Class Reflection

One class activity I remember clearly is when we did a simulation of predation and how prey use camoflauge to their advantage. The activity we did was that the teacher scattered different colored toothpicks across the grass. Some were blue, green, yellow, red, and wood colored. Everyone lined up against the edge of the grass. When the teacher said "go", everyone charged into the area where the toothpicks were. After that, we counted how many of each color we found. We did a couple of trials to make sure our information was reliable. In the end we saw that green and blue were found the least and yellow and wood were found the most. This was because green and blue were similar to the color of the grass. Also yellow and wood contrasted with grass and stood out more to our eyes. That does not mean that they were extremely easy to find because they had the simialr shape of a blade of grass and the ends where sharp. Since the ends were sharp, if you got poked then you slowed down and were more careful. In the wild, that time is all the prey needs to escape. This activity really helped me to visualize what would actually happen in the wild with other animals. That is probably why this experience is so rememberable to me.

current event 2

This article is about two orphaned gorilla being returned home. They were taken away in the first place because there was gorilla killing in 2007. It was during these killings that both the parents of the baby gorillas were killed. They were looked after by caretakers until they decided it was safe enough to return the to Congo National Park. They say that the move was a success and wouldn't have been posible without the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary project staff.
My reaction to this article was joy for the the two baby gorillas. I was happy that so much work was put into their safety and well-being. It also showed me that there are people out there that truly do care about the animals. That gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. I also felt a little worried because I didn't have any idea that people were creating this tremendous of a problem with gorillas. Of course, that worry was taken care of when I read all the about the incredible effort and determination people had for the baby gorillas. In conclusion, the article left me with a good feeling.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203163146.htm