Blog #8 - Your Choice

Talk about some you learned or ask a question about something that is confusing you.

Something I really enjoyed learning so far this semester is about population. Three important characteristics of a population are its geographic distribution, density, and growth rate. Population density is the number of individuals per unit area. Three factors that can affect the population size are the number of births, the number of deaths, and the number of individuals that enter or leave the population. Under ideal conditions with unlimited resources, a population will grow exponentially. As resources become less available, the growth of a population slows or stops. Exponential growth occurs when the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate. Logistic growth occurs when a population's growth slows or stops following a period or exponential growth. Like the populations of many other living organisms, the size of the human population tends to increase with time. Birthrates, death rates, and the age structure of a population help predict why some countries have high growth rates while other countries grow more slowly.

Blog #7 - Differences of Two Biomes

Compare and contrast two biomes. Describe them in detail. Include pictures of plants and animals you are likely to see.

Tropical rain forests are home to more species than all other biomes combined. The leafy tops of tall trees extends from fifty to eighty meters above the forests floor, which forms a dense covering called the canopy. In the shade below the canopy, a second layer of shorter tree and vines forms an understory. Organic matter that falls to the forest floor quickly decomposes, and the nutrients are recycled. Tropical dry forests grow in places where rainfall is highly seasonal rather than year-round. During the dry season, nearly all the trees drop their leaves to conserve water. A tree that sheds its leaves during a particular season each year is called the deciduous. The abiotic factors of the tropical rain forests are hot and wet year-round and thin, nutrient-poor soils. Its dominant plants are broad-leaved evergreen trees, ferns, large woody vines and climbing plants, and orchids and bromeliads. Its dominant wildlife are herbivores such as sloths, tapirs, and capybaras, predators such as jaguars, anteaters, monkeys, birds such as toucans, parrots, and parakeets, insects such as butterflies, ants, and beetles, piranhas and other freshwater fishes, reptiles such as caymans, boa constrictors, and anacondas. Its geographic distribution are parts of South and Central America, Southeast Asia, parts of Africa, southern India, and northeastern Australia. The abiotic factors of the tropical dry forests are generally warm year-round, alternating wet and dry seasons, and rich soils subject to erosion. Its dominant plants are tall, deciduous trees that form a dense canopy during the wet season, drought-tolerant orchids and bromeliads, and aloes and other succulents. Its dominant wildlife are tigers, monkeys, herbivores such as elephants, Indian rhinoceroses, hog deer, birds such as great pied horn-bills, pied harriers, and spot-billed pelicans, insects such as termites, and reptiles such as snakes and monitor lizards. Its geographic distribution are parts of Africa, South and Central America, Mexico, India, Australia, and tropical islands.

TROPICAL RAIN FOREST ANIMAL/PLANT

                                Toucan                           Broad-Leaved Evergreen Tree

TROPICAL DRY FOREST ANIMAL/PLANT

                               Tiger                                                   Aloe

Blog #6 - Most Important Group in the Food Pyramid

Which level of a food pyramid is the most important? Support your answer.


I believe that the most important food group in the food pyramid is the bread, grains, and other starches group. In order to have energy for the entire day, a person must have something from this group. For example, breakfast is the most important meal of the day because when one person eats breakfast such as cereal or bread in the morning, the type of foods comes from the breads, grains, and other starches group. Fats, oils, and sweets is the least important group because that is a group that someone eats only for a snack or when their bored. It takes away your energy. Cereals gives someone a lot of energy for the rest of the day that is why breads, grains, and other starches is the most important group in the food pyramid.

Blog #5 - Are Humans Impacting the Sixth Extinction?

There have been 5 major extinction events throughout history. Are humans impacting the 6th? Why or why not?


I believe human are not impacting the sixth extinction. There are many human beings who love animals and are helping animals to prevent them from becoming extinct. I beleive extinction is caused on the type of food/things animals eat. There are many things animals can eat by accident which can cause the extinction of the animal. Another thing that is possible to cause extinction is when a animal is sick. If a animal is sick, it can cause the other types of animals to become sick too, which is possible to cause the extinction.