Claire Smerdon's Science Blog

Dear Biology Student: My name is Claire Smerdon and a year ago, I sat where you are today. I have been in the Saratoga district since kindergarten, starting at Saratoga Elementary and then Redwood. The transition for me from Redwood to Saratoga High was relatively easy, but I remember being very scared. I had to stay late on the first day of school, and I went to Starbucks by myself even though I had no money because I was too scared to stay on campus. I took MAP freshmen year, but I will not be continuing it as a sophmore. For math, I took algebra 2 honors, and my electives were spanish 2 and intro to engineering. I played competitive soccer, volunteered every weekend, and was in robotics. When I walked into this class, I did not know what to expect; when I heard that this was a ‘flipped classroom,’ I was even more confused. In this biology class, focus on the small things. In most classes, tests are the most important. While you still want to do well on tests, make sure you do

I believe the essential question is "How is the pig's body similar to our own? Is it?" We have been learning about how the human body functions and it turns out that pigs have similar systems to ours. This was a visual of what we have been learning this unit. My favorite part of the dissection was when we looked at its heart because it is such a vital and intricate organ. I think the dissection clarified some confusing concepts for me and enriched my understanding of the human and pig body. Our YouTube Video  shows our dissection and the organs and systems we found.

        This unit we explored taxonomy primarily. We went over binomial nomaclature, which is the naming system used to classify organisms. We learned about different types of domains, kingdoms, phylums, and classes and their defining characteristics. We went over examples of each to clarify which is which. We learned that there are three domains: archaea, eukarya, and bacteria. Eukarya is the most common one, which humans are a part of. "Simmer Down: Viruses Not 'Fourth Domain' of Life."  RealClearScience . N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.           I would want to learn more about different families and how they decide what organism falls under which family.           My presentation went pretty well and I am satisfied with the result. Earlier this year, I became very bad at public speaking where I was at the point of shaking. Since then, I have been working on it and have dramatically improved. In the future, I would like to be more articulate with my speaking.

         One major event is the Earth gaining oxygen. Originally, the Earth had 0% oxygen, before gradually accumulating it. This is major because we would not be here today without it. Another significant event was the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, which wiped out more than 90% of species. This greatly shapes the species we find on Earth today. Another large event was the Triassic-Jurassic extinction. This wiped out all the dinosaurs. This is significant because it led room for humans.           Earth has been around for a very long time, and what surprised me most was how long it had no life. In such a short time, we have dramatically changed our Earth. I think it is horrible that we have negatively affected Earth so quickly.           Questions I have are about the species lost in the mass extinction. How can scientists figure out the percentage of species lost?

In this unit , we covered how evolution works and how it has affected today ’ s Earth . Variation exists in all species , as it ’ s any difference in traits within a population . Charles Darwin made great contributions in understanding evolution with his four observations : sexually reproductive species have high genetic variation ; all species can produce more offspring than their environment can support ; traits are inherited from parents ; and not all offspring survives due to limited sources . Natural selection favors certain phenotypes , where the better phen/otypes survive . Speciation is the rise of two or more species from an existing one , through behavioral isolation or temporal isolation . Scientists have discovered evidence of evolution through embryology , vestigial structures , fossils , homologous structures , an