Semester two

This semester in Marine Biology has been a lot of fun. I had a great time the first semester in Oceanography and an even better time in marine biology. We studied a lot of fun material that was very interesting and hands on. The whale watch field trip that we went on was so interesting. I had never seen a whale in person before and it was so cool to see. I loved being a part of marine biology this semester and the material learned never failed to entertain me. Everything was so interesting and fun to learn. I loved marine biology and I hope to pursue my marine knowledge further.

Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Seaweed But Had To Learn Anyway

I have learned a lot about seaweed and its properties and characteristics in the past week. There are many different types of seaweed. There is red seaweed, brown seaweed, and green seaweed. There are also different types of each of these. Some seaweed has little bulbs on them, that is where the reproduction of seaweed takes place. Brown seaweed is the most common type of seaweed. It is often found on rocky beaches because it likes to attach itself to rocks. The green seaweed contains unicellular and also colonial flagellates. There are about ten thousand species of seaweed, and about six thousand and five hundred of these species are a form of red seaweed.

Aquarium

Our field trip to the aquarium was very informative and fun filled. We learned a lot about a variety of different marine animals and sea life. It was a fun field trip and I really enjoyed it as well. My favorite part of the aquarium was watching the seals. The seals amazed me at how much they knew and learned from their instructors. It was fun to watch and the seals were cute too. I also really enjoyed the movie we got to see after the aquarium. It was a 3D movie about sea life and a trip that a boy took around the sea in a boat. He took this trip alone without his family, to transfer from boyhood to manhood. It was a very cool field trip and I enjoyed myself greatly while learning a lot.

Seaweed

Table 1. Comparison of Green, Brown, and Red Algae

21 points, 1 pt. each cell

Algae Type	Brown	Green	Red
Division	Phaeophyta	Chlorphyta	Rhodophyta
Specific Example	Egregia menziesii	Codium fragile	Chondracanthus exasperatus
Form(s)	Large and elaborate	Single celled, or small	simple and branched filaments, fleshy plants, and sheets.
Pigment(s)	light olive green or golden, to very dark brown	light olive green	they may appear purple, brown, green, or yellow
Habitat(s)	intertidal or shallow subtidal zone,	shallow intertidal zone	deeper waters than other algae. Red algae also grow in the intertidal zone.
Human Uses	sold as a fertilizer for terrestrial agriculture.	Some common species of green algae such as Ulva (sea lettuce), and Enteromorpha(green string lettuce) are used as food products.	Carrageenan is an important ingredient in toothpaste and many milk products, such as ice cream and chocolate milk
Useful Substances	Fucans are the slimy stuff found on kelps, and have potential medicinal uses.		Agar has many scientific applications in microbiology, biotechnology, and criminology, and is also used in the packaging of canned meats

 Access the Miracle website and answer the following questions about diatoms.

What are diatoms?

Diatoms are photosynthesising algae

To what division and class diatoms assigned?

Division Chrysophyta, Class Bacillariophyceae

What are the major characteristics of diatoms?

 Diatoms are commonly between 20-200 microns in diameter or length. The cell may be solitary or colonial 

Describe the life cycle of a diatom. 

When a cell divides each new cell takes as its epitheca a valve of the parent frustule, and within ten to twenty minutes builds its own hypotheca; this process may occur between one and eight times per day.

List five human uses for diatoms. 

Diatoms reduce high blood pressure, clean the human colin, lowers cholesterol, reduce one's weight, ad strengthen hair, nails, gums, and teeth.

Explain the role of diatoms in the carbon cycle.

They reduce the amount of CO2 in the air during photosynthesis. 

Photosynthesis Lab

Photosynthesis is when a plant of any kind takes in the light from the sun, and converts it into energy for itself in order to have it grow.  In the experiment to see live synthetic photosynthesis, I tried two methods;  one was when I put a piece of spruce cutting in a test tube of water, in a Becker, and then  put it under a light.  In this one, the water had looked like it was bubbling or boiling, if not very slowly.  The other was when I took  a test tube with a spruce cutting in it, put it upside down in a Becker of water, in which the water would be in the test tube.  The water warmed, and bubbles started coming up, one every four seconds.  In conclusion, yes.

Tsunami problems

In 2011, japan experienced a huge tsunami that reaped havoc upon the country. After the tsunami hit, much of the country had experienced damage.  Nationwide, japan poured cement to depend much of it's shoreline. Three years after the massive tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan, the government is building the biggest anti-tsunami barriers ever. Japan chose to use cement and defense tactics against future tsunami damage to build a wall. Citizens spent time pouring cement and creating a 17 foot cement wall to protect themselves from harm should there ever be another tsunami to hit. The huge cement wall built in Japan was starting to be called by some "the Great Wall of Japan". Some people are upset about this wall being built, because it is a huge change of scenery and messing with nature. But on another hand, it is only being built for protection and the future safety of Japan. I think that although a huge cement wall that is blocking view, it is important to keep in mind that it is only being built to also block the tsunami, should there ever be another. 

Timeline

The timeline project that we did in class this week was very fun and it was interesting at the same time. This project produced a lot of things to learn about and opportunities to work together to collaborate and teach each other what we have each learned in the process of making our own timeline as a class. As each group picked a different time period, we collaborated to create a timeline of all of our time periods combined. Our timeline turned out pretty good, and we each presented our separate time periods when the timeline was finished. The presentations went well. I learned a lot of new knowledge about other time periods and the species that were living in them. I learned about the conditions of each time period environmentally, and each time period presented was very interesting and unique in its own way. My presentation went well and was informative. Our group collaboration went well and me and Julia worked very well together. It was a fun project overall, and I enjoyed it a lot.