The Adventures of the Traveling PBWiki Shirt!

2010-06-17T19:52:00.001-07:00

Just before we're about to go out onstage, a great surge of energy rushes through us all and gives us a sense of invincibility. This is called an adrenaline rush. Adrenaline rushes are common before performances, games, or near death experiences. Adrenaline, also known as Epinephrine, is a hormone and neurotransmitter. It causes increase in heart rate, contracts blood vessels, dilates air passages, and triggers the flight-or-fight response. Adrenaline is produces by the adrenal gland, specifically from the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine.

A Visit to the Barn

2010-06-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

Last week, I went to Little Brook Farm with Leanne. I learned many things about baby bunnies, horses, ponies, chickens and even miniature horses.

The first activity we accomplished was grooming a horse named Chelsea who is 32 years old. Chelsea has Cushing's Disease and Uveitis. Because she had Uveitis, her eye popped and now because it is dead, it shrinks each day. Cushings disease causes her to not to be able to control shedding, so she is a lot of work to groom!

Chelsea-

After Chelsea, we groomed Rosy, the pony. She is an example of a different type of horse, thus showing a different combination of gene alleles.

Rosy-

After grooming Rosy and a few more healthy horses, we went and checked out the 3 week old baby bunnies. They are a cross between a completely white rabbit and a black/brown rabbit. As you can see, they are white, black and gray.

baby bunnies-

Overall, we saw a variety of biological concepts. Between gene information, diseases, and new life we realized that a farm is a great place to learn about biology!

( i even made a new friend with Katie the horse! Here i am giving her a big hug!)

I had so much fun!

Welcome to Omaha, NE (aka Big Rockaway)

2010-06-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Hey hey hey, over the weekend, I traveled with Kevin to Omaha, Nebraska so he could compete in the NCFL Grand National Forensics Tournament. He's awesome.

But anyway, Omaha really has nothing there, it's a lot of flat land. But we did go to Creighton University, which has a teaching hospital on campus.

In the teaching hospital, interns learn the anatomy of humans and the science of medicine. For some unfortunate humans are inflicted with diseases such as cancer, which mess up the mitosis process of cells, and these interns are the ones who learn to rid of such deadly mutated cells.

Omaha also happens to have a lot of cows, who are part of the Anamalia kingdom, and apparently produce enough CO2 for it to actually be harmful to the E

arth's ozone layer. That's kinda bizarre.

We had also ventured into a vintage clothing store that smelled a lot of "pharmaceuticals" that are part of Plantea kingdom.

But really, the first things I saw while landing in Omaha was a barn and a tractor.

A Biking Trip

2010-06-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

Last week i went bike riding with Zev. While bike riding I realized that biology is everywere. We passed by trees that where making energy through a proccess called photosynthesis. Because Zev does not have and leaves or chloraphyll, he breaks down food into Glucose which is then broken down for energy or stored. Like the trees, Zev is using and making energy. Energy is the capacity to perform work, in this case, pedal his bike. The are two kinds of energy: kinetic and potential. When Zev is on his bike sitting at the top of a hill, that is an example of potential energy. ATP or, Adenine triphosphate, is the cells choice of energy source. In the mitochondria a process called respiration breaks down compounds such as glucose from foods to obtain ATP. When the ATP is used by the body, phosphorylation recharges the ADP, or Adenine Diphosphate, to return it to its original state. Using ATP Zev taking me on a fun and exiting 15 mile bike ride along the Randolph trails. Because i am the Traveling PBWiki Shirt, I reminisce about the past adventures I have had.

By Zev Leopold

2010-06-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to the beach with Carly and her family and friends. Biology was EVERYWHERE. First as we walked onto the sand we saw all the components it is made up of with minerals and tiny pieces of rock that have come from the erosion and weathering of rocks. Also we went to the freezing water and saw various and fish in the clearer parts of the water. I was especially fascinated when I saw a turtle swim past us in the water. Sea turtles are classified as kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class reptilian and order testudines. They are almost always in the water and have an anaerobic respiration. Also, when Carly was in the ocean, she was stung by a jelly fish. Jelly fish are actually not fish. They are from the kingdom Animalia, phylum crindaria and class scyphozoa. They are very interesting creatures. I learned and observed many interesting things at the beach today and saw biology everywhere I looked!

Haverford College

2010-05-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hey! This Memorial Day Weekend, I traveled with Derek to Haverford College. We went for his dad's 25th reunion. At the college, I got to sleep in a dorm with Derek, Derek's family, and all of Derek's dad's college friends. Man, it was crazy. It was kind of neat seeing all of Derek's dad's college friends with kids, though. Whereas they used to hang out and party, now they had to constantly change the diapers of their children.

Haverford College is home to one of the most outstanding science centers in the world. Located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, this liberal arts college features one of the largest observatories in America and is the school with the most amount of laboratories than any other college in the world. Along with Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr (two other liberal arts colleges close by), Haverford is one of the top schools in the field of biology. It was at Haverford that Mendel genetics was thoroughly studied. In addition, it was at Haverford that the first artificial heart and lungs were produced. In terms of animal science, Haverford has it's own farm where researchers from around the world visit and study the animals.

At the Haverford observatory, documentation of over 20 different stars has been made. NASA and other space companies around the world use this documentation as a credible and cohesive source to understanding more about space.

Haverford has shown me how much students have helped the scientific world. I would love to go to this school and study under their great facilities and even help professional companies like NASA. Haverford has also shown me that college is not all fun and games-there is a lot of work, too, that goes into all the scientific developments. However, at the reunion, I saw that it is at colleges like Haverford that friendships are made that last forever.

A Walk to Remember!

2010-04-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, I went with Leanne when she took her dog Luke on a walk. We focused on the world around us and you would not imagine what we found. First of all, all the interconnected relationships in the world (tick on luke- (Parasitism), bees pollinating flowers (mutualism), as well as lichen on the trees). Another example of parasitism is a wood pecker pecking a tree in leanne's front yard, causing it to slowly die.

- Magnolia Tree that was pollinated by bees as well as squirrels who ate the buds...

-The woodpecker's masterpiece...

We also examined the effects of excercise on our own bodies. As we walked for longer and longer, our muscles began to burn. Leanne explained to me that because we are doing a hard excercise regime, our bodies are lacking oxygen and therefore having to use lactic fermentation to make energy.

Overall, although I was sore :) , we had a wonderful walk that i hope to repeat again soon!

2010-04-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

This week, I got to take a trip to Randolph's very own dance studio with Brooke Freundlich. Every single movement the dancers made involved energy and muscle movement. I enjoyed very much watching the class, however, I couldn't help but notice how all the dancers seemed very sore. Their sore muscles are connected with their breathing patterns while performing. Dancers unfortunately have a very bad habit of holding their breath while moving, which restricts the amount of oxygen in the body. Because there is not enough oxygen, anaerobic respiration takes place. All the steps of respiration start to back up because the NAD+ and FADH "boats" cannot empty their electrons. Therefore, the electrons cannot get onto the ETC. The cells must result to fermentation to empty the "boats." Without the oxygen, lactic acid will build up in the dancer's muscles and cause soreness. Who knew that biology could explain sore muscles?!

Atlantis

2010-04-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Over Spring Break 2010, I traveled with Derek and his family to Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. This trip was fun and exciting, although it was very expensive ($12 dollars for just a hamburger!). However, we had a fabulous time and saw science in the strangest places. Just to start off, the ocean tides are an example of gravity. Just like all matter, the moon has gravity. It pulls on the water and the water hits the shore and then it lessens its pull and the water returns to sea. As the moon revolves around the Earth, the water changes directions to follow it, resulting in high tides and low tides.

A major part of Atlantis is its water park. This water park is filled with famous rides, including the slide pictured here that goes through a shark tank. This slide, being very steep, is angles at about 60 degrees so that the rider does not fall off the slide

but yet ge

ts the thrill of feeling like he/she is

going straight down.

Pictured below is the path to the casino. I am not a fan of gambling, however, the statistics involved in gambling are truly astonishing. In the game with the red and black circle, a gambler bets that a marble with land in a red or black space on the checkered circle (a 50/50 shot). However, there are two green spaces--just enough to throw off the 50/50 odds. Now, the dealer will always win at the end of the night because they tip the odds and have a greater chance of landing on their spaces (now the odds are more like 56/44).

The green eel pictured here is one of life's greatest mystery creatures. Like a slithering snake, this eel glides through the ocean underneath rocks, devouring

prey. Over time, this eel acquired traits necessary for survival. Such traits include its sharp teeth and natural means

of defense: electricity. If you touched

one of the eels and it felt that it was in danger, the eel would release up to hundre

ds of volts of electricity. Eels use this defense in the open ocean as well against predators such as sharks and squids.

The second fish shown is called a deep sea tuna (although they are not tuna fish at all!). Derek and I watched this fish for about thirty minutes...and it did absolutely nothing. Known as the "lazy" fish, the deep sea tuna rests in a single spot for days with an open mouth waiting for small bacteria to enter. It can move quickly if extremely hunger, however, it prefers to stay still. To maintain the largest tank, filled with over 50 different species of fish, Atlantis imports specific foods from around the world so as the fish remain peaceful and well fed. Also, you might be able to see some ruins in the background of the tank. This is because Atlantis tried to design its aquarium after the imaginary underwater city of Atlantis and so they put ruins in to represent underwater buildings.

Back outside the hotel, there is a dock with several yachts, each of which probably cost over a few million dollars. Derek and I are seen standing in front of one of these immense ships. In the other pictures, we are seen in front of the main hotel building of Atlantis.

When you get the chance, you should come down to Atlantis--as

the old saying goes, "Life is better in the Bahamas!"

My golf trip in florida

2010-04-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

The first thing I noticed when I saw the golf course was how beautiful it was. Then I looked closer and saw that the whole course was filled with vast areas of green grass, trees, shrubs and plants. In the picture to the left you see me surrounded by lush green grass and trees. I than thought to myself, this whole golf course is performing photosynthesis.

I asked Ollie how photosynthesis works and he told that photosynthesis is the process of converting light energy to chemical energy and storing it in the bonds of sugars. This process occurs in plants and they need light energy, CO2, and H2O to make sugar. Then he told me that it all starts in the Thylakoid membrane. Light hits the membrane and gets excited. The light then passes through various steps and NADP plus and H plus get added to form NADPH. While this is happening ATP is being made through ATP synthase. The ATP and the NADPH then get shipped off to the Calvin cycle. In the Calvin cycle 4 steps occur. Step 1 is when an inorganic carbon joins a RuBP. The molecule it makes is unstable and splits. In step 2 ATP gives carbons energy and the NADPH gives it a hydrogen and two electrons, changing it to G3P. In step 3 one molecule of G3P goes off to become sugar. This sugar is then used as energy in the human body. These sugars are the products of photosynthesis. Now, there are 5 G3P's left. In step 4 the 5 G3P's are converted into RuBP's with the help of ATP.

After hearing all that from Ollie, I had a pretty good understanding of Photosynthesis. I asked, why are the plants green ? Ollie stated that plants are green because of pigment. A pigment is a molecule that absorbs light. Chlorophyll, which is inside a leaf, is a pigment which absorbs all colors except green. When a pigment absorbs light, the human eye only sees what is reflected back to the eye. In the case of chlorophyll, it reflects green so the human eye sees the plants as being green. After hearing this I totally knew everything there was about photosynthesis and why the golf course was so green. The only thing left to do was to learn how to play golf !

BIOLOGY OF DANCE!

2010-03-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

Today I traveled with Carly to a dance competition. I learned how dance is greatly related to Biology and how the body works. First I learn the body moves while dance as a result of muscular and skeletal systems working together. The dancer’s bones gave them a sturdy border which muscles attach too. Also did you know there are 206 bones in the body? Dance utilizes move most bones in the “appendicular skeleton” which is the bones in the arms, legs, collar bone, shoulder blades and pelvis.

Also, I learned by watching various dances about joints which is where two bones meet. Some are immovable, slightly moveable, or moveable. There are various types of joints listed below (each joint helps the body move in various directions and complete the dance move)

- hinge (elbow knee)

- ball & socket (shoulder hip)

- gliding (joints in foot + wrist)

- pivot (two vertebrae inside head)

-saddle (base of thumb)

Another important part of the body is the muscles while you dance! The 650 muscles in your body give us the strength we need in dance. The muscles are attached to bones and connect over joins allowing the joints to bend!

In a dance competition, judges look to see if the dancers’ feet are pointed! There are 26 separate bones in the foot The brain sends the message to point your feet through nerves to the muscles. From there, the ankle joint straightens.

Overall, I learned a great amount at the dance competition with Carly! The body is made up of many complex parts which helps a dancer move the way she does. I was shocked how greatly biology effects dancing!

Amazon Rain Forest 2009

2010-03-10T17:54:00.001-08:00

As you might know, the Santos clan went on an expedition to the Peruvian Amazon last spring. Before they left, PJ packed me neatly in his suit case, and that's where I spent the entire trip: IN HIS SUITCASE. This year, Johanna, looking to give me a biology experience in the rain forest, put me in a few photos, and PJ? Well, let's just say he got some Wilhelmina Karma when a tailless whip scorpion crawled up his arm. It got all the way to the back of his neck!

All that happened to Johanna is she had a not poisonous frog jump on her hat, though she did hold some of the poisonous ones. they only kill if you get the poison in your mouth or eye. She let me touch a frog too!

There were animals everywhere, here I am in a tree next to a Tarantula and a squirrel monkey. It was so cute (the monkey)!

My favorite monkey there though was the pygmy marmoset. They are the smallest primates in the world. Johanna tells me that the locals call them "leoncitos"because they have a little mane around their faces. A few days into the trip, the Santos family traveled about an hour upriver to the primate research station where biologists often come to do research. Unfortunately there were no biologists there at the time. The scientists set up a grid system that maps out the section of the rain forest. The owners of the lodge and the research center pay natives in the area to travel around the territory every so often and record what they find in each coordinate (bottom right).

The guide who was staying at the center said that the only animal he hadn't seen yet was a jaguar. That would be really cool to see. As Johanna put me in one last picture of the river, i thought about what a great, biology filled trip this was, even just in virtual form, and Johanna said she enjoyed this so much that she might even send me to the Galapagos islands where she went in 2007. I can't wait!

Biology is Everywhere!

2010-01-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, I took a trip to Brooke's backyard. There were so many plants and trees... all the photosynthesis was overwhelming! Anything green is a sign of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process where plants take energry from the sun and water and convert it into food for the plant. Chlorophyll is what gives the plant it's green tint. Without this helpful process, our world would be in big trouble. Plants need photosynthesis for food and we need plants for survival.

Taking this trip to Brooke's backyard has shown me that its not necessary to travel the world to find anything biology related, its abundant wherever you go!!

My Trip To D.C. with Nikki and Jenna!

2010-01-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hi it's Wilhemina again, just back from my trip with my two new best friends Jenna Kaufman and Nikki Gebel! This trip i was fortunate to go to the country's capitol, Washington D.C.! This trip consisted of many amazing places and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities! I enjoyed shopping around Georgetown, visiting the National Archives, going inside the actual supreme court during a case, lobbying at the house of representatives, visiting the Holocaust Museum, exploring the Air and Space Museum, and way more! It's strange, because I feel like everywhere I went, at least one thing related back to Bio! At the National Archives, where famous documents like The Declaration of Independence is held, I noticed that the documents were in interesting cases. Once I asked an employee she explained to me that it was to make sure no bacteria or the air particles ruin the delicate papers. I understood that! It related to what Ms. Eberhardt had taught us about adaptations! The paper, although it wasn't living, kind of had to adapt to the current air compared to the air it was made in back in the earlier days. Since it couldn't adapt, it was forced to be stored in special cases! Also I got to lobby about reproduction rights inside the actual house of representatives! Here are some pictures of my trip. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks Jenna and Nikki for taking me! January 8-January 11, 2010

Egypt!

2010-01-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

Over Winter Break 2009, Derek Soled took me to Egypt. After an eleven hour flight, we arrived Thursday morning in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Cairo is far from what New York City looks like. It is very overpopulated with a lot of pollution. However, there is one thing in Cairo that New York does not have: pyramids. Derek and I went to the numerous ancient Egyptian sites around Cairo. The highlight of these sites, though, by far, were the pyramids. We got to see the pyramids, go inside them, see the burial chambers, and visit the sphinx and other large ruins around the tall structures. It is interesting what the pyramid was used to represent. The three sides symbolize home, stairs, and Heaven at the top. The ancient Egyptians believed in the importance of the afterlife and so they built large burial chambers (such as the pyramids) so that the kings (and even some queens) could successfully go to Heaven and become a G-d or G-ddess. After seeing the pyramids, Derek and I went to the Egyptian museum and a few other places that housed old artifacts.

Throughout the trip, Derek and I traveled up and down the Nile River to see different sites. Some of the many highlights were the temples in Abu Simbel, Aslam, and Luxor. By far my favorite site to see, though, was the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. After the ancient Egyptians recognized that pyramids called too much attention to robbers and their graves were destroyed, the kings decided to be buried in a more secret spot. The spot they chose was called the Calley of the Kings in Luxor. In this valley, over 62 tombs have been discovered, and Derek and I were lucky enough to actually go in a few of them.

Once we reached Lake Nasar, the largest man made lake in the world at the southern coast of Egypt, Derek and I went back up to Northern Egypt by boat and train. Along the way, we stopped in many cities. In the cities, goods are cheap (5.5 Egyptian pounds equals one U.S. dollar). In fact, Derek got a haircut for only $0.75! Once we were back in Cairo, Derek and I went to Alexandria, a city along the Mediterranean Sea. In Alexandria, we saw the remains of one of the seven wonders of the ancients world, the Great Lighthouse. Did you know that Egypt is the only country in the world to have more than one of the wonders (the Great Lighthouse and the Great Pyramid)? After seeing the Great Lighthouse, Derek and I saw the second largest library in the world. This library has more books than any other library in the world and the world's second fastest computer.

The next day our plane took off. Unfortunately, our plane got delayed by over fifteen hours and Derek and I got to spend our last few hours in Egypt in the airport. Hopefully, I will return to the "land of ancient history" one day in the future!

It is amazing how much science was located in Egypt as well. Biology, physics-you name it, Egypt had it all. First, biological parts. The ancient Egyptians practiced mummifying their dead to perserve the body. They created a special kind of oil and liquid that they rubbed over the dead body and then wrapped it in papyrus paper. This oil and liquid substance had kept some mummies intact until today. In fact, a form of this oil and liquid substance is used in medicine today to perserve certain structures in science labs.

Biology can also be seen in Egypt, namely with niche partioning. When the ancient Egyptians lived, there were snakes (as depicted in their artwork). Today, though, there are only a few snakes but far more lizards. The best expalantion for this would be that the lizards are best adapted to the land with arms and legs. These limbs allow the lizards to eat more and survive better than the snakes did. As a result, there are currently more lizards than snakes in Egypt.

The physics of the ancients Egyptians can be seen in their pyramids. Believe it or not, the Egyptians were very technologically advanced, and knew physics' formulas about mass and weight. When constructing the pyramids, they built them from the inside out and balanced the rocks so that the pyramid did not collapse on itself. With the help of physics, the construction of the pyramids was made possible.

Lastly, Egypt has chemistry. The ancient Egyptians were famous for their herb medicines and basic understanding of how certain chemcials worked. There is evidence that supports the fact that ancient Egyptians constructed toxic medicines with methanol gas, perhaps to poison someone. Also, ancient Egyptians combined very reactive elements like cesium with liquids such as water to create explosions during war.

Who knew that the ancient Egyptians knew so much science? As one of the first forms of civilization, the ancient Egyptians proved to not only be very relgious and artistic, but also very scientific.

Alaska Pt. 2

2009-12-29T11:15:00.000-08:00

Leaving from Seward, Alaska, our cruise ship, the MS Ryndam, stopped at 4 different port cities: Sitka, Skagway (Haines), Juneau, and Ketchikan. At each port of call, we could go out and do "excursions," which were basically tours we could pay for through the cruise line. At every port, we did something new and exciting!

What we saw the most of in these 5 cities was aquatic life. Alaskan life is centered upon fishing, and it shows in the amount of study and effort people put into understanding the sea life at Alaska.

The first place that showed Alaska's devotion to ocean critters was the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. The SeaLife Center is, as an aquarium, open to the public for viewing, but also functions as a non-profit wildlife rescue center. They conduct plenty of research there, as well rehabilitation for sea animals, such as creatures caught in oil spills.

Not only do they have the usual aquarium exhibits behind glass, but bird exhibit is in the pen air; the birds aren't cooped up in glass cages. Instead, they have a small lake (sorta like what you see seals kept in), and there's a net stretched across the ceiling, so the birds can fly around.

You can even get close enough to the birds to touch! This meant, of course, that we got AWESOME pictures.

Of course, the regular exhibits were cool too. There was a touch tank, with sea stars, anemones, and the like, as well as animals behind glass.

We decided to take one of the special tours, the Behind-The-Scenes Tour, and got to see the inner workings of the center. Not only did we see the machinery that pumped all the water throughout the building, but we also got to see the offices of the researchers, as well as where the rehabilitating animals were staying.

The SeaLife Center was AMAZING. We got to get up close and personal with a lot of wildlife, and we also were witnesses to the efforts of some of the most hard-working, kind-hearted people in the world.

The second place was at Glacier Bay. Although we weren't allowed to get off the cruise ship and get close to the glacier, we could take breath-taking pictures of this monstrosity. When we were far away from the glacier, we noticed through our binoculars a dot. As we got closer, we thought it might've been a small boat. But soon, we realized that it was actually another cruise ship!
However, this didn't prepare us for how large the glacier actually was. When we finally got next to the glacier, we saw, to our amazement, that the glacier was five times as tall as the cruise ship! And just for comparison, this is how big a cruise ship is, generally, compared to a person:
Anyway, while the ship was getting closer to the glacier, we got some great pictures of sea lions that were sun-bathing on ice floes.

Scientists also say that there are apparently little creatures called ice worms that live inside glaciers. They burrow through the ice, and are tiny worm-like animals. Never seen them myself, but if biologists say they exist, well then...

The third place that we saw had a lot of sea life was, obviously, underwater. At Sitka, we took an excursion called the Sea Life Discovery Tour. It's a tour inside a semi-submersible, which is a boat with a bottom that is plated with glass so you can see what goes by while the boat is chugging along. We passed through a lot of kelp forests, and a tour guide gave us the run-down on what lives where and eats what. The sad thing is, the water was so green and murky, it was hard to get pictures. But, when the boat was heading back for port, we managed to get an awesome close-up of a bald eagle that was sitting on a sign.

hallway decorating 2009

2009-12-24T09:16:00.000-08:00

In late October i visited the sophomore class during spirit week. They were decorating their hallway for the Livestrong foundation to help people with types of cancer. The night was full of hard work to make the hallway look great and in the end it did. The finished hallway looked well done and the big event was that the sophomore class was collecting money from the people who saw the decorations. The money that was collected from the spectators was then donated to help the Livestrong foundation with their research on cancer. Cancer is a very deadly biological problem which luckily is not contagious but when someone does get it it will convert their normal and healthy cells into deadly and dangerous cells that usually form a growth on their host and end up killing the host. That is the reason the donations io the hallway were very important to the research of the Livestrong foundation, which will hopefully find a cure fast.

Thanksgiving!!!

2009-12-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

Last week i got to spend the day at Zev's grandma's house for Thanksgiving. We had a giant meal. I ate potatoes, stuffing and especialy turkey. In turkey there is a chemicle called tryptophan. It is believed that if you eat large amounts of turkey, it could cause drowsiness because of the high levels of tryptophan. This happens becuase when the tryptophan gets into the central nervous system it is converted into serotonin in the raphe nuclei by the normal enzymatic pathway. The serotonin is then changed into melotonin by the pineal gland. The pinial gland is responsible for sleep and wake patterns. So, that is why when you eat turkey it could make you sleepy. But the tryptophan didn't seem to be strong enough for Zev's family. We were all able to stay awake and play a great game of Scrable.

Alaska Pt. 1

2009-11-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

Hey, guys! So, I went to this REALLY awesome place over the summer, but I forgot to write it on the blog, so it’s really late! :( But anyway, I went on vacation to…Alaska! I was there for two weeks, from late July to early August, and we had a blast! First, we flew to Anchorage, and then we rented a car and drove around southern Alaska. After a week of road tripping, we took a cruise to Alaskan port cities, finally ending up in Vancouver, Canada, the end of our trip.

My favorite place was Denali National Park. It was beautiful, with plenty of wildlife that the rangers are working hard to preserve. When we got there, we first visited the dog kennels that housed the sled dogs rangers work with during the winter. Instead of snowmobiles, all the rangers are taught to use dog sleds, because the dogs are more reliable as a source of transportation during the long and cold winter months.

We also went to the Wilderness Access Center, one of Denali's information centers, where we learned about a very interesting topic: sustainable living.

Sustainable living is a lifestyle that attempts to reduce one’s carbon footprint on the world, and use the least amount of resources necessary. Both of Denali’s information centers employed this idea when they were built; for example, they are built into the sides of mountains, so as to reduce the material needed for one wall of the building, and both information centers are closed during the winter, as to conserve energy. Also, the materials that went into the buildings, as well as the designs, drew inspiration from the numerous species in Denali National Park, such as Dall’s sheep, grizzly bears, caribou, moose, ground squirrels, etc. For example, the idea to "hibernate" during the winter came from the grizzly bear, as well as the idea to build the centers into the mountain, because bears dig their dens into the sides of mountains, instead of building one that sticks out of the ground.

The next day, we took the Kantishna Experience, a bus tour during which a tour guide drove us into Denali for 90 miles one way, and 90 miles back, for a grand total of 180 miles. During this trip, there were PLENTY of opportunites to snap photos, especially since the ride took over 12 hours long!

Alaska was breath-taking. More so than any other place in the United States, Alaska is in tune with nature, and has not been overrun with cities that spout pollutants and smog into the air. Going there, I felt so peaceful and calm, especially because I could actually see the stars for once. The mountain ranges were so large, the landscapes so stunning, that sometimes you just want to cry.

A Cruise to Costa Maya, Belize, and Cozumel

2009-11-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

This past week Dawn Faranetta took me on an adventure through the Caribbean. After two days at sea, we stopped in Costa Maya, Mexico. We got off the ship and shopped for a while and then took a bus ride to an all inclusive private beach. Upon arrival, we bought our snorkel gear, and rented our jet skis. Before going snorkeling, we went out on the free kayaks to see what that water looked like. We paddled out about 100 feet off of the shore, and just sat and watched to see if anything swam by. The only thing we were really able to see was a turtle. Then we paddled back to shore, and grabbed our snorkel gear. Into the ocean we went. We started were it was really shallow, and just looked at all of the fish and sea weed that was moving under us. Then we moved out a little deeper, where the sea weed got deeper, and the fish got bigger. Once we saw about everything we could see, we went to the jet skis. Although we really couldn't see anything under us because we were moving to fast, it was still fun to be out so deep, and just looking back at the shore, watching all of the seagulls flying over above. Since we still had an hour bus ride back, we had to catch the 4:15 shuttle through the washed up and poor streets of Costa Maya. Driving though these streets was extremely sad, because there was probably a "house" about every mile, and it was basically just a shack. The children were playing outside in little puddles of dirty water, and there were cats EVERYWHERE! After the bus ride, we boarded the ship and awaited the set-sail to Belize.

We had to wake up early in Belize because our tour guide was meeting us at 9 and we were tendered 6 miles from the island. You can tell that our ship was 6 miles away, because it was about the distance of the horizon. Once we met up with our tour guide, we boarded a van and we drove for miles through the city, until we were out in the open land. The driver was explaining to us all he knew about the island, and history of the island. We drove past the mountains of the sleeping man. When you look at this chain of mountains, it looks like a giant laying down sleeping. Finally we made it to our destination. We were in the middle of the rain forest, were we planned to zip line though the lush vegetation. The tour guide brought us to the spot where we were going to get suited up in our harnesses. We go helmets, and gloves to stop and our harness. Then we had to walk up a flight of 85 stairs to get to the first platform. Between the first two platforms was probably only 50 feet, but i guess you can say it was basically a warm-up. I got suited up and strapped in, and i was off. Within about the last 5 feet of the line, you have to pull down on the top rope in order to stop yourself, and then the guide on the other side takes your harness off of the first line, and puts your safety rope on the next line to go to the second line. We went through 6 different lines, and then we had to rappel from he last station to the ground. Although we didn't see any larger animals, we did get to see all of the plants that the rain forest has to offer. Once we handed in all of our equipment, we walked back to the bus, were the guide was waiting to take us to lunch. We went over the hill that we were parked at, and ended up at a place called Jaguar Paw. It was a
restaurant in the middle of the rain forest that looked like what most people would imagine a building in the middle of the rain forest to look like. Once we ate the only meal that they had to

offer, we went on a walking tour behind the restaurant to see some gardens, and the end of a 9 mile long cave. In the cave we saw bats and many tourists floating their way through the cave. This concluded our tour, so we returned to the bus. On the way back through the city, we say many more people, because it was rush hour on the island time, and there were homeless people, children playing in sewers, and emaciated dogs roaming the streets. There were cages on all of the doors and windows, and people selling things all over the streets.

Our last stop of the trip was Cozumel, Mexico. Unfortunately at this port it was raining, so all we got to do was shop, but we still had a good time. Get 8 kids and 6 friendly adults together, and we can make fun out of anything. We were supposed to go on scooter tours around the island, but we didn't want to do it in the rain. So, after we shopped, we went back on the ship, and hung with all of the other people who didn't want to get stuck in the rain. We had a 2 day sail back to Miami, Florida where we would be docking.

Since our flight out of Miami International Airport wasn't until 8:15 P.M. we decided to do an Everglade Safari. We had to get off the ship at 7 A.M. so we had to wake up early, and we met our tour guide, boarded the bus, and off we went to the Everglades of Florida. We were going on an air boat tour through the Everglade in search of wildlife. Our tour guide was quite a comedian, and he took us through the grass and water of the Everglades, and quickly found alligators. He told us plenty of interesting facts about the Everglades, and wildlife that the Everglades was housing. He ensured us that we would see a lot of wildlife because he knew were to find them. One of the major problems about the Everglades now is people are buying the land to build more houses. Since alligators never forget were they were hatched, they always return there to hatch there own eggs. If there was a house built where the alligator was hatched, that alligator will still return to that spot, and have its eggs in someones backyard. If the owner calls the cop, the cops call a trapper, and the trapper, by law, must kill that alligator, otherwise it will just keep on coming back. Once we were on a straight away, he put the boat into overdrive, and weaved around, showing us what the air boats could do. Then we stopped out in the middle of a wide open area, and if you looked all you saw was grass and water. Our tour guide jumped in the water, and started telling us how the water was naturally purified in the Everglades. It goes through the 6 feet of mud under the water, where there is limestone, where cleans the water enough to be drank. Unfortunately, more and more land is being taken away from the Everglade for building, but unlike the common rumors of he Everglade getting shallower, and starting to dry out, is a lie. In fact, the Everglades are getting deeper. In some areas, the water is up to 6 feet deep, and there are animals such as deer that aren't supposed to swim, trying to get to the other side of the Everglades.Once our tour was over, we ate lunch, and we watched a man "wrestle" an alligator, and he showed us all kinds of other animals. The reason you cant really consider it alligator wrestling was because was just lying on top of an alligator that didn't move at all. It would be more like alligator taming because he was showing us how if you put your hand in his mouth and don't touch anything, he wont bit down, but if you touch anything, about 2,000 pound of weight come crashing down. The the man took out a baby alligator, and let everyone hold it. Of course, I couldn't miss out on this chance, so Dawn and I posed with the alligator. That was the end of our Everglades excursion, so we got on the bus and headed to the airport, where we sat for 8 hours until we began boarding the flight back to Newark.

2009-11-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

This past week, Brooke Freundlich took me on an adventure to the Riveria Maya in Mexico! Standing by the ocean, I couldn't help but think back to the lab Miss Eberhardt's third period biology class did involving life in a drop of water. Not only were there visible seaweeds and algaes in the water, but thousands and thousands of organisms were present not visible to the naked eye. Also, just hanging around on the beach like us, was a crab! Finally, Hurricane Ida, which was approaching Mexico, was fueled by the warm tropical waters in the Gulf.

The Adventures of the Traveling PBWiki Shirt!- Trip to NYC!

2009-11-04T13:45:00.000-08:00

Recently, I went to NYC! When I was there I went to Spandex World, House of Spandex, and an awesome cafe. What I learned there was how biology is involved in ways you wouldn't imagine. First, just the fact that you need to be able to walk. There are many muscles that you need just to move your legs! Plus of course, your eyes need to be working properly just to see where you are going. Problems encountered when I started smelling the smoke and all the pollution that is in the NYC air. It was hard to breathe. I knew I would have to be washed or aired out in a clean environment. Plus the rain made me scared that all my fibers would get ruined! The best part was when we ate. My friends Lexie had to be able to digest food correctly so that she could eat! It was so interesting to see how much biology takes part in the simplest things.

My second visit to the eye doctor

2009-10-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

Coincidentally,on October 24,2009 i found myself at another eye doctor. This time it was a Retina Specialist. I was able to look at all the machines that the doctor used while Ollie was getting his eyes checked.

In the first photo, there i am with the digital fundus retinal imaging system. This machine is used to take pictures of the retina with fluorescence dye. Special filters in the camera allow the dye to be visualized in the retinal circulation. Here is an example of choroidal neovascularization with sub retinal hemorrhage. This represents a growth of abnormal blood vessels, this is a common form of retinal degeneration. Thankfully, Ollies retina was looking good or the Doctor would have had to use one of these.

This is an Argon Laser for Retinal photocoagulation. This laser can be used for treatment of macular degeneration and diabetic retinopothy.

While i was at the retinal imaging system i saw a picture of the most common occular protozoan infection in the eye which is called toxoplasmosis gondii or more commonly called occular toxoplasmosis. The natural host of toxoplasmosis is the common household cat.

At the end of my visit to the retina specialist i felt like i learned so much about the retina. Maybe Ollie will take me back again one day...but in the meantime i will continue to travel the world and learn new things!

My Trip to the Eye Doctor

2009-10-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

On October 20, 2009, Leanne Nieforth took me with her to the eye doctor. Leanne was having difficulty with her contact being comfortable in her eye; she felt her vision was blurry, so went to the office. Leanne turned out to have Keratitis, a corneal inflammation, from contact lenses overuse. She was put on an antibiotic-steroid combination to prevent a bacterial infection and reduce the inflammation. From this I learned about the importance of taking care of your contacts. If she had let this issue go, she could have had a serious infection.

Because her mother is her eye doctor, I got to tour the entire office from top to bottom and get my picture taken with very neat equipment!

In the first photo,

I am sitting in the equipment. The center black object with dials is called a phoropter, used for checking spectacle prescriptions. To the right is the slit lamp. This is used to look at the front surface of the eye, like the cornea. To the left is the Keratometer, it is used to measure the surface of the cornea.

In the second photo, Leanne is holding me in front of a diagram of the eye and astigmatism. On the left side is the projector. The projector is used to put the measured eye chart on the screen at the other end of the room. From these measured letters, visual acuity is checked.

I had soooooo much fun at the eye doctor's! I can't wait to go again!

Spirit Week Pep Rally 2009

2009-10-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

On October 23rd, 2009, I got to go to the Spirit Week 2009 pep rally. Because Derek is in the marching band, I got to sit with the band in the bleachers. Throughout the pep rally, I got to listen to the music and each of the grades cherring. From sitting with the band, I learned about the sound produced by each of the instruments. The low brass instruments, such as the tubas and baritones, produce long sound waves (lower sounds). The upper woodwind instruments, such as the flutes and piccolos, produce short sound waves (higher sounds). The longer sound waves are typically louder and can be heard from farther away since longer sound waves tracel farther than shorter sound waves. For this reason, the freshmen and juniors on the other side of the stadium could only hear the low brass instruments with long sound waves and not the flutes and piccolos with short sound waves.

In addition to learning about music science, I got to watch the cheer competitions between the grades. I noticed that the junior and freshman cheers were softer and lower in pitch than the senior and sophomore cheers (which were next to me and not across the stadium). I realized that the farther away a sound was, the softer and lower in pitch it was.

In conclusion, I had a great time at the Spirit Week pep rally 2009 and cannot believe that the sophomores (not the juniors!) got second place. I cannot wait for Spirit Week next year!

2009-10-13T15:51:00.001-07:00

On October 5^th I had was able to go with Carly to the Morristown memorial Hospital to volunteer with her as a courier! It was truly remarkable what responsibilities they gave us to cover! We were able to take blood to necessary rooms, deliver lab specimens from the blood care center, and deliver flowers to patients all over the hospital. From the intensive care unit to the blood bank I was able to witness all types of biology!

From B positive to O positive I was able to go to the blood bank then take the blood to the room it was being sent to for a blood transfer or other uses. The blood was kept in cool cabinets and organized very neatly so no accidents could happen. I gave them a form of the person that needed blood, their blood type, and the patient number and blood number. After the blood bank doctor retrieved the blood he read the numbers twice so I made sure that it was the right blood and type. From here he put the blood in a bag and told Carly and me to make sure we got the blood to the room in the next twenty minutes so the blood stays cool. When I asked him why the blood has to stay cool, he said it was because the blood must be kept cold in order to reduce bacterial contamination and to prolong its life. I thought this process was very interesting. When we arrived at the bloods final destination – the patient was relieved it had come so quickly because she had lost so much blood in a leg surgery. We delivered almost six packets of blood today! It was awesome.

Another set of instructions we were given was to go to the out care patient center and pick up blood samples for the central lab. There were four tubes of blood from four different patients clearly marked and ready to be tested. I asked the nurse and lab specialist what they were testing the blood for but they said this information is confidential. However, he told me that they usually look for anything special that the blood contains to either look for a cure, other diseases and so on. I thought this information was very interesting and he told me that he went to college for ten years to become in this field!

Overall, I had a great time volunteering and helping other at the hospital. I learned many interesting facts about biology and blood and look forward to using this information to better understand biology!

THE RHS CHOIR TRIP TO OHIO!!!

2009-06-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Every two years the RHS choir goes on a trip, and this year Wilhemina got to go as well!!!! This year the trip was to Cleveland Ohio. While in Cleveland Wilhemina got to go to Oberlin College, Ceder Point, the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, a professional concert performance, and a Cleveland Indians game where the choir got to sing the national anthem!! Originally Julianna was going to blog about this with us, and she had come up with a great idea that had especially interested Wilhimina, how the vocal chords work. She noticed that they were used a lot by the choir because not only did we sing but we also talk A LOT!

The vocal chords are located in the larynx. The vocal chords are made of elastic connective tissue covered by folds of mucous membrane. There are two pairs of vocal chords. One pair is called the false vocal chords. They extend from the epiglottis to the angle of the thyroid cartilage. The job of these chords is to narrow the glottis during swallowing. The next pair of vocal chords are called the true vocal chords. They are below the false vocal chords and extend from the arytenoid cartilages to the angle of the thyroid cartilage. With the help of the voice box these chords create sound. The true vocal chords are vibrated by air passing out of the lungs, that is then amplified by the voice box and boom you have sound! Pitch is controlled by muscles that rotate they arytenid cartilages toward the center of the body for low tones, and toward the sides of the body for high tones. This is very important for singers.

so now next time you scream or sing or talk you know whats happening!!!

New Jersey Special Olympics

2009-06-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Wilhemina decided to take a trip to the 2009 New Jersey Summer Special Olympics down at the College of New Jersey. What a sight it was! People from all over the state came together to contribute, or participate in a great cause. Throughout the weekend of June 12-14, over 2,000 athletes came together to compete in areas such as aquatics, Bocce, gymnastics, powerliftling, softball, and track & field.

Many of the athlete competing suffer from a disease called down syndrome. Down Syndrome (or Down's Syndrome) is also known as trisomy 21. This is a chromosomal disorder cause by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, a British doctor who first described the syndrome in 1866. The disorder was identified as trisomy 21 by Jérôme Lejeune in 1959.

Individuals with Down Syndrome tend to suffer from mild to moderate developmental disabilities. A small number have severe to profound mental disabilities as well. The number of births estimated with babies born with the disease is at 1 per 800 births.

Wilhemina herself had a great time at the games. Not only did she learn a lot about genetics, and more specifically Down Syndrome, but she made a bunch of new friends. She hopes that next year everyone will take a part in this great organization, and get to see some real-world genetics at its finest.

The Harvard Science Center

2009-06-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Over President's Day Weekend, Wilhemina stopped by the Harvard Science Center in Cambridge, MA. Located on the staircase were the letters (and numbers) "H2N CH2 CH2 OH ." Next to the combination of letters and numbers was a sign, saying "Chain of Life." Turns out, H2N CH2 CH2 OH is the organic compound for Ethanolamine. Because it said "Chain of Life," one would think it may be an Amino Acid, but it is not. It is the second most abundant group for phosopholipids, but the reason why it says "Chain of Life" next to it, remains unclear to us.

Upon further research, we discovered that ethanolamine is used to alkalize water. It's used because it doesn't accumulate in generators and spreads evenly through the steam cycle.

According to http://www.flickr.com/photos/dullhunk/323173954/ , when John Mathers at the Harvard Science Center was asked why this molecule was chosen, he simply said. ""The molecule was chosen by the artist."

When inside the building, we spotted a relatively large plant, with big leaves. the location of the plant was on the top floor, under a glass roof. Given the location of this plant, we knew it was able to grow and flourish because of the sunlight it was getting. The sun would shine through the roof, and the plant would use it for photosynthesis. If you break down the word photosynthesis into "photo" and "synthesis," the word photo means light, and synthesis means to build. Plants need photosynthesis as an energy source. Sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide enter the chloroplasts in the plant cells, and the sunlight and water go to the Grana. This is where light reactions occur. From that, O2, NADPH, and ATP is produced. The O2 is given off by the plant. The ATP moves with CO2 to the Stoma, where the Calvin Cycle occurs. Light Independent Reactions make sugars, along with ADP+P and NADP+. The sugars created are used for energy, in which the Stoma absorbs.. Like most living things, "food" and energy help the organism to grow, like this plant. It appears to have been nourished well, with sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide.

Learn more about photosynthesis here!!!
(it's fun!)

Wilhelmina seemed to have a lot of fun learning science at Harvard University, especially spending time with her old classmates, as well as her current ones. :). In the arch of the doorway above, one was able to whisper into the wall at one end, and the other person could hear it crystal clear at the other end of the arch. Of course, the brick in the middle of the arch, holding it up, is a keystone brick- which has a similar purpose as a keystone species! It keeps the arch together, like a keystone species keeps the surrounding environment together.

XOXO,
Wilhelmina

Hershey Park

2009-06-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

On May 1st some of Miss Eberhardt’s students attended an Orchestra Field Trip to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania and brought me along for all of the fun! They went to a competition at a high school and then enjoyed the rest of the day going on rides at Hershey Park.

It started raining mid-day, so they decided to go to the Hershey tour. It was fun and educational as well. While on the tour, students learned about how chocolate is made and about cocoa fermentation (an important topic of our studies in biology!) and other topics covered in biology class.

This is the journey that a little cocoa bean takes to become the delicious chocolate from Hershey’s!

Cocoa starts from the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao). This tree grows in South America, Africa, and Indonesia. This tree grows a fruit about the size of a small pineapple. Inside this fruit are 20 – 40 seeds, otherwise known as cocoa beans.

The beans are harvested from the trunks and branches of the cocoa tree with a curved knife or a long pole. They are harvested when green, as this is when the pods are ripest and the beans will have the best aroma and flavor. The pods are opened with a machete and the pulp and cocoa seeds are removed. The rind is discarded. The pulp and seeds are placed together in bins for about a week. This “sweats” the pulp and seeds and the pulp liquefies as it ferments. They drain the fermented pulp away, and leave the cocoa beans to be collected. Fermenting the beans is where the flavor comes from. Then they dry the beans for roasting.

Then the beans are cleaned and roasted to bring out the flavor. Then, the roasted beans are winnowed. This removes the meat (a.k.a. the nib) of the bean from the shell. Then the nibs are ground and a viscous liquid forms, called chocolate liquor (there is no actual liquor though). This chocolate liquor is pure unsweetened chocolate. It is very bitter. Ingredients are added to the chocolate liquor like sugar, milk, and flavors like vanilla.

The chocolate goes through a machine that mills the chocolate, or massages and blends the ingredients together. This can take from 2 to 6 days.

Then the chocolate is tempered, heating the chocolate slowly, and then letting it cool, allowing the molecules solidify in an orderly fashion. If the chocolate is not tempered properly, the chocolate will separate. The chocolate is poured into molds, cooled, and sent to packaging. Then it hits the stores for everyone to enjoy!

I had a great day with Sara and Julia at Hershey Park. Even though we were on an Orchestra field trip in an amusement park, biology was still in our mines as we gained even more information relating to our in-class studies! See you all soon!

XOXO, Wilhemina

Earth Day!

2009-05-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

Earth Day is a great day for learning about our environment and helping the Earth. Ms. Eberhardt's and Ms. Ayer's classes took a trip to Ironia Elementary School to teach 3rd graders about Earth Day. Unfortunately, Wilhemina the Wiki Shirt was unable to come, but instead I came, Wilhemina's cousin Wally!

In the morning we went to Ironia Elementary School. The first thing we did was morning circles. In one class the kids sat in a circle and played Follow the Leader. After that, the 3rd graders went to their specials. Meanwhile, our awesome 10th graders decorated the rooms to relate to their topics of discussion as well as games and activities. When the little kids returned, all of the fun began!
In every classroom there were two groups because the topics that they were going to talk about were related. Each group had twenty minutes to do their presentation and then the next group would go. The 3rd graders rotated into three different classrooms so they had six activities.

In one of the classrooms the topic of discussion was oceans! The first group taught the kids about levels in the ocean and what types of animals live where. They related the levels of the ocean and animals to Spongebob Squarepants. For example, crabs such as the cartoon character Mr. Krabs live in the benthic zone of oceans. The kids then decorated and colored their own fish!

The second group in this classroom taught about open pollution and oil spills. To demonstrate how hard it is to clean oceans after such disturbances, one student was chosen to try to separate water and oil using a spoon or paper towel. The kids soon learned that it was really hard to do without removing clean water. Then, water bottles with blue water were handed out to the kids. The 3rd graders then put in beads to represent fish. Oil was then poured into the bottles. The kids shook them like a “storm” was happening and they saw how the oil goes everywhere and makes everything dirty. Paper was then put into the water bottles for the same effect.

Another classroom focused on recycling for their activities. One of the groups first went through True & False questions about recycling which included whether a sneaker can be recycled and how many water bottles are recycled per week. After that, the kids played a game where they divided into two teams and had to pick which items can be recycled and which can’t be! The second group made bird feeders out of water bottles! The kids decorated the water bottles with flower and bird stickers and then bird seeds were put into the newly made bird feeders!

Along with oceans and recycling, other classrooms focused on the jungle and different animals as their topics. They created masks for all of the rainforest animals. Another group talked about the problems of the earth such as lakes disappearing and animals becoming extinct. That class then made Earth Day wish bracelets! Deforestation was another concept that the 3rd graders learned about.

Matt, Jess, and Julia also interviewed some students and teachers to gain more information and awareness about what were the best activities of the day and what the students enjoyed learning about and doing most.

One of the groups made musical instruments for their activity. A 3rd grader named Sydney said, “They are cool. Now I can wake my sister up in the morning!” One young boy named Will said that he had a lot of fun learning about the environment, and the day made him want to help the environment even more. When asked about Earth Day overall, a 3rd grader named Joey said, “I had a lot of fun!”

The 10th grade biology students then enjoyed a nice pizza lunch with the 3rd graders! After that, everyone went to the gym and sang to High School Musical songs (and others) with the words switched to incorporate biology.

Anyways, Earth Day was a lot of fun and the 3rd graders as well as 10th grade students learned a lot. It was a great day with fun activities. I am so happy I was able to go on this trip and enjoy this great day with all of the biology students! Hopefully I will be able to come back soon for another fun trip!

XOXO, Wally

Las Vegas

2009-03-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

My Trip to Vegas!

Hi bio-students! I have just returned from my farthest west trip with Alexandra. We went to Las Vegas for a soccer college showcase and had just a great time. The plane ride was pretty long, but the touch screen televisions made the ride seem a lot shorter than it actually was. Also, flying over the Colorado mountains was beautiful. Finally we saw the strip from the plane and I knew we were there!

We stayed at the Venetian on the strip. The rooms were defiantly fancy! It was a really, really nice hotel. One of the funniest experiences I’ve had on the trip was walking out of the hotel in the morning and seeing people sleeping at the slot machines or people so drunk that they were making circles around the casino and stumbling around! It was quite funny.

I even met Pete Rose, the famous baseball player who got thrown out of baseball for gambling!

The Las Vegas College Showcase is a great place to get recognized by soccer college coaches. I had a first hand experience going to one of the top level soccer tournaments in the country! It was very competitive! One thing that surprised me was how the role of players on one team relates to a nitch in an ecosystem. For example, two girls must compete for one spot on a team the way two different species must compete for one nitch in an ecosystem. The girls must enhance their skills, attitude, speed, and speed of play in order20to beat out their opponent and take the position on the team. It is like the way species go through natural selection to beat out their opponent.

This was the moving Statue!

This weekend I learned about what bananas, soccer, and biology have in common from Coach Ash. He enforced that all his players have a couple of bananas before each of our games this weekend. The reason, he said, was because bananas are a leading source of potassium, or K. When you play soccer you loose potassium and salt, but you generally do not have a lack of salt in your system because it is in most everything the way you lack potassium after a game. Potassium and salt work as an oil for your mussels, and without that oil your mussels do not function smoothly. So we ate plenty of bananas during the weekend!

Walking the strip was a new experience as well. I did not enjoy the huge crowds, but I did enjoy going to a whole bunch of different hotels. There are plenty of pictures for you to see of me at the Mirage, Venetian, Treasure Island, and more! One day we stopped at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill for lunch at the Harrah’s. There I got my picture taken with some Las Vegas “Hotties.” Another funny experience was walking around and seeing trucks advertising “Hot Babes to you, 24 hours a day, They are girls that want to meet you.” So Las Vegas! One of the days when I was walking around Caesar’s Palace I met Pete Rose! Pete Rose was a famous=2 0baseball player that got suspended for gambling. I got a good picture with him! During one of our outings we also stopped outside the Wax Museum and got some good pictures with famous people’s wax statues! Overall, walking the strip was really fun!

University of Michigan- Ann Arbor

2009-03-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!! Last weekend, I had the opportunity to tour the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor! First I went to an informational session followed by an hour long walking tour. I really liked the atmosphere of the campus. Rumor has it that if you step on the big M outside of the Graduate Library you'll fail your first Blue book exam. My favorite building was the Ross School of Business because of its use of eco-friendly materials and its sleek modern design. The Ross School of Business was recently donated to U of M by Stephen Ross (owner of Miami Dolphins and University of Michigan grad) by a generous 100 million dollar donation (biggest donation in history of the University of Michigan). I was wandering around campus after my tour, and I happened to stumble upon the University of Michigan Biological Station table!! The U of M Biological Station is a program that takes biology to the outdoors- in its natural habitat. The Biological Station is a small village along South Fishtail Bay on Douglas Lake. There are about 150 buildings that include all teaching rooms, housing, dining, recreation, and maintenance. The UMBS offers many classes and courses for college-aged students majoring in Biology. One of the experiments that is going on now at UMBS is climatology. Climatology is the study of climate, or weather. There is also ongoing aquatic and terrestrial research happening at UMBS. Students will work in a variety of environments including water, woods, and fields. There are so many great opportunities for research and experiments at University of Michigan! I hope that I can go back to University of Michigan again to enrich my studies! TTYL

XOXO,
Wilhemina

Reptile Assembly

2009-02-23T15:09:00.000-08:00

2/4/09

Today I went to a super-cool assembly about reptiles. I learned that it is not good to have some of these animals as pets, as they can be extremely dangerous to us. Something that I learned that can be linked to biology was how the color of these creatures skin was a form of natural selection. If there skin/scales were a green or brown color, they often blended in with their surroundings so that they wouldn’t be attacked of eaten by predators. Cool beans!! The tortoise had a very hard and tough shell, and the presenter (Erin) told me that it was for protection. The only animal that is strong enough to break its tough shell would be a lion. The tortoise was an herbivore, meaning that it only eats plants. Unfortunately, the tortoise as feed meat and its shell become very bumpy and rough. The alligator had its eyes and ears very close to each other on the top of its head. They are like that because when they are in the water, they can just perch their heads up to get a view of what is going on above the surface. Something else I learned in the presentation today was why the snake’s tongue is shaped so uniquely. The snakes tongue has senses that can smell for food. If the snake was getting a signal from its left side of its tongue, they would know to move to the left in order to get food. The last animal we saw today was the long, yellow snake. The snake was supposed to be a green/brown color, but because of a genetic disorder, it is albino, therefore making it a different color then what it’s supposed to be. All of the animals I observed were consumers. TTYL!

XOXO,
Willomena the Wiki Shirt.

Cape Town, South Africa :)

2009-01-25T11:06:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

So my furthest and most recent trip was visiting South African with Robyn and the Hume family. I was most excited of course for tanning over winter break! The plane ride was way too long and a little cramped, but it all was worth it in the end. I made tons of new friends and experienced a totally different environment!

The first new friend I met was one of Aunt Sue's cats, Ginger. He is FIV positive, but continues to run the household and live past everyone's expectations. Everyone was extremely friendly including the house gecko, and the ducks and geese around Robyn's grandma's house. The Egyptian Geese relate to bio because on the marina, they are the largest predator so their population explodes. They control the duck population, but every year there are more Egyptian Geese because they aren't prey to anything in the area.

I went to the Fish Hoek, Muizenberg, and Hout Bay beaches and saw seals at the waterfront! I walked and swam a lot during the whole trip. I was mostly nervous for the great white sharks around the cape, but luckily I never even saw them.

I also visited Rhodes Memorial (Cecil John Rhodes) and took a picture on top of the giant lion statues which is probably not supposed to happen but it was necessary. This was important to our study of bio because surrounding the memorial is large area of open land that is protected. From the top of the stairs, I happened to see wildebeests grazing on a hill.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden was our next stop. It's like walking into a giant perfect ecosystem! There's tons of open grass fields of the native bufallo grass and streams and tadpolls and birds like guineafowls. Lining a walkway are these trees called cycads that are really old and important I guess because they're highly protected since people tend to steal them for some reason. Anyway, there's tons of flowers like the national protea and strelitzia. I also went up Table Mountain in the cable car. Of course we chose to go on the windiest day of the trip, but we survived. From the top I could see Devil's Peak, the World Cup stadium for 2010, Robben Island, and different coastlines. On the mountain were the same weird plants I'd been seeing the whole time and these small dussies scurrying around the place. Overall I met new people and animals, visited historic landmarks, and had tons of fun!

Washington DC and Gettysburg

2008-05-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I actually took this trip a long time ago, in November, before I was kidnapped, but I haven't had a chance to write about it yet. I went to Washington DC and Gettysburg with Nicole D. and Mark S. as part of Academic Decathalon. Our first stop was Washington. There we got to go to the Smithsonian and look at some pretty cool paintings. Many were landscapes and showed all sorts of bio-related things, like forests, deserts, mountains, and animals. Then we went and walked around DC. We also saw a bunch of really cool monuments, like the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. The next day we went to Arlington cemetery and General Robert E. Lee's house. The cemetery wasw HUGE. There were so many graves, which was kind of depressing. We then went to the DC train station, where there was a GIANT christmas tree! Later that day we drove up to Gettysburg. There we walked around the fields and saw where some of the battles of the Civil War had been fought. That was really cool. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, and I got a chance to look at some awesome nature. We also got to go swimming! So I had alot of fun. And as you all know, I was abducted at a sporting game. I am now, happily enough, traveling the world doing all kinds of fantastic things.
--Watson the Wiki Shirt

Cancun!!!

2008-05-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

So who would have thought that I would have gone on vacation for Spring Break? And who would have thought me, Wilhemina, would have gone all the way to CANCUN?! Wow, did I have a blast!!!! From scuba diving, to tanning, to relaxing, to snorkeling, to ziplining, and to just plain having fun, my time with Bree and Michelle was absolutely incredible! I learned so much about the environment and how amazing it is. I also learned a lot about how it is important to preserve it, which was cool considering that the day we left, it was Earth Day with the Ironia 3rd graders!
So lemme tell you about all of my fun in the sun!!!

I did a lot of snorkeling over the ten days that I spent in Cancun. First, I went with Michelle to Lagoon Yal-kun, a cenote, or a sinkhole, that was filled with rainwater and ocean water. It was absolutely gorgeous! We were asked before we went, however, to not use sunscreen in the water. Why you ask? One reason was because the water became murky when it came into contact with sunscreen. Another reason was because certain types of sunscreens have chemicals that can damage coral and other wildlife. This made me wonder...is this part of the reason why reefs around the world are being destroyed? I knew that part of the reason was from global warming, which has severely affected the amount of coral surrounding Cancun. Global warming has also affected the area through hurricanes, such as one that ravaged the Riviera Maya and the surrounding Quintana Roo, or the state where Cancun is located. It has affected it so much that certain hotels have become refuge centers in case other ones occur in the future. It also severely damaged beaches, making them a lot skinnier and less sandy. How sad! I hate global warming, because it ruins so much of the beautiful wildlife in the Carribean.
Anyway, back to the snorkeling...
So we saw some amazing fish at the Lagoon! We saw a parrot fish that was absolutely huge! The reason that we saw it was because there is ocean water that flows into the lagoon, providing a perfect habitat for it. We also saw it eating off of little fish...talk about predator/prey relationships!
Later that week, Michelle took me to Puerto Morelos, a small fisherman's town just outside of Cancun. There, I snorkeled in two reefs that were absolutely incredible! They were so shallow, so we had to be careful where we put our fins and our fingers.This is because, as I learned, on the slightest contact, the oils from our skin could destroy thousands of coral polyps. This was hard, because the reefs were only about 5-7 feet deep. The coral came right up to the surface! We saw so many cool fish, such as barracuddas, angel fish, sea cucumbers, sea spiders, crabs, and so much more! Also, the coral was pretty much undamaged there, so I got a cool glimpse of what coral USED to look like. It was so great!
Through snorkeling, I got to see how the water is a whole world of its own. It is truly amazing to see, because almost everything depends on the coral. There were so many fish hanging out around the nooks and crannies of the rocks, and many creatures were feeding off it. It is truly a keystone species!!! I hope that these coral reefs survive forever, because I would not want ocean life to become extinct!

My Weekend in Carnegie Hall

2007-11-26T07:30:00.001-08:00

So this weekend, the PB wiki shirt traveled to NYC! After patiently waiting in Michelle's school bag during Turkey Day, I taken out and placed in Michelle's Carnegie Hall bag, which was extremely exciting. I then realized that I would be spending the next 2 days with Michelle as I listened to rehearsels for a choir performance in Carnegie Hall with David , Becky, Jillian, Nicole, Melissa, Tommy, and Allie. Their choir teacher, Mrs. Mello, is friends with the conductor of the performance, John Leavitt, whose music was actually performed. They performed his pieces in Carnegie Hall with 4 other choirs, some of them local, and 2 of them from Kansas and Vancouver area! They had an amazing time, and being in Carnegie Hall was extremely inspiring to all of them. I think I want to sing someday!

I could not enter Carnegie, however, because the kids were not allowed to bring in anything valuable with them, and I am EXTREMELY extremely important, so they didn’t want to risk me getting stolen. Instead, I got to listen in on their rehearsals in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which were incredible. The picture that the kids took is of them, me, and none other than John Leavitt, the conductor. Pretty cool, huh?

Now, in relation to biology, in order to sing, one must use their vocal chords. According to wikipedia.com, the vocal chords, or vocal folds, are comprised of two mucous membranes that stretch across the larynx, which protects the vocal chords and houses all of the elements needed for sound production. When singing, the mucous membranes vibrate, creating sounds. For example, when a person sings the note A, they vibrate 440 times per second!! These also open when one breathes in, closes when one is holding their breath. Men and women have different sized vocal folds. Men’s are usually larger, making them produce lower sounds. They are between 17 mm and 25 mm in length. This is very different from women’s vocal folds, who tend to be less muscular and much smaller. They are between 12.5 mm and 17.5 mm in length. Food does not travel through the vocal folds; it travels through the esophagus. However, if food does travel through it, it causes choking.

I think I want to be a singer someday and sing in Carnegie Hall just like the kids in Miss Eberhardt's bio class...

My Weekend in Sussex County!

2007-11-19T12:11:00.000-08:00

This weekend was filled with some crazy great times! On Saturday we visited a Brown Swiss Dairy Cow named Twiggy! She is actually expecting a calf sometime this week. Last Thursday was the actual, predicted due date. However, after waiting patiently for a couple of days, the owners were getting pretty curious as to what was going on. So, I was lucky enough to be around for the interesting conversation where they were informed that 280 days is the expected gestation period for most dairy cow breeds. But, they found out that Brown Swiss cows are usually 290 days and sometimes can carry longer if the baby is a male. Isn't that interesting? We were all hoping that I would be around for the birth but it looks like she's holding out. Here's something gross I learned though.... When cows give birth they have three stages of labor. During the third stage they pass the placenta and then eat it!!!! Yuck! My first question was "Why the heck would they do that?" I guess it could be beneficial though, in evolutionary terms. If after giving birth a cow cleaned up the evidence it might prevent predators from hunting the calf. So I guess it is plausible that this behavior would be selected for. But, it is still super strange. Anyway, I think it would be great if I could visit the baby sometime, if I don't get to see it being born!
On Sunday we went hiking at Buttermilk Falls in Walpack, NJ. As you can see in the slide show, these falls are pretty cool. When we got up close we saw that there was so much plant life right along the falls, all over the rocky terrain. There was even moss growing on the rocks under the water. Around the falls we found many different types of moss, lichen and ferns. I guessed that this habitat presented awesome conditions for this type of life! For instance, mosses are a group of plants that lack certain adaptations that are necessary for retaining and transporting water, therefore, it makes sense that they would thrive in such a wet environment. The falls provide a constant spray that keeps the rocks wet. Mosses also enjoy a shaded area for growth, which made this area perfect! The falls were beautiful. I cannot wait for my future adventures! Until next time!

And The Idea Was Born!

2007-11-17T14:44:00.000-08:00

It was a crazy day in Ms. E's 6th period biology class, the day that I was born. I was just about to be offered up as a prize to the student with the coolest wiki page when mass chaos broke out! Students were frantic, nervous, competative... it got ugly! Everyone wanted to win me, naturally. The craziness began to simmer down down when a student suggested that I be shared! From there the ideas flowed.... "It could be like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants!", one brilliant student chimed in. The idea drew immediate support and excitement and it was soon refined by the addition of rules, a schedule, ideas of places I would go, etc.

Now here I am, ready to start my adventures! Here's the run-down on what you can expect to find in my blog, from here forward. I am starting off with Ms. E this weekend. I'm not sure what to expect just yet but I'm totally excited! When I return from my adventures, to the classroom on Monday, I will blog about where I was and what I have done. Furthermore, I will be writing about all of the connections to biology that I encounter and all of the interesting things that I learn! I could end up traveling all over the world! Be sure to check in and learn with me! Here I go! Talk to you soon!

Oh... and by the way, my name is Watson the Wiki Shirt! Ok... talk to you soon!