Ecology Reflection:
Some of the main topics that we learned during this unit were biotic and abiotic factors as well as succession. The two other questions/topics of this unit are, which was the survival, growth, and change in environments and ecosystems. I learned about many environmental factors like water, sunlight , as well as competition that will affect the survival of organisms and a species as a whole. We learned about how humans can make a huge affect on the ecosystem in a local area while creating our Find a Solution videos. Two large thins to remember from this unit were biodiversity and carrying capacity and how they are important in ecology, we used these ideas to help work on making self-sustaining and prosperous terrariums. Using the terms and ideas of our ecology for our Socratic Seminar with the argument being whether or not global warming is a real force in the environment. This helped me understand some of the topics we have already covered such as energy flow and the cycle of matter.
In this unit, I liked working on our terrariums the most. It was interesting to see the growth of some of the plants and moss that we had added. I was a little bit disappointed on the overall transformation of our garden, but I think that with some more time the worms and plants could change more. I also liked doing the Find a Solution videos because it allowed us to explore some of the more natural areas of Novato and the ecosystem of those places. Although I enjoyed visiting our site, it was difficult to identify multiple specific problems at Little Mountain.
I did not like the Socratic Seminar very much because I felt like it was not very organized and we didn't have enough information that was original compared to our classmates, which made it less engaging and possible to have good conversations. I also didn't like that we didn't have very definite deadlines for projects. It made it so that we were less organized and people that were finished early had not much to do.
Based on what we learned about human impacts on the environment, I will change my lifestyle to be more conscious of the plants and animals on trails and in nature so I don't accidentally harm them or change the biodiversity and carrying capacity of the ecosystem. I will continue to stay on the trails that are marked to not cause premature erosion. I will also make sure that I keep trash out of nature and throw it in garbage cans if I come across it.
In this unit, I liked working on our terrariums the most. It was interesting to see the growth of some of the plants and moss that we had added. I was a little bit disappointed on the overall transformation of our garden, but I think that with some more time the worms and plants could change more. I also liked doing the Find a Solution videos because it allowed us to explore some of the more natural areas of Novato and the ecosystem of those places. Although I enjoyed visiting our site, it was difficult to identify multiple specific problems at Little Mountain.
I did not like the Socratic Seminar very much because I felt like it was not very organized and we didn't have enough information that was original compared to our classmates, which made it less engaging and possible to have good conversations. I also didn't like that we didn't have very definite deadlines for projects. It made it so that we were less organized and people that were finished early had not much to do.
Based on what we learned about human impacts on the environment, I will change my lifestyle to be more conscious of the plants and animals on trails and in nature so I don't accidentally harm them or change the biodiversity and carrying capacity of the ecosystem. I will continue to stay on the trails that are marked to not cause premature erosion. I will also make sure that I keep trash out of nature and throw it in garbage cans if I come across it.