Analyze critically and apply the major principles of organismal biology
As a biologist, we are often taught how to look at things under the microscope and how small things work, not often talking about the organisms as a whole and how they function. The major principles aren’t often defined, but can be assumed to talk about how an organism’s body functions and why it does what it does.
I took an anatomy course that discussed many of these topics. We went into heavy detail about how the body functions, specifically the skin and muscles, and why they are important. The skin is important to protect ourselves from outside pathogens and to also prevent water from evaporating in our bodies. The muscles us to move and pump blood throughout the body. In this course, we performed an experiment to find out whether we could determine if someone was lying based on their pupil size, the amount of time they blinked, and their eye movement. This experiment was a way to use our knowledge on human anatomy and expand it even further and think out of the box. The poster for this experiment is down below this reflection.
One other type of experiment that I performed based off of an organism’s anatomy was an experiment that I have talked about in Goal 1.1. This experiment was based off of a plants anatomy and what it needs to survive, such as light. My partners and I manipulated what kind of light the plant would gather, whether it be none, 12 hours, or 24 hours of light, to determine how the plant would respond. That presentation is below as well.
Learning about different kinds of organisms, such as plants, animals, or humans, is important to understand as a biologist. One, because you could find love in studying one of those topics, but two, because an organism is an important aspect of life.
These major principles that I have learned from these organismal courses are important for my future, specifically anatomy of the human body. I am going to medical school in the Fall, and taking this course before hand helps me to know more about the human body before I get to school, allowing me to feel more comfortable in that subject. Understanding the human body can also help me to diagnose a patient, if they have certain symptoms, because of the way the body functions.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EyTJKmt7C8ROWblmyRcJSLLMSdWMs2e_ScDtbeJrNJE/edit?usp=sharing