Hunger Games Lab Analysis

1. In the Hunger Games Lab, the class split into three different phenotypes: the Stumpys, who picked up food with their wrists, knucklers, who could only pick up food with their knuckles, and pinchers, who could only pick up food with their fingers. The goal was basically to get the most food in order to survive and reproduce with another individual. This essentially simulated a real-world population of organisms trying to survive and reproduce in the real world and evolution as a result of natural selection.

2. The phenotype that was the best for capturing food were the pinchers because they could pick up the corks, which were the "food", the best and were, as a result the most adapted. In addition, the pinchers were also tied with the knucklers if not more in population.

3. Yes, the population did evolve, which was proven by the change in allele frequency, as the "a" allele became more common and the "A" allele became less common. In the beginning of the lab, the allele frequencies were equal, and by the end of the lab, the "a" allele was about two-thirds of the total alleles.

4. In the lab, the things that were not random were the phenotypes of the individuals and their ability to get their food, but the dispersion of the food and the offspring of two individuals were random.

5. Yes, the results could be different if the food was larger or smaller. For example, if the food was too large for the knucklers to pick up, then disruptive selection would act upon the population and the pinchers and stumpys would become more common. But if the food was smaller, then the stumpys would have a harder time, and directional selection would occur, moving toward the extreme phenotype.

6. There would be a difference if there was no incomplete dominance because there woud be no knucklers and there would be a more likely chance to get a stumpy than a pincher if a stumpy and pincher mated. As a result, the results of the lab could have been altered.

7. Natural selection causes evolution, as natural selection weeds out the alleles that are not beneficial and leaves the best alleles, therefore causing a change in allele frequency and evolution.

8. In the course of the lab, some individuals "cheated" as they did not follow the phenotype they were assigned, giving them an advantage. In nature, there really is no "cheating", instead the behaviors and traits that the organisms have are used to survive and give them an advantage over other species so that they can survive and reproduce.

9.  In evolution, the individual doesn't evolve, the population evolves because an individual is stuck with the traits it gets but as natural selection acts upon the population, it slowly causes evolution as every generation changes. In addition, natural selection acts on the phenotype, as it weeds out the traits or the phenotypes that don't benefit the population, not the alleles or the genotype.

10. One question that I still have after this lab, is why do organisms in the same area have different traits if only the best traits are left in population? Why don't species in the same environment evolve to have the same best traits, for example, if a big strong jaw with sharp teeth is such a successful trait in tigers, why don't gazelles or giraffes have big, sharp teeth?

 

Preparation for Experimentation (20 Time)

My 20 Time project is about finding the causes and effects of high blood pressure, in order to spread awareness about this common disease. So far the first two weeks of 20 tie have been used to gather information about high blood pressure which I have been doing in class and also creating my hypothesis for my experiment. In addition, I have consulted my dad, who is a "victim" of high blood pressure and I have learned the main causes of high blood pressure, which will become the variables that I will be testing. Furthermore, my dad gave me advice on measuring blood pressure and the types of medication that are used to treat high blood pressure. My next step is to start my experiment and begin to collect samples for my data and analysis. Overall, my end goal is to spread awareness about high blood pressure/hypertension, as it is a serious medical issue that many people don't know or have little knowledge about.

Unit 7 Reflection

In Unit 7, we mainly focused on ecology, the study of interactions between organisms and the environment. There were two main, or big, ideas in ecology that we studied and focused on through the course of the unit: homeostasis which is the balance and health of an environment and interdependence which says that all living things are dependent on one another for survival. Furthermore, there were other main ideas that we focused on, including the habitat, the niche which is the role/place of an organism, biotic and abiotic factors, and the different levels of organization. So in order to show the connections between the organisms (interdependence), the energy flow, and homeostasis, food webs and ecology pyramids are required. For example, food webs can show the interdependence between animals of an ecosystem and energy pyramids can show how each trophic level must be in balance (homeostasis) in order for the ecosystem to be healthy. Similarly, in population ecology, the boom and bust cycle can show how predator and prey share an interdependent relationship and carrying capacity shows homeostasis must be maintained so that the ecosystems are healthy. Ecosystem recycling and health both showed how nature balances out the environment through processes like cycling and extinctions. Even though the environment can balance things out by itself, human activity such as overexploitation and climate change have affected many species, killing off species and hurting ecosystems. This is where conservation biology comes into play, and how each of us can work together to save and preserve the natural wildlife, through methods like identifying hotspots, protecting what we still have, smart planning, restoring, and sustainable development.                                                        
                                                                                                       Here is a food web I created:

So in order to learn more about the health of our planet and the subject of conservation biology, we set out to do the Conservation Biologist Project, where we were assigned a biome to research and make a presentation about the wildlife and its threats. As a result, we learned about the organisms as well as the threats that the ecosystem faced and how we could potentially solve these problems. During the course of the project, we had to work in a group with three other people and in addition to learning the educational concepts, we also learned how to work in a group with different types of people and collaborate with them efficiently. Me, personally, have always been more of a passive-aggressive person, so when someone made me upset I would have to get back at them. But while I was working on the Conservation Biology project, I had to learn to be more assertive and compromise with other in order to get the task done in a reasonable time and manner. Overall, during the project not only did I have to learn the material I also had to collaborate and compromise well with my partners and be assertive rather than passive or aggressive.