A Matter of Selection

1.) Which part (anatomy) or characteristic of the Brassica oleracea plants seems to exhibit the most variation (greatest number of different forms)? Which part or characteristic of the Brassica oleracea plants seems to show the greatest range of variation (biggest difference between one extreme and its opposite)? Use and include data collected from multiple measurements to support your answer. The part of the plant that I thought seemed to exhibit the most variation between all of the Brassicas were the leaves. I thought that the leaves were the most different because they all were different shapes, sizes, and feels. For example, the cauliflower felt very powdery when I touched it, and I didn't get that powdery texture when I touched the other leaves of the other Brassicas. The cauliflower's leaves were also very long compared to the other Brassicas. Then the savoy cabbage had a very different kind of leaf from the other plants. The savoy cabbage had a really crinkly feeling when I touched it. Their leaves were also really wide and long. The average length of the leaf was 6 inches long and they were 5 inches wide. The only other plant that shared the crinkly feel was the dino cabbage, but their leaves were in a weird thin shape. The plant leaf that seemed to show the greatest variation was the kohlrabi. The kohlrabi had the most different color from all the plants. They had a very matte green color, and they also had a very matte purple color in some parts of the plant. Then their plant shape was also very strange. Their leaves fanned out, and also had little ribs and folds, and grew out in all directions.

Savoy Cabbage

Kohlrabi

Dino Cabbage

Cauliflower

2.) Using the terms that follow, explain why you think there is so much variability in the domestic forms of Brassica oleracea: traits, selective breeding, artificial selection, genes, descent with modification, natural variations, mutations. I think that they're is a lot of different traits in the domestic form of the Brassica oleracea for a few reasons. One the reasons being that since when something is sexually reproduced it always gets traits of both parents, and never just one. Another of the reasons being that artificial selection has played a big part in the domestication of Brassicas. Scientists have been able to pick which genes that the plants need in order to get the most out of their plants. Selective breeding also has caused a lot of change to the Brassica because the plants can sexually reproduce with much healthier and stronger plants. This can really affect the outcome of a plant because it can make the genes of the plant much better. Natural variation also plays a huge part in the domestication of Brassicas. It does because natural variation are mutations that randomly take place during sex cell division. This can really change the plant because it can affect the genes that the plant can pass down. Descent with modification is pretty simple, but still very important. It is the passing of traits from parents to offspring.

3.) Which part (anatomy) of the Brassica oleracea plants seems to be most consistently the same in all of the examples in our garden, regardless of how extreme the differences between other parts of the same plants may be? Why do think this is so? Again, use and include data collected from multiple measurements to support your answer. The part of the Brassica oleracea that was the most consistent between all the Brassicas was that the stem of all the plants were all similar. I think that this part of the Brassica is similar because it is one of the most important parts of a plant. Without the stem the plant wouldn't be able to grow because the stem helps the plant get all the nutrients it needs. It does this by sucking up all the water through the roots and transferring it through the stem. I studied all of the different types of brassicas' in the garden, and I also took some pictures. What I noticed is that all of the brassica plants had strong and sturdy stems. They were all bulky and they all had a lot of girth to them.  I think that they are sturdy because the stem is in the ground. This means that it has to be strong, and be able to withstand things trying to pull it out. Things such as animals that might want to eat it and strong winds that might cause the plant to be pulled out.

Kohlrabi

Dino Cabbage

Savoy Cabbage

4.) What would plant breeders have to do in order to get the body part or characteristic you described above (in your response to question #3) to become much different than it is presently? I think that plant breeders would have to go through a long process to change the Brassica's unique stem. I think that they'll have to find a plant that has a very thin and small stem, and a similar reproductive system. They then can get these two plants to sexually reproduce another plant with the hopes that the plant acquired the small stem genes. They can also put some of the brassicas in an enviroment where they would need to have a small and fragile stem. This process might take a really long time though. They can also genetically engineer the plant to have these small stem genes, but this could also take awhile because no one will be sure if it'll work.

Anthers and Stigmas and Styles, Oh My!

These are Brassica Oleracea they are considered a perfect flowers. They are called perfect flowers because they have both male and female parts. Since the Brassica Oleracea is a perfect flower it means that it can sexually reproduce by itself. Since this happens, it means that it is much easier for new plants of this species to grow. In other species plants the male and female parts would usually located in other flowers of that plant, and others the male and female parts are in other plants. This makes reproduction much harder.

This is the stamen of the Brassica Oleracea. The stamen in a plant is basically the male reproductive anatomy the long stalk is called the filament. The stalk comes out of the base of the flower, and the filament ends with an elf shoe like looking thing. This thing is called the anther. Without the anther the plant wouldn't be able to make pollen grains. Pollen grains are the plants male gametes, and pollen is the equivalent of sperm cells.

This is the female reproductive anatomy of the Brassica Oleracea. This part of the plant is called the carpel. Just like the stamen the carpel also has a stalk as well, but this stalk instead is called the style. At the tip of the carpel's style is the super sticky stigma. Since the stigma is super sticky it makes it super easy for it to collect pollen from the anther.


This is a picture of Brassica Oleracea that has been stripped all the way down the ovary and the ovule. The ovary is the big green thing in the picture. The little green orb is called an ovule. An ovule is an immature and an unfertilized Brassica Oleracea seed, and they are located in the Brassica Oleracea's ovary.

This is a picture of the Brassica Oleracea's pollen. The pollen is the plants male gametes cells. Without these male gamete cells there wouldn't be any reproduction, and without reproduction no plants would be able to grow.

Student Blog Post Assignment #7: Anthers and Stigmas and Styles, Oh My!


These images show that fertilization is underway. The stigma is the receptive tip of the female part of the flower. After pollen lands there, it germinates and forms a pollen tube which grows down through the style to reach the ovary.

Each pollen tube that reaches the ovary delivers one male gamete to fertilize an egg cell and one to fertilize the polar nuclei. In a single ovule, this results in the formation of one seed. Once the embryo and endosperm form, the seed undergoes cell division and growth. This usually takes about 40 to 60 days.

The plant cabbage is growing rapidly and cell division is happening to the plant to have it grow. Every time a plant divides it divides into two daughter cells which keeps plants and life grow to the fullest. The plant is in a good environmental place where the plant gets nitrogen and photosynthesis in use. Without photosynthesis plants cant live and other species won't survive. Cellular respiration is used when the plant takes in nutrition and lets out waste and keeps all the good stuff in.

Plant first starts off with transcription which mRNA was copied from DNA. Both mRNA and DNA are nucleic acids and that helps send information in the plant.  It is created by using ribosomes which is a protein that is founded in cytoplasm of living cells.  

How Does Your Garden Grow?

1. My plant has grown a lot since we planted it. Its leaves have expanded tremendously since the last time I saw it, which was about a month ago. The leaves are much more wide and thicker. There also happens to be more green and yellow in the leaves now too. The main reason behind this growth is cell division (mitosis), photosynthesis, and cellular respiration. Mitosis caused the plant to make more identical cells. As more cells were created, the plant started to grow more and more. Photosynthesis also causes plants to grow. It does because it basically is their way of making food and energy. Without photosynthesis plants wouldn't be able to grow, and would just die off. Plants need to have cellular respiration because it is their way of making adenosine triphosphate which is also known as ATP.  ATP helps transfer energy into waste. Without these three important things plants wouldn't be able to grow.
2. Our plant would be able to make these two enzymes pretty quickly if signals were sent to the nucleus. The first step is that there is going to be a process called transcription. This process is going to then change DNA into mRNA. mRNA is basically a nucleic acid that helps transfer and translate information to parts of the plant.Then the mRNA is given to the plants ribosomes. The ribosomes then translate the information that it was given in order to make polypeptides. Next, the endoplasmic reticulum helps finish the process by sorting and processing the PEPC and the Rubisco. These two proteins lastly end up in the golgi appartus where they get ready to be transported throughout the plant.

Max's Seed Story

What I learned:

Max's group got Kale for their Brassica Oleracea seed plant. What Max learned was that his germinated seeds grew faster than the none germinated seeds, and that you can plant seeds in different places instead of soil.

What surprised or amazed you?:

What amazed Max was that all the plants grew at such a fast pace. He had never really grew anything before besides tomatoes and sunflowers. This was a long time ago, he was around 5 years old. Since he never really planted all of this was pretty new. He thought that you needed soil and constant sunlight to grow plants. In this project we didn't have any soil and we kept the seeds in a dark cupboard. He also was surprised that you can plant seeds in a paper towel. Overall, he enjoyed the experience and it was very educational.

Makayla Bush

Ariel's seed story

I have not learned a thing from this project because i switched from 6th period to 5th period with almost no knowledge.Nothing amazed happened because i have been in agriculture in 5th grade and 8th.The only thing that made me think was the cycles i just had a basic knowledge of the plant cycle.

It has given me more info about a plants cycle and therefor changing the train of thought on that subject.

Cell Analogies Project of Christian Valencia & Desiree-Hoa Nguyen

https://docs.google.com/a/sjusd.org/presentation/d/1mpCaVWkNtDziqevMhY0T1mxBoBJeeFoG6eo2J_v2Pug/edit?usp=sharing

1. What changes do you notice in your plants this week? Describe the overall appearance of your plant. The difference is that are group plant grow a lot seance we plant it.

2. How do your plants participate in the movement of water in the biosphere? How do your plants' roles in the water cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? The plant suck up they water and that in the water cycle and it relate to the changes because the plant sucks the water in the soil and the air.
3. How do your plants participate in the movement of carbon in the biosphere?  How do your plants' roles in the carbon cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? The plant participate in movement of carbon cycle by taking air from the earth and providing it for food for itself. It relate in our observation by growing heath and strong.
4. How do your plants participate in the movement of nitrogen in the biosphere?  How do your plants' roles in the nitrogen cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? It participate in the movement of nitrogen by taking in what we breath out and without nitrogen it wont grow and it will die.

1. What are some abiotic factors on which your plant depends for its survival? What about biotic factors that affect your plant? Describe some of these factors.  Same abiotic factors is water because present in the plants  to remain healthy, soil because its a combination of all difference organic and inorganic matter.
2. How do you know your plants are engaged in competition? For what are your plants competing, and who is the competition?  You'll know if your plant is engaged in competition whenever two niches overlap, competition in resources  by two organisms.
3. How are "winners" and "losers" determined in this struggle? Is it always so clear cut who "wins" and who "loses?" What makes that determination complicated sometimes?  You can determined who's the winners and losers by seeing who has more resources and who has more nutrients. You can tell who's the winners and losers by looking at the outside of plant and if they produce food u can see which one looks healthier.
4. Describe other types of interaction (besides competition) in which your plants are involved. Make sure to explain how this interaction affects each organism involved. It can also be a parasitism because the plant effects other plaint by getting the same resources.  
5. What evidence is there in the garden that succesion (or something like it) is occurring in the garden ecosystem? Does it seem more like primary or secondary succession? It seems more like secondary succession because it was growing from somewhere and it wasn't growing from a places where a seed can't grow from like a hot place and a really cold places.

An Ecological Analysis of the Garden and your Plants

1. What are some abiotic factors on which your plant depends for its survival? What about biotic factors that affect your plant? Describe some of these factors. Plants depend on a few crucial abiotic factors. Those factors being soil/dirt, water, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, etc. Plants need these abiotic factors because they are needed for photosynthesis. Without photosynthesis plants won't grow, and will cause it to eventually die. There are a few biotic factors that affect our plant. Those factors being other plants, insects/bugs, humans, etc. Other plants affect our plant because
2. How do you know your plants are engaged in competition? For what are your plants competing, and who is the competition? I know that our plant is competing with other plants because if weren't our plant would of been way bigger. Our plants are competing for space, water, oxygen, nutrients, etc. The competition is the other plants that are in the planting box.
3. How are "winners" and "losers" determined in this struggle? Is it always so clear cut who "wins" and who "loses?" What makes that determination complicated sometimes? Winners and losers are determined on who gets the most nutrients and needed resources. The plant that gets more nutrients are considered the winners because they get to grow the most. It can be subtle who the winner and who the loser is. It can because you can see on the outside, but also things are happening inside the plant that we can't see.
4. Describe other types of interaction (besides competition) in which your plants are involved. Make sure to explain how this interaction affects each organism involved. There are multiple types of interaction. There is Parasitism, Commensalism, and Mutualism. Parasitism is when one organism lives in or on another organism and harms the host. Commensalism is when one organism benefits and the other is not helped or harmed. Mutualism is when both species benefit from the relationship.
5. What evidence is there in the garden that succesion (or something like it) is occurring in the garden ecosystem? Does it seem more like primary or secondary succession? There is evidence that garden succession is happeing because my plant is growing very well, and it looks pretty healthy. Secondary succession is happening because the plants are already growing from something. Primary succession is when something grows out of nothing, usually when there is a lava flow

Biogeochemical Cycles and Your Plants

1. What changes do you notice in your plants this week? Describe the overall appearance of your plant. My cabbage plant has made a huge growth in the last week. The biggest change that I see is the overall size of the plant. It has very large round leaves that stretch out from the center of the plant.
2. How do your plants participate in the movement of water in the biosphere? How do your plants' roles in the water cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? My plant does play a big role in the movement of water in the biosphere. They suck up the water that is in the air. They then use that water that they sucked up to make food. It relates to the changes because it used that water for food, and this in turn caused the cabbage plant to grow.
3. How do your plants participate in the movement of carbon in the biosphere?  How do your plants' roles in the carbon cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? Plants are very important in the movement of carbon in the biosphere. They suck up any carbon that they can get. They use that sucked up carbon to make food for itself. It relates to the changes in the plant because it got bigger. It got bigger because it used the carbon as food. 
4. How do your plants participate in the movement of nitrogen in the biosphere?  How do your plants' roles in the nitrogen cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? Plants need nitrogen in order to grow. It is very crucial for a plant to have nitrogen because nitrogen is needed for photosynthesis to happen. Without photosynthesis the plant won't grow, and eventually die.

Brief Bio

My name is Brianna Flores. I am 13 years old and I have lived in San Jose, California all of my life. I have little to no gardening experience so this project will be one of my first times gardening except the time I grew stuff in the first grade.

Brief Bio

Hi my name is Makayla Bush and I live in San Jose California. I was born here

Gardening is a good way to learn where your sources came from, and it teaches you responsibility. I have grown some plants. My aunt Janny lives on a farm in Chowchilla. She grows grapes, apples, cherries, plums, and pears. My mom grew lavender and tomatoes. I helped out and I grew potatoes and it went really well. My dad would farm when he was little and so did his two sisters and brother. They own a farm and that's where my aunt lives. They built there own houses, I'm really close with my family on my dad's side and some on my moms. My grandma used to live in Los Gatos and moved too Hawaii. 

Brief Bio

 My name is Shellie Gillespie I am 13 years old. I have 3 sisters no brothers and live with my wonderful mother Bobbie Rodriguez. When I was 5 years old I moved to Texas because my dad got a job out there we stayed there for 3 years. I was born in San Jose,California and have been here since the move from Texas. My experience with gardening is well nothing at all. My grandparents grow their own veggies in their backyard but I don't really help. My grandma always talks to me about the process of  how a plants and veggies grow,sometimes it can get really really boring. Most of the time I just look at the progress. 

Brief Bio

My name is Christian Valencia and I am 14 years old, and I have always lived in San Jose, California. I am of Mexican descent. I am Mexican, and so is all my family. Most of my family lives in California, but I have a few relatives that live in Mexico. I am glad that I was born to a Mexican family because it is my favorite kind of food. I just love all the flavors Mexican food has.

Before I moved houses I would garden every so often, but I was very little so I don't really remember much. One of the foods I do remember gardening were tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. I did enjoy gardening because I found satisfaction and enjoyment seeing the plant grow. I do have an idea of where food and plants come from, but I wouldn't consider myself an expert. Then since my old house had a lot of plants I would water them a lot. I don't cook a lot, but I do like cooking. I don't cook a lot because I don't know how too. Some people that I think know a good amount of gardening are my godparents/ uncle and aunt. Every time I visit them they are always growing food in their backyard. They also grow a lot of plants on their front yard. They like growing a lot of their food, and whenever she makes food for my family it tastes really good and fresh. They are really into eating fresh and organic foods. Hopefully, after this project I learn how to plant food, and have a better idea where it comes from.