Honey Bee Project Reflection ~
Honey Bees are very important to life as we know it, almost all of our vegetables and fruits are pollinated by honey bees. Without them a lot of our food sources would deplete or disappear completely. This is also why we need to be concerned about there lively hood. Colony collapse disorder is a growing problem, this is when bees suddenly abandon their hives and don't seem to be able to find a way home. We need to find a solution to this so that we don't lose our population of honey bees completely.
For this project I chose to focus on certain plants and why honey bees are attracted to them more than others, also I focussed on the benefits of planting a bee garden. I learned a lot through this project, I never knew that plants emit a electrical charge that communicates to honey bees whether they have already been visited by another bee or not. For exhibition I produced a poster with a garden I created digitally and then included photos of the actual flowers represented. For this project I am most proud of the knowledge I gained and the product I produced. I wish I had spent more time on the final product, I also wish I had focused more on the research notes and finished them in a more timely manner.
For this project I chose to focus on certain plants and why honey bees are attracted to them more than others, also I focussed on the benefits of planting a bee garden. I learned a lot through this project, I never knew that plants emit a electrical charge that communicates to honey bees whether they have already been visited by another bee or not. For exhibition I produced a poster with a garden I created digitally and then included photos of the actual flowers represented. For this project I am most proud of the knowledge I gained and the product I produced. I wish I had spent more time on the final product, I also wish I had focused more on the research notes and finished them in a more timely manner.
Dissection Project Reflection ~
For my dissection project I chose my specimen to be a cat. I chose this because I was very interested in cat anatomy, they are such amazing creatures and I wanted to know more about there muscle structure. I learned so much about the animal through the dissection, my cat had kittens and it was different because they were growing in only one horn of the cats uterus while most cats will have kittens in both horns. I also learned about myself through this process, I found that I was even more interested in the subject matter than I originally thought and would be possibly interested in veterinary science after this project.
Crime Scene Investigation Project ~
Project Reflection!
For the Crime Scene Investigation Project our Sophomore Biology class learned about many different facets of investigation to solve a crime. We rolled this project out by learning about exoneration, the act of releasing someone from blame, in this case we learned about its effects on convictions in the U.S.. We learned about how our Justice System is often flawed and how the processing of DNA has greatly improved how the system works and has let to the exoneration of many people who have been wrongfully convicted.
During this project I was assigned Crime Scene #2 with my partner Kaylie, although our case ran cold and no answers were found we learned about and used very interesting forensic sciences to come to this conclusion. Both partners were given different parts within the project, we each wrote individual evidence reports on certain forensic sciences, after writing each evidence report we did a mini lab representing what we had just researched. My first evidence report was about the Analysis of Skeletal Remains, also known as Forensic Anthropology. In class we examined the remains/bones of our victim, by doing this we were able to identify that the victim was male with a height of between 5’1 - 5’6 and had been dead 1-3 years. With this information we were able to narrow down the possible victims list to 3 possible missing persons. My next evidence report was about Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). MtDNA is different in that it is not found in the nucleus of a cell, it can not identify an individual on it’s own, this type of DNA connects the maternal line and is the exact same as a person’s mother’s. In class we did a lab on DNA using Gel electrophoresis, to do this we put a small amount of DNA collected from the victim and put inside a gel mixture and then connected this to three batteries. The electrical charge moved the DNA through the gel and made a pattern of lines that could be matched up with the victims families results. Based on the results from the mitochondrial DNA analyzed, it was determined that victim’s name was Nathan Herron. Now that our victim was identified we moved on to finding the perpetrator, for this my third evidence report was on fingerprinting. Specifically superglue fuming and how it is used to reveal latent fingerprints. In class we used the same technique as they do in a real lab, we put a pocket knife found at the scene in a container with a heater and super glue. The super glue was evaporated by the heater and the super glue particles adhered to the oils left behind on the knife in a fingerprint. Comparing the fingerprints taken from our suspects and running them against the fingerprints taken from the crime scene we were able to determine that the fingerprints being examined did not match those found on the pocket knife. My final evidence report was about a coroner's report and how one is written. We looked at a coroner’s report for our specific victim in the classroom and were able to determine that our victim, Nathan Herron, was dead for upwards of three years and had a gunshot wound from the back of his head with an exit wound in the front of his skull. Also trace evidence of blood and hair under his fingernails was found. Although our case ended up being a cold one and not justice was found learning how to get to that conclusion and going through the motions of real crime investigators was really awesome, I’m really glad we did this project, I learned a lot.
The forensic science that was most interesting to me during this project was DNA processing and blood typing. I found it fascinating that with PCR (polymerase chain reaction) miniscule strands of DNA can be replicated thousands of times. The technology to do this is so amazingly advanced compared to ten years ago that in ten years who knows what we will be able to do. Also I loved learning about how blood typing works. I knew about blood typing but never how it actually works. It is very simple in the end but I thought it was really cool to learn how to look at blood samples and their reactions to be able to find the blood type. Plus I found it really interesting to know how different blood types react to each other and which ones can mix and which ones can’t. I can’t wait to find out my own blood type now!
During this project I think I did well on writing the evidence reports. I grew into technical writing as it was very hard for me when we first started. I worked very hard on my research and my background in creative writing helped me with the writing itself even though the two writing styles are very different. If I could re-do this project I would definitely work harder on time management, also I would work harder on not falling behind when I missed school. I was gone quite a bit throughout this project and I had to work extra hard to be on top of things when I got back to school after being so sick. In the past I have lacked in the area of good time management however I believe I improved on it throughout the course of the project, although I would like to improve further. This project was a lot of work for me yet I found it to be very fulfilling and fun, I can’t wait for more awesome projects in Biology!
During this project I was assigned Crime Scene #2 with my partner Kaylie, although our case ran cold and no answers were found we learned about and used very interesting forensic sciences to come to this conclusion. Both partners were given different parts within the project, we each wrote individual evidence reports on certain forensic sciences, after writing each evidence report we did a mini lab representing what we had just researched. My first evidence report was about the Analysis of Skeletal Remains, also known as Forensic Anthropology. In class we examined the remains/bones of our victim, by doing this we were able to identify that the victim was male with a height of between 5’1 - 5’6 and had been dead 1-3 years. With this information we were able to narrow down the possible victims list to 3 possible missing persons. My next evidence report was about Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). MtDNA is different in that it is not found in the nucleus of a cell, it can not identify an individual on it’s own, this type of DNA connects the maternal line and is the exact same as a person’s mother’s. In class we did a lab on DNA using Gel electrophoresis, to do this we put a small amount of DNA collected from the victim and put inside a gel mixture and then connected this to three batteries. The electrical charge moved the DNA through the gel and made a pattern of lines that could be matched up with the victims families results. Based on the results from the mitochondrial DNA analyzed, it was determined that victim’s name was Nathan Herron. Now that our victim was identified we moved on to finding the perpetrator, for this my third evidence report was on fingerprinting. Specifically superglue fuming and how it is used to reveal latent fingerprints. In class we used the same technique as they do in a real lab, we put a pocket knife found at the scene in a container with a heater and super glue. The super glue was evaporated by the heater and the super glue particles adhered to the oils left behind on the knife in a fingerprint. Comparing the fingerprints taken from our suspects and running them against the fingerprints taken from the crime scene we were able to determine that the fingerprints being examined did not match those found on the pocket knife. My final evidence report was about a coroner's report and how one is written. We looked at a coroner’s report for our specific victim in the classroom and were able to determine that our victim, Nathan Herron, was dead for upwards of three years and had a gunshot wound from the back of his head with an exit wound in the front of his skull. Also trace evidence of blood and hair under his fingernails was found. Although our case ended up being a cold one and not justice was found learning how to get to that conclusion and going through the motions of real crime investigators was really awesome, I’m really glad we did this project, I learned a lot.
The forensic science that was most interesting to me during this project was DNA processing and blood typing. I found it fascinating that with PCR (polymerase chain reaction) miniscule strands of DNA can be replicated thousands of times. The technology to do this is so amazingly advanced compared to ten years ago that in ten years who knows what we will be able to do. Also I loved learning about how blood typing works. I knew about blood typing but never how it actually works. It is very simple in the end but I thought it was really cool to learn how to look at blood samples and their reactions to be able to find the blood type. Plus I found it really interesting to know how different blood types react to each other and which ones can mix and which ones can’t. I can’t wait to find out my own blood type now!
During this project I think I did well on writing the evidence reports. I grew into technical writing as it was very hard for me when we first started. I worked very hard on my research and my background in creative writing helped me with the writing itself even though the two writing styles are very different. If I could re-do this project I would definitely work harder on time management, also I would work harder on not falling behind when I missed school. I was gone quite a bit throughout this project and I had to work extra hard to be on top of things when I got back to school after being so sick. In the past I have lacked in the area of good time management however I believe I improved on it throughout the course of the project, although I would like to improve further. This project was a lot of work for me yet I found it to be very fulfilling and fun, I can’t wait for more awesome projects in Biology!