Mr. Graham's Grade 11 Life Diversity Test Review

     I jotted down some notes in class as to what Mr. Graham says will most likely be on our test that is scheduled for Wednesday October 14th. Here is a brief review of what he said.
 
Taxonomy: discipline of classifying organisms and assigning each organism with a universally accepted name while organising them into groups that are very similar.
 
Don't forget that it was Carl Linnaeus developed the classification system we use today in 1778. 
 
Everyone should know the 6 Kingdoms (since 1990) and a few basic facts on each:

• Bacteria

-prokaryote
-unicellular
-live nearly everywhere
-reproduce asexually

• Fungi

-eukaryotes
-multicellular
-reproduce sexually
-non moving
-terrestrial
-heterotrophic

• Protista

-mostly eukaryotes
-mostly unicellular
-reproduce sexually and asexually
-live in water

• Archea

-prokaryotes
-unicellular
-reproduce asexually
-found in water
-initially viewed as extremophiles

• Animalia

-eukaryotes
-multicellular
-reproduce sexually
-heterotrophic
-motile

• Plantae

-eukaryotes
-multicellular
-reproduce sexually
-autotrophs 
 
Don't forget you need to know the nationality of the people who discovered the yeti crab!
 
Reproduction:

• Asexual

-binary fission
-1 bacteria cell duplicates into 2 new and identical daughter cells

• Sexual

-conjugation
-there is an exchange of genetic information through the conjugation tube
-no production of daughter cells
-after conjugation occurs binary fission takes over
-creates new combination of genetic material and may create a stronger bacteria cell
 
Penicillin:
 
Remember that Sir Alexander Flemming was who discovered penicillin when he left some samples of mold and fungi out on his desk while he went away on vacation. He noticed a clear area around the mold and it was called penicillium, this substance kills bacteria.
 
Naming bacteria:

 
 Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) - I would direct you to a previous post I have made where you can gather all the information you'll need for the test.
 
Malaria:

• reproduction

-for most of the time the malaria will reproduce asexually
-they can however develop into sexual forms of the parasite called male and female gametocytes.

• where it is found?

-malaria occurs in over 100 countries and territories
-large areas of Africa, South Asia, and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania.
 
Quick fact: did you know that 50% of Canada's mushrooms are produced in Ontario?
 
Rhizopus- black bread mold
 
Scientific name vs. Common name
 
     Scientific names: these help biologists/ecologists to be certain they are discussing the same organisms.
 
     Common names: people have different names for organisms based on the language they speak

ex. dog (English), chien (French), hund (German)

 
 King Phil Came Over For Good Soup.... sounds like a silly sentence but not if it is going to help you with remembering the order of the taxa

• Kingdom

-large taxonomic group consisting of closely related phyla

• Phylum

-a group of closely related classes

• Class

-a group of similar orders

• Order

-a group of similar families

• Family (the name always ends in ae)

-group of genera that share many characteristics

• Genus (always italicised or underlined and capitalized first letter)

-group of closely related species

• Species (always italicised or underlined and capitalized first letter)

-a group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring

Carl Linnaeus

 

Sir Alexander Flemming

Carl Linnaeus: developed the classification system we use today in 1778 (taxa)

 Sir Alexander Flemming: discovered penicillin when he left some samples of mold and fungi out on his desk while he went away on vacation. He noticed a clear area around the mold and it was called penicillium, this substance kills bacteria.
 

Hans Gram

Hans Gram: Hans was the creator of the first test used to classify an isolated colony in 1844. This is the Gram test the bacteria with cell walls bind to the violet dye are Gram +, those that do not retain the dye are Gram -
 
 
 
 
 
 
One final thing to review is what are the advantages and disadvantages of asexual and sexual reproduction!

I hope everyone does well on their tests! I know you guys will be very successful if you have studied and paid attention in class! Good luck and don't stress!
 

How To Use a Dichotomous Key

     Here is a quick video to refresh everyone's memory on how to use a dichotomous key. Mark Drollinger gives us a very good example of how it can be confusing to categorize something such as birds. Remember when using a dichotomous key always start at the top and never skip ahead. These take time and patience but if they are executed properly you can always succeed. 

     Here is a worksheet from http://wwx.inhs.illinois.edu/files/5013/3960/5083/fishkey.gif that can help you practice using a dichotomous key:

Did you know?

Did you know that scientist have classified 2 million species! That's crazy right? Well scientist have estimated that there is a total of  5-20 million living species on this planet! That means that we have only found 10% of the species living with us everyday! What species do you think they will discover next?

Harmful Algal Blooms
St. Lawrence River (2008)

Harmful Algal Bloom in the St. Lawrence River (2008)

     In 2008 a wave of red water swept through the St. Lawrence River killing many water organisms including 15 endangered beluga whales. So what is a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB)? In this case the killer of hundreds of fish and other aqua lovers was a single celled eukaryote that curiously didn't belong to the kingdom of animalia, plants, fungi, or bacteria. This mystery killer is actually a protist that goes by the name of phytoplankton or dinoflagellates. This is just one example of how protists can have dramatic effects on our environment when we least expect it.