Drafts

Figure 1 contains the original photos that I had taken. Figure 2 contains the replicate photos that my classmate  had taken using my methods. Although my classmate used my methods and followed them precisely, there were differences between the figures we both independently produced. The panel layout of Figure 1 and Figure 2 are different. Figure 1A is the full plant with leaves, while Figure 2A is the up close detailed photo of the flower. Figure 1B is the up close photo of the flower, while Figure 2B is the full plant.

The classmate that recieved my methods was to follow exactly what I wrote in the Methods section. They were supposed to obtain photos based on how I described my actions in the methods section. They also created a multi panel figure based on the descriptions I said. The goal of the Methods Project was to create similar figures based on the methods I had written.

-        Seed Example Revisited: Pavlischek refers again to the seed example, where he argues that women know the risk and responsibility they may have to bear by having sex. If women know this risk and they take it, Pavlischek argues, a man cannot be forced to be minimally decent. All a farther is requires to legitimately abandon his child is a goof faith declaration of non-responsibility prior to the child’s birth.

1.      Meilaender’s View of Thomson’s argument: Pavlischek refers to another writer, Meilaender, who describes Thomson’s analogies to be inappropriate for the discussion of abortion.

-        Meilaender argues that Thompson’s various analogies used to explain women’s right to choose distorts the issue of abortion. In the violinist example, Meilaender argues that the analogy paints the fetus as a parasite rather than a person.

-        Meilaender argues that rather than a parasite, there are many cases of communal dependence in natures and that a fetus represents the use of creativity and self-spending in the female’s body.

-          Pavlischek uses Meilaender’s dissection of Thomson’s view in which the mother-fetus relationship is a brute biological fact, where the mother bears no special responsibility or care for the child. Pavlischek states then it can be said that if the man does not want the child, he too can view the fetus as a brute biological fact and nothing else. Thus, the man bears no special responsibility to a child which he does not want to have.

The use of different phones caused a difference in image quality. The creator of Fig. 1 used an android phone, while the creator of Fig. 2 used an iPhone. The two styles each have their own type of camera, and as such the image comes out looking slightly different. The difference in card used to measure the flower is also a result of differences between the two photographers. The photographer for Fig. 1 chose to use a “Dunkin Donuts” gift card to provide scale, an object which the photographer for Fig. 2 did not have. Fig. 2 contains the back of a “Ucard”, which was chosen by the second photographer due to its similar shape and size to the gift card.

The differences in these figures seem to be a result of not being specific enough in the methods and not having exactly the same conditions when taking the photograph. The difference in lighting could be due to different equipment or time of day so that the lighting was different. The flower in figure 2 seems to be slightly wilted compared to how it was in figure 1 because it is less vibrant and wrinkled.

    The methods section was not specific enough to get exact copies of the panels. The letter placement and format for the layout of the figures was not specified along with the exact angle of the photograph. The difference in ruler is just a difference in equipment. And the label in figure 2 panel A seems to not belong to that map, possibly from the template used.

In my plant physiology 510 class I am currently reviewing the topic opf photosynthesis. This has been a common topic covered in my science classes throughout my academic career. Although I have not gone into this much depth in any class before, it is truly fascinating. On the surface photosynthesis is a simple reaction that involves the reduction of CO2 to glucose and the oxidation of H2O into oxygen. But as I have learned in the past few weeks it is a very complex reaction that includes to photosystems and multiple protein complexes. The backbone of this process is the electron transport chain that connects the two photosystems. It also has two different sub reactions, light and dark. Light reactions, just like their name states, occurs in the presence of light. Meanwhile dark reactions do not require the presence of light. The perfect of efficiency of the reaction is amazing and makes it quite obvious as two why it is one the essential reactions to life itself. 

This project called for the creation of a multipanel figure depicting a flower on campus in its occurring habitat. The purpose behind implementing this project allows for participants to learn the importance behind replicating another experiment, which is plays a large role in science. If the project or experiment contains a well structured, organized, and detailed methods section, those who are replicating the project will easily be able to follow the instructions presented and with great effort replicate the exact outcome gotten from the original model.

The photographs of the full plant, panel B in figure 1 and panel C in figure 2, have differences in the lighting and what can be seen. The photographs in figure 1 are all darker or have more saturated colors than in figure 2. More of the background is visible in figure 2; it shows the entirety of the pot and more of the plants surrounding it, including one to the left, above and on the floor to the left.

    The photograph of the individual flower with the ruler horizontal is panel C in figure 1 and A in figure 2. The ruler in the figures are different; figure 1 has a ruler in mm which has more blank space on the end, while figure 2 uses a ruler with cm and in. The ruler in figure 1 is on the lower part of the flower going out to the right; there is also part of a hand shown holding the ruler. Figure 2 has the ruler at the top of the flower going out to the left. The two photographs show different backgrounds. Figure 1 shows more of the plant to the upper left while figure 2 has more of the leaf to the lower right of the flower.

    Panel D shows a close up of the flower with the ruler horizontal to the flower. The ruler in figure 2 does not touch the flower as it does in figure 1. It can also be seen in these photographs that the flower in figure 2 is slightly less vibrant in color and has more wrinkles in it compared to figure 1.

Overall, the results from this experiment were not at all what would be hoped for. The carboxylic acid had an extremely low yield, and the neutral compound had a calculated yield of over 100%, meaning there was substantial contamination. The carboxylic acid also had colored impurities added from the pH strips, causing the crystals to turn a dark color. The ether layer still had a substantial amount of water even after being separated from the aqueous layer, and many clumps of CaCl2 were added in an attempt to dehydrate the solution. Although this helped remove some of the water, it is likely that there was still some amount of water present. This issue, along with other unnoticed errors in handling, caused a high level of contamination in the sample. Due to the contamination, more mass was recrystallized than was originally dissolved in the solution.

In the spring of 2018, as part of the Writing in Biology class at the University of Massachusetts I was assigned a project with the specific goal is to create a multi paneled scientific illustration that displays a flowering plant on the Umass campus. ​

The project also hoped to enhance my scientific writing ability and the ability to construct a methods section that can be followed by a complete stranger and still provide the same results. The plant I picked was Camellia Japonica, a flowering plant native to eastern China and southern Japan. The organism was found Durfee Conservatory and Garden on the Umass campus between UHS and Morrill II. It is a flowering organism that is not within normal human reach in order to reduce the amount of interaction with the sample. It is a bright pink flower on a small tree like plant, allowing it to be easily identifiable. The fact that the organism has reduced human interaction and is also easily identifiable will allow this experiment to be easy replicated by other interested scholars.  Overall this organism will provide a wonderful sample for this experiment and should allow for a successful multi-panel to be created.