Experiments and Labs... the best of biology

 Sunday July 27, 2014

In the morning I had church. I didn't sing for the service, so I just got to relax and enjoy it. The afternoon I spent working on my vet school application and cheering on the Australian swimmers. It was a productive afternoon. Then as a house we went to Shelly Beach to collect some shells. We are going to make picture frames with them and put a house photo in them. It was also a great excuse to go to the ocean on such a beautiful day! 

 Me looking out at the waves

Upside- down seastar

I checked the tides and it was supposed to be receding but it wasn't. Chris took this lovely snapshot right before a wave filled my boots. 

Even after filling my boots it was still a beautiful evening!

Lauren had to run to Woolworths quick so we all picked up a few groceries. Look at what we found in the international food section... Dr. Pepper

We were waiting for her outside for Lauren when we were done and Chris found the best seat.

When we got back to uni there was a crowd in the kitchen with everyone making food. Eventually we all settled down and watched the games. I made a deal with Chris that I would bake him a cake if I could steal a piece or two. It ended up being a team effort... we didn't melt the butter before putting it in the batter and he dropped the spoon in the bowl too. It was so funny when in happened that everyone in the house was in tears. It was a lot of fun and delicious when it was done! It is really great to just spend time as a house for the evening.

Monday July 28, 2014

I beat everyone to the gym in the morning because Lauren and I had to start our experiment at 9am. For our class we were sent equipment to conduct our experiment at home. It is a brine shrimp experiment where we are looking at the mortality at different salinities. The first thing we had to do was set up the hatchery.

 Lovely Lauren!! (She is the best I am always laughing when I am around this girl)

The Hatchery Room

We got it all set up and took our samples for the day. Now we wait until they hatch and then we have to monitor them every hour.

I got a short break before my lab practical.... Fish Dissection. 

We had to dissect two fish an Atlantic Salmon and a Goldfish and do a health assessment and comparison. All the fish were humanely euthanised before the lab. The goldfish was from the farm that I had visited a couple weeks ago. So we saved our fish from becoming one of these fish.

 Azra lookin' professional!

Atlantic Salmon

Best face ever... she had to cut through a bone.

This is the heart of the Atlantic Salmon. It is so small.

Goldfish time

We got a little bit of a fright when we saw the heart beating when we opened the fish up. It was still beating 4 hours after it had been euthanised. It is due to the energy that is built up in the heart muscles. 

https://plus.google.com/107577374683880825997/posts/aPpCg18FnC4

https://plus.google.com/107577374683880825997/posts/WGBuqJxr9Pm

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It was really interesting to see the differences between the fish. It was a great way to learn the anatomy of the fish too. We have been looking at it the past two weeks in class but I think labs like this are the best way to learn!

After class, I checked my brine shrimp and caught up with Bucket over a cup of hot chocolate before getting ready for dinner. Ben's family had invited me over for dinner to meet some of their other family and watch the games. Bettina and I were admiring James Magnussen (Australian Freestyle Swimmer) on the telly. It was a relaxing night after a busy fishy day.

Cheering on the Roos!

Thursday July 24, 2014

I woke up early so I could talk to Eric. We still needed to pick out a wedding gift for Tiffany and Chris. My great idea was to get them a bottle of wine from one of the wineries that I have gone to here because you can't get that in the US. I was told that you can't ship wine through the post, so we went to plan number 2. Eric went to a liquor store and facetimed me. We looked through all the Australian wines (most of them I have never seen or heard of) and eventually we found one I knew and liked. The store clerk must have thought we were being weird, but I think we should get the "most clever couple of the year award." It is really great that I can still do things like this with Eric being 10,000 miles away.

I had class all day and was wiped out by the end. We did end up have a little bit of fun. We introduced Lauren's fish, Chopper, to Princess.

https://plus.google.com/107577374683880825997/posts/Xa2GtP9dS1W

It took awhile to them to get used to each other but eventually they decided to be friends. Lauren also got a little barrel cave for them. We thought this would help them to get away from each other when they needed it. I worked on homework for awhile before dinner. During dinner we started watching the Commonwealth Games! The swimming and women's hockey. After dinner, I headed over to Ben's house to watch the games with his family and on a bigger TV. It was fun cheering on the Australian athletes.

Friday July 25, 2014

The morning began with a coffee from Ben and whale watching! It was a very exciting morning. A mother and a calf were very close to the shore. They were doing many fin slaps and breeching. I was very excited. I am upset that the mum whale would always breech when I didn't have my camera ready. I did get to watch her through the binoculars though. It was absolutely spectacular!

Baby breeching

 Fin slaps

Mum resting

Baby Breeching

 and Flopping

https://plus.google.com/107577374683880825997/posts/WPqjhgpYc63

https://plus.google.com/107577374683880825997/posts/UxD8whZ5tZe Baby is trying to play but mum just wants to rest.

After whale watching, I came back to uni and worked on my homework and veterinary school applications. I eventually moved into the living room to watch the Australians dominate the pool!

It was a fun afternoon and night relaxing in the house with my mates and cheering on the Aussies!! I also got a lot of my application done!

Saturday July 26, 2014

I got up early and organised a few things before heading to the gym. I took my book so I could bike a read at the same time. After the gym I did some more homework until the swimming came back on. My house gathered around the TV to watch the world record races. Dinner was at Ben's house. After dinner and an amazing Toblerone cheesecake we watched the games. It became eventful when a frog appeared in house. Ironically Killer, the cat, wanted nothing to do with it.

It was very funny to see his reaction to the frog. I released the frog and not too long after I was back at uni in bed.

Back in the Swing of it All

Monday July 21st, 2014

There was frost on the ground to greet Chris and I as we walked to the gym. We could see our breath the whole way there. We got our workout in and afterwards came back and had a small brekkie. I worked on my blog and finished up emails before starting in on my school work for the day. I started in on my Comparative Animal Physiology reading and headed to the computer lab to print off some things for class. Azra and I then headed to Cheap as Chips to pick up some stuff to bake. We had small group at Beck's and afterwards we got to meet her bird Pearl!

 Beck, Pearl and Me

Me and Pearl!

Tuesday July 22, 2014

I woke up with a headache (probably because of the changing weather) and slept in instead of going for my run. Azra did too so it was alright. I woke up to find out that my sister will be marching in the Macy's Day parade!! I was so excited. I tried to call her but was only able to get ahold of my dad. We talked for awhile before I took care of a few things. Then I headed to the free lunch and petting zoo!

It was great to cuddle some cute animals! Good stress relief at the beginning of the trimester. Right after I went to Shelly Beach with Ben. I was going to find some sea stars... but they have disappeared. We found some other cool things though.

Once I got back, it was time to get ready for class. I only had one class at 4pm. It was a review of macromolecules, so overall any easy day. I wanted to spend as much time outside as I could since it was such a beautiful day, so I headed to the pier to see if the boys had caught any fish. 

Some birds I passed by

Anthony

 Great Egret

Chris and his fish

We headed back and had dinner. Lauren had some friends that had come to visit so we had a family night playing pictionary. It was intense and tons of fun. It lasted for almost 3 hours. Needless to say, it was bedtime afterwards. 

Wednesday July 23, 2014

I was up early for a run. The temperature outside was 0 degrees... Celsius, but there was a beautiful sunrise.

I ran to Ben's house to have brekkie with his family. He made raspberries, granola, and yogurt and eggs Benedict. It was a very rewarding treat after a long run. When I got back to uni I got to talk to my sister and mom for awhile and then talked to Eric. I also took care of a few school things before my class at 3. In the evening we had a Fishcare presentation about the project I helped out on and I am in the pamphlet they put together. 

 Pink arrow is pointing to me!

It was an informative meeting and a great way to meet new people and network. We also got to take home the free food. When I got back I did a bit more work before heading to bed. It is may all day class day tomorrow.