1.4 Students will be able to analyze critically and apply the major principles of organismal biology
Goal 1.4 Reflection
In Biology 370 the main goal presented was to introduce the class to organismal biology. I did not do my best in this class due to the extensive midterm and final exam. I did do well in the labs and in class projects though. The lab projects required us to go to multiple areas such as lakes and creeks to analyze the fish living there. We also worked with many aquatic specimens in the indoor labs as well. The main focus of our research was to analyze largemouth bass. We went to Briery Creek Lake in Farmville, Virginia and electroshocked the water to cause all the fish to rise to the surface. We collected specimens with nets and brought them back to the lab with us. We were able to classify the sex, age, health, and growth of the bass through dissection. This lab taught me how to carefully collect and transport specimens. It also taught me different strategic methods to correctly identify certain characteristics.
The next class that introduced me to organismal biology was my genetics 425 class. We were asked to look into eukaryotic genomes of Pilobolus. This class was very different because instead of preforming an experiment and collecting the data on the organism, we were given the information and had to code it into a system. This system allowed us to look at different genetic outcomes of the organism as well as play with the organism’s genetic makeup. This class taught me how to access different scientific databases, code information, and structurally compute different genetic makeups of an organism.
The last class that required us to look at an organism in-depth was my animal behavior class. We had to visual analyze the pill bugs as well as collect previous scientific data on them. This class was a normal class but did require us to use data and collected information to categorize and form a summary on the organisms preferred substrate. This class strengthened my skills in collecting scientific literature and preforming specimen evaluations.
These skills are important if I am working with specific specimens, collecting information, preforming a dissection, or coding. Though all of these skills are important, I do not think I will be using dissection or coding in the future. I plan on working in different conservation efforts and these efforts do not include specimen dissections or coding of genomes. I can use this knowledge to my advantage if need be, but I do not foresee that happening.