Drafts

    There was a blind study that was done in order to test whether or not employers are being too harsh with their evaluations in terms of hiring new members via their resumes. The study was performed by gathering a sample size of 10 CEOs/presidents/or managers from various companies, and each one of these people were given 10 different resumes. Each resume had the name, birthdays, schools, and years attended changed without the 10 subjects knowing. Each subject was to evaluate each resume and decide whether or not the applicant would have a shot at a job in their company, without knowing what the other subjects’ decisions were. Out of the 100 total evaluations, only 12% of the resumes were passed as a possible candidate for their companies. The real resumes of each applicant were then revealed, and each resume was the first resume each subject had used in real life in order to start working at their respective companies. The study clearly demonstrated that the expectations for new workers have significantly increased, and that the subjects were possibly “not giving people enough of a chance”. In the end, the study demonstrated the failure of resumes, and how they are a very inaccurate method of representing someone’s ability to work, as well as how the expectations of current society has increased significantly for new workers.

One of the greatest aspects of genetics is that it relates to every single person. To spread genetic literacy at Umass Amherst, I would organize a ‘DNA Day’. My goal would be to teach students some fundamental basics of genetics which they could relate to personally in order to optimize their interest. 3D models of the double helix and chromosomes would be made for students to physically hold and visualize from all aspects. I would also explain modern day uses of genetics such as DNA sequencing to demonstrate how these revolutionary tests have allowed scientists to provide evidence for ancient evolutionary relationships to mammals today. I would envision to organize more than one ‘DNA Day’ at Umass over time with a different topic each time so that students can choose to attend a variety of events that interest them. Other topics that I think would interest students and most importantly catch their attention for are gene editing, cancer genetics, and evolutionary genetics.  

Mutual assessment of prospective partners is a vital aspect of the early stages of courtship and pair formation. The ornaments and displays favored and maintained by sexual selection are those that reliably reflect the superior condition of certain males, enabling females to select the best possible mates.​ For example, House Finch females prefer brightly colored males, which have better survival rates and are better family providers.

The digestion of a cheeseburger starts in the mouth. The saliva contains enzymes, amylase and lipase, that begin to break down the food. Amylase starts to break down carbohydrates, and lipase begins to breakdown fats. The saliva moistens the food and begins to liquify it. The cheeseburger then would travel down the esophagus through peristalsis, which is a coordinated movement of food along the digestive tract. Once the cheeseburger enters the stomach, food is broken down by enzymes and segmentation, or food mixing. Cheif cells in the stomach secrete pepsiogen, which once it enters the stomach becomes pepsin. Pepsin breaks larger proteins into smaller pieces. Parietal cells secrete hydrochloric acid which denatures proteins. The food them travels into the small intestine where chemical digestion continues until completion. By the time the food enters the large intestine, its nutrients have fully been absorbed. The main function of the large intestine is compaction of waste and absorption of water. 

Each group will use quantitative data already collected and available on the beak sizes and shapes of their two species. This will have been collected from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Ornithology collection of bird skins. We will collect and present the beak morphology through a chart [and pictures..?] for each group. They will then be able to draw their own conclusions. Additionally, we will use the database, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of North America which provides an extensive range of information on each bird species in North America. It provides tabs on appearance, systematics, distribution, migration, habitat, diet and foraging, sounds, behaviors, populations, conservation, research, as well as tables on bird measurements. The database, South Dakota Birds, Birding, and Nature also provides an overview of bird species in North America.

The specific aims of this experiment is to determine how the depth of the seeds in the sand they are planted in effects the growth and development of the seedlings. To demonstrate this we will be planting the seeds from Silybum marianum at different depths in sand. They will be buried at depths of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 centimeters respectively. There will be three seedlings planted at each depth so we can account for any outliers. After being buried the seeds will be put into the morrill greenhouse so they stay warm. When the seeds finally sprout out of the sand we will measure their lengths and compare the differences between the different seeds depths. That way we will find out what the effect of depth is on the development of Silybum marianum seeds.  

To conduct a time budget analysis, the entire 48 minutes and 55 seconds of footage was scored using the seven behavioral categories obtained in part one. Three specific bouts of behavior were also chosen to be scored: a playful bout, a bucking bout, and a standing still bout. The playful bout would be scored every time the horse approached with head up, nipped at a foal, and trotted away in that sequence. The bucking bout was categorized by ears back, bucking, and running away. The standing still bout was scored when the foal would survey, stomp hoof at the ground, sniff, and then graze. In addition, modifiers were used to determine the context each behavior occurred in; 1 being the foal behavior when alone, 2 the foal behavior with the other foal, and 3 the foal behavior in all contexts. This determined the percentage of time the foals spent in each behavioral category.

Animal communication is the study of the methods of transferring information from a sender to a recipient in the context of certain environments. For years, researchers have studied communication amongst species to determine evolutionary relationships between animals. Horses in particular offer a unique perspective on animal communication methods due to the fact they are a species that has been domesticated for hundreds of years. Better understandings of horse behavior has been known to increase the overall care and health of the animal, while also improving our scope of knowledge for horse behaviors and how it is used to communicate.

By analyzing the speed of the reactions performed and how the differences in temperature impacted them, we were able to conclude that the higher the temperature at which the reaction is conducted, the faster the reaction time, and the lower the activation energy. The previously calculated rate of the reaction helped us calculate K, and after converting the temperature to kelvin, we were able to graph the -Ea/R to show the activation energy. The increase in temperature would explain the decrease in activation energy because the higher the temperature, the lower the magnitude of the bond energy. This means that the bonds are more likely to break faster because they are weaker than they would be at cooler temperatures. This experiment was successful in explaining the connection between the temperature that a reaction is run at and the amount of activation energy needed to start the reaction.