Too Selfish to Notice

There are thousands of everyday things that humans do that cause problems for other organisms. People may not realize it, but everytime the trash is taken out the enviroment suffers. That trash will be taken to a landfill where it will accumulate. When the trash is accumulated the trash cannot biodegrade, causing the trash to continue piling up. Cutting down trees causes huge problems to organisms because trees are homes for these living creatures. Humans still insist on cutting them down for paper, or other goods. These two examples are part of many that humans do to effect the planet.
One major problem is the introduction of non-native species. Non-native species have few to none natural predators. This causes no control on how fast the population will grow. Eventually, the rise in the number of the species will out-compete native species and cause them to die out. Humans should wake up and realize that there is more to this planet then just our species. The more harmful things the human race does, the less resources we will have.
For example, bringing in new species into a habitat could cause an important species to die off. This could cause an enormous growth in plants, and throw a food web off balance. Think of it as dominoes, when one does not fall nothing else works properly. Human activity is much like this.
Several things can be done, but the most important : be aware.

Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers, too.

Controversies in Science

Evolution.

Every single bingle thing in this unit, I am excited for. I've always been so interested in evolution!!! Life in itself is so fascinating, and the fact that all of us have cells that belonged to other organisms excites me! I'm pumped to learn the theories.

Enzymes and Metabolism.

Not too excited for this unit. This particular thing doesn't strike me fancy. I'm sure it will be interesting... but I could take or leave this unit.

All in all.. this whole class should be great and there is not a whole to complain about.

Fun in the Garden

Over the summer,

I volunteered at Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. I worked a majority of my time in the Children's Garden. I spent hours doing many activites with the children to enhance their knowledge of the animals and the enviroment around them. Some activites included: dressing up as animals and teaching them the noises they made and what they ate, polishing petoskey stones, identifying what every day things are made of (example: pennies out of copper), and looking/digging for fossils. This experience was one of the main reasons of why I was so excited for AP Biology.
After the first week of the class, we learned about animal behavior. This past weekend I worked again in the children's garden and I payed close attention to how the many animals interacted with each other. There were chipmunks and squirrels that interacted together. It was interesting to watch how these two animals collected their food and navigated through trees. I feel like this class is going to help me to appreciate nature more, and most importantly---pay attention.
In my opinion, the human race as a whole is blind to the beautiful world around us. We are either too busy checking facebook, playing angry birds, or watching a marathon of a reality TV show. Sitting in the children's garden, I was always disappointed to watch families. The little kids would always be so excited. They would run in and start shouting, "Mommy, Daddy!! Look at that! Look at me! Look at the flowers! Look at the bumblebees! Bzzzzzz!!! Mommy!? Daddy!?" The parents would barely glance their way before saying, "Mmm.. cool honey." What? To my shock, they would be on their phones texting, tweeting, facebooking, etc. I now understand the small minds of so many individuals of this generation. Many times, I would find myself interrupting families and getting the parents involved. I think it would surprise many people at how rude the parents were to me. The kids, of course, loved it. The world cannot be a better place if technology is going to be abused like this. When families plan a day in the nature, they should plan a day without technology to the social world. Open your eyes and smell the flowers! Enjoy nature. Seriously, it's prettier than technology anyways.

Entry One - All About Me.

Hey there. If you don't already know everything about me, here is a brief overview!

My name is Elizabeth, but people call me Barber or Liz. I respond to both of those. I will not respond to Lizzy or Beth. So, please refrain from using those to get my attention. I live at home with my two parents, younger sister, a cat, and a dog. In my free time I am usually reading or writing. I love mystery and suspense books. I keep a ongoing pen-pal with a friend from California, and I also write short stories. If I am not doing either of those, I am playing music. I play three intruments (clarinet, flute, and saxaphone) and this year I have the honor of being the Marching Band Drum Major. I take music very seriously! More with band, I am enrolled in Wind Ensemble (Advanced Band) and I will play clarient in that class. In the upcoming season I will be traveling to Disney with the band! I am also a part of the Music Ambassadors of Michigan and this summer I will be traveling to Europe for the month of July. I am super excited to be able to travel the world while expanding my muscial knowledge! Other quick things you should know: I'm sarcastic. Some people think I'm rude, but I'm just honest. When I'm quiet I may be thinking up an devious plan. Finally, I love to learn.
My future goals may seem extreme to some (most) people, but I think that they are fun and exciting. My goal is to become a Chemical Engineer. If you do not know, this field is one of the harder engineering careers and requires alot of education in both chemistry and physics. ChemE's take the work of a chemist and make it at a larger scale so that the whole world can benefit their findings.
I am enrolled in AP Bio because after college I hope to work in pharmaceuticals and deal with medicine. I feel that AP Bio may help me to better understand the things I may need to know. If I'm wrong, oh well! I'll still learn a ton and make myself a very well-rounded individual.

That's All Folks!