Samantha Brown's Digital Scavenger Hunt :) Set#1

These beautiful flowers bloom in my backyard whenever the weather grows hot. Just like all the other plants within my backyard, this organism exists within kingdom plantae. Plants create their own food through photosynthesis and have rigid cells made of cellulose. :) 

Although debates continue on the subject of taxonomy, most biologist agree on the three overarching domains that exist.This swan has eukaryotic cells which harbor both a nucleus and organelles; Therefore, the swan exists in the domain Eukarya and more specifically belongs to Kingdom Animalia.

This cute, furry creature lives in my backyard with his/her entire family. These creatures are actually groundhogs and when I watch them I notice their behavior. Behavior encompasses everything an animal does and how it does it. Every animal has behavior unique to it's species. I often watch as these groundhogs search for food. They seem to feed upon small white flowers that spurt up in my yard. They frequently stand up on their feet and look around the yard to see if anything is coming. I think they are very clever animals because when I come lurking with my camera they whistle to each other. I discovered that the other members in the family actually  warn each other when danger is near.

My little dog, Hannah, is the result of genetics- the science of heredity. Her mother was a Chihuahua and her father was a Shih Tzu, making Hannah a hybrid. Hannah’s a hybrid because she is the offspring of two different dogs. She definitely inherited the long snout from her mother while her coat seems to result from her father. Her attitude definitely reflects a Chihuahua, she’s feisty as anything. 

Taraxacum, otherwise known as the dandelion exists as the hated weed that invades suburban yards. Quite frankly I like the dandelion, but then again I don’t have to keep up a yard. Anyway, most dandelions reproduce asexually and are just clones of the parent plant; however, some dandelions also reproduce sexually. Since dandelions have both male and female parts, they can pollinate themselves. When they pollinate themselves they look identical to their parent. Dandelions can reproduce sexually as well because insects can still carry pollen from one flower to another. Even more interesting is that if you cut off the heads of the dandelions they will grow back from the taproot. 

This seagull is an organism, an individual living thing. Above this seagull on the hierarchical levels of biological organization is a population, a group of individuals in the same species interacting with each other. A group of seagulls would be an example of a population. A community, all organisms inhibiting the ecosystem, is above population. Seagulls are part of community, along with the fish, clams, mussels, crabs, and other animals that live on coast of Rhode Island. This seagull also lives within an ecosystem, which consists of both nonliving and living organisms. The ecosystem in this scenario is the coast of Rhode Island. The highest level of on the hierarchy is the biosphere which consists of all the parts of earth that can support life. This organisms exists on a life supporting part of the earth. 

Two major processes take place within an ecosystem and one of those processes is the recycling of chemical nutrients. The basic chemicals necessary for life floe from the air to the soil to the plants, to animals and decomposers, and then back to the air and soil. Th soil provides both water and other minerals that plants absorb. Producers, are photosynthetic organism that provide food for the ecosystem. The grass, flowers, and other plants within my yard trap energy from the sunlight and use carbon dioxide from the air, along with water from the soil, to make sugar molecules. Consumers then eat plants and other animals, taking in oxygen and returning carbon dioxide. This bird would be considered a consumer. The decomposers break down dead matter and turn into simple mineral nutrient that the plants can use.

Alcohol has been in existence for a very long time and is made by alcohol fermentation. Alcohol fermentation is the biological process that converts sugars (glucose) into cellular energy and then produces carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. This is considered an anaerobic process because yeast accomplishes the conversion in the absence of oxygen. Alcoholic fermentation occurs in the production of alcoholic beverages, like wine, ethanol fuel, and the rising of bread dough. Wine uses the natural sugars in grapes when fermenting.