" The Big Picture!" by Mr C

Mission Vertebrate:

Greetings Biology eleven students

Your mission is to select a specific species of chordate and create an entertaining and factual power point much like the one’s your instructor has shown this year. While this is a challenging endeavor, it will help you to both review and show academic wisdom about the phylum Chordate.

Step One:

You are to work on this mission either by your self or one other person. No groups of three!

Step Two:

Select one specific chordate and do not do an animal that has already been chosen. Remember that we do have three chordates in the room that would appreciate some attention!

Step Three:

Gathering both image and factual content, you will need to discuss 10 key topics about your organism.

• Background information:

1. How does your animal fit into taxonomy of chordate
2. Show example of similar and different animals linked to your animal
3. Show a cladogram of where your animal fits into all chordates.

• Discuss body plan of your organism.

1. Compare unique features of your organism to similar species.
2. Discuss unique physical adaptions linked to body plan. (For example: limbs, fins, fur, scales)

• Feeding

1. What features does your organism have linked to eating?
2. Where on the food chain is your organism?
3. Does your organism eat all the time?
4. Can you include video clips of your organism eating?

• Respiration

1. Discuss both how your organism gets oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
2. What structures are linked to your organism respiration?
3. Can you show a video or image?
4. What sort of circulatory system does your organism have?
5. How is your organism’s circulatory and respiratory systems linked to the habit that your organism lives in?

• Excretion

1. What structures are linked to your organism’s removal of metabolic waste?
2. What type of nitrogen product does your organism make and why?
3. How does your organism keep water balance?
4. How is the habitat your organism lives in linked to excretion?

• Response

1. How developed is your organism’s responses to stimuli?
2. Which is the strongest and weakest sense?
3. Can you provide a video clip of sample behaviours?
4. Can you provide a comparison of your organism’s brain and senses to other linked and not linked chordate?

• Movement

1. How does your organism move?
2. What structures are linked to your organism’s movement?
3. Video clip of movement?
4. What adaption has occurred to facilitate your organism’s movement?

• Reproduction

1. How does your organism reproduce?
2. Do you have a life cycle of your organism?
3. What structures are linked to your organism regarding (eggs, placenta)
4. Is your organism’s young born inside or out side of the female?
5. What is the duration for embryo development?
6. What unique reproductive behaviours are linked to your organism?
7. Does you organism have unique reproductive structures?

• Populations and group behavior

1. Does your organism live alone or with a group?
2. What is the name of a group of your organisms called?
3. Does your organism have unique group behaviours such as migration or “pack” behavior?

• Ecology and link to Humans

1. Discuss how your organism “fits” into ecological levels of interactions
2. Discuss the positive and negative interactions between your organism and other organisms (both animal and plant)
3. How is your organism linked to human populations?
4. Is your organism an endangered species and if so, how or what could be done to limit your organism extinction?
5. Why did you pick your organism

• That is so cool category

1. Has your organism been in popular social media?
2. Has your organism been a movie or TV character?
3. What are some amazing “facts” that have not been mentioned?

Criteria

1. Your “slides” should show a uniform pattern regarding both colour and font size (need to be able to read from the back of the room.
2. You should include: pictures, diagrams, life cycle, and video content.
3. For your power point, you should be prepared to possibly present your information.

4. You will need to include both an introductory title page with your organism’s binomial and generic name. You will also need to include the date and your name (s)
5. The final slide (s) should include a detailed bibliography of all your data used in your power point.
6. You are to hand in a simple written “reflective response” which should include: some of the challenges of the assignment, what you found interesting, what you “learned” that was related to the years content and validation for what mark you feel you deserve.

This assignment is due on the last official class of Bio 11.

No late assignments will be marked. No excuses!

May you succeed and enjoy your mission.