Wednesday 24 August 2016

Re-write

In class today we were given a paragraph to type down also a list of words to rewrite that paragraph using those list of words.

Here is the actual paragraph:

A rabbit is active at dawn and dusk. It's normal activity is recorded in a lab for 6 days, then recorded in constant darkness for another 10 days. There is still a pattern to the rabbit's behavior but it starts 20 minutes later each day.

List of words:

Zeitgeber
Entrained
Biological Clock
Endogenous
Exogenous
Circadean
Circatidal
Phase shift
period of
Nocturnal
Diurnal
Crepuscular
Biorhythm
Free-running

My paragraph:

A rabbit has a particular time for its activity. It is active at dawn and dusk, which is called crepuscular. It can't be nocturnal or diurnal since it is active both dawn and dusk (sunrise and sunset). Its normal exogenous biorhythm was recorded for 6 days with the zeitgeber present which was entraining the rhythm.
When the rabbit's activity was recorded in darkness, the zeitgeber was removed and the activity pattern was changed. The phase shift happened when the zeitgeber was removed and its activity started 20 minutes later each day. This means that the biorhythm is Circadean in the period of 24 hours, not Circatidal because rabbits don't live at the beach or the ocean. LOL.
Because the zeitgeber was removed and its activity pattern still happened, it is endogenous, which means that the rabbit must have it's own biological clock. As the zeitgeber was removed, free-running  occurred, meaning that the rabbit's endogenous biological rhythm took over and made its own timing.