Week 8

1.         Overexposure of solar radiation can cause the skin to burn and can also cause damage to DNA. High levels of solar radiation can lead to genetic mutations in skin cells which can lead to skin cancer and if left untreated can spread to other organs and cause death.

UV radiation also rapidly depletes serum foliate levels in light skinned individuals. This affects pregnant women and can cause spina bifida of babies. The breakdown in B vitamins can also cause anemia.

2. 

High Levels of Solar radiation: Short Term. We do not have a short term adaptation. When exposed to too much solar radiation, the skin burns.

 High Levels of Solar radiation: Facultative. An example of facultative adaption is tanning.  Tanning is an example of acclimatization because it is a temporary and rapid adjustment.  The tan is temporary and the skin will return back to its original skin tone after sun exposure has been reduced or stopped.

 



High Levels of Solar radiation: Developmental. Long term adaptations in humans include deeply pigmented skin. If individuals are born with dark skin it will not get lighter if they are never exposed to sunlight. Skin color is affected by melanin. Melanin is extremely important as it acts as a built in sunscreen because it absorbs potentially dangerous ultraviolet rays.  Melanin protects us from overexposure to UV radiation. Light skin produces small amounts of melanin.  Deeply pigmented skin produces maximum levels of melanin.  Individuals that have darker skin have higher exposure to solar radiation. They tend to live in warmer climates. Over time, they produce more melanin which protects them. Individuals that live in northern areas are usually colder so these individuals wear more clothing that helps block the UV exposure and protect their fair skin.

High Levels of Solar radiation: Cultural. There are numerous cultural adaptions to solar radiation.  Shelter, shade, clothing, and sunscreen provide protection from solar radiation.  Individuals can wear clothing with UV protection, hats, sunglasses, carry umbrellas and wear sunscreen.  Although sunscreen will not protect the skin for a long period of time or

protect it completely, it will let the individual spend more time outside in the sun to work or enjoy recreational activities without causing damage.

3.         The benefit of studying human variation across environmental clines is to see how humans adapt to environmental influences.  If we studied only one environment we would not be able to see the impacts of solar radiation.  We would only have data from one source instead of multiple clines. As an example, if we studied solar radiation and skin color for individuals living near the equator, we would get different data than if we studied individuals that live in Alaska. Those that live near the equator have darker skin and higher tolerance to solar radiation than those that live north and are light skinned.  Being able to study the variation across environmental clines helps us understand solar radiation affects.  There are positive and negative affects of solar radiation which include skin cancer or on the flip slide, the lack of solar radiation can cause lack of Vitamin D which can cause anemia, rickets disease and even osteoporosis.

4.         We could use race to help understand the variation of adaptions of solar radiation.    Characteristics of skin color, hair color, and eye color could help us understand the over or under exposure of the solar radiation.   It would be helpful to include the environmental influences as well and study how these individuals adapted to their environment.

Week 7 Language

            I found the experiment difficult as it was hard to hold a conversation with my daughter and husband when I was unable to speak but they could.  As they spoke to each other I disagreed with what they were saying.  Nodding my head “no” and adding hand gestures were not difficult, however, it was difficult for me to communicate what I wanted to say. At first they tried to figure out what I was trying to convey but after some time they seemed annoyed and mostly talked to each other.  I tried to jump in the conversation but their conversation moved quickly and I sat there trying to figure out how to gesture my input without using spoken words.

            My partners in the experiment said it was hard to communicate with me.  When I was gesturing, they did stop talking and looked at me.   Although they did try to figure out what I was saying I was not successful in getting my point across.  I could clearly understand their words but they had trouble understanding me.  I wanted my daughter to tell her dad about cheer practice and how they learned a new stunt.  It was pretty much impossible for me to communicate that as it was complex and beyond the simple gestures of “no”, “stop”, “eat”, “drink”, and “look”.

            The culture that uses symbolic language clearly has the advantage in explaining complex ideas.  They can quickly respond to each other with little effort unlike a culture that does not use symbolic language. I noticed that my partners became impatient with me as they could not understand what I was trying to convey.  They eventually kept their own conversation going and although I tried, I was unable to really be part of what they were saying.

             Individuals that have difficulty with communication could be individuals that know little English or English is not their first language.  Tourists and recent immigrants could have trouble communicating.  Although these individuals may know some English words they might use the wrong words or they may not pronounce the word correctly so it is hard to be understood.  I have some co-workers whose first language is not English.    I have a difficult time understanding them and they ask me to speak slowly when we are talking.  When speaking to them I also try to use basic words in hopes they understand what I am saying.  This takes patience on my part and on their part.

 

Part 2:

            We did the experiment for 15 minutes, however, I was not able to last the full 15 minutes without raising my eyebrow.  I apparently raise my eyebrow much more often than I ever thought.  My daughter really enjoyed watching me and waiting for me to move.  It was a challenge to keep my voice at an even tone and not make any facial movements, but at least I could join the conversation!  Holding a conversation and not being able to show any type of emotion or movement in relation to your conversation is difficult but less difficult than the first experiment. During the second experiment I was able to use words and ask my daughter about cheerleading. However, not using voice inflections was difficult when I responded to her.  I felt like a computer and sounded like Siri.

            My husband thought that listening to me speak in an even tone was like reading a text or email.  The conversation had no emotion. My daughter on the other hand completely enjoyed the experiment.

            Voice inflections, eye contact, and hand gestures play an important part in our communication.  Our society relies heavily on emails and text messages and often I see misunderstandings occur from this type of communication.  These emails and text messages can come across harsh. Without the human emotion and body language there are misunderstandings that occur.      

            Body language is very relevant to all aspects of our lives.  It plays an important part in our personal lives with our families and friends as well as business lives and careers. For example, my daughter may say “Okay” but she rolls her eyes when she says it. To me the word “okay” is an agreement that I was heard and she agrees to do what I asked, but when she rolls her eyes when she answers then it means she is annoyed and not being sincere.  Another example would be a face-to-face meeting versus a conference call at work.  A face-to-face meeting is always more beneficial than a conference call as the body language and facial expression can be seen. On a conference call the parties rely only on words and vocal tones and the parties cannot see the facial expressions of either excitement or disapproval.

            A scenario where I can imagine that body language would not be a benefit would be if you are doing a job interview and you are nervous. Instead of showing confidence you are showing that you are nervous and uncertain and do not make good eye contact.

In conclusion, body language is very important as it promotes clearer communication in our everyday lives.