Week 6

 Week 6: 

1.) This week in lab, we contined to look at the growth of our fast plants. We learned that the plants we are growing need to be cross-pollinated, and we did this by rubbing a dead bee against the flowers of our plants. In order to encourage the growth of seeds in our plants, we trimmed some of the buds. We also learned that plants have different female and male parts. Some of the male parts include the stamen, anther, and filament. The female parts include the pistil, stigma, and ovary. Finally, we talked about the natural and human-created challenges that impact the survival of turtles. We learned about this by reading a book, and playing a game. I was very surprised when I learned that the survival rate of turtles is about 1 in 1000. 

 

In the lecture, we began talking about DNA. In this discussion, we learned how DNA is stored, expressed, and passed on. 

 

4.) In lecture, I continued to get ideas for hands-on activities that I could include in my future classroom. I really liked the sea turtle survival game that we played. As a kid, I always enjoyed making and playing with paper fortune tellers, so I believe that today’s students would enjoy it as well. Even though I didn’t last long in either round, I still had fun, was engaged, and learned about the risks that impact a turtle's survival. I also really enjoyed getting to pollinate the plants ourselves, the hands-on element really helped me to gain a better understanding on how the process works. Especially compared to a video. It would be awesome to bring this activity to a future classroom. 

 

6.) Overall, I was very clear on the topics that we discussed in class this week and feel like I have a good understanding. When we learned about cross-pollination, I was very surprised when we found out that we could use dead bees to help with the process. I was unaware that you could do this. This left me wondering why this works. Why can dead bees be substituted for live ones to carry out cross-pollination?