The Biology Spot: 

The Biology Classroom 

The Microbiology Classroom--------- Home -------- The Physiology Classroom

Weekly Schedule for Moore’s Biology

Week 3: Monday, September 9 to Friday, September 13

Visit our web site: https://members.tripod.com/moorebiology/

Microbe of the week:

What's the largest living thing in the world?

Did you say the blue whale? That's a good guess. After all, the average blue whale measures about 75-80 feet long (23-24.5meters) and weighs about 110 tons (99,800 kilograms). The blue whale is the largest living animal on earth. But there is another living thing that's bigger. Much, much bigger. It stretches 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) across and covers an area larger than 1,600 football fields. Most of it is hidden underground.  It's..... a fungus. Yes, a fungus with the scientific name Armillariaostoyae <are-mill-are-ee-uh ah-stoy-ee>. Known more commonly as the honey mushroom, this giant fungus was found in the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon. Courtesy of the "Stalking the Mysterious Microbe" web site: http://www.microbe.org/index.html

Quote of the week: 

Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of our science.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Question of the week: What tree has a caffeine content twice that of coffee?  Its fruit is a star-shaped follicle with wight seeds, and these seeds, or nuts, contain an essential oil and a glucoside, which are used to make a heart stimulant.  Combining its fruit with the extract of another plant, it is used in manufacturing what popular plant?

­-Question taken from Paul Kuttner's book, Science's Trickiest Questions

Answer to last week's question: Almost every living thing has them.  The highest number can be found in Ophioglossum reticulatum ( a species of fern) and the smallest amount in  Myrmecia pilosula (a species of Australian ant).What are they?  And why does every living thing gave twice as many haploids as diploids, even the aforementioned fern and ant?  They are chromosomes.  The fern has 1,260 and the cells of the Australian ant have only one each.    Organisms that arise from the union of two sexes have 2 sets of chromosomes, these organisms are said to have diploid cells.  Most human cells are diploid containing 46 chromosomes.   However, human sex cells are haploid containing only  1 set of chromosomes,  23 chromosomes in all.

Research of the week:Find an article related to biology in a credible science magazine( Scientific American, Discover, Science or Nature). Read it and write at least ½ to one page reaction.  Article must be at least one page in length.  You must also include a copy of the article.  Our library carries Scientific American, Discover and Science.  You can also access brief easy-to-read articles on the Nature magazine web-site: ( http://www.nature.com/nsu/) and click on any of the news articles.

1) Factors Influencing the Ecology of an Environment

-biotic

-abiotic

2) Levels of Organization found in Nature

-atoms through biosphere

-niche vs. habitat

-def. of population, community , ecosystem and biosphere

3)Relationships in an ecosystem

-commensalism, parasitism and mutualism

4) Niches an Ecosystem

-autotrophs (producers)

-heterotrophs (primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary consumers, herbivore, carnivore and omnivore)

-decomposers

5) Two general ways of obtaining energy

-photosynthesis

-cellular respiration

6) Laws of Energy Flow in Nature

-1^st law of thermodynamics: conservation of energy

-10%law

7) Mapping Energy Flow in an Ecosystem

-food chain

-food web

-biomass pyramid

-trophic levels

8) Nutrient Flow in an Ecosystem

-carbon cycle

-water cycle

-nitrogen cycle

-phosphorus cycle