Evolution

Evolution is define as a gradual process which something changes into a different more complex or better form.

This is done by a process call NATURAL SELECTION
This is where favorable heritable traits become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing organisms, and unfavorable heritable traits become less common.
A phenotype describes any observed quality of an organism, such as its morphology, development, or behavior, as opposed to its genotype - the inherited instructions it carries, which may or may not be expressed.

Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist. After becoming eminent among scientists for his field work and inquiries into geology, he proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from one or a few common ancestors through the process of natural selection.
His five-year voyage on the Beagle established him as a geologist whose observations and theories supported.His journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author.
The Beagle survey took five years, two-thirds of which Darwin spent on land. He carefully noted a rich variety of geological features, fossils and living organisms
and methodically collected an enormous number of specimens, many of them new to science.[1] At intervals during the voyage he sent specimens to Cambridge together with letters about his findings, and these established his reputation as a naturalist
When the Beagle returned on 2 October 1836, Darwin was a celebrity in scientific circles.

Group # 1 diversified foods

Group # 1 diversified foods

Blue Mountain Coffee
The once forested, lower slopes of the Blue Mountains are now mostly grasslands but some areas are used for the cultivation of vegetables, spices and the world renowned Blue Mountain coffee. The mountain slopes were cleared to establish coffee plantations and by the first quarter of the 19th century Jamaica was the leading coffee producer in the world.

Today, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is considered to be among the best of the gourmet coffees in the world. To ensure the quality, the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board set standards for the coffee beans and the processing in order to carry the ‘Blue Mountain Coffee’ label. 90% of the island’s production is exported to Japan.

Although some coffee estates remain, most of the beans are grown on small plots by local farmers. Considering the retail price of Jamaican coffee worldwide, the farmers get a pittance for their crop and some opt to roast and sell their own beans. A number of them can be found on the Kingston-Buff Bay road near the little town of Section. The process of hand picking ripe berries then drying, curing and roasting the beans is time consuming. Each farmer has his own ‘secret’ process and is happy to explain why his is the very best. It’s an excellent opportunity for coffee connoisseurs to sample a variety of roasts and to purchase a truly unique product.

Jamaican Cuisine

Jamaica's culinary history began a long time before the days of coal stoves and brick ovens and its evolution reflects the history of the island.

It all started with the arawak indians who introduct jerk chicken, pork, and fish which has now become jamaica's favourite. Other principal foods of the arawaks were cassava, corn, sweet potatoes, callaloo, guavas, pine-apples, papayas.

In the sixteen century the spanish brought goats and pigs to the island they also introduced citrus from spain like the valencia oranges, lemon, lime, ginger, plantain, coconuts, grapes, sugar and bananas.
Popular dishes likeescoveitched fish originated in spain.
Then around the same time the british introduced breadfruit, ackee, mangoes.

Haiti and Dominica an island of hispaniola shares many of the same fruits like plantain where jamaican's fry them ripe the haitian and dominican fry them green by first pressing it flat and then serving it with roast pork, rice and peas which is the haitian number one dish.
Barbados is know for it kunk.
All the food and fruits mention is accessible write here in the U.S.A by way of export.

Mini Project # 4 Grocery List

On your next visit to the grocery store, make a list of genetically altered foods that are on sale for public consumption.

Genetically modified foods is a concern over health, environmental, social, economics, ethical and political effects of these foods.
Proponents of genetically modified food argue that gene technology has the potential to be usefull in enhancing consumption and increasing the efficiciency of food production and processing.

Critics of gentically modified food warn that there is insufficient evidence that these foods are safe for humans and the environment. Foods such as round up ready soybeans. The global economic, social, ethical and political implications are largely unknown, but some of the environment and on the social and economic, particularly in developing countries.

Soybeans
Corn
Bean Sprouts
Wheat
Rice

Mini Project # 3 Endangered Species

A threatened species is a native species that is at risk of becoming endangered in the near future. A threatened species may have a declining population or be exceptionally rare.
Where as An endangered species is a native species that faces a significant risk of extinction in the near future.
The increased extinction rates of animals during recent decades is alarming. A closer look at threatened and endangered animals yields a wealth of warnings and possible solutions to our current biodiversity crisis.
A list of endangered and threatened animals of Florida. The list is an adaptation of threatened and endangered species data published at the The US Fish & Wildlife Service's Endangered Species Program Website.
Bankclimber, purple (mussel) (Elliptoideus sloatianus)
Bat, gray (Myotis grisescens)
Beetle, American burying (Nicrophorus americanus)
Butterfly, Schaus swallowtail (Heraclides aristodemus ponceanus)
Caracara, Audubon's crested (Polyborus plancus audubonii)
Crocodile, American (Crocodylus acutus)
Curlew, Eskimo (Numenius borealis)
Darter, Okaloosa (Etheostoma okaloosae)
Deer, key (Odocoileus virginianus clavium)
Eagle, bald (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Jay, Florida scrub (Aphelocoma coerulescens)
Kite, Everglade snail (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus)
Manatee, West Indian (Trichechus manatus)
Moccasinshell, Gulf (Medionidus penicillatus)
Moccasinshell, Ochlockonee (Medionidus simpsonianus)
Mouse, Anastasia Island beach (Peromyscus polionotus phasma)
Mouse, Choctawhatchee beach (Peromyscus polionotus allophrys)
Mouse, Key Largo cotton (Peromyscus gossypinus allapaticola)
Mouse, Perdido Key beach (Peromyscus polionotus trissyllepsis)
Mouse, southeastern beach (Peromyscus polionotus niveiventris)
Mouse, St.

Andrew beach (Peromyscus polionotus peninsularis)
Panther, Florida (Puma (=Felis) concolor coryi)
Pigtoe, oval (Pleurobema pyriforme)
Plover, piping (Charadrius melodus)
Pocketbook, shinyrayed (Lampsilis subangulata)
Rabbit, Lower Keys marsh (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri)
Rice rat (Oryzomys palustris natator)
Salamander, flatwoods (Ambystoma cingulatum)
Sawfish, smalltooth (Pristis pectinata)
Sea turtle, green (Chelonia mydas)
Sea turtle, hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Sea turtle, Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)
Sea turtle, leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea)
Sea turtle, loggerhead (Caretta caretta)
Seal, Caribbean monk (Monachus tropicalis)
Shrimp, Squirrel Chimney Cave (Palaemonetes
Skink, bluetail mole (Eumeces egregius lividus)
Skink, sand (Neoseps reynoldsi)
Slabshell, Chipola (Elliptio chipolaensis)
Snail, Stock Island tree (Orthalicus reses (not incl. nesodryas))
Snake, Atlantic salt marsh (Nerodia clarkii taeniata)
Snake, eastern indigo (Drymarchon corais couperi)
Sparrow, Cape Sable seaside (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis)
Sparrow, Florida grasshopper (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus)
Stork, wood (Mycteria americana)
Sturgeon, gulf (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi)
Sturgeon, shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum)
Tern, roseate Western Hemisphere except NE U.S. (Sterna dougallii dougallii)
Three-ridge, fat (mussel) (Amblema neislerii)
Vole, Florida salt marsh (Microtus pennsylvanicus dukecampbelli)
Whale, finback (Balaenoptera physalus)
Whale, humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Whale, right (Balaena glacialis (incl. australis))
Wolf, gray (Canis lupus)
Woodpecker, red-cockaded (Picoides borealis)
Woodrat, Key Largo (Neotoma floridana smalli)

Mini Project # 2 Carbon Cycle

The movement of carbon, in its many forms, between the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and geosphere is described by the carbon cycle, illustrated in the adjacent diagram. The carbon cycle is one of the biogeochemical cycle. In the cycle there are various sinks, or stores, of carbon (represented by the boxes) and processes by which the various sinks exchange carbon (the arrows).
We are all familiar with how the atmosphere and vegetation exchange carbon. Plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis, also called primary production, and release CO2 back in to the atmosphere during respiration. Another major exchange of CO2 occurs between the oceans and the atmosphere. The dissolved CO2 in the oceans is used by marine biota in photosynthesis.
Two other important processes are fossil fuel burning and changing land use. In fossil fuel burning, coal, oil, natural gas, and gasoline are consumed by industry, power plants, and automobiles. Notice that the arrow goes only one way: from industry to the atmosphere. Changing land use is a broad term which encompasses a host of essentially human activities. They include agriculture, deforestation, and reforestation.
The adjacent diagram shows the carbon cycle with the mass of carbon, in gigatons of carbon (Gt C), in each sink and for each process, if known. The amount of carbon being exchanged in each process determines whether the specific sink is growing or shrinking. For instance, the ocean absorbs 2.5 Gt C more from the atmosphere than it gives off to the atmosphere. All other things being equal, the ocean sink is growing at a rate of 2.5 Gt C per year and the atmospheric sink is decreasing at an equal rate. But other things are not equal. Fossil fuel burning is increasing the atmosphere's store of carbon by 6.1 Gt C each year, and the atmosphere is also interacting with vegetation and soil. Furthermore, there is changing land use.
The carbon cycle is obviously very complex, and each process has an impact on the other processes. If primary production drops, then decay to the soil drops. But does this mean that decay from the soil to the atmosphere will also drop and thus balance out the cycle so that the store of carbon in the atmosphere will remain constant? Not necessarily; it could continue at its current rate for a number of years, and thus the atmosphere would have to absorb the excess carbon being released from the soil. But this increase of atmospheric carbon (in the form of CO2) may stimulate the ocean to increase its uptake of CO2 .
What is known is that the carbon cycle must be a closed system; in other words, there is a fixed amount of carbon in the world and it must be somewhere. Scientists are actively investigating the carbon cycle to see if their data does indeed indicate a balancing of the cycle. These types of investigations have led many scientists to believe that the forests of the Northern Hemisphere are, in fact, absorbing 3.5 Gt C per year, and so changing land use is actually removing carbon from the atmosphere (~2 Gt C/year), not increasing it as the diagram shows. Experiments are ongoing to confirm this information.