East Asia Vocabulary

UNIT 9: EAST CHINA-VOCABULARY

• Kunlun Mountains- Mountains located in west of China that are the source of two of China's great rivers: Huang He (Yellow River) and Chang Jiang (Yangtze River)
• Qinling Shandi Mountains- Mountains in southeastern & east-central China, divides the northern and southern part of China
• Huang He- (Yellow River) in northern China, starts in the Kunlun Mountains & winds east for about 3,000 miles, emptying into the Yellow Sea
• Chang Jiang- (Yangtze River) longest river in all of Asia, flowing about 3,900 miles from Xizang (Tibet) to the East China Sea
• Xi Jiang- (West River) flows eastward through southeast China & joins the Zhu Jiang (Pearl River) to flow into the South China Sea, forming an estuary between Macao and Hong Kong
• Three Gorges Dam- Began in the late 20th century on the Chang Jiang in China to help control flooding, to generate power and help ships sail further into China
• PCB's- industrial compounds accumulated in animal tissue & can cause birth defects and harmful effects; banned in the U.S. in 1977
• Landfill- Method of disposing solid waste by burying the refuse between layers of dirt in order to fill in or reclaim low-lying ground
• Dynasty- a series of rulers from the same family
• Spheres of Influence- Method of dividing foreign control in China, where it was forced to sign a series of treaties granting special privileges to Europeans; China was partitioned for control by Britain, France, Russia, and Germany among others
• Boxer Rebellion- An uprising in 1900, spurred by angry Chinese militants or boxers, over foreign control; several hundreds of Europeans, Christians, and Chinese died
• Mao Zedong- Leader of the communists in China who defeated the nationalists in 1949; he died in 1976
• Confucianism- Movement based on the teachings of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher who lived about 500 B.C.; Confucius stressed the importance of education in an ordered society in which one respects one's elders and obeys the government
• Taoism- Philosophy based on the book Tao Te Ching & the teachings of Lao-Tzu, who lived in China in 6th century B.C. & believed in preserving & restoring harmony in the individual, with nature and in the universe with little government interference
• Buddhism- A religion that originated in India about 500 B.C. & spread to China where it grew into a major religion by 400 A.D.
• Economic Tiger- A country with rapid economic growth due to cheap labor, high technology, and aggressive exports
• Pacific Rim- An economic and social region including the countries surrounding the Pacific Ocean, extending clockwise from New Zealand in Western Pacific to Chile in Easter Pacific, includes the west coast of the U.S.
• Three Kingdoms- Kingdoms formed in the peninsula of Korea by 300 A.D.-Koguryo in the northeast, Paekche in the southwest, and Silla in the southeast
• Seoul- Largest city in South Korea, with a population of more than 10 million people
• Pongyang- Largest city in North Korea with a population of more than 2.5 million people
• Samurai- Professional soldiers in Japan who served the interest of land-owners and clan chiefs
• Shogun- General of the emperor's army with powers of a military dictator, a position created by the Japanese emperor in 1192 after a struggle between 2 powerful clans
• Ring of Fire- Chain of volcanoes that lines the Pacific Rim
• Great Kanto Earthquake- An earthquake in 1923 in Japan that killed an estimated 140,000 people & left the city of Tokyo in ruins
• Tsunami- Giant ocean wave, caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption, with great destructive power
• UNICEF- (United Nations Children's Fund) an international watchdog & relief organization for children
• Global Economy- The merging of regional economies in which nations become dependent on each other for goods or services
• Jakota Triangle- A zone of prosperity during the 1980's & early 1990's: Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
• Recession- An extended period of decline in general business activity
• Sweatshop- A workplace where people work long hours for low pay under poor conditions to enrich manufacturers

India

INDIA

History

• India's history dates back 4,000 years
• Conquers that invaded were absorbed into Indian life creating a very diverse culture
• Indian civilization began in the Indus Valley- Aryans spread down from Iran pushing the native Indians toward the south
• Greeks & Persians moved in but could not conquer the Aryans and so two great empires emerged
• Later, the Mongls and Muslims entered India; the Muslims were more effective, creating the Mughal Empire throughout India
• Muslims brought new customs that often conflicted with the native Hindus
• Europeans arrived in India in the 1500's looking for spices & cloth
• They established trade relations with the rulers of India
• British East India Company gained control over India's trade with Europe in 1757
• In 1857 the British government put down a revolt and established direct rule
• Called the raj, which lasted 90 years
• Britis rule brought some benefits but most Indians did not like it
• Mohandas Gandhi began nonviolent resistance- a protest movement that does not use violence to achieve its goals
• Eventually, Britain gave in and India was free as of August 14, 1947
• Freedom brought division- Pakistan and Bangladesh chose to separate from India because of religious reasons
• This separation caused violence to break out between the two groups

Government

• India is the world's largest democracy as of 1950
• It reflects both the American and British systems: a federation of states led by a strong, central government with a prime minister as the head of the government (determined by the majority party in parliament)
• Factors that influence Indian politics are religion, culture, and ethnicity
• Most people are Hindu however there are over 150 million Muslims in India
• Muslims and other minorities play a key role in Indian politics

Economy

• Promoting economic growth and raising the standard of living are two of India's main goals
• 2/3 of India's people rely on farming for their livelihood
• Most farms are very small and families struggle to survive on what they grow
• Land reform- a more balanced distribution of land, is one solution that India has tried to put into effect
• 5% of the families own 25% of theland which makes them powerful politically- they very easily have stopped land reform from occuring
• The Green Revolution-1960's: new farming techniques and higher-yielding grain varieties improved production increasing crop yields- great for many people, the peasant poor were not belped by it at all

Industry

• Cotton textiles (cloth) have been a major product for many years
• Right after independence other industries began: iron and steel, machinery and food products
• Mumbai is India's most prosperous city and leading commercial area

Life Today

• Even as it is modernizing many Indians follow the traditional ways: marriage & family are the center of daily life
• Arranged marriages are very common
• Large families with several generations living the same house

Education

• Because most Indians still work on farms or small craft industrieseducation isn't as important
• In the cities where people work in factories and offices it is stressed but there ate still very low literacy rates

Culture

• Languages- there are 18 major language groups with over 1000 languages/dialects spoken
• Hindu & English are the most widely spoken
• Hinduism- makes up about 80% of the population
• Beliefs of Hinduism: many gods, reincarnation (rebirth of souls after death), karma (moral consequences of a person's actions- helps to determine how a person is reincarnated)
• The caste system- the Aryan system of social classes
• Caste system is made of 4 basic castes: Brahmans (priests & scholars), Kshatriyas (rulers & warriors), Vaisyas (farmers & merchants), and Sudras (artisans & laborers)
• Over time the castes were further divided and another group as added- the Dalits, the Untouchables
• The Dalits were completely outside the caste system and were the lowest status in Indian society- eliminated by the Indian constitution
• Hindus believe that each person is born into a caste and has a certain moral duty (dharma) that is specific to that caste
• During reincarnation is the only time you can change castes

Bacteria

ARCHAEBACTERIA

• They have their own domain and their own kingdom.
• Organisms that lack a nucleus
• Found in extreme environments (called extremophiles) such as geysers, nuclear reactors, volcanoes, etc...
• Some are anaerobic (without oxygen)
• 3 main phylas...

1. Methanogens- cannot live in the presence of oxygen & make methane gas, found in marshes & in the intestinal tracts of humans & cows
2. Halophiles- salt-loving, found in the Dead Sea & Great Salt Lake & other areas with high salt content
3. Thermoacidophiles- heat & acid loving, found in areas with high temperature & acidic conditions

• Cell walls are made of pseudomurein (substance that resembles peptidoglycan)

EUBACTERIA

Sickness caused by bacteria

• Anthrax- a known bioweapon
• Strep throat
• Food poisoning
• E. coli- causes diahrrea & urinary tract infections
• Staphylococcus aureus- staph infection
• Tetanus
• Lyme disease
• Botulism- paralysis (used for botox)
• Gangrene
• Syphillis
• Chlamydia
• Symptoms of a bacterial infection

1. High fever (102+)
2. High white blood cell count
3. Thick greenish, brown mucus
4. Severe headache

Benefits

• A huge number of bacteria are decomposers and they recycle carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur and other chemical elements (humans need carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur to survive)
• Also help make yogurt, cheese, buttermilk, sour cream, wine using fermentation (an anaerobic process)
• Cyanobacteria have mutualistic relationship with other organisms, primarily plants; they're nitrogen-fixing bacteria found in lichen
• Bacteria can be identified with gram staining

GRAM STAINING

Gram-positive

• Cell wall is made of many layers of peptidoglycan (protein and sugar)
• Stains the cells purple
• Can be treated wit antibiotics

Gram-negative

• Cell walls are thin
• Stains cells pink
• Not treatable with antibiotics

BACTERIA CONTINUED...

• Unicellular but in clusters mostly
• In warm and moist environment
• Classified by shape

1. Cocci- sphere/round
2. Bacilli- rod shaped
3. Spirilli- spirl shaped

Prefixes

1. Strepto- chains
2. Staphylo- clusters
3. Diplo- in pairs

• Bacteria are heterotrophs
• Cell walls are made of peptidoglycan
• Usually move by flagellum
• Others develop endospores & float through the air; endospores help bacteria survive hard conditions
• Bacteria undergoes binary fission (same thing as mitosis)
• Pass on or swap genetic information through conjugation through pili
• Bacteria grown in a lab is called culture

Broadcast Journalism

BROADCAST JOURNALISM

NEWS VALUE

• Impact
• Conflict
• Novelty
• Prominence
• Proximity
• Timeliness (most important)

CRITERIA FOR BROADCAST

• Emphasizes on timeliness
• Information
• Audio or visual impact
• People

TIMELINESS

• Breaking story receives top priority

INFORMATION

• Because of the amount of time, what & where is more important than why or how

AUDIO/VISUAL IMPACT

• Visually appealing
• Sometimes they let the pictures speak for themselves where they serve a small, brief commentary

PEOPLE

• Use people to tell the story instead of reporters

WRITING FOR BROADCAST

• Emphasize on immediacy-avoid past tense
• Be clear & simple
• Use conversational style

WRITING BROADCAST LEAD

• Prepares audience for what is to come
• Don't keep listeners guessing

LEAD-IN

• Person who's talking introduces the next person

WRAP-UP

• Gives ending before moving on to the next story

BROADCAST COPY

• Phonetically spell out word to help reader's pronounciation

SCRIPT RUNDOWN

• Working out the segments of a broadcast
• Instructions prepared by a TV producer
• Hard news near the top, sports near the end

SLUGS

• What the story is about
• Every broadcast has one

Microbiology

MICROBIOLOGY NOTES

Aseptic Technique

• Procedures to prevent bacterial growth

1. Used for surgery
2. Used for microbiology lab

• Wash & use disinfectant/antiseptic on any surface
• Wash hands & don't touch surfaces directly
• Use clamshell method to open/access petri dishes
• Do not breathe on specimen (wear masks)

Basic Streak-plating

• There are several methods for isolating colonies of bacteria on the agar
• Obtain speciman on cotton swab
• Gently rub swab over surface of the agar in the desired area
• Be sure not to penetrate the surface but also to touch the surface

Measuring Susceptibility

• Divide & label the sections of the plate according to the independent variables
• Evenly spread bacteria on entire plate

Zone of Inhibition (the place where bacterial growth was prevented)

• Place disk containing anti-microbial agent on agar in specific locations
• Measure the diameter of the area where bacterial does not grow

Disinfectants

• Destroy microorganisms found on nonliving area
• Bleach, lysol, lime away

Antiseptics

• Kills inhibits on living surfaces
• Lysterine, hydrogen peroxide

Antibiotics

• Kill inside living things
• Inhibits their growth; changes cell membrane

Bactericidal

• Penicillan
• Ampicillan

Bacteristatic (doesn't kill, just stops growth)

• Erythromycin
• Streptomycin
• Rifampin

Identifying Bacteria

• Colonies

1. Usually differ in shape, color, & shininess
2. Composed of thousands of cells
3. Can be seen with the naked eye

Viruses

VIRUSES

A person that studies viruses is known as virologist.

A virus cannot be seen with a compound light microscope because it is so small. It can be seen with an electron microscope.

What are some examples of viruses?

• Ebola
• Herpes
• Herpes Virus I
• Herpes Virus II
• Herpes Zoster
• HIV
• Influenza
• Mono

The first virus to be annihilated off of the face of the earth was small pox in 1796. It was also the first virus to have a vaccine. The smallpox vaccine was created by Edward Jenner. A vaccine is a weakened virus or the virus itself without its DNA/RNA.

What are the parts of a virus?

• Head
• Tail
• Capsid (protein shell)
• DNA/RNA
• Tail Fibers

How can you catch a virus?

• Exchanging bodily fluids
• Insect/animal bites
• Inhalation

Symptons:

• Low grade fever (100-101)
• Nausea
• Loss of appetite
• Muscle ache
• Fatigue
• Low white blood cell count

Two life cycles of a virus:

Lytic and Lysogenic

LYTIC

1. Virus attaches to host & inject its DNA into it
2. DNA is replicated by host cell
3. Parts of the virus are created
4. Viruses break out of cell

LYSOGENIC

1. Virus attaches itself to host & inject DNA inside
2. DNA attaches to host DNA
3. DNA replication (interphase)
4. Cell undergoes mitosis
5. "Weird" protein creates outbreak

What does your body do to defend yourself against viruses?

1. White blood cells recognize foreign invaders (antigen)
2. T lymphocytes carry message to other white blood cells to create antibodies
3. Antibodies flock to the antigen & wrap around it (Antibodies are like enzymes, they fit with certain antigens like a lock and the key)
4. White blood cells carry antigen to lymph nodes

Are viruses living or nonliving?

Reasons to believe they are living...

• Contain DNA/RNA
• They replicate
• They're made of lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids
• They undergo mutations

Reasons to believe they are nonliving...

• They do not reproduce
• They need a host
• They don't have a nucleus
• They do not grow
• They do not convert energy

Advertising

ADVERTISING

I. 4 elements of Trade

• Message
• Media
• Makeup
• Management

II. The message

• Information explaining the product, service or trend
• Should reflect an audience's style, needs & desires

III. The Meaning of Message

• Needs excellent writing (to be articulate)
• Language is used to gain knowledge

IV. Goals of Message

• Attract attention
• Arouse interest
• Create desire
• Incite action
• Give information about how it can improve lives
• Customers will make a purchase based on understanding of the features & benefits

V. Ad appeals include

• Humor
• Emotion
• Sex
• Testimony (an account of how it changed an individual)
• Bandwagon (because everyone else is buying it)
• Comparison
• Economy
• Prestige (claiming to be the best)

Human Geography of Sub Saharan Africa

I. GENERAL POPULATION PATTERNS

1. Population Growth Rate: Highest in the world (800 million and growing)
2. Youngest Population in the World: Most of population is under 15 years of age
3. Population Growth Rate: Expected to double in 29 years
4. Life Expectancy: Shortest in the world (48-53 years)

• Have high rate of disease
• Without food, people cannot get healthy to fight off disease

1. Highest Infant Mortality: Children die before they're 1 years old
2. Lowest Life Expectancy: Due to severe malnutrition, high rate of disease & few doctors
3. Uneven population distribution
4. Economic Growth Rate: Lowest in the world
5. Low Level of Education: Across the continent only 38% of boys and 32% of girls (12-17 year olds) are enrolled in school

II. WAYS OF LIFE

1. Almost 75% of people are poor and live in rural, agricultural villages
2. Most people are subsistence farmers
3. Practice slash & burn Agriculture/nutrients leach from the soil
4. Grow food for family and a small cash crop like coffee, tea, and sugar (farmers are overly dependent on these). Problem: bring in revenue but reduce land being used to grow food for family
5. Farms often fail because of fragile soil and drought
6. Droughts cause crop failures:

• Over 1 million people in Africa are starving each year
• The first victims: the very old & the very young

1. One major effect caused by droughts is desertification

• The transformation of arable land into desert
• Usually occurs as an expansion of dry conditions into moist areas that are adjacent to deserts

1. Human causes that increase the pace of desertification, death, and destruction:

• Over-grazing
• Over-planting
• Destruction of trees which leads to soil erosion
• Drought from increased population levels (requires clearing more land/burning wood for fuel/over-farming the land/increased water usage)

1. Civil war (food can be used as a weapon)

• Burn the fields of their enemies
• Poison water supplies
• Steal or corrupt food supplies
• Withold food from people unless they fight

III. ECONOMICS IN AFRICA TODAY

African nations work to modernize their countries but still suffer because colonial powers severely hurt Africa's economy. They left a legacy of NO money (capital resources) for building infrastructure, education, or businesses. Many countries have not been able to diversify/modernize. They are still countries with economies based on one-commodity or the sale of natural resources.

Barriers to African Economic Development

1. Revenues from modernization projects have not significantly increased the wealth of African countries.
2. Many African governments borrowed huge sums of money/have invested the money to modernize their countries
3. Loan payments are a major part of the budgets of African countries trying to modernize
4. Illiteracy, lack of education, and lack of skilled workers
5. Lack of economic diversity (many one-commodity nations), need to diversify for growth and stability

IV. CYCLE OF POLITICAL INSTABILITY

Economic Problems:

• One-commodity countries
• Lack of education
• No money
• Unskilled workers

Which leads to...

Ethnic Conflicts

• Civil wars
• Unequal treatment

Which leads to...

Political Conflicts

• Dictatorship
• No government
• No money, skills, or education
• Not trained to run a government

Which leads to...

Unable to Modernize

• All 3 things put together

Then the cycle starts all over again...

Classifying Organisms

KINGDOM PLANTAE (PLANTS)

• Eukaryotic cells (complex & large with specific organelles)
• Multicellular (plants are composed of MANY cells)
• Autotrophic (make their own food via photosynthesis)
• Other unique features: Cells have a thick cell wall, and green parts of plant contain chloroplasts

KINGDOM ANIMALIA (ANIMALS)

• Eukaryotic cells (complex & large with specific organelles)
• Multicellular (animals are composed of MANY cells)
• Heterotrophic (must ingest/eat other organism for energy)

KINGDOM FUNGI (FUNGUSES)

• Eukaryotic cells (complex & large with specific organelles)
• Most are multicellular: ex. mushroom
• Some are unicellular: ex. yeast
• Heterotrophic (most are saprotrophs: absorb nutrient from dead or living material)

KINGDOM PROTISTA (PROTISTS/PROTOZOANS)

• Eukaryotic cells (complex & large with specific organelles)
• Most are unicellular
• Some are multicellular
• Some are heterotrophic (must ingest/eat other organism for energy)
• Some are photosynthetic autotrophs

KINGDOM EUBACTERIA (BACTERIA)

• Prokaryotic cells (very simple & small in comparison, no specific organelles)
• Unicellular (the organism is just one cell)
• Can be heterotrophic or autotrophic (characteristic for classification conditions can vary greatly)
• Cell shape is a major characteristic for classification:

1. Cocci-round or sphere shaped
2. Baccili-rod shaped
3. Spirlli-spiral shaped

KINGDOM ARCHAEBACTERIA (ANCIENT BACTERIA)

• Prokaryotic cells (very simple & small in comparison, no specific organelle)
• Unicellular (the organism is just one cell)
• Many are extremeophiles: live in & obtain energy in very extreme conditions where no other organism would survive
• These are the oldest known organisms & believed to be the first on this planet

Imperialism in Africa

EARLY COLONIALISM IN AFRICA (late 1700's):

1. European countries set up trading posts and forts along the coastal plain regions of Africa.
2. Purpose: To provide the Europeans with markets for the mass quantities of goods being produced in factories and mills (post industrial revolution) in exchange for enslaved Africans and raw materials such as metal, cotton, rubber, and palm oil. (Examples of goods traded: iron, tools, tobacco, lichen, and rum)
3. The slave trade destroyed the fabric of African life. The slave trade finally ended in the 1800's. Europeans then found a way to replace the profits they had made by the slave trade by gaining access to Africa's interior which was rich with resources.

THE "AGE OF IMPERIALISM" IN AFRICA (late 1800's):

1. Imperialism: The extension of a nation's control over regions far beyond its own borders. Control all aspects of life of those being subjugated.
2. Began with the 3 C's (Commerce, Christianity, & Civilization)
3. The Berlin Conference of 1884 ended European fighting over African Land: 14 nations and USA attended conference. The outcome:

• Seven European nations were awarded land in Africa.
• Slave trade in Africa was abolished.
• Christian missionaries were given access to the interior of Africa.
• Boundary lines drawn dividing Africa.

1. Foreign governments eventually would control:

• Governments: Sent their own official to create centralized governments. Created laws/abolished African laws except very limited and supervised local levels.
• Economies: Shipped raw materials such as rubber and iron ore to European factories.
• Set up huge plantations/grew cash crops (Ex: cotton, peanuts, coffee, & cocoa)
• Introduced currency, or money, into economy. (Many Africans had used "Barter" system)
• Made Africans pay taxes in cash (Africans forced to work for British landowners/had to get jobs in mines & on plantations to earn money)
• Money and profits for Europeans and European colonial powers.

1. Changes in Transportation and Communications:

• Europeans built huge rail systems and roads that linked mines & plantations to the coast.
• New transport systems made it easier to transport workers to mines and farms far from their homes.
• Built telegraphs to connect European interests.

1. Changes in Education:

• Set up limited Christian mission schools for Africans. Children were taught only to read or write in language of their colonial power. Taught only European history & culture.
• Purpose: to train people who would support only the policies of the colonial power. Educate the children to have no sense of nationalism (devotion to one's native country) for their homeland.

HOW WAS IMPERIALISM POSSIBLE?

Technology! Inventions like the steamboat made river travel possible. Medical advances protected the Europeans against diseases. New weapons like the machine gun gave Europeans a great military advantage.

AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE

1. European nations controlled most of Africa for about 80 years. During this time, many Africans struggled to end colonialism but with little success.
2. By 1950: only three countries were independent (Ethiopia, Liberia, and white-ruled South Africa)
3. For the next 40 years, Africans fought for and won their freedom.

Africa Vocabulary

• Basin- a hollow or depression in the earth's surface, wholly or partly surrounded by higher land
• Nile River-the world's longest river, flowing over 4,000 miles through the Sudan Basin into Uganda, Sudan and Egypt
• Rift Valley-a long, thin valley created by the moving apart of the continental plates, present in East Africa, stretching over 4,000 miles from Jordan in Southwest Asia to Mozambique in Southern Africa
• Mount Kilimanjaro-a volcano in Tanzania in Africa, also Africa's highest peak
• Escarpment-a steep slope with a nearly flat plateau top
• Sahara-the largest desert in the world, stretching 3,000 miles across the African continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea & measuring 1,200 miles from north to south
• Serengeti Plain-an area of East Africa containing some of the best grasslands in the world & many grazing animals, in northern Tanzania
• Niger Delta-delta of the Niger River & an area with rich oil deposits
• Sahel-a narrow band of dry grassland, running east to west on the southern edge of the Sahara, that's used for farming & herding
• Desertification-an expansion of dry conditions to moist areas that are next to deserts
• Aswan High Dam-a dam on the Nile River in Egypt, complete in 1970, which increased Egypt's farmable land by 50% & protected from droughts and floods
• Silt-loose sedimentary material containing very small rock particles, formed by river deposits & very fertile
• Olduvai Gorge-a site of fossil beds in northern Tanzania containing the most continuous known record of humanity over the past 2 million years, including fossils from 65 hominids
• Aksum-an important trading capital from the first to the eigth centuries A.D. in what is now Ethiopia; it flourished due to its location near the Red Sea & the Indian Ocean
• Berlin Conference-a conference of 14 European nations held in 1884-1885 in Berlin, Germany to establish rules for political control of Africa
• Cash Crop-a crop grown for direct sale, and not for use in a region, such as coffee, tea, and sugar in Africa
• Pandemic-a disease affecting a large population over a wide geographic area
• Carthage-one of the greatest empires of ancient Africa, situated on a triangular peninsula on the Gulf of Tunis on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
• Rai-a kind of popular Algerian music developed in the 1920s by poor urban children that's fast paced with danceable rhythms; sometimes used as a form of rebellion to expose political unhappiness
• Bantu Migrations-the movement of the Bantu peoples southward throughout Africa, spreading their language & culture; from around 500 B.C. to around A.D. 1000
• King Leopold II-Belgian king who opened up the African interior to European trade along the Congo River & by 1884 controlled the area: Congo Free State
• Mutapa Empire-a state founded in the 15th century by a man named Mutota & that extended throughout all of present day Zimbabwe except the eastern part
• Apartheid-a policy of complete separation of the races instituted by the white minority government of South Africa in 1948
• Nelson Mandela-one of the leaders of the African National Congress who led a struggle to end apartheid & was elected President in 1994 in the first all race election in South Africa
• "One-Commodity" Country-a country that relies on one principle export for much of its earnings
• Commodity-an agricultural or mining product that can be sold
• Diversity-to increase the variety of products in a country's economy; to promote manufacturing & other industries in order to achieve growth and stability
• AIDS-a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus/HIV
• Cholera-a treatable, infectious disease that can be fatal & is caused by a lack of adequate sanitation & a clean water supply
• Malaria-infectious disease of red blood cells, carried by mosquitoes that's characterized by chills, fevers, and sweating
• Tuberculosis-a respiratory infection spread by human contact, which often accompanies AIDS
• UNAIDS-the UN program that studies the world's AIDS epidemic

Sub Saharan Africa

PHYSICAL NOTES

A. SECOND LARGEST CONTINENT

B. Known as "The Plateau Continent"

1. Interior is a gigantic plateau (highest in the east and south/drops sharply at the coast). A plateau is an elevated area of high, flat or gently rolling land.
2. Africa: almost entirely surrounded by a low, narrow coastal plain. The sharp rise or steep cliff that separates the coastal plain from the elevated plateau is called an escarpment.
3. The steep slope marking the edge of the continental plateau in South Africa is called the Great Escarpment.
4. Africa as a continent has the highest overall elevation of all continents (averages 1,000+ above sea level).
5. Mountains: individual mountains/not chains/mainly in the east. Most are volcanic mountain. Elevation is the key to their temperature.
6. Africa's rivers contain many cataracts (multiple waterfalls at the edge of steep escarpments).

C. GREAT RIFT VALLEY

1. One of the world's natural wonders
2. 4,000+ miles long (approximately)
3. Begins in Syria (Southwest Asia), goes through the Red Sea, extends southward through East Africa, and ends in Mozambique (Southern Africa).
4. Valley is a rift fault caused over millions of years ago when two of the earth's Continental plates moved apart.
5. Can be up to 40-50 miles wide.
6. Sides can be up to about 1 mile high.
7. Valley Floor: often barren/many extinct volcanoes and a surface covered with volcanic lava and ash. Makes soil very fertile.
8. There is a large string of long and deep natural lakes throught the valley (Lakes Albert, Edward & Tanganyika). Tanganyika is the longest lake in the world (over 400 miles long)
9. Not part of the Great Rift Valley Lakes: Lake Victoria (largest lake in Africa/located east of the Great Rift Valley).

D. CLIMATE & VEGETATION

1. Similar bands of climate & vegetation stretch across Africa north and south of the equator.
2. Vegetation along the Equator-10% Rain forest (hot and wet/one season and shrinking more each year.)
3. 65% Grasslands (also called savanna)-located north and south of the rainforests; usually long & short and widely scattered trees; hot all year round with two seasons: long, dry seasons separated by wet seasons.
4. 25% Desert (semi-arid & arid)-usually have 10 inches or less of rain per year; in the north, Sahara and the Sahel (means "shore of the desert"/borders south side of the Sahara Desert);in the south: Kalihari Desert; in the southwest: Namib Desert.
5. Mediterranean Coastal Plain: along the north coastal edge of Africa. Also: there is Mediterranean Coastal Plain in the far southern coast of Africa also.

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• Most of Africa is hot (temperature) all year long.
• Elevation can affect the temperature as much as latitude.
• Rainfall varies greatly/amounts vary with the distance away from the equator.
• The closer to the Equator the more rainy; the further away, the less rain (EXCEPT at the coast where a Mediterranean Climate can prevail).

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The longest crack in the earth's surface is the Great Rift Valley. Millions of years ago, the shift of tectonic plates tore a rift in the earth's crust, splitting the Arabian Peninsula away from Africa (creating the Red Sea) and forming numerous canyons in eastern Africa, many of which are filled with deep, long lake. Along its 4,000+ mile length, extending north to Syria & Jordan in the Middle East, the rift is concealed by erosion, mountains and plateaus. At various sites along the valley, fossil evidence of the earliest humans have been discovered.

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E. NARROW COASTAL PLAIN on the Mediterranean Sea (Mediterranean Climate)

F. THE SAHARA

1. 3.5 million square miles (nearly the size of the U.S.)
2. Largest hot desert in the world.
3. Most of the region gets less than 10 inches of rain per year.
4. Atlas of Morocco & Algeria (West coast of Africa) prevent moisture from the Atlantic Ocean from reaching North African region.
5. Little moisture or humidity in desert air so no clouds form.
6. Sun's rays beat directly on land in day...high temperatures and no clouds/can reach temperatures of 125 degrees+ in the day.
7. Drop as low as 40 degrees fahrenheit at night (because there are no clouds to prevent daytime heat from rising from the earth).
8. Extreme temperatures & little rainfall make it hard for life to survive...life forms must adapt or die.

G. PEOPLE OF THE SAHARA

1. Most are Muslims who speak Arabic.
2. Majority live along the Mediterranean Sea in crowded cities.
3. Inland (in Sahara), people are Bedouins (Desert Dwellers).
4. In early times, tradres crossed desert in caravans for safety.
5. Many trade routes between North Africa and west coastal countries (salt from the north and gold, ivory, and slaves fromt the south).

H. ANIMALS

1. Camels: brought by Romans from Central Asia. Have adapted to dry climate & can survive for long periods without food or water.
2. Bedouins often have goats & sheep for food, clothing, and trade.

I. WIND

1. Powerful force in desert. Shape region's terrain/carries loose sand paricles which can form sand dunes (ERGS). Many are huge and permanent.
2. The surface that is left when sand blows away is a thin surface of pebbles, gravel & boulders called desert pavement.

J. WATER

1. The most important resource in North Africa. Found in a few underground springs that force their way up to the surface & form oases (singular=oasis)- can support life in barren land. Sahara has approximately 90 oases (widely scattered/some are centuries old).
2. Dry river beds (wadis). Sharp gullies that are temporary reservoirs/collect run-off water if there is rain...can even be rain in far off regions that rushes through the wadi/dry up quickly/subject to flash flooding.
3. Rivers: Most important source of water because they are the most consistent source of water (example: Nile River in Egypt)
4. The Nile is fed from mountains in East Africa. Water flows northward from the White Nile in Uganda and the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and merge into the Nile River that flows across Egypt northward for 4184 miles to empty miles to empty into the Mediterranean Sea.

Vocab Quiz

VOCABULARY

1. feral- savage
2. furtive- secret
3. charlotte- dessert made of fruit gelatin
4. impertinence- rudeness, disrespect
5. admant- unyielding
6. sordid- vile, mean, filthy
7. body English- body language
8. purloined- stolen, taken without permission
9. largo- slow and steady
10. perforated- pierced
11. spurious- not genuine
12. irascible- irritable
13. squalid- dirty, neglected
14. heathen- one who doesn't believe in the God of the Bible
15. demise- death
16. recluse- hermit; voluntarily staying away from others
17. turmoil- conditions of confused agitation or commotion
18. blandly- uninteresting, vapid, dull
19. elude- to avoid or escape as by dexterity or trickery; evade
20. raling- rattling or bubbling cough, indication a disease of the lungs or bronchi

Trophic Levels and Energy Flow

TROPHIC LEVELS AND ENERGY FLOW

-Habitat-the area in which an organism lives
-Niche-an organism's job or role

• the type of food an organism eats
• how it obtains the food
• which other species uses the organism for food

*Every organism in an ecosystem has a niche (job) and that niche has an effect on everyone in that ecosystem!!!

THE SUN

Sunlight is the main source of energy for life on Earth. Without sun, there would be no life!

PRODUCERS

• Primary productivity: amount of plant material that is produced for consumptionby herbivores.
• Producers or Autotrophs: organisms that make their own food (Ex. grasses, trees, algae)
• Photosynthesis: CO2 + H2O - light ---- C6H12O6

CONSUMERS OR HETEROTROPHS

• organisms that rely on or consume producers/autotrophs

-Herbivores-organisms that eat only plants

-Carnivores-organisms that eat only meat

-Omnivores-organisms that eat both plants and animals

-Detritivores-organisms that eat dead matter like animal and plant remains

*Detritus-dead material you might find on the forest floor

-Decomposers-break down organic matter

-Scavengers-eat something another organism has killed

ENERGY FLOW

Energy flows through an ecosystem in 1 direction

sun->autotrophs->heterotrophs

TROPHIC LEVELS

-Primary producer-autotroph

-Primary consumer-eats autotrophs

-Secondary consumer- eats primary consumer

-Tertiary consumer-eats secondary consumers

-Food chain-feeding relationships within an ecosystem

-Food web-a network of feeding relationships

*Food webs link an ecosystem together!!!

• Represents how energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next
• 90% of energy is lost as we mover through a food chain or up a pyramid

Ecology Introduction

ECOLOGY INTRODUCTION

-Ecology-the study of organisms and their interaction with the environment

-Biosphere-the region of the earth that supports all living things

• Includes all land, air, and water in which an organism lives
• Everything an organism needs to survive
• Natural resources are the products of the environment used by living things

-Biotic Factors-living things (plants, animals, trees)

-Abiotic Factors-nonliving parts (water, soil, houses)

-Ecosystems-large areas that contain groups of organisms living and interacting with one another, includes all biotic and abiotic factors of that area

-Every organism in an ecosystem has a niche (or a job) and that job has an effect on everyone in that ecosystem

Biomes

*Terrestrial-rainforest, tundra, taiga, desert, grassland, deciduous forest

*Aquatic

• Marine-oceans, tropical (coral reefs)
• Freshwater-wetlands, lakes/ponds/rivers/streams

Biome Maps:

• http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/terrestrial.html
• http://www.mbgnet.net/index.html

Ecological Succession

-Community-all organisms living in an area

-Succession-a process in which a community develops

Levels of Succession

-Primary Succession-no existing community, life begins to develop

-Pioneer Community-the first organism to develop and occupy an area

• (Ex. 1: lichens, mosses, grass)
• (Ex. 2: an abiotic lake left behind by a retreating glacier; wind-borne spores of bacteria, algae, fungi, and protozoa drift into the water and germinate in the new sediment)

-Secondary-growth that occurs in an area where there is an existing community that has been partially destroyed (Ex: natural forest fires: shrubs, trees, flowers)

-Climax Community-a community that achieves relative stability (Ex. redwood forest)

• also has a lot of biodiversity

Levels of Organization

Type of interaction:

• Competition-competition from 1 or more species for 1 or more to the limited resources it needs
• Predation-organism kill and consumes the other organism for nutrients and energy; Ex: lion & elk; Code: + -
• Parasitism-organism benefits while the other organism is harmed; Ex: tick & dog; Code: + -
• Mutualism-bother species benefit from this relationship; Ex: bees & flowers; Code: + +
• Commensalism-one organism is nuetral and the other is receiving benefits; Ex: shark & cleaning fish; Code: + 0

* + means beneficial, - means harmful, 0 means neutral (neither helping nor harming)

-Symbiosis-a close relationship between 2 organisms

• Three types of symbiosis is mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism.

-Mimicry-when one organism take the appearance of another organism

-Exponential Growth-the rate of growth of one generation is a multiple of the previous generation

• Influences on exponential growth: emigration & immigration

-Carrying Capacity-the number of organisms supported by the environmental resources in an ecosystem

• Limiting Factors: predation, disease, competition, and emigration
• Random Changes: natural disaster, climate changes, weather, and requirements for growth

Population Statistics

• Growth rate=change in # of individuals/time
• Natality rate=# of births/time
• Mortality rate=# of deaths/time
• Population growth: natality>mortality
• Population stable/constant=natality=mortality
• Emigration=movement of organims out of an area
• Immigration=movement of organisms into an area

World Geography

Oil & Water: Precious Resources

Resources for a Modern World

• Oil is most abundant resouce
• Major oil fields are located on Arabian Peninsula, Iran, and Iraq, with natural gas fields close by
• These fossil fuels run cars and trucks, factories, and power plants all over the world-so provide major portion of income

An Oil-Rich Region

• About 1/2 world's oil reserves are found in Southwest Asia
• Presence of oil reserves make the region important because so many countries, including the U.S., depend on its oil

Oil from the Sand

• Oil and natural gas deposits were formed millions of years ago when an ancient sea covered SW Asia
• Microscopic plants & animals lived and died in the waters, their remains sank and became mingled with the sand and mud on the bottom of the sea
• Over time, pressure and heat transformed the material into hydrocarbons, which form the chemical basis of oil and natural gas
• Oil and natural gas do not exist in large pools beneath the ground, but are trapped inside rocks
• Egineers use sophisticated equipment to extract, or remove, the oil

Early Exploration

• Industrialization and the increasing popularity of automobiles made petroleum a highly desired resource
• Beginning in late 1800s, oil companies searched all over the world for oil resources
• First SW Asia discovery of oil was in 1908 in Persia (Iran), then in the Arabian Peninsula, and the Persian Gulf, etc.

Transporting Oil

• Petroleum that has not been processed is called "crude oil"
• After being pumped from the ground, crude oil must be transported to a refinery that will convert it into useful products
• Pipelines transport crude oil either to refineries or to ports where tankers pick it up and move it

Risks of Transporting Oil

• Moving oil always involves the risk of oil spills
• Largest oil spill ever recorded occurred in 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, when a series of tankers and oil storage terminals in Kuwait and on islands off its coast were blown up-more than 240 million gallons of crude oil were spilled into the water and on land
• Buried pipelines in SW Asia help reduce the danger of above ground accidents, but they do happen
• Ocean-going tankers are a much greater risk; many operate in shallow and narrow waterways where spills from collisions or running around are a risk

Oil Dominates the Economy

• Principal resource is oil
• When oil prices are high, Arabian Peninsula countries are able to spend money into development of other parts of their economy, i.e. water development projects
• 1960, group of oil producing nations, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, established an organization to coordinate policies on selling petroleum products-called Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
• Purpose of OPEC is to help members control worldwide oil prices by adjusting oil prices and production quotas
• Qatar, UAE, Iran, and Iraq are also members of OPEC

Control of Oil Fields

• Discoveries of oil in 1908 made Iran a center of conflict of the oil fields
• British and Russians clashed
• Between 1980 and 1990, Iran & Iraq fought a war over control of oil fields
• Access to oil-rich regions on the Persian Gulf is strategically important for all nations that import oil
• 1990-1991, Iraq invaded Kuwait, starting the Persian Gulf War; the U.S. and 32 other nations fought to drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait and keep the oil fields open

Providing Precious Water

• Even though oil brings a great deal of money into SW Asia, the most critical resource is water
• Challenge of finding reliable, fresh water supplies has existed since ancient times

Dams and Irrigation Systems

• To meet demands of large farms and growing populations, countries have to build dams and irrigation systems
• Several countries use "drip irrigation"-using small pipes that slowly drip water just above ground to conserve water used for crops
• Other nations are developing ways to use ocean water, such as "desalinization"-removal of salt
• "Fossil water" is also pumped from underground aquifers, but there isn't enough rainfall to recharge aquifers and only about 25-30 years of water usage is left
• Top priority of region is finding ways to conserve and reuse water

Other Resources

• In mountainous lands, such as Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, water is plentiful compared with the rest of the region
• Efforts to conserve water have been part of the culture of the people in most of SW Asia for 1000s of years
• SW Asia has deposits of other resources such as coal, metallic minerals such as copper, and non-metallic minerals such as potash and phosphates-However, the deposits are scattered and not very large
  

World Geography

THE PALESTINIAN DILEMMA-1947

The Arab Viewpoint

• They lived in Palestine since the 6th century
• They were afraid of Jewish immigration increase since 1880
• During WWI, Arabs led to believe that British would support plan for all Arabs to have self-determination
• In the Balfour Declaration, they stated their right to be left without a country would not be violated.
• Believed in violence against the Jews

The Jewish Viewpoint

• They have historical ties to Palestine also
• Believed that the only way to end Jewish discrimination and oppression was to creat a Jewish state in their homeland
• In the Balfour Declaration, it gave "mixed" messages because the British also supported the Jews
• After the Holocaust of WWII, Jews belived that the homeless survivors must be allowed to return to Palestine

The United Nations Solution

• Palestine was to partition into 2 states with Jerusalem designated an international city under UN control
• Jewish land was to be more than half of Palestine
• The Jews accepted; the Arabs did not because they did not want to lose land

The Results

• Israel declared independence in 1948
• Within 48 hours the Arab League countries joined Palestinian Arabs to attack Israel
• Israel ended up gaining three fourths of Palestine
• Jordan & Egypt divided the rest of Palestine
• Palestinian Arabs are left without a country

World Geography

THE MIDDLE EAST

COUNTRIES OF THE REGION: Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Turkey, Cypress, Iran, and Afghanistan

CROSSROADS/PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: Refer to geodata

POPULATION: unevenly distributed; most live near water (A.) along rivers & coastlines (B.) in mountain & plateau regions where climate is cooler; rainfall & vegetation are more abundunt.

IMPORTANT RESOURCES: (A.) crude oil & natural gas: Persian Gulf countries (OPEC)
(B.) water is scarce: rivers=water source in region; drought-resistant plants, drip irrigation & water carriers

THREE WAYS OF LIFE: (A.) farming: little arable land in the region; mostly deserts & mountains (B.) city living-some of the oldest cities in the world. Cradle of civilization: Tigris & Euphrates River Valley. These two major rivers of the region originate in Eastern Turkey and are ancient centers for trade and commerce. Lack of opportunities in rural areas is one reason urban population increases. (C.) nomadic herding: for centuries, small family groups of Arabic nomads called Bedouins have lived in region's deserts herding goats, sheep, and camels/trading & harvestingsalt in some deserts. Highly organized cultures. Moved from place to place. Use knowledge of water sources and seasonal changes to survive. Deserts have wadis (dry river beds) and oases (plural for oasis)- sites where there are underground springs

BIRTHPLACE OF THREE MAJOR RELIGIONS: (A.) Judaism began about 4,000 B.C. (or B.C.E.) People called Jews, who are the descendents of Hebrews. Their Holy Book is the Torah which are the books of the Old Testament of the Bible- first five parchment scrolls are called the Torah. They are not like other religions of time- Monotheistic. Jews lived on Earstern shore of Mediterranean Sea- kingdoms of Israel, 1,000 B.C.E.. Jerusalem is their holiest city and a synagogue is where they worsip. Deity called Yahweh or Jehovah. (B.) Christianity began about A.D. 30 or C.E in the same physical region as Judaism began. Region was known as Palestine named by the Romans for the regional group called the Philistines. Monotheistic based on teachings of Jesus Christ who was born and raised as a Jew. Teachings of Christ were threatening to many people; he was put on trial and crucified in the city of Jerusalem. His followers began a religion. Jerusalem is the holiest city of the Christian people. Their Holy Book is the Bible, Old and New Testaments. Deity is called God. (C.) Islam is the third major monotheistic religion to begin in Middle East. Began in the City of Mecca on Arabian Peninsula around 622 C.E. People are called Muslims, who are the followers of the prophet Mohammed. Original followers adopted Arabic language Mecca and Jerusalem are the holiest cities of Muslims-they believed Mohammed ascended to heaven in the city of Jerusalem. Their Holy Book is the Qu'ran/Koran. It was originally written in Arabic, today it's written in many languages. Archangel Gabriel was said to have told Mohammed. A mosque is an Islamic place of worship. Deity is called Allah.

CULTURE & GOVERNMENT: (A.) Islamic culture and government dominates in countries of Southwest Asia except Israel. Islamic religion has 2 major sects- Sunni ( 85-90%) and Shiite/Shia (10-15%). Muslims are expected to live by the Five Pillars of Islam. Basic principles of the Five Pillars:

1. Shahadah: declaration and affirmation of faith in Allah (speaking their faith)
2. Salah: obligatory prayers performed 5 times a day, facing the city of Mecca.
3. Zakat: giving of charity and alms to the poor.
4. Ramadan: Muslims fast or abstain from food and drink from first light until sundown during the 9th month.
5. Hajj: religious pilgrimmage to Mecca where Muslims fill their religious duty.

GOVERNMENT: Many Islamic countries have autocratic rulers were the ruler in the government has absolute power or authority. Many countries have strict governments based on Religious Law called a theocracy, a government ruled by a religious leader under strict religious law.

CULTURE FACTORS: Men over 21 can vote; women cannot vote, Restriction for worman (purdah)

Women cannot...

• drive cars in many countries
• marry outside their religion
• CAN get a divorce but children usually remain with their father
• women must be covered with traditional dresses such as an Abaya, Chador, or Burqa when outside their home or must cover their hair with a traditional Hajib
• MUST be accompanied by a family member when they're outside.
• MUST become citizens of their husbands' countries

Women can...

• inherit money
• use birth control
• go to school

World History

THREE MAJOR RELIGIONS OF SOUTHWEST ASIA

Judaism

• Deity: Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim
• People: Hebrews and Jews
• Began: 4,000 B.C.
• Place of Origin: Israel, Palestine
• Place of Worship: Synagogue
• Traditional Day of Congregational Prayer: Saturday
• Religious Leader: Rabbi
• Worshippers Worldwide: 14 million
• Holy Book: Torah
• Holiest City: Jerusalem
• Major Areas of Settlement: Israel, Europe and USA
• Tenets (laws): 10 Commandments

-

Christianity

• Deity: God, Holy Trinity
• People: Christians
• Began: A.D. 33
• Place of Origin: Palestine
• Place of Worship: church, chapel
• Traditional Day of Congregational Prayer: Sunday
• Religious Leader: Priest, Minister, Pastor
• Worshippers Worldwide: 2 billion
• Holy Book: Bible
• Holiest City: Jerusalem
• Major Areas of Settlement: Europe, the Americas, and Africa
• Tenets (laws): 10 Commandments

Islam

• Deity: Allah
• People: Muslims
• Began: A.D. 622
• Place of Origin: Saudi Arabia
• Place of Worship: Mosque
• Traditional Day of Congregational Prayer: Friday
• Religious Leader: Imam
• Worshippers Worldwide: 1.3 billion
• Holy Book: Qu'ran
• Holiest City: Mecca
• Major Areas of Settlement: Middle East, Southeast Asia
• Tenets (laws): 5 Pillars

Biology

The Origins of Life: How did it begin?



Evolution attempts to answer the same questions using science.



Some interesting things to consider:

-At present: there are 30-40 million species alive today

• this constitutes about 1% of all the species that have EVER lived on this planet


• this means about 99% of species that have ever lived are extinct

In the beginning: 1 species

Evolution=change/time

There are two components: change and time

• Is there evidence that life has changed througout the history of this planet?


• How long did this take? Is there evidence to support this?

SOME EARLY IDEAS AND IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS:

1. Charles Bonet: 1720-1793

• Proposes that evolution occurs through a series of catastrophes

Minerals --> Plants --> Animals --> Intelligent Beings (humans) --> angels

• One of the first to use term evolution in a scientific sense

-

Jean Baptiste Lamarck: 1744-1829

• A naturalist has made significant contributions in the areas of botany and invertebrate zoology


• One of the first to proponents of the idea that evolution occurs in accordance with natural laws


• Developed the famous evolutionary idea: "The Inheritance of Acquired Traits"

1. The Principle of Use and Disuse- the more a particular organ or structure is used, the more it will develop. The less an organ is used, the more it will deteriorate over time

2. In a struggle for survival, an individual's traits will be pushed to improve via this force

3. Once structure is modified via use and disuse, the modification is passed on to the offspring.

-

August Weisman: 1834-1914

• Disproved Lamarck's idea of the inheritance of acquired traits


• Cut the tails off of mice (an acquired characteristic) for 21 generations


• 22nd generation still had tails

-

Charles Lyell: 1797-1875

• 1830- Wrote "Principles of Geology"


• suggests earth was formed via a slow and gradual process: uniformitaranism
• contrasted catastrophism, which went hand-in-hand with biblical chronology
• in summary...it suggests that the earth is much older than we thought

-

Charles Darwin: 1809-1882

• came from a prestigious family in England; father was a well known surgeon
• father wanted him to follow in his footsteps, but Charles could not stand the brutality of current medicine
• preferred the work of a naturalist: geology, botany, zoology, taxonomy, etc.
• father sent him to Cambridge University to become a clergyman
• at Cambridge, Darwin continued his studies as a naturalis and became well respected in this field
• 1831: Darwin takes the unpaid position as ship naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle
• the expedition's purpose is to chart the coast line of South America
• the voyage took 5 years
• Darwin's job was to study and collect specimens of the native plants, animals, and geology

SOME IMPORTANT INFLUENCES ON DARWIN:

• Charles Lyell: Geologist that wrote "Principles of Geology"

-suggests the earth is very old (contrary to popular belief)

• Thomas Malthus: Economist that wrote a paper on human population growth

-populations grow faster than the environments ability to support them

-this leads to competition

• Physical Environment and Wildlife:

-the geology of the earth and the variety of plant and animal life is like nothing he's ever

seen before

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS:

• series of small volcanic islands 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador
• located along the equator
• amazing variety of wildlife
• home to many endemic species (found no where else in the world)
• many species vary from island to island (similar but different)
• variations seem to fit with the physical environment in which the organisms live
• each island had a slightly different species of finch
• beak size and shape was one difference that interested Darwin
• the beak structure fit with the food source that was available on each island

DARWIN'S CONTROVERSIAL BOOK: ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES

• although it was not his passion, Darwin was trained as a clergyman and was still a religious person
• before his voyage, he was a strong proponent of devine design (a literal explanation of earth's history and evolution based on biblical standards)
• as the voyage progressed, he began to form new opinions on this matter
• 1838: he formed the theory of natural selection
• for fear of religious and social prosecution he did not publish this idea
• 1858: Darwin learns that Alfred russel Wallace has independently developed a similar theory; this persuades Darwin to publish jointly with Wallace

DARWIN'S THEORY: NATURAL SELECTION

1. Variation: there is genetic variation within a population

• every individual is slightly different from the next
• examples: some cheetahs are faster or larger than other cheetahs

2. Adaptation: some of these variations are favorable - 'adaptations'

• a characteristic that is genetically controlled
• gives the organism some advantage - increases the chance of survival
• example: walking stick's shape and color hides it from predators

3. Survival: not all offspring can survive

• organisms produce far more offspring than can possibly survive
• why can't they all survive? living factors-predators, disease, weather, competition for food and space, etc.
• overpopulation leads to competition
• who will survive? individuals with adaptations "survival of the fittest"
• fitness: an individual's ability to reproduce and pass on its genes

4. Reproduction: organisms that DO survive will reproduce and pass on its adaptations to their offspring

• organisms with favorable traits are more likely to survive and mate with organisms that have similar traits
• this produces offspring that also produce these favorable traits

5. Change/Time: Over long periods of time, these characteristics will increase in a population and the nature of the population will gradually change

• these changes accumulate within the population generation after generation
• this process takes an extremely long amount of time
• individuals DO NOT evolve in their lifetime! a species will evolve over many generations

KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER:

• the organisms have no control over this process! we cannot choose to evolve
• the natural environmental conditions and resources are what drive this process. hence the name: natural selection

Biology

Vocabulary:

Clade: a group of organisms that share a common ancestor

Cladistics: hierarchichal classification of organisms based on evolutionary ancestry

Phylogenic tree: "evolutionary tree" showing the relationships between organisms and their common ancestors

Homologous structure: a similar characteristic of organisms that comes from a common ancestor (results of a divergent evolution)

Vestigial structure: a homologous structure that has lost its functionality

Analogous structure: characteristics that serve a similar function but evolved separately

Biology

Mutations

All mutations are changes in the DNA of a gene.

Mutations in gametes are passed on to the offspring, but mutations in somatic cells affect only the individual cell. But mutations in both cells cause changes in DNA.

Types of Mutations

1. Gene Rearrangements- change in a gene's position
2. Gene Alterations- changes in the genetic code
3. Transposons- mobile segments of DNA and they move randomly along chromosomes can cause both gene rearrangements and gene alterations
4. Gene Rearrangement- in a new position a gene does not have the same regulatory control and cannot be turned on and off as efficiently or at all
5. Point Mutations- a single nucleotide change
6. Gene Alteration- change in the genetic code usually causes a change in the amino acid sequence
7. Substitution- a different nucleotide takes the place of the original nucleotide

The possible results of substitution:

• a single amino acid is changed which can affect protein folding (shape) & function
• no change is made and the protein functions normally
• creation of an early stop codon shortens proteins

Frameshift

• changes the total number of nucleotides in a gene
• alters the reading frame, so codons are shifted & read in different triplet groups

Possible results of frameshift:

• the amino acid sequence from the point of the mutation on is different resulting in a dysfunctional protein
• stop codons may be found early

Types of Frameshift Mutations

• Insertion- a sizable length of DNA is inserted into a gene
• Deletion- segments of a gene are lost (often during meiosis)

Inversion- a section of DNA that has a reverse base order

Translocation- a section of a chromosome breaks off & attaches to a non-homologous chromosome (often during meiosis) is reciprocal hapens to both new DNA is under the inflence of different promoters- changes gene function, may break in part, so the gene cannot function

World Geography

Mexico

Mexico was originally settled by the native peoples-Mayan, Aztec, etc. Then Cortes came and conquered the Aztec for Spain. Mexico was part of the Spanish Empire for 300 years. The huge draw for them was the natural resources such as gold and silver. In 1821, Mexico finally gained independence. But even afterwards, the land was unequally distributed; the rich owned land and had peasant workers. A new constitution finally redistributed the land to all the people in 1917.

Before the Spanish came, the natives were quite advanced. The Aztec built cities with temples and practiced human sacrifice. The Spanish destroyed the Aztec capital and built Mexico City on top of its ruins. They brought along their language and religion with them, both of which are still dominant in Mexico today. There is a large mestizo population there. Mestizo are people of Spanish and Native heritage.

The two main challenges in their economy is the gap between the rich and the poor and developing an industrial economy from a traditional agricultural one. More and more people move to the cities for economic opportunities. Mexico is big in the oil industry and uses its profits for development. There's also many maquiladoras there as well. Maquiladoras are factories that assemble important materials to make a final product, so it can be exported to the U.S. or some other country. Mexico also takes part in NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement). NAFTA is an important agreement requiring cooperation regarding economic and trade issues in North America.

Today, people are leaving Mexico to find jobs in the United States because of the growing populations and the shortages of jobs. Workers often send money back home to their families to make life easier. And although 85% of school age kids there go to school, there is little higher education available for most people.

World Geography

Central America & the Caribbean Islands

Central America has a history of Mayan culture. The Mayans were known for their temples, which were the tallest structures in the Americas before the 1900s. The Spanish came and conquered their land. But after Mexico gained its independence, so did all the rest of Central America. Central America was one region before it was split into nations.

Christopher Columbus landed on the Caribbean islands in 1492. He thought he'd reached the West Indies. He named the natives of the islands "Indians." The Spanish created sugar plantations and brought slaves over. Eventually, other European nations came and settled on the islands. The sugar was a huge draw. After 100 years (1800-1900) all the islands gained their independence.

Central America is Spanish dominant because they came and conquered the land. The native peoples were oppressed and their homes were taken from them. They were moved to the cities.

The Caribbean islands had many different cultural influences because of the many different nations that settled there. African slavery had a huge impact on their culture. Their religion is Catholicism, Protestant, and African practices and rituals. Their language is Spanish, English, French, and a smattering of Dutch.

Both Central America and the Caribbean islands are pretty poor.

Agriculture is the islands' main export: sugar canes, coffee, bananas, spices, and citrus fruits. Most of the islands are overpopulated, most people live in cities-slums.

Agriculture and mining are the main source of income for Central America. The Panama Canal is used for trade in the region.