Natural Selection - 10/20

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Natural Selection is the process where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. However, the organisms that are unfit for the environment struggle and don't survive. To put the definition more simply, Natural Selection is known as "survival of the fittest". The theory of Natural Selection was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution. This process happens when there is a variation of traits in the population. Therefore, the traits that have most advantage in the environment would thrive while the other unfit traits would die out and disappear in the population. This action would result in the population of species adapting to their environment as the environment changes overtime. An example of Natural Selection is when there are green and brown beetles in a population. Over generations, the green beetle trait dies out and disappears in the population. The reason being is that the green trait is not fit for the environment because the green beetles are not able to camouflage in the dirt. The brown beetles however, are able to camouflage in the dirt. The brown color trait becomes more common in the population because the brown beetles are able to survive/thrive and the brown trait has more advantages in the environment.

S&EP - SP7: Engaging in argument through evidence

I use evidence to defend my explanation. I answered and filled out a guided notes document about the theory of Natural Selection. When completing this document, I provided a couple of websites about Natural Selection as evidence. These websites were assigned to the guided notes and I had to use these resources in correlation to the questions on the document. I formulated evidence based on solid data when I stated that Natural Selection allows species to adapt to their environment and evolve. To support this statement I used the fact that throughout the process of Natural Selection, the traits with the most advantage in an environment survive and thrive while the trait with the least advantage die out and disappear from a population, as evidence. This proves that as the environment is changing, the phenotype of the species in a population are changing to, in order to adapt to their environment. I examined my own understanding in light of the evidence. I used to think that the process of Natural Selection was random. However, because of completing the guided notes activity and answering the questions on the document, now I think that Natural Selection is the process in which random evolutionary changes are election in nature in a consistently, orderly non-random way. This is because through the process of common descent with modification, new traits are randomly produced. Nature then carefully decides which of those traits to keep or which of those traits get to survive. Positive changes add up over multiple generations and negative traits are quickly discarded.

Genetic Drift - 10/15

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Genetic Drift is a mechanism of evolution in which allele frequencies of a population change over generations due to chance. Genetic Drift is a random process that can lead to large changes in populations over a short period of time. It is when important genes are not passed on to the offspring. There are two different ways Genetic Drift can occur. These two major types of Genetic Drift are the bottleneck effect and the founder effect. The bottleneck effect occurs when there is a disaster of some sort (such as a natural disaster or predator) that reduces a population of species into a small handful of species. This small handful of species rarely represents the actual genetic makeup of the initial population. This leaves smaller variation among the surviving individuals. An example of the bottleneck effect is when there is a population of beetles. A predator invades the territory of this beetle population and wipes out part of the population. This means that the traits in the genetic makeup of the beetle population that was killed, is gone. Therefore, these lost traits won't be passed on to the offspring of next generations. The founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population. An example of the founders effect is when a small population of beetles left to find new land. A variety of these beetles left so their genes and traits are taken away from the original population. In result, these traits won't be passed to offspring in next generations of the original population.

S&EP - SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data

I used a table or spreadsheet to display and analyze data while performing a lab in class. I recognized patterns in data and see relationships between variables. For example I observed that after the Genetic Drift, all traits in the original population of M&Ms or colored candius were changed. No amount of traits or colors in the original population stayed the same after the Genetic Drift. I revised my initial hypothesis when the data doesn’t support it. My original hypothesis was that some of the traits in the original population of the colored candius would be completely lost while some traits would stay the same amount after the Genetic Drift. But my new hypothesis is that all traits in the original population of the colored candius will change after the Genetic Drift.

Project Blog - 10/8

Summary:

The Geologic Time Scale is a system of chronological dating that relates geological strata to time. This system is used by geologists, paleontologists, and other Earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships of events that have occurred during Earth's history. Our assignment was to create a interactive display that shows information about the Geologic Time Scale. In order to do this, the class was separated into groups of three or four. Each person of the group is responsible for researching one era of the Geologic Time Scale, including the Precambrian era, the Paleozoic era, the Mesozoic era, and the Cenozoic era. Once each member has completed their research on each topic and aspect of their specific era, the group will collect all of their information and come up with a way to display their project. My group decided to put our project on a tri-fold poster. We would provide the information about each era on little flaps that people can flip up and read information on. Each flap contains a different fact about each era.

Backward-Looking:

The first step in completing this process is researching the information about each era in the Geologic Time Scale. The era I chose to research was the Precambrian era, which is the first era that occurred in the history of Earth. After each member was assigned a specific era, we needed to research several different topics about the eras. This included, the periods in which the era is separated in, what the climate was like during this time, the geological aspects of the era (such as the oceans, mountains, volcanoes, etc.), the continental positioning during this era, the plants that thrived, and the animals that walked the Earth. Once each member of my group completed their research, we started brainstorming ideas on the actual project display. We found that the most cost efficient way of creating a display was to use one of the tri-folds that were provided by our teacher. We decorated the tri-fold by dividing it into four sections for each era. Then we painted each section a color that represented each era. We painted the Precambrian red, the Paleozoic blue, the Mesozoic brown, and the Cenozoic green. Next we wrote the titles for each era on panels that would pop out on the tri-fold. In addition, we decided to make our project interactive by cutting out flaps of color coordinated construction paper and write facts about each era on the corresponding color of construction paper. For final touches, we glued on images/drawings of the plants and animals on the section of the era where they occurred. This step helped make the display less more full and colorful.

Inward-Looking:

When creating this piece of work, I set many goals for my group. An important part of collaborating on a project is to be organized. Our way of organization was planning on what needed to be done and when things needed to be done. The main objective/goal of the project was for my group to put together an interactive display that holds information on each era of the Geologic Time Scale. As we began our research, the first goal was for each member of the team to complete at least the first three questions of the research worksheet on the first day, then finish the next three questions on the second day, and so on. This way we would all be done with the research on schedule with enough time to work on the display. The next goal was to find a way to display the information in a way where it would be interactive and appealing. After talking about potential ideas, we finally found the perfect way to display our project that fit with the design we wanted to present. Other goals my team set were to finish all of the painting of the tri-fold in one day, to finish the titles on the next day, to finish writing all of the information on the flaps on the day after, and to finalize the project by gluing everything on the tri-fold on the last day. As you can tell, our goals constantly changed throughout the process of this project. It all depended on what we accomplished and what we needed to accomplish.

Outward-Looking

If I were to give this project a grade, I would give it an A. I  believe that this piece of work should receive such a high grade because it has exceeded every standard of the project. When looking over the instructions for the project, I reviewed my project to make sure that my group followed all of the directions. The instructions to complete the project were to create an interactive artifact that accurately illustrates the eras that occur in the Earth’s history. Then we would get together with three other geologists which are the other members of your group, and compile all your work into one geologic time poster to present to the client which is the class. My group followed all of these steps in the process of creating our project. In addition, I believe that this grade is deserved because our project was original and creative. Nobody else in our class did their project the way we did ours. Our project was also very organized and appealing. The poster was organized into neat sections and we decorated the poster with a variety of colors, fonts, and colors. 

Forward-Looking;

If I had the chance to do this piece over again, I would only change one thing. In this revision, I would improve the lettering on the poster. I would make the lettering of the facts on each flap of information a little bigger. When presenting our poster to our "client", which is our class, the only criticism we received was that the facts were a bit difficult to read considering the size of the writing. When our clients read the information, they needed to look up close to the poster in order to be able to read the facts correctly. This is why the size of the writing is the only thing I would change about the poster. I believe that everything else on the poster was made to the best of my ability as well as my group's highest potential. So I wouldn't change anything else on the poster even if I had another chance to do the project again next time.

Era Report WAC - 9/22/17

       According to the Geologic Time Scale, there are four major eras in history that shape Earth as we know it today. The Precambrian era is the first era that occurred on Earth. This era covers almost 90% of Earth's entire history. The beginning of the Precambrian era started with the formation of Earth 4.6 billion years ago and ended at the first sign of complex life about 540 million years ago. This era is divided into three eons. This includes the Hadean eon, the Archean eon, and the Proterozoic eon. The Hadean eon started when the planet first began to form as the Earth's core was building. The solar system was constructing within a cloud of dust and gas, known as the solar nebula. The Archean eon was a time of continental building and showed the first stages of early life on Earth. At this time, the Earth's crust cooled enough that rocks and continental plates began to configure. The final eon apart of the Precambrian era is the Proterozoic eon. During the Proterozoic eon, life began to evolve into more complex organisms.

       Since the Earth was barely formed during the Precambrian era, there were little to no plants present during this time. According to the Penn State University department of science, Lichens are believed to have been the first fungi existing on Earth. A Lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi in a symbiotic relationship. During the Proterozoic eon of the Precambrian era, Lichens teamed up with photosynthesizing organisms. The organisms that Lichens collaborated with, include cyanobacteria and green algae. Together these plants conceivably boosted oxygen levels in the atmosphere high enough for animals to develop skeletons, grow larger, and diversify.

        Toward the end of the Precambrian era, the first life formed. The first one-celled organisms formed during the Archean eon of the Precambrian era. Early evidence of life that was once living in the oceans of Earth were microscopic bacteria that were capable of photosynthesis. These one-celled organisms helped make the air and water around Earth become full of oxygen. Once there was plenty of oxygen in the atmosphere and in the ocean, new life could form. New varieties of bacteria began to harness the power of the sun through the biochemical process known as photosynthesis. This energy source ultimately lead to the creation of simple plants and opened the planet up to animal life. The Precambrian era ended with the emergence of complex, multi celled life forms. By the end of the Archean eon, the ocean floor was covered in a living mat of bacterial life.

         Scientists named this eon after the Greek god Hades, who ruled underworld. The surface of the Earth during most of the Hadean eon must have been like our image of the underworld. During the Hadean eon the Earth released tremendous amounts of heat as the Earth's core was forming, due to gravitational sinking. In fact the surface temperature of Earth at this time, was at 1200 degrees Celsius. Throughout the Archean eon, the outer covering of the Earth cooled and hardened into a crust. The hot molten leaked out at weak places in the crust, creating volcanoes. Water from comets and hydrated minerals condensed in the atmosphere and fell as torrential rain. This rainfall formed and filled oceans. The presence of micro organisms on Earth during this time, indicates that 4 billion years ago the Earth's surface temperature must have cooled to less than 100 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, the oceans must have been above 0 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the Earth's surface temperature was between 0 degrees Celsius and 100 degrees Celsius. These temperatures would have had to occur on Earth during this eon in order for these organisms to have lived.

           The basis of Earth's growth happened during the Precambrian era. There are three eons that make up the Precambrian era, including the Hadean, the Archean, and the Proterozoic. The Earth had just formed during the Hadean. At scorching temperatures, there were an abundance of radioactive elements and collisions with other solar system bodies. Approximately 70% of continental landmass was formed during the Archean eon. Huge pieces of crust began to move in different directions, called tectonic plates. This tectonic activity formed the first continent, Rhodinia, about 1.1 billion years ago. The modern-day continents South America, Australia, and Antarctica surrounded North America which was located in the middle. The Earth's crust started to cool down to between 0 degrees to 100 degrees Celsius for micro-organisms to live. However, the Proterozoic was the time when life actually evolved into more complex organisms. These organisms include bacteria life and multi celled organisms such as the Lichen fungi. All of these events that have occurred billions of years ago, are components that form the Earth we live on today.

The Precambrian Era - 9/17/17

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According to the Geologic Time Scale, there are four major eras in history that shape Earth as we know it. The Precambrian Era is the first era that has occurred on Earth. This era covers almost 90% of the entire history of the Earth. The beginning of the Precambrian Era started with the formation of the Earth about 4.6 billion years ago and ends at the first sign of complex life about 540 million years ago. This era is divided into three eons, including the Hadean, the Archean, and the Proterozoic. The Hadean eon began when planet first began to form, about 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists named this eon after the Greek god Hades, who ruled underworld because during most of the Hadean period the surface of the Earth must have been like our image of the underworld. During this time, the Earth released tremendous amounts of heat (at a surface temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius) as the Earth's core was forming due to gravitational sinking. At the time of the Archean eon, the Earth's crust cooled enough that rocks and continental plates began to form. It was early in this eon that life first appeared on Earth. Our oldest fossils date to roughly 3.5 billion years ago, and consist of bacteria micro fossils. The final eon apart of the Precambrian Era is the Proterozoic eon. During this time, life began to evolve into more complex organisms. The first evidence of life that were once living in the oceans of the Earth were one-celled micro organisms that were capable of photosynthesis. They helped the air and water around the Earth, become full of oxygen.

S&EP - SP6: Constructing explanations and designing solutions

I evaluated information to explain the history of the Precambrian era and form hypotheses. In order to complete the worksheet for this project, much research was required. I needed to search the internet to figure out when the Precambrian era began and when it ended, how long it lasted, the different periods it is divided into, the major events that occurred during the era and its different periods, the climate during this era, the positions of the continents during this period, what types of life lived during this era, and finally the major types of plants present in this era. Once finding the information for each of these topics, I answered the questions on the worksheet using detailed ACE explanations. I constructed an explanation of each topic I researched for the Precambrian era, when I found the needed information by searching sources online and collecting the information using the ACE structure of answering. I designed a solution to a problem when a source I was searching didn't have enough information needed to answer the topic questions. However I solved this problem by researching multiple sources to grasp as much information as I could find on the topic. For example, one website I visited didn't mention anything about plants existing during the Precambrian era. But after researching multiple websites, I finally found a website that gave me all the information I needed on the plants that lived during this era.

The Age of Rocks - 9/10/17

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The Geological Time Scale is a record of the life forms and geologic events in Earth's history. The Geological Time Scale includes the age of rocks or the years since the rocks are formed. There are two ways that geologists determine the age of rocks. The Relative age is the age of a rock compared to the ages of other rocks. For example the rock is younger than the rock beneath it. The Absolute age is the number of years since a rock is formed. For example the rock is one million years old. The law of superposition states that in any undisturbed sequence of rocks deposited in layers, the youngest layer is on top and the oldest on bottom, each layer being younger than the one beneath it and older than the one above it. Therefore the older the rock is, the deeper it is in the ground. Another way to determine relative age of rocks is the Cross-Cutting Principle: when "something" cuts across a body of rock, that "something" is younger than the rock it cuts across. 

S&EP - SP7: Engaging in argument from evidence

I use evidence to defend my explanation. I took notes on the age of rocks and fossils providing the power point about how scientists find the age of fossils, as evidence. I formulated evidence based on solid data when I stated that the top layer of rock is younger than the bottom layer of rock, using the fact that the older the rock is, the deeper it is in the ground as evidence. I examined my own understanding in light of the evidence. I used to think that rocks were dated depending on what stage of the Rock Cycle they were in, but because of understanding the information on the power point that my teacher presented in class, now I think that rocks are dated by their layers. I collaborated with my peers in searching for the best explanation. I did some research on the age of rocks and fossils which I discussed with my class and table group. Together we figured out that scientists find the age of fossils depending on how deep the rock is in the ground.

The Rock Cycle - 9/2/17

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The Rock Cycle is the cycle of processes that rocks in the Earth's crust undergo. The Rock Cycle describes the formation, breakdown, and reformation of rocks. The three main processes that a rock goes through is Igneous rock, Sedimentary rock, and Metamorphic rock. The Igneous rock is formed by cooling of molten magma on the Earth's surface. The Sedimentary rock is formed when sediment is deposited out of air, ice, wind, or when water flows carry these particles in suspension. This sediment is often formed when weathering and erosion break down a rock into loose material. The Metamorphic rock is a result of a transformation of a pre-existing rock. The pre-existing rock is subjected to very high heat and pressure which makes it go through physical and/or chemical changes. Each type of rock is able to transform into the two other rock types. However, there are other steps that the rocks must go through in order to transform from one rock type to another. The other stages of the cycle include becoming magma, soil, or sediment. You may be wondering how the rocks transport from one stage to another, well the rocks may experience erosion, weathering, deposition, lithification, melting, or crystallization when transforming into the different stages of the rock cycle. Rocks typically start as molten rock (magma below ground or lava above ground) which cools and hardens into igneous rock. No matter what rocks start as, they are always able to go through the cycle and make their way back to what they originally were.

S&EP - SP1: Asking questions and defining problems

I formulated testable questions when I discovered what I needed to do in order to complete the worksheet I did in class, about the Rock Cycle. I established what is already known about the Rock Cycle by writing, filling out, and answering questions about the Rock Cycle and how it works, using the online Gizmo. I determined what questions have yet to be answered when I looked back on the information that I collected and saw which of the questions on the worksheet I still needed to answer. I defined constraints and specifications for a solution when I noticed that some of the information on the worksheet I needed to have wasn't actually on the Gizmo. This information that I needed should only be answered by myself, since it was only the basic knowledge of the Rock Cycle I should have. However, I had some trouble on this part because the Rock Cycle is review from sixth grade and I don't quite remember all the processes of the cycle.