Writing in Biology

Every experiment contains a method section, in which the scientist records the steps and describes the process of the experiment that yielded the given results. The methods section allows other scientists to replicate the experiment and furthermore, it provides the experiment with some validity. The purpose of the methods project is to understand and develop a methods section of our own. To achieve this, we created a multipanel figure containing three pictures: one picture of the entire plant, a close-up of the flower, and a map of the origin of the species. For this experiment, the Camellia Japonica Napoleon was the flower being observed.

Next, a figure was created to show the origin of the species and where it mostly grows. The figure was created on amcharts.com under the visited countries section. The Blc Momilani Rainbow is found mostly in tropical climates in South America. As such, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil were highlighted on the map. 

The chloroplast is composed of several different parts. First, it has an outer membrane called the outer chloroplast membrane. This is then followed closely by an inner chloroplast membrane. Inside the membranes there are stacks of folded thylakoid membrane, called grana. between these folds is an interior called the lumen. Not all of the grana line up, leaving exposed sections called stromal lamellae. All of this is suspended in a fluid enterior in the chloroplast, called the stroma. 

The plant that was photographed was the Blc Momilani Rainbow, otherwise known as “The Gypsy”. The plant was photographed in the Vine House of the Durfee Conservatory. The conservatory was entered from the rear entrance (opposite the street). The plant was located near the middle of the left wall of the second room. The plant was photographed from a distance a few feet away so the entire plant could be captured, as well as an up close shot that captured only the flower itself. 

The portrait picture of the entire plant was placed on the left side. The landscape picture of the flower was placed in the upper right corner. The landscape map of the range of Camellia japonica was placed in the lower right corner. Each of these three elements were labeled A, B, and C respectively by placing the letter directly above the image, in the top left corner with 6pt font. No other markings or labels were added. The two landscape images were near 600 pixels by 330 pixels. The portrait image was near 330 pixels by 600 pixels. The individual elements were padded with approximately 90 pixels worth of white space. The white space was between all elements and also between the elements and the border.

Songbirds have a varied diet, and there are many components which contribute to the levels of mercury in their bodies. What the results of this study tell us is that by volume, arachnids contribute a much larger amount of mercury to these songbirds than any other food source. There could be multiple reasons for these elevated levels of mercury, such as the spiders themselves eating insects that incidentally contain high levels of mercury, or it could be that these spiders use elevated levels of mercury in their bodies. Whatever the case is, these arachnids contribute much more mercury, even in absolute terms, than the moths and butterflies that make up more of the songbirds diet.

In general, both figures seem to be relatively analogous but there are some differences.  The fonts for each panel label are different, and the font in figure 2 is bolded.  The location of the panel labels are also different.  The labels in figure 1 are located above the images and the labels in figure 2 are located to the left of the images, however they are both located in the upper left-hand corner for each image.  The panel labels in both figures are not overlapped on top of the images and are both colored black.  

The images of the orchid in part A of both figures are almost congruent, but there are differences in image color between figures.  In figure 2A the orchid is located further from the photographer and the sign is facing the camera more dead center.  The sign in figure 2A is also more straight up and down.  In figure 2A there is more of the plant to the right of the plant of interest included in the photo than in figure 1A and the bench upon which the plant is sitting is more included in 2A.  

In part B, the angle of the flowers are similar but the amount of blooms included is different.  There are also differences in color between the two figure images.  Figure 2B has the entirety of the bloom included instead of just the bottom half included in figure 1B.  The angle in figure 1B is more angled towards the floor, whereas in figure 2B it is more parallel to the bench.  There is more of the plant to the left of the orchid and the bench included in figure 1B in comparison to figure 2B.  The pot of the orchid is present in figure 2B and is not included in figure 1B.

Part C was where both figures differed primarily.  The world map in figure 1C contains an elliptical outline where in figure 2C there is no outline but there is a rectangular shape.  The world map in figure 2C is also larger than that of figure 1C and more stretched out on both sides.  The depiction of antarctica in figure 2C is also a lighter color gray than the rest of the map.  The colors by which the countries were highlighted were both turquoise but figure 1C was a brighter turquoise than figure 2C.  The countries colored in were almost identical, but the caribbean islands were highlighted in figure 2C which was inconsistent with those highlighted in figure 1C.

12 synapomorphies for lissamphibia

1.       Pedicellate and bicuspid teeth. teeth have two sides/ cusps one of each side of the mouth (ligual, and labial)

2.       The middle ear is made up of two parts. The collumela or stapes, and the operculum. Which is not homologous to the one in fish. The operculum is connected to the scapula via the opercular muscle. This allows the organism to hear ground vibrations.(opercular apparatus is lost in caecillians)

3.       The stapes is directed dorsolaterally from the fenestra ovalis.

4.       The fat bodies develop from the germinal ridge.

5.       The skin contains both mucus and poison glands that are very similar in structure.

6.       Specialized receptor cells in the retina of the eye called green rods. Except caecillians lac them.

7.       A sheet of muscle called the levator bulbi is under the eye allowing the to raise their eyes

8.       Cutaneous and bucophanyngeal respiration.

9.       Short straight ribs and do not encircle the body

10.   Two occipital condyles at the base of the skull

11.   Radius and ulna articulate with the humerus at a single point called the radial condyle.

12.   Share fenestration patterns and loss in skull bones with Paleozoic tetrapod’s.

Observations- The two figures seem to be taken at different times of the day. Figure one which is on the left is taken earlier in the day than Figure 2 on the right. This is assumed based off of the amount of light and shadows seen in the figures. The rulers used are different as well the one on the right uses a ruler in millimeters while the one on the left uses a ruler in centimeters. The ruler used in the figure on the left is wet while the one on the right is completely dry. The ruler placement in panel B is different for both figures. On Figure 1 its directly down the center of the leaf and the ruler is on the leaf. On Figure 2 the ruler is floating below the leaf not touching it at all and is located adjacent to the leaf instead of down the middle. The placement of the thumb on the ruler is different where in Figure 1 it is at 5 cm and they are touching the leaf with their hand. In figure 2 they have their thumb at 85mm and they are not touching the leaf. The picture of the total plant (Panel A) was taken at a different angle in both Figures. The individual leaves that they took pictures of (Panels B, C, and D) appear to all be different leaves. The spacing of Panel C is different on Figure 1 than it is on Figure 2. The Figure 1 is more zoomed in and centered to the left, while Figure 2 is more zoomed out and centered. The Figure 2 is more rectangular than Figure 1, and is much longer in height. Panel B is taken at a different direction in the two figures. In Figure 1 it’s on its side or faced left to right, while the one Figure 2 is faced up and down. Panel D is more zoomed out in figure 2 than it is in Figure 1. The arrow arrangement on Panel D is different on both figures. The Figure 2 has the arrow pointing to the middle of the leaf while Figure 2 has the arrow pointing on the edge of the leaf. The arrow in panel C is different for both figures. While the arrow itself is in the same direction in both panels it is pointing to a different spot on both leaves. In Figure 1 the arrow is close to the stem of the leaf while in figure 2 the arrow is almost in the center of the leaf.

Many of the discrepancies between the two figures relate to the details of the flower on the plant. Based off of the fact that the images of the flower appear so different, along with the fact that the flower present in the center of Fig. 1a is no longer present in Fig. 2, it becomes clear that the flower for Fig. 1 was no longer present at the time Fig. 2 was taken. The attempt to follow the methods was unable to take a picture of the same flower, and so took a picture of a different one. This was the result of  a variable which was not controlled for, public access to the plant. Roughly one week passed between the taking of the two pictures, during which time the conservatory containing the plant was open for public access. In future experiments, it would be wise to pick a plant kept somewhere more secure, without the possibility of tampering.