Author Archives

Jessica Lin

Arthropods 101: Insects, Evolution, Classes, and Examples of Arthropods

Making up around 75% of all animal species in the world, arthropods are are a vast phylum of the kingdom Animalia. The name comes from the Greek words “arthro”, meaning joint, and “podos”, meaning legs. While they all share segmented bodies with joined legs, members in this phylum vary wildly, from butterflies and millipedes, to scorpions and lobsters. They are also all invertebrates, which means that they do not have backbones. Instead, they use hard exoskeletons to protect themselves, which are made out of chitin. Because these exoskeletons are relatively inflexible, arthropods molt as they grow larger, which means they shed their exoskeletons.

Taxonomy: History, Definition, Classification, and Taxonomy Mnemonic

Cougar. Mountain Lion. Puma. What do these animals all have in common? Believe it or not, they are actually all names for the same animal! Because this feline spans such a large area, different areas call it different names. As you might think, this could get confusing if scientists try to discuss the same animal, so what do they do? They use taxonomy.
Taxonomy is the science and process of organizing organisms into categories and naming them. Every species of animal has a unique taxonomic, or scientific, name. A species is a group of organisms that reproduce among itself and produce offspring. The scientific name is used by scientists all over the world for ease of communication. After all, it is very important to be specific in science. For example, the scientific name of the cougar/mountain lion/puma is Puma concolor. The name cougar/mountain lion/puma refers to the animal’s common name. Organisms can have many common names used by the public, but when scientists are referring to them, they use the scientific name. Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

What are Vitamins?: Definition, Functions, and Health Benefits

Vitamins and minerals both help our bodies work properly, and they aid with functions such as growth and development. So what is the difference between the two? Simply stated, vitamins are organic and minerals are inorganic. This means that vitamins come from living sources, like plants and animals, while minerals come from elsewhere, such as the earth. Vitamins tend to have more complex structures than minerals, and because of this, are more prone to degradation via heat or chemicals. Today, we will be focusing on vitamins.