Hunger Games Lab Conclusion

1) In this lab, we saw natural selection in action, when we competed for survival and reproduction of an organism with 3 phenotypes: the stumpys, the knucklers, and the pinchers. Over generations, the allele frequency changed, simulating evolution.

2) The pinchers were the best at getting food because they could quickly and efficiently grab large amounts of food. 

3) The population evolved because the allele frequency changed. At the beginning of the lab, both of the alleles' frequencies were 0.5. By the end, the "A" frequency was 0.35 and the "a" frequency was 0.65. See the graph below. I apologize if you have to turn your head to do this.

4) Some of the events in this lab were random, such as the dispersion of food. In some areas, there was a greater concentration of food than in other areas. This affects the population by killing off certain phenotypes. Other events were non random, the more desirable traits continued to thrive throughout generations.

5) The results would have been different if the food size was different. For example, if the food was huge, it would be hard to pinch it. This is why organisms usually eat food that isn't too much bigger than them.

6) The results would have been slightly different, because the knucklers wouldn't exist, but the pinchers would still dominate. 

7) Natural Selection causes and contributes to the process of evolution. Organisms with more desirable traits tend to survive (which is natural selection), and over time, species evolve. 

8) In order to survive, people in this lab cheated, by grabbing food, and taking away food from others. Although for humans, cheating is considered morally wrong, in nature, organisms will do whatever it takes to survive. Thus, cheating plays into this. This changed the allele frequency in that those who cheated, got more of their alleles in the population. 

9) Evolution acts on populations, not individuals, and creates new species. Natural selection acts on the phenotype. For example, if a heterozygous individual had the same phenotype as a homozygous individual, natural selection would still act upon them both the same way. 

10) Has there been much natural selection in modern humans (homo sapiens)? How?

Unit 7 Reflection

This unit was about ecology and the main ideas behind it: homeostasis, interdependence, and cause and effect. Various biotic and abiotic factors make up habitats, which make up ecosystems. We learned that the food chain is made up of autotrophs, heterotrophs, and decomposers. Food webs show the passing of energy between levels more accurately. We also learned about the energy in the food webs, and that productivity is highest near the equators. 10% of energy is passed on to the next level. Higher level consumers exist in smaller proportions because of this. In population ecology, population is measured by density and dispersion. Factors that affect the population include immigration, emigration, births, deaths, disease, predators, abiotic factors. The 2 growth models are exponential (doubling), and logistic (rate of increase slows as carrying capacity is reached. Species inter depend on each other, resulting in boom bust cycles of the population. We learned about biodiversity, which is the number of species in an ecosystem. We are in the middle of the 6th mass extinction due to species loss. Species loss occurs from habitat loss, introduced/exotic species, over exploitation, and climate change. Some of the things we can do to curb this mass extinction is to identify and protect hotspots, protect what we already have, plan to have movement corridors, and restore habitats by jump starting succession.

Lastly, we also watched the documentary, "Bag it", which explained the magnitude of the plastic problem we have. I learned some interesting statistics, and realized that America, almost single-handedly causes this problem. Now, I actually know what it means when a water bottle says "BPA free" on the bottom. I hope I can use this knowledge and apply it to my 20 Time project (the Not Just Trash Project), and help people find ways to reduce their waste.

By taking the assertiveness and self awareness survey, I realized that my 2 highest numbers were assertive and aggressive. I think that in the Conservation project, I may have been aggressive on certain things that I could have just let go or worked out a compromise. I will try to work on being more assertive and less aggressive.

The hardest part of this unit was and still is really understanding what will happen when we eventually run out of resources. What will happen when we reach our carrying capacity? It is sad that the human race got ourselves into this mess, and I hope technology will improve so that some of us can move to different planets. Otherwise, life as we know it, may be gone. Actually, unless the TRAPPIST-1 planets could actually have life.

Here is the link to my first ever post on this blog on what biology is. A lot of it has to do with this unit:
http://brilliantbiologyblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/what-is-biology-collage.html