Sunflower Update

My sunflower, after about a month of steady growth, has reached its growing capacity within the plastic cup that was provided. I continue to water it and it appears to be doing great. I assume that it will be able to produce the flower once I am able to transport it home and replant it into the ground. 

This is what my sunflower will one day look like.

Standard Operating Procedures

Overview:  We will teach you how to leave Mercer University in your car
Equipment/ Supplies:
Equipment: The equipment you’ll need is a safe car with all of its parts working, especially a seatbelt.
Supplies:  You will need a set of keys to a car, preferably your own car, a comfortable outfit, and a pair of close-toed shoes.
Procedures:
Step One:  Find your car in the parking lot
Step Two:  Unlock your car and get into your driver’s seat
Step Three:  Close your door and put your seatbelt on
Step Four:  Stick your key into the ignition and turn your car on
Step Five:  Put your foot on the break and put your car into “reverse”
Step Six:  Check your rearview mirrors and slowly let your foot off the break in order to roll out of your spot
Step Seven:  Turn your wheel clockwise/ counterclockwise depending on where the exit is
Step Eight:  Once out of the parking spot fully, press the breaks and put the car into “drive”
Step Nine:  Turn your wheel the opposite way it was backing out, and slowly let off the breaks
Step Ten:  Once your wheel is straightened and you are headed towards the exit, let off the breaks fully and you can even press on the gas
Step Eleven:  Once at the exit of the parking lot, make sure you stop/ yield according to the signs provided
Step Twelve:  After following the signs, you are out of the parking lot and on the roads!  CONGRATS!
Quality Control:  Always make sure your car has gas and battery before you drive.  Make sure you remember where you parked so you’re never searching around for your car for too long.  Always take precautions when driving (i.e. checking surroundings and mirrors, following signs, having a plan as to where to go,…)

Animal Testing

Animal testing or experimentation is the use of non-human animals in experiments. These animals include vertebrates and invertebrates, from zebrafish to frogs to mice. The research is conducted inside universities, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, farms, defense establishments, and commercial facilities that provide animal-testing services to industry. Supporters of the use of animals in experiments, such as the British Royal Society, argue that virtually every medical achievement in the 20th century relied on the use of animals in some way, with the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences arguing that even sophisticated computers are unable to model interactions between molecules, cells, tissues, organs, organisms, and the environment, making animal research necessary in many areas. Animal rights, and some animal welfare, organizations—such as PETA and BUAV—question the legitimacy of it, arguing that it is cruel, poor scientific practice, poorly regulated, that medical progress is being held back by misleading animal models, that some of the tests are outdated, that it cannot reliably predict effects in humans, that the costs outweigh the benefits, or that animals have an intrinsic right not to be used for experimentation. An aspect of animal testing that many people can relate to is the testing of cosmetics. I believe that this type of testing is unethical and should be prohibited from practice. 

Phlogiston Theory

Johann Joachim Becher 

The phlogiston theory was first developed in 1667 by Johann Joachim Becher. The theory was an attempt to explain processes of burning such as combustion and rusting of metals. The theory holds that all combustible resources contain phlogiston, a substance lacking color, odor, taste, and mass, which is liberated by burning. Once burned, the "dephlogisticated" substance was held to be in its true form, the calx. Traditionally, alchemists considered that there were four classical elements: fire, water, air, and earth. Becher eliminated fire and air from the classical element model and replaced them with three forms of earth. Eventually, quantitative experiments revealed problems, including the fact that some metals gained weight when they burned, even though they were supposed to have lost phlogiston. Mikhail Lomonosov attempted to repeat Robert Boyle's experiment in 1753 and concluded that the phlogiston theory was false. 

Wiwaxia

The Burgess Shale is a pretty amazing place of historical significance. One of its many unique organisms is the Wiwaxia. Wiwaxia is a genus of soft bodied, scaled-covered animals. These organisms date back to the upper Lower Cambrian to the Middle Cambrian. Their size ranged from 0.13 to 2.00 inches in length. Wiwaxia was a bilaterally symmetrical animal. Seen from the top the body was elliptical with no distinct head or tail. And viewed from the front, or rear, it was rectangular. The wiwaxia's flat underside was soft and unarmored. Little is known regarding the internal anatomy. In addition, it appears that they did not have eyes or tentacles. They had long dorsal spines that may have been a defense against predators. The wiwaxia appears to have crawled on the surface of the sea-floor feeding on particles that that fell from higher levels of the sea. It probably moved via muscular contraction because there are no signs of legs and was probably too large to move on cilia.



     

The Burgess Shale

The Burgess Shale is a monumental  site that has provided paleontologists with access to some of the world's greatest fossils, some of which have never been found before.

Fields Located Near Burgess Shale

Communication Styles

There are many styles of communication. Communication styles include visual, auditory, ways of writing, languages, the arts, body language, etc. Interpretations are the perfect example of successes and failures within the subject of communication, because ideas and thoughts can be conveyed to others differently. This also connects with the idea of clarity of thoughts. Conveying your personal information to others and allowing them to be a part of your understanding allows for the idea of sharing unbiased information. With so many ideas on communicating provides a wider perspective on the whole concept of communication.

Implications of Pangrams

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

"The quick brown fox jumps 
        over the lazy dog."

     As one can assume by observing the picture of an antique typewriter, times have changed drastically. Changes in the form of communication between this typewriter and the modern day computer, phone, or many other electrical devices can be described as revolutionary science, otherwise known as a paradigm shift. These changes in technology have had a significant impact on communication. Whether by email or social blogs, there is easy access to all of the present day's amenities, allowing communication to be more simple than ever.
     The presentations of the pangram (typed, cursive, and all caps)
appeal to different types of visual learning.There is no bad decision when
it comes to deciding how one will record information. It is based primarily on preference. I prefer cursive because it is the most efficient form of writing since one's writing utensil requires seldom separation from the paper. It is important that a person chooses what is best for them; however, the person must also realize that their preference may not be the same as another person. These differences in preference demand adaptation. If one is unwilling or incapable to adapt to another's preferences and style, a barrier to communication may develop and communication becomes very difficult between the two individuals.