January | 2016 | Our connected world

Glimpse of the Ocean

Posted on January 20, 2016 by bremedios16

My AP Bio team, the ESA team, and I went on a field-trip to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Half Moon Bay and worked with the LIMPETs program. There we explored tide-pools and saw different critters of the ocean. I would have to say that my favorite animal was the Giant Green Anemone. I don’t really know why I like this creature but I just like its squishy feature and out of all the creatures, I was able to see the most movement from this big guy. It was also fun to touch these sea anemones and then see them start to close up and occasionally squirt out water when we squeezed them a little. I also enjoyed observing the aggregating anemones which are generally shown crowded together and I was able to capture some that lined up in a rock crevice.

With the Giant Green Anemone:

With the Aggregating Anemones:

My favorite plant was the coralline algae. I just think the coralline algae are so pretty and I never thought “algae” could take on different forms and textures. It was also interesting to see tar spot algae. To just think that what looks like a tar stain on a rock is actually a plant just blows my mind.

I have never snorkeled before or dived before and so it was great to be able to see these ocean animals and plants that I have only seen in documentaries and pictures. It is one thing to see what they animals and plants look like, but it is another to feel their texture.

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I also really enjoyed exploring with others. In groups, we collected data that will be used by scientists to understand how the environment of the tide-pool and the impacts that climate change and other factors might have on certain species in that region. We used tools called quadrats placed at different points along a measurement tape that went from the beginning of the rock and beach to the ocean and counted the amount of species found in the quadrats.

We also collected data of specific species in different outlined areas. At first, we counted the number of giant green anemones and sunburst anemones in an outlined area because scientists wanted to see how climate change is specifically affecting the occurrence of these species in this region. Apparently, sunburst anemones are native to South America and they have started migrating north because temperatures have started rising due to climate change and they needed a more suitable environment. Then we counted the number of starfish in an outlined area because recently these poor have been subject to a disease where they waste away known as Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. Scientists want to be able to see the certain starfish that survived out-breaks of this disease and study how they were able to survive.

Overall, I really enjoyed this trip. It was great getting fresh air and exploring different creatures that you would find under the ocean. I highly would recommend exploring tide-pools to anyone interested in the ocean and I am definitely coming back.

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Here are two videos that give views of the site we were at, one is a panorama and one is a video of the ocean.

Panorama

Ocean

Here are two more videos of the AP Bio and ESA teams exploring at the site:

I am initially twirling in a bed of rockweeds in this video:

What is “eating healthy”?

Posted on January 13, 2016 by bremedios16

Food as everyone with common sense knows is a necessity to live. What most people don’t know is how to fit the image of “eating healthy”. Food brands constantly make people guess about what is “nutritious”, what is “healthy”, and advertise in order to make a profit and not necessarily to give people the right idea. What is actually good for you to eat is lost behind the bold labels such as “Fat Free” and “Low in cholesterol”. So what does “eating healthy” really mean and how can you eat healthy?

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Well, PBS published a documentary called In Defense of Food that talked about the food industry and what it really means to eat. Some things I took away from this video were astonishing statistics. Apparently the video claimed that 60% of the American diet is processed foods. In addition, around 50 years ago, 1 in 100 people developed Type 2 Diabetes (this disease’s cause is heavily linked to diet), but now 1 in 3 develop Type 2 Diabetes in their lifetime. It is crazy to think how what we are putting into our mouths can cause diseases.

In addition, In Defense of Food talked about the concept of “nutrients” and “vitamins”. They claimed that everyone nowadays is so concerned with taking the right amount of vitamins and making sure you get the daily amount of nutrients. But by taking the image of food and reducing it down to nutrients, you not only take out the enjoyment of food, but you over analyze food. The video talked about how there are phenomenons where people heard rumors of a particular nutrient being bad and cut back on that nutrient to supposedly be “healthier”. There was the idea that protein was bad for you and you needed to cut back based on some studies that talked about how cardiovascular disease is related to the intake of too much protein. However, reducing significantly on a certain nutrient does not make you healthier, in fact it makes you more unhealthy. Every person needs a stable amount of different nutrients to be healthy. So while it might have seemed like a good idea to avoid cardiovascular disease by not eating protein, people opened the door ways for other potential harms.

We see this today with the idea of “fat”. Is fat bad for you? NO!!! Without fat, people would not even be alive. That is not the right question to ask. The right question is “Is too much fat bad for you?” and the answer to that would be yes; over-eating is never a good option, but you need to eat a bit of everything to maintain balance. This idea of fat free escalated so much so, people avoided the consequence of sugar. People would see, let’s say, a box of Oreos that says “FAT FREE”, but would miss the overwhelming number of carbs. As a result, they would buy this box and indulge themselves, thinking “I am being healthy eating less fat.” but in actuality they were over-eating sugar. There is an evident correlation between fat intake and Type 2 Diabetes. Scientists have seen with the lowering of fat intake, people are subconsciously indulging in sugar and this is linked to a rise in Type 2 Diabetes.

Fat free red rubber stamp vector for food nutrition concept

So what is the plan? How are we supposed to be healthy? How are we supposed to reduce Type 2 Diabetes and other diseases related to diet? The answer is:

We have got to be balanced and focus on making eating greens a regular part of our diet. According to In Defense of Food, every additional fruit and veggie serving decreases stroke by 4% and heart disease by 5%. The change has to start with you. So be healthy.

Check out this cute tortoise who knows the importance of green and devote yourself to eating something green today!

Works Cited

Hoyos, Matthew. Timelapse of Tortoise Eating by Matthew Hoyos. YouTube. N.p., 24
Jan. 2012. Web. 9 Jan. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKGVoXX4jug>.

Genetics Innovation Inc.’s Presentation of Huntington’s Disease

Posted on January 8, 2016 by bremedios16

In my AP Bio class, we worked on a Genetics Health Symposium. I decided to pose as a representative of a made-up company called Genetics Innovation Inc. and advocate for people to take up new methods of treatment sponsored by our company. At the same time, I worked on explaining the different aspects of Huntington’s Disease.

Below is a link to the voicethread which I used to create my presentation:

https://voicethread.com/app/player/?threadId=7368309

Chase Your Dreams, Push the Limit

Posted on January 5, 2016 by bremedios16

Diana Nyad is a woman who lead a Ted Talk called Never Give Up! that focused on her life-long dream to swim 100 miles from Cuba to Florida. Her dream was difficult, something never achieved before, and every time Nyad re-attempted her dream, she was significantly older. It is mind-blowing to see someone who failed when they were young just through effort is able to achieve that same dream when they were older. You would think becoming older would make achieving a dream harder, but it is just a mind-set. With perseverance and effort, you can truly achieve anything.

Diana Nyad (Age 29 in 1978)

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Diana Nyad (Age 29 in 1978) Diana Nyad (Age 64 in 2013)

Nyad inspires me to work hard to pursue my dream of learning Spanish. Even though I have spent ample time in school from middle school through high school learning the language, I am no where near an expert. In some of my classes, I had teachers who were hard to understand but now, I am at a difficult transition. I am in a high level class and a great amount of knowledge about the language is expected of me. I am required to converse adequately, understand native speakers who talk really fast, and write essays in a timed setting. I always feel like learning Spanish is hard but I know that for everyone, learning a second language is always hard. I always freeze when I am about to speak because I am unsure of certain conjugations and do not want to look foolish. I always believe I will learn the language someday, but that day seems like it would be when I am much older and close to death. I do doubt that I will be able to converse properly within the next few decades, but I still hope. I want to be able to use my knowledge of the language to not only help me in my career, but allow me to explore the world. I became interested to learn Spanish because Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages today beside English. With Spanish under my belt, I would be able to travel and truly immerse myself in cultures of different Spanish-speaking countries.

Found on Free Images on Bing; Link: http://www.stepmap.com/landkarte/map-of-spanish-speaking-countries-1250104.png

Even with my doubts, I know that doubting will prevent me from achieving my dream. If I truly want to achieve my dream, I have to chase it and push the limit. That is why I have decided to dedicate more time each day to just talking with others and remembering new words. With my efforts everyday to work hard at learning the language, I know that I will be able to master it and when I do, I will have my efforts as well as Diana Nyad’s inspiration to thank.

Diana Nyad is someone who is not only inspirational, but is someone who truly understands the meaning of perseverance. She does not let society’s standards dictate what she can and can not achieve. She had her dream, pushed for it four times, and eventually took hold of it. Her determination is a message to us all that you can let it go, you can’t abandon your dreams, even if the odds are against you, even if you feel you have reached your limit, you have go forward and fulfill your dreams because your dreams are part of you, part of your identity and purpose and without them you can’t be happy.