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Biology

This category contains 282 posts

Music and cats under anaesthesia

There are lots of reasons why finding ways to decrease the amount of medication that is needed is positive. Reducing side effects is obviously important but there’s also resource use and social equity factors. If we need less medications it can decrease the energy and materials necessary to create those medications. Decreased amounts of drugs … Continue reading

Turkey, seratonin, and uncertainty

We just had Canadian Thanksgiving here and aside from my growing discomfort with colonial history it is a good time to recognize the many things that I’m grateful for. It is also as good a time to find the science in the everyday. Turkey is of course connected to the turkey stupor, which it turns … Continue reading

Cat Genetics Activities

I created this activity for an introductory biology class. It covers Mendelian and Non-Mendelian patterns of inheritance and has some suggest activities for practicing the Hardy-Weinberg equation. Since most of the questions ask you to cross a cat that you found there is no answer key. Teachers, please feel free to use this activity in … Continue reading

The making of a tabby cat

I’ve found it quite fascinating to look into cat genetics over the past week. I should have my entire planned activity for my bio students to share by next week, but in the meantime I thought I’d write about the agouti and tabby genes. The presence of a dominant agouti gene affects pigment distribution along … Continue reading

Cat Genetics

I’m teaching a bio course this term and I’ve been looking for ways to engage students in lab type activities given that we can’t go into a lab. When someone sent me an article about why most of the human genetic traits we like to use in genetics lessons are inaccurate I was, shall we … Continue reading

Why is there green foam on the lake?

I’ve been canoeing a lot this summer, so I’ve also seen a lot of notices about blue-green algal blooms, but this past weekend took it to a whole other level with piles of green foam on the beach and beautifully, but disturbingly coloured banks. While these blooms are relatively common regardless of conditions, warming climates … Continue reading

Will e-bikes help you get fitter?

A couple times on my bike rides over the last month other riders beat me quite soundly going up hills. This is not impossible, I’m not the fastest rider out there. But I’m also not the slowest and various clues lead me to think that there might have been something else at play. I believe … Continue reading

Learning about lymphoma in kids

This is the final week of my fundraiser for kids’ cancers through the Great Cycle Challenge Canada. Lymphoma is the third most common cancer among children although it is rare in very young children and becomes more common as children age (Lymphoma Action, n.d.). Lymphoma is a type of cancer white cells known as lymphocytes. … Continue reading

What is neuroblastoma?

As I continue to ride in support of the Sick Kids Foundation through the Great Cycle Challenge Canada, I’m also continuing to learn more about childhood cancer. Through the challenge I’ve heard about incredible kids and their families and the fights that have been won, lost, and are still in progress. They inspire me to … Continue reading

Learning more about kids cancers

I’ve been on my bike ticking off kilometers for the Great Cycling Challenge alot this month. This challenge in Canada raises money for the Sick Kids Foundation to fight kids cancer. I realized on one of these rides that I don’t actually know much about kids cancers. So I thought I would do some research … Continue reading

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