Topsoil

Topsoil is actually defined right within the word. It is the top of the soil- the outermost layer of soil that exists. Topsoil can range from 2 inches to 8 inches deep and is usually where mostly all plants are planted. This is because the plants get their nutrients from this layer and it is also where the roots take up water. The layer following topsoil is subsoil.  Most of the earth's biological soil activity takes place in the topsoil, especially since it has an extremely high concentration of organic matter, humus and microorganisms.

 In the picture above, we see the topsoil and some vegetables planted on it. The roots of the plant were able to take up the nutrients from the soil and water to grow to the way it is now.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Plant Nutrition.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 717. Print.

Bryophyte

Bryophytes make up the division Bryophyta. They consist of mosses, liverworts and hornworts. Bryophytes are simple, nonvascular plants that inhabit land, logs, rocks, or streams but they lack may terrestrial adaptations of vascular plants.They have no true roots and no flowers. Above I took a picture of a moss that grew beside a log since mosses are one example of bryophytes.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Plant Diversity I: The Colonization of Land.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 552. Print.

Simple Fruit

The ovary of a flower usually develops into a fruit so that it can protect the seeds inside from wind or animals. The ovary starts to grow because pollination triggers hormonal changes, which causes the fruit to begin developing. The pericarp is the wall of the ovary, which is the thickened wall of the fruit.  As the flower goes away, the ovary grows which parallels the development of seeds. Without the pollination of flowers, the fruit does not develop. A fruit that comes from a single ovary is called a simple fruit, which can be either fleshy or dry. An example of this, as depicted above, would be an apple. An apple is a fleshy fruit. The fleshy part is mostly from flower parts that were fused together located at the base of the flower; the core of the apple was the only thing that develops from the ovary.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Plant Reproduction and Development.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 738. Print.

Kingdoms

When classifying life, a kingdom is the second broadest in taxonomy after domain. The five types of kingdoms that exist are Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Monera. Animalia kingdom consists of animals, plantae of plants, fungi consists of fungi, protista of eucaryotic algae and protozoa, monera of bacteria and blue-green algae.

These plants below belong to the plantae kingdom.

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Introduction: Themes In the Study of Life.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 10. Print.

Bacteria

Bacteria is one of the prokaryotic domains, the other being Archaea. Since it is a prokaryote, it has no nuclear membrane, no organelles except for ribosomes in the cytoplasm and all its genetic material (DNA) is coiled up strands. It is also single-cellular. The domain consists of bacterium, more than one being called bacteria. Bacteria is rod-shaped and can appear in chains. Bacteria is involved in infections, diseases, fermentation, nitrogen fixation or putrefaction.

Above is a picture of feet because bacteria, whether good or bad, is already on the skin in general. There's especially a lot of bacteria around the feet which explains why our feet smell bad after taking our sneakers off. Since the bacteria was in a moist, dark and warm area, it was able to send off its smell which is what gives our feet and socks the extremely bad odor.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Introduction: Themes In the Study of Life.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 9. Print.

Cohesion

When hydrogen bonds are able to hold a substance together, this is called cohesion. A good example of this is liquid water. When the bonds break, they quickly form and re-form. They last extremly short but the hydrogen bonds are able to make this process of breaking,forming and reforming very quickly so that the water sticks together. Therefore, water molecules are able to bond to their neighbors, making water more structured than most liquids. This is pictured below in the photo with the water molecules staying together due to cohesion.

Cohesion also plays a big part when it comes to transporting water against gravity in plants. When water enters the roots, it moved upward through microscopic vessels to the leaves. The water in these vessels in the veins of the left replace the water that evaporates from the leaft. Water molecules leaving the veins tug molecules farther down in the vessel because of hydrogen bonding. Because of this, the upward pull is transmitted along the vessel down to the roots. Adhesion also plays a role.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Water and the Fitness of the Environment.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 38. Print.

Population

When an area is inhabited by a group of individuals of the same species, it is known as a population. Some populations are isolated, rarely reproducing, while others are denser. For example, a mountain range or unconnected river can separate a population. Individuals near a population center are more closely related to members of the same population than other populations because they are more likely to breed with those of the same population. In a population's gene pool, all of the alleles in the individuals of the population are considered at all gene loci. An allele is said to be fixed in a gene pool if all members are homozyous for the same allele, meaning they all have a specific trait. However, there are usually two or more alleles for a gene. To refer to a population's frequencies of alleles and genotypes, the term genetic structure is used.

An example of a population of ducks is depicted above.

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “The Evolution of Populations.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 429. Print.

CAM Plant

A CAM plant has adapted to being in dry conditions because it has evolved to becoming a water-storing plants. The stomata of these plants are open during the night, but closed during the day so that they won't intake any carbon dioxide in the leaves and help conserve water. At night, the process of crassulacean acid metabolism takes place and the stomatas of these plants open up and they take up carbon dioxide so that it can be made into a variety of organic acids. These organic acids that are made at night are stored in the vacuoles of the plant until morning, when the stomata close. When they receive sunlight and it can supply enough for supplying ATP and NADPH for the Calvin Cycle, organic acids that were made from the night before release carbon dioxide to become incorporated into sugar in the chloroplasts.

An example of a CAM Plant would be a pineapple, as depicted below.

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Photosynthesis.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 184. Print.

Autotroph

Autotrophs are organisms that produce their own food. In other words, they do not have to eat other organisms to obtain organic food molecules. They are called the producers of the biosphere because they are able to make organic molecules from inorganic raw materials in the environment.

An example of autotrophs would be plants because all they require are water, minterals from the soil and carbon dioxide from the air. In fact, they are considered photoautotrophs because they use receive energy to synthesize carbohydrates, lips, other organic substances and proteins from sunlight.

Other examples of autotrophs include algae, certain protists, and some prokaryotes.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Photosynthesis.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 295. Print.

Heterotroph

Heterotrophs are organisms who are not capable of producing their own food. Therefore, they are known as consumers. They must live on compounds produced by the organisms they eat, such as plants or other animals. Decomposers, such as bacteria, are a type of heterotroph that consume the remains of dead organisms like feces or carcasses. Mostly all heterotrophs are dependent on photoautotrophs for food and oxygen.

This duck is an example of a heterotroph because it cannot produce its own food.

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Photosynthesis.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 168. Print.

Trait

Each variant for a character is called a trait. In other words, it distinguishes one character from another. For example, in Gregor Mendell's pea experiment he used pea plants that different traits.While some flowers had a whitish color to them, other flowers were purple. Also some pea plants were smaller in height and others larger. Without traits, we would all look the same. Traits are what make us different. Below I have a picture of a cockatiel. Some traits he has are big, round eyes, long feathers above his head, long tail, gray body, yellowish hue to his face, and orange ears. Traits are what make him the adorable little creature he is!

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Mendel and the Gene Idea.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 241. Print.

Base

Unlike an acid, a base reduces the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution. The hydrogen ion concentration is reduced in some bases by a higher hydroxide concentration which can then form with hydrogen ions to create water. When there is a higher concentration of hydroxide ions than hydrogen ions in a solution, this is known as a basic solution. However, if there are an equal number of hydroxide and hydrogen ions, this is known as a neutral.

The picture above shows household bleach, which is at a level of 12 on the pH scale. This solution is more basic than solutions with values lower than 12, but not as basic as those with values of 13 or 14. The higher the number, the more basic a solution is on the pH scale.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Water and the Fitness of the Environment.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 44. Print.

Acid

When dealing with hydrogen ions, an acid is the substance that increases its concentration in a solution. Additional hydrogen ions are added to a solution when acids dissolve in water. When there is a higher concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution than hydroxide ions, it is known as an acidic solution.

Depicted above is vinegar. It has a value of 3 on the pH scale, meaning it is more acidic than any other solutions with a value higher than 3, but not as acidic as those lower than 3. As the numbers decline on the pH scale, the more acidic the solution becomes (less than 7). This is because the concentration of hydrogen ions increase as the numbers lower on the scale.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Water and the Fitness of the Environment.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 43. Print.

Endotherm

Unlike an ecotherm, an endotherm uses its own metabolism in order to receive body heat. Endotherms are able to maintain a constant body temperature, even if the temperature outside cools or heats up suddenly. Examples of endothermic creatures include birds, some fishes, several insects and mammals. Although endotherms can be warmer than their surroundings, they are able to cool down themselves without having to depend on shade or other factors. Endotherms can also be phsyically active for a longer period of time than ectotherms because they have higher levels of aerobic metabolism, which is what helps sustain any physical activity that is rigorous. However, endotherms also consume more food than ectotherms because they reuquire more energy. Three factors that are important when considering endothermy are active aerobic metabolism, mobility and body temperature.

A human being is considered endothermic because they can maintain a constant body temperature. For example, in the picture below this human being is wiping sweat off the forehead. When the body overheats, we sweat to cool down which is an example of us maintaining a constant body temperature.

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Controlling the Internal Environment.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 866. Print.

Vestigial Organs

Vestigial organs are structures in the body that are no longer important to the organism. In other words, the body can function normally without them. This is why we can remove several things from the body such as the appendix, tonsils, adenoids, wisdom teeth and others without causing harm to the body. However, long ago these organs did have important functions to our ancestors. It would be useless to provide blood, space and nutrients to organs that no longer are important, so natural selection favors individuals with reduced versions of the organs and tends to phase out obsolete structures. Changes in patterns of gene expression while embryos involve structural changes. Changes in an organism's embryonic development from natural selection are represented by vestigial organs.

Depicted below is a vestigial organs called "Darwin's point of ear" on a human. Long ago these were used by our ancestors but now it does not hold an important function to us anymore.

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Controlling the Internal Environment.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 866. Print.

Phototropism

Phototropism is the growth of a plant towards or away from the sunlight. Photropism can be considered negative or positive. Postive photropism is when the shoot of a plant grows towards the light. Negative photropism is when the shoot of a plant grows away from the light. For example if the shoot of a grass was iluminated by one side, it would bend to the side that the light is coming from because the coleoptile, where the seedling is kept, was being lit up. However, if it was dark, it would keep growing up straight because there is no light for it to bend to.

In the picture below, phototropism is shown because the plant is bending towards the windowsill where sunlight is coming from. The plant receives the light, therefore naturally causing it to bend. It curves toward the light because of a higher concentration of the growth-promoting chemical on the darker side of the coleoptile.

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Control Systems In Plants.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 752. Print.

Carnivore

A carnivore fits into one of the three dietary categories that animals are classified into. A carnivore is the opposite of a herbivore. Carnivores eat other heterotrophs, or animals. Some examples of carnivores would be sharks, snakes, hawks and even spiders. In fact, the famous Tyrannosaurus-Rex was a carnivore himself. Most carnivores have adapted and evolved to having sharp teeth to rip apart their meat.

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Animal Nutrition.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 797. Print.

Herbivore

A herbivore is one of the three dietary categories that animals fit into. These types of consumers eat mainly autotrophs. In other words, they may eat things like plant or algae but will stay away from meat or other heterotrophs. Some examples of herbivores would be hares, gorillas, cows and even snails. Usually, these animals have adapted and evolved to having flatter teeth than their carnivore friends who need sharper teeth to rip apart their meat. Below is a picture of a cow eating grass.

999. 797. Print.

Works Cited

Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Animal Nutrition.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 797. Print.

Omnivore

An omnivore is one of the three dietary categories that exist for animals existing on earth. An omnivore not only eats autotrophs, such as plants or algae, but also consumes meat, or other heterotrophs, as well. Omnivores do not only eat meat, and omnivores do not only eat plants. The best way to  describe an omnivore is by looking at the dietary habits of a human being. Humans like to eat a lot of meat, but also can have salad on the side which consists of autotrophs. Other omnivores also include crows, raccoons, and cockroaches.

Depicted below is a human consuming rice, peas, and meat. The human is eating both meat and other things such as peas and rice which are not meat.

Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Animal Nutrition.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 797. Print.

Sepals

Sepals- These are the green leaves that are depicted under the petals in this flower above. (Note that not all sepals are green, some can be the same color as the petals.) Before it opens, the sepals protect the flower bud and form the calyx of the flower. Once the flower has opened, the sepals extend from the bottom of the flower.

Works Cited:

sepal. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Retrieved June 27, 2011, from Dictionary.com website:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sepal

Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Plant Diversity II: The Evolution of Seed Plants.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 567. Print.

My Mascot

The mascot I will be using to show that the following pictures in this blog are originally taken by me. :)

AP Biology Summer Assignment

Goal: Creating an interesting blog with descriptions and photos of 20 (or more) vocabulary words from the list. Your work should be creative, in your own words, and cite any references that you use.

Photos: Take a picture that somehow illustrates the concept. Your picture can be a literal or figurative explanation of the concept. Please cite the reference for the definition along with a brief explanation of the concept and how your picture fits (if it’s not obvious).

Important: Include a mascot or widget of your choosing (a stuffed animal, a toy, a talisman, something uniquely you.)

Blog: You can make a blog for free. www.blogger.com, www.blogspot.com,www.wordpress.com, www.posterous.com, www.edublogs.com.. Each words a little bit differently so check them all out before you begin.

Due date: The first day of school! You will provide your teacher with the web address of your blog and she will grade it.

Vocab Words:

1. carbon
2. covalent bonds
3. cohesion
4. adhesion
5. evaporative cooling
6. acid
7. base
8. buffer
9. polysaccharide
10. lipid
11. polypeptide
12. nucleic acid
13. osmosis
14. enzymes
15. cellular respiration
16. photosynthesis
17. fermentation
18. autotroph
19. heterotroph
20. C4 plant
21. CAM plant
22. trait
23. true-breeding
24. complete dominance
25. codominance
26. incomplete dominance
27. pleiotropy
28. epistasis
29. polygenic inheritance
30. quantitative characters
31. tobacco mosaic virus
32. model organism
33. apical meristems
34. artificial selection
35. vestigial organs
36. homologous structures
37. population
38. mutation
39. cline
40. sexual dimorphism
41. intrasexual selection
42. intersexual selection
43. polyploidy
44. kingdoms
45. bacteria
46. bryophyte
47. gymnosperm
48. xylem
49. phloem
50. angiosperm
51. fungi
52. cnidarian
53. invertebrates
54. storage root
55. rhizome
56. petiole
57. monocot
58. dicot
59. transpiration
60. topsoil
61. humus
62. mycorrhizae
63. stamens
64. sepals
65. aggregate fruit
66. simple fruit
67. multiple fruit
68. imbibition
69. phototropism
70. epithelial tissue
71. metabolic rate
72. ectotherm
73. endotherm
74. negative feedback
75. positive feedback
76. thermoregulation
77. herbivores
78. carnivores
79. omnivores