Vanessa Vihnanek

What did you learn this week? This week we reviewed the content learned throughout the semester so far to review for our exam. This included continuing our learning of natural selection. We also learned about mutation, evolution, and adaptive traits. The, we reviewed the NGSS in relation to life science. This is our last life science unit so it was a great review. This week I learned about the importance of fossils. Fossils help support Darwin's theory by showing that the organisms changed over time.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? Yes, I was able to relate what I learned to what I already knew. I knew that the strongest and most beneficial traits get passed down to the next generations. This helps the species adapt and makes it stronger every generation. When we switched out our utensils depending on their capability, it reminded me of natural selection. When the spoon was collecting the most beans in the 30 second time frame, that's the uten...

1. What did you learn this week? This week we reviewed DNA and mutations. Mutations can be defined as a change in the DNA sequence. DNA is made up of four bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. We also reviewed genes with our baby face activity. The phenotypes are the observable traits of our baby like blue eyes, brown hair, big lips/ears, etc. These were inherited traits from the parents. Acquired traits are non-heritable changes due to environment, disease, injury, accident, etc. Today we also did a DNA mutation simulation. We got to watch the DNA base pairs get created and then the RNA was created by copying this sequence. Then, the amino acids were created through the central dogma process.  2. Are you able to connect what you learned to what you already knew? I have already learned about genetic mutations but this was a great refresher. It was helpful that the lessons build off of each other. Since I have the knowledge of DNA, central dogma, etc. from last unit, it wa...