Summer Scavenger Hunt

Introduction:

               

                  For our AP Biology Summer Scavenger Hunt, we were requested by our AP Bio teacher, Mrs. Fiser, to collect items found in nature which had certain characteristics that we will be studying the following school year. Below is documentation of 50 photographed organisms with explanations about their unique features. 

[1] Adoption of an animal:

Animals live everywhere on Earth. However, every animals has unique characteristics which helps them adapt to their respective environment. All animals depend on their physical features to help them obtain food, provide shelter, and withstand weather and harm. For example, in Florida where the weather is warm, cows have a layer of skin that may not be as thick as cows living in the northern parts of America.

[2] Adaption of a plant:

 

Plants have adaptions and characteristics to help them live and grow in different areas. Without specific adaptions, some plants would not survive because of the necessary features. For example, lily pads are disk-shaped leaves that allow them to float on the surface of a pond with a connection to the root of the plant which is rooted on the ground in the water. Lily pads also provide food for fish and create shade under the water during the day and warmth in the night.

[3] Amniotic Egg:

Eggs like the ones we eat as breakfast are examples of amniotic eggs. When a bird or a reptile give birth, it is in the for of an egg. Inside the amniotic egg, there contains a yolk which nourishes the developing organism. not only does this provide protection for the fetus inside due to the shell's hard covering, but it also aids in gas and energy exchange.

[4] Analogous structures:

An analogous structure is a trait that appears to be similar in two organisms that are unrelated. For example, the wings of birds appear to be very similar to the wings of bats or pterosaurs, including the same function. While these structures look identical, they have actually evolved separately. 

[5] Animal that has a segmented body:

Animals with segmented body parts make up the largest animal group on Earth, Anthropods. Anthropods are animals with segmented bodies and six or more jointed legs. Anthropods can be found everywhere, therefore, it is not a surprise that both crabs and butterflies make up this group.

[6] Asexual Reproduction:

Asexual reproduction is when an organism alone can create an identical offspring without fertilization. Potatoes use asexual reproduction by producing tubers. These tubers are produced when the stems of a plant are arched over and take root at their tip, forming new plants. This allows for a potato to produce an offspring identical to the parent.

[7] Autotroph: 

An Autotroph is a plant which produces its own food for survival. These organisms produce complex compounds, including carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, through the combination of using energy from light from simple inorganic molecules. Because Autotrophs produce their own food, they are the producers (beginning) in a food chain. The Begonia plant above is an Autotroph because it uses photosynthesis to make its own food.

[8] Bilateral symmetry:  

A bilateral symmetrical animal, like butterflies, means that if you where to cut an organism straight down the middle or sagital plane, both sides would be identical. Not only are the bodies of butterfly's bilateral, but the design on their wings are also identical. Many animals that are bilaterally symmetrical have a balanced distribution of duplicate body parts.
[9] Biological Magnification: 

 Biological magnification occurs when there is an increase in the concentration of a substance through the use of pesticides which occurs in a food chain. An example of this chain would start through perspiration. Through rain, pesticides from yard are washed into the drainage system which filters into larger bodies of water. Small fish that consume algae, which in turn are consumed by larger fish, digest the harmful pesticides. Through the chain, birds and humans began to ingest the contaminated fish. This chain represents bio-magnification.     

[10] C3 Plant:

C3 plants represents a metabolic pathway for carbon fixation in photosynthesis. This process converts carbon dioxide and ribulose bisphosphate into a 3-phosphoglycerate (RuBP). C3 plants like rice tend to thrive in areas that are moist and where the sunlight is moderate. These types of environments allows C3 plants to control the amount of RuBP produced which otherwise can limit the growth of the plant.

  [9] C4 Plant:

C4 plants like corn contrast C3 plants because of the 4-carbon molecule present in the first product of carbon fixation. Because C4 plants are a step beyond C3 plants, they must bypass photorespiration which could limit their growth. C4 plants have therefore developed a mechanism to efficiently deliver carbon dioxide to the RuBisCo enzyme. This process requires for a larger concentration of oxygenase levels which is present in the tropics.

[11] CAM Plant:

CAM Plants utilizes CAM (Crasslacean acid metabolism) as an adaption for arid conditions. When plants open their stomas, carbon dioxide can be used by conversion into organic acids through the Calvin cycle. The Calvin cycle works through the day while carbon dioxide is converted at night. A Jade plant is an example of a CAM plant because it uses this elaborate carbon fixation pathway, giving the plant its appearance of thick, reduced leaves with thick cuticles.

[12] Cambium:

This orange tree has a cambium layer between its old wood and its bark. This is called vascular cambium. Vascular cambium is a thin layer of cells that produces the conducting cells, xylem and phloem. Cambium also effects the growth of a tree because it increases the diameter of the stem or trunk of the tree, resulting in secondary growth. 

[13] Ectotherm:

An Ectotherm is an organism that can adapt to its environment by regulating its body temperature. Lizards are an example of cold-blooded animals which regulates its body temperature largely by exchanging heat with its surroundings. By basking in the sun, reptiles receive heat from the sun.

[14] Endosperm:

Endosperm is an important tissue produced inside the seeds of most flowering plants to surround the embryo and give nutrition through starch. Not only are endosperms important to the embryo, but they are also important in human diets.For instance, wheat endosperm is ground into flour to make bread.










[15] Endotherm:

Endotherms are groups of animals that are warm-blooded such as cows, dogs, and other mammals. Through internal metabolic process, these mammals maintain thermal homeostasis. Endotherms must generate their own heat to maintain their body temperature, opposed to ectotherms that must obtain heat from their environment.











[16] Ethylene:

Ethylene is a gaseous organic compound widely used in industry and is also a plant hormone. Ethylene, made up of two carbon atoms and four hydrogen atoms, can be found all over the world because it is present in many fruits like apples and peaches. These fruits emit ethylene and makes it the most produced organic compound in the world.

[17] Frond:

The word frond is used to describe many plants, however, it usually pertains to a plant which has leaves of a feathery appearance. Another unique characteristic of a frond is its long shaft in the middle of the structure and its extensions which protrudes from the shaft. A fern represents an example of a frond.

[18] Gymnosperm Cone:

Gymnosperms are a group of seed and spore-bearing plants under the Plantae kingdom. Gymnosperm seeds develop either on the surface of a cone or at the end of short stalks. This gymnosperm cone grows from a pine tree which is by far apart of the largest group of conifers. 

[19] Gymnosperm Leaf: 

Gymnosperm's leaves are extremely variable. This pine tree represents one the the many types of gymnosperm leaves. Most gymnosperm's are evergreens and contain simplistic, blade shaped leaves. Even though the leaves may be small and scale-like, they represent a single unit.

 [20] Hermaphrodite: 

Hermaphrodites are animals which contain both male and female reproductive characteristics and can often take on the role of a "male" of "female" through reproduction. A common hermaphrodite are snails, which are apart of taxonomic groups of animals, and therefore explains its hermaphroditism. Since snails are hermaphrodites, they can produce offspring through sexual reproduction in which either snail can produce.

[21] Hydrophilic: 

A substance represents a hydrophilic if it mixes easily with water. Ideally, water is a hydrophilic substance because it mixes and dissolves within itself. Water-like substances bond and interact with water molecules to create a physical or chemical change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[22] Hydrophobic: 

 

Opposed to water solvent substances, hydrophobic substances are oils, for example, vegetable oil. When you attempt to mix vegetable oil with water, after the water settles, it is uncombined with the oil, which sits on top of the water. Oils are hydrophobic substances that are covalently bonded as long chained hydrocarbons which do not act with water. Therefore, oil is not water soluble. 

 

 [23] K-strategist:

A K-strategist is an organism that has a large body and a long juvenile period. Oak trees for instance grows exponentially and then stabilizes. These trees have a stable and diverse ecology. Compared to other trees, Oak trees are born more dependent on the parents and continues this trait for a longer period of time.

[24] Lichen:

Lichen is the product of alga and fungus in a close symbiotic relationship. This relationship straddles lichen in the monera and fungi kingdoms.Lichen lives by absorbing minerals from the ground through strands of alga linked with roots and branches of fungus, conducting photosynthesis. This plant can be seen growing multiple places from rocks to tree branches.

[25] Long-Day Plant:

Long-day plants like lettuce require only a small amount of darkness compared to other plants. A critical time that long-day plants are active is in the summer where the days are longer and the nights are shorter. Therefore, photoperiodism, or the ability of a plant to flower, is determined by the amount of light a long-day plant receives.

[22=6] Modified root of a plant:

Most plants produce either single large roots with smaller branch roots, or many small roots of similar diameter, however, some plants, like carrots, have root modifications with specific functions for stability and absorption. Carrots are plants with a combination of root and stems that functions in food storage. This not only allows for the crop to receive nutrition, but it also allows for the carrots to strive through secondary growth.

[27] Modified stem of a plant:

Botanically structured wise, thorns, spines, and prickles are hard structures with sharp points that act as defensive mechanisms.Thorns, like those on the stem of the plant above are often modified versions of plant organs, stems, or leaves. These thorns usually protects a plant from grazing animals.

[28] Mycorrhizae: 

A mushroom represents an association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant, called mycorrhizae. In this association, the fungus colonizes the host plant's roots, either through the cell, or the exterior of the cell. This makes up an important part of soil life and soil chemistry.

[29] Pollen:

Pollen plays an important process in germination, both voluntary and involuntary. This small, yellowish colored powder contains microgametophytes of seed plants, which helps produce sperm. The sperm can then be transferred to the female cone of coniferous plants. Even though pollen can germinate, it can also be spread involuntarily to other plants through bees and other insects. Pollen can be found on the tips of a flower's stamen, on cars, and windows in the spring.

[30] Pollinator:

 

Pollinators like bees take on the role of moving pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This role accomplishes a process called fertilization. Common pollinators are bees which carry around pollen on their fuzzy hair-like coat. Most bees gather nectar and pollen to nourish their young and fertilize other plants. Bees are an essential part of the environment because the allow for plants to reproduce through the transfer of a male gamete to a female gamete in the ovule.

[31] R-Strategist:

It is believed that every organism falls between the identification of an R-strategist or a K-strategist. Fish, represents an organism that is an R-strategist because they create an abundance of offspring due to the high percentage that are killed before adulthood. Fish also have a short maturation time, causing them to breed at a very young age. Because of the high mortality rates of their young, parent fish do not past down information to their young. Instead, the behavior of the young is determined on genes.




 [32] Radial Symmetry (animal):

If an animal is radially symmetrical, then its body is arranged around a central axis. This means that if one were to cut an organism, like a starfish, about its central point, all angles would be identical if viewed through the point of entry. Two equal halves would be produced if you cut a radially symmetrical animal from one side to the other, anywhere on the organism.

[33] Rhizome: 

 

A rhizome is a plant which are characteristically horizontal stems of the plant found underground. Rhizomes often send out roots and shoots from its nodes. If a rhizome is separated into pieces, each piece is capable to give rise to a new plant. Cannas are rhizomes which can also practice vegetative reproduction.

[34] Seed Dispersal (wind):

 

Seed dispersal makes up a large percentage for the spreading of seeds. For example, winds of a dandelion can float through the wind, or flutter to the ground. If abundant seed production is evident, a dandelion's seed may germinate in a suitable site.

[35] Sporophtye:

Every land plant, including some algae, have life cycles in which a generation of a plant or algae has a double set of chromosomes. This cycle is known as a diploid sporophyte with the sporophyte producing spores through meiosis. Therefore the Spanish moss represents an example of a sporophyte because it is a plant in the spore-producing phase in the life cycle that exhibits alternation of generations.

[36] Territorial behavior: 
     

Most animals, including humans, exhibit some sort of territorial behavior when they fear that they must defend what is rightfully theirs. A Betta fish is a classic example of a territorial fish because it defends its territory through fighting until only one Betta remains. For instance, a Betta may stretch out his tail to appear twice as large and warn off competition.

[37] Tropism: 
 

 

A plant which exhibits tropism demonstrates a turning or bending movement of itself toward an external stimulus such as light, heat, and gravity. This plant represents a tropism because its vine-like stems are hanging down due to gravity. The leaves motion toward the ground from its force.