Unit 10 Reflection

        Unit ten was definitely the most intriguing unit for me, and it was also our last unit. We learned quite a bit about anatomy and physiology, and since I would like to be a veterinarian in the future, these were important for me to understand and learn. I had a rough start in the unit but I pulled through quite well. We had a lab in this unit, in which we dissected an eleven week old fetus pig, and I thought this would be very disgusting and immoral since I am vegetarian, however it turned out to be very interesting. We identified all major organs, such as the heart, lungs, and the stomach, in the pig's body. At the end of the dissection we had to make a video and a blog post about what different organs in the pig do and what organ system they belong to. This was my favorite unit and it has inspired me to maybe take the anatomy and physiology class in my junior year, even though I still have quite a bit of time to choose that.

Pig Dissection Ananlysis

        Before we even began dissecting the pig, I thought I was going to be really disgusted and I wouldn't even be able to look at the eleven week old fetus, however once my group started dissecting, all that we found was quite interesting. I made the first cut in the pig, and once we opened him up, lots of the preservative fluid spilled out, so we rinsed the pig and continued to identify major organs and organ systems. 

        Learning about the pig's anatomy and physiology really helped me better understand how our body functions and how everything in our body is connected somehow. The circulatory and respiratory systems intrigued me the most, especially the aorta in the circulatory system. While we were making our pig dissection video, Mr. Orre explained to our group how aneurysms form and why they form, and since I would like to be a veterinarian in the future, it was very intriguing to me.  

Unit 9 Reflection

        

        Unit 9 was my favorite unit so far. Evolutionary science really interests me, and I've learned more about it in the past couple weeks than I ever knew before. To know that us humans evolved from fish to reptiles to mammals is quite very interesting. For example, we have learned that our fingers, which we use in everyday life, evolved from the fins of fish. A certain gene called the "Sonic Hedgehog" gene is responsible for the digits, or fingers, we have. Too much of this gene can cause one to develop six fingers in the early stages of life, whereas too little of this gene can cause a baby to be born with only four fingers. The "Sonic Hedgehog" gene also produces patterning of the central nervous system and tooth development.


        In Unit 9, all the students had to make a 4-8 minute presentation on a certain genus, family, or species. My presentation was on the topic of sharks. Since sharks have survived all five mass extinctions, learning about them gave me a lot of insight on ancient times. You can view my presentation here.

My Inner Fish

        This series called "Your Inner Fish", which features Neil Shubin, really helped my understanding evolution more. It surprised me to learn that our hands could have developed from the fins of fish that moved to land, such as the Tiktaalik. The "Sonic Hedgehog" gene interested me the most. This gene is what determined our fingers, also called digits. We aren't the only species that form digits, for example chickens do, and from studying chick embryos, Dr. Cliff Tabin found a certain gene that determined digits, the "Sonic Hedgehog" gene. Another interest of mine was the development of hair. The reason of the development of hair was first as a sensory factor. Hair later on developed to keep mammals warm and protect the skin. The skin formed from reptiles. This series is very informative and I recommend it to anyone who would like to learn more about human ancestry and evolution.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Shubin