Self-tutoring about biology: the tutor mentions the idea of a biome. A biome can be imagined as a type of region on Earth where the biological conditions – climate, nutrients, and even perhaps landforms – are similar in some defining …
Self-tutoring about plants one notices: the tutor connects a plant from childhood with an article he read. I recall, as an elementary-school-aged kid in P.E.I., noticing a lot of plantain. It seemed to grow easily there along the margins of …
Canadian Geography, botany, retrospect: soil tendency Read more »
Self-tutoring about identifying plants in the field: the tutor mentions entire-leaved gumweed. I live maybe two kilometres from the seashore, but seldom go there. When I do, I notice plants abundant there, but not in my neighborhood. A few days …
Self-tutoring about plant identification: the tutor mentions stonecrop. Due to unusual (yet pleasant enough) circumstances, I’ve been walking around town lately. Not that I mind walking; I just usually don’t venture through those places. Yet, I used to, around 25-30 …
Self-tutoring about hormones: the tutor mentions leptin. The following is my understanding. Leptin, it seems, is produced by body fat. Its purpose is to suppress hunger: when the system is working correctly, a certain level of leptin stops appetite, while …
Self-tutoring about plant identification in nature: the tutor mentions vanilla-leaf. Vanilla-leaf is a distinct plant one tends to see in the forest around here. As the guide says, it has fan-shaped leaves near the ground, typically three. As I recall, …
Self-tutoring about trees one encounters: the tutor mentions an ash tree he saw. One of the fun things about visiting Victoria is its variety of trees. We visited there Saturday (see my post here), where we parked at a city …
Self-tutoring about trees one sees: the tutor mentions an apple tree. When possible, I walk places. Near where I live, therefore, I might pass quite often. Yet, I hadn’t noticed a certain apple tree, until yesterday. During fall, winter, and …
Tutoring biology, terms are important. The tutor mentions saprophyte. In biology, a saprophyte is an organism that feeds on nonliving organic matter. For instance, mold on bread is acting as a saprophyte. Source: Ritter, B., Coombs, R.F., Dyrsdale, Dr. R. …
Tutoring biology, definitions are important. The tutor distinguishes between autotroph and heterotroph. An autotroph produces its own chemical energy (in the most familiar case, by photosynthesis), while a heterotroph gets its chemical energy from another organism, dead or alive. Plants …