The Animal Assistance Foundation has a mission to improve the animal welfare in Colorado. This foundation was founded by a woman named Louise C. Harrison in 1975. It was Louise's goal to prevent cruelty to domestic animals. She was always an animal advocate and made many donations to animal organizations. Since it was started the Animal Assistance Foundation has invested $50 million dollars to the well being of animals in the state of Colorado.
One of the foundation's current projects is the Arkansas River Valley Project. My classmates and I were lucky enough to be given the opputunity to take part in this project as researchers. The Animal Assistance Foundation decided to try and reduce the number of feral animals there were in our community.
The foundation, AAF, had a hypothesis that said the more spayed and neutered animals in the area, the less feral (FUN FACT: Feral is another way to say stray or unowned) animals there would be.
Procedure: To test this hypothesis AAF, researched the number of feral dogs and cats in our area. Then they handed out vouchers about getting your animal spayed and neutered. After that, the AAF asked us to collect data about the number of feral dogs and cats in our area. Our job was to go on four different walks over the course of two weeks. AAF wanted to be very careful and avoid any extra variables, so our walks had to be on the same day of the week, the same time of day, and had to be along the same route. During our walks we had to record the number of animals we saw. We were given indexing forms to keep track of our count.
My Data Collection:
#1
Date: April 25th Location: La Junta, CO; Around City Park
Start Time: 5:00 p.m. End Time: 5:30 p.m.
Cat Sightings: Dog Sightings:
Owned: 0 Owned: 6
Feral: 4 Feral: 0
Unknown: 0 Unknown: 0
Squirrels: 5
#2
Date: April 27th Location: La Junta, CO; Around City Park
Start Time: 5:00 p.m. End Time: 5:30 p.m.
Cat Sightings: Dog Sightings:
Owned: 0 Owned: 5
Feral: 3 Feral: 0
Unknown: 0 Unknown: 0
Squirrels: 5
#3
Date: May 2nd Location: La Junta, CO; Around City Park
Start Time: 5:00 p.m. End Time: 5:30 p.m.
Cat Sightings: Dog Sightings:
Owned: 0 Owned: 5
Feral: 4 Feral: 0
Unknown: 1 Unknown: 0
Squirrels: 4
#4
Date: May 4th Location: La Junta, CO; Around City Park
Start Time: 5:00 p.m. End Time: 5:30 p.m.
Cat Sightings: Dog Sightings:
Owned: 1 Owned: 5
Feral: 4 Feral: 1
Unknown: 1 Unknown: 0
Squirrels: 4
Picture of Route:
View Larger Map
Conclusion:
I can't say for sure if I proved AAF'S hypothesis because I don't know what the data was before beginning of the experiement. In my data I only saw 1 feral dog, which is really good. However, I did see a lot of feral cats. I do think the number of feral animals in our community has gone down since AAF started their project. I hope AAF can continue to make a difference in my community and other communities to improve animal welfare.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
EVOLUTION
Evolution is a topic that can be very controversial. There are people that believe it is true and people that don't. After some long and hard research I learned a lot about the theory of evolution. Charles Darwin is known for being the "British Scientist who laid the foundation of modern evolutionary theory with his concept of the development of all forms of life through the slow working process of natural selection." Natural selection implies that all living species will adapt to their environment and learn how to survive through different processes known as mutation, genetic drift, migration, and natural selection.
Darwin is credited as the father of evolution and how life came to be as we know it. Little is actually known about how is theories came to be. Darwin attended medical school but then dropped out in favor of going to the ministry. This did not last long as there were two individuals, Adam Sedgwick and John Stevens Henslow, that influenced his thinking. He was sent out on a world wide tour aboard the ship HMS Beagle. Aboard this expedition, he was to document his observations as a naturalist from the different continents around the world. While off the coast of Ecuador sailing threw the Galapagos Islands he noticed that there were similarities and distinct differences between the different species on the separate islands. These differences were used to dis credit Catastrophist thought about creation and that all life came from Noah's Ark after a world wide flood. This is where he developed his idea about The Origion of the Species, that life adapts to its environment through natural selection and "survival of the fittest." Natural Selection is the idea that species adapt to what their environment demands of them through mutation of the gene pool. The trait that enables species to adapt to its environment is passed on to the next generation. This trait becomes dominant for future generations. An example of this is the Galapagos finches Darwin saw near Ecuador. Darwin observed that some birds in the arid environments were better equipped to survive because they could get their food from cactus plants.
Jean- Baptiste Lamarck pre-dated Darwin and put forward an early theory of evolution which assumed that life emerges spontaneously from nonliving matter. This idea was known as spontaneous generation. Lamarck further believed that life forms had the ability to progress and evolve into more complex forms of life such as humans coming from apes. By way of example, the necks of giraffes grew longer to reach the tops of taller trees. Traits could also diminish and disappear through lack of use. "In this way any organ that went unused would tend to shrink with the passing generations." Lamarck once stated that blind cave fish had become blind because their ancestors had not used their eyes. Even so, Lamarck did not consider the inheritance of traits as critical to his theory. Lamarck was credited with loosely grouping different species on a geneological tree presumbaly to demonstrate how life evolved from nothing to what we see in the world today. He arranged animals according to their relationships. His idea emerged out of medieval thought that everything through creation progressed toward perfection. This ordering principle was known as "the scala naturae" (the scale of nature) or "the great chain of being" to describe how life progressed from inanimate objects through simple to more complex life forms and ultimately in religious roots to God. His idea was guided by the influence of natural law and the belief that life forms progress toward higher levels of functioning (macro-evolution).
In addressing evolution, one must consider that there is macro-evolution and micro-evolution. Microevolution is on a much smaller scale. In microevolution only a small group of species is changed. Different types of micro evolution are mutation, genetic drift, migration, and natural selection. Mutations are typically considered harmful. However, there are mutations that will benefit the species to adapt to their environment as noted above with the process of natural selection. Mutation goes hand in hand with natural selection as expressed to provides opportunity for the species to adapt to their environment. The best example to consider, as noted above, is the diffeences observed by Darwin among the birds on the Galapago Islands. Darwin essentially documented that mutations in the gene pool of the birds allowed the different species to adapt to their different environments. Scientists have considered that the fossil record provides the strongest evidence of evolution to date. However, in the thirteenth century, St. Albertus Magnus stated, "Nature does not make (animal) kinds separate without making something intermediate between them; for nature does not pass from extreme to extreme without an intermediate." While some might suggest that this quote is validated by the fossil record, scientists have yet to discover transitional life forms or the elusive "missing link" in the fossil record that connects humans to apes.
Now for my opinion: It is interesting to me that scientists depend upon and state natural law as the ultimate and final authority on the subject of evolution. They tend to forget that it is a theory. Perhaps most noteworthy, to draw a conclusion that the theory of evolution is anything more than supported by evidence to become a fact takes a tremendous leap of faith. In my mind, there is value in understanding what is presented by evolution. However, I am not able to accept it on face value any more than I can believe in the ability to throw all the pieces of a wrist watch in the air and have it land together as a functioning Rolex. There subsequently will never be any way to prove the theory of evolution without making a statement of faith. As a scientist, several questions remain. I would ask the following: How were the laws of nature established? What holds together the seven sisters in the heavens? Is it possible to loose the cords of Orion? (Job 38:31)
WORKS CITED
"Charles Darwin Biography." Classic Literature Library. Classic Literature Library. Web. 15 May 2011 <http://charles-darwin.classic-literature.co.uk/charles-darwin-biography.asp>
"Jean-Baptiste Lamarck." MACROEVOLUTION.NET. Web. 15 May 2011 <http://www.macroevolution.net/jean-baptiste-lamarck.html>
"The Scala Naturae." MACROEVOLUTION.NET. Web. 15 May 2011 <http://www.macroevolution.net/scala-naturae.html>
Darwin is credited as the father of evolution and how life came to be as we know it. Little is actually known about how is theories came to be. Darwin attended medical school but then dropped out in favor of going to the ministry. This did not last long as there were two individuals, Adam Sedgwick and John Stevens Henslow, that influenced his thinking. He was sent out on a world wide tour aboard the ship HMS Beagle. Aboard this expedition, he was to document his observations as a naturalist from the different continents around the world. While off the coast of Ecuador sailing threw the Galapagos Islands he noticed that there were similarities and distinct differences between the different species on the separate islands. These differences were used to dis credit Catastrophist thought about creation and that all life came from Noah's Ark after a world wide flood. This is where he developed his idea about The Origion of the Species, that life adapts to its environment through natural selection and "survival of the fittest." Natural Selection is the idea that species adapt to what their environment demands of them through mutation of the gene pool. The trait that enables species to adapt to its environment is passed on to the next generation. This trait becomes dominant for future generations. An example of this is the Galapagos finches Darwin saw near Ecuador. Darwin observed that some birds in the arid environments were better equipped to survive because they could get their food from cactus plants.
Jean- Baptiste Lamarck pre-dated Darwin and put forward an early theory of evolution which assumed that life emerges spontaneously from nonliving matter. This idea was known as spontaneous generation. Lamarck further believed that life forms had the ability to progress and evolve into more complex forms of life such as humans coming from apes. By way of example, the necks of giraffes grew longer to reach the tops of taller trees. Traits could also diminish and disappear through lack of use. "In this way any organ that went unused would tend to shrink with the passing generations." Lamarck once stated that blind cave fish had become blind because their ancestors had not used their eyes. Even so, Lamarck did not consider the inheritance of traits as critical to his theory. Lamarck was credited with loosely grouping different species on a geneological tree presumbaly to demonstrate how life evolved from nothing to what we see in the world today. He arranged animals according to their relationships. His idea emerged out of medieval thought that everything through creation progressed toward perfection. This ordering principle was known as "the scala naturae" (the scale of nature) or "the great chain of being" to describe how life progressed from inanimate objects through simple to more complex life forms and ultimately in religious roots to God. His idea was guided by the influence of natural law and the belief that life forms progress toward higher levels of functioning (macro-evolution).
In addressing evolution, one must consider that there is macro-evolution and micro-evolution. Microevolution is on a much smaller scale. In microevolution only a small group of species is changed. Different types of micro evolution are mutation, genetic drift, migration, and natural selection. Mutations are typically considered harmful. However, there are mutations that will benefit the species to adapt to their environment as noted above with the process of natural selection. Mutation goes hand in hand with natural selection as expressed to provides opportunity for the species to adapt to their environment. The best example to consider, as noted above, is the diffeences observed by Darwin among the birds on the Galapago Islands. Darwin essentially documented that mutations in the gene pool of the birds allowed the different species to adapt to their different environments. Scientists have considered that the fossil record provides the strongest evidence of evolution to date. However, in the thirteenth century, St. Albertus Magnus stated, "Nature does not make (animal) kinds separate without making something intermediate between them; for nature does not pass from extreme to extreme without an intermediate." While some might suggest that this quote is validated by the fossil record, scientists have yet to discover transitional life forms or the elusive "missing link" in the fossil record that connects humans to apes.
Now for my opinion: It is interesting to me that scientists depend upon and state natural law as the ultimate and final authority on the subject of evolution. They tend to forget that it is a theory. Perhaps most noteworthy, to draw a conclusion that the theory of evolution is anything more than supported by evidence to become a fact takes a tremendous leap of faith. In my mind, there is value in understanding what is presented by evolution. However, I am not able to accept it on face value any more than I can believe in the ability to throw all the pieces of a wrist watch in the air and have it land together as a functioning Rolex. There subsequently will never be any way to prove the theory of evolution without making a statement of faith. As a scientist, several questions remain. I would ask the following: How were the laws of nature established? What holds together the seven sisters in the heavens? Is it possible to loose the cords of Orion? (Job 38:31)
WORKS CITED
"Charles Darwin Biography." Classic Literature Library. Classic Literature Library. Web. 15 May 2011 <http://charles-darwin.classic-literature.co.uk/charles-darwin-biography.asp>
"Jean-Baptiste Lamarck." MACROEVOLUTION.NET. Web. 15 May 2011 <http://www.macroevolution.net/jean-baptiste-lamarck.html>
"The Scala Naturae." MACROEVOLUTION.NET. Web. 15 May 2011 <http://www.macroevolution.net/scala-naturae.html>
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