimers.html

20 Time Reflection

          I chose to study Alzheimer's disease for my 20-Time project because I have a long line of family members who have had the disease, and I realized I never really fully understood it. My goal was to learn the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia or normal aging. My initial plan to achieve my goal was to just research subtle signs of Alzheimer's and normal aging and be able to recognize the differences clearly. It went pretty well I'd say because now I know how to slow the process of Alzheimer's or even prevent it as well as how it differs from normal aging. If I had the chance to do this project again, I'd probably create a fundraiser for the Alzheimer's association to raise more awareness. I've decided to share the prevention techniques I've learned with my heavily Alzheimer's prone family in an attempt to assist them if they are diagnosed in the future.

Pig Dissection

Pig Dissection

         At the beginning of the pig dissection, we were handed our freshly bathed pig and started out by doing what any normal group of teenage girls would do minutes before cutting into a squishy fetal pig; gave it a name. Jemima. Although Jemima was a dude, we thought the name was fitting, and thus, Jemima's reign began. We started by tying down his arms and legs underneath the dissection mat before we made cuts all the way around the belly button and down his sides near the rib cage. By then we were able to identify the liver, small intestine, large intestine, urinary tract/reproductive system, and diaphragm. We cut all the way up to the neck and found the esophagus, trachea, and the voice box. Over all, the pig dissection was really fun and educating. My group and I had a lot of fun filming our videos, you can watch them here. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW1REKnDW6E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lWrsM2a2Ls

Geographic Timeline Relfection

Geographic Timeline Reflection

    

    One of three major events that happened during Earth's history was the formation of Earth, when it was a planet entirely made of lava and constantly bombarded with comets and meteorites. Another major event that occurred was when the super-continent called Pangea formed, along with reptiles and other types of animals. A third major event was when a massive asteroid hit the Yucatan peninsula, and most dinosaurs went extinct, which is why they aren't around today.

    Earth's history dates back for forever, and we are only an incredibly tiny smudge compared to the rest of the periods. I was surprised by this because obviously it feels like we've been around forever but we really haven't.

    The impact we've had on Earth in such a short time is pretty frightening, considering that we have been able to damage and manipulate it in this time period. It really makes me wonder about what the future has in store for humans.

Prevention: Alzheimer's Blog Post #3

Alzheimer's: Prevention

         I've learned so much more since my last blog post about Alzheimer's disease and more importantly, how to prevent it. I will definitely include the six pillars of Alzheimer's prevention in my final project. One thing I've learned about myself throughout this project is that I actually work very well under stress or pressure or confusion. Or all of the above. Whenever I found myself in a pit during this project, I would stop and think about my next move before acting on it. I feel like that's helped me through my research a lot. I've only encountered a few setbacks revolving around confusion or what to do next for my project. I was able to get over them by taking breaks and stopping to think about my progress.
        The next step in my process is to begin my final product. I'm going to try and piece my entire differences list together within the next few weeks. The great thing about choosing Alzheimer's disease as my topic for my 20-time project is that now I know the differences between the actual disease and normal aging, I can tell whether or not I will have it once I'm older. Alzheimer's is genetic in my family, so it's something we need to be really aware of. I can apply the prevention techniques I've learned to my routine to help slow down the process if I ever find myself diagnosed.

            

Unit 8 Reflection

Unit 8 Reflection

          In this unit, we learned about artificial selection, natural selection, evolution, speciation, and the geographic timeline. We were taught the difference between artificial selection and natural selection, which to me, sounded as if it'd be nearly nonexistent, but as it turned out they were nearly two completely different types of selection. 

Artificial selection involves breeders picking out which animals to breed for which desired traits.

Natural selection occurs when a species is unable to adapt with the phenotypes it was born with, and thus, dies off.

        http://www.csus.edu/indiv/l/loom/wk%2015/dogs.jpg

  

        

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/images/interviews/naturalselection1.gif

                 We also learned what speciation was. Notice how I said we learned "what" it was and not "about" it. That's because I had absolutely no idea this term even existed before this unit. Apparently, speciation is the rise of two or more species from one existing species. I thought this was simply called evolution but apparently it's more specific than just that. Evolution is just the change in allele frequency over time.

          The geographic timeline is still pretty confusing to me, but I'm sure it won't be once we finish our group project of creating an actual timeline on it. 

   I think it'd be interesting to learn more about the dinosaur's downgraded evolution. I want to know how a giant velociraptor could eventually transform into a chicken after a couple billion years.

         As for the assertiveness, I'm still working on it. I'm not very good at being assertive because I often confuse assertiveness with aggression, and I obviously don't want to be aggressive. One thing I did was when the woman making my sandwich at Subway asked if I wanted my sandwich toasted or not I actually said no this time instead of just awkwardly agreeing to it. Baby steps.

Hunger Games Lab

Hunger Games Lab

1) In this lab, all of us were divided into 3 different variations of the same species. There were Stumpys, Knucklers, and Pinchers. It simulated natural selection.

2) The Pinchers were the best for capturing food since they were able to grab the food more efficiently using their pinkies and their thumbs.

3) The population did evolve because the allele frequency for each allele changed gradually over the course of the experiment. The allele frequency for both alleles began at .50 and the "A" allele ended with 0.35 and the "a" allele ended with 0.65. Therefore, the population did evolve.

4) One random event that occurred was where the food was placed and who was closer to it. Whoever ended up being closer had a greater advantage to surviving. A nonrandom event involves the type of phenotype the person was assigned.

5) If the food were larger, it would be a lot harder for the Pinchers and the Knucklers to pick it up, but would be easier for the Stumpys. If the food were smaller, it'd be easier for Pinchers and Knucklers but harder for Stumpys. Ways this could happen in nature is if a predator can't hunt prey that's bigger than itself. 

6) The results would have been different if there was not incomplete dominance because everyone would be either a Stumpy or a Pincher.

7) The relationship between natural selection and evolution is that natural selection causes evolution, since only those with weaker traits are unable to survive and reproduce, those that do survive reproduce and the future generations look only like those that had survived originally.

8) Strategies that people adopted in order to increase their likelihood of survival and reproduction usually involved cheating or stealing or being more aggressive. This would have affected the allele frequency in the population that those who took part in these strategies would have more offspring of their species. This occurs in nature when animals attack each other or rob others for food or survival.

9) In evolution, the phenotype is what evolves, not necessarily the being. Natural selection acts on mainly phenotypes, since these are what affect an organisms ability to adapt in their environment.

10) Are there some species that have underdog traits and still managed to survive and reproduce, even though they were expected to die off?