.For this project we had to work collaboratively in teams to use our knowledge and understanding of biology to identify a real world problem and create a proposal to a biotechnology company to further our research or create and or invest our product. This project was divided into seven stages. We had to do lots of research then create and evaluate our solution to our problem. We were given three weeks to finish this project. After many decisions my group decided to go with the problem of ocean acidity. This is a very serious problem because corral reefs are being destroyed and many organisms are dying. Since the industrial revolution we have been releasing exponential amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Some of the carbon dioxide is then dissolved into the ocean making them for acidic. Our solution is to add bacteria to the ocean to process the dissolved carbon dioxide and make the ocean more basic. The bacteria we will be using is Ralstonia Eutropha but we will have to genetically modify it to survive in salt water.
Key Terms
Carbon Dioxide- a colorless, odorless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds and by respiration.
Greenhouse Gases- a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation Ralstonia Eutropha- a bacteria that lives in water and is able to break down compounds
Ocean- a very large expanse of sea, in particular, each of the main areas into which the sea is divided geographically.
Coral Reefs- a ridge of rock in the sea formed by the growth and deposit of coral.
Acidification: Ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Ocean: Large body of slat concentrated water, covers 71% of globe.
Greenhouses Gasses: Gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere.
pH: Numeric scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution.
Halophiles: Organisms that thrive in high salt concentrations Bioremediation: Waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site.
Reflection
This project was one of my favorites this year. We had lots of freedom throughout the whole project and we were given lots of time to use how we felt needed. I felt that I did good work throughout this project and my group worked very well together. We were all like minded individuals that agreed on everything. This allowed for this project to go very smoothly. Nothing went poorly during this project because of the good communication and cooperation skills amongst my group. I learned that I really like working in a group with like minded individuals because it is so much easier to agree on things. I also learned that I work better when I get to pick my group because I can pick who I will work with best. I also gained good research skills during this project and learned how to find reliable sources when using google. I could have done better at gathering more information on our topic so I was better prepared for the class gallery walk. Other then that I think I did very good during this project. A peak of this project was being able to choose our groups and have to freedom to pick any topic to research. I did not have a pit for this project being it went so well and I am happy with how our end result turned out.