flora and fauna and fun, oh my! :)

Ectotherm – an animal that does not produce much internal body heat. I have often seen fish in the creek in my backyard, but since the creek is dried up for the summer, I took a picture of our pet betta fish, Garnet; anyway, fish are examples of ectotherms because their body temperatures vary based on the environment that surrounds.








Endotherm – an animal that can control/ regulate its body temperature by controlling the amount of internal heat it produces. The squirrel on the ledge of our mini-deck is a warm-blooded anima

l that can regulate its internal body heat, thereby classifying it as an endotherm.

Deciduous leaves – leaves that fall and grow anew each year. The maple in my backyard is a deciduous tree full of deciduous leaves. These are the leaves that don lush tones of green during the summer and shone splendid shades of red and gold in autumn. To my delight, most of the trees in our backyard are deciduous (the evergreens are further back), and in the fall it’s like living in a palace of majestic ochre hues.

Autotroph - an organism that makes its own food. Through photosynthesis, autotrophs utilize carbon dioxide (from the air), water (pulled up from their roots), and light energy (from the sun) to make sugar. The autotroph then feeds off the sugar and gives off oxygen gas as a byproduct. Via the process of photosynthesis, a maple tree can produce complex organic compounds (sugars) from simple inorganic molecules (carbon dioxide), rendering it an autotroph.

Auxin producing area of a plant - a plant hormone that speeds up the growth rate of plant cells. Auxin can be found in the root tip and shoot tip of a plant. Without this natural stimulant, plant growth is stunted. One of the locations where auxin is produces on this jasmine plant is at the tip of the stem, right between the two leaves that are growing outward. Auxin also accumulates along the underside of the plant's roots.




Conifer leaves - leaves that are characteristically needle-like or scale-like and found on evergreen/ coniferous trees. Before I went bio-exploring, I held the ignorant assumption that conifer leaves had to be on trees. In actuality, conifer leaves can be found on not only trees, but also bushes and shrubs. Needle-leaved pine trees are what most of us think of in reference to conifers, but I found the following conifer leaves in a coniferous bush in my friend's backyard.



Commensalism - a relationship between two organisms in which one benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. The birds' nest in our Flowering Dogwood tree is an example of commensalism because the birds were able to make themselves a home while the tree remained unaffected.

Angiosperm - a plant that produces flowers and seeds, the latter of which are enclosed in a protective structure (e.g. a fruit). A tomato plant is an angiosperm because it starts out as a flower bud with a seed-containing ovary; then, as the ovary grows larger, the flower becomes a tomato, and the seeds are found in the fruit. This angiosperm is from our vegetable garden... even though the tomatoes are technically fruits.

Animal that has a Segmented Body - an animal with a body divided into segmented units, like cars in a train, that often group together into larger functional units. A beetle is an animal with a segmented body. Its body is divided into three regions: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, each of which has segments of its own. The beetle's legs alone are composed of five main segments. I found this beetle near some grass in my friend's yard, but by the time we photographed the little bugger, it had crawled onto the sidewalk.

Arthropod - an invertebrate with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Butterflies do not have bones (an internal skeleton). Instead, each part of their bodies is covered with a hard coating that protects it (an exoskeleton). Like the beetle above, which too is an arthropod, this butterfly has a segmented body, as well. Attached to the butterfly's head, thorax, and abdomen are various appendages, such as six legs and four lovely wings. The picture of this butterfly on our windowsill is an example of an arthropod.

other five pictues

From now on all my pictures will be on the same post, unfortunately I'm too lazy to fix my older posts so you'll just have to deal with it.
Plants will usually produce thorns in order to deter herbivores from eating said plant. While it works against most animals some will adapt new ways to nullify the threat of thorns. Still, it keeps most beasts away, so why mess with success?

Eukaryotes, such as the frog in this picture (it's there, just look really hard) are one of the most diverse domains of organisms. They can range from being a single-celled protist to complex animals such as cuttlefish, even to simple plants like daisies. The one thing they all have in common is that their cellular structure is organised and contains a nucleus where all the genetic information is held.

Deciduous leaves don't change orange in the fall, they turn green during the spring and summer. The green color is caused by the chlorophyll it produces in order and when winter comes the plant has adapted to shed those leaves due to not having enough sun during the cold season, pretty much its better to fast than waste energy trying to create barely any food at all.

Conifer leaves, commonly known as needles, are specifically designed to be able to endure cold weather and be able to produce chlorophyll even during seasons of less sun. It is mainly achieved due to the waxy skin and small shape of the needles.

An Angiosperm is a plant that produces a nectar filled flower to attract insects. doing so covers the insect in pollen which is then carried to the next plant. Through this method is the plants reproduction obtained.

AP BIO Summer Assignment

Conifer Leaf

This is a type of leaf that is mostly needle or scale leaved. The picture is one of an evergreen tree. As you can see the leaves each hold hundreds of little needle-leaved, creating a branch of the tree. These types of leaves stay green through-out every season, never turning brown or changing color like most trees, during the different seasons.

A Fleshy Fruit With Seeds

Tomato is a fruit that contains seeds inside, these seeds are used to make more plants of their own kind. There are lots of different types of

tomatoes such as plum, cherry, vine, grape, and red round tomatoes. This type is on a vine tomato, as you can see in the picture. The tomato is attached by a thin vine, to the plant, which is then in a pot, in my family's garden.

Angiosperm

This kind of plant, can flower and also bear fruits. The reason it can do both of these things is that, it holds the seeds of the plant inside the plant's ovary.

Basidiomycete

This type of organism can be classified as a fungi. This picture shows that of a group of mushroom, knowing that basidiomycete are a group of sexually produced spores on a basidia, which is the the top of the mushroom right before the umbrella like top grows bigger.

Amylase

This type of enzyme takes apart starch and turns it into sugar. In the picture you see my mouth, because amylase is present in human saliva. Which helps in the process of digestion. Amylase is also present in the pancreas, because it makes amylase to be converted into glucose to makeenergy for the body.

Thorn of a Plant

Thorns are made as a modification to a plant for some sort of reason, mostly to protect them from animals. In my picture it is shows thorns belonging to a rose plant, the reason this plant has turned to use thorns, is so that animal do not eat the roses. Think about when you pick a rose and you have to be careful not to get stabbed by the thorns because they are very painful. The plant wants to keep the flower so they have adapted a way to keep them alive.

Epithelial Tissue

This type of tissue, covers the body and lines theorgans as well. Epithelial tissue also deals with the protection of the body from harmful things, secretion of oils and water from the skins glands, sensation when feeling objects, and absorption of minerals and vitamins that help the body. The picture is of my arm, showing that the epithelial tissue is my skin, it helps protect my body from the suns rays, and from harmful bacteria getting into my body and organs.

Autotroph

An autotroph is an organism that can make its own food, using light and chemical energy. Autotroph use the process of photosynthesis, to convert water, carbon dioxide into sugar for energy and food for the organism. The picture shows moss, which is growing in place of grass in my backyard. This located in a dark area surrounding the garden, usually moist. The moss is growing by itself using photosynthesis.

Gastropod

These animals are usually in the group called mollusks, which means that they have a shell covering their body. Most have a foot for crawling, and have a head with eyes and tentacles. The picture is of three different size conch shells, we got them on vacation in the bahamas. The body of the animal had already left, meaning that someone had taken it out to eat. The shell covers and protects the soft body of the animal from prey, the only to get the animal out it is to use physical force.

Annelid

These organisms have common names such as earthworm, leeches, or rag worms. The photo shows the dirt in which the earthworm would live, underneath in the soil, you would find an earthworm. They have segmented bodies, that hold their organs. Earthworms are hermaphrodites, meaning that they can reproduce asexually. They also are considereddecomposes, since they feed on rootingorganisms.

Adaptation of an Animal

Animals adapt to maintain survival in their environment, whether changing their fur type, beak style, color of fur or skin type, or shape of body parts. The picture shows a frog that has adapted its skin to blend in with the environment, so that the frog can live without being caught and eaten. This type of adaptation is called mimicry adaptation is when an animal adapts to look like a certain object, in this picture the frog is trying to look like bark.

Endotherm

This is a type of animal that can regulate their body temperature, maintaining the temperature at one constant number. They use glands to help rid their body of excess water, but in animals that have fur covering their body, they rely on panting to help rid their body of excess water since they can not sweat through glands.This is a picture of my yellow Labrador Retriever Sassy, she is 12 years old, and most days in the summer you can find her in this position. She heavily relies on panting during the summer, before researching about endotherm, I believed she was doing thisbecause of thirst, but now I understand that she is actually, trying to rid her body of water.

Frond

A frond is a plant that has divided leaves, almost making either side look identical. Usually found on ferns, the leaves of ferns are grown from the stem of the plant. This is a picture of a frond from the fern plant in my backyard, as you can see the leaves line up almost perfectly next to each other.

Carbohydrate-Fibrous

Mostly consist of green vegetables, containing minerals, vitamins, and fiber. The fiber that is found in these vegetables help the bodies digestive track, keeping it clean and healthy. These vegetables are also low in calories, and your body can never have to many of them. The picture is of a green pepper, which is considered a fibrous carbohydrate, another name for this veggie would be a bell pepper. The taste is sweet and not to spicy, like other peppers, people mostly eat these peppers when they are not fully ripe that is why they are green.

Chlorophyta

This type of biological term, can also be referred to as green algae. This is an unicellular organism, that relies on photosynthesis to survive. There is about 6,000 species of this algae in the world. In the picture that was taken at Sea Isle City, NJ. You can see that the algae has grown over all of the rocks that lead out to the water, making it very slipper to try and walk across. Chlorophyta lacks thins that land plants have so, they are classified as more of a simple organism.

Commensalism

This type of relationship is when one organism benefits from another but the that organism is unaffected. This picture shows horses that live together unaffected, but they do affect the insects that live underneath their hooves, in running around the horses move the dirt, thus moving the insects as well. A special bird called a cattle egret eats these insects for meals, if the horses did not stir the ground up releasing the insects then the egrets would not eat. So they are benefitting from the horses, with out doing harm to the actual horses.

Anther & Filament of Stamen

The stamen is the male reproductive organs of a flower, since a flower usual has both male and female parts. In the picture you see the inside of a flower, the yellow long string like organisms are called the filament, at the top of these filaments rest the anther which holds the pollen of the flower. Once the anther opens to release the pollen which is then carried by bees or wind or water to pollinate another flower to help it grow.

Deciduous Leaf

This type of leaf has one characteristic that most people can identify with is that these leaves turn colors in the fall and loose their leaves in the winter. But during the spring sometimes they spring flowers and keep their beautiful green shade all through summer. The process of them losing their leaves is called abscission. In the picture I took on of the many deciduous trees I have located around my house, that always loose their leaves in the fall, creating lots of raking to do. But they look nice once spring comes around and they blossom.

Cnidarian

This type of organism is mostly know as jelly fish. I know you are wondering why I put a picture of a turtle as the image, but what I researched about Cnidarian is that turtle eat them, so I figured you might be able to find a little bit of that in its tummy. Cnidarian organisms have over 9,000 different species all living in the water, mostly in oceans so that they can eat the coral and algae to stay alive. The jelly substance in the organism is actually non-living, but because it is between epithelial tissue, the jelly fish is alive. The "stingers" that happen to hurt you when swimming are called polyp and are actually apart of their mouth.

Insect

These animals have three main characteristics which include three pair of jointed legs, two antennas, and compound eyes. Having over a million different species makes them one of the most prominent type of animal. For reproduction these type of animals lay eggs, that have to hatch, but they must go through stages which is called molting, this basically means they are changing their skins. The picture is of a praying mantis, that I found when I went to turn on my hose, to water my mother's plants. So I took a picture thinking that it was perfect for bio. The praying mantis is an insect with over 2,200 different species of its own kind. These insects can camouflage their bodies to stay away from being eaten or harmed. As you can see in the picture the mantis is a light brown color to blend in with my houses' siding. A funnycharacteristic of these insects is that when mating the female will actually bite the head of the male off. After she has received his sperm to reproduce.

AP Bio Summer Scavenger Hunt

Dicot plant with flower and leaf: This geranium on my deck is a dicot plant for two reasons. The first is because there are eight petals on the flower directly above the bracelet, and the second is because the leaves are netted, meaning that the veins in the leaf all connect to one another and fan out. A dicot flower usually has either four (or multiples of four) or five (or multiples of five) petals, and netted leaves.

Keratin: I wanted to get a picture of a white tailed deer that has been spotted occasionally around my neighborhood, but since I could not find it, I decided that the next best thing would be my friend's goat, Petey. His horns are made up of keratin, which makes up the hair, nails, and horns of all mammals. On deer, the antlers and feet are also made up of keratin.

Endotherm: An endothermic organism is one that can create its own heat to maintain its body temperature. These male and female goldfinches on the thistle feeder in my backyard are warm-blooded.

Thorn of a plant: This is a picture of a rose bush by my house. On the stems of the plant are thorns. The rose developed thorns to protect it from predators that would want to eat the flower. Thorns stick into the attacker's skin or fur and cause discomfort, and are not easily digested if swallowed.

Insect: In this picture is a lightning bug (also known as a firefly) that was caught in the backyard at dusk. The lightning bug is an insect, in that it has 6 legs, a segmented body, and antennae. The bug also has wings, another characteristic of most insects.

Fruit-fleshy with seed: This is a picture of a pepper from my garden. Though we use it in salads with vegetables, this pepper is technically a fruit. Fruit is the matured ovary of a plant, and protects the dormant seeds until they mature. Vegetables are merely parts of plants, therefore not fruits.

Flower ovary: In this photograph is the carpel of a lily. At the base of the carpel is the flower ovary. The flower ovary holds the ovules, which once fertilized by pollen become seeds.

Style and Stigma of a Carpel: This carpel was obtained from a Stargazer lily. The carpel is considered the female sex organ of the plant. At the top of the plant segment is the stigma, which traps pollen, and the lower section is called the style. The style connects the stigma to the flower ovary.

Deciduous Leaf: This leaf was taken from a deciduous sugar maple from my front yard. Deciduous trees shed their leaves annually, towards the end of their growing season so the trees can conserve energy and water for the unfavorable times of the year (such as the autumn season and droughts). When the leaves start to die, they transform from green to a variety of colors, like red, yellow, and brown. Shortly after, the leaves fall to the ground, leaving the trees bare.

Conifer Leaf: Most conifers are cone bearing trees, such as pines and ferns. Conifers shed their needles frequently throughout the year, but not all at once like deciduous trees. These needles are from a white pine tree in the driveway.