jkswanson's blog

In our research project we are looking at the affect of radiation on spiders, how they make their webs, where they make their webs, and etc.  One way to collect data would be to set up three different groups of spiders. The first group is the control group they will not be exposed to cellular radiation at all.  The next group is the radiation group that will be exposed to an operating cellphone that is on and using cellular data.  The last group will be exposed to a cellphone but the cellphone will be put into airplane mode and therefore shutting off cellular data.  This data will show the affect of radiation on spiders if there is any, and it will tell us if the cell phone radiates radiation when in airplane mode or only when cellular data is on. 

Cesium -gluconate Preparation

Add 35 mL of stock CsOH to a clean beaker, while the solution is stirring add gluconic acid until the pH is 7.2, this will be around 65-95 mL and will take a while to stabilize ( this step is an exothermic reaction and you will be able to feel the beaker warm up) the solution will be light brown

Evaporate to approx. half of the total basic volume

Add methanol p.A.(~50-60 mL)slowly while stirring until you can see crystallization(they look like stringy clumps falling to the bottom)

Let it sit overnight at around 4 degrees C / put it in the fridge

Crystals should be white and about ¼ inch thick on the bottom and side of beaker. Use the ground frit to separate as much of the saline as possible from the crystals

Transfer crystals to a 600 mL beaker and clean the frit filter out, dissolve the crystals with as little H2O as possible ~ 30 mL ( solution should turn light brown)

Add 2 spatulas of activated carbon, stir and heat to 80 degrees C

Filter immediately with the filter for activated carbon, the filtered solution should be light brown again

Pour the filtered solution into a clean beaker and add methanol p.A. (~35 mL) slowly while stirring until you can see crystallization( this time it will take less methanol to crystalize)

Overnight at 4 degrees C

Use frit filter to separate crystals from saline

Transfer crystals to a 600 mL beaker and clean the frit filter out, dissolve the crystals with as little H2O as possible ~ 20 mL ( solution should turn light yellow/clear)

Again add methanol p.A. (~30 mL) slowly while stirring until crystallization

Overnight at 4 degrees C

Use frit filter to separate crystals from the saline

One may repeat this procedure once, but by now Cs-gluconate crystals of sufficient quality and bright white color should be obtained

If the solution before you add methanol is yellowish then do another round of precipitation. If the solution is more clear and barely yellow then go ahead to the drying process

To dry the precipitate put the Cs-Gluconate in a 10 cm petri dish, (weight the dish before) and put the dish in an exsiccator with the dish top slightly ajar

When the precipitate is fully dried take a mortar and pestle and crush the precipitate until it looks like flour

Now weigh the precipitate and record it on the petri dish

I took ResEcon 220 my second semester freshman year to fulfill the statistics requirement for biology majors.  I remember the first thing we learned was how to use excel in the most basic way. The next class was simple review from high school math class about ratios and other basics for statistics.  We then learned basic statistic material such as variables and what it means to have a hypothesis and a null hypothesis. I then remember we started to learn about standard deviation and learned how to calculate it, how it is used, and why it is used.  After we learned all about standard deviation we learned how to use it in excel and how to write formulas to do out the work for us. Pretty early on into the semester we were assigned a group project looking at football statistics. This was my first group project in college so not only did I learn about statistics but also how to work in a group setting and facilitate a 7-8 member team to develop a research paper about football statistics.  This project also taught me about how to write a lab report for a subject other than biology, physics, or chemistry, as those were the only classes I had to write reports for yet. At the time It was my least favorite class but I can honestly say I learned alot from Professor Wayne and his ResEcon 220 class.

Results

    There are many differences in all the figures in the panel.  The differences noticed first were in the actual pictures of the spider web and its habitat.  The spider webs and the trees that the webs were located are completely different. In figure B the original was much larger and easier to see as it contained a leaf and some other debris while the replicate web was clear of debris, much smaller and almost not visible.  The original picture also contained a purple folder with a thumb visible on one side as it is being held up behind the web, the replicate has no background and also no thumb. The trees in which the webs reside are also very different, in figure B and C, the original tree can be seen to be a tree with a trunk and many branches while the replicate tree is more of a tall hedge. The web of the original in figure B is found in the fork of a tree while the replicate web is found on the side of the hedge.  In the original figure B you can also see the setting behind the web a little bit which is not visible at all in the replicate. Figure C original is different too because the replicate picture is taken from a paved lot as opposed to the grass next to mahar.

    More differences were also seen between the editing and the presentation of the map and the entire panel.  Moving to figure A the maps, they are different in size, the original being zoomed in more and lacking a key.  The area circled in the replica is smaller than the original and black font is used as opposed to red in the original.  The letters used to distinguish each figure are large black text in the original while the replica used thin drawn black letters.  The positioning of these letters in the corner of each figure is different between the two figures. The entire panel of the original creates a tall rectangle that has each figure outlined in white.  The replicat is not outlined and creates an elongated rectangle as the images are just placed in a row as opposed to figure A as a tall rectangle and B and C two squares stacked on top of eachother.

Part A:

p^2 +2pq + q^2= 1 hardy weinberg equilibrium equation

p=S q=N S= dominant allele spots N=recessive allele no spots  107 spotted/752 total fish

103 heterozygous SN 4 homozygous dominant SS 752-107=645 homozygous recessive NN

To get number of alleles: N=2*645+103=1,393 N allele

                 S=2*4+103=111 S allele

    Total alleles=2*752=1,504

Hardy weinberg done with percentages so: S=111/1504=0.0738=p

                               N=1,393/1504=0.9262=q

p=0.0738 q=0.9262 Lets see if it equals 1

0.0738^2 + 2(0.0738*0.9262) + 0.9262^2=

0.00545 + 0.1367 + 0.85785 = 1

Yes this population is in hardy weinberg equilibrium

Part B:

Imagine you and a competitor are given the basic blueprints to a condominium complex and asked to put small tweaks (furniture, wall type, counter placement, etc.) on each individual condominium and the best blueprint design for each condo will be chosen and used.  So basically the allele is represented by the different blueprints for each condo because it shows the small differences in the same blueprint. The dominant and recessive aspect is represented by the two competitors both submitting a minorly tweaked blueprint ( allele) and having the best one (dominant) chosen.  The instructions for individual rooms and things like furniture are the genes that are coded for in a chromosome. The locus is represented by the individual rooms in the house aka fixed positions of genes in the blueprint(chromosome) The upstairs bathroom would be a locus for the gene for the upstairs bathroom.

Part C:

Suppose there was a small island in which a large group of turtles lived.  Some of these turtles had pointed mouths while others did not depending on the food they ate.  One year there were many rough storms killing off an unusual amount of pointed nose turtles and when the scientist went back to the island they observed a drastic decline in the pointed nose turtle.  This is known as the bottleneck effect and represents genetic drift. Another example would be if the rough storms made the island split into a large one and a small one and the small one only contained pointed turtles. If you came back 15 years later there would be a much higher number of pointed alleles on the small island than flat mouthed turtles.  This is called the founders effect. The genetic drift is caused by random not by natural selection.

In the fall semester of 2018 in my Writing in Biology Class, I conducted a project where the purpose was to take a picture of a spider web, it’s habitat, and a map of the area.  Then I had to write a methods section being precise enough so that someone else could attempt to replicate my image exactly. After my procedure was followed there were many differences in the original vs the replica.  In Figure A and B they are entirely different as the spider web and the tree itself were different, most likely because of the foul weather all that week. The panel itself was also different in the text used and the shape and size of each picture in the collage.  Figure C, the map, also differed as the replica was the entire map and the original was zoomed in around the area searched. These differences can be attributed to lack of precision in the methods section. The overall panels were very different in the way they were presented and edited.  

In the fall semester of 2018 in my Writing in Biology Class, I conducted a project where the purpose was to take a picture of a spider web, it’s habitat, and a map of the area.  Then I had to write a methods section being precise enough so that someone else could attempt to replicate my image exactly. After my procedure was followed there were many differences in the original vs the replica.  In Figure A and B they are entirely different as the spider web and the tree itself were different, most likely because of the foul weather all that week. The panel itself was also different in the text used and the shape and size of each picture in the collage.  Figure C, the map, also differed as the replica was the entire map and the original was zoomed in around the area searched. These differences can be attributed to lack of precision in the methods section. The overall panels were very different in the way they were presented and edited.  

Description

    The original and replicate are different webs close to each other.  This is probably because the bad weather that week destroyed the web or damaged it badly.  The methods were pretty thorough on where the original web was so the only reason why it would be different would be it having to be gone.  The are of the tree in the original is also a very heavily travelled area so a human could have also damaged the web. This difference in webs led to figure C also being completely different in the two panels.  The web itself is more visible in the original figure A, this is because the purple folder was used to bring out the white web which is absent in the replica causing the web to barely even be visible. The angle of the picture is also different which is because nothing about this was mentioned in the methods followed.  The lack of the folder and also measuring tape(edited out of the original by accident) shows that there also may have been lack of supplies on the replicators end as both of those things were listed in the methods. There were many difference in the presentation of the figures(panel shape, size, lettering,etc), this is due to the lack of thoroughness in the methods written for the original panel.  The methods included things like the app used but not the shape to make the collage or the size of the map. The editing and presentation part shows how the methods section could have contained a lot more precise information

Abstract

There were many differences in the photographs taken and used and in the way in which they are presented.  This is because the methods written lacked many details that were necessary to replicate the original on a very precise scale.  Other factors like weather and lighting also caused differences like ruing the original web, causing an entirely different web and tree to be used.

Introduction

    The goal of this project is to create a multi panel scientific figure that is about a spider web, then write the methods of the procedure followed to create it.  Someone else will then follow the original methods and attempt to replicate the original image.