Green Energy: Can We Save the Planet and Save Birds? Wildlife-smart wind power may be as close as it gets to "green energy. " But over vast swaths of America, the "smart" part is still more hot air than reality--especially when it comes to raptors. By Ted Williams Published: March-April 2014 "All wind projects, no matter where they are, kill birds. The questions become how many, what kinds, and is the mortality 'acceptable'?
" So declares wind developer Christian Herter, president of the Massachusetts-based Linekin Bay Energy Company. An accomplished birder himself, Herter also has impeccable credentials as an environmentalist. For such a non-polluting energy source, wind has become surprisingly divisive within the environmental community. When I asked Herter how wind developers can serve both masters, he offered this: "There will always be some form of conflict between renewable-energy projects and wildlife, but that conflict can be minimized with a little common sense. The U.S. Children Resemble Their Parents :: DNA from the Beginning. Since the beginning of human history, people have wondered how traits are inherited from one generation to the next. Although children often look more like one parent than the other, most offspring seem to be a blend of the characteristics of both parents. Centuries of breeding of domestic plants and animals had shown that useful traits — speed in horses, strength in oxen, and larger fruits in crops — can be accentuated by controlled mating.
However, there was no scientific way to predict the outcome of a cross between two particular parents. It wasn't until 1865 that an Augustinian Monk named Gregor Mendel found that individual traits are determined by discrete "factors," later known as genes, which are inherited from the parents. Chapter 15 ~ Benchmarks Online ~ Project 2061 ~ AAAS. The references that follow are organized to match chapters and sections of Benchmarks, which in turn mostly match those of Science for All Americans. The list is very selective and includes only those references that met two criteria. One was relevance—some excellent papers were not included because they did not bear on one of the Benchmarks topics. The other criterion was quality—papers, however relevant, were bypassed if they were seen to have design flaws or their evidence or argument was weak. Even then, however, not all relevant and good papers are included.
It will immediately be clear that mathematics and the physical sciences have had the benefit of many more studies than have other fields. Research Findings for Chapter 5: The Living Environment Several areas related to The Living Environment have received considerable research attention over recent years. Classification of organisms Meaning of the words "animal" and "plant" Living and nonliving Relationships between organisms Food. Species Guide Index.
MBGnet. Life Science | Bottle Biology. Life Science | Session 5. Learning Goals Natural variation During this session, you will have an opportunity to build understandings to help you: Recognize how populations vary with regard to inherited traits Distinguish between DNA, chromosomes, and genes Relate genes to variation in populations Describe the process of adaptation through natural selection Video Overview How is it that life always seems to find a way?
Changes–both large and small–are ever-present in the environment that surrounds life. But despite sometimes extreme challenges to survival, life forms persist from generation to generation. Video Outline Where do we find variation in the living world? Dr. As a contrast to natural selection, Dr. And Bottle Biology returns as Dr. Life Science | Session 6. Learning Goals Which skull is a lizard and which is a snake? During this session, you will have an opportunity to build understandings to help you: Define what is meant by “species.” Describe how new species evolve as a result of variation and adaptation through natural selection. Comprehend a tree of life as a model for depicting evolution and the relatedness of species. Video Overview What makes a snake a snake, and a lizard a lizard? Video Outline Deep within the basement of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, there is a treasure trove of life forms ready for study.
Dr. Dr. A tree of life is introduced as a model that portrays how scientists think life on Earth evolved, and a scenario for vertebrate evolution is described. Transitional forms. Transitional forms Fossils or organisms that show the intermediate states between an ancestral form and that of its descendants are referred to as transitional forms. There are numerous examples of transitional forms in the fossil record, providing an abundance of evidence for change over time. Pakicetus (below left), is described as an early ancestor to modern whales. Although pakicetids were land mammals, it is clear that they are related to whales and dolphins based on a number of specializations of the ear, relating to hearing.
A skull of the gray whale that roams the seas today (below right) has its nostrils placed at the top of its skull. Note that the nostril placement in Aetiocetus is intermediate between the ancestral form Pakicetus and the modern gray whale — an excellent example of a transitional form in the fossil record! The pace of evolution. The history of life: looking at the patterns. Reproduction: One Goal, Two Methods : PBS LearningMedia.