Classification of Common Objects - Lab Report Example

UMUC Biology 102/103 Lab 6: Taxonomy 15th October Experiment ification of common objects Questions Did you find that the items grouped together as you worked down the flow chart had similar characteristics in terms of their appearance? What about function? The items shared similar characteristics in respect to their appearance such as being round and cylindrical. The function differed slightly with concurrent changes in appearance. This classification therefore qualified well in identifying each component of the flow chart. 2. Do you feel that the questions asked were appropriate? What questions would you have asked? What objects would be grouped together with your system? Some questions such as “is there a hole in or near the center of the object?” are in appropriate. This question contradicts the downstream parts of the flow chart where the classification uses the question “Does the object have more than one whole.” This criterion is therefore misplaced at the current position. Despite the first question stating the position of a hole in the object, second criterion relating to the object having holes, the criterion does not specify the location of the wholes. This leaves the flow chart classification with ambiguities that may lead to incorrect classifications and confusion. 3. Pick 10 household items (e.g. spoon, book, paper clip, etc.) and design a taxonomic classification system to categorize them, similar to the one in Figure 2. 4. Can you devise a different classification system for the objects used in this experiment that would distinguish each in as many, or fewer steps? The classification above takes into consideration the major characteristics of the household items in that will more certainly cluster a majority of them together. Experiment 2: Classification of Organisms Organism Kingdom Defined Nucleus Mobile Cell Wall Photosynthesis Unicellular E. coli ✔ ✔ Protozoa ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Mushroom ✔ ✔ Sunflower ✔ ✔ ✔ Bear ✔ ✔ Questions 1. Did this series of questions correctly organize each organism? Why or why not? No, though most questions were able to distinguish the organism, the question on whether the organism was unicellular was not able to distinguish E. coli and protozoa thereby leaving some ambiguity. There should have been have another question clearly distinguishing the two. 2. What additional questions would you ask to further categorize the items within the kingdoms (hint: think about other organisms in the kingdom and what makes them different than the examples used here)? The four organisms should have also been classified as eukaryotes or prokaryotes and thereby there would be have two broad groups “Eukaryote or prokaryote?” One of the groups will have comprised of E. coli (a prokaryote) whereas the other four will cluster together as eukaryotes. The second question would be whether among the organisms classified as eukaryotes there is presence or absence of cell wall. This will fit bear, in its own group whereas protozoa mushroom and sunflower will fall in one class. 3. Do you feel that the questions asked were appropriate? What questions would you have asked? The questions were appropriate except for a few of them e.g. the mobility of the organism since this classification is wrong for E. coli since it is a fact that these organism have some form of movement effected by amoeboid movement. UMUC Biology 102/103 Lab 7: Ecology of Organism Experiment 1: Effects of pH on Radish Seed Germination Table 1: Radish Seed Observation and Germination [100 seeds in each solution of the three solutions] Solution pH Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Observation Seeds Germinated % Observation Seeds Germinated % Observation Seeds Germinated % Water 7.0 Majority of the seeds germinated 84 85 Majority of the seeds germinated 90 90 Majority of the seeds germinated 96 96 Vinegar 3.4 A relatively high number of seeds germinated 75 75 A relatively high number of seeds germinated 80 80 A relatively high number of seeds germinated 85 85 Baking soda 9.0 Few seeds were able to germinate 21 21 As the pH reduced more seeds started germinating 35 35 As the pH reduced more seeds started germinating 40 40 Questions 1. Was there any noticeable effect on the germination rate of the radish seeds as a result of the pH? Compare and contrast the growth rate for the control with the alkaline and acidic solutions. Radish seeds grown in water acted as a control in this experiment since water have a near neutral pH of 7.0. However baking soda was the alkaline solution whereas vinegar served as the acidic solution. It was observed that seeds grown in baking soda solution demonstrated slow growth as compared to those grown in vinegar, a slightly acidic solution. This demonstrates that radish seeds may tolerate acid soil conditions as seen from the table above. 2. According to your results would you say that the radish has a broad pH tolerance? Why or why not? Use your data to support your answer. Most seeds germinate in a pH around neutral (7.0), however the radish seeds used in this experiment may prefer a slightly acidic condition. This is true because germination was observed in vinegar, a slightly acidic solution compared to no of germination in most of the seeds in a basic solution made of baking soda. 3. Knowing that acid rain has a pH of 2-3 would you conclude that crop species with a narrow soil pH range are in trouble? Is acid rain a problem for plant species and crops? Acid rain has a pH of 2-3 which is not appropriate for most seed germination since the optimum pH for germination of most seeds is around neutral pH of 7.0. However radish seeds are some of the plants which may tolerate acidic soils as we have seen in the experiment above. Acid rain may have two effects on plants and their surrounding ecosystem The first effect of acid rain ay be direct to the plants structures where physiological damage to plant cells and tissues may occur. This is especially rampant in soft tissues such as the shoot during germination. Low pH which is observed in acid rain may alter the composition and makeup of soil water thereby affecting the growth. This is through changes in the absorption of nutrients by the roots and also causing leaching of essential nutrients necessary for seed germination. The end result of this is retarded growth in plants. As a conclusion acid rain is in no way beneficial to plants though a slightly acidic soil condition is beneficial fro some plants such as radish seed which can tolerate pH variation. Figure 1: Sprout lengths after 7 days of growth for radish seeds exposed to different pH values As evident from the experiment, radish grown in a basic condition – baking soda – was observed to show retarded growth as compared to seeds grown in water or vinegar. Neutral conditions and slightly acidic conditions seem to be optima pH for germination of radish seeds over the days we observed. However, it should be noted soil water at a neutral range (7.0) remains the optimum pH for germination of seeds and acid rain is not beneficial in the seed germination process as well as the overall growth of the plants as seen in graph above. Plants tend to demonstrate retarded growth in extreme pH far away from optimum pH. Work cited Simon, E.J., Dickey, J.L. and Reece, J.B. (2013). “Campbell Essential Biology, 5th edition.” Read More