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=Boricua Science Class Student Work Space=

Student Name:
Corrine Mojica

End of Term Reflection
Here are some of the activities we did in class this term: Harper's Magazine ("Boots on the Ice"), Hurricane Evacuation Plan, Designer Babies (GATACA), Genetic Diseases, Evolution Movies/Research, NYT Science Reviews, Punnett Squares, Chemical Bond Diagrams, The Periodic Table, The Birth and Death of Stars

[insert text here] [insert text here] Computer Class = [More/Less] Videos = [More/Less] Student Group Activities = [More/Less] Evaluations = [More/Less] [insert text here]
 * What 2-3 activities did you enjoy/learn the most?
 * What 2-3 activities topic did you find the most difficult to understand?
 * Describe how could we improve this course in the future
 * Explain why you enjoyed, or why you struggled through, this class, offering whatever insights you may feel are valuable:

Name of Disease
biotinidase deficiency

Symptoms

 * 1) Biotindase deficiency can cause seizures, weak muscle tone, breathing problems and delayed development.
 * 2) If untreated biotinidase deficiency can lead to hearing loss, eye abnormalities and loss of vision, lack of coordination, skin rashes, hair loss and candidiasis, a fungal infection.

Genes

 * 1) biotinidase Symbol: BTD

Cytogenetic Location
3p25

Base Pair Sites
15,618,258 to 15,662,328

Community
Southside Williamsburg

Evacuation Center
__ Location: __ Aviaton High School 45-30 36 Street Long Island City N.Y. 11101 __ Implemented Plan: __ I tried to contact someone from the school via the telephone number (718) 361-2032 that could give me information on the center’s evacuation plan on various occasions. Each time they simply continued to put me on the line with a different answering machine after a series of I don’t knows.

Your Evacuation Plan
__ Go Bag __ : In a waterproof backpack I would have the following: 1. Important documents such as: photo IDs, birth certificates, insurance cards and social security cards. 2. Extra set of house keys. 3. Credit, ATM cards and at least a hundred dollars in cash. 4. Bottled water and non perishable food such as energy bars, canned foods and a manual can opener. 5. Battery operated radio and flash light. 6. First aid kit including child Tylenol. 7. Personal hygiene products such as: soap, feminine hygiene products, tooth brushes and toothpaste. __ Directions __ : Bus Directions- Take B61 to Jackson Ave. / Queens blvd. then transfer to Q 32 or take B24 to 48 Ave./ Greenpoint Ave. then transfer to Q39 bus. Train Directions- take G towards Queens, transfer at LIC/ Court Sq. for 7 toward Flushing and exit at 33 St.

__ Family plan __ : In the event of a hurricane warning my family would meet on the corner of South 1st and Hooper street with our to go bags then decide the appropriate means of public transportation, since we do not have a car.

#1
The writer, Natalie Angier of the article “What People Owe Fish: A Lot” was inspired after reading Neil Shubin’s new book, “Your Inner Fish”. The books states that human and other vertebrate animals’ behavior and body parts were originally devised by fish. In this article Angier states that fish invented the head, where humans have a skull that protects the brain which is attached to the sensory organs. Angier also states that fish were the first to have sets of sense organs such as: two eyes, two ears and twinned nostrils. Fish, according to the article were also the first to have pairing limbs. Dr. Shubin, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago stated that the arches in fish gills are related to the cranial nerves that humans use to control muscles that allow them to speak and hear. Our fishlike similarities go beyond physical characteristics. Scientists have also found behavioral similarities. Dr Michael Taborsky is a behavioral ecologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Dr. Taborsky and his colleagues have observed the social life of a colorful freshwater fish from Lake Tanganyika called African cichlids. The cichlids live in large groups of ten or more fish. There is a dominant breeding pair who offers the helpers security and protection against predators in exchange for the unrelated helpers’ assistance in defending the territory, maintaining the nest clean and caring for the dominant breeding pair’s eggs. Another case of behavioral similarity was discovered by Dr. David Reznick of the University of California. Dr. Reznick discovered that female guppies go through a kind of menopause, like women. This article relates to chapter twenty-five in the textbook The Sciences an Integrated Approach because it is the chapter relating to evolution. The article is stating the theory that humans evolved from fishes. The article demonstrates evidence supporting this theory by stating the discoveries made by Dr. Shubin, Dr. Taborsky and Dr. Reznick. Angier, Natalie “What People Owe Fish: A Lot” New York Times Science section: Page F1  I found this article interesting because I found the idea that humans could have evolved from fish to be inconceivable. The only theory of human evolution I knew was Darwin’s theory. Darwin’s theory states the progression from chimpanzee to humans just as Neil Shubin’s theory states the progression from fish to humans. From this article I learned that it is in fact possible that humans could have evolved from fish. Due to the evidence provided through the scientific observations mentioned the theory as unbelievable as it may sound is in fact possible.

#2
There are skeptical evolution theories that states that when a population becomes secluded by a geographical barrier, it can evolve into a new species. The journal Nature presents two new studies that support the theory. One study is on the kentia palm and the other is on the fish in a Nicaraguan lake. Dr. Baker and his colleagues have discovered that the kentia palm, which can only be found in the wild on a remote island in the South Pacific called Lord Howe Island. It is located 350 miles of east Australia. The kentia palm has an unexpected story to tell about evolution. According to their conclusions about two million years ago an ancestral species of the palm tree split in two and one evolved into the kentia palm. The Lord Howe Island is also the home of a similar species the Howea belmoreana. Dr. Baker and his colleagues found that the two species are more alike than when compared to any other living palms. One difference between the two palms is that the kentia palm grows about 30 feet higher than the Howea belmoreana. The second difference between the species is that the kentia palms thrive in soft sedimentary rock while the Howea belmoreana thrives in soils formed from volcanic rock. The third difference is that the kentia palm flowers seven weeks earlier than the Howea belmoreana, which makes it virtually impossible for them to interbreed. The second study was done by Axel Meyer and his colleagues of the University of Konstanz. They examined two species of fish that live in Lake Apoyo, a volcanic crater lake in Nicaragua. The first species, the Midas cichlid, scientific name Amphilophus citrinellus has a large body and uses its powerful jaw to crush snails at the bottom of the lake. The second species of fish is the slender arrow cichlid its scientific name is A. zaliosus. The slender arrow cichlid lives in open water and eats insect larvae. After studying the DNA of both species and comparing those to the DNA of the fish in neighboring lakes Dr. Meyer’s team concluded that the Midas cichlid originally invaded the lake and then the arrow cichlids branched off the Midas cichlids. The arrow cichlids evolved having a distinct body and no longer breed with their parent species. The theory’s critics have raised a few possible alternative explanations for each study; however they consider the alternatives skeptical. This article relates to chapter twenty-five in the textbook of the Sciences an Integrated Approach because it is the chapter relating to evolution. The article is stating the theory of allopatric speciation. Allopatric speciation is the evolutionary process in which one species divides into two because the original homogenous population has become separated and both groups diverge from each other.

Zimmer, Carl “In New Studies, Palm Trees and Lake Fish Dispel Doubts About a theory of Evolution” New York Times Science Section: Page F3  I learned that one species can divide into two different species due to separation of a geographical barrier and evolve into a whole new species that finally become incapable of interbreeding should they ever come together again. The population first becomes physically separated, by a geological process such as: the uplift of land, movement of a glacier or the formation of a body of water. Next the separated populations split, through changes in mating tactics or the use of their habitat. Third, they become reproductively separated because they become incapable of interbreeding. I found this article interesting because allopatric speciation gives a new point of view for theories of evolution that explain how different species of the same organism are created.

#3
Various scientists are studying animals with the goal of understanding why animals and humans sleep. A group of scientist at Indiana State University observes twelve green iguanas as they record the iguana’s brain waves. The Indiana State scientists have observed that the iguanas sleep sometimes with one or both eyes closed. Dr. Steven Lima, a biologist at Indiana State suggests that animals need to sleep, thus making sleeping a part of evolutionary history. Vertebrates were once considered the only animals to sleep, however this theory was disproven when scientist discovered that invertebrates such as honeybees, crayfish and fruit flies also sleep. Dr. Giulio Tononi, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin has discovered similarities between fruit flies and humans. Fruit flies and humans have neurons and produce low frequency electrical activity also known as slow wave sleep. Another similarity is that both need to rest for at least ten hours a night and if they are kept awake longer, they require more sleep. Dr. Tononi suggests that originated as a way to allow neurons are constantly learning as long as you are awake. Learning strengthens the connections between neurons, this is called synapses. Synapses require a large amount of energy. Dr. Tononi and his colleague, Dr. Chiara Cirelli presented this hypothesis in a paper that was published in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews. Researchers have discovered that humans and other mammals experience a mixture of slow wave sleep and REM. REM or rapid eye movement occurs usually late at night after periods of intense slow wave sleep when dreams occur. Scientists have suggested that REM plays an important role in memory or learning. Dr. Jerome Siegel, a sleep expert at the University of California opposes that hypothesis in the Oct. 27 issue of Nature. Dr. Siegel suggests that REM sleep solely makes you as alert as possible while sleeping and is not as important as slow wave sleep. He reinforces his hypothesis by stating that patients who have endured brain injuries or patients who take medications that reduce REM have not had intellectual or emotional problems due to a lack of REM. Dr. Lima and his colleagues argues that sleep patterns may have been effected during evolution by a constant threat of predators. Dr. Lima presents the fact that it is dangerous for animals to be vulnerable for some many hours each day. The only other imaginable way to allow the brain to recover safely is the theory of allowing small parts of the brain to sleep at a time. Dr. Lima also opposes this idea with a mathematical model that suggests that shutting down the whole brain is safer due to the fact that partial sleeping requires more hours of sleep. Dr. Lima and his colleagues support their theory with observations made as ducks slept. Scientist study sleep in order to find treatments for sleep disorders and have a better understanding of the required characteristics of sleep. This article relates to chapter twenty-five in the textbook of the Sciences an Integrated Approach because it is the chapter relating to evolution. This article represents sleep as a part of evolutionary history. It states that animals like humans need to sleep in order to function properly.

Zimmer, Carl “Down for the Count” New York Times Science Section: Page D1

I learned that vertebrates and some invertebrate animals sleep like humans do. I also learned that certain animals have the ability to sleep with one eye open. I also learned that some animals have the capability to shut down only half their brain while sleeping for their own protection from predators.

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