#selfreflectiveessay

[lifesci-grp1]

SELF-REFLECTIVE ESSAY - OPISO

And, as seen from the previous quarters, I am still not done with my portfolio, although it is halfway through. So, yes, another reason to pause for a while and think of why and how I came up with this topic.

We have been informed of the more “popular” Homo species from Biology 1 and Social Science 3 – Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Lucy, for example – and those facts led me to my next question, “Were there others?”

Evolution is a random thing; we all know that. You don’t know when it will happen, it just does. And so given that evolution is something unpredictable, that must mean that there were several other species that evolved with us. I mean, if we normally have to make a lot of guesses and make TAE (trial-and-error) before we get the right answer in some insanely, mind-blowing Economics exam, evolution must have been like that as well. There must have been other “errors” or species that survived for a brief period of time but eventually died off because, well, let’s face it – they weren’t as cool as humans are.

And it really made me interested that there really were species like that – two of which are the “hobbits” and the Denisovans. The hobbits, who were really like the tiny beings from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series, were said to have lived in complete isolation in the island of Flores, Indonesia. The Denisovans, however, were the “sister species” of the Neanderthals. Think of the North and South Water Tribe in Avatar: they were separated by geography yet they came from the same ancestor.

Both tribes were said to have lived around the time modern day humans and Neanderthals were killing each other off in Europe 80,000 years ago. However, both outlasted the Neanderthals. In fact, Denisovan genes were said to be present in Melanesian people! Could they have mated?

Actually, there are a lot of issues concerning both species; even calling them species is an issue. Some scientists say that they could’ve been just a subspecies of Homo sapiens since it would’ve been very impossible for them to produce a healthy offspring who can help in repopulating the earth after the Ice Age if they weren’t of the same species. Many things are yet unknown, many questions are still unanswered, but I believe that more advanced techniques will be invented and more answers will be revealed…in the future.

[lifesci-grp1]

SELF-REFLECTIVE ESSAY - CORTEZ

            I made a visual aid that looks like a family tree to show where certain Philippine dialects originated. I was interested in the pidgin and creole discussion, so I decided to apply it to our own language, with the knowledge that the Filipino language has Malay, Spanish, and American influences.

            I was able to look up some Philippine history while doing this portfolio. In doing so, I was able to compare the similarities of our 175 dialects, of which only one is a Spanish creole, Chavacano, which is spoken in Zamboanga. I also found out that 90% of the population speaks at least one of 12 major dialects. Taglish and Bislish (Tagalog and Bisaya with English) are not creoles, however. They are merely code-switched languages.

            I was not able to fit everything into my portfolio. Perhaps if a brochure was added to it, it would guide viewers better, but because of lack of space and lack of time, I was unable to make one. Of course, I was also unable to research on all the major dialects in the Philippines, because that would take an unnecessary amount of time.

            Although this portfolio is not so biology related, it showed how through time, languages developed. In less than 500 years, the language of a small group of islands was transformed. This portfolio left me wondering about thousands of years ago, when our ancestors first developed and expanded their language. Language which led to writing, which led to civilization, which led to where we are now. It’s simply amazing how advanced we our from our ancestors, and it’s even more amazing to find out how we got started.

[lifesci-grp1]

SELF-REFLECTIVE ESSAY - SALEM

Third quarter is a lot more fun than the previous quarters. We have activities, reporting, and documentaries, but we did not have a legit topic discussion this quarter. I had difficulties in finding a good topic for my portfolio because the quarter is full of activities and I don’t have time and resources to replicate the activities and ask my sisters to do them. When ma’am posted the topics, I still have no other choice but to stick with human evolution.

My first topic was about the nine bases of human race and its relation to human migration. It’s a really difficult topic to do and I already used the topic as the overview in our group portfolio last quarter. I will put the basis of human race like the differences in autosomal SNPs, Y chromosome, mitochondrial DNA, and genetic distances in my portfolio and relate it to how first humans migrated to other parts of the world and were isolated from each other forming different human races. When I was doing this, I thought that this might not be considered as a portfolio topic because I “slightly” used this topic in our group portfolio. I shifted my topic to the relationship of languages and human migration. When I was doing this, the Piktochart application underwent server upgrade so I had no choice but to return to Microsoft Publisher. My mom went in my room and told me that my portfolio is so boring to read and it contains maps again. Yes, I’m discouraged to do this and became lazy. I wasted about two hours trying to do this portfolio.

When the servers are up, I can finally do my infographic portfolio. I changed my topic again to the effects of climate to human evolution. This topic was mentioned in the documentary but it only stated that the amount of UV light changed the skin color of humans. When I searched the topic on google, I was shocked that some aspects of human evolution came from climate oscillations. The less stable the climate, the more of the need to adapt and evolve. Also, bipedality and the use of stone tools somehow accelerated the evolution of humans since bipedality enables humans to go to diverse environments and stone tools unlocked more food sources. Humans should adapt to different environments and human teeth should undergo change to diverse food sources.

After doing the infographic, I thought that adding the future of human evolution would be nice since not only nature but also technology shaped humans. The predictions were shocking especially in the part that human feet would only have four toes. I hope that the infographics are clear and a good resource to learn something.

[lifesci-grp1]

SELF-REFLECTIVE ESSAY - OPISO

Just like last quarter, at this moment, I have not yet made my entire portfolio (as our internet connection is really slow), so again I have time to reflect on the portfolio I’m about to make.

I got to this topic weeks before the portfolio was even due because I don’t know, it’s something I have always thought of, too. I may have some experience with that (*wink*) – dating my exact opposite. It’s actually pretty difficult to keep up (and we both agree on that), since some of our differences just drive us both crazy because we can meet halfway, but we’re still stuck in the extremes. But I personally think that this “being opposites” thing is good, since we get to play with our strengths and find someone who can help us with our weaknesses. It’s not some “you-complete-me” nonsense; it’s more of a “we-complement-each-other” thing; and I think these kinds of pairs make a really good team (tested and proven), which can (hopefully) make them last longer.

Okay, back to Bio. Or well, science.

“Opposites attract,” is the one major rule in Physics when comes to electric charges and magnets because of whatever force that determined this property, the positive and the negative tend to approach each other and those with the same signs tend to go away. We know that for a fact. We’ve probably seen that in action so many times now. But is that also the same for Biology?

Throughout this quarter, we have established that mating, even in humans, occurs in random. The only thing different about human mating is that unlike most animals, we actually prefer monogamy, or staying with one partner for the rest of our lives. It’s something we, even as children, are accustomed to. Growing up, most of us have thought about what traits we’d want our “future mates” to have.  Should he/she be pretty? Of the same age group? Kind? Smart? Confident? Do these standards we have set for the opposite (or same) gender have any effects on how we choose mates, or are they just there, doing nothing? Do these standards reflect our own personalities or not? And more importantly, does biology have a say on this?

Now that’s a question to ask.

And apparently, biology does have a say on this. Recent research by Professor Maria da Graça Bicalho of Brazil showed that people with diverse MHCs (major histocompatibility complexes), a genetic region that plays a part in the immune and reproductive systems and is found in chromosome 6, are more likely to become mates than those with similar MHCs. It was said that MHC influences mate selection by having preferences in body odor, which was mentioned in a documentary this quarter as a mechanism for avoiding incest.

In this research, it was said that being genetically different (which also means being different in personality) guarantees genetic variation among children, which is a huge advantage because it ensures that the offspring will be healthy and thus miscarriages can be avoided. And while culture also plays a part in how we choose a mate, it was proven through this research that there is still that subconscious drive that enables us to have a “healthy reproduction” (producing healthy children with better immune systems) by looking for those who are genetically different from ourselves.

…well I’m happy genetics has my back. That’s why I love it so much!

[lifesci-grp1]

SELF-REFLECTIVE ESSAY - CORTEZ

I chose to make a simple visual aid because I wanted to inform others, especially the younger students, about the different patterns of selection using only simple terms and diagrams. I chose patterns of selection because with this topic we can clearly observe the changes of species over time.

            I used the powerpoint that was also used in our lecture as my primary source. Since we discussed the lecture quite a while ago, I was able to refresh my memory. I got the picture that was used in the visual aid from Wikipedia.

Perhaps the hardest part of making the visual aid was the fact that I had very limited time to do it. I was already familiar enough with the topic. I had to manage my time well, only filtering out the important information that I eventually included in my visual aid, while thinking about what design I would create. I chose the right fonts and colors to make it eye-catching to my intended audience.

            The visual aid could have been improved if I had used more sources. My only source was the powerpoint. I could have done more research if I had started the portfolio earlier. It would have helped not only me, but also the readers. I was unable to place any other pictures due to the lack of time. I could have also used a better format for my visual aid. I only used Microsoft Paint for this portfolio. 

[lifesci-grp1]

SELF-REFLECTIVE ESSAY - SALEM

            Second quarter is a bit long and more difficult than the last quarter, but Life Sci for me is a bit short. We had one week of no Life Science classes and I know that we were lagging behind in our lessons. I was so busy that I was not able to do this portfolio two weeks before the deadline. Two days before, I had a problem with my portfolio - I cannot think of a good topic for my portfolio this quarter. Making the portfolio last quarter was easier because it is about evolution, now is about selection. I am not actually a fan of doing human-related topic and I am not comfortable doing topics about attraction and sexual selection. Yes, I am not that comfortable of doing my poster for Life Sci so tried to put “clean and innocent things” instead, making my poster more like an infographic. I am confident that my poster is family-friendly.

            Back to my portfolio, I first thought of doing research about Darwin’s finches. I wanted to do selection topics to Darwin’s finches because I read an article before about the directional selection of the finches after a drought. Also, I found out that a specie of finches, also noted by Darwin, lives in an island near the Galapagos Islands. After hours of researching, I found out that I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, and the topics seems unclear to me so I shifted to another topic. Hardy-Weinberg theory is relatively hard for me since it requires math skills so I took the principle of symmetry as my topic.

            Symmetry might be a relatively easy topic to do that a portfolio should not be about it. Symmetry is an indication of beauty. A face that has the perfect eyes and the perfect smile cannot be perceived as beautiful if the facial features are not symmetrical. I first researched on symmetry in animals and I found out that animal asymmetry is a good topic. I also read about floral asymmetry and my attention was diverted to it. Could floral symmetry make a flower beautiful?

            As we all know, flowers are not meant to please our eyes. They play a vital role in plant reproduction and depends on pollinators to carry their pollen to the stigma of a flower. The importance of symmetry in flowers is to please the eyes of their pollinators. Pollinators do not like asymmetric flowers, just like how people judge other people’s face. There are many varieties of flowers differing in shape, number of petals, arrangement of organs, and complexity. Some flowers have really simple arrangement and some have really complex arrangement that only higher species of pollinators can pollinate them.

            Like my last portfolio, I made this as graphical as possible. Although the hypotheses about floral symmetry is a bit confusing at first (I need to google biological terms, and I have to read a part three times to fully understand it), what really matters is the examples because pictures can explain a thousand of words. I’m not a creationist but God really did make a great job on creating all these stunning flowers to beautify the Earth.

[lifesci-grp1]

SELF-REFLECTIVE ESSAY - OPISO

At this moment, I have not yet made my entire portfolio (as Photoshop is still very alien to me), so I am going to take my time to reflect on why I chose such topic for my portfolio.

The DNA never fails to fascinate me.

It’s not because they are the letters of the odd-numbered letters in my first name, though I find that fact really cool. I’m not also saying this just because it is the current lesson in Biology (and Life Sci) and I think it would earn me a high grade if I did say that. No.

I’m very interested in the DNA because of what it is. Here is a very tiny string full of letters inside the nucleus of each cell in our very complex body, sitting there secretly directing and designing the features of our bodies, not just our outer features but also our inner selves. It’s so strange and amazing that such a small thing can make such a big difference. You see, every person is different because of the differences in their DNA, and these differences are just what, letters?! It’s like making an unintentional typographical error and causing World War III.

Although, I don’t know, it makes me think of humans in comparison to the huge, wonderful universe beyond our solar system. Makes you really think about your actions and problems, right? They’re so, so, so miniscule and insignificant compared to what’s happening outside your galaxy. But does that mean that we shouldn’t solve our problems? Does that mean that we shouldn’t do the weird things humans do like brush our teeth or watch television or write essays like this?

I am also fascinated by this tiny molecule because of the mysteries it still holds. Watson and Crick really did open a storage room full of unknown knowledge that is up to us to explore. And it just leaves us with minds full of questions yet to be answered. They say that only 10% of the DNA is used for protein synthesis. What about the 90%? What are they doing? How come we get some of our parents’ attitudes? Is it because we live and grew up with them, or is it because their DNA is also in our DNA? Why is everything according to probability? What does our DNA say about the relationships of species in the animal kingdom? Does our DNA have anything to do with our emotional intelligence? Is there something in our DNA that makes us human? Does our DNA have sequences that allow us to talk and remember and love and feel and do other stuff?

And speaking of “doing other stuff”, another mysterious topic I would love to find out how it works is the paranormal activities of humans. I mean, sure, we humans are already weird compared to other species, so when we find something weirder than the normally weird humans…that’s something. Scientists can’t even explain the purpose of dreams, what more on telepathy? And does DNA have anything to do with that? “What about the 90%?” I doubt that the 100% of the DNA was created just to use 10% of it for protein synthesis. If the other 90% were junk, then why waste all the time and energy to make them? By the “you lose what you don’t use” logic, we should’ve lost the 90% a long time ago. But we didn’t. So why are they here?

I used that article because I want other people to keep on doing what humans do best (some are even too good at it) – thinking. I want other people to keep on thinking, to create new ideas, to be awed by the wonders of nature. I want to share with them my weird fascination with the DNA. I want to bring out their curious side so that they can keep asking questions. I also want them to use the knowledge they can get from my portfolio to understand things more – to embrace the weird human things that make us human, to appreciate the facial features that our DNA designed and to be inspired by that tiny molecule that makes a big difference but isn’t making a big fuss about it.