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I thought lab this week was pretty challenging, but I think I learned from it. When we did the fly lab, the characteristics were already sorted out for us, but in observing the plants we had to pick our own characteristics and order our thinking more independently. This lab helped me to see that things aren't as neat as Mendel described them to be, and seemed more accurate to the version of science as stories ordering a bunch of observations.

What I'm really curious about is exactly how the environment effects phenotype. It seems to make sense on a molecular level that genes and dna would code for certain characteristics, which are then manifested in the production of macromolecules that create the phenotype of the organism. however, there must be a way the environment impacts the body's production of macromolecules, and this confuses me. Doesn't a trait have to be coded for in order for it to be exhibited? The answer to that is no, I guess, but I'm having a hard time conceptualizing how the environment can impact how an organism develops.