Our oceans are filled with plastic. Whether you are floating atop or diving deep below, plastic follows you wherever you go. A 2013 documentary, directed by Craig Leeson, follows the path of two ocean lovers, trying to understand the deep rooted problem in our waters. Whales, turtles, seals, birds, fish… Every marine creature is directly impacted by human’s pollution whether it be garbage, oil spills, or the top contender: plastic. Animals mistake plastic bags and small pieces of plastic for food which ends up remaining in their stomachs, eventually leading to their horrific and painful death.
Watching the documentary is truly horrifying. In the past 10 years, we have put more trash in the ocean than from the entire century before. This exponential growth is not slowing down any time soon. If we continue on this same path, by the time the Earth’s population reaches 10 billion, our plastic production will have tripled.
There isn’t a real solution to removing all of the pollution in the ocean, there is way too much; most of it hasn’t even been found. Right now, we need to cut out the use of single use plastics and avoid polluting. There are still people that don’t care enough about the environment to throw their trash into the bin 10 feet away. This needs to change. Our environmental disaster will not improve unless people decide that it is important enough for their time.
Other countries, for example Germany and Ireland, are making solutions for this problem. With the plastic waste, they use it to create either a useful product benefitting people or a way for people to make a profit in exchange for their bottles. If other countries are making decisions benefiting the environment and created solutions to the enormous problem, why can’t we?
Ahh, welcome to my first blog post! Currently, I am learning about the Vortex Swim with my AP Biology teammates. What is the Vortex Swim exactly? The Vortex Swim is Ben Lecomte’s journey through the Plastic Vortex, located between the states of Hawaii and California (300 nautical miles). The purpose of the swim is to raise awareness of the amount of plastic found in this highly polluted area. This area in the ocean is known as the ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ due to its high concentration of plastic debris. I want to you to be as curious as my teammates and I on Lecomte’s journey on saving the world.
This swim has brought to my attention the severity of plastic pollution in our Earth. Our world is a precious place that we should take care of. We should take care of all organisms on the planet because biodiversity is important to the functions of all ecosystems. Each species has an important role that cannot be replaced by another when they are extinct. Learning about how the plastic we use in our everyday lives have accumulated into tonnes of plastic in the ocean has made me recognize how much humans are abusing other ecosystems that are vital. I want to be part of Lecomte’s journey on spreading awareness of this issue. Below, I attached a video that had truly moved me to understand the effects of plastic pollution on our ecosystems, especially our aquatic ecosystems.
After learning about the Vortex Swim, I have been interested in learning about how the vortex pulls the plastic in a specific location. In the video “The Vortex Swim – Ben Lecomte“, Lecomte stated that “Ocean currents… have pooled [plastic] together into a sort of ‘soup’ of rubbish.” I am curious as to how these currents are able to pull all these amounts of plastic into The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I am also curious about the aquatic life there and how much they have been impacted by the accumulating plastic. I hope the Vortex Swim has sparked your curiosity as much as it has mine.
My curious questions are:
How do the currents in the Plastic Vortex pull the plastic in one specific area?
How does plastic break down in the ocean and what organisms are responsible for breaking plastic down?
How is biodiversity and aquatic life impacted by the accumulating plastic in The Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
What equipment did Lecomte and his crew use to collect data?
Do you think Ben Lecomte will do another challenge soon?
Check out Ben Lecomte’s #TheVortexSwim challenge on Instagram:
The Leatherback Trust, director. Removing a Plastic Straw from a Sea Turtle’s Nostril – Short Version. YouTube, YouTube, 12 Aug. 2015, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2J2qdOrW44.
After learning more about the Vortex Swim, I investigated how Ben Lecomte’s cardiovascular system could have been affected by the extreme exercise he completed in water that contained pathogens. Check out the video below!
Vortex Swim CDQAfter following Ben Lecomte’s Vortex Swim, I investigated plastics further. I researched my curious driving question: How do plastics impact coral reefs in the oceans? Below I have linked my video. Feel free to leave comments, questions, and concerns. I look forward to reading your comments!
AP Bio is a very challenging course with one of the most difficult exams! I tell my students every year that they will face the challenge and just completing the course and exam are major accomplishments. Read about one student's experience. Abiya Baqai shares her reflection on the exam.
Hi again, it's Kate! My AP Bio Teammate Kelsey and I were able to dissect a fetal pig a few weeks back, and I was absolutely floored by the experience. I never thought I would be able to dissect a heart or hold intestines in real life!
I was really excited to take a look at the body systems after doing a few days of review, and this hands-on experience was the perfect way to solidify my knowledge.
After identifying the umbilical cord and the gender of the fetal pig from the outside, we took a look at the mouth, the hard and soft palate, the tongue, and the epiglottis and then cut the pig open from the abdomen.
From there, we were able to follow the instructions of the lab to make cuts exposing the liver, stomach, small and large intestines, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, and other major organs that were necessary for this pig to be able to function. I was personally shocked by how small the gallbladder was, and although this was justified by the pig having eaten no fats and therefore producing no bile to be stored, the organ was still barely noticeable!
Being able to see the relative sizes of each of the organs of a living creature was so interesting, because as humans are mammals to, most of our internal organs are identical to those that we dissected out of the pic! We were also able to take a look at the lungs and the heart, the trachea and other parts of the respiratory system. Kelsey and I were able to dissect the pig’s heart actually and see the four chambers… very neat!
Finally, we cut downwards further and after removing all of the digestive organs, were able to take a look at the kidneys, the excretory, and the reproductive system. We dissected the mesentery tissue around the kidneys to see that the two were connected to the ureter, which carries urine to the bladder. We were also able to spot the rectum of the pig, which did have some fecal matter, as the pig had been feeding off of nutrients from the mother while inside the uterus.
Our pig was a girl, so we were able to see her uterus and fallopian tubes, a major reproductive organ, which was also really interesting. Overall, thinking about the organs of the pig being so similar to the ones in our body was an eye opening experience, especially being able to see them and hold them in real life! I loved this lab and truly understand the importance of our body systems and how each is connected to make our lives possible.
On April 12, 2019, Team AP Bio embarked on an epic journey to LiMPETS.
LiMPETS is an organization based at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Half Moon Bay. Basically, we visited the intertidal areas or, better known, the tidepools. This was so COOL. There is so much diversity here because of the tides. Different organisms grow and thrive in the tidal “zones”. These zones represent each stage of the tides, from high to low.
At LiMPETS, we collected data as part of Citizen Science. We were able collect data on the living organism diversity in the tidepools. We used quadrats that had 25 squares within them. From here, we recorded the squares which had certain organisms or we counted the organisms themselves. This data helps LiMPETS monitor the health of the organisms within the tidepools. Also, with the recent events in 2013-2015 concerning the Sea Star Wasting Disease that wiped out almost all the sea stars in the intertidal. Citizen Science data shows that sea stars are recovering from this disease and are coming back to the intertidals.
There were some pretty cool organisms at LiMPETS. My personal favorite was the Sunburst Anemone, and I am so glad that I was able to find an open one. Another cool critter was the Chiton, an eight plated organism whose plates were made of chitin.
LiMPETS was such a great experience so I would 100% recommend it to anyone and everyone. I was able to actively make a difference in the conservation of the marine life there and so can you!
Check out the vlog I made featuring Caroline Divney and Isa Lopez!
Hi this is Avani! My class and I went to Palo Alto marshlands and for the Save the Bay organization, we collected data near and away from the ponds in order to see if the restoration process was actually making a difference. The whole experience was so fun, I learned about new tools, saw beautiful plants (native and non-native) gorgeous bodies of water, lush grasses, and overall was intrigued by field research. I think it really opened me up to field research and the experience in general, as I definitely see myself doing things like this in my future. I also was amazed to learn how long this restoration process has been going on, and how it was started by three women! I was amazed to see that there were famous women environmentalists right where I lived!
To make this whole experience truly myself, I edited a vlog that was about Sophie and I's experience since we were in the group together, and I posted it on my youtube!
Check it out!
Recently I watched an awesome documentary called “Botany of Desire”. This documentary explores the relationships between different plants and humans. Have you ever wondered why humans are so into using Cannabis, or weed for recreational and medical purposes? Why do we love sweet apples more than sour crabapples? Why is it that no matter what country you are in, potatoes are almost always on the menu? Why do we plant useless flowers on our gardens? Plants are a strange collection of organisms that have indirectly controlled us because of our intense reliance and fascination with them.
“Sweetness” explored the relationship between apples, the “forbidden fruit” and humans. Aren’t apples everywhere? They are mentioned in the Bible, and are so famous that practically every human on the planet knows about them, but why? Apples that we eat are sweet, but only because we have manipulated them to fit our needs throughout history. Apples are heterosporous, so every apple seed is genetically different, so to create sweet, good tasting apples, humans have cloned the good ones! Once people begin to rely on the monotony of genetically cloned apples or other heavily consumed plants for that matter, the natural genetic variants within the species are suppressed. We know that a lack of genetic diversity amongst a species is bad because competitive species that also eat and infect apples, they are defenseless. Viruses, bacteria, and other pests are constantly evolving, yet apples are not. To combat this, apples are immensely exposed to pesticides and other chemicals! There is no such thing as an “organic apple” on the market anymore. Since I love apples, one of my new bucket list experiences is to travel to Kazakhstan and eat a naturally grown apple, even if it tastes bad.
Then I watched the segment on tulips and I must say, I was a bit shocked. I never realized that flowers have as much influence on the economy as they do. However, I have always been slightly obsessed with colorful, symmetrical flowers, such as roses, and totally understand the allure of buying a bouquet of pretty flowers from Costco for no apparent reason (I do this sometimes). I learned that humans tend to be attracted to flowers based on their beauty which is based on the flower’s color and pattern. Generally, the less occurring a pattern or color is, the more attracted humans are to a specific flower. The psychology behind what humans find attractive is really fascinating, and it makes me wonder if beauty is truly in the “eye of the beholder”. Do you think what society agrees is “conventionally beautiful” is influenced more from biological factors or psychological influence? By the way, in the 1600s Netherland, “Tulip Fever” had people buying tulip bulbs for the cost of a townhouse. People are nuts.
Ah. Weed. Dope. Marijuana. Cannabis. The fact that cannabis can change the texture of consciousness is amazing. The uses behind marijuana are vast, and the strains of the drug are diverse. People use marijuana as a sedative for recreational purposes to “get high”, but also for medical purposes and pain management. The chemical THC that is found in marijuana binds to receptors in the brain and can alter visual perception, feeling, and other senses. I also recently read that marijuana has helped epileptic people reduce seizure occurrences, which is amazing in itself. The big question is does marijuana control human beings. I would say 100% yes. We become reliant on this drug and grow it in mass proportions to satisfy society. This plant is passing on its genes with ease, and we are doing all the hard work.
To begin talking about potatoes, I find it so interesting that potatoes are consumed and grown almost everywhere on the planet. Potatoes are rich in starch and fiber and are a good source of calories for people. The potatoes in the wild are poisonous, so it is amazing how the people of the Andes cultivated potatoes by waiting for mutations in potatoes that made them edible. They did this by literally tasting potatoes and replanting ones that did not make them sick. I feel that because of this, humans have controlled potatoes, as the potatoes adapted to the human need. Potatoes are also an excellent model for the dangers of a lack of diversity in a population. The Irish famine proved that the cultivation of a single type of potatoes is dangerous because pathogens may wipe out large numbers. Now genetic modification is widely used in growing potatoes. Again, the idea of monotonous cultivation worries me, because now potatoes are at risk of mass extinction in the future. They have halted evolution which might cause their downfall in hundreds or thousands of years from now, and humans might be deprived of calories in the form of french fries. How sad.
I hope this post got your brain thinking about the odd relationship between humans and plants. It definitely affected me by making me appreciate plants more. The funniest thing about this doc is that the plants make the humans look dumb.
-Sophia
Link to Documentary Website: http://www.pbs.org/thebotanyofdesire/
Hi! It's Felicia. This year each member of Team AP Bio made an infographic on a specific virus we chose to study. What is included below is straight from my website which you can check out later for other neat posts.
Here is a little handy infographic with some key information about the West Nile virus I made! West Nile is a virus that does affect a majority of the US so it may be one to learn more about.
An operon is an intricate unit of genes that includes a promoter, operator, and 3 genes. The job of the lac operon is to regulate lactose in the cell.
Team AP Bio 18 -19 performed the lac operon and we are the first class to include a cell membrane and show how lactose enters the cell through facilitated diffusion. We only had 1 take to perfectly replicate the sophisticated process of regulation that happens in our bodies every day! Watch the video below:
If you want to learn more about genetic technology then please check out this presentation that I made with Caroline Divney and Felicia Wei! There are many types of genetic or DNA technology but we focused on DNA technology in agriculture. The majority of DNA technology in agriculture are GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms); however, DNA technology can be used in many ways in agriculture. In this presentation, we have many examples of DNA technology’s uses in agriculture, including a news article from January 14, 2019, on some of the newest DNA technology!
(To see more information on the slides, you can click on the settings button on the presentation and look at the speaker notes provided!)
Hello, Everyone! Here is Amber again. For this investigation project, Esther and I used VoiceThread to present our research on Hereditary Hemochromatosis. Hereditary hemochromatosis is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder, which is pretty common in the human population; around 1 in 200 people will be affected. This disorder will cause the body to absorb excessive iron from the diet. Iron overload is extremely toxic to the human body because it causes organ failure, especially for the liver, heart, and pancreas. In our presentation, we present a consulting dialogue between Dr. Li and Amber about this disorder, including symptoms, some distinct characteristics, and recommended treatments. If you are interested, please click this link! Hope you enjoy it! https://ndbtigers.ed.voicethread.com/share/11872612/
DNA is the genetic code for all living things. DNA tells your body what to look like and how to function. DNA exists in every living thing from humans to strawberries. In the video below, I extracted the DNA from three strawberries and explain how I did so with a few simple steps!
