Porter Trapp
1. In the late 1800s, Charles Darwin
participated in helping publish papers
from scientific biological findings in
South Africa. By doing this, he helped
start what would eventually become a
hotbed for evolutionary biology studies.
Because of South Africas unique plants
and animals and geographic location, it is
a very well-situated place for these
studies to take place. Studies show that
approximately 3% of publications about
evolutionary biology come from South
Africa, or from South African authors.
2. Students looked at the organism
Arabidopsis, and how it can adapt to different
climates and conditions depending on where
it is grown. If the change is dramatic enough,
it can even become a new species, just by it’s
own evolution.
3. In order for bacteria to survive against
bacteriophages, they have evolved and
developed new traits and skills or strategies
that aid them in their fight for survival and
growth. At the same time, bacteria’s
opponent, bacteriophages, have evolved to
counter these changes that the bacteria has
made. By studying these changes, it helps
researchers better understand what certain
bacteria are capable of and how to best
defend against them.
4. Students studying population evolution, or
evolutionary theory, often struggle due to
how much math is actually involved in that
study. In order to try and make these studies
much more enjoyable and enriching for the
students, Pop!World was created a more
engaging tool for these students to use when
learning about evolution and population.
Generally, student interest and performance
increased when using Pop!World.
1. Charles Darwin is still considered to be one
of the most biologists ever. The work that he
put forth was so fundamental to what
researchers know today about evolution and
where we came from. It only makes sense
that his studies would flourish in an
environment like South Africa. He did play a
large influence in popularizing the study of
biology in that part of the world. Evolution is
a very important part of biology and all of its
subsets.
2. This article was interesting because it was
focused around the organism Arabidopsis,
which is one of the most popular model
organisms to use when studying genetics or
cell biology. It is such a fascinating species
because of how versatile it is in many
different environments and how well it can
adapt and evolve to almost anywhere.
3. Bacteria are another organism that is fairly
adaptable. Although, it does take bacteria a
few generations for it to start to change and
evolve, but since it breeds so quickly, those
changes can happen in a relatively short
amount of time. This is good and bad,
because there are certain bacteria that we
need, and others that we don’t. Some bacteria
can be very harmful to humans, and so
studying how they can be killed is an
important part of health science.
4. Anything that can help students learn is a
good thing, especially when it comes to
difficult subjects such a biology. If there are
more studies done on Pop!World’s positive
effects, hopefully it is a resource that more
schools could have access to, and that would
help interest more kids in biology while they
are in high school.

5. The way that genes are expressed is
something that is very detailed and so many
microscopic, but very important, things are
happening in a very short time period.
Understanding what the information stored in
genes is something that researchers can use to
detect things like cancer or other medical
disorders, before they truly manifest.
Porter Trapp
5. The study of genomes and the genomic
information that genes code for is going to be
something that will be an important part of
future medical care and diagnosis. Being able
to see what possible illnesses one may have,
before any symptoms appear will be hugely
beneficial to us.
 Porter Trapp

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