Group 6 Pig Dissection

The fetal pig dissection was a very new and enjoyable experience. At first, the thought of even making physical contact with the pig made me cringe. Watching Mr. Orre's demonstration of how to make the first few incisions made me feel more comfortable, so immediately after being instructed on what to do, I turned around to my group and said "I WANT TO MAKE THE FIRST CUTS." I went from completely disturbed by the pig to completely in love with it. At first it was hard to figure out how deep each incision should be, then we finally got the hang of it. Each of my group members and I tried to be extremely careful that we didn't accidentally cut an organ. Breaking the ribs was kind of difficult, breaking the jaw was easier. I specifically liked the texture of the liver. On the second day I was suffering from a cold and did not want to go near the pig so Gabbi and I did most of the paperwork, figuring out the function of each part of the pig. It was really interesting to me that the intestines are very tightly together, and not actually able to fall out of a stomach if a person was stabbed. The overall experience was very fun, and my favorite part was holding the pig's hoof. I'm glad I got to experience this because it opened my eyes to new possible career options.

Here are some photos I took: 

Unit 9 Reflection

Unit 9 taught me about taxonomic rank and the different levels and groups belonging to each. The order goes Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, then Species. One species I learned about was the sponge. The sponge belongs to the Phylum Porifera because sponges have specialized cells but no tissues. Every organism can be classified into a Phylum for a specific characteristic it has; yet the protist group is miscellaneous. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Taxonomic_Rank_Graph.svg/2000px-Taxonomic_Rank_Graph.svg.png

Next I learned about Anthropods, a type of invertebrate which has an exoskeleton made of chitin,  with joining appendages and segmented body parts. Anthropods are classified into five groups: Trilobites, Crustaceans, Chelicerates, Insects, and  Myriapods. Trilobites are extinct bottom feeders. Crustaceans live in oceans, streams, and on land. Chelicerates have specialized dagger-like mouthparts(Scorpions). Insects have 6 legs and usually live on land. Myriapods have long bodies with many pairs of legs (Milipedes). 

https://pixabay.com/p-87721/?no_redirect

I want to learn more about sand dollars because I don't completely understand how they function. Sand dollars have always interested me and I used to collect them. I wonder who thought of the idea to base kitchen sponges off of the actual sponge creatures living in the sea. 

My What on Earth Evolved Presentation was done about Roses. I truly enjoy public speaking so I liked getting a chance to share and teach the class about my topic. My presentation went well I'd say, I could have gone more in depth about the anatomy of the flower to make my presentation longer.

Sophie Z

I am very happy with how the presentation went well because I spent a lot of time researching. It is actually very difficult to find information about the origins of roses and how they evolved. During this presentation, I started connecting the rose to modern day movies to explain and show the relationship of how people view these flowers. I am going to try to make more connections in my presentations in the future.