Friday, July 9, 2010

Succession



Succession is a term used to describe how a community evolves over time. There are two types of succession, primary and secondary. The photo above is of primary succession. It starts out as rocks then evolves into small plants to grasses to pines and eventually larger and larger trees. There wasn't a fire or a different disaster so it is not secondary succession. Fires, earthquakes, hurricanes are secondary. Primary is where no life turns into a increasing amount of life. It is like a sequence of events over a period of hundreds of years, like the after effects of a volcano erupting.

Genetically Modified Organism



The photo above is of two tomatoes, which have been genetically modified to last longer. An advantage is that the food does not rot and it makes the lives of farmers a lot easier. A disadvantage is that they used to have antibiotic resistance, the essence of the tomato gets changed. Corn and soy products are other examples of these organisms.

Lichen



Lichen is a type of fungus and algae that is typically found on trees. The green blobs on the tree in the photo above are lichen. Lichen tends to grow in places where plant cannot grow, like on the tree bark in the above photo. Types of lichen include fruticose, foliose, and crustose lichen.

Sporophyte



The photo above is of a pine tree, a type of conifer. Since pine trees release pine cones, spores, the tree is considered to be a sporophyte. This happens through meiosis. Other examples include club mosses and ferns.

Endosperm



Endosperm is a type of tissue that surrounds the seed in plants. The photo above is of corn. What humans know of as corn is an example of endosperm, there are tiny seeds within each corn kernel. This endosperm provides nutrients like starch, oil, and protein to the seed, it acts like an embryo. This is an example of edible endosperm! Wheat and barley have endosperm that made common products like bread and beer. It is very useful.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Glycogen




This kind of scary looking tortoise and rabbit are eating grass that will soon become glycogen. Glycogen is a polysaccharide (carbohydrate) that is stored in the liver and muscles of animals. When the time arrives, this glycogen will get converted to glucose. Glucose can also be found in protein filled animal products.

ATP



ATP is the "energy currency" of cells. Basically, ATP is an energy source for important functions inside the cell. For example, in the post below, ATP was vital for the calvin cycle. The photo above is of a flower, a flower that is going through the calvin cycle and therefore using ATP. ATP is used as an energy source. ATP is used in both animals and plants.