Today Year 13 learned about taxes, and practiced answering NCEA questions about imaginary, made up species by using just the cues in the question that they recognized.
To finish the lesson they each made an imaginary critter and made a question about it, to test their classmates understanding of chemo-, gravi-, hydro-, thigmo-, thermo-, photo- taxis.
Here is my critter:
Here is my question:
The colourfloo is an insect with six legs and two wings that flies around and lands on people to paint their nails while they are sleeping. After it paints their nails a fabulous pink colour, it also takes a bite out of the human's finger using it's sharp teeth, then quickly flies away.
What is the environmental stimulus it is responding to?
What is the orientation response it displays?
What is the adaptive advantage for the colourfloo?
Your one confuses me!
ReplyDeleteEnvironmental Cue: Chemical ? Heat?
Orientation: Positive chemotaxis, positive thermotaxis
Adaptive Advantage: These responses might be adaptive to get food, or to avoid freezing at night:)
I might let some other people try answer too before I reveal! I think you're pretty close :) The adaptive advantage is hidden in the question - the benefit that the Colourfloo gets from it's response.
DeleteHi Rita,
ReplyDeleteI am confused too. I am guessing that this is carnivorous and must be attracted to sleeping adults by their body warmth, snoring or perhaps carbon dioxide emissions?
Yep, this colourfloo is attracted to the warmth of a human body, like a mosquito. It is displaying positive thermotaxis. Thermo means heat and positive means towards.
DeleteHi Nicola, have just explored your Taxes and Advantage, well done. Like the use of the fast forward and on screen alerts from a viewers perspective, helped me connect with your reflection and plan that I had read first.
ReplyDeleteWondering if YouTube’s annotations would be useful for this, you can add these directly in the YouTube editor.
By the way…I am beginning to understand taxes in the context of science... will need to watch the video a couple of times before I attempt an answer ;-)