Ava's county

Saipan's coral reefs

2007-11-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

Difference: color, size, skeleton, shape, grow forms

Similarities: need temperature, food, warm water, oxygen, and nutrients.

2007-11-27T08:11:00.001-08:00

1. How is each reef structure formed?

- Fringing reefs have a horizontal surface, with the coral maintaining a level close to the surface by means of animal growth; over the years, the reef will gradually advance seawards.
Barrier reefs form further from the coast. They are constantly pounded by the ocean waves and, as their name suggests, form a barrier that protects the coastline. These barriers have a frontal reef zone that takes the brunt of the ocean’s assault and where construction continues steadily, either thanks to madrepora* or calcareous algae. Atolls are formed entirely of calcium carbonate; the part above water level is made of sand and coral debris that has been washed up by the waves, and the dominant form of vegetation is generally palm trees. Atolls usually form a ring around a central lagoon; some lagoons are quite shallow while others are nearly 100 metres deep.The lagoons are connected to the outside ocean by channels or gaps in the reef that may be used by boats, and sometimes by shallow-water passes or simply by the fact that waves can swirl over submerged parts of the reef.
2. Where is each reef structure found?

- Fringing reefs are found in the Bismarck Archipelago in the southwest Pacific.

- Atolls always occur n the Indo-West Pacific Region, which is mean which always appear in the tropical Indian and western Pacific oceans.

- Barrier reefs always found in the Caribbean lies of the coast of Belize, Central America. They also found in Florida, New Caledonia, New Guinea，and Fiji in Pacific。

3. What is the trophic structure of a reef?

- That’s the tropical water where coral reefs are found are usually poor in nutrients and therefore have very little phytoplankton or primary production. zooxanthellae provide food and help make the calcium carbonate skeleton. In return the zooxanthelae get not only a protected place to live, but also a steady supply of carbon dioxide and nutrients such as nitrogen and phonsphorus. Also, nutrient recycling occur not only corals and their zooxanthellae, but all with sponges, sea squirts, giant clams, and other reef invertebrates have symbiotic algae or bacteria and recycle nutrients just as corals do.
4. How does the location and type of reef influence the trophic structure?

- Coral reef communities use nutrients very efficiently as a result of recycling. Coral reefs have among the highest rates of nitrogen fixation of any natural community. The main nitrogen fixers are cyanobacteria, especially a free living one called Calotbrix and another group that live symbiotically in sponges.
5. Give examples of the types of corals found on reefs.

-example:

1. Elkhorn coral is among the different forms of coral found on the reefs of Biscayne National Park.

2. Soft coral (Sarcophyton) fond on the coral reef.

3. Staghorn Coral

6. Give examples of competition, predation, and grazing
example:

Competition: Chevron butterflyfish ( Chaetodon trifascialis)

Predation: Sea Star ( Acanthaster Planci)

Grazing: Sea urchin (Diadema Antillarum)

chapter 14 -Critical thinking

2007-11-27T03:08:00.000-08:00

3. There are only a few reefs off the northeast coast of Brazil, even though it lies in the tropics. How would you explain this?

-Reef corals are limited to warm water and can grow and reproduce only if the average water temperature is about about 20^oC (68^oF). Most reefs grow in considerably warmer areas. Water is too warm is also bad for corals. The upper temperature limit varies, but is usually around 30^oC to 35^oC (86^oF to 95^oF). According from the page of 304 we can see the map of Brazil is between 30^o to 60^oalthough which is close to the average 20^o isotherm. Reefs off the northeast coast of Brazil have been less because affected the water temperatures reached 29.5^oC on the bottom of these reefs at 9–12 m. That’s the reasons why only a few of reefs are off the northeast coast of Brazil.

Beauty CNMI - Animal first

2007-11-26T22:40:00.000-08:00

Beauty CNMI is very important work for everyone. It’s is not just pick up the trash on the beach it is also include protection of the animals. These pictures of small cats and a big dog shows that Beauty CNMI still has a lot work to do. These small cats had a car accident in the middle night near the college. When I find out she is alive I keep she go my house and try to do something to save her life. The first pictures show that just after the accident and the blood come out from her nose and the poo on her fur and smile is very bad. Then the next morning she wake up and be alive. However, she lost her two back legs and can’t walk. After around one week, she can eat and move around by the front two legs but still can’t stand up and walk because the two back legs. Also, she can’t control poo and pee, then she always gets the bad smell on her body even she take shower. I don’t know who is the drunk driver make this small kitty lose her legs but I know if the government make a law about animal there will decrease less car accident of the animal. The other picture is a homeless dog that is always stays in front the door on the Shopping center. Some tourist afraid the dog so they walk away to avoid it and some are was surprised why there is a homeless dog in the shopping center in the beautiful island and nobody take for the poor animal. These pictures can show some things that the government missed. First, the government should make a place for the home less animal to gather and to stay. Then they should make the surgery for the animal to decrees the animal population growing in Saipan. Also, they also have to make the law for the pet owner to care for the animal only inside the house not going around outside and put their poo anywhere on the road. Just like Guam have the place for the home less animal to stay and the law for the pets owner. If Saipan do something like Guam did, there will be no animal died in the road and nobody move away the dead animal body and which view into every tourist eyes make them feel uncomfortable. Also, some tourist form Europe and from the main land said that Saipan people are nice but they don’t understand why they don’t nice to the animals. We are the entire creature made by the God; we all have the same freedom to keep life. But the dead animal or homeless animals show that animals don’t have freedom to keep themselves is alive. Of course, they are animal and they don’t have knowledge like the human to run fast or make a home for themselves. Yet, if the government makes some law, maybe these poor animals will be alive and escaped the fate to die under the car tire. On the other hand, if CNMI have the law to protect the animal which will be more beautiful place in the world.

2007-11-23T07:18:00.001-08:00

What is sea floor spreading?

- sea floor spreading is the process in which one ocean floor is extended when two plates move apart, As plates move apart, the rocks break and forma a crack between the plates. Earthquakes occur along the plate boundary; magma rises through the cracks and seeps out onto the ocean floor like a long, thin, undersea volcano.

What are some of the major land forms that are created from plate movement?

-plate movement created seven the big major land on the earth, they are Asia, Africa, north America, south America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. The plate movement also creates different Small Island just like Saipan and Guam. Also, plate movement also created volcanoes, mountains and trenches.

How were the Mariana Islands formed?

Mariana Island consists of Northern part of Agrihan, Anatahan, Alamagan, and Pagan are inhabited, and Southern part are Rota，Guam Aguijan， tianian and Saipan , all the Mariana Island are was formed by the volcanoes created from the plate movement long time ago. Although some place of this island already inhabited but a few of these volcanoes still sometimes erupt.

What evidence exists today that the plates are still moving and that the islands are ancient volcanoes?

There are still unknown island recently find by the people and also there are still many movement like Earthquakes are always appear in Japan and sometimes in Saipan. The other example can be the volcanoes erupt or the tsunami in 2004 in Indian.

What is an atoll?

Considered one of the most beautiful of formations to be found in warm waters, the atoll is basically an island that it constructed of coral and encircles a lagoon. Found most often in tropical sections of the Pacific and Indian oceans, atolls are noted for creating an attractive and peaceful setting.

Why are atolls mainly found on the Pacific?

Atolls are the product of the growth of tropical marine organisms, so these islands are only found in warm tropical waters. Volcanic islands located beyond the warm water temperature requirements of reef building (hermatypic) organisms become seamounts as they subside and are eroded away at the surface. Pacific Ocean is the good environment for atolls , so that’s why many atolls are can find there.

chapter 2 -Critical thinking

2007-11-23T06:52:00.001-08:00

2. Why are most oceanic trenches found in the Pacific Ocean?
There is about 50,000 km of convergent plate margins, mostly around the Pacific Ocean, because the reason for the reference “Pacific-type” margin. If you look at the map, you can see the Pacific is a circle by the Japan Sea, Philippine Sea and Europe Sea. I think because too much water movement and plate movement cause the too much trenches here.

chapter 9 -Critical thinking

2007-11-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

1. Sea turtles have disappeared from many regions, and one way of trying to save them is to reintroduce them to areas where they have been wiped out. This is done by reburying eggs or by releasing newborn baby turtles on beaches. Why are eggs reburied or baby turtles released instead of fully grown individuals?

- The reason can be the long 2 month hatch time for the eggs and the natural situation like the sand and temperature effect to the eggs. There maybe also other reason like other animal eats the eggs.

Saturday Lab - sea anemones and jellyfish

2007-11-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

Today, we saw a movie during the Lab time when there was raining outside. That’s a very cool movie to show the activities about Sea Anemones. Anemones looked like very beautiful colorful flower animal on the ocean. In fact, it’s a ancient sea animal and its just the old animal as older like sponges. It looked like a inactivity flower but its can move when they has special situation, example can be when the sea star want to eat them, they can jump like a kids very funny but cute. They don’t have other body function as other animals do, but they have the very sensitive nervous for their feeding, fighting and exercising. The movie also shows the different kind of jellyfish and show to the biologist observer how they prey. They also show there is new kind of jellyfish under about 8000 meter deeper on the ocean which is really big as 3 yard and like gray color different to other jellyfish like white cooler. There also show there has the longest jellyfish under the deep ocean. That’s a very fun movie for me to enjoy the rainy Saturday on this weekend and I hope I can see other movie like this movie again!!

Fish word ^^~!!

2007-11-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

Reptilia - sea turtle and lizard

2007-11-09T07:02:00.000-08:00

Sea turtles are reptiles. Reptiles have scales and a backbone. They are cold-blooded and they breathe with lungs. Sea Turtles are large turtles that spend most of their lives in the seas. They live in shallow coastal waters of warm and temperate seas.. All Sea Turtle species are considered endangered or threatened.

Anatomy: These cold-blooded animals are strong swimmers and good divers. They have four flipper-like legs and a shell that is attached to their backbone. They cannot pull their head and legs into the shell. These turtles vary in color from shades of brown to green to black. Sea turtles vary in size from 2 to 6 feet (0.5 to 1.9 m) long, weighing 78 to 1900 pounds (35 to 870 kg). During active times, turtles must go to the sea's surface every few minutes in order to breathe air.

Diet: Most sea turtles are carnivores (meat eaters), but the green turtle is a herbovore (a plant eater that eats sea grass and algae). Most sea turtles eat crustaceans (crabs, lobster, shrimp, and other shelled invertebrates), shellfish, jellyfish and small fish.

Reproduction: every two years,adult female Sea Turtles return to the beach where they were born to lay up to 200 soft-shelled eggs in the sand. When the baby turtles hatch, they immediately head for the nearby water. Many young turtles are eaten by birds and other predators during this difficult trip. It has been estimated that only 1% of these hatchlings will reach adulthood. No one knows how the females find the beach where they were born.

Sea turtles and fragile ecosystems

Sea turtles play key roles in two ecosystems that are critical to them as well as to humans—the oceans and beaches/dunes. If sea turtles were to become extinct, the negative impact on beaches and the oceans would potentially be significant.

Life history

Sea turtles have an extraordinary sense of time and location. They are highly sensitive to the Earth's magnetic field and use it to navigate. The longevity of sea turtles has been speculated at 80 years.

Lizard

Lizards are reptiles of the order squamata, normally possessing four legs, external ear openings and movable eyelids. The adult length of species within the order range from a few centimeterto nearly three meters.

Diet

Lizards feed on a wide variety of foods including fruits and vegetation, insects, sm

all tetrapods, carrion and even (in the cases of large predator lizards) large prey such as deer.

Reproduction:

Most lizards lay eggs with tough, leathery shells. The eggs are laid in sand or rotting vegetation where they are concealed from predators but can be warmed by the sun. The American anoles lay a single egg each time. Many of the geckos lay two eggs. However, most lizard species lay several eggs at a time. Most lizards lay their eggs in a suitable nest and then abandon them.

Life history

Lizard life-history characteristics vary widely among species and populations. Lizard life histories are often phenotypically plastic, varying in response to temperature, food availability, and other environmental factors. Despite the importance of temperature to lizard ecology and physiology, its effects on life histories have received relatively little attention. Although life-history traits such as clutch size, egg size and the proportion of mature reproductive females varied little over 7 years in the intact population, manipulation of density to simulate decreased population density enhanced juvenile growth rate, age at first reproduction, frequency of female reproduction and size-specific clutch mass.

- In my opinion, the sea turtle is different than lizard because they have to living in the ocean. They also have different diet habit, like sea turtle eat the food are from sea and lizard eat the food from land. Also, they are both reptilian animal, but lizard walk or run very fast on the land, but sea turtle move very slow in the land.

bird- penguins and owls

2007-11-09T00:29:00.000-08:00

Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern.

Anatomy: Penguins are about 2 feet (60 cm) tall; they weigh from 6.8 to 8 pounds (3.1-3.6 kg). The male is larger and has a longer bill than the female. There is a black stripe on the chest. Like all penguins, African Penguins have a big head, a short, thick neck, a streamlined shape, a short, wedge-shaped tail, and small, flipper-like wings. They have webbed feet which they use for swimming. Penguins are countershaded; they have a lighter color on the belly and a darker color on their back; this coloration helps camouflage them when they are in the water, hiding them from predators. hemisphere.

Feathers: Penguins have shiny, waterproof feathers that help keep their skin dry. They have more feathers than most other birds - about 70 feathers per square inch. Once a year, penguins molt, losing their old feathers and growing new ones. While molting (which takes about 3 weeks), they cannot swim and do not eat.

Diet: Penguins are carnivores (meat-eaters) who hunt in the sea. They eat fish (including sardines, sancord, and anchovies) and squid.

Reproduction: penguins nest by burrowing into guano (bird droppings) and sand. Females lay two eggs. The incubation period is from 38 to 42 days. Both parents guard the nest and feed the hatchlings regurgitated food. These penguins reach maturity at 3 to 4 years of age.

Populations: penguin populations are declining rapidly due to many factors, including: reduction of their food supply (by overfishing), pollution (from oil tankers), egg harvesting by people, disease, and guano (bird droppings) removal from their nesting grounds for use as a fertilizer.

Habitat: Penguin lives in colonies on 24 islands between Namibia and Port Elizabeth (Africa). New colonies have been established on the African mainland.

Owls

Owls are nocturnal hunting birds with eyes that face forwards. They are closely related to hawks. Owls sleep during the day and emerge at night to hunt small prey. There are about 162 different species of owls alive today, inhabiting a huge variety of ecological niches, from rainforests to tundra.
Anatomy
Owls have a large head and large eyes that face forwards (unlike other birds, whose eyes are on the sides of their head). This eye placement gives them binocular vision and very precise depth perception. Also, there are circles of radiating feathers surrounding each eye, giving them a wide-eyed, alert look. Owls cannot move their eyes within their sockets like we can. In order to look around, they have to move their entire head, which has a range of movement of about 270°. Some owls have feathered ear tufts; these are not ears, but are part of the owl's camouflage.
Flight
many owls have thick feathers that absorb the sounds that their wings make in flight.
Diet and Hunting
Owls are carnivores that hunt during the night (they are nocturnal). They use their keen sense of sight to find prey in the dark (owls see mostly in black and white). They have an acute sense of hearing which also helps in finding meals. Owls are stealth hunters, they can easily sneak up on their prey since their fluffy feathers give them almost silent flight. Owls have two methods of hunting

Perch and pounce - the owl waits on a low tree branch until it spots prey. It then swoops down onto the prey. This method is used often by owls that live in relatively dense forested areas.
Quartering - the owl flies low over the ground looking for prey. This methods is used often by owls that live in relatively clear landscapes.

Owls hunt and eat rodents, insects, frogs, and birds. The owl is at the top of the food web; it has no major predators. Owls eat smaller prey whole and larger prey in chunks. They eliminate the inedible parts (like hair, feathers, insect exoskeletons, and bone) in oval-shaped pellets.
Habitat and Range
Owls are found worldwide in a huge range of habitats from rainforests to grasslands to wooded areas to tundra.
Reproduction
Owls typically reach sexual maturity at about one year of age. Large species such as the Great Gray Owl may not begin breeding until they are 2 or 3 years old. Since most owls do not migrate, they are established in their territory year-round. This allows them to breed earlier in the year than most other species of birds. Some species breed as early as January, but the Snowy Owl waits as late as May to breed because of the cold temperatures of its northern range. Owls in the south breed earlier in the year than owls in the north. The breeding patterns of many owl species seem to relate to the availability of prey. If food is hard to come by for long periods, an owl may not breed until conditions are more favorable. Other factors that may affect breeding habits include weather, competition from other owls, and disease.

- The different of penguins and Owls can be diet habit, reproduction and anatomy. Owls cannot live near the ocean and they used to sleep at daytime and act at night time. They eat the food on the land and their hawk is short and small. But penguins cannot live without ocean, because their diet is from the ocean. Penguins are lay their eggs on the land but Owl lay their eggs on their nets.

mammal - seal and lion

2007-11-08T23:12:00.000-08:00

seals

Seals are carnivorous marine mammals that have fins or flippers instead of feet. There are three families of seals; the Eared Seals, True Seals and the Walrus. Seals are widely distributed throughout the marine environment of the arctic and temperate zones including a few tropical species of seals such as the monk seal. Seal is a marine mammal that spends most of its life in the sea, but also enjoys sunbathing on rocks or on the beach. Seals have a life span of about 25 to 30 years

Seals unique

All three families of seals possess a neat adaptation to their aquatic habitat. Unlike their ancestors, seals live most of their life in the sea. They only move onto land (shores or ice floes) for breeding, raising their young and escaping from predators.

Eared seals

The eared seals have long, flexible necks and small external ears. They have rear flippers that can turn forward. This feature enables them to support their body on land and they can use all of their limbs on land. Sea lions and fur seals are the two types of seals that make up this group.

Anatomy:

Seal has short, thick fur, grows to be up to 6.5 feet (2 m) long and can weigh up to 375 pounds (170 kg). The whiskers (called vibrissae) help the seal's sense of touch. The nostrils are closed in the resting state.

Blubber is a thick layer of vascular fat found under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds and sirenians. It covers the whole body, except for the appendages, loosely attached to the musculature. It can comprise up to 50% of the body mass of some marine mammals during some points in their lives. Blubber serves several different functions, it is the primary area of fat on marine mammals, and essential for storing energy.

Diet:

Seals are carnivores (meat-eaters); they eat mostly mollusks (like squid and calms), fish, and crustaceans. Seals don't chew their food. They swallow it in large chunks. They can crush the shells of crustaceans and mollusks with their flat back teeth.

reproduction

Seal often come ashore or haul out on ice to breed, often travelling long distances from their feeding grounds to suitable mating grounds with a high level of reproductive synchrony. Almost males breed with up to several dozen females in a season. Females have a postpartum oestrus them to mate soon after giving birth. Subsequent implantation of the embryo is delayed (embryonic diapause) thus removing the need to come ashore (haul-out) twice, once to give birth and again later to mate.

Lion !

The lion is the second largest feline after the tiger. With powerful legs, a strong jaw, and long canine teeth, the lion can bring down and kill large prey. Lion coloration varies f

rom light buff to yellowish, reddish or dark ochraceous brown. The underparts are generally lighter and the tail tuft is black. The color of the mane varies from blond to black.

Lion- anatomy

The many fetters of a lion’s face that appear over its life die to fights, hunting and various activities. The Ear notches would be due to fighting and usually the scars will be from fighting or hinting of more dangerous prey such as Buffalo and other large horned animals. Sometimes as cubs Lions learn the hard way that they should leave porcupines alone, this can leave them with scars usually on there nose.

Internal system of lion

The Heart is positioned in a place which is effectively under the lions chin making it hard for it to be damaged in a fight, the balance of blood between the brain and legs allows short bursts of speed to occur when in the hunt though these bursts of speed are short in duration it doesn't take the Lion long to re-gain its "breath".

Diet

The lion's prey consists mainly of large mammals, with a preference for wildebeest, impalas, zebras, buffalo,and warthogswil in Africa and nilgai, wild boars and several deer species in India.

reproduction

Most lionesses will have reproduced by the time they are four years of age.Lions do not mate at any specific time of year, and the females are polyestrous. Like other cats, the male lion's penis has spines which point backwards. Upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which may cause ovulation.A female may mate with more than one male when she is in heat; during a mating bout, which could last several days, the couple copulates twenty to forty times a day and are likely to forgo hunting. Lions reproduce very well in captivity.

- Seal is different than other mammals in land, because they live in the sea all the time by the blubber in their body. They can stay on the rock sometimes but they don’t have lags to walk or run on the land as other mammals do.

chapter 8 -Critical thinking

2007-11-06T01:15:00.000-08:00

1. Hagfishes and lampreys are the only living representatives of a very ancient group. Why do you suppose there are still some of these jawless fishes around?
- The reason is that jawless fish are the earliest vertebrates of the class Agnatha, and their only living representatives are the cyclostomes- the lampreys and the hagfishes. Jawless fish still around today because they eat the dead or dying fish and other things that float on the bottom of the ocean. Their unusual feeding habits and slime-producing capabilities have led members of the scientific and popular media to dub the hagfish as the most "disgusting" of all sea creatures.

2. A deep-water shark, new to science, is collected for the first time. The specimen is studied in detail, but its stomach is empty. How could you get a rough idea of its feeding habits? The specimen is a female, and its reproductive tract is found to contain 20 eggs. Can you tell the type of development characteristics of this species?
- The cat shark species are found from 1988-2001. The cat shark species are opportunistic scavengers, with their main prey being fish and crustaceans. A “high intake” group received a given quantity of food twice a week; a “low intake” group received the same quantity of food only once a month. Cat shark feeds on deep water prey such as small fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. The cat shark laid their eggs in huge and they have 20eggs beds up to 30 feet (10 meters) apart. Cat sharks are oviparous, producing eggs that develop and hatch outside the body of the female. Related species have been bred successfully in captivity.

3. Individuals of some species of bony fishes change sex, some to maintain more males than females, others more females than males. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each situation? Are there any advantages and disadvantages in having an equal number of males and females?
- in the biology theory , if there are more males than females, they will get more different of bony fishes, because female have more chance to mate with males and then have high production results. Also, they will choose the best gene male to production their generation and the next bony fish will be better than their parents generation. If there are more females than males, it will have low production results, because there has completion of the many females to mate the fewer males. Also, the gene to the next generation is not very good. If there are equal number of the both female and male, there will have the normal population on the next generation. Also, they will have not a lot of the gene on the generation.

Tinian south beaches declared marine reserve

2007-10-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

By Agnes E. Donato
Reporter

Fishing and other activities that may be harmful to marine life are now prohibited in beaches south of Tinian.

Acting Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez signed into law a bill creating a marine reserve area on Tinian, from the Southwest Carolinas Point to Puntan Diablo Point and Tachongna Beach.

“The Commonwealth Legislature finds that there is a need to preserve the marine environment for its natural and pristine beauty, and to regulate the fishing and harvesting of other marine life in [the said] area,” states the legislation authored by Senate President Joseph M. Mendiola.

The new marine reserve spot encompasses all the areas from Tachogna Beach, Taga Beach, YCC Beach, Kammer Beach, Tinian harbor, breakwater area to Leprosarium Beach and Barchinas Bay, from the high-tide mark on shore to one-half mile out to the reef.

Under the law, fishing and other potentially harmful activities to the marine life in the areas will be restricted. Fish, coral, lobster, clams, octopus, and any shellfish in the area may not be removed, disturbed, damaged, or destroyed. The only exemptions are seasonal fish such as atulai, i'i', and ti'ao, which may be harvested during their respective seasons.

Violators will face penalties.

The measure tasks the Division of Fish and Wildlife to assess the marine area to determine whether the fish population and marine habitat has reached a level adequate for sustainable fishing and harvesting. The assessment must be done in 2010.

Depending on the result of the assessment, DFW and the Department of Lands and Natural Resources on Tinian may allow certain activities and impose conditions.

- This is a news article of Saipan and which show that Saipan already knew that fishing activity harmful to the marine life and they should protect the marine life and to limit fishing activity. And the Tachogna Beach, Taga Beach, YCC Beach, Kammer Beach, Tinian harbor, breakwater area to Leprosarium Beach and Barchinas Bay are the place should to protect to avoid fishing. If the people fishing they will get a bill for penality. I think that is a good method to protect fish but I know still a lot of people fishing on the beach with fishing license. Most people knew that Managaha Island is a beautiful place and even local people like to spend weekend of there. The reason is not there has only had lovely beach but also love fished. If you go there, you can see a lot of different kind fishes and some of them follow you when you swim. Also, you can hear that the sound when the bite the rock under the water and which is the most important reason to attract tourist to visit there. I know to protect the fish is a big problem for the government to pursuer, but I hope the people of here can have the sense of how to protect CNMI – a beautiful island. Cheer up ~!!

Turtles Endangered!

2007-10-30T01:34:00.000-07:00

News articles are the property on either Marianas Variety or the Saipan Tribune, as noted by authorship.

Turtles Endangered!

By Gemma Q. Casas, Variety News Staff

THE CNMI’s sea turtle population is now less than 200, according to an official of the Division of Fish and Wildlife who spoke to students of Grace Christian Academy yesterday. Joe Ruak, DFW's Public Information Officer and Aquatic Education Specialist, told students that they must do their share in preserving the turtles by not harming them, reporting turtle injuries to authorities and campaigning for their preservation.

The population of sea turtles here is really very low. The estimate is less than 200, Ruak said. He said DFW has no data on how many turtles were in the CNMI prior to the counting made in 1999. We don’t have a baseline data to base that from. But from a survey that was conducted here back in 1999, we found that it was less than 200, he said. Ruak said informing students about the different aquatic species and animals in the CNMI is among the government’s efforts to create environmental awareness in the local community.

Ruak said a turtle is considered a local delicacy, but he urged the students not to continue this because we need to preserve sea turtles so that future generations can see, appreciate, and respect them. Turtles are particularly a good dish. It’s a delicacy here in the CNMI. A lot of locals, especially Chamorro and Carolinian people, talk about eating sea turtles as part of their culture, therefore, they have a cultural right, Ruak said. But we also like to emphasize that sea turtles need to be at least 20 years old to become sexually mature, to start having babies. Many of the sea turtles that are being caught right now are really just juveniles. They are not even ready to lay eggs, he said. He said a female turtle lays about 1,000 eggs. But only 1 percent of them have the chance of maturing. If anybody sees a turtle, we encourage them to leave it alone. If it’s an injured turtle please call the fish and wildlife or call 911. If there are eggs, leave the eggs alone, he said. He added that since sea turtles are considered an endangered species, there is a federal penalty against harming or disturbing sea turtles and their eggs. Sea turtle nests have been seen at Tank Beach, Bird Island Beach, Obyan Beach, Coral Ocean Point, Laulau Beach and Wing Beach.

- This is a very nice article and which use the title Turtles Endangered implicated that the turtles are still dangerous here. The reason is that local people used to follow their culture to eat turtles then cause the population of turtles down to less than 200. also, it talk about that a mature six turtle have to live over 20 years then can lay the eggs, but only one percent of the 1,000 eggs can become a small turtles. So, we can see how difficult to continues the turtle population. I remember that since 2003 I first came to Saipan I can see turtle easily swim under the suicide cliff. Yet, it’s hard to see them recently. In China, people also like to eat turtle and they believe that are good for human healthy. But they don’t catch the turtle in the ocean; they feed them in the home and sale to the market. Saipan is a nice and beautiful place. It very pity to lose of the view of turtle swim under the suicide cliff. Also, some tourist heard believe that to see the turtle swim under the suicide cliff that mean lucky and most tourist come to Saipan want to see it. So, Please protect turtle and beatify CNMI.

starfish

2007-10-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

Circulatory system

Circulation occurs in three places: the perivisceral coelom (basically, the space inside the body but outside the various organs), the water vascular system (of which the tube feet are the most obvious part), and the hemal system (which actually looks something like a circulatory system). The hemal system is shown below. There are hemal channels forming rings around the central part of the body around the mouth (the oral hemal ring), closer to the upper surface (the aboral hemal ring), and a third ring around the digestive system (the gastric hemal ring). These are connected by the axial sinus. There are also radial hemal channels running down the rays next to the gonads (which are also located in the rays). A dorsal sac attached to the axial sinus pulsates, sort of like a very inefficient heart (inefficient because it lacks a one-way valve system). The hemal system seems mostly organized to distribute nutrients from the digestive tract.The water vascular system uses cilia and the constant contraction of ampulla (to extend and retract the tube feet) also helps keep things moving. There is an ionic imbalance that causes water to flow into the water vascular system through the madreporite, and then the Tiedemann's bodies divert some of it into the perivisceral coelom. Circulation in the perivisceral coelom is mostly by ciliary beating.

Nervous system

Echinoderms have rather complex nervous systems, but lack a true centralized brain. All echinoderms have a network of interlacing nerves called a nerve plexus which lies within as well as below the skin. The esophagus is also surrounded by a number of nerve rings which send radial nerves that are often parallel with the branches of the water vascular system. The ring nerves and radial nerves coordinate the starfish's balance and directional systems. Although the echinoderms do not have many well-defined sensory inputs, they are sensitive to touch, light, temperature, orientation, and the status of water around them. The tube feet, spines, and pedicellariae found on starfish are sensitive to touch, while eyespots on the ends of the rays are light-sensitive.

Integumentary

Most starfish have five arms, but some have more or fewer. Some starfish have shown differing numbers of limbs within a single species. The mouth is located underneath the starfish on the oral or ventral surface, while the anus is located on the top of the animal. The spiny upper surface is called the aboral or dorsal surface. On the aboral surface there is a structure called the madreporite, a small white spot located slightly off-center on the central disc which acts as a water filter and supplies the starfish's water vascular system with water to move. Porcellanasteridae employ additional cribriform organs used to generate current in the burrows made by these infaunal starfish.

Excretory system

A echinoderm has a simple excretory system.

Reproductive system

Starfish are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction. Individual starfish are male or female. Fertilization takes place externally, both male and female releasing their gametes into the environment. Resulting fertilized embryos form part of the zooplankton. Starfish are developmentally embryologically known as deuterostomes. Their embryo initially develops bilateral symmetry, indicating that starfish probably share a common ancestor with thechordates. Later development takes a very different path however as the developing starfish settles out of the zooplankton and develops the characteristic radial symmetry. Some species reproduce cooperatively, using environmental signals to coordinate the timing of gamete release; in other species, one to one pairing is the norm.

Body Plan

Starfish radiate diversely in shapes and colors, the morphology differing between each species. Starfish have a simple photoreceptor eyespot at the end of each arm. The eye is only able to register differences of light and dark, which are useful in detecting movement.The star fish have two stomachs. One stomach is used for digestion, and the other stomach can be extended outward to engulf and digest prey. This feature allows the starfish to hunt prey that is much larger than its mouth would otherwise allow. Starfish are able to regenerate lost arms. A new starfish may be regenerated from a single arm attached to a portion of the central disk.

Digestive System

Starfish have a complete digestive system with a mouth at the center of their underside (the "oral" side) and an anus on their upper surface (the "aboral" side).Food can be brought into the stomach through the mouth or, in many species, the cardiac stomach can be extended out through the mouth to digest food outside the body. Suspension-feeding starfish use their tube feet to pass food to the mouth. The cardiac stomach is connected to a pyloric stomach (located above it), which in turn is connected to both the anus and to the pyloric ducts and pyloric cecum which extend out into each arm.The pyloric ceca (or digestive glands) and the cardiac stomach produce digestive enzymes. Digested material is absorbed through the pyloric ceca for transport to the rest of the body.

Habit

Sea star live in tropical coral reefs, kelp forests to deep-sea floor, although none of them live within the water column; all species of starfish found are living as benthos.

Diet

Starfish eat clams and oysters or any animal too slow to evade the attack (e.g. dying fish). Some species are detritivores, eating decomposed animal and plant material or organic films attached to substrate. The others may consume coral polyps (the best-known example for this is the infamous Acanthaster planci) , sponges or even suspended particles and planktonsp

Distinguishes

Starfish are members of the phylum Echinodermata. This is because the skeleton is not rigid, as in the case of echinoids sea urchins,but is composed of many small plates (or ossicles) which quickly fall apart and are scattered after death and the decay of the soft parts of the creature.

The pictures are found in:

http://images.google.com/images
http://sps.k12.ar.us/massengale/starfish _dissection.htm

squid

2007-10-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Circulatory system

Squid have three hearts. Two branchial hearts, feeding the gills, each surrounding the larger systemic heart that pumps blood around the body. The hearts have a faint greenish appearance and are surrounded by the renal sacs - the main excretory system of the squid. The kidneys are faint and difficult to identify and stretch from the hearts (located at the posterior side of the ink sac) to the liver. The systemic heart is made of three chambers, a lower ventricle and two upper auricles.

Nervous system

The squid has the most complicated brain of all the invertebrates. The squids brain is estimated to have 300,000,000 neurons. These neurons are arranged in lobes and tracts that are more specialized than simple ganglia. An squid has a "good" memory and can also learn. The eye of the squid is very similar to that of vertebrates in that it has a cornea, lens, iris and retina. It can also focus and form images. However, the squid eye is different from that of vertebrates in that it focuses light by moving the lens closer and further away from the retina. The vertebrate eye focuses by changing the shape of the lens.squid can perceive shape, color intensity and texture. Another difference is that the eye of the squid has NO blind spot because the nerve cells leave from the outside of the eyeball. The squid also has a statocyst located next to the brain. The statocyst is used to detect changes in gravity and respond to acceleration.

Integumentary

The Male body was generated from scans of a live model. With optimized geometric resolution for detailed renderings, and a high level of anatomical accuracy representing an ideal physique. The Integumentary system currently comes with 2 models: Male skin w/ and w/o genitalia.

Excretory system

The kidneys remove wastes form the blood and maintain the body’s water balance, which are the primary oragans of the excretory system. Squid have an excretory organ to expel wastes fro the body .

Reproductive system

In female squid, the ink sac is hidden from view by a pair of white nidamental glands, which lie anterior to the gills. There are also red-spotted accessory nidamental glands. Both of these organs are associated with manufacture of food supplies and shells for the eggs. Females also have a large translucent ovary, situated towards the posterior of the visceral mass.Male squid do not possess these organs, but instead have a large testis in place of the ovary, and a spermatophoric gland and sac. In mature males, this sac may contain spermatophores, which are placed inside the mantle of the female during mating.

Body Plan

Squid has highly complex brains that rival the complexity of vertebrates. All of these species are highly active, agile predators. They possess a beak-like mouth that is used to rip apart captured prey items.

Digestive System

Squid, like all cephalopods, have complex digestive systems. Food is transported into a muscular stomach , found roughly in the midpoint of the visceral mass. The bolus is then transported into the caaecum for digestion. The caecum, a long, white organ, is found next to the ovary or testis. In mature squid, more priority is given to reproduction and so the stomach and caecum often shrivel up during the later stages of life. Finally, food goes to the liver (or digestive gland), found at the siphon end of the squid, for absorption. Solid waste is passed out of the rectum . Beside the rectum is the ink sac, which allows a squid to discharge a black ink into the mantle cavity at short notice.

Habit

Squid inhabit naturally occurring dens on the ocean floor which are in crevices and under rocks for several weeks before they will find a new one. They are nocturnal, solitary creatures that hunt for several hours at night collecting food that is brought back to the den and devoured.

Diet

Adult diet includes mostly crustaceans, mollusks, and fish including small crabs, bivalves, snails and other squids). When eating shelled prey they may use arms to pull it apart, bite it with its beak or use the radula to actually drill through the shell. The mouth is able to secrete enzymes that soften the shell and toxins to paralyze prey and dissolve tissue

Distinguishes as molluscs

Squid have differentiated from their ancestral mollusks in such a way that the body plan has been condensed antero-posteriorly and extended dorso-ventrally. What before may have been the foot of the ancestor is now modified into a complex set of tentacles and highly developed sense organs, including advanced eyes similar to those of vertebrates.

The pictures are found in:

http://images.google.com/images
http://sps.k12.ar.us/massengale/squid_dissection.htm

clam

2007-10-23T01:13:00.001-07:00

Respiratory System

Most species of clam have SEPARATE SEXES. There are both male and female clams.

The GONADS or reproductive organs (TESTES or OVARIES) are located dorsally near the pericardial cavity. Eggs and sperm are released into the mantle cavity. Fertilization in clams depends on the species: MARINE (ocean dwelling) clams – EXTERNAL FERTILIZATION Eggs and sperm are released into the mantle cavity and leave by excurrent siphon FRESHWATER clams- INTERNAL FERTILIZATION Sperm enter mantle cavity through the incurrent siphon; developing larva are discharged through the excurrent siphon and grow to adults.

Circulatory system

Clams have an OPEN circulatory system, meaning that the circulatory fluid (HEMOLYMPH) does not remain in vessels. It is collected from the gills, pumped thorough the heart, and released directly into spaces in the tissues. Open circulation is NOT AS EFFICIENT as a closed system because nutrients and oxygen are not pumped directly to organs. In addition, high oxygen and low oxygen blood can mix allowing fewer nutrients and oxygen to reach the cells.

Nervous system

Clams have NO CEPHALIZATION. There is NO distinct head area. Instead of a pair of cerebral ganglia in the head connected to one ventral nerve cord like an earthworm, a clam’s nervous system consists o 3 PAIRS of GANGLIA throughout the body
connected by TWO PAIRS of long NERVE CORDS. Nerve cells in the ganglia control the muscles involved in locomotion and feeding, and process sensory info about light, touch, and chemicals (food) in the water. Clams follow the same body plan seen in earthworms and other invertebrates with a DORSAL HEART and a VENTRAL NERVE CORD.

Excretory system

The excretory organ in clams is the KIDNEY. This organ collects nitrogen waste produced by body cells from the break down of proteins and excretes it into the mantle cavity where it is removed with water exiting through the excurrent siphon.
The kidney also maintains the balance of water and ions in the body (OSMOREGULATION).

body plan

The first dissection shows a clam which has been opened by cutting the large adductor muscles, which attach to both valves and thus function to close the shell. On the inside of the shell that has been separated, note the places where the adductor muscles attach. A thin sheet of tissue, the mantle (most of which has been cut away) covers the animal's body and secretes the shell. On the separated valve, note the line along which the mantle was attached. The mouth is hidden under a pair of labial palps above the adductor muscle to the left; therefore the anterior end of the animal is to the left. On the ventral (bottom) side is the large muscular foot, which attaches to the shell via smaller retractor muscles. The foot contains portions of the digestive and reproductive organs, and also serves as an appendage for burrowing into the mud. The region dorsal to the foot is called the visceral mass.

Digestive System

The second dissection on display shows a clam that has been cut along the midline of the body. The food particles that are filtered from the water passing through the ctenidia are carried anteriorly by water currents and guided to the mouth by the labial palps. A short esophagus leads to the irregularly-shaped stomach, which is embedded in the greenish digestive gland (1iver). From the stomach, the intestine extends through the pericardial cavity to the rectum, which is located dorsal to the excurrent siphon. The gonads from a yellowish mass among the loops of the intestine. Their ducts, which will not be seen here, open into the suprabranchial chamber.

Integumentary system

A hard outer shell and a soft body. It uses a muscular foot for movement. The skin is the largest organ in the body: 12-15% of body weight, with a surface area of 1-2 meters. Skin is continuous with, but structurally distinct from mucous membranes that line the mouth, anus, urethra, anv vagina. Two distinct layers occur in the skin: the dermis, and epidermis. The basic cell type of the epidermis is the keratinocyte, which contain keratin, a fibrous protein. Basal cells are the innermost layer of the epidermis. melanocyte produce the pigment melanin, and are also in the inner layer of the epidermis. The dermis is a connective tissue layer under the epidermis, and contains nerve endings, sensory receptors, capiliaries, and elastic fibers.

Habit, diet, life cycle distinguishes and reproduction:

The life cycle of the hard clam includes a pelagic larval phase and relatively sedentary benthic juvenile and adult phases.
Hard clams begin their adult lives as males, often become females with greater maturity, and require individuals of both sexes for reproduction.
Clams develop functional male gonads during the first or second year of life.
Spawning cycles are affected mainly by water temperature and the availability of food, and thus vary according to latitude. Spawning often occurs in "pulses" and may continue for months, but usually there are one or more distinct spawning peaks.
In the Chesapeake Bay region, spawning usually commences when temperatures rise above 20-23 degrees C (68-73 degrees Fahrenheit.
Female fecundity is high, and individuals can release 16 million to 24 million eggs per spawn, although laboratory studies often have recorded values of only 1-3 million eggs, and only a few will reach maturity.
Individuals may release as many as 60 million eggs during one season.
Eggs are 70 to 73 microns in diameter and are surrounded by a gelatinous membrane. Eggs and sperm of adults are expelled in the water current and fertilization occurs externally in the water column.
In the Bay area, the most significant growth occurs in spring and fall, when abundant food and optimum water temperatures coincide. Growth decreases in summer and stops altogether in winter. Growth rate also decreases with age, and when this happens, clams become thicker, rather than increasing in shell length.
Most larval stages of the hard clam swim toward light (or opposite force of gravity), so most are concentrated in the surface waters and are dispersed by wind, waves, and current.
The pediveliger stage is the final larval stage before settlement and metamorphosis to juveniles. At this stage the organism has a foot that extends from its shell.
Once the hard clam settles to Bay bottom, it uses its foot to dig into the mud, and secretes a calcium carbonate shell that increases in size as the clam’s internal organs grow.
The most growth takes place in temperatures between 10 C (50 F) and 25 C (77 F). A cross-section of a hard clam’s shell usually reveals a clam’s age. Hard clams may live for more than 30 years, and occasionally reach 50 years.
Clam is distinguished as mollusk. Because it has an outer shell and has a soft body. It has a muscular foot that it uses for movement.
Calm eat small plants and animas called plankton.

The pictures are found in:

http://images.google.com/images
http://sps.k12.ar.us/massengale/crayfish_dissection.htm

2007-10-22T02:24:00.000-07:00

Excretory: it is also called the antennal glands because they are located at the base of the second antenna. They exrete the waste products of blood filtration; ammonia is the primary waste product Ammonia is also excreted across the gill surfaces and by diffusion across thin parts of the exoskeleton

Circulatory System: The circlatory system of the crayfish is centred around a muscular heart with dorsal, anterior, and posterior arteries leading away from it .Branches of these vessels empty into the sinuses of the hemocoel (the large tissue spaces containing blood). The ventral sinus collects the blood, the blood travels through the gills, and then returns to the pericardial sinus surrounding ther heart .

Nervous System: The crayfish nervous system is composed of a ventral nerve cord fused with segmental ganglia, and the supresophageal and subesophageal ganglia. Giant neurons in the ventral nerve cord function in escape responses . The supraesophageal and subesophageal ganglia control the head appendages in response to sesory input recieved from receptors .

Reproductive system: Crayfish have separate male and female sexes (dioecious) and the gonads are located in the dorsal portion of the thorax. Mating occurs just after the female has molted, usually in the spring. The male deposits sperm near the openings of the female gonoducts (at the base of the 3rd periopods) and uses the two modified pleopods to guide the sperm into the female sperm receptacle.

Digestive System: The digestive tract consists of the foregut, which includes an enlarged stomach, part of which is specialized for grinding; the midgut, which extends from the foregut; and the hindgut, which leads to the anus and functions in water and salt regulation .The digestive gland secretes digestive enzymes and aids in the absorption of the products of digestion

Integumentary system: crayfish has hard exoskeleton that covers its body. its body is divided into two main parts, the cephalothorax and the abdomen. The cephalothorax consists of the cephalic (or head) region and the thoracic region. The part of the exoskeleton that covers the cephalothorax is called the carapace. The abdomen is located behind the cephalothorax and consists of six clearly divided segments. The cephalothorax consists of 13 segments. Each segment of both the cephalothorax and the abdomen contains a pair of appendages. The head (or cephalic) region has five pairs of appendages. The antennules are organs of balance, touch, and taste. Long antennae are organs for touch, taste, and smell. The mandibles, or jaws, crush food by moving from side to side. Two pairs of maxillae hold solid food, tear it, and pass it to the mouth. The second pair of maxillae also helps to draw water over the gills. Of the eight pairs of appendages on the cephalothorax, the first three are maxillipeds, which hold food during eating. The chelipeds are the large claws that the crayfish uses for defense and to capture prey. Each of the four remaining segments contains a pair of walking legs. In the abdomen, the first five segments each have a pair of swimmerets, which create water currents and function in reproduction. The sixth segment contains a modified pair of uropods. In the middle of the uropods is a structure called the telson, which bears the anus. The uropod and telson together make up the tail fan. The crayfish moves backward by forcing water forward with its tail fan.

Body plan: A crayfish has a lot of body parts. The most important parts of a crayfishes body are the carapace, tail, legs, heart, claws, brain, egg pores, long antenna, short antenna, stomach, digestive gland, bladder,intestines, modified swimmerets, and swimmerets.

Habitat and diet: A crayfish`s habitat is a lake near shallow water under rocks. The pond or lake is were you would probably find one. Crayfish eat many things. In there natural habitat they will eat fish, earth worms, tadpoles, snails, plants, and small fish. To distinguishes crayfish, you have to look at its body just as legs, tail, out surface of the body, claws and its activities.

The pictures are find in:

1. http://images.google.com/images

2.http://sps.k12.ar.us/massengale/crayfish_dissection.htm

Amphipods

2007-10-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

Scientific classification:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum: Crustacean

Class: Malacostraca

Order: Amphipoda

Species: Mutualistic

Family: glacial reliscts

Genus: phronima
Habitat: living in living on the ocean bottom in mud or sand association with jellyfish and salps.

Food source: bacteria on the surface of particles, or scavengers on dead animals or plants
Description of life cycle (egg to death): The reproductive period started in October, and hatchlings were released from November until July. Four cohorts were present in November. Some one-year-old females appeared to reproduce more than once. Ontogenetic niche segregation occurred from June to September, when juveniles were found in shallow water and adults were found in deep water where temperatures were below 10°C.
How does it move (if it moves): Amphipods move depends on the arrangement of their legs. Most walk upright using most of the thoracic legs but this is very slow. Swimming using the three pairs of pleopods is much faster. The speciality of amphipods is the tail-flip, a rapid escape response where the abdomen flicks the animal away after the uropods are dug into the ground.

Unique characteristics: long and skinny and flattened from side to side, but more accurately they are defined by the presence of three pairs of uropods (tail-limbs) and usually by having the first two pairs of legs modified to help with grasping food. There is no carapace; seven thoracic and six abdominal segments are visible. The head carries two pairs of antennae, the eyes which are not on stalks, and the mouthparts. Amphipods have seven pairs of walking legs of which the first four reach forward, and the fifth to seventh reach backwards. The abdomen is divided into two parts, three segments with brush-like limbs and three with short immobile rod-like uropods.
Role in the ecosystem: some of them live their lives attached to marine mammals. These whale-lice are ectoparasites which cling firmly to, and feed on, the skin of whales. Unlike other amphipods, whale-lice cannot swim so once the juveniles leave the brood chamber of the female they attach themselves close by. In addition, the amphipods were infested by several parasites, including larvae of Cystidicola sp., a swimbladder nematode that infects fish.

Organism - Sea Star

2007-10-16T02:12:00.001-07:00

Sea stars also called starfish, which are spiny, hard-skinned animals that live on the rocky sea floor. These invertebrates are NOT fish but they are echinoderms. Sea stars move very slowly along the sea bed, using hundreds of tiny tube feet. There are over 2,000 different species of sea stars worldwide.

Reproduction: Most species of starfish expel enormous numbers of eggs and sperm into the ocean; fertilization is external. After fertilization, the tiny, transparent, bilaterally-symmetrical larvae (baby sea stars) travel many miles as they are swept along by ocean currents for about two months. As they develop, the tiny larvae swim in the sea, eat phytoplankton, and are a component of zooplankton.

Diet: Sea stars are carnivores (meat-eaters). They eat clans, oysters, coral, fish, and other animals. They push their stomach out through their mouth (located on the underside of the sea star) and digest the prey.

Anatomy: Most sea stars have five arms (or a multiple of five) that radiate from a central disk. Sea stars do not have a brain; they have a simple ring of nerve cells that moves information around the body. Eyespots (primitive light sensors) are at the tip of each arm. If a sea star's arm is cut off, it will regenerate (regrow).

Classification: Kingdom Animalia (animals), Phylum Echinodermata echinoderms, Class Asteroidea (sea stars), about 2,000 species.

Role in the ecosystem: Sea stars are one of the best known invertebrates. They are also ecologically important because they can be important predators of other invertebrates like clams, barnacles and other attached marine life. They can be brightly colored and, in many species, show considerable variability in color within one species.

Unique characteristics: with a flattened, star-shaped body, have 5 arms or multiples of 5 arms , Spines or reduced spines on outer surface , walk using many tube feet that have suckers on their ends, a mouth on bottom (oral) surface and anus on the upper (aboral) surface of your body and eat both plants and animals (an omnivore).

chapter 6-Critical thinking

2007-10-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

Only very few flowering plants have invaded the ocean,but those that have are very successful.What are some posible reasons for the small number of marine flowring plants? How do those that have taken the step manage to thrive in some environments?

- flowering plants live submerged by seawater,rearely exposed at low tide. Salt-marsh grasses and mangroves inhabit estuaries and shores protected from wave action. Their roots are usually covered by water at hight tide. They adapted to colonize coastal areas exposed to salt-laden winds and occasional sea spray,though they do not tolerate immersion in seawater. They can live on the sand dunes or living along the edges of salt marshes.

chapter 5 -Critical thinking

2007-10-12T06:20:00.000-07:00

An autotrophic protist, such as a diatom or a dinoflagellate, can evolve into a heterotrophic protist (and therefore a protozoan) simply by losing its chloroplasts.Under what conditions might this take place?

-It is when photosynthesis takes place on folded membranes within the bacterial cell rather than in chloroplasts as in algae and plants.

chapter 1 -Critical thinking

2007-10-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

In Chapter 1 it was explained that the statement "There are mermaids in the ocean" is not a valid scientific hypothesis. Can the same be be said of the statement "There are no mermaids in the ocean"? why ?

- In my opinion, Yes, you can say that there are no mermaids in the ocean . although we read the children's books to know about mermaids or watched the movie to know what mermaid looks but there has still not exactly statement to show the mermaids is live in the ocean ....no valid scientific hypothesis to show that was alive in the world. So , i can say without any hypothesis , the mermaids is mean nothing ....!!

chapter 7 - critical thinking

2007-10-12T04:33:00.000-07:00

New Zealand sea daisy

Sea daisies were first discovered in sunken wood off the coast of New Zealand in 1983. They are
tiny animals, about the diameter of a pencil, and live 1 kilometre below the surface of the sea.
Scientists gave them a separate classification as they were unlike any other echinoderms (the
group to which tube-footed animals belong). The upper surface, seen here, is made up of
numerous perforated scales and is fringed with spines. It is assumed they get their food by
absorbing nutrients from decomposing logs of wood, for they have no mouth, guts or anus. Some of the specimens hauled up contained fully developed embryos within their reproductive organs, indicating they give birth to live young.I think they are not classified into a new phylum, because the scientists don't have exact proof to find the same kind animal on the earth. on the
other hand, they have some same characteristics Echinodermata does. For me, i think daisy's
body has different function than other animals do. maybe they don't need any food but without
water to wet their body to be alive or they just absorbing by their spines. For they moving
problem, i think maybe they are the kind of animal do not like to move all the life. If they get
move, that maybe caused by the water force. Of course, everything thing only is a guess.Also,
maybe we will find the same kind of animal like daisy and we will classified them to a new group
someday, who knows!!

DNA ,RNA and Cell

2007-10-11T02:06:00.000-07:00

1. What is DNA?

-. The blueprint of life, a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organism.

2. What are the 4 bases?

-The four bases are adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine.

3. What 2 pieces of information did the scientists need to solve the elusive structure of DNA?

-. Phosphate backbone was on the outside with bases on the inside but another that the molecule was a double helix.

4. What are the specific base pairs?

-A.T.G and C. The amount of adenine always equals the amount of thymine. The same goes for the pair guanine and cytosine. For example, human DNA contains about 30 percent each of adenine and thymine, and 20 percent each of guanine and cytosine.

- 5. How does the pairing rule effect the shape and structure of DNA?

- Adenine-thymine pair that make a 2 hydrogen bond and cytosine-guanine pair that make a 3-hydrogen bond. if the bases were paired when the adenine-thymine bond was exactly as long as the cytosine-guanine bond, each rung of the twisted ladder in the helix would be of equal length, and the sugar-phosphate backbone would be smooth..

6. What does the DNA do during cell division?

-during the cell division, the DNA molecule is able to “unzip” into two pieces.

7. How many base pairs does E. Coli have? How long does it take to replicate? How is the DNA packaged in the cell?

-it has about 4,639,221 base pairs and takes about 40 minutes to replicate. E. coli is package in the DNA as eukaryotic chromosomes are into the nucleus cell.

8. How many base pairs does Human DNA have? How long does it take to replicate? How is the DNA packaged in the cell?

- human has 3 billion base pairs DNA, it making up a total of almost 12 to 24hours of DNA in every cell in our body , and human DNA is packaged in 23 distinct chromosome pairs nucleus cell.

1. What is RNA? How different is it from DNA?

- It is a nucleic acid polymer consisting of nucleotide monomers.

Difference: RNA - a single strand, contain ribose sugar, uses predominantly uracil.

DNA - double helix , contain deoxyribose ,uses hymine.

2. How are the RNA messages formed?

-It is formed by the grouping together of 3 of the letters to create a triplet or codon then the triplet or codon line up and form a chain of codes to create a message.

3. How are the RNA messages interpreted?

-. First, the ribosome have read the messages, and then it have to attach the amino acids together then can make up of a protein.

1. Describe cell cycle.

- The cycle of cell growth, replication of the genetic material and nuclear and cytoplasm division. The cell cycle is dived into a G1 (G for gap) phase in which the cell grows; an S (S for synthesis) phase where the DNA is replicated, a second gap phase called G2 and an M phase (for Mitosis) in which the replicated DNA (organized into chromosomes) is separated and the cell divides into 2 daughter cells. Mitosis is dived into Prophase, Prometaphase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase, and cytokinesis.

- The cell cycle is an ordered set of events, culminating in cell growth and division into two daughter cells.

2. What is nuclear division?

-The process of nuclear division of diploid (2N) or haploid (N) eukaryotic cell whereby two daughter nuclei are produced those are genetically identical to the parent nucleus. Mitosis usually results in the production of two progeny cells that are genetically identical to the parent cell.

3. What is interphase.

- The cell cycle stage between nuclear divisions, when chromosomes are extended and functionally active and the metabolically active non-diving stage of the cell cycle.

4. Cytokinesis.

-it is the process whereby the cytoplasm of a single cell is divided to spawn two daughter cells.

5. Homologous chromosomes.

- . A pair of chromosomes made up of two homologs. Homologous chromosomes have corresponding DNA sequences and come from separate parents; one homolog comes from the mother and the other comes from the father. Homologous chromosomes line up and synapse during meiosis

6. Phases of mitosis (5 of them).

-Cytokinesis

-Telophase

-Preprophase

-Prophase

-Metaphase

7. Phases of meiosis and how it is different from mitosis.

- Leptotene

- Zygotene

- Pachytene

-Diplotene

-Diakinesis

-Synchronour processes

-Metaphase

- Anaphase

-Telophase

-Mitosis has eight phases but meiosis has nine prophases and which has six is different than mitosis but three are Metaphase I ,Anaphase I and Telophases I are the same . The difference between the separation in mitosis and metaphase II (meiosis) is that halfing of the number of chromosomes has preceded meiosis II, in contrast to mitosis. Also the meiotic products are genetically diverse with respect to their parent and among each other. This is not the case in mitosis!

8. Describe the process and purpose of crossing over.

- Cross over is a process in which homologous chromosomes exchange parts normally reciprocally but sometimes unequally. The exchange of corresponding chromosome parts between homologues by breakage and reunion of DNA molecules normally during prophase I of meiosis but also occasionally during mitosis.

chapter 4-Critical thinking

2007-10-11T00:59:00.001-07:00

During the day, algae carry out both photosynthesis and respiration, but at night , when there is no light, they can only perform respiration. Samll ,isolated tide pools on rocky shores are often inhabited by thick growths of seaweeds, which are algae.Would you expect the amount of oxygen in the water to differ between night and day ? how ?

-The amount of oxygen in the water is very different between night time and day time. Ex: fishes always deep in the water in the day time, but some of them swim around surface of the pool. The reason is that oxygen is very low on the night time under the water. Also, in photosynthesis, carbon dioxide and water are used to make glucose. The energy for this process comes from sunlight and oxygen is given off as a by-product. So, the plant like Algae looked like dark color on the night time but looked very green on the day time.

Lau Lau reflection

2007-10-04T00:55:00.000-07:00

Before the day we went to LauLau up the mountain and up over the jungle, I don’t have exactly understanding of watershed. However, when we standing on the mountain and look down the ocean, I know that all the water in the high place will fall down to the low place until the ocean. Of course, that’s common sense of high to down, but I just not care about in the normal life cycle. On the mountain, I saw many place was burned and after burned the ground getting very dry and the new specie growing very slow. The reason is that the ground lost it nutrients for the plants. If without the plants the mountain will looked very ugly and more watersheds will fall down to the ocean and the ocean environment will getting bad. Take care of environment is very important process for us, because earth is our family, we should care for our family then we will have a good situation to life until next generation and be happy.

chapter 3 -Critical thinking

2007-10-04T00:37:00.001-07:00

If you owned a seaside home and a bad storm brought heavy winds and high surf to your coastline, would you prefer it to be during a new moon or a quarter moon? Why?

- I am sure that is quarter moon, the reason is that storms are usually caused by depression and during the storm the air pressure is lower and there will be a significant rise in sea level and everything cause by the high tide during quarter moon appeared time.

photosythensis and cell respiration

2007-10-02T05:06:00.000-07:00

(pictures are get from Google.com)
The point of cellular respiration is to harvest electrons from organic compounds such as glucose and use that energy to make a molecule called ATP. ATP in turn is used to provide energy for most of the immediate work that the cell does. ATP can be thought of as being like a small package of energy that has just the right amount of energy that can be used in a controlled manner.

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, some bacteria, and some protistans use the energy from sunlight to produce sugar, which cellular respiration converts into ATP, the "fuel" used by all living things.

bacterial cell sturucture

2007-10-01T23:25:00.002-07:00

bacterial has nucleoid and which is mean the DNA in the bacterial cell is generally confined to this central region. Though it isn't bounded by a membrane, it is visibly distinct (by transmission microscopy) from the rest of the cell interior.

Also , ribosomes give the cytoplasm of bacteria a granular appearance in electron micrographs. Though smaller than the ribosomes in eukaryotic cells, these inclusions have a similar function in translating the genetic message in messenger RNA into the production of peptide sequence (proteins).

the capsule means this layer of polysaccharide (sometimes proteins) protects the bacterial cell and is often associated with pathogenic bacteria because it serves as a barrier against phagocytosis by white blood cells.

the cell wall is composed of peptidoglycan (polysaccharides + protein), the cell wall maintains the overall shape of a bacterial cell. The three primary shapes in bacteria are coccus (spherical), bacillus (rod-shaped) and spirillum (spiral). Mycoplasma are bacteria that have no cell wall and therefore have no definite shape.

plasma membrane is a lipid bilayer much like the cytoplasmic (plasma) membrane of other cells. There are numerous proteins moving within or upon this layer that are primarily responsible for transport of ions, nutrients and waste across the membrane.

pili:These are hollow, hairlike structures made of protein allow bacteria to attach to other cells. A specialized pilus, the sex pilus, allows the transfer from one bacterial cell to another. Pili (sing., pilus) are also called fimbriae (sing., fimbria).

The purpose of flagella (sing., flagellum) is motility. Flagella are long appendages which rotate by means of a "motor" located just under the cytoplasmic membrane. Bacteria may have one, a few, or many flagella in different positions on the cell.

questions:
1. what's the difference between bacterial cell and plant cell?
2.what happen if the bacterial cell in a cold situation ex: ice box ?
3.where can you find bacterial cell ?

information about DNA

2007-10-01T23:25:00.001-07:00

1. What is DNA?

-. The blueprint of life, a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organism.

2. What are the 4 bases?

-The four bases are adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine.

3. What 2 pieces of information did the scientists need to solve the elusive structure of DNA?

-. Phosphate backbone was on the outside with bases on the inside but another that the molecule was a double helix.

4. What are the specific base pairs?

- 5. How does the pairing rule effect the shape and structure of DNA?

6. What does the DNA do during cell division?

-during the cell division, the DNA molecule is able to “unzip” into two pieces.

7. How many base pairs does E. Coli have? How long does it take to replicate? How is the DNA packaged in the cell?

-it has about 4,639,221 base pairs and takes about 40 minutes to replicate. E. coli is package in the DNA as eukaryotic chromosomes are into the nucleus cell.

8. How many base pairs does Human DNA have? How long does it take to replicate? How is the DNA packaged in the cell?

- human has 3 billion base pairs DNA, it making up a total of almost 12 to 24hours of DNA in every cell in our body , and human DNA is packaged in 23 distinct chromosome pairs nucleus cell.

Saturday's Lab

2007-09-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

That’s the first lab observation this semester and I learn lot of things that day!! The world is big and something is really imagined. We just take really a little sample from the fish container then find something really different. Also, the letter E can be looked like 3 letters, the hair also is imagine. But most unforgettable memories is that from some student’s observation I saw there are some things are moving around, they are small but they have legs and circle around goes very fast. Also, there is something just like crab and which has shell and can open and close all the time, yet funny things it was gone without any reason to guess. The most scare things is when a classmate call me to see his wonderful observation , when I just close to the eye glass ,there is something like while and long tall fly to me. That’s really scared and the thing is just like the dirty monster in the movie. Although I know that thing is small and we can’t see it by eyes but I still feel disgusting and scared of it. That’s really different day for me and I think I should be becareful next time when I swim in the ocean, because I don’t know what over there and what will happen to me. I still feel cold and scared when I think the thing’s tall jump up to me, although that was died latterly that day but I still don’t want to see …-_-

current map

2007-09-13T01:17:00.001-07:00

1. Explain how currents contribute to the distribution of marine organisms around the planet.

- Current can affect the marine organisms efficiently. The reason is that the currents can change the water temperature when it circulates to the ocean all the time. When the water temperature gets changed, the food net and organism’s population on the ocean will get change, too.
2. The primary factor influencing ocean currents is temperature regulation. What might happen to the ocean currents (and has happened in the past) as global warming increases?
- if the temperature get changed unregulated which will cause the ocean currents as global warming increase, then, there maybe cause ice age just as Greenland over the past 100,000 years .
3. Explain how density changes cause currents. Use Google image to find a world map. Copy and paste into paint and use the drawing tools to create the currents and label them.
- All the time, if the water changes to cold it will up to the surface then the dense will cause current.

Saturday Video Report about Sponage

2007-09-11T00:27:00.000-07:00

What organism is thought to be the first multi-cellular animal?

- sponage

How is it the same (3ex) and differ (3ex) form animal today?

- Different: no mouth, brain and bone.

- Same: has gene, cell, and need water and protein called collagen to survive.

How do scientists know it’s an animal?

- The reason scientists believe it is an animal because it is alive and which need to sucking water filtering out food particles and pump water to its cells to be alive.

What evidence do scientists have to prove that other animal (multi-cellular) evolved from this organism?

- Scientist discuss that sponage maybe an ancestry for all animals because all animals on sponage to make its shape and form. Also, scientists did and many DNA test for the sponage and they think it is much faster and easier based of entire animal. Ex: when the scientist did the test, they find the cell of sponage can find out their group and make a new shape very fast!!

What more do you want to know?

- I want to know how to this organism be find and in which year? Also, I would like to know is there anything else just as sponage in the world? And what happened if put them in a container without sea water?

Lab reports

2007-09-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Lab reports:

Sour food:

First, make a numbered cup for each food bottle. Then add 5 drops of each food to its own numbered cup. Then add a drop of dye to each cup of food. There are light green, grass green, orange, yellow and blue each numbered from 1 to 5. Each color of the dye shows the concentration of loose hydrogen atoms in the food. The orange, yellow shows the food with a high concentration of loose hydrogen atoms is the sourest. Then, a light green show is the middle sour. Grass green and blues show the food with a low concentration of loose hydrogen atoms is the least sour. The orange color can be the lemon juice, the yellow color can be vinegar, the light green can be orange juice and grass green can be milk and the last blue can be water. The different food has different taste of sour because of the consistence of acids and bases and PH change.

Questions:

1. What are acids and bases?

-Acid: a substance that produced Hydrogen ion in water solution. The hydrogen ions were hydrated as Hydronium ions.
Base: a substance that produced Hydroxide ion in water solution.

2. What is a molecule?

- A molecule is the smallest particle in a chemical element or compound that has the chemical

properties of that element or compound.

3. Why is pH important in the ocean?

- Most organisms are live in the ocean need a pH solution between 5.0 and 9.0. The chemical components in seawater can make change to PH. If the PH is lower this will effect to animals which conclude corals, mollusks and crustaceans. Most of organisms live in the water dependent on calcium carbonate, increase acidity threatens their survival. PH with calcium carbonate is very important for organisms like corals, mollusks and crustaceans that make shells. PH is important because it can be a part of reason causes the sea organism decreases or increases with the high and low levels.

4. What is an ion?

- An ion is an atom or group of bonded atoms which have lost or gained one or more electrons, making them negatively or positively charged. Bread hole:

First, add three scoops of yeast to the tube. Second, add 3 scoops of sugar to the tube, because sugar is food for the yeast. Third, fill the tube three fourths full with warm water. Fourth, use the stick to stir the yeast and sugar into the water, keep stirring until the water is the same color as the yeast and wait for about one hour. Use the flashlight on the side of the tube then you can see very small and tiny bubbles streaming up the side of the tube. The reason is that the yeast is a living thing that feeds and also breaks sugar molecules apart to a new molecule. The carbon dioxide gas molecules make tiny bubbles. That is the reason why we can see the bread with hole because when the bubbles get baked and it will broken to a hole.

Questions:
1. What gas causes the bubbles?

-Trapped air and argon gas cause bubbles.

2. How was the gas produced?

- Gas is produced by the anaerobic decay of non-fossil organic material, which is just as swamps, landfills, and marshes.

3. How does CO2 get in the ocean?

- CO2 is absorbed by the tiny ocean plants (Phytoplankton) because these plants need get iron from carbon dioxide.

2007-09-04T01:15:00.000-07:00

a. What is tidal range?

-The difference in water about high and low tides level.

b. What causes high and low tides?

- High tides caused when the earth spins on its axis and the point like the flag alternates between under a bulge. Low tides caused when the earth spins being between the bulges.

c. What causes Spring and Neap tides?

-spring tides caused when the sun and moon are in a line to each other, and it always

happen during the new moon getting full.

-neap tides caused when the sun and moon are at right angles their effects partially cancel

each other and it always appeared when the moon is in the first and third quarters.

d. How does tidal range effect the types of organisms and the shape and size of the organisms?

-tidal changed effect the organisms living in the ocean and all the organism have to adap to the tidal change time to get survive. Tidal ranges effect of channels, reefs, basins, and animals. For example, last Saturday I went to Ladder beach around 5 pm , during the time local people come to the beach to pick up the died shrimps float from the ocean . Why these shrimps died? The reason is that they can not jump over the high tide so the high tide hit them to death. Also, from the textbook, it described that grunions are laying eggs during the heights tides because they need to reach the upper parts of the beach to take a good plot to lay their eggs.High tide time is good form grunions to continue their populations

Tides for Saipan

2007-08-30T01:30:00.000-07:00