Principles of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology - Laboratory Report - Biology Assignment Help

Assignment Task:

We, the faculty and staff of the Biology Department, consider life, in all its diverse forms to be of the utmost value. Our professional experiences have made us even more aware of the wonders and uniqueness of living organisms. In order to convey to our students an understanding of the structures and functions which make life possible, it is necessary to use living and preserved examples of life in our lectures and laboratories when alternatives are not pedagogically sound, viable or reasonable. However, living creatures will not be used when other materials will suffice.

To this end:

1. The Biology Department maintains that a minimum amount of both living and preserved material be used in laboratory courses. This not only promotes fiscal economy in our department but also reduces the number of organisms which must be sacrificed. We accomplish this in several ways:

1. By having several students share the same specimen, we reduce the number of specimens that must be ordered or collected.
2. Laboratories are scheduled so that materials left over from one course may be used in subsequent labs of other courses.
3. When pedagogically sound, laboratory demonstrations are presented as films, videos, slides or some other media form.

2. When possible, preserved organisms or parts of organisms used are those that may otherwise be wasted. For example: sheep hearts, kidneys and brains, and other byproducts of processing, are used in several of our anatomy and physiology courses. Cats used in our Human Anatomy courses are animals which have been euthanized by overburdened Animal Shelters that cannot care for the large number of animals in their facilities.

3. Live specimens are used only when there is no other pedagogically sound alternative to adequately demonstrate important physiological principles. Specimens are either obtained from captive-bred populations raised in humane conditions or are obtained from wild populations that are abundant. We eliminate pain and trauma as much as possible by using anesthetics and compassionate methods when using live specimens.

4. Where vivisection is pedagogically required it is done humanely.

5. Any student displaying disrespectful or immature behavior, as determined by the instructor, around the living or preserved specimens may be dismissed from the class and counted as absent for the class period.

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE AND APPROACH

This lab manual is intended to be used for a one-semester course in organismal biology for biology majors. It contains 13 lab activities that are designed for once-a-week 3-hour lab sessions. Two weeks of the semester are set aside for field trips rather than laboratory activities—one to the zoo and one to the rocky intertidal zone. Depending on where holidays fall during the semester and what day of the week lab is on, there may only be 15 lab sessions so only this many are planned. If there are 16 lab sessions one more field trip or a study/review session is added.

Each lab session builds on the activities in the previous labs leading to a semi-comprehensive lab exam at the end of the semester. Based on these Program Learning Outcomes for the Biology Department at Grossmont College:

• Students will explain how differences between species are the result of changes in characteristics due to natural selection and other forces of evolution;
• Students will be able to explain how a specific structure has a specific function based on its characteristics;

each lab is structured around reinforcing an understanding of evolutionary relationships and the diversity of structure and function in the living world. In addition, the critical relationship between science and society is considered each lab by relating how the knowledge of each group under consideration relates to current issues in public and personal health, ethical and moral issues, and/or natural resource management.

The knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes of a medical professional or scientist are embedded throughout the activities as well. Students will build their microscope skills to competency, practice carefully observing and sketching specimens, and performing dissections. Communication and collaboration are critical for scientific work. Since lab activities are performed in small groups, these skills are required and will be developed further with practice. Reading, writing, speaking and listening are all critical for successful learning in the lab setting as well as demonstrating the knowledge gained. Therefore successful completion of this lab course contributes to students fulfilling Grossmont College’s Institutional Student Learning Outcomes:

• Students will demonstrate and apply the attitudes, knowledge, ethics, and skills necessary to contribute to professional, civic, and academic communities.
• Students will be able to communicate effectively through reading, writing, speaking and listening

A critical step in learning how to distinguish different types of life is to view multiple specimens prepared in different ways. Therefore, as much as possible, any specimens we observe will be presented to students live, as whole preserved specimens, and fresh or fixed and stained on slides (in several ways, depending on the size and complexity of the organism). Ultimately the student should be prepared to identify the characteristics and taxonomic affinity of previously unseen photos and/or specimens.

LAB 1: PHYLOGENY

In order to understand the evolutionary relationships between groups of living things, it is important to be able to interpret diagrams showing these relationships, called cladograms. These diagrams represent hypotheses about the evolutionary history of different taxonomic groups or clades. In this lab, we will learn vocabulary associated with cladistics, learn to draw and interpret cladograms based on observable characteristics, and also see how computational tools can be used to make cladograms based on DNA sequence data.

OBJECTIVES

After completing the activities in lab today, students are expected to be able to:

1. Describe evolutionary relationships between taxa from a cladogram, using appropriate vocabulary
2. Sketch and label a cladogram from a table of character states
3. Explain how DNA sequence data is used to generate cladograms

LAB 2: INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISMS

We begin our study of the diversity of living things by considering the defining characteristics of the major groups of Eukaryotes and important ideas about the bodies of living things. Later in the semester we will examine most of these groups in more detail. We also will prepare for upcoming activities by developing skill using dissecting and compound microscopes. We will be using compound microscopes today to view cells, because they are too small to be seen with the unaided eye. If you have not used a microscope very much, detailed instructions for proper use are found in Appendix A.

OBJECTIVES

After today’s activities, you should be able to:

1. Prepare and successfully view specimens using the compound and dissecting microscopes.
2. Distinguish between fungi, plants and animals specimens and by characteristics.
3. Describe the relationship between cells, tissues and organs and identify on prepared slides of plant and animal sections.
4. Interpret longitudinal and cross sections on slides as part of the 3-dimensional organism.
5. Identify symmetry and major body parts of fungi, plants and animals.

DESCRIBING THE ORGANISM: BODY PARTS AND SYMMETRY

PLANT BODY PARTS

The basic body structures of plants are mostly defined by the structure of the stems and leaves (as well as reproductive structures, like flowers). Plants are distinguished from each other by the type of overall body structure that they have—as trees (one large woody stem), shrubs (multiple woody stems), forbs (no woody stems, not grasses) or grasses (monocots in the Poa family, have a hollow stem and grow from base of leaf not at tip). Additionally, the way the leaflets are organized as a leaf is very important in identifying plant species. Reproductive structures such as flowers, cones and seeds are also characteristic of different species. We will return to these characteristics in more detail later in the semester.

ANIMAL BODY PARTS

Animals typically have easily recognizable external body parts. Using a mouse as an example (Figure 1), we can agree that it has a head, tail, and four limbs. We can describe the limbs as paired and count them as “two pairs of limbs.” Other terms we might use instead of “limb” is appendage, arm, leg, or wing. The appendages of animals that do not have a rigid skeleton we tend to term tentacles. If the animal’s body is long and thin and it has no appendages or rigid skeleton, we call it a “worm”. Notice that the head is the location of most of the sensory organs, such as eyes and ears. If we want to refer to a direction on the body of an animal, the terms on 16 the illustration are used. These terms are all relative to one another. For example, the belly button of the mouse is caudal to the front legs but cranial to the hind legs.

Identifying animal tissue types in earthworm cross-section

Obtain a prepared microscope slide of the cross-section of the earthworm, Lumbricus. The worm is large enough that you cannot see the whole cross section in the field of view. Move the slide so you can see about one-quarter of the body all the way from the center of the section to the body surface in your field of view. Using the diagram below as a guide to the body organs, identity epithelial, muscle, nerve and connective tissue examples in at least one place. Look for cross-sectional views and longitudinal section views of muscle tissue. Try to sketch or describe how the tissues look separately.

Multi-celled versus single-celled organisms in pond water

Place a couple of drops of pond water on a depression slide and add a cover slip. Scan around on the slide and identify several kinds of organisms from the Pond Water poster or booklet. Check with the instructor if you are not sure what something is. For five organisms that you find, fill in the table below. Try to find organisms with different characteristics.

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What are the shared characteristics between Plants, Animals and Fungi that allow us to conclude they are all Eukaryotic organisms? What unique characteristics have each group evolved over time that distinguish them from other Eukaryotic groups?
2. What are the basic body structures of fungal, plant and animal bodies? How do these structures relate to how they obtain energy (via photosynthesis for Plants and as heterotrophs for Fungi and Animals)?
3. Where in your daily life do you encounter Plants, Animals and Fungi? What are examples of each that are harmful and what are examples that are beneficial to humans?

Prepared slide of radiolarian skeletons.

Obtain a prepared slide of mixed (dead) radiolarian tests. What do they look like to you? How will you tell them apart from other organisms? Sketch a couple as examples.

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What are the shared characteristics between prokaryotes and eukaryotes?
2. What unique characteristics do each of the eukaryotic groups that we studied to day have that distinguish them from other Eukaryotic groups? How do we know they are all Eukaryotes?
3. How do the structures that single-celled organisms have relate to how they do locomotion?
4. What characteristics of bacteria, excavates and organisms in the SAR clade that you learned about in this activity are connected to your everyday life and the society we live in?

LAB 4: ARCHAEPLASTIDS

The major Eukaryotic clade the Archaeplastidae includes the Embryophytes and their closest relatives. We will survey the clade in this lab and return to examine some of the groups in more detail in the next two labs.

OBJECTIVES

You should be able to do the following after today’s activities:

1. Identify the evolutionary characteristics that distinguish the major clades of the Archaeplastids and the major clades within the Embryophyta.
2. Identify the structures that characterize the major clades of Embryophyta and recognize example specimens of these groups.
3. Sketch and label the alternation of generations life cycle for Embryophyta.

ARCHAEPLASTIDS

The Archaeplastids include several types of algae and the land plants. They have a very ancient origin (in the Proterozoic around 1600 MYA), due to an endosymbiotic event where a cyanobacterium was engulfed by an existing heterotrophic protist

EMBRYOPHYTA

The Embryophytes are a monophyletic grouping within Archaeplastids that are multi-celled. They are sometimes referred to as the Land Plants (Plantae) because they successfully made the transition to land about 475 million years ago during the Ordovician (the geologic period after the Cambrian).

The land plants have several derived characteristics that make them different from Charophytes. The Land Plants have a unique version of alternation of generations with a multi-celled embryo, which grows and develops within and connected to the tissues of the female parent in much the same way as an embryo develops in the uterus of a mammal with a placenta. This characteristic is how the clade gets the name Embryophyta. Two other characteristics relate to the fact that the Embryophyta have multi-celled body organs (rather than just tissues) to produce reproductive structures. The body of the sporophyte contains a body 37 organ called a sporangium, which produces the spores. The body of the gametophyte has a body organ called a gametangium, which produces the gametes. The last characteristic that is unique is that cell division in Land Plants is isolated in special tissues called meristems. For example, growth occurs in the shoot and root tips, which are called the apical meristems. Cell division in most algae can occur at multiple locations in the body.

LAB 5: EMBRYOPHYTE REPRODUCTION

There are four major groups of Embryophyta based on presence or absence of vascular tissue, seeds and pollen, and flowers and fruits. We will explore the reproductive cycles of model organisms from each clade in this lab. The moss Mnium will be our sample seedless non-vascular plant, the fern Polypodium will be our sample seedless vascular plant, the pine Pinus will be our sample cone-bearing plant and the lily Lilium will be the sample flowering plant. We will also look at the variety of reproductive structures of other diverse examples

LEARNING OUTCOMES

You should be able to do the following after today’s activities:

1. Sketch, label and explain the life cycle diagrams of seedless versus seed plants;
2. Recognize specimens or photos of plant phyla studied and categorize them into seedless/seed as well as identifying the individuals as sporophytes or gametophytes.
3. Identify on photos, slides, or diagrams the reproductive structures of plants, including archegonia, antheridia, sporangia, sori, strobili, pollen, seeds, cones, flowers and fruits.

All of the Embryophyta have alternation of generations with the female plant supporting the growing embryo. In all the seedless non-vascular plants, the gametophyte is the longer-lived, larger individual in the environment, so their life cycles are referred to as gametophyte dominant. In all the seed vascular plants, the sporophyte is the longer-lived, larger individual in the environment, so their life cycles are referred to as sporophyte dominant.

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What are the functions of seeds, pollen, flowers and fruits? Why are most plants on earth now flowering plants?
2. What are the trends in plant reproduction from the earliest terrestrial forms to the flowering plants?
3. In what way are the seedless plants not completely terrestrial?
4. What would be the consequences for humans if honey bees went extinct?

INTRODUCTION TO LICHEN

We call a mutualism between some types of fungus (mainly Ascomycota) and a photosynthesizing organism, either an alga (usually green) or a cyanobacterium, lichen (pronounced “LIE-kin”). This relationship is beneficial to the fungus because the photosynthesizing partner provides sugars to it, while the body structure of the fungus provides a protected moist environment for the algae or bacteria to live in/on. Lichens are named for the fungal component—all of the algae/bacteria seem to also be able to live on their own and a particular species of fungus may form lichen with several different species of symbiont. Some lichen are made of more than one kind of fungus in the association. They may also live on its own. Lichenization (turning into a symbiotic form) has occurred repeatedly in the evolutionary history of fungi and is represented among many clades.

The earliest definitive fossil lichens are around 400 million years old, so these living things have been around since before vascular plants appeared. Lichens can survive in extremely low nutrient, dry conditions and are often the only living thing present in newly-formed volcanic islands, alpine, tundra, and even polar environments. They actually help create soil in these habitats by secreting chemicals that begin to erode the rocks that they live on. Their physical structure helps accumulate more soil, stabilize existing soil, and retain moisture and nutrients in the environment, preparing it for colonization by plants. Lichens are also found growing on living as well as rotting wood (tree/shrub branches) and growing on rocks (including man-made stone structures like gravestones) in many 73 common and benign habitats. In all environments, they simply live on top of the surface, without having roots or rootlike structures that penetrate the substrate to absorb nutrition. They get the few other nutrients they need from dust and minerals dissolved in rain falling on them.

Reproduction in lichens is usually both sexual and asexual. Each part of the symbiosis reproduces in its normal way as if it were alone, but in addition there are structures formed asexually for dispersal. Called soredia, these consist of a bundle of hyphae containing several algal cells. Asexual reproduction may also occur via fragments of the parent body breaking off. The body (thallus) of each recognizable type of lichen has one of three body forms: crustose (a flat or rumpled surface), foliose (with flattened sheets of leaf-like shapes), fruticose (stalked and branching). The colors range from dull grey or grey-green, black, or white to bright yellow, orange, or greenish yellow. Lichens provide traditional dyes and medicines used in many cultures (including antibiotics) as well as the chemical that is used in litmus paper!

 

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