The driving question for this project was: How do our current actions change the future of our environment? Our task was to get into groups and create a proposal to a local representative to make a change to a local plot of land. My group chose a plot of land owned by the school district between San Marin Drive and San Andreas Drive. Our plot of land is currently a big grassy field that is not being used for anything. It has a few uneven animal trails going through it and a small seasonal pond. We want to create a gravel trail system through the field that is lined with trees and flowers native to California. We will be installing picnic tables and benches for people who want to rest or eat a snack. We will also be turning the small seasonal pond into a larger all season pond. Our policy change will provide more resources for the native animals that live in the field. It will also help increase the biodiversity and populations in the field. We hope our policy changes will beneficial to the community and people visiting our town. Here is our slideshow presentation about our policy change:
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Main Concepts:
Biology- The study of living things and there interactions with other living and non living things
Biotic- Any living thing
Abiotic- Any non living thing
Ecology- The study of the interactions between living things and their environment
Population- A group of homogeneous individuals that live in the same habitat
Biome- Group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities
Biosphere- Where all living things live
Ecosystem- How the different communities interact with their environment.
Autotroph- An organism that creates its own energy
Heterptroph- When you rely on other organisms for food
Producer- At the bottom of the food chain, they crest there own food
Consumer- Ear producers and lower level consumers
Detritivores- Organisms that feed on dead organic material
Decomposer- Organisms that decompose organic material
Food Web- A complex food chain
Nutrient Cycle- The movement/exchange of organic/inorganic matter in an ecosystem
Carbon Cycle- Process by which carbon compounds are changed
Nitrogen Cycle- Process by which nitrogen and its compounds are interconverted in the environment
Water Cycle- Process by which water circulates
Greenhouse Effect- Heat is retained near the Earth by a layer of gases in the Earths atmosphere
Niche- The way of life of a species
Symbiosis- To live together and happens when two species have a close relationship
Competition- an interaction that harms both species
Mutualism- An interactions where both species benefit
Commensalism- An interaction that benefits one species and doesn't affect the other species
Parasitism- An interaction that harms one species and benefits the other species
Succession- The process by which a biological community evolves over time
Biodiversity- The variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem
Carrying Capacity- The number of organism that an area of land can support
Resources- A stock or supply of materials
Reflection
I think that me and my group did a good job with this project. I think our idea and policy would be beneficial to the plot of land. I think we all worked very well together and did a good job collaborating our ideas. I think we could have worked on staying on task throughout the hole two periods. I think that it would have been beneficial if we made a plan for what we wanted to get done each day. This would have helped us stay on task better. I have learned that we can get much more work done when we all work together and discuss things with each other. I am going to work on establishing a plan at the beginning of every work day so everyone knows what to do. I also want to work on not getting distracted by others as easily. I think my group did good at presenting our project and I think we had very good models of our plot of land. I did not think this project was the most fun, but it was a good learning experience. I look forward to doing more projects this year and learning more about our environment.