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 …
Self-tutoring about biology: the tutor mentions some surprising family members. In my recent reading, I’ve learned that cashew, smoke bush, and poison ivy are all in the same family: Anacardiaceae. Interesting, eh? themarthablog.com scientificamerican.com
Tutoring biology, life cycles come up. The tutor mentions a fern one. Ferns are vascular plants. As is typical with plants, they undergo alternation of generations (see my post here). However, how that works can be surprising for some plants. …
Tutoring biology, terms come up. The tutor mentions two connected with reproduction in fungi. In some fungi, both asexual and sexual reproduction can happen. Asexual reproduction can be done by undergoing mitosis to produce spores which will be released into …
Biology: mitosporagium vs zygosporangium, part 1 Read more »
Self-tutoring about trees: the tutor mentions an observation that’s confused him, with a possible explanation. Numerous red oaks grow around here. They are beautiful trees for lining the streets; their leaves turn familiar, attractive colors in the fall as one …
Tutoring biology, terms come up. The tutor mentions assortative mating. Assortative mating is the situation where individuals choose mates “similar” to themselves. With humans, one could imagine this as tall people choosing other tall people as mates. Technically, it’s phenotype …
Tutoring biology, terms about evolution come up. The tutor mentions convergent evolution. Convergent evolution is the process in which species that aren’t related, nor similar, develop corresponding facilities. An example often given is flying: honeybees and hummingbirds can both fly, …
Tutoring biology, extinctions might come up. The tutor mentions a lesser, yet still important, one. There are five known mass extinctions recorded during Earth’s existence; the Pleistocene isn’t one, but a “lesser” extinction. It led to the end of such …