Ecology Unit Reflection
Some of the main things that I learned during this unit were biotic and abiotic factors and succession. These were both part of the main idea of the unit, which was the survival, growth, and change in environments and ecosystems. I learned that there are many factors such as sunlight, water, and competition that can affect the survival of organisms and species. I also learned that humans can have a huge impact on the ecosystems in our local area through the Find a Solution videos. Biodiversity and carrying capacity were important in ecology, since we used these ideas to work on creating self-sustaining and successful terrariums. We used the terms and ideas of ecology for a Socratic Seminar on whether or not global warming is present. 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.