Eco Bell Lab

For one of the last biology blog entries of the year, we were told to take pictures of several types of species or anything else, falling into different categories. Here are pictures of the 12 things, all taken at Bellarmine as well as scientific classification.

First is a producer. Grass. It gets all of its energy from sunlight and nothing from other creatures. I believe that the specific species of grass is Fowl Mannagrass, also known as Glyceria striata. This species lives on California's coast and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Second is a primary consumer. Chicken, or Gallus gallus domesticus. These birds get all of their energy from plants and seeds, which are producers. These birds are native to east Asia, specifically Vietnam, India, and China, but live all over the world now.

Third is a secondary consumer. The grizzly bear or Ursus arctos fits this description. Even though it also eats plants, a big part of the grizzly bear's diet is eating herbivores. While you may think that because this bear is big and seem threatening, it must eat carnivores, but much of its diet comes from herbivores like bison, sheep, and fish. This species lives in western Canada and Alaska. This picture here is from the California state flag on the flag pole. Hopefully it counts.

Fourth is a tertiary consumer, or an animal that can eat carnivores. A crow. I believe that the one I found is an American crow, or Corvus brachyrhynchos. This species can be found in the USA and southern Canada. These crows eat other carnivores, meaning they are tertiary consumers.

Fifth is a decomposer, an organism that breaks down and eats dead stuff. A housefly or Musca domestica is a great example of this. This species lives all over the world and can eat dead things and break them up.

Sixth is a herbivore, a creature that eats only plants. It's like a primary consumer, but has a different name. A blue-and-yellow macaw or Ara ararauna is a great example of this. These animals feed off of seeds and roots, and not any meat. Macaws live in the Amazon rainforest, mostly in Brazil. This one was on the Miller and Levine Biology book. Hopefully it counts.

Seventh is a carnivore, a creature that eats meat. A dog fits this description. This is Mr. Wong's dog, that looks like a labrador retriever, or Canis familiaris. These dogs originated in Newfoundland in Canada, but live everywhere now. Raw meat is the best food for these dogs as they only ate meat before domesticated.

Eighth is an omnivore, a creature that eats plants and meat. A human or Homo sapiens is a great example of this, as our diet is very big and includes both plants (ex. apple) and meat (ex. burgers). Humans are native to east Africa, but now live almost everywhere on earth. This is Mr. Wong.

Ninth is a threatened species. Even though this is also the next one for being endangered, the western honey bee, or Apis mellifera is also threatened. Since endangered is a subcategory in threatened, any endangered species is threatened, including bees. These bees live almost everywhere but the Saharan desert, over water, and the poles.

Tenth is an endangered species. A western honey bee, or Apis mellifera is a great example of this. These bees were added to the endangered species list within the last year and live almost everywhere but the Saharan desert, over water, and the poles.

Eleventh is a non-native species. A jalapeno or Capsicum annuum represents this well. Native to Mexico, the jalapeno is grown in the Bellarmine garden. These peppers are known for being spicy and are grown in Central and South America.

Last is a pollution source. In class, you said that this was okay even though it isn't a plant, so here is a car. It seems to be a Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid. Made in Japan, these cars exist almost everywhere where people who need to move.

Goldfish Respiration Lab

While in science, I did a goldfish respiration lab, measuring the effect that temperature has on a goldfish's breathing rates. To do this, my group put a goldfish in a small cup, measured the water temperature with a thermometer, and counted how many times the fish opened and closed its operculum (gill covers) over a five minute period. We did this several times, changing the temperature of the water each trial. Due to thermometer problems, we started late and couldn't finish the lab, so we only have three of the desired five readings. We also have no pictures, because of time restraints Here is a chart of our readings, with the works of other groups and our average.

As you can see from this data, goldfish breathe more when in hotter water. Due to their cold-bloodedness, goldfish must get all heat from the outside. This leads to fish functioning better in hotter temperatures. I assume that goldfish have a maximum temperature for breathing, but it is above any temperature on this chart. 

Analysis answers:

1. The goldfish have an increased respiration rate with increased temperature. As previously stated, the higher the temperature (up to a maximum point), the higher the number of operculum openings. For every trial from every fish, a high temperature has a high respiration rate.

2. Differences in the fish might have affected breathing rate. For example, the fish may have been different species. You asked that we only bring in goldfish, but I heard other people talking about bringing other fish species in. A different species might react differently to different temperatures and would change the data. Also, respiration rate varies in fish of the same species. The fish that I tested breathed more in 10-14 degree C water than fish 4 did in 26-30 degree water. The fish that I tested was higher (on average) than the other fish. This just shows how fish in the same species can respire at different rates. 

3. My fish was above average. On all three trials, my fish breathed more than the average for the 4 fish in the test. The average reading is more accurate because it is a bigger sample space, and is less likely to have great errors.

4. Scientists usually look at the average because it is a bigger sample space. Since my fish was the fastest breather, it may have had some mutation to make it do that. If the test was done with just one fish, the mutation would have been in 100% of the sample space, even though only that fish has it. When looking at the average, the mutation would only account for 25% of the sample space, and the average fish would be at a much higher percentage. Averaging many fish out is much better because it shows a greater group of the population. I averaged in this experiment mostly because I was told to, but also because averaging is more precise.

5. Same experiment, but put the fish under different amounts of light and check its breathing.

6. It was correct. My prediction was only based off of hearing that fish would breathe more under hotter water, and that was true.

7. Fish are cold blooded. This means that they get more energy and can respond more when their surrounding environment is close to its desired temperature. When further away from the desired temperature, fish are less likely to be active because much of their energy is saved for a warmer time.