Drafts

For the warm environment, the spiders were placed in plastic cup enclosures that rested 18 inches below a heat lamp. Prior to starting data collection, the spiders and plastic cup apparatuses for each condition were weighed so that a difference in weight could be detected after four days. The spiders were then left in each condition for four days, and their condition was checked every 12 hours. To avoid from overheating the conditions, the heat lamp was alternated on and off every 12 hours. Following the four days, the plastic cup enclosures were weighed to get a final weight of the spider web in each enclosure.

For this experiment, two spiders were observed in the warm, cool and control environments. A thermometer was used in each environment to track the temperature in each environment with the goal of keeping it constant. The spiders for both the cool and control environments were kept in plastic cup enclosures inside a Styrofoam box. The cool environment had a layer of ice enclosed underneath the plastic cups that could be replenished in order to keep a constant temperature. The control environment consisted of the plastic cups enclosures with no ice or heat to keep the environment at room temperature.

In the United States, energy generation emits most of the Co2. It emits more than transportation and industry and electricity is a needed resource in this day and age. Nuclear power is currently the largest source of carbon free electricity so using nuclear power would greatly reduce the amount carbon dioxide released. This is beneficial because Co2 is one of the major greenhouse gases that is destroying our environment, so if we can potentially find an electricity source that reduces CO2 emission, we would be taking a huge step towards creating a healthier environment.

2. There is a large push for both wind and solar power which are great environmentally friendly ways of producing electricity but they are poorly suited for large scale use because of their intermittent and variable supply. They depend upon the weather to create good supplies of energy and this is something that we cannot control, so their effectiveness cannot be guaranteed to run whenever needed and to produce as much energy as needed all the time. Nuclear power, however, does not rely on the weather to generate electricity and is therefore more reliable and better suited for mass production of electricity.

-Colors: We chose to test the colors white versus yellow and cyan versus green in our experiment. Some species of crab spiders are able to change their color from white to yellow, and yellow to white. We decided to use white and yellow as a control in our experiment and see which side the spiders would prefer. In the RGB model, the color white is made up of red, green and blue all at their highest intensities, which is 255. Yellow is made up of red and green both at their highest intensities of 255, with no blue is added. Cyan is made up of green and blue both at their highest intensities of 255, and no addition of red. Green is made up of only green at its highest intensity of 255.

-Set up: We used two spiders in our experiment, and each was given its own tank. One spider was placed in a yellow and white tank, and the other in a cyan and green tank. The color backgrounds in the tanks were split right down the middle and the other factors including light entering, materials and temperature were kept constant between the tanks.

-Procedure: To collect data we took measurements once a day for eight days in a row. Everyday we collected two measurements. The first measurement was what color side the spider was on when we first entered the room and before interacting with the spider. The second measurement was taken after moving the spider to the middle of the tank where the colors met. We gave the spiders a ten minute rest period before taking and recording the data on which color side background the spider chose.

Amphiprioninae includes the clownfish. There are roughly 128 species of these fish. Clownfish are generally very colorful and many live as commensals to sea anemones. Usually anemones use their stining cells to sting whatever swims into them. Generally this occurs with small fish, which it proceeds to eat after making contact. There are several hypotheses as to why clownfish can safetly live in sea anemones. One idea is that the slime which covers the clownfish essentially makes it invisible to the anenome. Another assumes the anenome recognizes the clownfish's movements, and thus knowns it is not dangerous and will not sting it. Lastly, it is possible that the anenome gradually learns about the clownfish, as generally clownfish have a little harder of a time when young, so over time the anenome may learn to "accept" them. These hypotheses attribute somewhat human aspects to the organisms however. Regardless, the clownfish lives among the anenome and will clean a portion of the coral at its base, where it will lay its eggs. The after hatching, the young float up into the water column and will eventually find a new anenome to call its home.

The data for the cyan versus green trials suggests that Mecaphesa celer shows an initial preference towards cyan, but when placed in the center of the arena it will move towards the green background. Meanwhile, in the white and yellow trials Mecaphesa initially shows no particular preference between the backgrounds, but when placed in the center of the arena it will move towards the white side.

The results agree with our hypothesis that crab spiders prefer backgrounds that match their current body coloration, although further trials with a larger sample size and a refined protocol should be performed in the future to confirm these findings. Despite being a pilot study, this line of investigation could shed light on multiple aspects of the ecology and evolution of cryptic coloration in predator-prey relationships.

We examined color preference between cyan and green backgrounds, and white or yellow backgrounds. Cyan is a combination of green and blue at their highest intensities, while green is one of the primary colors in the RGB color model. Since we used a darker morph of crab spider for the cyan versus green trials, we hypothesized that the spider would prefer the green background.

White is a combination of the three primary colors at their highest intensities, while yellow is made with red and green at their highest intensity. Since we used a white morph of crab spider for the white versus yellow trials, we hypothesized that the spider would prefer the white background.

In many ways, RNA is the same as DNA. They both represent genetic information. They are kind of like different translations or languages of the same information. DNA has adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. RNA has all the same expect thymine is replaced with uracil. Since they have so much overlapping similarity, it is thought that the first living organisms were made from RNA, and it eventually evolved to DNA. I never really considered that nucleotides would have other functions in the cell other than genetic information, but it makes sense. It makes sense that they would be involved in intracellular signaling and regulation of enzyme activity. I would think that transcription factors and things like post-translation modifications would be the nucleotides involved in signaling s well as enzyme activity. However, I wonder how nucleotides influence energy transduction. Hydrogen bonding and van der waals interactions help stabilize the structure of DNA and helps it maintain the double helix shape. Since two hydrogen bonds are between adenine and thymine while guanine and cytosine have three hydrogen bonds, G and C would be more stable. It is important for DNA to be able to denature itself as well as renature itself. This reminds me of an on and off switch. Denaturing means breaking apart DNA bonds/structure. Increasing temperature and signals can lead to the denature of DNA. Renaturing DNA brings the nucleotides back together.

There is a common chamber in which all six projects use to observe their spider. This keeps each experiment controlled and avoids any external factors that may skew the results. The chamber consists of a medium, square, Ziploc Tupperware. The Tupperware is placed upside down in order to ensure easy observation. A needle is heated with a flame in order to poke ten holes into the top of the container to allow air flow for the spiders. An additional larger hole was made in the middle of the container to allow the LED light to be placed in the chamber. This hole was made by repeatedly heating a needle and melting the plastic container to create a large enough space for the LED bulb to fit through. The LED light was held in place with masking tape. The light complex requires a small LED light, two jumpers, a resistor, and a 9V battery. Each spider chamber had its own light complex, placed to the side of the chamber in order not interfere with the LED light on the top of the complex. The LED light contains two needles that are inserted into one end of both jumpers. The other end of the jumpers obtain needles that resistors are wrapped around. The ends of the jumpers that are not attached to the LED light are then tapped to opposite ends of the 9V battery. This should illuminate the LED light. The LED light is inserted into whichever hole is designated to it in the chamber (this may be different depending on which project is being performed). Add two, three-inch sticks to each environment. One should be placed directly under the light, the other at one edge of the plastic container. Lastly, a cardboard box should be placed over each environment once they are completed. This stops any ambient light from entering the plastic container.

I am happy with my exam grade, but there are some things that I could improve on. When I was studying for the exam, I redid the homework problems and textbook problems. I also went through the class slides and went over any class activities that we did because these were helpful application problems. While studying, I also went through all of the objectives and wrote down all of the information I knew off the top of my head for each topic; I then studied more and added to the objectives as I studied new information. For the next exam, I am going to go over more problems that incorporate new concepts into the material. These questions will most likely come from the textbook. I will try to work with a study partner so we can come up with new ways of thinking about the concepts. It also helps to talk about the information because studies show that people who are able to teach a subject have a better understanding of it. Lastly, I will write out the “hows” and “whys” for the pathways and concepts. This way I will understand how and why the pathways happen in real life rather than memorizing the information. It is helpful to apply these concepts to real life and make the pathways sound like a story so that they are easier to understand.