Wow, the only word I truly have when describing my AP Biology Exam. To be completely honest, I have never been good at standardized testing so I truly went into the exam with an open mind and an open heart. I tried to stay positive through out the exam and as I began the exam, I knew that no matter the outcome, something good would come.
To start off, I want to address the way the exam was done. Personally, I am a visual learner and I have always encountered challenges with time management during exams so, I did struggle with how the exam was done. The exam was done virtual given the current pandemic and we were given the option between hand writing our responses or typing them. I chose to hand write them because I feel that my ideas flow a lot better when I can actually see what I am writing. However, given the fact that I struggle with time, handwriting the exam was difficult because I had to take 5 minutes out of my writing time to take a picture and upload my responses.
One positive I would say about the exam was that I did not feel the pressure I usually feel when taking an exam around other people. I am very much a student that can get anxious or blank out when I hear other students moving a lot quicker than I. I enjoyed just having myself to “compete” against and not feeling intimidated by others.
Overall, I would say that I was surprised by the amount of knowledge I remembered and I was able to write about. While I do wish I had more time, I give the exam my all and no matter the outcome, I know something good will come. At the end of the day, I left that exam knowing that I have learned a lot more this year alone in my AP bio class that I hope will greatly benefit me as I embark on my journey in pursing something in the science and/or culinary world.
AP Biology is a class I will always hold dear to my heart. I have learned so much in just a matter months and have do so by having fun. AP Bio has impacted my life in more way than I could ever imagine. I will always be grateful for this class and the people in it.
Making my AP Bio Blog is a skill I am fortunate to have learned. At first, I was very confused on how to the whole process of making a website works and to be completely honest, I still have questions on how to make a website but, I would definitely say I know a lot more.
My biggest challenge with making my website was figuring out how to organize and make posts. As time went on and I got the hang of making and organizing posts and pages, I felt a lot more relaxed when making assignment posts. I also found that I enjoyed making post because not only did I have fun in choosing what images and themes to add but I enjoy having these blogs to look back on.
I hope that I will continue to work on websites and blogs in the future because I really enjoy making them. I also hope that the new skills I acquired will help me in my future. I especially hope that these website and blog making skills will benefit me when I start my small business/restaurant.
Hello! Recently, my AP biology class and I learned more about Kingdom Animalia. We learned about the many systems within our bodies and we even got to do a fetal pig dissection! Take a look at my infographic below to see all the wonderful things we learned.
Have you ever wondered what amazing things or cells help our bodies when dangerous viruses and bacteria enter our bodies? Well the system of defense our body uses is known as the immune system. Below I have put my sketch notes of the many cells that help our immune system function, I hope you enjoy my beautiful drawings!
Happy Earth Day! This is our planet, Earth. This big blue beautiful sphere we, the human species, calls home and that millions of other species call home- a home many of use can take for granted. So as a symbol of appreciation for our dear home, I have decided to make a mini vlog montage of the many things Earth gives me on a daily, check it out below!
Photo by Acharaporn Kamornboonyarush on Pexels.com
What is desire? Desire is defined a longing or craving for something that brings satisfaction. Thousands of things and object that are considered a necessity by human beings have become a necessity because of the simple fact that we desire them. Recently, my AP biology class and I have watched the film, The Botany of Desire based on the novel, The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan. Pollan talks about the four most important (most desirable) plants to the human species: apples, tulips, cannabis, and potatoes.
The apple is a fruit that I’ve never really put much thought into. Yes, apples are the basic fruit I learned about as a child and I know they are good for you but I never really questioned the existence of them. I guess I just always believed them to be the same and everlasting. However, after watching the video, I have learned some much about apple. Like the fact that they come from Asia but because of their amazing ability to change and their biodiversity, they have been able to grow all over the world. Apple comes in all types of shapes, sizes, and colors. Genetically, they are never really the same because they change in order to adapting to the environment. Every apple is a different different just as dogs have different breeds within a species. However, because of the involvement and control humans now have on apples, monocultures are jeopardizing the biodiversity of apples. Apple are amazing because they represent both good and evil and they have done so all across history.
Flowers have always held a special place in my heart. Being raised by farmworkers, my grandparents taught me a lot about gardening. My grandparents taught me everything from growing orchids to cherry trees. Since then, I have always loved and appreciated plants especially my favorite- roses and tulips. Tulips are beautiful because of the bright colors they come in but I never really realized how or why they came in the variation of colors. Tulips come in different colors because of the tulip farmers who dedicate their lives to cross-breeding tulips for the most beautiful color combination. I never really wondered how the variations and mixtures of colors of tulips came to be. I also never connected that these mixtures could be dangerous. In Dutch culture, an infamous mixed tulip that was highly praised for its uniqueness and beauty. The tulip was sold for an equivalent to an estate of the time. Because of the extreme price of tulips, Amsterdam faced a recession, today knowns as Tulipmania. What people of the time did not know is that the reason the flower resulted in the beautiful color because of a virus that was causing a change in the epigenetics of the tulip.
In society today, the news or information about cannabis frequently comes up especially because California is one of the few states that has legalized marijuana. However, hardly any information is about what marijuana is and the effects on the brain actually gets into the news. I am amazed at the fact that so much crime and money goes into this one plant just because of the desire to get high by the human species. Yet, the human species is not always fully in control of cannabis. Cannabis is a weed that must be pampered in order for us to receive anything from the plant- from giving the plant lot of nutrients and the prefect temperature. Humans crave the feeling of a high to get rid of pain but yet pain does not actually exist. Pain is just a reflex our bodies have to protects us from harm. Within our own bodies, we have a natural chemical that resembles that of the structure of TCH which is the chemical found in marijuana that gives the “high”. Our bodies use the natural chemical in order to forget things which in psychology is called pruning. Pruning is such an important part of the brain because the processes weed out all the “extra” information stored in our brain so that we only remember what is important.
I can eat potatoes all day every day, mashed potatoes, fried, baked, all of the above. Potatoes are such a valuable food because they can be used in so many ways and they are not ridiculously expensive. While I have always valued potatoes, I have never really thought how important they are to the rest of the world. From the potato farmers in the United States to indigenous civilizations in the Andes of South America. Potatoes bring income, nutrients, and jobs. However, due to the large demand for potatoes and monocultures, farmers are forced to use pesticides to keep the large amounts of potatoes from being destroyed by insects- especially the colorado beetle. If farmers do not want to use pesticides, they can now resort to using genetically modified potatoes. As a young person interested in Food Science, GMOs are important to the agricultural world because they solve problems farmers face with insects and other negatives. However, do humans really know what the long term effects of using these GMOs be on ourselves or even the environment?
Overall, the film presented a lot of valuable information that I never really considered. The perspective of each type of plant the authors presents taught me that everything in the world has different perspective even something as simple as a plant. I would strongly recommend the film to anyone because I feel that every person can take something different from the stories being told. If you would like to check out the movie, I have attached the trailer above.
Cancer is a topic that I hold close to my heart. I’ve had my fare share of encounters with cancer given that many people close to me have been affected by cancer. One of the main reasons that I have been so heavily interested in Biology is because I get to learn more about something that has caused a lot of negativity in my life. I believe the more that I learn about cancer, the easier the pain is to carry.
The novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot was recently assigned to be by my AP Biology teacher. The novel talks about important ethic concerns, racial problems, and the beginning story behind many scientific discoveries that are very important in the scientific world today. It is a novel I will always remember because of everything I learned from the story.
Henrietta Lack was an African American woman who died at the age of 35 because of cancer. Her story is about her difficult battle with cancer and also the problems she faced ethically and racially. As a woman of color, Henrietta was not treated with respect by the whit doctors that treated her. She could constantly not be heard when she felt her body getting worse and she felt that she could never contradict what the doctors said. Henrietta lived during the 50s, a time when slavery had ended in the United States but segregation was still very prevalent. On top of being treated differently because if the color of her skin, Henrietta was taken advantage of by her doctors and scientists. Her cells/tissues were used to grow immortal cells that are used for medical research. However, Henrietta was never made known that her cells were being used nor was she asked by the doctors who took them. Even after her death, scientists used her cells for research not even giving her body the peace every human being deserves after death. To learn more about Henrietta’s story at a look at the link below.
As a young woman of color interested in science, this novel thought me a lot about what I hope for my future. I realized that I should be proud of my ethnic background and I should not allow anyone to hold be back because of the color of my skin. I also realized that as a woman, I should push to be heard by the world that is dominated by men. And finally, as a future scientists, I should always remember that every human being has rights and I have to respect their rights even if I am trying to change the world. I would highly recommend this book and I hope that all of you get the chance to read it one day.
Week two on Distance Learning! This week on the journey of my AP Bio’s Distance Learning, we are exploring the wonders of the Kingdom Protista. Learning about some of the smallest yet most powerful organisms that roam the world. From the funky organelles to some amazing functions, we are diving deep to explore the species found within the Kingdom Protista. To learn more about some of the organisms my group and I explored, check out the slides attached below!
We are back from Save the Bay! This trip is definitely one for the books. Like I said in my previous post, I love field trips because they give me the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom and this trip definitely lived up to what I expected. I learned many things about the history of the Bay, the environments in the Bay, and the species that live in the Bay.
The history of the Bay has many perspectives from the booming economy in the early days of San Fransico to the destruction of the beautiful nature that surrounds the Baylands. The major goal of Save the Bay is to help restore the nature of the once green marshlands of the Bay Area. Save the Bay relies on help from volunteers and donors to achieve the goal of one day having a fully restore Bay Area.
One of the first things we did on this trip was measured the biodiversity of the marshland area my team and I were observing. We measured biodiversity by taking a big square (like the one shown above) and continue the number of different species found in the area limited to the square and how many organisms of each species were found. Once we counted the species found in each square of the five assigned spots we were to observe, we learn to calculate biodiversity by doing math. At first, the math was a bit confusing but once my team and I sat in the shade and brought our brains together, we were able to figure out the math.
In the second half of the day, we collected data sample each of the five spots we were observing. For each spot, we collected data on GPS, salinity, pH, moister, and the texture of the soil using different field science tools. While we did face many tech gremlins, we still had to opportunity to learn to use each of the tools and the field science computers that calculated all the data.
Overall, I really enjoyed this trip mainly because the work we did connected directly to the place I call home- the Bay Area. I am now more motivated to take the time to not only do something to help my home but also learn more about the natural beauty that exists. On the trip, I was also given the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of nature that lives and coincides with me nearly every day because many times, I find myself forgetting to appreciate nature. I love going to the Baylands and I would like to visit them more often, maybe I’ll even take my family to Save the Bay.
The Bay Area is the wonderful place I proudly call home. A place where you can essentially experience all kinds of environments from the moist Redwood forests to the cloudly, sandy beaches of Half Moon Bay. Growing up, I always believed that the Bay would always be the same but as I have experienced and learned more about the Bay, I’m sad to say that without intervention, the Bay will be negatively affected. The reason the Bay is such a unique place is due to the fact that many species and people live and rely on on-off of the resources the Bay has to give. From the amazing waves for surfers to the protection of species in the inland, so many organisms live and survive in the Bay. Sadly, humans have started to become more involved and we have cause environments to be filled with landfills and other harmful materials.
I am extremely blessed to say that tomorrow, I will have the opportunity to travel to the inland of the Bay with my AP biology class. I am looking forwards to meeting some new species of animals and getting to see the beautiful places they live in. I am hoping that my classmates and I will learn more about the impact humans have on the Bay and what we can do to help save the Bay. I am also excited to able to help out our environment through the hands-on activities and data collection we will be doing in hopes of analyzing what is wrong with the Bay so that we, as citizens, and scientists can help.
I absolutely love field trips because I feel that they give students the opportunity to “get their hands dirty” (no pun intended). I love learning with a hands-on approach and I feel that field trips are a great example of hands-on learning. My classmates and I are excited for tomorrow and can’t wait to see what we learn, I’ll keep you all post on how the field trip goes!
To check out more information on Save the Bay check out the link below.
Alysa's AP Bio Blog 