REGARDING YOUR OWN PERFORMANCE
1. What were the three aspects of the assignments I've submitted that I am most proud of?
I am most proud of my Major lab project, and the two compendium reviews, I enjoy doing these the most.
2. What two aspects of my submitted assignments do I believe could have used some improvement?
hmmm....I am not really sure, maybe the ethical essays, and the quizes if that counts.
3. What do I believe my overall grade should be for this unit?
I think that I should get an A, :) because its the end of the class and I have made it!! Just kidding, but really, and A.
4. How could I perform better in the next unit?
There is not another Unit but if there were, I would give it my all.
REGARDING THE UNIT (adapted from Stephen Brookfield, University of St. Thomas "Critical Incident Questionnaire")
At what moment during this unit did you feel most engaged with the course?
I actually really enjoyed the whole unit, I learned a lot from it, and took it all in.
At what moment unit did you feel most distanced from the course?
I didn't really feel a lot of distance in this unit.
What action that anyone (teacher or student) took during this unit that find most affirming and helpful? The teachers has been helpful through out the whole course!!
What action that anyone (teacher or student) took during this unit did you find most puzzling or confusing?
I didn't really find anything real puzzeling.
What about this unit surprised you the most? (This could be something about your own reactions to the course, something that someone did, or anything else that occurs to you.)
Probably learning about the fertilization process, I found it interesting!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Ethical Essay Unit four
Is population a problem?
I feel that the population in the world today is a problem to an extent. I feel that it is definately taking a toll on our world today. Our small towns are getting bigger, and we are running out of beautiful land. The big grassy field are turning into walmarts, Targets, and housing developments.
I don't really think that all the people are a problem, but the stuff that adds up with the more people that come into the world.
"There are several more issues. Population control enthusiasts often say that the U.S. should set a good example. However, the U.S. will not bring itself to do what might be required by countries with severe immediate population problems. For example, the US is unlikely to adopt the present Chinese policy of penalizing more than one child per family. Therefore, the U.S. could at most set an example of half-hearted measures. Nor would the US go for the laws recently passed in India.
It is argued that an American puts more of a strain on scarce resources than a person in an undeveloped country. Except for oil, there is no vital resource likely to become scarce in the forseeable future. Substitutes for oil will eventually be required, and they exist, e.g. hydrogen produced using nuclear energy. "
"Local Crowding
It occurs to me that psychologically akin to overpopulation is experiencing too many people in one's desired occupation. Many more people would like to be astronomers or movie actors or writers than the world is willing to support in those occupations. For some occupations, biographies tell us that it used to be a lot worse than it is today. Maybe people feeling crowded in their desired occupations tend to believe in overall overpopulation. "
I think that there is not enough land, for all the people that are coming into the world. I really do not know where I stand on the population, is it bad, is it good? The is an eithical question that must be faced. Although I feel that if it continues the world may have problems keeping up.
I feel that the population in the world today is a problem to an extent. I feel that it is definately taking a toll on our world today. Our small towns are getting bigger, and we are running out of beautiful land. The big grassy field are turning into walmarts, Targets, and housing developments.
I don't really think that all the people are a problem, but the stuff that adds up with the more people that come into the world.
"There are several more issues. Population control enthusiasts often say that the U.S. should set a good example. However, the U.S. will not bring itself to do what might be required by countries with severe immediate population problems. For example, the US is unlikely to adopt the present Chinese policy of penalizing more than one child per family. Therefore, the U.S. could at most set an example of half-hearted measures. Nor would the US go for the laws recently passed in India.
It is argued that an American puts more of a strain on scarce resources than a person in an undeveloped country. Except for oil, there is no vital resource likely to become scarce in the forseeable future. Substitutes for oil will eventually be required, and they exist, e.g. hydrogen produced using nuclear energy. "
"Local Crowding
It occurs to me that psychologically akin to overpopulation is experiencing too many people in one's desired occupation. Many more people would like to be astronomers or movie actors or writers than the world is willing to support in those occupations. For some occupations, biographies tell us that it used to be a lot worse than it is today. Maybe people feeling crowded in their desired occupations tend to believe in overall overpopulation. "
I think that there is not enough land, for all the people that are coming into the world. I really do not know where I stand on the population, is it bad, is it good? The is an eithical question that must be faced. Although I feel that if it continues the world may have problems keeping up.
Major Online Lab Project Unit four
1. Homo sapien - Human - Commensal - Yes: The food we eat mostly is from other organisms.
3.A Black white and brown kitten. Mutualistic - Yes: Cats are domesticated them for a reason. Cats are nice loving creatures. Their food can also consists of mice.
6.Lady bug - Mutualistic - No: The lady bug are usually very pretty to hold and look at, ladybugs feed off of other bugs.
7.Pigeons - Mutualistic - No: They feed off of rodents
8.Cactus - Commensal - No: Cactuses grow and actually provide life and energy to those that feed upon it.
10.Bees- Mutualistic-no: Although bees are not loved because of their stinger, they also feed off of honey.
13. Horse - Mutualistic - Yes: Horses are well trained animals, and loving pets.
15. Mosquito - Parasitic - No: This species also feeds off of us, by biting and eating our blood.
16. Wasps - Mutualistic - No: They also feed off of humans blood.
17. Coyotes-Predators-No: Coyotes can be very harmful creatures that we are mostly afraid of.
18. Fies-Mutualistic-No- Flies are around all them time, they are most like pests.
20.Turtle-Mutualistic- No- Turtle serve as great pets, and are very harmless.
2.Beagles(DOGS), Mutualistic - Yes: Dogs are nice to have when you want to be active or just lay around.
4.Grasshopper - Commensal - No: Grasshoppers tend to mainly just live everywhere, they really don't feed off of any other breatures.
9. Sunflowers-Commensal - No: Sunflowers provide food for insects, such as bees.
11. Black Widow- - Predator - No: Black widows feared predators, because they cause harm
12.Snakes-predator-no: Snakes can either be scary or friends. They feed off of mice.
13. Horse - Mutualistic - Yes: Horses are well trained animals, and loving pets.14.Lizard - Mutualistic - Yes: Lizards are very harmless, and kids tend to love them.
15. Mosquito - Parasitic - No: This species also feeds off of us, by biting and eating our blood.19. Jack Rabbit - Commensal - Yes: They eat many other organisms such as various plant-life. The jack rabbit is fast and could serve as a pet.
Online Lab topic 2
1. What was your high fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate? Mali was my high fertility rate country of 6.30.
2. What was your low fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate?
France was my low fertility rate country of 1.80.
3. The initial demographic "shape" of your high fertility rate country should have been a pyramid, with high population in young age groups. Explain why high fertility rate results in a high percentage of young people in the population. How does this affect future population growth?
High fertility rates simply mean that people are having a lot of babies. When those people have babies, their kids have lots of babies and their kids after that will have lots of babies. This keeps the population growth exponential and is considered skyrocketing. This leads to many young people.
4. Your low fertility rate country might have had a more oval-shaped curve with high population in middle age groups. This is especially exaggerated if the fertility rate is below 2.00. Explain why low fertility rate leads to lots of middle-aged people. Low fertility rate means that people aren't having as many kids. If they aren't having 2 or more as their fertility rate, they are not producing enough children to replace themselves when they die. For instance, in France, they are only producing 1.8 children on average and are dying out, so to speak. On the otherhand, the Muslims are coming into France and they are multiplying. So who may overcome that country? Hmm.
5. Write ten adjectives or descriptive phrases for what you might expect life, people's attitudes, conditions on the streets, etc. will be like in each of those situations. Imagine a situation with lots of middle-aged and older people in the population and write ten quick "brain-storm" descriptors for you think it would be like (Prescott, Arizona?). Then do the same for a situation with lots of children in the population.
For an area with lots of young people:
Crime rates,
Drinking,
Smoking Illegal activity,
Decrease in standard of living,
Car accidents/Freak accidents,
Bankruptcies,
Divorces,
Rude behavior,
Cursing.
An area with lots of old people:
Clean,
Quiet,
Strict,
Boring,
Higher standards of living,
Bill pay-hospitals
High insurace prices,
Less crime,
More traffic,
Lots of caregiving agencies and volunteer work
Online Lab Topic One
Fertilization stage one- I feel that this stage is very important, This process takes place in the first 24-48hours, and this is where it all begins.
Week 7-Eyelids, and toes form, nose distinct. The baby is kicking and swimming. I feel that this stage is important, because you start to see the developement.
Week 20: The earliest stage at which Partial birth abortions are performed. At 20 weeks the baby recognizes its' mothers voice.
Week 7-Eyelids, and toes form, nose distinct. The baby is kicking and swimming. I feel that this stage is important, because you start to see the developement.
Month 4: Bone Marrow is now beginning to form. The heart is pumping 25 quarts of blood a day. By the end of month 4 the baby will be 8-10 inches in length and will weigh up to half a pound.
Months 7 through 9: Eyeteeth are present. The baby opens and closes his eyes. The baby is using four of the five senses (vision, hearing, taste, and touch.) He knows the difference between waking and sleeping, and can relate to the moods of the mother. The baby's skin begins to thicken, and a layer of fat is produced and stored beneath the skin. Antibodies are built up, and the baby's heart begins to pump 300 gallons of blood per day. Approximately one week before the birth the baby stops growing, and "drops" usually head down into the pelvic cavity.
Compendium Review Topic two Unit four
• Deep Time Evolutionary History
Evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population from generation to generation. These traits are the expression of genes that are copied and passed on to offspring during reproduction. Mutations in these genes can produce new or altered traits, resulting in heritable differences between organisms. New traits can also come from transfer of genes between populations, as in migration, or between species, in horizontal gene transfer. Evolution occurs when these heritable differences become more common or rare in a population, either nonrandomly through natural selection or randomly through genetic drift.
Human Ecology 
Human ecology is an academic discipline that deals with the relationship between humans and their natural, social and created environments. Human ecology investigates how humans and human societies interact with nature and with their environment.
Biodiversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often a measure of the health of biological systems.There are five main causes for biodiversity loss and extinction on Earth. These are: habitat loss, introduction of alien species, pollution, overexploitation of plant and animals, and disease. Diodiversity is a good thing to keep because it provides us with medicinal value, agricultural value, and comsummptive use values. They also give waste disposal, freshwater procision through the water biogeochemical cycle, prevention of soil erosion, function of biogeochemical cycles, climate regulation, and ecotourism.
Evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population from generation to generation. These traits are the expression of genes that are copied and passed on to offspring during reproduction. Mutations in these genes can produce new or altered traits, resulting in heritable differences between organisms. New traits can also come from transfer of genes between populations, as in migration, or between species, in horizontal gene transfer. Evolution occurs when these heritable differences become more common or rare in a population, either nonrandomly through natural selection or randomly through genetic drift.Prebiotic: the developments taking place before the origin of the life, the emergence of physico-chemical complexity: the Big Bang, space and time, energy and particles, atoms and the different elements, molecules up to organic polymers, simple dissipative structures.
Biological: the origin of life and the further development of the specifically biological aspects of it: DNA, reproduction, autopoiesis, prokaryotes vs. eukaryotes, multicellularity, sexual reproduction, the species.
Cognitive: the origin of mind, the basic cybernetic, cognitive organization, going from simple reflexes to complex nervous systems, learning, and thought.
Social: the development of social systems and culture: communication, cooperation, moral systems, memes
Biological: the origin of life and the further development of the specifically biological aspects of it: DNA, reproduction, autopoiesis, prokaryotes vs. eukaryotes, multicellularity, sexual reproduction, the species.
Cognitive: the origin of mind, the basic cybernetic, cognitive organization, going from simple reflexes to complex nervous systems, learning, and thought.
Social: the development of social systems and culture: communication, cooperation, moral systems, memes
Human EcologyHuman ecology is an academic discipline that deals with the relationship between humans and their natural, social and created environments. Human ecology investigates how humans and human societies interact with nature and with their environment.
Trophic levels are the feeding position in a food chain such as primary producers, herbivore, primary carnivore, etc. Green plants form the first trophic level, the producers. Herbivores form the second trophic level, while carnivores form the third and even the fourth trophic levels. In this section we will discuss what is meant by food chains, food webs and ecological pyramids.
Phosphorus enters the environment from rocks or deposits laid down on the earth many years ago. The phosphate rock is commercially available form is called apatite. Other deposits may be from fossilized bone or bird droppings called guano. Weathering and erosion of rocks gradually releases phosphorus as phosphate ions which are soluble in water. Land plants need phosphate as a fertilizer or nutrient.
• Human Population and Biodiversity
The human population growth of the last century has been truly phenomenal. It required only 40 years after 1950 for the population to double from 2.5 billion to 5 billion. This doubling time is less than the average human lifetime. The world population passed 6 billion just before the end of the 20th century. Present estimates are for the population to reach 8-12 billion before the end of the 21st century. During each lecture hour, more than 10,000 new people enter the world, a rate of ~3 per second!
Of the 6 billion people, about half live in poverty and at least one fifth are severely undernourished. The rest live out their lives in comparative comfort and health.
Biodiversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often a measure of the health of biological systems.There are five main causes for biodiversity loss and extinction on Earth. These are: habitat loss, introduction of alien species, pollution, overexploitation of plant and animals, and disease. Diodiversity is a good thing to keep because it provides us with medicinal value, agricultural value, and comsummptive use values. They also give waste disposal, freshwater procision through the water biogeochemical cycle, prevention of soil erosion, function of biogeochemical cycles, climate regulation, and ecotourism.
Compendium Review Topic one Unit four
Human Life Cycle
The four stages will be described below briefly to help you understand what the basic of the human life cycle are.
Day 1: fertilization: all human chromosomes are present; unique human life begins.
The four stages will be described below briefly to help you understand what the basic of the human life cycle are.Infancy- From the age of being a newborn to the age of two years (2), you were an infant. Changes you may have experienced were more coordination and teeth growing rapidly. The body was also quite out of proportion. These were all part of the infancy stage.
Childhood- Childhood lasts from the age of two years to adolescence (puberty). Your bones and teeth were growing rapidly and soon changes such as teeth being replaced with permanents happen. You also develop your intellectual skills and pretty much you have quite changed from being an infant.
Adolescence- Adolescence is the age where the body becomes sexually mature. Changes you may be going through are acne, increased growth and deeper voice (for boys). Girls also gain extra weight during this time. It is sometimes a emotionally distressing time for teenagers.
Adulthood- Adulthood is the age where the body slowly slows down. Certain changes such as hair falling out and physical activity decreasing are normal as you age (thirties and above). If you are over forty, you are considered a older adult. This however doesn't stop someone from doing the things they enjoy.
• Fertilization and Fetal Development
Day 1: fertilization: all human chromosomes are present; unique human life begins.Day 6: embryo begins implantation in the uterus.
Day 22: heart begins to beat with the child's own blood, often a different type than the mothers'.
Week 3: By the end of third week the child's backbone spinal column and nervous system are forming. The liver, kidneys and intestines begin to take shape.
Week 4: By the end of week four the child is ten thousand times larger than the fertilized egg.
Week 5: Eyes, legs, and hands begin to develop.
Week 6: Brain waves are detectable; mouth and lips are present; fingernails are forming.
Week 7: Eyelids, and toes form, nose distinct. The baby is kicking and swimming.
Week 8: Every organ is in place, bones begin to replace cartilage, and fingerprints begin to form. By the 8th week the baby can begin to hear.
Weeks 9 and 10: Teeth begin to form, fingernails develop. The baby can turn his head, and frown. The baby can hiccup.
Weeks 10 and 11: The baby can "breathe" amniotic fluid and urinate. Week 11 the baby can grasp objects placed in its hand; all organ systems are functioning. The baby has a skeletal structure, nerves, and circulation.
Week 12: The baby has all of the parts necessary to experience pain, including nerves, spinal cord, and thalamus. Vocal cords are complete. The baby can suck its thumb.
Week 14: At this age, the heart pumps several quarts of blood through the body every day.
Week 15: The baby has an adult's taste buds.
Month 4: Bone Marrow is now beginning to form. The heart is pumping 25 quarts of blood a day. By the end of month 4 the baby will be 8-10 inches in length and will weigh up to half a pound.
Week 17: The baby can have dream (REM) sleep.
Week 19: Babies can routinely be saved at 21 to 22 weeks after fertilization, and sometimes they can be saved even younger
Week 20: The earliest stage at which Partial birth abortions are performed. At 20 weeks the baby recognizes its' mothers voice.
Months 5 and 6: The baby practices breathing by inhaling amniotic fluid into its developing lungs. The baby will grasp at the umbilical cord when it feels it. Most mothers feel an increase in movement, kicking, and hiccups from the baby. Oil and sweat glands are now functioning. The baby is now twelve inches long or more, and weighs up to one and a half pounds.
Months 7 through 9: Eyeteeth are present. The baby opens and closes his eyes. The baby is using four of the five senses (vision, hearing, taste, and touch.) He knows the difference between waking and sleeping, and can relate to the moods of the mother. The baby's skin begins to thicken, and a layer of fat is produced and stored beneath the skin. Antibodies are built up, and the baby's heart begins to pump 300 gallons of blood per day. Approximately one week before the birth the baby stops growing, and "drops" usually head down into the pelvic cavity.
• Pregnancy, Birth, and Development
Changes women go through during pregnancy may include: weight gain, constipation, heartburn, darkening of certain skin areas, and pregnancy-induced diabetes, all due to the placenta's addtitional hormones.
The process of human childbirth is categorized in 3 stages of labour:
In the first stage, the uterus begins rhythmic contractions which steadily increase in strength and frequency, gradually widening and thinning the cervix.
During the second stage, the infant passes from the uterus, through the cervix and birth canal.
In the third stage, the placenta pulls from the uterine wall and is expelled through the birth canal.
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