Literature: 5 Fables

For literature, we had to read five fables and write what we think the moral of the fable is. I think that the maxim, or moral, of The Fox and the Goat is that you should think before you act and you shouldn't blindly trust someone. If the goat considered that the fox could have been lying, he wouldn't be tricked into getting stuck at the bottom of the well. The maxim of The Crow and the Pitcher is little by little does the trick because by gradually placing the pebbles into the pitcher, he was able to raise the water level enough so that he could quench his thirst. If he threw the pebbles in quickly, most of the water would have fallen out, and his efforts would go to waste. The moral of The Fisher and the Little Fish is that it is better to have something little in your hand than to possibly have something big because if the fisher didn't catch a bigger fish, he would have regretted letting the little fish go. I think that the maxim of The Four Oxen and the Lion is that united we stand, divided we fall because the oxen were able to defend themselves together, but when quarreling, they were defenseless and were therefore attacked. Finally, the moral of The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing is that appearances can be deceiving, and because the wolf appeared to be the lamb's mother, the lamb was tricked into following him. Those are the maxims/morals of the five fables.

Ask A Geneticist

By reading these websites, I learned many facts about chromosomes and DNA. A chromosome is a package containing a chunk of a genome, which is an organism's genes. A chromosome is similar to a package which helps a cell to keep a large amount of genetic information neat, organized, and compact. Chromosomes are made of DNA and proteins. Some simple organisms, such as bacteria, can package their their entire genome (the genetic information) in a single chromosome. However, for more intricate organisms, such as humans, the genome is much larger, and more chromosomes are required to store all of the genetic information. The amount of chromosomes that an organism has depends on the species, and is therefore not a fixed amount. Closely related species usually to have a similar number of chromosomes. For instance, chimpanzees, our closest cousins, have 48 chromosomes in each of their cells, while we have 46 chromosomes. It is expected for more complex organisms to have more chromosomes, but nature doesn't work that way. Surprisingly, goldfish, who are fairly simple organisms, have 96 chromosomes, in comparison to humans, who have 46 chromosomes. The number of chromosomes that an organism has is unique to its species, and it is not very specific.