Polymers and Monomers Video

Ecological Institutions

Monterey Bay Aquarium:
Level of Organization: Marine Biology/Ecosystems
Location: Monterey, CA
Methods of study: diving, submarines, adventures
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org

Happy Hollow Zoo & Park:
Level of Organization: Zoology
Location: San Jose, CA
Methods of study: taming, animal doctors (vets), trainers, animal studies (ex: eating habits, living conditions)
http://www.hhpz.org

Aquarium of the Bay/San Fransisco's Bay Aquarium:
Level of Organization: Marine Biology
Location: San Fransisco, California
Methods of study: diving, adventures
http://www.aquariumofthebay.org/

Polymer and Monomer Mini-Video

Mako's Video

Monomer & Polymer Mini-Video

Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?

Adrian Mendez

Mr. Bursch

Honors Biology Period 5

27 October 2013

Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?

Bees are considered as sacred organisms by many humans because they give many natural “gifts” such as honey. They also aid in the farming of crops and thus helping humans survive. However, many bees have started to disappear. There are many reasons or theories for their disappearances but it is most likely a collection of all the reasons in a process called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Although the number of disappearing bees is quite drastic, many humans do not seem to notice them disappearing. If humans do not “wake up” to the plight of the bees, then the world could face a greater dilemma. Ways humans can change their  is by beekeeping or helping the bees and by connecting more with nature.

Beekeeping or helping bees can stop the disappearing of the bees because they can survive in their keeping crates and produce honeycombs. Having honey produced can help beekeepers gain a great profit and the bees are not harmed in the process so it is a “win-win” situation. Also, when it is time for most plants to be pollinated, beekeepers can have their bees pollinate them to later collect. Bees are very important with the farming and harvesting of many plants as well as the survival of many organisms. Other organisms rely on bees whether they are plants or animals.

In order for humans to be more connected with nature, they will have to re-adopt customs from

earlier times or be more nature friendly. Since a reason for the CCD is malnutrition, so giving the bees better food can help. Also, being nature friendly would mean that beekeepers should use more natural supplies that are less harmful to the bees. Many bees die off because of antibiotics given to them by their keepers. Bees should also be kept in their area because the long-distance transportation of bees is also a major factor that leads to CCD.

Although many people have already begun to act upon the stopping of CCD, many others should be informed on what is happening and what they can do to help. Some ways humans can help are by polluting less, consume less, and treating bees more naturally by not spraying antibiotics that end up killing them. If this goes too out of hand, humans will be affected dramatically. People will start losing their jobs that involve bees and biodiversity will decrease in our biosphere. If biodiversity decreases, then humans and other organisms will have a difficult time adjusting to the change and learning how to survive.

In conclusion, the Colony Collapse Disorder causes many bees to disappear. Although there are many theories as to what causes CCD, humans are a major cause. To stop this collapse in biodiversity, humans should take accountable what they do in their everyday life and think if it will negatively affect the world around them and to stop a greater issue from coming out of it. Therefor, if humans do not “wake up” and stop this collapse, then the impact will be greater than the current situation.

Works Cited

Colony Collapse Disorder. Wikipedia. 28 November 2013. Web.
How Can You Help the Bees. PBS. 30 Novemeber 2013. Web.
The Plight of the Honeybee. National Geographic. 30 November 2013. Web.
Queen of the Sun. Dir. Taggart, Siegel. 29 November 2013. 2010. DVD.

Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?

Chloe Stothers

Bursch

Biology

2 December 2013

Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?

The bee population is plummeting as a cause of recent human activities.  However, most humans are not aware of this problem or do not seem to think it is very serious.  Bees provide us with many necessary and beneficial materials that have made bees highly regarded for a long time.  These materials may disappear if humans do not start addressing the problem.  Some major factors that might make people “wake up” are the loss of our main food supply and unemployment of hundreds of people.

Decrease of food choices may make people notice the importance of saving the bees.  With the disappearing of bees less and less plants are being pollinated.  If this continues plants will not receive the necessary materials to produce new seeds and fruits.  Plants will slowly start dying off taking with them the majority of our diet.  No flowering plants means very few consumers.  So bee extinction would take away our most of our plant foods and our meat.  Without the proper nutrition humans would also face a downfall that would wipe out virtually all life on earth.

Hundreds of people being unemployed may also make people realize the significance of saving the bees.  Beekeepers would lose their source of income and enjoyment.  Factory workers

for honey and beeswax companies would also face unemployment.  However, not only will it affect the products made directly from the bees.  It would also affect the workers that pick the fruits, vegetables, seeds, and other plants as well as the people who raise livestock and hunt for a living and income.  Even gardeners and botanists would lose business.  Without bees our world would fall into poverty.

However, there may be other reasons that would cause people to recognize the severity of the downfall of the bees.  These may include a fall in the economy after food availability decreases and jobs are lost. Or even loss of biodiversity may alert some people as plant and animal types are lost due to no pollination.

It is amazing how influential these little insects are in our world and lives throughout all of history.  Without these small bugs that people take for granted our whole earth would be in ruins.  In order to save our posterity we must start taking action in saving the bees now.  It may just take loss of food, loss of money, and the end of humanity for people to “wake up” and realize that.  Hopefully we will not lose too much before humans notice the harm done to our future and the future of the earth.

Plight of the Honey Bees Essay

Mako Goldston

Mr. Bursch

Honors Biology, p. 5

29 November 2013

Plight of the Honey Bees

Over the past few years, the population of bees have been declining drastically. Beekeepers in the United States first noticed the bees disappearing in 2006, and over 3 million colonies of bees have died in the US since then  Scientists believe that the bees were abandoning their homes for many reasons, such as pesticides making them sick and having a low food supply.  Scientists call this the Colony Collapse Disorder.  According to nrdc.org, scientists “estimate that nearly one-third of all honey bee colonies in the country have vanished.”  Although bees are responsible for pollinating a lot of the fruits and vegetables we eat daily, such as apples, apricots, almonds, cucumbers, and onions, people do not realize the importance of what would happen if the whole honey bee colony were to die out.  It is said that the United States could lose $15 million worth of crops without bees.  I believe that raising the price of honey and fruits and vegetables pollinated by honey bees, and publishing a lot of articles in magazines and newspapers to raise awareness of the decreasing bee population will make a critical mass of people  “wake up” to the plight of the bees and might make people do something about it.  

Firstly, I believe that raising the price of honey and the fruits and vegetables pollinated by bees would cause people to note the importance of bees disappearing.  Although most people do not know it, honeybees, along with other pollinators, are “responsible in one way or another for the pollination of approximately 100 crops” (foxnews.com). Without pollinators like honey bees, the country would no doubt face shortages of the crops that need pollination after a while.  I think that if the prices of some of these crops are raised, people would complain and protest, and would question why the prices are being raised.  This would make people become aware of the importance and severity of bees disappearing and how we, in theory, cannot survive without them.  Furthermore, if the plight of the honeybees is known enough, we could raise money which could go to research foundations or beekeepers to try to keep population of bees steady, so that they won’t be endangered anymore.

In addition, I think that posting articles on magazines and newspapers about the plight of bees could raise awareness for bees.  Since magazines and newspapers are read by many people daily, an article about bees here and there would not hurt, and people could be shown how crucial bees are to us and the environment.  According to ccpollen.com, “Without [bees], the development of life on earth...would have been much different and the conditions for human development may not have existed.”  This means that humans might have not evolved if honey bees did not exist.  I think that if information like this is emphasized in articles, then people will begin to think about what they can do to prevent more bees from dying.  Also, if the main ideas of the problem are addressed in the article, then people will at least be informed about this issue and hopefully will raise awareness to it.

Some people may say that the plight of the honey bees cannot be helped and that it is not something that can be reversed.  Others may not care about if bees are dying, unknowing of how crucial they are to humans.  However, I believe that if those people read an article about bees in a newspaper or magazine article, they would find that bees are essential to humans, and about how they are disappearing largely.  Also, if they choose to ignore this big issue, they may be the people who are questioning why the fruits and vegetable prices are going up, and will be informed in that way about the honey bees and their decreasing numbers.   Although it may be hard to stop the population of bees from dropping completely, small things can be done to help restore all of the bees, and small things add up.  In this way, raising the prices of food pollinated by bees and writing articles about bees in newspapers and magazines can cause people to “wake up” to the plight of the bees and realize the severity of the problem in time, which is that if bees were to disappear completely, we would be facing a loss of $15 million worth of crops.

In conclusion, many people are not aware of the issue of honey bees going extinct.  In order to make people realize that this is a big problem, prices of the fruits and vegetables pollinated by bees should go up, and articles should be published in newspapers and magazines to “wake up” a critical mass of people.  If the honey bees were to go extinct and we do not realize in time, we could be facing a loss $15 million worth of crops, and food shortages after a while.  Therefore, people need to understand the issue of honey bees and raise awareness for them, so that something can be done to stop the bees from dying.

Sources

• http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/bees.asp
• http://animal.discovery.com/endangered-species/diminishing-bee-populations.htm
• http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572
• http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/07/19/crops-that-would-disappear-without-bees/
• http://www.ccpollen.com/the-importance-of-bees.html
• http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/are-honey-bees-headed-towards-extinction/