Category: BIO 104 Blog

Your task is  to show that you have achieved the learning outcome below. This is one of  three learning outcomes for the CAS Core laboratory science course listed in your syllabus.

Demonstrate scientific literacy and the ability to communicate science-based information.

1. Post an example of your work in the course, probably from lab that demonstrates your mastery of your ability to communicate science-based information. * Choose your best work.

2. Please write a paragraph including the following :

• • Define scientific literacy
  • Give examples from the course, lecture or lab where you have learned about or seen examples of scientific literacy.  An example could be that you found scientific papers or read scientific papers in the lab.
  • Expand on why the learning outcome in bold above  is important for college students

Scientific literacy is any written, numeric,  or digital form of science-based information that gives readers an understanding of the scientific topic/data discussed. It can come in many different modes and forms. I have seen scientific literacy throughout the lecture and lab. In lab, we read and evaluated the scientific paper, “Effects of melatonin and ethanol on the heart rate of Daphnia magna.” After digesting this paper, I found, read, and created a presentation on a scientific paper based on an invasive species, “Diet of Feral Cats in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.” Finally, we wrote our own scientific papers, including elements of scientific literacy, based on the cricket lab we did. This learning outcome is important for college students because it gives students skills that they can translate to areas in other courses or real-world contexts. The ability to communicate scientific information gives students analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing skills.

Date: April 18th, 2019

Start Time: 10:10AM

End Time: 10:25AM

During this observation, I noticed how big the eaglets have grown since my last observation! They are now a dark brown color, instead of the dark gray color they used to be. One of the eagles fed one of the eaglets for the majority of the 15 minutes. The eagle picked pieces off of the prey and fed it to the eaglet. The eaglet seemed to be hungry! I could not figure out exactly what it was eating. The other eaglet laid down on the opposite end of the nest for the majority of the time and did not get fed at all. I could not tell which eagle mate was present in the nest because the other eagle did not return at all for me to measure size. There was no nest-building or nest exchanges.

Date: March 26th, 2019

Start Time: 2:25PM

End Time: 2:40PM

Since my last observation, the eggs have hatched into two, young eaglets. These eaglets are getting bigger and bigger! During this observation, one of the mates stood on the nest with the two eaglets for the length of the time I observed. I was not able to determine which mate this was due to the fact that the other eagle did not return for me to compare size. One of the eaglets kept looking up to its parent with its mouth open, possibly signaling that it is hungry. The other eaglet was less active and seemed to be resting for most of the time I observed. Also, I observed the eagle moving some things around in the nest, doing some nest-building, which may mean he/she is getting restless and waiting for the mate to return. At the very end of my observation, I saw the eagle feed both the eaglets by first biting/chewing the food herself/himself, and then feeding it to the eaglets.

• What is cellular respiration?
  • Cellular respiration is a series of chemical reactions that release energy from sugar, producing ATP from ADP.
• How is cellular respiration related to what you measured in the cricket lab?
  • In the cricket lab, we measured the effects of temperature on respiration and the metabolic rate in animals, like the cricket. Depending on certain treatments (the temperatures), we measured the respiration level and determined cellular respiration.

Link to Eagle Cam

Eagle Cam Observations

Watch the live stream for at least 15 minutes per observation period.

Record start time and end time for your observations

Behavioral Terms to use in your journal

• Sitting on the nest – up until you see the eggs. Document the number of eggs, then use the term-
  • Incubating until the eggs hatch and
  • Brooding if the bird is sitting on the chick(s) or has them under her wing
• Nest building – the bird is tossing nest materials maybe tossing behind him/her) or picking at them and dropping them.
  • Explanation – the bird is restless and wants to be relieved by its mate. You may see the mate come back while you are watching.
• Nest exchange – one bird comes back and the other leaves

Use your own descriptions for other activities you observe.

The Nature of Science by E. O. Wilson

Questions to answer before watching this video:

• In what ways do you see yourself as a writer? Are you a poet? A journalist? A blogger?  What style of writing is most familiar and comfortable for you?
  • I would consider myself a writer. I write for fun, to release stress, or to pass time. I use writing as an outlet for anything I am dealing with. I like to write about myself or the things going on in my life, but in high school, when doing projects, I wrote a lot of fiction.
• What is your impression of scientific writing?
  • I see scientific writing as a complex, tedious process. There are many necessary steps and things to include in this process. I did not do much scientific writing in high school, other than a few lab reports in Physics.

Answer this question after you watch the video:

• How do Wilson’s ideas fit with your experience or ideas about scientific writing?
  • I see some relation between science writing and other writing, like how the elements of science line up with some aspects of other writing: poetry, journalism, blogging, etc.
• What if anything surprised you about Wilson’s description of scientists, and their emotions and values as they fit into the process of science?
  • I was surprised because I didn’t see the emotion in scientific writing like this video mentioned.

Date: March 4th, 2019

Start Time: 2:40PM

End Time: 2:55PM

During this observation, not much occurred. The eagle sat on the nest, incubating the eggs. On the screen, it says that the eggs are likely to hatch very soon. I was not able to distinguish which mate was sitting on the nest, as the other eagle did not return at all for me to measure size. There was no nest exchange or nest building during this observation. It seems to be a sunny, windy day in Florida. I am eager to see when the eggs will hatch.

Date: February 12th, 2019

Start Time: 11:10AM

End Time: 11:25AM

During the first few minutes of this observation, the father sat on the eggs incubating them. About 8 minutes in, I observed the mother return to the nest. This was when I was able to distinguish the mother and father because I noticed the size of the mother was a lot smaller than the father, who was laying in the nest, incubating the eggs. After a minute, the mother flew away again and left the nest. She did not return during the rest of my observation period. The father did not do any nest building while laying on the eggs.

Date: January 29th, 2019

Start Time: 11:30AM

End Time: 11:45AM

During this observation, I saw a lot of the mother. She was sitting on the nest and incubating her eggs for the majority of the time. When she stood up to readjust, I noticed possibly 2 eggs under her. She was also doing some nest building as she laid there. She was moving and tossing some of the sticks around with her beak, while laying on the eggs. This may mean she is restless and waiting for her mate, however, the male bird did not return during my 15 minutes of watching. It seemed to be a very windy, sunny day for the birds.