Timothy Cushman
Mr. Ippolito
Ap Biology - Current Events Review
15 December 2017
Current Events #11
Khan, Amina. “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2017, www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-narwhal-freeze-flee-20171208-story.html
When faced with danger, animals have two normal responses. They can fight and try to flee, increasing their heartbeats and metabolisms helping them move faster. Animals may also choose to “freeze”, slowing their heartbeats and metabolisms. The narwhal, however, has a unique response unlike other animals. When faced with danger, the narwhal generally “slowly sink into the depths beneath cover of ice or move into the shallows.” They slow their heart beat allowing them to stay underwater for longer periods of time. However, when Terrie Williams studied their response, to being captured in a net, with an electrocardiograph, an accelerometer, and a depth monitor, she was able to see how they responded in both ways, first freezing and then speeding away. The narwhals responded in an unusual way in that when they started to flee, their heart rates never increase. Using the data she gathered, Williams was able to see that the narwhals that were fleeing swam twice as fast as normal, but their heart rate was staying at three to four beats per minute, almost twenty times slower than normal. When most mammals that have slowed their heartbeats starts moving again, their heart beat increases accordingly. The narwhals, not increasing its heartbeat put a large their hearts. As seen in a 2011 study of rats, the rats that responded to danger with both a dive, slowing the heart rate, and a fear, increasing the heart rate, repose were likely to die.
The topic of animals’ response to fear is very important as humans continue to explore the world. Seeing that narwhals respond to being in fisherman’s nets with an unusual response that harms them and that “we just don’t know what the responses of these [other] animals are” (Williams), we need to take extra caution when exploring to ensure we are not harming animals unnecessarily. This article gives important information to fishermen and boaters while raising awareness for how our actions may have unintended effects on animals.
Amina Khan’s article was well written. She wrote in a clear and logical way that was easy to follow. Kahn included many quotes from Terrie Williams, who conducted the research, which helped further the reader’s understanding while adding credibility to the article by showing it was backed up with data. Despite being an overall great article, there was room for improvement. Firstly, Kahn’s article lacked data. She mentioned numbers about heart rates and stroke rates, but did not include any specific numbers. If she had included the heartbeats of the five narwhals during their capture and then after they were swimming away, the reader would be able to gain an even better understanding of how the narwhal's bodies were responding. Secondly, the reader is left wondering if further research is being done or is planned to be done. The reader is wondering why the narwhals have this double response to being captured, and would like to know if further research is going to be done on this topic. These two additions would allow for a better overall understanding of the topic along with answering questions that were left unanswered.
Abbey Thomas
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
15 December 2017
Khan, Amina. “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2017, www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-narwhal-freeze-flee-20171208-story.html
For this current event, I reviewed Tim’s response to “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way” by Amina Khan. I was interested in the article Tim reviewed because I think narwhals are interesting animals, but do not read about them a lot. The first thing that time did well was incorporate the results of a study with rats that react similarly to narwhals. The addition of the study lets readers know the real dangers the narwhals could face if they continue to respond to threats in this manner. Along with including the study, Tim included a quote from Terric Williams. The quote adds to the article since it shows what the researchers are actually thinking about the narwhal issue. Lastly, the purpose of Tim’s third paragraph was to explain what the author could do better, which Tim did an excellent job at. He included that he quote had many beneficial quotes, but lacked data. Overall Tim did many things well.
While the overall response to Khan’s article was excellent, there were some areas that Tim could have improved on. First, Tim’s first paragraph provided important background on fear responses and data on narwhals, but it was difficult to read and understand. There were unnecessary commas that made it difficult to read. Also, Tim did a good job at including quotes, but there we some aspects of the citing that was confusing. Rather than say “investigator Terric Williams said about narwhals” he cited the last name Williams. I was personally confused on who Williams was, and had to go back to the top of the article.
Tim’s response was very insightful to narwhals and fear responses in general. Before reading this current event, I did not know that an animal’s fear response could be fatal. I also did not know that narwhals could slow their heart beat to four or five beats a minute, which is a very interesting fact. Overall Tim’s response to Khan’s article on Narwhals was very interesting and informing.
Peyton Kinon
ReplyDeleteAP Bio
Current Event Comment #11
12/14/17
Citation:
Khan, Amina. “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst
Possible Way.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2017.
Hyperlink: www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-narwhal-freeze-flee-20171208-story.html
Tim did a very good job explaining why narwhals are different. He explained that narwhals both flee and slow down their heart rates in a way which was easy to understand. He did a good job with his analysis of the article. By saying that Khan ended the article quickly and that she didn’t include a lot of data, I can tell that Tim really read the article very closely. Tim’s application to the world is also very apt. Protecting these fish from fishermen is very important to their survival as a species.
Tim only made a few mistakes. For example, in the first paragraph, Tim said “The narwhals responded in an unusual way in that when they started to flee, their heart rates never increase.” This sentence doesn’t flow well and sounds clunky. He should have said something like “The unusual thing about narwhals is that their heart rates don’t increase whenever they flee.” This mistake could have been fixed with some proofreading. Another mistake he made was that there were a few sentences that just didn’t make sense. For example, in his first paragraph he said, “The narwhals, not increasing its heartbeat put a large their hearts.” I don’t know what he meant in this sentence, but he could have made it easier to understand by revising and editing this sentence.
In this article, I learned more about how animals flee. I don’t know how I would apply this knowledge in the real world, but if I ever become a marine biologist, I can use it then.
Ellie Parson
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
December 16 2017
Comment on Timothy Cushman’s Review
Citations:
Khan, Amina. “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2017, www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-narwhal-freeze-flee-20171208-story.html
Cushman, Timothy. “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way.” Review of In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way, by Amina Khan. Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2017.
Comment:
Timothy Cushman wrote an excellent review on Amina Khan’s “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way.” One aspect Cushman did well in his review was in introducing the topic of the article in his summary. He introduced the two main ways animals react to to dangerous situations and then fully defined the third, not-so-common “freezing” technique used by narwhals. By explaining this concept earlier on, readers were familiar with the topic when he talked about the Narwhals’ response further in his review. Another part of the review that was done very exceptionally was the incorporation of quotes into sentences in his article. Instead of quoting full sentences, Cushman used sections of sentences from the article to finish his own explanations, keeping himself from over-quoting the article. This was also helpful in providing the base of credibility in his review, as the quotes from the article were used to prove why humans should take animals’ responses to fear seriously. Lastly, Cushman successfully critiqued and provided solutions to the author of the article for improvement. In detail, he explained where more data was needed for the heartbeats of the narwhals, including a solution of simply adding the data of the heartbeats of the five narwhals before and after swimming away in the article. This thorough critique not only pinpointed where work could be done, but had a solution to the problems at hand, allowing for the author to follow the changes and improve her article.
Although Cushman’s review was very interesting to read, there were a few areas that would use some improvement. For example, when he mentioned the use of a “electrocardiograph” and an “accelerometer,” he failed to explain to his readers what they were. For those who aren’t familiar with the terms, the experiment being reviewed by Cushman becomes confusing. A simple solution would be to include a few sentences describing the machines and how they were used. Another area that was in need of adjustment can be found in the connection to society paragraph. Cushman continues to use the word “we,” but instead of connecting the article to students and the society we live in, he connects it to the lives of fisherman. Readers may find it more impactful if they were given a direct reason to be concerned. A solution to this could be a multiple sentence explanation about how the fear narwhals experience due to fisherman can be prevented if people from society, fishermen or not, step up and become animal activists.
I chose this article because of the comical title, however the topic was not very fun to read about. While reading this article, I felt sympathetic for the fearful narwhals. It was surprising to read about their very unsuccessful response to the fishermen's nets, but when really analyzed it does make some sense. Not many animals have adapted to human life and its effects on Earth, leaving many to suffer horrible consequences they don’t deserve. Narwhals did not evolve to escape from fishing nets, so they are trapped until they either evolve are able to set themselves free, or humans stop their unnatural attacks. From now on, I will avoid using nets for fishing and try to be more humane towards the environment.
Olivia Doyle
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
31 December 2017
Khan, Amina. “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2017, www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-narwhal-freeze-flee-20171208-story.html
This week I read my classmate Tim’s review of the article that discussed narwhals’ unique response in the face of threat. Animals usually instinctually take a fight or flight response when faced with danger, but narwhals actually do something different. They slow their heartbeat and then “slowly sink into the depths beneath cover of ice or move into the shallows.”. Tim did a good job describing the narwhals’ response in the detail that the article described. He also included scientists’ observations of the specified action and the tests they ran on narwhals, which gives credibility to his review. For example, he described how Terrie Williams studied the response using a depth monitor, an electrocardiogram and an accelerometer. Lastly, Tim did a good job of analyzing the article and suggesting improvements that could be made by the author.
Although Tim wrote a solid review of the article, there are some areas which he could have improved on. For one, he should have gone into more depth on why the narwhals’ response is dangerous to their own protection, as the article was titled with respect to why narwhals respond in the “worst possible way”, and readers are left wondering why this response is so bad. He does mention that the swift change in heart rates is bad for the narwhals, but does not go into any more detail. Secondly, I think Tim should have compared narwhals’ instinctual response to that of other animals, specifically. This would have given the reader a better idea of why the narwhals’ response is so unusual.
I found this article to be very interesting and informative. I never knew that narwhals or any other animals had the ability to slow their heart rate that quickly, let alone in the face of danger. And, like Tim mentioned, I think it is important that we proceed with caution when exploring to ensure that we do not endanger all animals, not just narwhals.
Kirsten Ircha 1/1/18
ReplyDeleteAP Biology E/F Even Current Event #12
Citation:
Khan, Amina. “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible
Way.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2017, www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-narwhal-freeze-flee-20171208-story.html
Timothy Cushman wrote an insightful review on the article, “ “In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way,” by Amina Khan. To begin, he does an amazing job of explaining the typical flight or fight response that occurs in most animals. He then compares this to how narwhals respond in a different manner that first slows their heartbeats and then allows them to speed away quickly. This is very important as Timothy is able to illustrate these differences for the readers. Also, Timothy uses very simple vocabulary and sentence structure throughout the text. This allows the review to be easy to understand and appropriate for many age groups. Lastly, Timothy uses a substantial amount of quotes from the original article and develops them beautifully into his review. For example, he writes, “The narwhal, however, has a unique response unlike other animals. When faced with danger, the narwhal generally “slowly sink into the depths beneath cover of ice or move into the shallows.”” This technique shows that Timothy has a deep understanding of the article and is able to tie his own knowledge into the information of the article.
Although I truly enjoyed the review, I feel a couple of areas could be improved simply to have a better overall flow of the piece. One of the major issues is that some of the sentences seem somewhat awkward and stated oddly. This makes the ideas harder to understand and comprehend. In the future, Timothy can fix this problem by stating his ideas in a concise manner to avoid confusing phrases. Also, some point made throughout the review are repetitive and stated to many times. This only serves to confuse the readers and makes ideas less clear. In the future, Timothy can improve on this issue by stating each idea only once.
What shocked me the most is when Timothy states, “This article gives important information to fishermen and boaters while raising awareness for how our actions may have unintended effects on animals.” This is so surprising as I previously believed that narwhals had the same types of responses as other animals. However, narwhals are very unique and have very interesting responses that need to be taken into account by fishermen and the general public. This will change my life as I am deeply interested in the topic and will continue to follow updates on this issue in the future.
Charlie Gay
ReplyDelete2/5/18
AP Biology
Mr. Ippolito
Current Events 15
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-narwhal-freeze-flee-20171208-story.html
"In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2018.
I really enjoyed reading Tim Cushman’s review on the article "In the Face of a Threat, Narwhals Respond in Just about the Worst Possible Way." I really like how Tim set up his review by first talking about animals in general. This set up his discussion on narwhals very well. I also liked how Tim include quotes from the article. For example, he included the quote, “slowly sink into the depths beneath cover of ice or move into the shallows.” Quotes added to the credibility of Tim’s review. Lastly, I liked how Tim used very simple sentence structure and vocabulary. Although he was doing a review on a very complicated topic, his review was very easy to understand.
One thing that Tim could have done better is that he should have included the credentials of the names he included. For example, he cited Terrie William but does not say who she is. If he had told us who she was this would have further added to the credibility of his review. Lastly, I wish that Tim explained the experiment that was conducted. He cited the results of the experiment, but he did not explain how the experiment was conducted. This would have allowed the reader to better understand the data.
I learned a lot about narwhals from this article. I had no idea that narwhals rarely increase their heartbeat even when they face danger. This was fascinating to me. I chose this article because I have a love for animals and did not know a lot about narwhals. I was eager to learn more about narwhals. I would love to learn more about narwhals after reading this review because they seem like fascinating creatures. I really enjoyed reading Tim’s review.