Cattle are selectively bred to encourage characteristics that the breeder wants to enhance. These might include greater muscle mass, thicker fur for survival in colder conditions or higher milk production. In the case of the Belgian Blue cattle in the following video the breeder is trying to enhance ‘double muscle’ to produce cattle for showing …
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Category:Biology
Oily Fish…
I have eaten a lot of tinned sardines this week. Call me crazy but a warm baguette filled with good cheese and four oily sardines makes a great lunchtime snack. I prefer the ones packed in oil to the ones packed in tomato sauce but I am prepared to be open-minded on the issue. As …
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Plant Nutrients Part One…
I have often mentioned the importance of nitrogen (in the form of nitrate) to the growth of plants. It gets mentioned pretty regularly in the questions after several posts and when I wrote about crop circles, Fritz Haber and Norman Borlaug. Plant nutrients often appear as part of exam questions so please forgive me if …
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Biological Catalysts…
A catalyst is a substance that enables (or speeds up) a chemical reaction without itself being altered by that reaction. Catalysts, therefore, are not used up as they influence a reaction. Enzymes are biological catalysts – in other words catalysts that operate within living things. The names of enzymes are usually made by putting -ase …
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Genetics Videos…
These videos might help to remind you a little about the genetics we have discussed in class.
The Greatest Show On Earth…
Another Symphony of Science video but about Evolution this time. The two other SOS videos I have posted are here and here.
Dinosaur Symphony…
Here is a Symphony of Science video/song about dinosaurs. . Questions… To which taxonomic group did dinosaurs belong? For how many years did dinosaurs dominate the planet? When did the Jurassic Period start? How fast was the object that probably wiped out the dinosaurs travelling when it struck the Earth?
Plant Cells v Animal Cells
It would be very helpful if you could draw a labelled diagram of a typical animal cell and of a typical plant cell. You probably won’t be asked to draw one in an exam but knowing that you can will give you the confidence to answer questions about cells. Everything above should be fairly familiar …
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A Specialised Animal Cell…
Eukaryotic cells contain organelles like a nucleus or mitochondria. Prokaryotic cells include things like bacteria that do not have separate structures within them – that is why they are so much smaller. Signals are carried around the body by nerve cells (more properly known as neurones or neurons). The myelin sheath accelerates the impulse (the …
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A Specialised Plant Cell…
A root hair cell is a typical plant cell in that it has a cell wall and a large vacuole, but it has a special shape to increase its surface area making it very effective at absorbing water. It doesn’t have chloroplasts because it is underground where there is no light. The root hairs emerge …
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