I’m doing this for Biology

Introduction:

     This is a stab at the theory of evolution which believes that humans evolved from primates. It could be said that this cartoon is a dirty version of the bumpersticker featuring the ”truth” fish eating the “darwin” fish that has legs, but more than that I interpret it as people who don’t believe in the theory of evolution as saying that people who are in bed with the idea to find that “gross”. Well, that’s how I saw it…

Bonus Cartoon Introduction:

     I saw this and couldn’t help but laugh, even though it’s sad. The poor little frog wants to be rescued from the terminal fate of being in the biology students’ hands by being kissed and turned into a prince.

     CNS means central nervous system; this includes the brain and spinal cord. The brain is separated into two cerebral hemispheres that consist of the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes. Additionally there are the cerebellum and brainstem that complete the ‘brain’ of the central nervous system. The brainstem is the connector to the twelve cranial nerves: Olfactory, Optic, Oculomotor, Trochlear, Trigeminal, Abduces, Facial, Acoustic, Glossopharyngeal, Vagus, Accessory and Hypoglossal, or the way I remember it: On Old Olympus Tiny Tots A Fin And German Viewed A Hop. From the brainstem attaches the second part of the CNS: the spinal cord.

   The spinal cord is made up of the parts: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar; respectively the neck, midback, and lowerback. Throught which runs the spinal cord which relays important messages from the brain to the body. Another important aspect of the spine is its curvature. In a healthy spine there are four curves: cervical and lumbar lordosis, thoracic and sacral kyphosis, and the coccyx tailbone. These curves are important for balance, flexibility, and stress absorption and distribution.

     The CNS is an extremely important part of a human if not the most important part; without it there would be no blood pressure or respiration center, facial movements or sensation, or higher thinking and interpreting stimuli.

References:

• Spineuniverse.com
• Clinical Syndromes in Neurology. Department of Neurology. Barbara Scherokman M.D.

       Through pollution and deforestation many plant species are destroyed, and often they are able to grow back without ever crossing into the threatened and endangered lists. However, there are many that do become endangered even extinct. In our local environment, our own backyard: the state of Virginia, there are fifteen different endangered plant species.  This not only effects the diversity of plant life, but it also indirectly affects us. Through the endagered species of plants becoming extinct, the insects that feeds from the plant nectar could become threatened, from there the animals that feed off the insects would also be threated with extinxtion, animals such as: birds, reptiles, amphibians and other insects. Clearly the destruction of plants is not only a slendering of the plant diversity it also leads to a threatening chain of events that will eventually effect humans.

     Through small efforts such as recycling, minimizing pollution; and supporting companies, causes and politicians that are ‘green’ or stand for the protection of our environment, you can do a part in helping endangered plants. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to rest on the free-loader phenomenon, we should all do our part, because we could eventually be the ones endangered.

     Plants endagered in Virginia: Aerobis serotina Steele, shale-barren rockcress; Bacopa innominata (G. Maza) Alain, tropical water-hyssop; Betue uber (Ashe) Fernald, Virginia round-leaf birch; Buckleya distichophylla (Nutt.) Torr., piratebush; Carex polymorpha Muhl., variable sedge; Fimbristylis perpusilla Harper ex Small & Britton, Harper’s fimbry; Helenium virginicum S.F. Blake, Virginia sneezeweed; Helonias bullata L., swamp-pink; Ilex collina Alexander, long-stalked holly; Iliamna rivularis (Douglas ex Hook.) Greene var. rivularis; Iliamna corei Sherff, Peter’s Mountain-mallow; Isotria medeoloides (Pursh) Raf., small whorled pogonia; Nestronia umbellula Raf., nestronia; Scirpus ancistrochaetus Schuyler, northeastern bulrush; Spiraea virginiana Britton, Virginia spiraea.

“Threatened and Endangered”. http://plants.usda.gov/java/threat?txtparm=&category=sciname&familycategory=all&duration=all&growthhabit=all&wetland=all&statefed=stbatelist&stateSelect=US51&sort=sciname&submit.x=87&submit.y=8. Accessed 8/2/08.