Perhaps worms are multidimensional beings...?

IT's the only explanation I can think of to account for worms occupying the eggs they hold inside them...!

Why are female round worms larger than males?


-I think it’s because the females contain A’s, so they can be able to produce a lot (female gametes have XX)
-Females need capacity to occupy the eggs they produce.
-Female roundworms carry the babies.

There's a first time for everything

Despite being called Hitler by students in the past, I'd like to think that give them all a fair chance. For example, students are allowed to hand in a rough draft to get an idea of where they can improve (almost a "Here are free grades, come and take them!" opportunity yes?).

Today a student asked me to go over a draft for them. Fine, only the assignment was due a few hours BEFORE they asked me to go over a draft!

Surely they can't have the benefit of a rough draft if they are already late? Then again maybe they were counting on the draft to cover up for marks lost for handing in late. I told them I'd skim read the draft and return it to them with brief commentary (best compromise I thought)

Do you think they actually know what a rat is...?

Q: Compare the dental formulae of humans and rats. What are the implications for the diets of both species?

A: Only 2 carnivores per jaw on a rat and a diastema gab without teeth and 2 molars per side of a jaw. This suggests that rats have a limited diet (preferably meat) while human have a wide range of diets.

What's worse? Their vicious temperament, or their poor diet?

Q: When comparing the dental formulae of a rat and a human, what features indicate a difference in the diet of the two species? What do these differences suggest about the diets of both species?

A: [The rats have]…one canine on each side and three molars on each side. The rat [therefore] uses canines to rip & tear the food & the molars to grind it. The ripping and tearing is for the meat that the rat eats & the grinding is for the corn it steals from farmers. We have incisors and premolars which are used for biting & chewing, [therefore] we have a diet with softer things such as vegetables etc.

Who knew so much was at stake...

When asked to explain the activation of a protein-digesting enzyme, the student wrote the following. What they were supposed to write was something along the lines of, the enzyme is only activated in the duodenum as the pancreas doens't have any mechanisms in place to prevent self-digestion, and thus it produces the enzymes in an inactive form. This is what they actually wrote...

"…This is to ensure that it does not react with the other substance that it should not react with as prevention of self destruction."

Digestive enzymes in the blood...?!

"Chymotrypsinogen is secreted by the pancreas and enters the duodenum via the blood stream."

Did it never occur to the student that the last thing you want is to have protein-digesting enzymes in your blood?! They would digest all your blood cells, rendering you unable to transport oxygen to your tissues and you would die.

Could you be more obvious?

In a question requiring an experimental design to test the projection of changed rainfall and it's influence on primary production the students were required to specify the scale and frequency of data collection.

"I would advise performing this sampling in as large an areas as possible with a high number of sites as this sounds like an excellent opportunity for job creation for 3rd year university students which are in desperate need of income in an impoverish society facing economic recession".

Shame! Did they expect marks or sympathy for that comment.

Directly indirect?

"The Nitrogen [N] cycle works in conjunction with the CO2 cycle as both play an important role in plant growth and soil enrichment. Thus, by causing deforestation and alike over fishing we directly influence the N cycle".

keh? Wanna make that point a little clearer?

Who'd have thought?

Grasshoppers are "Wide ranging megaherbivores"

Theoretically possible... I suppose

What do you understand by the term "population limitation"?


Model answer: Population size limited by environmental factors (lack of resources, space...)


Student answer: "Population limitation is restricting the growth of an animal population by de-sexing or... mentally interfering with reproduction"