Drafts

The project undertaken for the Writing in Biology class was designed so students would photograph a durable object and document how the image was taken. They would then be tasked with writing a methods section to a level of certainty that they believed would allow another student to replicate the image. For consistency throughout the project, the subject matter of the photograph was limited to a spider web in relative close proximity to the Biology computer lab on the Umass Amherst Campus.

    In particular, the selection process of this spider web took into consideration the necessity of replicability and to ensure this, the spider web would need to be durable and last a period of, at minimum, several days. Therefore, a spider web inside a building was considered the most durable, as this would not experience any outside disturbances such as weather or movement that could potentially ruin the web that was photographed. In selecting the photo, the building that housed the biology computer lab was searched for a web that was slightly concealed so that any maintenance cleaning or foot traffic would ruin the web. One such web was found in a hole in an air venting system on the ground floor of the Morrill building. The hole in the vent had gathered dust suggesting it was untouched for a long period of time and gave the reassurance that the web would last the allotted time to allow for another student to find it. Furthermore, in writing the actual methods section, it was important to account for as many scenarios as possible and strictly limit them to what was actually performed in the photographing of the web. It sought to control the location of the photographer in conjunction with which photo should be taken, what the scale item would be and how it was located, the height of the camera and what the camera viewed in its lens all had to accurately be described so that the other student would be able to replicate the image as close as possible. The final figure that was made needed to be replicated as well, so the program used to make the multi-panel figure was recorded, as were the sizes of the images, the size of the font and labels, the colors used for the labeling and the overall layout of the figure.

After the methods were created by each student, they were randomly assigned to another classmate by Professor Brewer. Each student was asked to follow the new methods written by the classmate and create a figure of the spider web that they found. This part of the experiment resembled replication, as the students were tasked with redo the experiment to ultimately judge how concise and helpful the classmates method’s were. The students then observed the two figures of the same spider web and identified the differences between them.

The purpose of this experiment was to practice scientific writing through drafting the experimental methods and formatting figures. There were many factors identified that needed to be controlled in order to replicate the figures correctly. Some factors identified in the experiment included the exposure to sunlight, time of day, and weather. These affected the picture quality and color. The distance from the spiderweb and the camera angles were also factors that needed to be accounted for. These scaling factor was controlled by using some type of apparatus to measure the spiderweb in the picture.

The data supports the predictions for increased mitochondrial enzymatic activity and lipid oxidation pathways during hoary bat migration. Regarding enzymatic activity, the 29% increase in CS reflects greater aerobic capacity for powering flight, while the increases in CPT and HOAD prove that fat was used as a fuel during migration. Nonetheless, the hypothesized similarities between bats and birds concerning fatty acid transport are not supported by the data, since the studied proteins were expressed at similar levels throughout the year with the exception of H-FABP in females during migration. Such differences may be attributed to differences in the life history of hoary bats, and the increased expression of H-FABP in females may be due to pregnancy and torpor deprivation during migration, as well as for travelling larger distances than males.

The results showed an increase of oxidative enzymatic activity during migration, recording a 32% increment in activity for CPT, 53% in HOAD, and 29% in CS. As well, the enzymatic activity of HOAD was significantly greater in males. Regarding the mRNA expression of fatty acid transport proteins, the sequencing data showed a match of 90% or higher with already known genomes for H-FABP and FABpm, while FAT/CD36 matched at 80.5-87.3%. The mRNA expression of FAT/CD36 and FABpm remained stable throughout the year, but H-FABP showed changes in seasonality and differences depending on the sex of the bats. While males expressed constant levels of H-FABP independently of the season, females showed a fivefold increase during migration.
 

Additionally, the angle and positioning of the camera when taking the photographs must be acknowledged.

Methods

I entered Morrill 4 south and went up the stairs to the second level. I walked into the hallway and turned to the right, where I saw doors that led to the bridge that connects Morrill 4 to Morrill 2. If you look out at the bridge, on the left there should be a blue sign that has “Morrill 4 South” written on it. Underneath this sign is a blue radiator, which is where I found the spider web. If you stand facing the Morrill 4 sign and the blue radiator, the spider web is located on the bottom left side of the radiator attached to the pipe and black part of the wall. I placed a ticonderoga pencil on the ground, angled at roughly 15 degrees from the wall. I then held my iPhone, with the bottom of it resting on the ground, about 6 inches from the wall and faced it towards the spider web. I then took a photo of the spider web and the pencil with my flash on. To get a photo of the environment, I stood about 5 feet away from the blue radiator, closer to the stairwell than the doors to the Morrill bridge. I then angled my phone so I captured the blue radiator, most of the rug on the floor, the blue Morrill sign, and the left door that goes out to the Morrill bridge.

    Once I had the photos of the spider web I found and its environment, I used the UMass campus map, which can easily be found online.

The ability to replicate research is necessary in the scientific method as it allows for the validation of experimental findings. With replication research, one can further negate or question the results; this helps connect the research to real world situations. The methods of an experiment are the most important aspect in replicating an experiment, as they they outline the steps taken to reach an outcome. The learning goal in Writing in Biology class is to practice writing clear and concise methods in scientific structure.

In this experiment, students were asked to individually find one spider web somewhere on the UMass Amherst campus and photograph it. Two pictures were taken of the spider web; one picture of the spider web close up and another picture from far away to capture part of the location that the spider web was found in. These photographs were then imported onto a computer and edited into a figure panel that consisted of both pictures of the spiderweb and a third picture of a map indicating the spider web location. Following the figure panel, methods were written explaining the exact steps taken to arrive at the location photographed. Additionally, methods were written explaining the process of making the figure panel on the computer.  

Today in class we learned about the autonomic nervous system. This is the majority  of the nervous system and includes everything that you cannot control, which is most of your functions. The autonomic nervous system is made up of the parasympathetic system and the sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is the rest and digest and the sympathetic is the flight or fight response. Your body does it's best to keep you centered between these two but different stimulus can alter your state. For example, when you're scared the flight or fight response takes over. Seeing a bear would stimulate the sympathetic nervous system and would lead to increased heartbeat, dry mouth, narrowed pupils, and this system is also linked to the gastrointestinal system. When you're relaxed, the parasympathetic system might take over. This state lowers your heartrate, makes you salivate, and in general you become calmer. The body tries to keep you inbetween these two systems. One of the only ways to affect the autonomic nervous system is breathing. Taking long, slow, deep breaths can lead to the parasympathetic nervous system. You can initiate this state and calm yourself down just by focusing on your breathing. Other than that, the systems are automatic and you cannot control. Like you cannot control what your response to a certain frightening stimulus would be, when scared you either run or try and defend yourself but it is an automatic response that you have no control over.  

Mammals use carbohydrates as a primary fuel during short periods of intense activity, but these reserves can not provide the energy required for travelling long distances like migratory hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) do. Instead, the flight muscles get powered by fat stores, which contain more energy per unit mass than carbohydrates and proteins. Bird migrations have been studied more extensively than bat migrations, and it is known that birds seasonally regulate fatty acid transport pathways and oxidative enzymes, increasing their activity during the time of migration. Based on the similitudes between migratory bats and birds, the researchers hypothesized that bat follow similar metabolic pathways and that fatty acid transport and mitochondrial enzymatic activity would be regulated seasonally as well.

The enzymatic activities studied were CPT, HOAD, and CS; while the fatty acid transport proteins studied (only looking at mRNA expression) were H-FABP, FAT/CD36, and FABpm in flight muscles.

Students of Dr. Brewer’s Writing in Biology class were assigned to locate and photograph a spider web and its environment on the UMass Amherst campus. Students then created a multi panel figure including a photograph of the spider web with an object for scale, the environment the web was in, and a map showing the location of the web on campus. Once the multi-panel figure was completed, each student wrote a detailed methods that described the steps taken for capturing their photographs and creating the multi-panel figure. Finally, the methods written were given to another student and that student attempted to make the same multi-panel of the original student. The purpose of this experiment was to see how close the multi-panel figures were and observe the differences between the two.

There are several objectives for this activity. The main goal of this activity was to practice scientific writing, specifically the methods section. Especially in the world of science, it is important for students to have clear, detailed methods. This allows other people to replicate activities and experiments correctly. Additionally, this activity taught students how to make organized multi-panel figures. The overall aim of this exercise was to have students practice writing a clear and understanding scientific paper.

When choosing a spider web to photograph, there were many factors to consider for replicability. Things such as weather, time of day, and lightning had to be considered.

Students in Professor Bergan’s Writing in Biology class were tasked with finding a spider web somewhere on the UMass Amherst campus and photographing it. Students then created a figure including the photographs of the spider web and a detailed map to show its precise location. When the figure had been created, a detailed methods section was written that outlined the steps taken to obtain the photographs and create the figure. Next, the methods were given to another student who was instructed to follow them in an attempt to create a replicate of the original figure. The goal of this experiment was to compare the two figures that had been created by two different students and observe the differences between them.

The main objectives of this task were to practice writing different sections of a scientific research paper, creating clear and accurate figures that could be replicated, and following detailed methods written by someone else in hopes of obtaining the same result. Writing a detailed and accurate methods section about how the figure was created was crucial, and showed just how specific researchers need to be when writing methods sections that will be submitted for publishing. This exercise was aimed to show students how proper writing techniques are both valuable and necessary in the scientific community.  

When choosing a spider web to photograph, several factors had to be considered to ensure the proper recreation of the figure. These included the time of day, lighting, weather, and the type of camera used. The use of an object to represent scale as well as the orientation of the camera at the time of the photograph were key components of the experiment. Also important was the distance at which the camera was held in relation to the spider web and where the person was standing when they took the photo.

When outlining how the figure was digitally created, there were also factors that had to be accounted for to ensure that it could be replicated. The arrangement of the photographs in relation to one another, the borders separating them, and the use of letters to distinguish one photograph from another all had to be described.     Accuracy and attention to detail were essential for this experiment to be successful.