Heat is an environmental stress that negatively impacts the survival of humans by disturbing homeostasis. Heat can result in many things such as heat rashes, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke. Heat rashes occur when the sweat glands become clogged from too much sweating or not enough circulation to the area. Heat exhaustion may occur after you’ve been exposed to high temperatures for several days and have developed dehydration. Heat exhaustion can cause headaches; fatigue, nausea, vomiting and can reduce energy levels Dehydration, which occurs when the amount of fluid coming out of the body exceeds the amounts of fluids coming into the body. Heatstroke is caused by prolonged exposure to high temperatures or by doing physical activity in hot weather. You are considered to have a heatstroke when your body temperature reaches 104 degrees F or higher.

Humans have adapted to heat short term by sweating. We lose water by sweating. It’s the body’s way of trying to cool itself down. It is imperative that you replenish the electrolytes you’re losing when you sweat. Sweat makes your skin feel cooler when it's wet. And when it evaporates it removes some heat. For sweat to cool your body temperature the water must evaporate. 

Facultative adaptation is vasodilation, which expands the capillaries to allow greater blood flow to the skins surface, dispersing heat from the body. Sweat secretion stops when body temperature returns to normal. Blood vessels supplying blood to the skin can swell or dilate - called vasodilation. This causes more heat to be carried by the blood to the skin, where it can be lost to the air. This reduces heat loss through the skin once the body’s temperature has returned to normal.

Developmental adaptation for heat is being able to walk on two feet rather than on four and also the shape of our bodies. Bipedalism and our long body shapes. This contributes to our core and our limbs which can help provide more body area for sweating. If we were to walk on all four, our bodies would be more exposed to the sun. Especially our backs. Standing straight and only walking on two feet also enables us to walk fast which can lead to cooler breezes. 

Humans have adapted to heat culturally by utilizing air conditioners and fans, swimming pools and water parks. We can have these in our homes, cars and at work. Although this can be a short term adaptation humans are able to cool down quickly without having to wait for their body temperature to drop to achieve coolness. Air conditioning help with heat stroke and heat exhaustion by quickly reducing the body’s temperature. Water parks and swimming pools are other cultural adaptations that we can take advantage of. Water parks and pools are used to cool off and also for enjoyment purposes. 

The benefit of studying heat on human variation helps us to figure out how to adapt better to our environment. We know how deal with it, embrace it, or tolerate it. We know we have to stay hydrated and replenish what our body loses from sweat, we can protect our skin by using sun screen, use air conditioning and recreational fun to stay cool. The benefits of studying human variation would allow us to evolve and adapt better in different environments. This would allow us to learn how to adapt to not only heat, but other environments. 

You couldn't use race in relation to the adaptations because these adaptations are necessary for all races. Everyone has the ability to adapt to different environments, it is not unique to any race. Humans have a strong capacity to adapt to heat. Individuals exposed for the first time to a hot climate can adjust over a period of 10-14 days. This involves a lowering of the body's core temperature and a reduction of the heart rate and metabolic rate. All races are able to adjust and do this. 

        Having a conversation and not being able to be expressive through hand gestures is difficult. It is also difficult to have a conversation where you are only using gestures. This week I experimented on both of these. Both findings to were interesting. The first 15 minute conversation was not being able to speak but rather use my body and hand gestures. My response to this conversation could be described as me being a little annoyed that he could not understand what I was trying to convey, along with my partners response being irritated as well. However, my partner also described it as being intreating to try an figure out what I was trying to get across. 

        My experience was a little challenging, it was difficult to remember not to speak because that is such a first reaction, to just say what it is you want or feel. My partner did alter the way he communicated with me because it was like playing charades. He was trying to decode what I was saying and it definitely took some patience. I believe I was in control of the conversation and I would initiate topic change because I was in control of my body and the things I was trying to communicate. If I stopped moving or gesturing, the conversation would stop. 

       As far as asking and answering questions, we both partook. He would ask me a question to find out what I was asking or what I wanted, and I in turn would gesture questions back and would be able to answer with a yes or no nod. Since this experiment was conducted between just two people, my partner and I, there was a balance of power between us and forced us to work as a team to figure out what the conversation was about. 

       If me and my partner were from different cultures, I think I would have the advantage because we can not always understand other languages, but with the help of body language and gestures, more than likely you are able to understand what they are saying. In a lot of cultures, even evident today, we get very frustrated with people who do not speak our same language. The speaking culture might get frustrated with the the symbolic culture because it can be very difficult to communicate where there is a language barrier, or lack of. A modern situation that resembles this experiment would be with many people who live in the United States that do not speak English. It is hard for them to work because they can not communicate and it could be hard to defend themselves because they are not able to get their points across. 

        The second part of this experiment was the opposite of the first. My partner and I had a 15 minute conversation where we were able to communicate but could not use any other type of body or hand gesture, no physical embellishments. My response to this experiment was slightly easier than the first experiment because I was able to speak to convey exactly what I was saying. It was easier for my partner as well because there was no guessing involved. However, I am a very animated person when I talk so it was hard to not use my hand while we had a conversation as well as to be monotone the whole time. My partner described this conversation as boring and and dry but said lack of body language did not affect the conversation too much and not difficulty understanding me. 

        This experiment showed that using physical embellishment is just a big part of communication as speech. We use hand gestures, change and tone, facial expression and body language to convey our thoughts and feelings just as much as plain speech. The delivery of my speech without physical embellishment was received in almost a negative way. I could say I was overjoyed and happy but saying it in a monotone with no facial or body expression would make someone think otherwise. 

        The benefit of being able to read body language can come in handy when you are trying to see if someone is nervous, lying, uncomfortable, or happy. The way you look, move, and react tells the other person whether or not you care, if you’re being truthful, and how well you’re listening. I think there are people who have difficulty ready body language, and it would be difficult to identify with them. When your body language matches with the words you’re saying, that increase trust and clarity and confirmation. When they don’t, this can generate tension, mistrust, and confusion It's important to recognize that it's our nonverbal communication such as our facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, posture, and tone of voice that speak the loudest.

        The Piltdown hoax is perhaps one of the most infamous hoax’s to have been made and is infamous for two reasons. The attention that it gained to the issue of human evolution and the length of time it took from its discovery to its time to of being exposed as a forgery. Which took more than forty years to be exposed. The Piltdown Man hoax was a hoax in which bone fragments were thought to be the fossilized remains of an unknown human, not a modern human. The fragments consisted of parts of a skull and part of a jaw-bone. They were said to have been found in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England. It was finally exposed in 1953 as a forgery. It  consisted of the lower jaw-bone of an orangutan that was combined with the skull of a fully developed modern human.

        The Piltdown man Hoax affected research on human evolution because it led scientists to believe that the human brain grew in size before the jaw adapted. Many scientist believed that this was the “missing link”. This hoax sparked a debate and was used as an example of the dishonesty in the study of human evolution. Scientists were skeptical because it proved inconsistent with the findings of hominid evolution with fossils that were found from other places. 

        It was said that in 1908, Charles Dawson had discovered the first Piltdown fragments. In February 1912, Dawson contacts Arthur Smith Woodward about the skull fragments. Woodward was thought that the Piltdown man was an evolutionary “missing link” between apes and humans. However, Woodward's theory of the Piltdown was challenged by some researchers. Woodward believed that he had stumbled upon the missing link between us and apes and therefore wanted to prove that the fragments were connected to our ape ancestors despite inconsistencies of the bone fragments. He was prideful and ambitious. This negatively affected the scientific process because it lead to a false belief and also lead scientists down the wrong path of evolution. 

        In 1949 scientists had discovered that measuring the fluoride in fossils, you were able to tell how old the fossil was. When the Piltdown Man was tested, it was shown that the fossils were not that old and that these fossils were actually pretty recent. In 1953 scientists did a little more research into the fossils and they found that the fossils were only around a hundred years old. When the teeth were observed under the microscope, they discovered that the teeth had been filed down and made to look like human teeth. 

       The human factor cannot be removed from science because it’s human nature to always have a biased opinion. You can never ensure that another mistake won’t happen. By removing the human factor from science, it would be easier to make it all about science and less about your “feeling” about it. 

       I’ve learned that scientist are just as likely to make mistakes as we are. Although they are scientists and one would think that they never make mistakes, they have faults just like us. It is important to test your theory and do research. Scientists use factual evidence to support their ideas. In the case of the Piltdown man Hoax, it was a fraud and shows that one should always verify from the source where the facts are coming from and from who.

For Homologous: 

Briefly describe the two different species that posses the homologous trait. 

• Gorilla and Chimpanzee. Both chimpanzee’s and gorillas have thumbs that are very similar, along with climbing trees and a similar diet.

B. Describe the homologous trait of each species.

• Gorilla’s are much bigger in size and a lot stronger compared to chimpanzee’s. Both are vegetarians, but while the gorilla feeds mainly on stems and leaves, the chimpanzee eats mostly fruit. Gorilla’s can climb trees but chimpanzee’s spend most of there time in tree’s. 

C. Who was generally the common ancestor of these two species and how do you know that ancestor possessed this homologous trait? 

• The ape was generally the common ancestor of these two species. I know the ape possessed the homologous trait because homologous traits are evidence of shared  ancestry, and they share a genetic code.  

D. 

  For Analogous:

A. Briefly describe the two different species that posses the analogous trait.

• Dolphins and Sharks. Although they may share the same shape, underneath their skin, sharks and dolphins are very different.

B. Describe the analogous traits of each species. 

•   Sharks' and dolphins' similarities such as their body’s shape, their fins, and flippers are analogies. Traits that each evolved independently. Structure and function include, sharks skeleton is made of cartilage while a dolphins skeleton is made of bone. A shark uses its gills to get oxygen from the water in which they swim, dolphins go to the surface and breathe atmospheric air in through their blowholes. 

C.  Could the common ancestor of these two species have possessed this analogous trait? How do we know these traits are analogous na not genetically related from common decent?

• The ancestor could have possessed this analogous trait. The tail fins and dorsal fins are analogous because the terrestrial ancestor of the dolphins did not have a dorsal or tail fin. 

D.

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Jean Baptiste Lamarck

His name is one that is now associated with the discredited view of evolution. Although both argued facts about evolution, Lamarck had a different point of view when it came to evolution and how things continued to evolve. Darwin believed that due to natural selection and available resources, a mechanism was able to adapt to their environment. He believed the traits of the organisms were inherited and passed from generation to generation. He believed in survival of the fittest.
        Lamarck believed that organisms altered their behavior in response to the environment change as well but his view was that heritable modifications would allow the organisms to continually change and become more complex. I believe that both had similar theories of adapting to the environment but Lamarck had a theory that they were continually changing and becoming a more "perfect" species instead of relying on available resources while Darwin argued that traits were being passed down through generation. I believe that Darwin could of developed his theory of natural selection without the influence of Lamarck because he Lamarck had a totally different view of evolution than Darwin. Darwin already had his theory using science to prove it.  
       The attitude of the church affected Darwin's publication of On the Origin of Species by making religious communities immediately take opposing sides and positions on each other. Although, may christians were warming up to the idea that evolution was a possibility.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/02/3/l_023_01.html