Week 11 Assignments - Living Diversity

Diversity of Species in my little corner of the universe:

Of course I am surrounded by humans, but there are also dogs, cats, birds (egrets, crows, hummingbirds, and I saw a banded kingfisher once*, other small birds I don't know the species of), spiders, flies, dragon flies, ants (not too many of them that I see anyway); daffodils, roses, tulips, juniper bushes, grass, geraniums, rocks (are those considered "living"???), tiger lilies (my mom really likes flowers)....*these guys are really kind of funny looking, with a crest on the top of the head, short and stocky - small quirky birds that live near water (there is a canal near the park I live in...) - I guess there are all kinds of microscopic life in the canal area, or even in the park's manmade pools - no fish, that I am aware of at any rate.

Cell Biology:

I liked this website, they do a good job of showing all the different types of cells....I think maybe my least favorite was the "virtual cell", only because there wasn't much going on in that particular graphic although it looked good....I was struck by how similar plant and animal cells are - there are integral parts that are the same (mitochondria, ribosomes, golgi apparatus, etc). I was also struck by the mechanical appearance of a virus - it really looked like a space station or something....

Spike's Gallery:

These images were really beautiful. I liked particularly the "fossil diatoms from Oamaru" - again, these seemed to have an almost mechanical look to them - they reminded me of the inner workings of a clock....and I thought the "opercularia articulata" looked like a bouquet of flowers - maybe cala lilies; conversely, the "water flea" was really kind of ooky...