Lauren C's Scavenger Hunt

Autotroph- An autotroph is an organism that can produce its own food. It does not need to feed off of others in order to live, it can provide for itself. They use energy (light/sun) to produce their food. This flower shown is an example of an autotroph because it takes in sunlight and food/water from the soil they are in to make their own glucose. 

 Population - A population is group of organisms that belong to the same species. Within a population, the organisms should able to successfully interbreed to produce offspring. In the picture of the ant hills, you can see that there is a population. All the ants are living together. They are also able to interbreed with one another to produce offspring.

 Eukaryote- This is category that contains plants, animals, protists, and fungi. These organisms contain cells with a membrane enclosed nucleus and other organelles that are enclosed by a membrane. This growing mushroom is categorized as an fungi which is part of the group, eukaryotes.

 Genetic Variation within a population - As said before, a population is a group of organisms living near one another that belong to the same species. They can interbreed and produce offspring. However, they may not all look the same. This is where genetic variation comes in. As shown here, my two cats, Peter and Cricket, are both the same species, but they do not share the same genes. This causes them to have different physical features. Their color and texture (fur) are different from one another. This in turn is genetic variation within a population.

Flower Ovary- A structure which can sexually reproduce in flowers. This structure is found is female flowers. In order to reproduce, pollinators need to come and spread the pollen that the flower produces. In this flower, an ovary can be found in it which helps produce offspring.

Pollinator- A pollinator helps a flower spread its pollen in order for the plant to reproduce. In this picture, the bug will go from flower to flower not only picking up the pollen, but spreading it too. This leads to fertilization and reproduction. 

Seed dispersal (wind, water, animal)- Seed dispersal is seen when flowers need to distribute their seeds. The wind can blow the seeds to land and grow in another location. Water can play into seed dispersal by carrying the seeds down a stream or river. Animals can brush up against the flower picking up the seeds and taking it somewhere else. In this picture of the dandelion, when it develops and it needs its seeds to be dispersed, wind, water, or animals can help spread its seeds.

Unicellular organism- A unicellular organism is single celled and has simple structures. In this picture of the lake, the algae floating is a unicellular organism. Algae is unicellular because they lack the structure that would make it a multicellular organism. 

Amniotic egg- An amniotic egg is an egg which contains an embryo inside. Believed to be a snake, this egg contains an embryo and a yolk sac, making it amniotic. 

Animal that has a segmented body-An animal that has a segmented body has separate body structures. This spider has a head and it has its separate lower body (cephalothorax and the abdomen).

Cuticle layer of a plant - The cuticle layer is a waxy covering on a plants' stem/leaves and acts as a protective layer to prevent desiccation. As shown on these leaves this waxy layer appears shiny. This will protect the leaves. Some, like poison ivy, can irritate the skin of those that touch it. 

Gymnosperm - A gymnosperm is a plant that bears seeds without any covering or protection for it. A pine tree is an example of this. The pine cones on the tree have no covering around them and they are vulnerable to weather and animals. 

Bilateral symmetry - When a body form has a central longitudinal plane with two equal and opposite halves. This dragonfly shows this because if you were to fold it in half the sides with mirror each other and line up with one another. 

Angiosperm - An angiosperm is a plant that has covered seeds. This plant has its seeds inside this covering to protect them from the elements around. This is the opposite of the gymnosperm. 

Niche - These frogs are considered to be living in a niche. A niche is the species' use of the abiotic and biotic factors in its environment. These frogs are currently living in my neighbor's pool that currently is serving as a pond. The frogs are living on the pool noodle and the sides of the pool's walls. There are also other creatures living in the water including water bugs, and water spiders. 

Dominant VS. Recessive Phenotype -  A dominant phenotype is a gene that shows up more often while a recessive phenotype shows up less often. In this case, brown eyes are dominant over blue eyes. The eyes on the left are brown and the ones on the right are blue. Fewer people are shown to have blue eyes than those who have brown eyes.  

Batesian Mimicry - This is a type of mimicry in which a harmless species appears dangerous to predators. This butterfly is innocent, but its coloring and patterns may make predators think it is harmful. This helps the butterfly survive in its surroundings.

Pollen- Pollen is a sort of dust that is produced by plants. It contains sperm in order for fermentation. As shown here, pollen is easy to pick up which is good for the plant when it needs pollination.   

Ruminant- An animal that has a digestive system made for herbivorous diets. This sheep eats hay, grass, and other plants. This makes it an herbivore, or ruminant.

Endotherm - An endotherm is a mammal that uses metabolic heat to maintain stable body temperature. The dog, Rosie, shown here is a mammal. She needs to use metabolic heat to keep a healthy body temperature. 

Heterotroph- An organism that feeds off of other organisms in order to live. This bear, although is stuffed, ate fish and meats in order to live. Unlike a plant, the bear could not produce its own food.

Hydrophobic - When something is hydrophobic, it does like to mix with water and the substance tends to form droplets in the water. As shown here, the oil is not mixing in with the water and has formed bubbles or droplets in the water below it. 

Parasitism - The relationship between two organisms in which one benefits and the other is harmed. In this picture of the mosquito, the mosquito benefits by feeding on it's victim's blood and leave the skin irritated or can pass diseases that it picks up. 

Exoskeleton - The shell or hard encasement of an animal that provides protection for its insides. This shell of this horseshoe crab is an example of an exoskeleton because it protects what's on the underside of it.

Detritovore - A detritovore is a consumer that obtains its energy from nonliving material; a decomposer. A worm will eat anything nonliving, like cow manure, which makes it considered a decomposer. Worms can eat organic matter including fallen leaves, and others can also eat what may be living in dirt, like fungi and algae. 

Spore - A spore is a haploid cell that will grow into a multicellular organism. This acorn could eventually grow into an oak tree. It is considered a spore because it will grow into a multicellular organism; the oak tree.

Coleoptiles - The covering of a young root of the embyro of a seed of grass. Although not pictured, this grass was grown from a coleoptile. The seed was planted in the ground and after being well nourished, grew into grass. 

Xylem - Vascular plant tissue consisting of tubular dead cells that take in most of the water and nutrients to be delivered to the rest of the plant. If we were to disect this root and magnify what's inside, we could see the xylem. The roots take in the water and nutrients and then it goes through the xylem and to the rest of the plant.

Homeostasis - The body's way of maintaining a constant and stable condition. This can be seen through thermoregualtion, process by which animals maintain an inside temperature that is safe. The skin does this and keeps the organs inside warm. The skin prevents the flow of heat between the environment and the animal. Any type of skin is capable of doing this. This is all part of homeostasis.

Adaptation of an animal - In this picture here, this fruit fly, along with many others, are living in my house. In order to survive in this environment they need to find nutrients. They are living off of whatever may be on my kitchen counters or anything they can find. This is an example of an adaptation of an animal.