ESSAY Look at the topics each week and do an internet search or UMUC database search to find websites that fit the definition.  It is an effort to see what resources students can find on their own.  If you find something that is useful, or has great maps, or images, include it in you hunt. Scavenger Hunts (2) (10 percent) The purpose of the Scavenger Hunt exercise is to gain broader knowledge of the weekly subject matter beyond the text readings and publisher website.  The student should use Google or some other search engine (including UMUC library database searches) to find five relevant websites covering the subject matter of the previous four weeks of class.  These websites should contain news about world history, or be university, museum, archeological, or other relevant subject-oriented sites.  The student will provide the url of the website in the University of Chicago reference style, noting update and access dates.  Each website should include a summary of the contents of that site.  The student should write 50 words per summary.  The student's summaries should be logically organized.  The summaries should be written in a formal style and be free of grammatical/syntax issues.  The summaries should clearly explain why the site should be examined or accessed.  The overview of each site should be substantive substantive in the description of the contents. The student should also explain why the sites will add depth or additional insight to the knowledge of the subject matter.  These sites should not be from the publisher's website.  See schedule for due dates.  THIS HW B and Z, chapters 7-9 (make certain to read the highlighted sections in each chapter)One primary source reading for chapters 7-9 from the publisher's website (www.mhhe.com/psi and click Traditions & Encounters 5e)http://rapidshare.com/files/1871746818/131-186.pdf" http://rapidshare.com/files/1871746818/131-186.pdfThis is for the HW due this Sunday. And link provided for the pages of required reading. FEEDBACK NEEDED FOR HISTORY AND BIO  1) What role does Chinese civilization play regarding nomadic and pastoral societies in Central Asia (and vice versa)?  Explain.  What is the relationship between them and why is it often volatile?  How and when does Chinese civilization expand into the Yangzi River and south China?  What influence does China have on East and Southeast Asia?  Explain, providing examples. During the expansion of an agricultural society throughout the Yellow River valley, as smaller factions of people moved further away from the fertile land of the valley and into the more arid land of the mountains they resorted to a more sustainable way of life, in herding. These nomads herded animals like, cows, yaks sheep and goats, in the grassy areas of the steppes. They served as the middle man on a trade network connecting China and the rest of the early societies, while mostly unfriendly these two needed resources from each other. While the agricultural land o ...

1. ESSAY
Look at the topics each week and do an internet search or
UMUC database search to find websites that fit the definition.
It is an effort to see what resources students can find on their
own. If you find something that is useful, or has great maps, or
images, include it in you hunt.
Scavenger Hunts (2) (10 percent)
The purpose of the Scavenger Hunt exercise is to gain broader
knowledge of the weekly subject matter beyond the text
readings and publisher website. The student should use Google
or some other search engine (including UMUC library database
searches) to find five relevant websites covering the subject
matter of the previous four weeks of class. These websites
should contain news about world history, or be university,
museum, archeological, or other relevant subject-oriented sites.
The student will provide the url of the website in the University
of Chicago reference style, noting update and access dates.
Each website should include a summary of the contents of that
site. The student should write 50 words per summary. The
student's summaries should be logically organized. The
summaries should be written in a formal style and be free of
grammatical/syntax issues. The summaries should clearly
explain why the site should be examined or accessed. The
overview of each site should be substantive substantive in the
description of the contents. The student should also explain why
the sites will add depth or additional insight to the knowledge
of the subject matter. These sites should not be from the
publisher's website. See schedule for due dates.
THIS HW B and Z, chapters 7-9 (make certain to read the
highlighted sections in each chapter)One primary source reading
for chapters 7-9 from the publisher's website
(www.mhhe.com/psi and click Traditions & Encounters
5e)http://rapidshare.com/files/1871746818/131-186.pdf"

2. http://rapidshare.com/files/1871746818/131-186.pdfThis is for
the HW due this Sunday. And link provided for the pages of
required reading.
FEEDBACK NEEDED FOR HISTORY AND BIO
1) What role does Chinese civilization play regarding nomadic
and pastoral societies in Central Asia (and vice versa)?
Explain. What is the relationship between them and why is it
often volatile? How and when does Chinese civilization expand
into the Yangzi River and south China? What influence does
China have on East and Southeast Asia? Explain, providing
examples.
During the expansion of an agricultural society throughout the
Yellow River valley, as smaller factions of people moved
further away from the fertile land of the valley and into the
more arid land of the mountains they resorted to a more
sustainable way of life, in herding. These nomads herded
animals like, cows, yaks sheep and goats, in the grassy areas of
the steppes. They served as the middle man on a trade network
connecting China and the rest of the early societies, while
mostly unfriendly these two needed resources from each other.
While the agricultural land owners spread out, usually
conflicting with nomadic feeding grounds for their herds, they
also did not abide by any set Chinese authority. The constant
threat of invasion almost lead to the end of the Zhou dynasty.
The expansion southward in China lead to ample rice production
along the Yangzi River. Where there was more predictability
with the flow of water, the people created a elaborate irrigation
system during the growth periods under the dynasties of the
time, Shang and Zhou, As with most agricultural societies,
cities were formed around these areas, and Chinese influenced
produced large states. The State of Chu became more

3. pronounced, they began to govern themselves autonomously
from the Zhou dynasty and challenged its authority, creating a
centerpiece of an emerging society in China.
Influence through their style of governance lead most
surrounding areas to follow similar establishments, with royal
and noble families accumulating wealth and increasing their
kingdoms. Writings of that time was also shared by surrounding
communities, Through trade routes from the nomadic herders
brought new technology and resources into the region. Different
grains were brought in to harvest outside of rice, and metallurgy
was used to increase military strength and efficiency in
agricultural. The use of boat to navigate the shores opened
ability to navigate to islands in nearby regions.
2) The Olmec, Mayan, Chavin cult, Teotihuacan civilizations
are some of the early societies of Mesoamerica. Starting around
13,000 B.C.E was the first known and largest migration of
humans from Siberia to Alaska took place. Afterwards, migrants
arrived in large numbers and quickly populated habitable
region. By 8000 to 7000 B.C.E., the people of Mesoamerica
began to grow crops and agriculture quickly spread throughout

4. this region. Agricultural villages and ceremonial centers arose
in several regions of Mesoamerica. The earliest known group
was the Olmec society [109]. During the thousand years
following the Olmecs’ disappearance about 100 B.C.E, complex
societies arose and human population flourished drastically.
One of the earliest heirs of the Olmecs were the Maya who were
located in what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize,
Honduras, and El Salvador [111]. While the Maya flourished in
the Mesoamerica lowlands, a different society arose in the north
in the highlands of Mexico known as the Teotihuacan. They
were a large agricultural village by 500 B.C.E and expanded
rapidly around 200 B.C.E. [115]. Shortly after the year 1000,
B.C.E., a new religion appeared suddenly in the central Andes
known as the Chavin cult. It grew enormous popularity during
the period 900 to 800 B.C.E, but vanished around 300 B.C.E. It
spread through most of the territory occupied by modern day
Peru.
Agriculture was an important aspect for these civilizations. The
regions in which these civilizations settled contained some
means for agricultural productivity. For example, the highlands
of Guatemala offered fertile soil and excellent conditions for
agriculture for the Mayans [111]. The Teotihuacan took
advantage of the water from large lakes nestled in surrounding
mountain as irrigation for their fields to establish a productive
agricultural society [115]. For the Chavin Cult, geography
actually discouraged the establishment of communication
between the Andean region and Mesoamerica. This led to a slow
diffusion of agricultural products and technologies from one
area to another [116].
When discussing social organization and religion of these
civilizations, they were all unique in their own aspects. For
example, the Olmec society was likely authoritarian in nature.
Construction of their ceremonial centers that consisted of
elaborate temples, pyramids, altars, stone sculptures, and tombs
for rulers were assembles by thousands of laborers [110]. The
Maya organized themselves into scores of small city-kingdoms.

5. Their society’s consisted of a large class of priests. Hereditary
nobility owned most land and cooperated with kings and priests
by organizing military forces and participating in religious
rituals. The Popal Vuh is a Maya creation myth that taught that
the gods created humans out of maize and water. The Maya
were polytheistic and believed that each god served a purpose
and kept the world going. Sacrifices and honors were performed
by the Maya, as they believed this was required for the gods to
maintain the agricultural cycle and keep the world in order
[114]. The Chavin cult built large temple complexes and
elaborate works of art that demonstrated its importance to those
who honored it. They carved images of their deities with
features of human and wild animals [118].
Trade and war played a big impact on these societies. For
example, the Olmecs spread their influence by both military
force and by trade. Trade was a prominent link to other regions
in Mesoamerica for the Olmecs. They imported jade and
obsidian and in exchange for these imports, they traded small
works created from jade, basalt, ceramics, and other local
products [110]. Other societies such as the Maya and
Teotihuacan also traded local products in exchange for items
that had to be imported. Trading with various regions affected
all societies by giving them access to resources not available in
their own region, therefore allowing them to produce tools and
weapons that benefited them in agriculture and war. War also
had a major impact on these societies. By gaining resources
from various regions and the ability to produce weapons from
these resources, war became apparent. For example, Maya
kingdoms fought constantly with each other. They would
capture each other and use the captives as slaves or sacrificial
victims to Maya gods, all while stripping them of everything
they owned. Many of these societies of Mesoamerica declined
because of civil warfare and invasion of foreigners. This
warfare led to a declined regulated system and eventually
ecological problems, diminished harvests, and disease [112]. By
1000 A.D, the Olmec, Mayan, Chavin cult,

6. Teotihuacan civilizations became virtually extinct.
BIO FEEDBACK
1)DNA molecules are organized in a structure and they are
called a chromosome. Chromosomes basically hold the
“blueprint” for the genetic information of eukaryotic species.
The number of chromosomes for each species is unique to that
species. Humans double up on chromosomes so their
chromosome number is diploid.
DNA is composed of four kinds of nucleotides. The DNA
nucleotides are adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine. The
differences in how the DNA nucleotides are sequenced accounts
for the variety we see in life.
The discovery of DNA and the solving of its structure is a
concerted effort by many scientists over the years. While the
scientist Watson and Crick certainly put forth a great effort and
solved many mysteries in regards to DNA, they should not have
“borrowed’ the discovery made by Rosalind Franklin and took
credit for it.
I am certain that cloning will eventually become common place
in our society. But for now it just seems like a frightening
option, when so many things can go wrong.
2) If you look at a strand of RNA and DNA they look relatively

7. the same. Three of the bases A, C, and G are the same but for
RNA instead of T the fourth base is Uracil. RNA’s have
different roles for protein synthesis, while DNA’s role is just to
hold onto the cells heritable information. The three types of
roles in in RNA are rRNA (polypeptide chains are built), tRNA
(delivers amino acids to ribosomes), and mRNA (specifies the
order in which amino acids are delivered to ribosomes).
Converting DNA information to RNA is called Transcription
and from mRNA to a protein is called Translation.
Transcription occurs when RNA polymerase binds to a
promoter. A promoter is a binding site in DNA for the RNA
polymerase. This happens near the gene region and occurs on
just one of the DNA strands. After that the polymerase moves
along the DNA and the DNA starts to unravel. When this
happens the RNA nucleotides link the RNA by the DNAs base
sequence. This transcription happens in the nucleus and later
goes on to the cytoplasm.
Making proteins requires the use of mRNA, tRNA and rRNA.
All three help translate information to a protein. MRNA’s job is
the carry this information to the other RNA’s. The information
is protein building information that has four bases A, C, G and
U. mRNA’s code is 3 bases long with four bases in the 3
sections that total 64 codons. A stop codon is the end of an
mRNA sequence. Ribosomes and tRNA’s react with each other
so they can translate mRNA to a polypeptide.
After transcription, translation is the next part of which occurs
in the cytoplasm. Translation has 3 stages: Initiation (mRNA
leaves the nucleus), Elongation (ribosomes gather to
polypeptide chain), and Termination (reaches stop codon).
When all of these steps have been complete then the newly
formed polypeptide can join proteins in cytoplasm or go to the
Rough ER.
Mutations occur when something happens to the nucleotide
sequence. Mutations can be cause by x-rays, smoking, being out
in the sun too long, deletion and insertion.

8. 3) Hello,
Cells are specialized at doing certain processes in our
body. When cells go though the process at becoming
“specialized” it is referred to as differentiation.
The genes that have power over the formation of precise body
parts are referred to as Homeotic Genes. The homeotic genes
have the ability to induce other genes to produce complicated
tasks. Homeotic genes is a kind of master gene. Scientist have
learned about master genes by the manipulating the genes and
deleting segments of the gene and then studying the effects of
their manipulation. This process/experiment is called knockout.
The sex in mammals is dependent upon the inactivation of one
of the X chromosomes (female cells have two) and in males the
sex is dependent on the SRY gene to.
Bacteria and archaeans do not develop into multi-celled
organisms and therefore master genes are not a part of their
makeup. They have learned to use gene controls and are able to
adjust to what nutrients are available to them.
Thank you,