Adaptations of the Octopus

Octopuses are the coolest animals in my opinion. they have always been so unique in my eyes, they have cool adaptations. The cool adaptations  are that when they are ever being attacked by a predator such as a shark or baracuda they ink. It is is a mechanism they use to blind their predators so it can get away. Another cool adaptation is that they can be camouflage for hunting. Octopuses are usually orange, but when they are hunting, usually by reefs and corals they blend in indefintely to where they are literally invisible.

If they didnt have the adaptations they have they would not be as protected and much more vunerable to attack. If they did not have the ink in their system it would not make it, the inking mechanism is what keeps them in the game longer then most other fish and cephalopods. Their camouflage trait is what they use to catch their prey, without it they would starve because the fast sea creatures would be to hard to catch.

Adaptation that I needed to make was to go from grammar school wresting to high school wrestling. Its a big change, there are alot of big differences. In grammar school there were only practices monday, Wednesday, and Friday with a meet on sunday that lasted a good 9 hours. In high school there is practice every day, the meets are alot shorter, and 1 of the biggest setbacks is that, depending how you do in a match bases on team points. So if i lose it effects the team. So it had me really step up my game.

researchers

A researcher doesn,t have to be a scienctist, it can be a College Professor, a student, an athlete, anybody. They use different traits such as memory, problem solving and many others. Researching is a very important part of society. It is a neccesity for many people with jobs, sports, and schoolwork. We need it in our every day lives.

Some people I think are good researchers are from Mythbusters on The Discovery Channel. They research myths from urban legends and old wisetales from different periods of time. Their research experiements are very complicated.   If their experiment doesn't work, people can get injured or even killed because their experiments and tests can get pretty dangerous. Their work is much like a scientist's, they create a hypothesis, follow a procedure, and test it.  This is the type of process our class used for bacteria labs we did in the fall. Following this scientific process what makes them good researchers.

I think I would be a good researcher because I have a very good memory.  I can remember any line, part, or quote from any movie, or any lyric from a song. These are very important traits you need to be a good researcher which is why I think I would be a good one. I'm also a good researcher because I'm very curious, and you need to be curious to create hypthesis and research facts.

Bacteria Lab

We experimented on the bacteria found in certain parts of the school.  Neil Smith, Jack Sampson and I tested the bacteria in the locker room and shoe room for wrestling.  Our hypothesis on these places was that they would be filled with bacteria. These were the materials we needed for our experiment:

1. agar plate
2. Q tips
3. tape

This was the procedure:

1. We went to the locker room first.
2. Took the Q tip, swiped the surface of the locker.
3. Then took the agar plate and swabbed the Q tip on the agar plate. Next, we followed the same procedure in the shoe room.
4. We used the tape to label the locker room and shoe room agar samples.
5. Finaly, we put the agar plates on the window sill.

Our solution was just what we suspected, both agar plate were growing bacteria within 2 days. The shoe room was much worse then the locker room. We had found black mold in the locker room and shoe room. There was also fungi in the shoe room. The point of this project was to figure how much bacteria we are surrounded by each day at school.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                         

Weekend Science

The scientific activity I participated in is a Cross Country meet at Downers Grove.  Cross Country is a sport of acceleration and speed, which are scientific units of measure.  It begins at the start line, all the runners line up in their boxes.  A man fires the gun, once this happens I have to use acceleration and surge.  The beginning is not a full sprint, but not a slow jog either.  After the first 200 meters or so, I slow down and have to find the right pace.  Speed is a big part of this race, the faster my pace is the shorter my finish time will be.  Cross country is all about pace and acceleration, the shortest time wins.

Around the 2nd mile I will have stomach pains and will feel sick.  Once I reach 200 meters and am nearing the finish line, I sprint.  This takes acceleration, speed, energy, and endurance.  The length of the race is another metric unit in science.  The time it takes for me to get from one place to another.  In this case it's the start line to the finish fine, or 3 miles.  This week my race time was 22:15.  That is alittle more than 7 minutes per mile.  Not too bad, but I'm always trying to improve my time.

There are other physiological factors that how well I do in a Cross Country race.  Things like how well hydrated I am, how much and what kind of food I've eaten in the past day, and how much rest I've had during the past week, and if I've trained effectively at practice all leave me feeling energetic or not.  Weather conditions like heat, humidity, or rainy conditions have an impact on how fast I run.