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Animal Reproduction and Development

Today’s blog we are going to talk about the reproduction and development of animals. Reproduction may be asexual when one individual produces genetically identical offspring, or sexual when the genetic material from two individuals is combined to produce genetically diverse offspring. Asexual reproduction in animals occurs through fission, budding, fragmentation, and parthenogenesis. Sexual reproduction may involve fertilization inside the body or in the external environment. A species may have separate sexes or combined sexes; when the sexes are combined they may be expressed at different times in the life cycle. The sex of an individual may be determined by various chromosomal systems or environmental factors such as temperature. Sexual reproduction starts with the combination of a sperm and an egg in a process called fertilization. This can occur either outside the bodies or inside the female. The method of fertilization varies among animals. Some species release the egg and sperm into the environment, some species retain the egg and receive the sperm into the female body and then expel the developing embryo covered with shell, while still other species retain the developing offspring throughout the gestation period.

The early stages of embryonic development begin with fertilization. The process of fertilization is tightly controlled to ensure that only one sperm fuses with one egg. After fertilization, the zygote undergoes cleavage to form the blastula. The blastula, which in some species is a hollow ball of cells, undergoes a process called gastrulation, during which the three germ layers form. The ectoderm gives rise to the nervous system and the epidermal skin cells, the mesoderm gives rise to the muscle cells and connective tissue in the body, and the endoderm gives rise to the digestive system and other internal organs. Organogenesis is the formation of organs from the germ layers. Each germ layer gives rise to specific tissue types.

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The Little Blue House

There is a little blue house right on the outskirts of Urbana. To the many people passing by it just another house, but to Mr. Ward it is a his part of his life’s work. As he has transformed his little blue house into an energy saving masterplan. He has made many improvements to his home to make it more efficient to his needs. For example, he explained to us how he thickened his walls to add more insulation. He also made it clear to us that he records each of his meters in his home on the daily to make sure everything is running smoothly. In this blog I want to talk about his solar panels specifically. On his property he has 12 solar panels which collect the sun and heats his home. Solar panels can be very expensive as they range from $10,045 to $13,475. So I can only imagine what the price of Mr. Ward’s were. Solar energy refers to energy from the sun. The sun has produced energy for billions of years. It is the most important source of energy for life forms. It is a renewable source of energy unlike non- renewable sources such as fossil fuels. Solar energy technologies use the sun’s energy to light homes, produce hot water, heat homes and electricity. The main benefit of solar energy is that it does not produce any pollutants and is one of the cleanest source of energy. It is a renewable source of energy, requires low maintenance and are easy to install. The only limitation that solar energy possess is that it cannot be used at night and amount of sunlight that is received on earth is depends on location, time of day, time of year, and weather conditions. Mr. Ward’s home was quite the shock to me, I believe more people should be more like him to help save the Earth! 

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Davey Woods State Nature Preserve

Davey Woods is off Lonesome Road in St Paris, Ohio. It’s 7 miles west of Urbana. On the eighteenth of April, my SCI 113 class took a field trip to this magnificent state preserve. The persevere sits on 103 acres in Champaign County. This forest woodland has numerous large tuliptrees, sugar maple, ash and oak as well as an excellent array of spring wildflowers. It is one of the best woodlots remaining in this part of Ohio. Named in honor of the Davey Tree Expert Company which, through The Nature Conservancy, provided half the funding to acquire this site in 1989.The terrain, hilly for this part of Ohio, offers pleasant summer hiking (no mosquitoes), nice fall colors and a beautiful winter landscape. On our field trip our advisor tales a lot about the different types of trees. In this blog I am going to talk a little bit about the large tuliptree. The tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is one of the most attractive trees you can lay your eyes on. It has many other common names including yellow-poplar, blue-poplar, tuliptree, and yellow wood. A tuliptree is a tall, deciduous, long-lived, broadleaf tree. The leaves are alternate with a distinctive tulip like shape. Tulip trees are one of the tallest trees, and they are important in economic uses because approximately 66% of the trunk is free of lateral branches. It can reach heights of 200 feet. The flowers are tulip like in size and shape, and are very fragrant. The fruit is a light brown cone-like structure consisting of many winged samaras on a central stalk. A few interesting facts about the tulip tree are... The Tulip tree was adopted as the Tennessee state tree in 1947. The Tulip tree is in the same family as Southern Magnolia, but the leaves are much thinner. The Tulip tree is also the state tree of Kentucky and Indiana.

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Biomes in the World

There are quite a few different types of biomes in the world. Each of them has unique characteristics. Due to the climate and features, there are different plants and animals that are able to thrive in them. Learning about the types of biomes helps us to make sense of why certain animals and plants are found in one location and not the next. It also helps us to fully understand why the different plants and animals within a given biome are so dependent upon each other. There is a balance that has to be maintained in order for all to continue surviving there. The dependence that they have upon each other is very detailed. It is also interesting to explore. 

In this blog we are going to talk about two specific biomes: freshwater biomes and marine biomes. First, let’s talk about freshwater biomes. Freshwater biomes are those that are found in the water. It is unbelievable the amount of aquatic life that exists out there. The depth of the water will determine what lives there as well as the temperature. If the water moves or if it stands still will also be something that is taken into consideration. When you think about freshwater biomes, they don’t have to be large bodies of water to count.They include lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, and the wetlands. Sometimes the organisms that live there are only a single cell. They often rely on the water for food and for survival. When you look at such freshwater you may see areas of moss. That is a big indicator that there are organisms living in the water. They feed on that moss as a means of surviving in their given biome. Next we are going to talk about marine biomes. When you think about extremely large bodies of water such as the ocean, those are marine biomes. They contain saltwater instead of freshwater. They also include coral reefs and estuaries. The ocean biome is the biggest of all of them in the world. That makes sense because so much of the surface of the Earth is made up of water.Due to the mass size of the ocean biome, there are many subcategories offered as well. This makes it possible for further evaluation of all of them to be considered. It is amazing what can take place in the marine biomes. The technology we have today allows us to use underwater cameras to see those magnificent relationships among the plants and animals living there.

Even though we only talked about two different biomes in this blog, I just wanted to make sure you all know there are plenty more! 

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Misconceptions In Teaching

http://k12s.phast.umass.edu/~nasa/misconceptions.html

Above is a list of common science misconceptions. As a teacher you are going to have at least one child confused on a topic. Therefore, you are going to have to find a way to reteach the misconception your student may have. In this blog I want to talk about two specific misconceptions. The first is about investigations that don't reach a firm conclusion are useless and unpublishable. Now this perhaps because the last step of the Scientific Method is usually "draw a conclusion," it's easy to imagine that studies that don't reach a clear conclusion must not be scientific or important. In fact, most scientific studies don't reach "firm" conclusions. Scientific articles usually end with a discussion of the limitations of the tests performed and the alternative hypotheses that might account for the phenomenon. That's the nature of scientific knowledge — it's inherently tentative and could be overturned if new evidence, new interpretations, or a better explanation come along. In science, studies that carefully analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the test performed and of the different alternative explanations are particularly valuable since they encourage others to more thoroughly scrutinize the ideas and evidence and to develop new ways to test the ideas. The second misconception is your students may think is that scientific ideas are absolute and unchanging. Because science textbooks change very little from year to year, it's easy to imagine that scientific ideas don't change at all. It's true that some scientific ideas are so well established and supported by so many lines of evidence, they are unlikely to be completely overturned. However, even these established ideas are subject to modification based on new evidence and perspectives. Furthermore, at the cutting edge of scientific research — areas of knowledge that are difficult to represent in introductory textbooks — scientific ideas may change rapidly as scientists test out many different possible explanations trying to figure out which are the most accurate. 

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Scientific Method

The scientific method is a procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses. I want to go a little more in depth with each elements.

Observations and Measurements 

Hypothesis: A possible explanation for the observation; in other words, a tentative answer or an educated guess.

Experiments: The testing of a hypothesis under controlled conditions to see whether the test results confirm the hypothetical assumptions, can be duplicated, and are consistent.

Theory: If a hypothesis passes enough experimental tests and generates new predictions that also prove correct, then it takes on the status of a theory, a well tested explanation of observed natural phenomena.

Law: If a theory withstands the test of many well designed, valid experiments and there is great regularity in the results, than that theory may be accepted by scientists as a law. 

There are many ways you can implement the scientific method in the classroom. An activity you can use in the classroom is a sink or float test. First you need to get couple of buckets of water for each of the groups to share. Then you should give the groups multiple items that either sink or float. As the teacher, you can have them make a hypothesis to see if the items will sink or float. Then you can have the students actually do the experiment and have them record their data. The students can then talk to the other groups to see if they came up with the same hypotheses as them. There are many other activities you can either make up yourself or find on the internet. The scientific method is a great tool for children to use in the classroom. It helps keep them organized! 

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Waves

When we think of the word "wave" we usually picture someone moving their hand back and forth to say hello or maybe we think of a tall curling wall of water moving in from the ocean to crash on the beach. Don’t we all wish we could get away from this crazy Ohio weather to be on a beach with waves. But in physics, a wave is a traveling disturbance that travels through space and matter transferring energy from one place to another. When studying waves it's important to remember that they transfer energy, not matter. There are many types of waves in the physics world including; mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves, mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves, transverse waves, and longitudinal waves. I want to go more in depth with a couple of these types of waves. First, I want to talk about mechanical waves. Mechanical waves are waves that require a medium. This means that they have to have some sort of matter to travel through. These waves travel when molecules in the medium collide with each other passing on energy. Next, I want to talk about the electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves are waves that can travel through a vacuum (empty space). They don't need a medium or matter. They travel through electrical and magnetic fields that are generated by charged particles. The last wave I was to discuss are transverse waves. Transverse waves are waves where the disturbance moves perpendicular to the direction of the wave. You can think of the wave moving left to right, while the disturbance moves up and down. Some interesting facts about waves are in the ocean are mostly generated by the wind moving across the ocean surface. Waves come in all shapes and sizes. Professor Tingting has made this such an easy, fun topic to learn about! 

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Lesson Planning

Making weekly lesson plans for SCI 113 has been a wonderful experience! It is a great way to practice for when I have to actually do it in my own classroom. It has also been a great way to get out out of my shell. I have always been shy and this is a way for me to break that bad habit. Professor Tingting has also made it a no judging environment when we presenting. She also gives us plenty of pointers when we are finished presenting our lesson plans to the class.  The outline Professor Tingting has asked us to use is the following;

Title and objective of the lesson

Introduction: a background for teaching the lesson

Methods/Steps: the steps used in teaching the lesson -your steps should include a preparatory/pre-assesment( a few simple questions to determine how familiar you students are with the concept you are going over) a post lesson assessment( an assessment to help you decide whether you have met your objective) and an assignment for the students( to apply/reinforce what they learned from the lesson)

In the early childhood education world it is good to get children up and moving around. If not they could lose interest in your lesson plans. So it is a great idea too implement movement in the classroom. You can do this by setting up different center around the room or by playing videos on the smart board for the students to get up and dance. You should also create learning activities based on the objectives. Helping your students reach the desired learning outcomes by creating relevant learning activities. Another key tip is time management. You don’t want to get carried away with one subject because then you won’t have time to complete the rest of the activities. 

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A Tree Campus

Urbana University has a wide variety of trees on campus. The University was honored to receive the 2016 Tree Campus USA recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management last year. Therefore, one day in my SCI 113 class we took a field trip around the campus for our professor to give us a lesson on each individual tree. Some of the trees on campus were, sycamore, white pine, spruce, blue spruce, magnolia, crab apple trees, and many more. Personally, I learned a lot about the trees on campus and or just trees in general. 

My favorite tree on campus was the magnolia. It is my favorite because it has different colors of flower which depend on the species and it can be white, yellow, pinkish, purple and green. This tree also has a tropical fruit smell with is essential because I would love to live in a tropical area one day. The magnolia trees bloom from April to June. Another fact is that they can live for more than one hundred years. 

My second favorite tree on campus was the sycamore trees in front of the student center. Sycamore trees can reach 98 to 130 feet in height and 4.9 to 6.6 feet in diameter. These are the biggest trees we have on campus. A fact that I learned from our field trip is that the sycamore tree symbolizes strength, eternity and divinity. Sycamore trees can survive from 150 to 600 years in the wild. The sycamore tree is a great source of shade. In the spring I have seen many students lay out a blanket and study underneath them. 

Overall, I thought the mini field trip around campus was a great idea. I learned a lot about the trees on campus. It was also nice to get out of the classroom and move around!

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Johnny Appleseed

The Johnny Appleseed Museum was founded in 1996 by members of the Urbana University faculty and staff. The museum is one large room with informational texts and artifacts. Here is a little background information on the man of the hour. John Chapman was born September 26,1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts. He died March 18,1845 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Little is known of his early life, but he apparently received a good education which helped him in his later years. By the time he was 25 years old, he had become a nursery man and had planted apple trees in the western portions of New York and Pennsylvania. Some of the orchards in those areas were said to have originated with his apple trees. His manner of operation was simple. He went into the wildreness with a bag of apple seeds on his back until he found a likely spot for planting. There he would clear the land by chopping out weeds and brush by hand. Then he planted his apple seeds in neat rows and built a brush fence around the area to keep out straying animals. His nurseries varied in size. Some were only an acre or so, others covered many acres. He did all of the work himself, living alone for weeks at a time with only the Indians and wild animals for companionship. He never carried a gun or weapon of any kind. He was a deeply religious man who lived by the Golden Rule and had no fear of man or beast. Indians accepted him as a friend, and he is reputed to have talked at times to the wild animals who watched him as he worked in his nurseries. Undoubtedly, they sensed his kind and gentle nature. One thing I learned today was while in Ohio, Johnny Appleseed personally knew John James and Milo Williams. The three were members of the Swedenborgian Church which is a big part why the Swedenborgian Church is apart of Urbana University. Milo Williams was the first president of the board of trustees here at Urbana University. John James, who was from Urbana, donated all the land where Urbana University currently is. John Chapman was an evangelist and missionary for the Swedenborgian Church. Chapman’s views on life were largely influenced by Swedenborg. He would leave readings from the Swedenborgian bible at houses that he visited and would also read and teach lessons from that bible to the families.