Writing in Biology

In the scope of a few paragraphs, each article reads with a different tone and purpose. Although the topic sentences of each serve a similar function, the flow and ideas of each differ. At times, the review article reads like an encyclopedia and at other times it reads as a criticism or evaluation. In contrast, the research article reads like a persuasive presentation of scientific data. I was surprised by just how much tone matters in scientific writing. Although scientific writing is fact-based, the tone of either a research paper or review article must be carefully worded to eliminate bias. I definitely need to be careful in my scientific writing and tailor it to sound not only professional, but also unbiased and organized in such a way that gets my intention of writing across.

The two halves of the brain are connected by the corpus callosum. Severing the corpus callosum will completely cut off the communication between the two brains, thus creating two seperate brain halves. Although this sounds like a destructive procedure to do, researchers have actually found many benefits to this procedure. Patients with epilepsy are found to significantly improve after having their corpus callosum severed, as it decreases their seizure duration and intensity. However, there are some confusing complications that can result from this procedure. As the left brain contols the right side of the body and vice versa, the brain gets confused when there is no way to communicate between the two halves. During an experiement, a patient with the severed corpus callosum saw a picture of a square/circle; one half of the picture was a square, where the other half of the picture was a circle. When they are asked what they see looking at the picture one eye at a time, the patient will verbally say square, but then point with their left hand to the circle. Although the right side of the body sees the circle, it cannot gather the information from the left brain have to verbally say "circle". Therefore, the patient can only verbalize "square" and point to the circle. This is a result of the two brian halves not becaus able to communicate with eachother. 

The research article had a slightly different structure. Rather than using an abstract, it began with a summary that provided the overview of the study. The introduction and proceeding paragraphs were not numbered, but were instead simply named, ‘Materials and methods’ and ‘Results’. There were no sub-paragraph headings either. This is most likely because the paragraphs in each section did not need to be organized as precisely as in the review paper. Additionally, the review paper had a significantly shorter introduction than the research paper, but this is a consistent pattern with other papers I have looked at in the past. As the review paper looks at multiple findings, it is more likely to be longer in overall length than a research paper.

            The in-text citations differed between the two texts. The review paper used citations without the author, while the research paper used citations including the author and publishing year. I noticed that the review paper cited over 170 papers. Therefore, it was not surprising to me that they did not cite the last name of every author. Overall, I learned that review articles seem to have a broader range of information regarding a field of research whereas research articles are more specific to one study.

In the research article, the sections are broken down into the generic sequence: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. In contrast, the review article starts with an introduction, but then moves on to sections classified by content-based topics. The sections of the review article contain content that may be found in the results section of a research article, albeit less formal. In the research article, the first paragraph of each section serves as an introduction to the section itself and summarizes it to a degree. The first paragraph of each section in the review article addresses certain research studies and begins to critique and compare them with one another. The in-text citations of each article also differ in the manner in which they are presented. In the research article, the in-text citations are used in the introduction to provide background information and context in an effort to inform the reader about the scope of the project. In the review article, the citations are utilized throughout each section for factual evidence and to give the reader a perspective on the studies being reviewed.

A. Draw how a species in the Southern hemisphere will shift due to an increase in temperature.

A species in the Southern hemisphere will move south due to an increase in temperature as a result of climate change.

B.  How and why does this shift differ from the way a species in the Northern hemisphere would shift?  

A species in the Northern hemisphere would shift more northward in an effort to maintain the climate they are accustomed to.  The temperature is usually colder towards the poles due to the sun’s interaction with the surface. (Maybe in the session ask why it is colder by the poles- the sun has to travel through more atmosphere and the same amount of energy from the sun is distributed over a relatively larger area than it is at the equator.)

C. What are some factors that could prevent them from shifting effectively?

The organism’s rate of transition may be too slow to keep up with the rising temperatures.  If the organism cannot move towards the poles or up a mountain fast enough, they could potentially become extinct due to their environment becoming too harsh for them to tolerate.  Another factor could be that their food source could not shift at the same rate that the organism did. The new area that the organism shifts to may still not suit the organism’s ideal climate either.  

2. How and why do carbon levels fluctuate throughout the year?  

Atmospheric carbon levels are higher during the fall and winter months and lower during the spring and summer months.  Carbon levels fluctuate throughout the year due to the fluctuating level of plant activity. During the spring and summer months, the plants are thriving and therefore more photosynthesis is occurring.  During photosynthesis, the plants take in carbon dioxide, reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. During the winter months, the plants are less active and therefore more carbon is left in the atmosphere.

Often a debate that arises among biologists is whether or not viruses are considered organisms or if fall into their own categorization. Viruses exist alongside all domains of life. While the presence of viruses is undoubtedly influential on life on Earth there is still heavy debate as to how to we view them, with arguments on both sides of this debate. Viruses are quite unique in their physical structure, as they are in essence very simple, consisting of genetic material either DNA or RNA wrapped in a protein capsule. The presence of DNA or RNA in viruses is often used as an argument as to why they could be considered alive as the presence of genetic material and the use of that material to reproduce is a characteristic of life. However, while they may have genetic material, viruses cannot reproduce without a host cell to infect. They also do not have the ability to generate their own energy, respond to stimuli (outside of injecting a cell with their genetic material), and nor do they have a cellular structure that biologists recognize as the baseline for all organisms.

Electrons are subatomic particles. They are one of the three subatomic particles alongside protons and neutrons that make up an atom. Neutrons and protons are found in the nucleus of an atom, making up an atoms atomic weight, while electrons are found in the electron cloud. The electron cloud surrounds the nucleus of an atom and alongside the number of protons is indicative of the atomic number of an atom. Electrons are the main mechanisms of molecular interactions being either transferred or share respectively in ionic and covalent bonds to create molecules. Electrons have a negative charge when to compared to other subatomic particles. They as are found in different orbitals that make up the electron cloud.

Waves exist in a wide variety of forms. However in physics the most commonly referenced types of waves can be found on the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum deals with several different, distinct types of radiation that each have their own wavelength. Included in the spectrum is radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, UV rays, X-Rays, and Gamma rays. Each of these forms of radiation have different characteristics of a wavelength.

Among the many diverse ecosystems on Earth, cloud forests are one of the most unique. Cloud forests are typically tropical or subtropical forests that exist throughout the world at higher elevations. They are characterized by their high levels of biomass and their constant cloud cover due to high elevation and humidity. These unique conditions create interesting circumstances for a wide range of organisms that often vary from cloud forest to cloud forest as they can be found on a wide range of continents and can differ from one another greatly.