Reflection Module 4

 So far I have really enjoyed the class. I think applying our skills in different ways, such as importing data in R Studio creating our own blogs about different topics has helped me better understand the world of evolution. I have never used R Studio before this class, and trying to understand it at first was pretty tough for me. The TA’s and the professor have been super helpful in me understanding the program. I now know having the in-depth knowledge of R Studios programming could help myself through education, job positions, and lead me to different career paths. Some personal break-throughs would be applying the knowledge I’m learning, critically thinking it through, and then writing a paper about it. Blogging is a also a great way to build a community behind science and eventually writing about your own research. I think it is a great idea. Another personal break-through would be just by understanding evolution in general. Before this class, I had thought evolution rarely ever happens or if it did, it happened very slowly. I had no consideration of time, and thought it could be hundreds of years. Before this class, I also couldn’t even tell you the difference between natural selection and evolution. I can confidently say that natural selection may lead to evolutionary change, but there are so many other mechanisms that can cause change. Another thing that probably threw me off the most was understanding fitness. I had thought fitness meant to be the best individual in a certain environment, but really based off of survival and reproductive rate. It can be as precise as the color of fur on a rabbits back. If I were to go back my original blog post, I would probably broaden the meaning of evolution by describing mutations, genetic drift, environmental factors, allele frequencies, adaptation and more. I also said how I believed evolution happens to help a species thrive more in their environment. Some evolutional changes, such as mutations can cause harm to a certain individual, and could reflect badly on the offspring as well. Some concepts that I am struggling with would be the different types of mutations and how they are specifically selected. Now that I have studied the basic concepts, I am very curious about mutations and how they affect us today, specifically in human diseases, viruses, and pathogens.