...Ecological niche Modern humans evolved in Africa, moving from forest to plains when their environment changed. As a result they lost the climbing adaptations of their close relatives such as the opposable big toe that looks like a thumb. Instead our whole body shape has adapted to upright locomotion, specifically long distance running. Humans needed meat to sustain their growing brains, but did not have the size, teeth or claws to hunt like other predators. Instead, as can still be seen in some modern hunter-gatherer tribes, they chase their prey over large distances until their prey collapsed from exhaustion. Humans also have other adaptations to evolving in this ecological niche. We are mostly hairless, in order to aid keeping cool in the...
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...Story of the Human Body Synthesis Paper Candance N. Marshall Evergreen State College Story of the Human Body Synthesis Paper The chapters in the book start with the evolution of the human body from the lands of Africa to the present day. The findings of bones that date back millions of years displays the evidence of such evolution. The findings support the theories the changes the human body went through in order to adapt to its surroundings and the initial transition into a bipedalism species. Adaptation and Transitioning When reading into the adaptations you can recognize the necessity of these major transformations that contributed to the major adaptations in the body such as the beginning of bipedalism, the shift to a non-fruit based diet as the rise of the hunter/gatherer emerged with the adaptation of a more athletic abilities; the development of larger brains and more noticeable cultural beliefs and rituals. Revolution1 The major variations that are effecting our current society originated from the Agricultural and Industrial revolutions. The modifications to our diets play a huge role in the presence of chronic illness in the world. Post Paleolithic World. Our bodies are not entirely adaptable to the world we live in, we can recognize this with the growing incidences of obesity and disease like type-2 diabetes. Diseases. Although the body has adapted to the many changes of the environment, cultural and biologically evolution continues while the rapid spread...
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...Dominion University Human Adaptation and Variation Alyssa Carlson 01005378 ANTR 110S_10772 Dr. Elva Smith 24 November 2014 Human biological diversity encompasses much more than the characteristics seen by the naked eye. Our species walked new and unique paths to arrive at our present existence. Our journey resulted in the achievement of many innovative and unique physiognomies allowing us to survive and reproduce. What characteristics have our species evolved and which most greatly shaped our evolution by conferring additional advantages in survivorship? Although there are many remarkable characteristics that have evolved the most striking variance and adaptation amongst the human population is variation in skin color. The fascination lies in the fact that for centuries the human body has used continuing adaptation to protect humans in different ways such as disease and protection from the sun. Scientists have made considerable progress in explaining variation in human skin color, along with many other features of biological and genetic diversity. Diversities of skin color are a result of natural selection. Over periods of time, adaptation has allowed the favored types to survive by natural selection. In addition, the color of one’s skin goes well beyond the surface as a result of geographic distribution. With years of struggle against nature behind us, human bodies have acclimated to their...
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...About 7 million years ago, many species roamed the Earth but only one kind would evolve into humans; the species Pre-Australopithecine. Who would have thought that we would evolve to become Homo Sapiens living in a world of technology and cultural influences. Our ancestors have adapted to the many conditions of the habitat they were living in like how humans have adjusted to our surroundings. As the Earth gets older changing to the environment, mankind has equally became accustomed to the changes of Earth. Although, humans have adapted many skills for survival, our ancestor had also learned many new abilities to help them live leaving many similarities and differences. Humans have adapted to almost all of the earth’s terrestrial habitats...
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...included. A successful abstract is compact, accurate and self-contained. It also must be clear enough so someone who is unfamiliar with your experiment could understand why you did what you did, and what the experiment indicated in the end. An additional note is that abstracts typically are written in the passive voice, but it is acceptable to use personal pronouns such as I or we. . http://writing2.richmond.edu/training/project/biology/abslit.html Stress and How We Manage Stress is a normal everyday part of life, 43% of adults suffer adverse health effects from stress (Goldberg.2014). Stress is the body's reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response. Stress can impact the mind, as well as the body, and can be experienced in both a negative (distress) and a positive manner (eustress)....
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...between the principles of training, physiological adaptations and improved performance The relationship between the principles of training and physiological adaptations has a significant impact on performance. Many factors need to be addressed in a training program to make it a successful one for a particular athlete and thus improve their performance. The first principles are warm up and cool down. The purpose of any warm up and cool down is to reduce the risk of injury and soreness. For this to be applicable, a warm up must be sustained for no less than 10min and for elite athletes, at least 30min. Included in this warm up must be stretching to loosen up the muscles. There are no physiological adaptations that directly relate to warm up and cool down because this principle is not for improving those adaptations; it’s for enhancing performance and preventing injury. With providing such preventions, in then in turn improves performance because it hasn’t stopped the athlete from participating due to soreness or injury. From this, the lack of relationship between warm up, cool down and the physiological adaptations doesn’t have any impact on improved performance, especially compared with the principle of progressive overload. Progressive overload is a principle that implies that gains in fitness occur only when the training load is greater than normal and is progressively increased as improvements in fitness occur. As the body becomes familiar with a particular level of training...
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...Story of the Human Body Book Review In the book, “The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease”, Daniel Lieberman applies an overall viewpoint of everything relating to human bodies. He believes that society does not have enough knowledge about human evolution, which is the cause and reason of non-preventable diseases. Daniel Lieberman, describe “mismatch diseases in which the way we live now is different from our ancestors’ era. Daniel Lieberman is a “Human Evolutionary Biologist professor at Harvard University.” As the Harvard Evolutionary Biologist, Daniel Lieberman shows us that we as humans were created to have as many offspring but not to live a hale life. Daniel Lieberman explicates how our bodies are shaped by evolution...
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...This study has also shown that lifestyle has also affected jaw structure. The results of this experiment were published in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences, where world renowned anthropologist, Jay Stock from the University of Cambridge stated “This is a fascinating study which challenges the common perception that there has been little recent change in the morphology of humans.” This experimental information was collected from over 300 skulls across the world, displaying that the jaws structure has become shorter and broader as our primate ancestors moved from hunting to a more inactive way of living. They also discovered that the decrease in bite sizes has changed the size of the human skull. The author suggest, the less we are chewing and using our jaw, the weaker our teeth become, the broader our jaw and the smaller our brain size. Dr Von Cramon-Taubadel from the University of Cambridge clarified, "As you are growing up... the amount that you are chewing, and the pressure that your chewing muscles and bone are under, will affect the way that the lower jaw is...
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...It may adapt to its habitat in a physical or structural way, just as the limbs of birds have modified into wings for it to fly or the way the cheetah is shaped for running at a fast speed to catch its prey or escape danger. It may be in the way the body of animals works for breathing, for instance gills allow fish to breathe in water. Or it could be the way the animal acts when it is hunting for food, or running fast to avoid predators or migrating to other places for food or survival. An animal's environment consists of many different things, such as; the climate, the kinds of food plants that grow in it, other animals that may be predators or competitors. Animals must learn to adapt to each of these factors in order to survive in their certain habitats. With increasing population growth and human activity, animals must learn to adapt to the growing threat as well, which is us. In the wild, animals are only capable to live in places they are adapted to. They must have the right kind of...
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...COMPONENT (1) Our client wanted to achieve both strength gains in the squat exercise and hypertrophy gains of their legs our client’s routine had to reflect both aspects of these different training techniques. Which is why we decided to break up the routine into two separate days with one focusing on strength and the other focusing on hypertrophy. Our program 1 was likely to achieve strength due to the number of sets, intensities and repetitions we prescribed. Rhea et al.1 and Marshall et al.2 concluded from a study that the optimal number of sets for trained individuals (those who had been regularly lifting weights for over a year) was 4 to help maximal gains in strength development. Rhea et al. also concluded that the best weights to elicit strength gain was around 80% of 1RM, with a repetition count of 4-6, which we prescribed at 5 repetitions. We allowed 3min rest intervals between sets and the beginning of new exercises to help recovery of the muscle and attain greater strength gains3. (2) Program 2 was this time designed to focus on hypertrophy of the client’s legs, the programs number of repetitions, sets, intensity, exercise selection and rest intervals reflected this. A meta-analysis of hypertrophy by Scheonfeld4 concluded that maximal hypertrophy gains can be achieved using at least 60% of 1RM, for 8-12 repetitions for 4 sets helping to achieve the basic principle of hypertrophy of higher volume, multiple set protocols. Our clients program...
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...System Hormones & Behaviors Our behavior is not solely a product of the nervous system. The endocrine glands are equally important parallel communication system in the body. The endocrine system is made up of glands that secrete chemicals directly into the bloodstream or the lymph system. I have found a table that shows which glands are in the body and what exactly they produce or do for a human. Adrenal glands - Divided into 2 regions; secrete hormones that influence the body's metabolism, blood chemicals, and body characteristics, as well as influence the part of the nervous system that is involved in the response and defense against stress. Hypothalamus - Activates and controls the part of the nervous system that controls involuntary body functions, the hormonal system, and many body functions, such as regulating sleep and stimulating appetite. Ovaries and testicles - Secrete hormones that influence female and male characteristics, respectively. Pancreas -Secretes a hormone (insulin) that controls the use of glucose by the body. Parathyroid glands - Secrete a hormone that maintains the calcium level in the blood. Pineal body - Involved with daily biological cycles. Helps regulate the body rhythms and sleep cycles. Pituitary gland - Produces a number of different hormones that influence various other endocrine glands. Thymus gland - Plays a role in the body's immune system. Thyroid gland - Produces hormones that stimulate body heat production, bone growth, and...
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...Running head: THE CONCEPT OF ADAPTATION 1 Sensory Adaptation Experiment Aspects of Psychology American InterContinental University November 20, 2013 THE CONCEPT OF ADAPTATION 2 Process and Results of Each Experiment Experiment 1 with Sandpaper- After rubbing my index finger on the very coarse sandpaper a few times, I would rate the coarseness on a scale of 7 (very coarse). This experiment gave me a tingling feeling in my finger. After a minute or so from resting my index finger, I ran the same index finger on the sandpaper and found that it wasn’t as coarse as the first time. I would rate its coarseness at a 3 which led my finger to not react to the paper as much as the first time. So I feel that my senses adapted to the coarseness of the sandpaper. Experiment 2 with Sugar Water and Fresh Water- I took one cup and put two teaspoons of sugar in with fresh water and stirred it. In the second cup I only put fresh water in it. I then took the cup with sugar water in it and took a sip and swished it around in my mouth. I noticed that I could feel my taste buds were stimulating but after a few seconds they became less stimulated. When I had tasted the fresh water and swished it around, I noticed that I tasted a hint of salt. It surprised me because I wasn’t expecting to taste salt beings...
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...Megan Dotter Concept of Adaptation Aspects of Psychology SSCI206-1204B-04 Biological Influences IP Week 2 Abstract Teaching a class about the concept of adaptation to a psychology class, experiments could be conducted to help them learn what adaptation is all about. Firsthand knowledge is the best way to teach a large group of people about a concept they may otherwise not fully understand. In this paper you will see and read about some of the findings experienced during this time. Concept of Adaptation This is a new experience for me to teach a class anything so I will begin by giving the information the students should know about adaptation and the examples needed to ensure they understand. After completing that part of the presentation I think it may be beneficial for the students to learn by firsthand experience. There are a few experiments that could be very interesting for them to do on themselves and others. The concept of adaptation is defined as “Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation ("Psych m.d. –," )” or “The tendency of a sensory system to adjust as a result of repeated exposure to a specific type of stimulus such as low levels of light ("Psych m.d. –," ).” An easier way to understand the concept may be to call it sensory adaptation. This explains in the name alone that it will be dealing with the 5 senses we have. Included in these five senses are taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing. I will be touching base on each sense...
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...Sensory Adaptation American Intercontinental University Sensory Adaptation The three experiments I chose to conduct were Experiment 1, Experiment 2, and Experiment 4. All of the experiments were interesting in their own way. Each experiment had a different outcome but all support adaptation within the experiment. Beginning experiment 1 I purchased a small piece of very coarse sandpaper at the local hardware store. I began by rubbing my index fingers across the sandpaper a few times. The first time I rated the coarseness high on the scale as an 8 and as the experiment progressed I began to rate the coarseness lower and lower on the one to ten scale. Adaptation is evident in this experiment with every rub of my fingers across the sandpaper it felt less abrasive than the first time. My sense of touch adapted to the rough surface with every swipe of my finger. The results of this experiment surprised me my hypothesis prior to conducting the experiments was that my estimate of the level of coarseness would hover around the same number. To set up for experiment 2 I prepared one cup of sugar and water mixed together and another cup of fresh water. I took a sip of the sugar water and swished it around my mouth for awhile then spit it out. Afterwards I took a sip of the fresh water and surprisingly enough it tasted sweet still. I was very surprised that the fresh water tasted sweet after I had spit the sugar water out. I was defiantly surprised with...
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...Answer any five of the following questions. 2. What is the General Adaptation Syndrome, explain with an example. Scientist Hans Selye (1907-1982) introduced the General Adaptation Syndrome model in 1936 showing in three phases what the alleged effects of stress has on the body. In his work, Selye - 'the father of stress research,' developed the theory that stress is a major cause of disease because chronic stress causes long-term chemical changes. He observed that the body would respond to any external biological source of stress with a predictable biological pattern in an attempt to restore the body’s internal homeostasis. This initial hormonal reaction is your fight or flight stress response - and its purpose is for handling stress very quickly! The process of the body’s struggle to maintain balance is what Selye termed, the General Adaptation Syndrome. Pressures, tensions, and other stressors can greatly influence your normal metabolism. Selye determined that there is a limited supply of adaptive energy to deal with stress. That amount declines with continuous exposure. Going through a series of steps, your body consistently works to regain stability. With the general adaptation syndrome, a human’s adaptive response to stress has three distinct phases: ALARM STAGE - Your first reaction to stress recognizes there’s a danger and prepares to deal with the threat, a.k.a. the fight or flight response. Activation of the HPA axis, the nervous system (SNS) and the adrenal glands...
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