TED Talk- Critical Writing
Human Population
According to Han Rosling from TED TALK, the world
population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.
The US population is currently at 313 million and
close to zero population growth. Explain in detail
( not list), 3 ways this global increase in population
will affect your life in the United States?
(and yes, your life will be affected).
TED Talk- Critical Writing
“Zombie Roaches and Other Parasite tales”
Discuss two manipulator parasites from the talk.
Specifically, how did the parasite manipulate its host
and why?
Artemia (brine shrimp)/tapeworm
Cricket/Gordian worm
Catapillar/parasitic wasp
Snail/trematodes
Cockroach/cockroach wasp
Toxoplasma/rat
Critical Writing from the
“Moose is Loose” clicker case
In paragraph format, create your own food web consisting
of 6 to 9 organisms. Be sure to include producers,
and primary and secondary consumers.
From here, focus on one particular species in that food web.
Create a non-feeding relationship between your species of
choice and another organism from your list. Describe
what possible disruptions in top-down control of
productivity could adversely affect your species?
Critical writing from Your Inner Fish. Discuss in
detail the scientists and lab techniques used to
uncover the DNA recipe for constructing the
human hand. This essential set of instructions
were passed down from fish like Tiktaalik and
shared today with a surprising number of other
animals, from chickens to chimpanzees.
Critical Writing: Read the following passage
about little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus).
Why should we be concerned about the
unusually high mortality rate of this species?
Explain in detail, how technology is being used
to monitor the bat populations and solve the
mystery regarding White Nose Syndrome
(Geomyces destructans). (see next 3 slides)
White Nose Syndrome (WNS) was first discovered in 4 caves in New
York state in 2006 / 2007 and had now spread to many more states and
sites in the eastern U.S. and Canada. The little brown bat is most affected
but IUCN-endangered Indiana bats have also been killed in large numbers.
Mortality rates reach 100% in some caves (Blehert et al. 2008 Science) and
best estimates suggest that more than a million bats in the eastern United
States have already died making this perhaps the most rapid decline of any
wildlife species in history. WNS is named for the cold-loving white fungus
which grows on and in the skin of the face and wings of the bats. However,
starvation during hibernation appears to be the cause of death as affected
bats are clearly emaciated (Blehart et al. 2008 Science). Little is known
about WNS but it appears to be spreading and it represents a potentially
enormous threat to North American bat populations and ecosystems in
general. Given the high mortality rates observed to date, the affected
region may have already lost more than 1000 tons of annual insect
biomass consumption.
(see next slide)
Data are lacking to address two key questions that are
potentially important for understanding WNS: 1) what are the
normal patterns of body temperature and metabolic rate for
little brown bats during hibernation and 2) how far do little
brown bats travel between winter and summer? If WNS
interferes with normal hibernation patterns it is critical that we
learn what normal hibernation patterns look like for different
populations across the very large range of little brown bats. A
lack of knowledge about winter-summer movements is a major
stumbling block for understanding the potential spread of WNS
and our prospects for managing and controlling it. Some data
from banding studies exist but our PIT tag work for
the Manitoba Bat Blitz has the potential to provide a clearer
picture. (See next slide)
Lab Resources
Thanks to grants from CFI, NSERC and other agencies we have several
four or eight channel Sable Systems respirometry systems for
measuring metabolic rates and evaporative water loss of animals and
Lotek SRX-400 Datalogging Telemetry Receivers with antenna
switching capability for “physiological telemetry” to remotely log body
temperatures, and for traditional telemetry studies. We use a
Pettersson D500x ultrasound recording unit or D240x time expansion
bat detectors with Asus EeePCs or iRiver recorders for remote
recording of echolocation calls of bats in the field. We mark bats with
passive transponders (PIT tags) and have a range of equipment for
recording PIT tag data from free-ranging animals. The lab is equipped
with nets and traps for capturing bats and small mammals and
instruments for measuring morphological traits, sampling blood and
tissue and hand-held telemetry receivers for routine radiotracking.
The “Batmobile”, our 4WD gas-electric hybrid field vehicle and cargo
trailer gets us from place to place in the field.