Classification of Organisms - Essay Example

Essay Questions Responses Affiliation Biology Essay Questions Responses Task Taxonomy refers to the method used in ification of organisms. Linnaeus came up with the model of classification. He did utilize the simple external traits and features of the organisms to make a distinct difference between the different species. Such differences rotate around genetics. He classifies the organisms into seven major categories namely kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. He further expounds the kingdom level into five categories namely monera, Protista, fungi, Plantae and Animalia (Simon, 2014). Kingdom Examples of Organisms Reasons Monera Bacteria, blue green algae They lack a true nucleus They are autotrophic Protista Amoeba, paramecium They have a true nucleus They are single celled Fungi Mushroom, molds Are multicellular They possess a nucleus Do not move from place to place Plantae Ferns, mosses Are multi-cellular Have nuclei They do not move Are autotrophic Animalia Insects, man Are heterotrophic They have nuclei They do not move Are multicellular Task 2 Water is very essential for the survival of all living things on earth. It is fundamental for its existence, and without all living things stand at the verge of death. Body cells are surrounded by a fluid, of which the larger percentage is water. Of the cell components and constituents, 70%-95% is composed of water. The properties of water make it imperative compound on the earth. The four core unique features are ability to sustain it cohesion and adhesion, temperature moderation property, the low density of ice and ability to dissolve other substances. The cohesion properties enable it to attract water for itself while the adhesion properties allow it to attract water to other polar or charged materials. Surface tension ensures that the water behaves like a thin elastic skin. Such property allows the organisms like strider to walk on water. The temperature moderation property is facilitated by its bonds and is essential in moderating the temperatures in oceans and other water masses. Furthermore, evaporation and sweating aid in cooling the body in hot environments (Simon, 2014). Water is a universal solvent. It can dissolve so many substances. Many substances can break its polar molecules. Its high specific heat is of value to the survival of organisms in water. The range of temperatures in such water masses does create a hospitable environment. Task 3 Staphylococcus is a group of bacteria that causes a wide range of infections. After a diagnosis of a staphylococcus infection, the client can commence a dosage of common antibiotics ointments or oral antibiotics. Abbesses can be drained via excision and marsupialization. Serious and life-threatening infections can be treated with intravenous antibiotics. The most recent serious concern that is creating attention on the management of staphylococcus infections is the methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA is a subtype that resists methicillin and other antibiotics in a similar class. The strain of bacteria is quite resistant to the antibiotics used. It can lead to complication of the health condition, triggering infections in blood, bone, heart valves, surgical wounds, joints and lungs. If not treated early enough, the condition is likely to worsen leading to death (Simon, 2014). Task 4 Human tissues and cells do not renew themselves through continuous copying. They do the work of dividing each cell from scratch; hence, they do not evolve, as they grow older day by day. Evolutionary aspects occur to the entire organism, but in humans, the renewal occurs in independent cells. It rarely happens in multi-celled or single celled organisms. However, human beings can affect the evolution process of other organisms. A change in the normal environment of growth is likely to affect the evolutionary process of unicellular organisms. For example, in a colony one can watch a pack of bacteria grows, multiply, mutate and die. Exposure to stress will see others gaining advantage and growing faster while others die. That is the concept of natural selection (Simon, 2014). Human beings contribute immensely to the evolution process via environmental modification. For example, change in climate through cutting trees, poor fishing practices, utilization of pesticides to insects and drugs to some bacteria have led to the evolution. Task 5 Covalent bonds consist of two atoms, which share the pairs of electrons. The atoms are then bound in a fixed orientation. Such bonds are quite strong and necessitate high energy to break them. Covalent compounds are made up of solid, solid or gases molecules. Their melting and boiling points are relatively low and are poor conductors of electricity at all phases. Additionally, a great number of such compounds are non-soluble in non-polar liquids and soluble in water. Covalent bonds occur on reaction between two non-metals. An ionic bond is formed after the reaction between a metal and a non-metal. The melting points of such compounds are quite high, and it requires a lot of energies to break the bonds. Ionic compounds do conduct electricity when in aqueous states. In most times, they are soluble in water and non-soluble in polar liquids. Task 6 Photosynthesis is the main process by which green plants can utilize the light from the sun and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to produce food. The inputs of photosynthesis are water and carbon dioxide. In the presence of light, chemical process takes place to produce glucose, oxygen and water as the main outputs. Cellular respiration is the process by which cells produce energy from stored food (carbohydrates) and oxygen. Cellular respiration occurs in the absence of light. In this process, the inputs are the outputs of photosynthesis, glucose (carbohydrates) and oxygen. The outputs of this process are energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate, water and carbon dioxide. In both respiration and photosynthesis, heat is produced. Photosynthesis in green plants, therefore, appears to precede cellular respiration. Respiration depends on the output of photosynthesis for its inputs. Task 7 The nuclei of the human cell contain twenty-three pairs of chromosomes. Out of these, twenty-two pairs are somatic chromosomes also known as autosomes. These are concerned with all other genetic qualities. The 23rd pair consists of two sex chromosomes that are the decisive on the aspect of the sex of an individual. They determine the sex of the baby during development. There are two kinds of sex chromosomes, X chromosome and Y chromosome. These chromosomes occur differently in males and females. In females, there are two chromosomes in the 23rd pair while in males there is an X and a Y chromosome in a pair. The sex chromosomes are responsible for the traits that distinguish males from the female. Traits such as facial hair, baldness and masculinity are in the Y chromosome. On the other hand, traits such as breast development and secondary sexual characteristics are in the X chromosome. Task 8 Mitosis and meiosis are processes associated with cytokines in the body. These two processes result in the production of daughter cells and are, hence, referred to as cell division processes. In both, the parent cell produces more cells of the same type through division of the cytoplasm and the genetic material. Although both processes include the breakdown of the cellular material, meiosis is reductive. This means that in meiosis, the daughter cells produced after the whole processes have less of the genetic material than the parent cell. The genetic material in meiosis is halved to give four daughter cells. In mitosis, the genetic material (chromosomes) divide and are shared between the mother cell and the daughter ensuring that no reduction occurs. Meiosis is crucial in the formation of gametocytes that will later join to re-establish the total number of chromosomes. Mitosis, on the other hand, is important in normal cellular multiplication. Concisely, the following are the essential differences between meiosis and mitosis. Difference between Mitosis and Meiosis Characteristic                              Meiosis                            Mitosis  End result   Normally there are four cells; each cell has half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell.   Two cells, each cells has the same number of chromosomes as that of the parent.  Function   Sexual reproduction, production of gametes (sex cells)  Cellular reproduction, growth, repairs wear and tear of cells,  sexual reproduction.   Where it occurs?  Animals, fungi, plants, and some protists  Occurs in all eukaryotic organisms  Stages   Steps in the process Prophase I, Metaphase I, Anaphase I,  Telophase I, Prophase II, Metaphase II, Anaphase II, and Telophase II  Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase  Genetical composition  Not similar to parents  Usually similar to parents  Crossing over process  Occurs in Prophase I  Sometimes  Pairing of homologous chromosomes  Yes   No  Cytokinesis  Occurs in Telophase I and Telophase II  Occurs in Telophase  Splitting of chromosomes  Does not occur in Anaphase I; occurs in Anaphase II  Occurs in Anaphase Source: (Stabler Metz & Gier, 2013) Task 9 Cancer has become a health challenge in the 21st century. Prevention being better than cure is necessary. For cancer prevention, five main methods will work with anybody. First, ensure that the diet you take is of foods that boost the immune system. Detoxifies and antioxidants in diet help to fight against factors that can lead to the development of cancer. Secondly, eating plenty of raw fruits and steamed vegetables helps to boost the anti-oxidation effect of natural antioxidants in the body. The anti-oxidation of compounds reduces their probability of causing cancer. Thirdly, it is important to avoid sugary foods. Sugar has a negative effect on the immune system and therefore reduces the ability of the body to fight cancer before it occurs. Fourthly, avoiding exposure to cancer-causing chemicals in the environment will reduce the concentration of cancer triggers in the body. Lastly, regular exercise is necessary for boosting the body immunity as well as helping reduce undue fats. It also helps reduce growth and spread of cancer cells. Task 10 The development of new species has been a controversial issue in biology. This process, known as speciation has been linked to three reproductive barriers. For allopatric species development, one of the requirement is geographical separation between two populations. However, for sympatric speciation reproductive barriers are thought to play the main role. First, with allopatric speciation the species separated fail to notice their similarities and therefore fail to mate. This barrier causes the two populations to inbreed and become distinct species with multiplication of their characteristics. This also occurs when the two populations do not see one another. Being unable to mate and to live in a different environment, the two populations evolve differently forming two species. With the isolation, therefore, there is failure in the normal mating and groups of the same species evolve differently, multiplying own traits within themselves and leading to a completely new species. Task 11 The question of evolution has been and will continue to be one of the most controversial issues in biology. Various types of evidence of evolution have been provided over the years. The evidences have been severally, and some even disputed. One standing evidence that support the evolution of the whale is the Basilosaurus. According to the fascinating stories of the evolution of whales, they are mammals that evolved from reptiles. The evolution process that took hundreds of millions of years resulted to the mother reptile grows legs and body hair after they periodically left the sea. This also resulted to the loss of gills and development of lungs. When the reptile returned to the sea, they lost the legs but kept the lungs. Basilosaurus was discovered in Al-Hitan in Egypt in 1840. Its lower jaw resembles that of a whale while the body shows signs of legs. It was first mistaken for a reptile but later proven to the ancestor of whales that resembled the mother reptile. Task 12 Fossils are sediments that are in the ground after the animal, or object that they once were degrades under the pressure and heat. When the remains are buried and destroyed, they are covered by earth and over time, more layers of the earth form over them pressing them down. The combined effect of pressure, heat, chemical reactions and time makes the sediment to turn into rock and the remains become fossils. These fossils are known to remain inside the rocks and can be uncovered by erosion or excavation. Excavation removes sediments in the order in which they were layered starting from the most recent to form. This means that the fossils that were last to form would be excavated first hence revealing a series of fossils that is. Task 13 Drugs are and manufactured to act in the body. For most drugs, the action entails recognition of the intruder in the blood system and acting to inhibit the destruction caused by the foreign microorganism antibiotics are produced to fight infection with microorganisms that invade the blood system. These microorganisms include bacteria, fungi and protozoans that invade the body. Strep throat is by a bacterium, when a patient takes antibiotics; it fights the bacteria producing the expected relief from the infection. A virus causes common cold. Different from bacteria and fungi, viruses invade the cell and pretend to appear as self. This means that the mechanism of the body that recognizes foreign from self-substances is. Since antibiotics depend on this mechanism, they are not effective in relieving common cold. Task 14 Normally, an individual who is most suited for a certain environment survives better there. This is the same phenomenon in natural selection. Those species that were adapted to live in a specific environment survived while the rest died due to the unfavorable conditions. Those that survived lived to reproductive age and bred to give rise to offspring that had the same characteristics as themselves; those that carried the less favored characteristics were again rendered extinct due to lack of environmental adaptation. This continues for a period until the gene pool of the surviving animals lacks the less favored gene. The result of this is evolution by natural selection. The proponent of this theory is Charles Darwin, and he used the example of long-necked and short-necked giraffes. Those that are long-necked were able to get the food and survived. The short-necked died of starvation. Therefore, those that made it to reproductive age are the long-necked who propagated the gene within themselves over time until all giraffes were long-necked. Task 15 Water striders are insects that can walk on the surface of water. The force that is responsible for this is surface tension. Water is a fluid matter that contains similar kind of particles. The particles attract one another in a network that keeps the water as one entity. This force is more stretching on the surface due to the directions in which a water molecule at the surface is being pulled (inwards and sideways). This creates tension on the surface, a force known as surface tension. The surface of the water, therefore, behaves as though it is with skin. On this tense skin, small light insects can walk along without sinking. The underside of most insects however is sticky; this interferes with surface tension and can break the skin. The water strider has fur that does not interfere with surface tension. References Simon, E. J. (2014). Biology: The core., Pearson publishers Stabler, L. B., Metz, M., & Gier, P. (2013). AP biology 2014-2015. Read More