essays on science for the common good
The following essay was adapted from an article by Crystal Jeter One set of alleles is responsible–for determining each trait, and there are only 2 different alleles (dominant and recessive) for each gene. By way of explanation, alleles are different forms of a gene (and usually expressed by, say A & a). After learning about simple …
Continue reading “Part XXIX: Five Misconceptions of Genetics”
A sample of some of the labs I have done
Essays on Science for the Common Good (Vol. Two) XXIV The Concept of Surface area and Volume The concepts of surface area and volume are important concepts in both the physical (nonliving) world and the biological (living) world. Now, combine those attributes into a single relationship, the surface area to volume ratio and you have …
Continue reading “Part XXIV: The Concept of Surface Area and Volume”
As you have probably found out from the early essays, I usually introduced a new topic in my biology classes with a question like “what is science?” In this case I asked the question “In its simplest form, what does evolution mean?” Upon hearing no answers I would suggest a three word answer “change through …
Part XX Water: What Makes it so Unique and so Important “Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink, Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” Those words learned so long ago from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Coleridge still ring in my ears like the day I memorized them …
Continue reading “Part XXI Water: What Makes it so Unique and so Important”
The story of the true carrier of genetic information from generation to generation is an interesting tale which followed a winding path from the late 1800’s up to 1953 and even that historic discovery, while one of the most sought after and important discoveries of human kind, was really just a new chapter in the …
Continue reading “Part XX: DNA or Protein; The Great Debate”
As promised in Essay XII. I am now ready to offer my opinion concerning climate change, commonly called global warming and the effects of the human imprint on the environment. The first part of this essay consists of another letter to the Rockford Register Star now called “My View” A few years ago I wrote a “Letter …
As promised in Essay XII. I am now ready to offer my opinion concerning climate change, commonly called global warming and the effects of the human imprint on the environment. The first part of this essay consists of another letter to the Rockford Register Star now called “My View” A few years ago I wrote a “Letter …
Continue reading “Part XVIII A serious matter for now and the future”
Let me throw a few more terms at you. • Biodiversity – usually defined as the variety of living organisms in a given area or in a particular habitat ecosystem. That area can be as small as a drop of water or as larger as the world. • Habitat – the place where an organism lives. It …