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Human Variation & Race Blog

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1.) Heat, as an environmental stressor, can effect the survival of humans by disturbing homeostasis. Human beings are known to be able to adapt to environmental pressures such as extreme heat and extreme cold. Changes in heat that are extreme can cause humans to do multiple things: brain malfunctions, passing out, skin hives, dehydration, and weakness. These malfunctions can cause individuals to have permanent damage mentally and can cause injury from fainting at random moments. Death by dehydration is a possibility making survival very difficult without access to fluids. Extreme changes in heat causes all of these disturbances in homeostasis making survival difficult within specific conditions. 2.) A short term adaptation to changes in Heat would be sweating or perspiration. This can cause dehydration but will cool down the body enough to maintain homeostasis and give a person enough time to find fluids and shade. This short term adaptation is beneficial because it not only cools of...
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Language Blog Post

Part 1:  You were asked to engage in a conversation for 15 minutes where you were not allowed to use any version of a symbolic language (no speaking, writing, or ASL). This assignment was very difficult because speech can be so important getting points across to other people. For this experiment, my girlfriend and I tried having a conversation from start to finish while I didn't use language at all. Beginning the conversation was easy, it started off as a "Hi" and "Hello". She asked me what my name was, as if she didn't know me, and of course I couldn't tell her anything or use sign language towards her so she moved on from the topic. I found that as I didn't respond much besides body language the conversations were short and we ran out of things to talk about quickly. My beautiful girlfriend can talk forever and I love listening so the conversations were me listening to her stories throughout the day. I think my partner in this experimen...
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Piltdown Hoax Blog Post

1.)  In 1912, a small village in England, Piltdown  was given its first look at ancient human fossils, more specifically the human skull of our ancestors. Amateur archeologist Charles Dawson claimed to have found a piece of an ancient human skull. Dawson and other lead scientists at the time made more finds at the gravel pit, then presented their findings to The Natural History Museum. People in the 1900s were fooled along with various other lead scientists for almost 40 years before the truth had come out about the scandal. They deemed the "ancient fossil" Piltdown Man. Piltdown Man, if it weren't a scandal, would have taught us what our ancient ancestors evolved from and why we are the way we are today. It would've given knowledge on brain size and facial structures that we either have now or don't have anymore. If this was not forged, it would have connected humans to apes and established where humans stand in nature. This scandal had...
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Analogy and Homology Blog Post

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  Homologous Traits: In nature, there are animals that possess similarities in the structure of their appendages but differences in how they use those appendages. Homologous traits show a common genetic relationship between two animals from their ancestry. Dolphins are aquatic mammals that are social, possess rubbery skin, and glide through water while being propelled by their large fins. Humans are terrestrial mammals that are also very social, can swim, have a lot of hair for protection against the sun, and enjoy a nice cup of coffee on a cold winter day. The animals I have chose for this blog post are the common, well known, Homosapien and dolphins. You may be wondering, “How could a dolphin and a human have similarities?” Well, both dolphins and humans have an appendage that they use for every day functions that are similar in structure: the arm of a human and the flipper of a dolphin. The homologous trait shared between dolphins and humans are their arms/flippers. The u...
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Historical Influences Blog Post: #1

1.) Alfred Russel Wallace arguably had the most influence over the development of Darwin's theory of Natural Selection. Alfred Russel Wallace was a contemporary to Charles Darwin. I feel as if Russel Wallace was the most influential on Darwin's theory because he found his own research and came to the conclusion of Natural Selection nearly at the same time as Darwin and the two were able to put their ideas together for the concept of Natural Selection. This effected Darwin's theory of Natural Selection because it positively aloud him to get feedback on his ideas and alter his theory based on the work of another person. 2 .) Alfred Russel Wallace contributed to the scientific community by displaying his extensive research on different animals from different nations. He traveled all over the world refining his work. An example of his work would be how he observed the adaptation of Maleos, only found in Indonesia's island of Sulawesi, and how the Maleos have adapted from...
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