BIO 240 Week 5 Human Evolution Paper and Presentation

Prepare a 2,000 to 2,500-word paper, with at least five outside references, in which you examine evolution of our species as we spread across the world.
In your paper, be sure to include the following items:

- The origin and evolution of vertebrates.

- Description of the primate adaptations for living in trees.

- Comparison of the three main groups of primates, noting examples of each.

- An explanation as to why it is incorrect to consider: (a) chimpanzees as our ancestors, (b) human evolution as a ladder, and (c) human traits evolved together.

- Description of the traits of and the relationships between each of the following species: Australopithecus afarensis, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Submit your Human Evolution paper.

As a learning team, create a20-25-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation in which you address each of the above points in your paper. Your presentation will require presenter notes to go with it, and should be able to convey the “story” of human evolution as described in your paper, and as it relates to us. You will need to include at least five outside references.

Submit your Human Evolution PowerPoint® presentation

BIO 240 Week 4 Natural Selection Paper

Write a 1,500- to 1,800-word paper that describes Darwin’s mechanism of evolution by natural selection.

Include the following points in your paper:

· An explanation of Darwin’s assumptions and inferences based on his major observations.

· An example of how natural selection may have worked in a population (for example, moth in New England, drug-resistant bacteria, giraffes, finches in the Galapagos Islands, or another species you select)

· An explanation of how adaptations help species survive such as mimicry and camouflage. Give examples of several adaptations and explain how they enhance survival of the species.

· What evidence is there to support Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection? Describe the evidence.

Include a reference page with at least three outside references.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.​

BIO 240 Week 4 Individual Assignment Speciation Paper NEW

Summarize three methods that could produce a new species from an existing species and provide examples, in 700 to 1050 words. Include a summary and specific examples:
Allopatric speciation
Sympatric speciation
Polyploidy
Include at least three references.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines

BIO 240 Week 4 DQ 2

How do you think we could trace back the evolution of organs within our body by hundreds of millions of years – from our reptile ancestors – by examining coevolution patterns and fitness landscapes?

Discuss, for instance, the “missing link,” Tiktaalik, that has made headlines around the world (see “Your Inner Fish” by Neil Shubin).

What kind of selection pressures could have been at work here, based on species adaptations, climate changes, and shifting landmasses?

BIO 240 Week 4 DQ 1

Consider the human eye, an exquisitely adapted organ that gives rise to stereo vision in full color (see, for instance, “The Evolution of Primate Color Vision” by Gerald H. Jacobs and Jeremy Nathans, Scientific American, April 2009 issue, pp. 56-63).

Explain, strictly from within the framework of Darwinian evolution, how natural selection “crafted” such an organ.

BIO 240 Week 3 Learning Team Outline

Submit a minimum of one page draft outline for your Learning Team’s projects. Refer to instructions on final assignment provided under Week 5 details to assist in your research. Any one team member may submit this to the Assignment link.

BIO 240 Week 3 DQ 2

Is there danger of discrimination based on testing for “harmful” genes? Would you support cloning of life forms? How about a human clone? What policies can you suggest that would prevent or permit such practices?

BIO 240 Week 3 DQ 1

Craig Venter made a new life form (a bacterium) from scratch – essentially from computer database, and a few bottles of chemicals:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0521/J.-Craig-Venter-Institute-creates-first-synthetic-life-form

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/science/21cell.html

If these and other such DNA-based technologies become widely used, how might they change the way evolution proceeds, as compared with the natural evolutionary mechanisms of the past almost 4 billion years?

BIO 240 Week 3 DNA and Protein Synthesis

Answer the following questions, in a total of 500 to 700 words.

- Describe the structure of DNA and the steps of protein synthesis.

- Describe the relationships between the following terms:

- DNA

- Chromatin material

- Gene

- Chromosome

- Use the following gene in protein synthesis:

TAGGACCATTTTAGCCCC

- Show the mRNA.

- Show the tRNA.

- Name the amino acids that will be placed in the polypeptide chain. (Use the codon table in Ch. 17 of Campbell Biology.)

- A gene will direct the making of polypeptide chains, and polypeptide chains form proteins. All enzymes are proteins. Therefore, how would you explain carrying a gene for a trait that does not show up in the offspring?

- In order for DNA to pass genetic information to the next generation, DNA must replicate successfully. Mistakes in replication could result in major problems in heredity.

- Explain how DNA replicates.

- Describe the formation of the leading strand and lagging strand and include the enzymes involved.

Why do the legs replicate differently?​

BIO 240 Week 2 DQ 2

Would two identical twins growing up in different neighborhood grow up differently?