This was our first project of my 10th grade STEM biology year. Our task was to design a physical change in our local area in order to improve the world, and then see the impacts of that in the future up to 1000 years. In my group was Andre Ng, Taylor Rich, and Andrew Rice. The first day, we began by brainstorming what our change would be. We didn't come up with very many before choosing our change. Our change is that we want to make a government regulated forest on Mount Burdell in an effort to increase oxygen in the atmosphere and decrease the carbon. We decided to Redwood trees as they are indigenous to the area and also take in the most carbon while releasing the most oxygen out of any other tree.
Some benefits to our project are most importantly, improved air quality, but their are a few others. This forest would give animals a place to live as their homes are increasingly being taken away by humans through deforestation. Also, we could have parts of the forest where schools and families could learn about the plants and the environment. The forest wouldn't make much of an impact in air quality. But, another goal of this is for other countries and people to see this and make something similar. If this catches on, it could save the planet from global warming.
Here is a file for our project in a slideshow below:
Some benefits to our project are most importantly, improved air quality, but their are a few others. This forest would give animals a place to live as their homes are increasingly being taken away by humans through deforestation. Also, we could have parts of the forest where schools and families could learn about the plants and the environment. The forest wouldn't make much of an impact in air quality. But, another goal of this is for other countries and people to see this and make something similar. If this catches on, it could save the planet from global warming.
Here is a file for our project in a slideshow below:
redwood_planting_on_mt._burdell.pptx |
CONTENT - almost all of the definitions below are concepts that we used to design and make our project and see the impacts.
- Biology- The study of living things
- Biotic- The living parts of an environment
- Abiotic- The non-living parts of an environment
- Ecology- The study of interactions between living things and their environment
- Individual- A single living organism
- Population- A single species that lives in the same area
- Community- Populations of different species that live in the same area
- Ecosystem- How communities interact with their environment
- Biome- A group of ecosystems that have the same climate and dominant communities
- Biosphere- Where all life exists in the world
- Autotroph- Uses energy from the environment
- Heterotroph- Relies on other organisms for energy
- Producer- Bottom of the food chain makes, makes energy for the sun
- Consumer- eats producers and other consumers for energy
- Trophic level- steps in a food chain
- Detrivores- Preys on dead and decaying organisms
- Decomposers- Breaks down dead organisms (plants/animals)
- Food Web- A series of food chains
- Ecological Pyramid- A visual representation of the amount of animals in an ecosystem
- Nutrient Cycle- The flow of nutrients through plants, animals, and soil
- Carbon Cycle- The circulation of carbon through the soil, atmosphere, plants, and animals
- Nitrogen Cycle- The circulation of nitrogen through the soil, atmosphere, plants, and animals
- Water Cycle- The flow of water through through the air, land, and sea
- Greenhouse Effect- Gasses in the atmosphere trap heat inside the Earth
- Weather- The day-to-day condition of Earth's atmosphere
- Climate- The average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time
- Niche- The way of life of a species
- Symbiosis- "To live together" when two species have a very close relationship
- Parasitism- When one species harms another for it's benefit
- Predator- an animal that naturally preys on others
- Herbivore- an animal that feeds on plants.
- Competition- When two species need the same resources
- Mutualism- Both species benefit
- Commensalism- One species befits w/o affecting the other
- Ecological succession - The order of growth of plants out of a new area.
- Primary succession- Succession that takes place where no soil exists.
- Secondary succession- when a disturbance destroys most of a community
- Pioneer species- The first species to appear during succession
- Biodiversity- The variety of life
- Resources (renewable/non- renewable)- Materials that humans use (Recreatable/ once used, is gone)
- Carrying Capacity- The amount of organisms an area of land can support.
REFLECTION
Overall, this project wasn't the most exciting, however I did learn a lot. I enjoyed the freedom that we got in choosing what, and where our change would occur. One thing I learned was a lot about pollution, global warming, the atmosphere, etc. The earth is getting warmer at a rate of about 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. I also learned about biodiversity and why it is so important to have for humans. If biodiversity decreases, it could lead to suffering and starvation for humans and animals.
Peaks: One peak for our group was the amount of time that it took for us to decide on our project and get started. We all agreed to the idea as soon as it was decided and we got to work before most of the other groups. This gave us extra time.
Peak: Our group was very efficient while on task. We all worked on different parts of the project at times in order to get many things done at once. This gave us more time to over everything and make sure it was correct and looked good.
Pit: We got off task at times. At times it was to hard to pay attention because the project was very intriguing. So, there were a couple days where we didn't do much. But, it all worked out in the end.
Pit; We had a lot of trouble creating our 3d computer designed model for our idea. We used four different programs until we finally found one that would work. The first three, we were almost done until we ran into problems. This wasted a lot of time and set us back. But, once the fourth one worked we were able to finish it quickly because of our experiences with the other three programs.
For our next project, one thing I would do is try to stay on task and use my time more wisely. This includes being more self- conscious about what needs to be done and what is already done.
Also, I would try to use things that I already have experience with. Fortunately, I now have experience with the 3d modeling programs so I will be able to use them better next time. But, my inexperience paired with my groups inexperience with the programs made us fall behind in our work.
Overall, this project wasn't the most exciting, however I did learn a lot. I enjoyed the freedom that we got in choosing what, and where our change would occur. One thing I learned was a lot about pollution, global warming, the atmosphere, etc. The earth is getting warmer at a rate of about 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. I also learned about biodiversity and why it is so important to have for humans. If biodiversity decreases, it could lead to suffering and starvation for humans and animals.
Peaks: One peak for our group was the amount of time that it took for us to decide on our project and get started. We all agreed to the idea as soon as it was decided and we got to work before most of the other groups. This gave us extra time.
Peak: Our group was very efficient while on task. We all worked on different parts of the project at times in order to get many things done at once. This gave us more time to over everything and make sure it was correct and looked good.
Pit: We got off task at times. At times it was to hard to pay attention because the project was very intriguing. So, there were a couple days where we didn't do much. But, it all worked out in the end.
Pit; We had a lot of trouble creating our 3d computer designed model for our idea. We used four different programs until we finally found one that would work. The first three, we were almost done until we ran into problems. This wasted a lot of time and set us back. But, once the fourth one worked we were able to finish it quickly because of our experiences with the other three programs.
For our next project, one thing I would do is try to stay on task and use my time more wisely. This includes being more self- conscious about what needs to be done and what is already done.
Also, I would try to use things that I already have experience with. Fortunately, I now have experience with the 3d modeling programs so I will be able to use them better next time. But, my inexperience paired with my groups inexperience with the programs made us fall behind in our work.