Mindful Ramblings

I have recently been under fire for not disclosing that there were informative gory and interesting disgusting photos in some of my previous posts.  So consider yourself warned….Module 15 has its share of dissections just like the past few modules!  Proceed cautiously, and for heaven’s sake, sit down before viewing if it bothers you! 😮

But first, a couple of fun videos about plants before we get down to business….This is a really cool plant.  Wonder if they grow here??

While I was out Googling and such I found this cool museum of carnivorous plants:   Galleria Carnivora.  (Like the Micropolitan Museum that we looked at sometime around Module 3 or 4, choose the floor and click the specimen you’d like to see.)

And no mention of the Venus Fly Trap is complete without talking about the movie Little Shop of Horrors…but you’ll have to check that one out on your own.

Experiment 15.1 – Flower Anatomy

The object of this experiment was to observe various types of flowers and compare their differences and similarities. Each series of images below shows full flower, followed by vertical cross-section, then magnification of the corresponding pollen (click to enlarge):

Experiment 15.2 – Fruit Classification

Who knew?  Fruit classification is not quite as easy as you might think! 🙂  But we sure had a lot of fun in the process AND a we all had a very healthy snack!  We used Bananas, Tangerines, Kiwi, Avocado, Sweet Peas, Tomato, Cucumber, Green Pepper, Grapes, Apples, and Peanuts.

The object of this experiment was to observe the various types of fruits and compare their differences….especially in their flavor! 🙂

For help in Fruit Classifications, try these websites:

Nationmaster.com

Bellevue College

WaynesWord

Everyone was quite courageous during our dissections.  No one sat on the side lines. One student did look a little green after eating a piece of tomato, but that is to be expected!

I think the feeling was quite unanimous; this was one of our favorite experiments to date!

 A few of our sliced specimen…

Dissected peanut…see the tiny embryo at the top?

These are referred to as, “the leavings” and should be thrown out or composted once experiment is complete!

We made quite a mess during this experiment…but at least we have a barkuum! 😉

Study Link:  Flashcards & Games at Quizlet.com