Aubree's Evolution Blog

 A phylogenetic tree is a diagram that represents how life on Earth is all connected to one another. It is called a tree because the diagram looks like a tree. It looks as if it has a trunk and branches. The trunk of the diagram represents the first common ancestor from the group of organisms that are being looked at.   There are a few different types of phylogenetic trees and today we are going to look at 2 different types, monophyletic and paraphyletic.  There is an example of a phylogenetic tree below. You can see at the left side of the picture that there is a trunk and the diagram extends into branches. This diagram is showing how water living creatures are related to one another.  This tree is a monophyletic tree. All of the groups connect at a point somewhere on the diagram. This shows that they all have a single common ancestor.   This phylogenic tree is a paraphyletic tree. A paraphyletic tree shows how a group of organisms are related but it leaves out...

I never put together that evolution occurs at two different scales but it makes complete sense to me. It makes sense that the type of evolution that takes a longer time would be different that one that takes a shorter time. Macro evolution is evolution that occurs over a long period of time. An example of this could be how a certain species has changed over the course of the species history. Micro evolution takes place in a shorter time frame. An example of this is how a bacteria can mutate to become resistant to antibiotics. The timeline of Earth's history was quite surprising to me. The video really put into perspective how long the Earth has been around and how long it took for the major advancements to take place. It was surprising how long it took for oxygen to appear on the planet. It was also interesting to see how quickly life began to diversify after the ozone layer was created. The diversity of different kinds of animals came relatively quickly after one another. Seeing h...

 I thought the lecture about learning was very informative. I have heard my whole life that I was "cut out" for this or not "cut out" for that. I think that anyone can learn anything but it takes a lot of hard work and motivation. The Ted-Talk that we watched was interesting as well. I have always said that I am a slow learner and a slow test taker, so I liked hearing a positive view about learning slowly. I am also someone who has always said that I am not a creative person. I have been trying to increase my creativity and I started to paint a little bit this summer during my free time. I really enjoyed this because I felt that I was working an area of my brain that I don't usually work. Painting made me feel good and I noticed that once I got an idea to paint something more ideas started to pop into my head. I am hopeful that painting is going to be something I can incorporate into my downtime this semester.  The "What is Science?" lecture made me th...

 My name is Aubree Van Meter and I am a senior at Oklahoma State University. I am majoring in Biology and minoring in Microbiology. My goal is to one day be a physician!  I love animals, plants, and really all living things. My favorite animal is the sea turtle and I have a small but growing plant collection in my house.  I got my first plant over 3 years ago and he is doing great :) I love being in the ocean and have a dream to learn how to surf !!  I love being outside, going to concerts, and hanging out with my friends.  This cactus was my first plant!