Identify and describe the major principles of biology.
Evolution
During my studies at Longwood, understanding evolution has not been the main focal point. However, it’s foundational in learning and truly comprehending evolutionary aspects as it is involved with everything biological. I have only take a couple course pertaining to evolution which include BIOL 251: Intro to Ecology & Evolution and BIOL 330: Conservation Biology. In these courses, we tackled different aspects of evolution. In BIOL 251, we focused on examining evolutionary and ecological theory and application. In BIOL 330, we focused on biodiversity loss and extinctions. In both of these courses, class projects were conducted to analyze what we had learn. Studying Lake Transparency allowed me to look at three separate bodies of water in the Farmville area and see how they changed over time using various equipment. Studying the various biodiversity loss and extinctions allowed me to learn the history and evolutionary changes of various species, such as creating a Recovery Plan for the Snow Show Hare.
Gene Theory
During my studies at Longwood, understanding genetics and gene theory of how all living organisms are composed and controlled by genes was vital in majority of the courses I had taken. A foundational course that strongly established my understanding of genetics would be BIOL 250: Intro to Genetics and Cell Biology. In this course, we spent most of the time understanding the basics of cells and how genetics operates. We focused all of our laboratory work on Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), that produces this green glowing ability within a variety of organisms and studied The Transformation of E.coli using pGLO Plasmid.
Cell Theory
During my studies at Longwood, understanding cells was crucial. As a biology major, correctly comprehending the basic and fundamental building blocks of life sets the stage for understanding complex topics and subtopics within biology. A course that really delved deep into cellular aspects is BIOL 326: Cell Biology. In that course, we explored more complex topics on both a cellular and molecular level. Our studies through this course focused on the Methuselah Gene, but specifically The Longevity and Aging Mediated by FOXO Proteins and The Methuselah Gene.
Homeostasis
During my studies at Longwood, having an understanding of homeostasis was also important and knowing that it includes understanding how environmental factors contribute to the human body maintaining its internal processes. This was prevalent in Anatomy and Physiology. Unfortunately as a Transfer Student to Longwood University, I did not take Anatomy and Physiology courses at Longwood. However, understanding this concept was important in another course, BIOL 315: Invertebrate Zoology. In this course, we learned about various invertebrates and how they functioned and survived, as well as how they are able to do this in the environments they inhabited. Click Here to see the various invertebrates, as well as a Blog post about Octopus and why they are our friends, not food!