Friday, February 26, 2016
Start of 20 Time
In 20 Time, I spend every Monday working on something relating to science that I want to work on. My project is asking which is the best starch to use for bioplastics, either potato or corn starch. I chose this so I could have hands-on experience with biplastics. By conducting an experiment, which I explained in my elevator pitch, I will be able to see which bioplastic starch works the best.
My goal is to finish the experiment by the end of April, and start working at home on the experiment in the beginning of March, which is also how I will measure my goal. Moving forward, my plan is to get supplies as soon as possible so I can start conducting the experiment in March.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Unit 7 Reflection
This unit was mainly about how ecosystems function and how humans hurt and can help them.
We learned about the big ideas of ecology, like equilibrium, or homeostasis, interdependence (living things depending on each other), tolerance range (the ranged that an organism is adapted for and can survive in) and niche, which was on of the most difficult for me to remember and identify. A niche includes all the factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy, and reproduce.
A big lesson we also learned was the difference between food chains and food webs. Food chains mainly show how each organism gets energy and very simple levels of it, while food webs are more accurate, showing how energy can be transferred in different ways.
One of the most important rule we learned about was the 10% rule. This rule stated that only 10% of energy is passed on to the next level. This was easy for me to remember because I learned about it before, it is an interesting fact, and it's easy to visualize when seeing food chains.
Another major concept we learned about was population ecology. We learned many different ways ecosystems gain and lose organisms, and how these work together to create equilibrium. Along with keeping populations going, we learned about how they were started with the order of succession. These organisms are healthy when they have large populations of tertiary and quaternary consumers, diverse communities of producers and decomposers, and high biodiversity.
I want to learn about more solutions for the problems humans are causing to the environment.
In the Conservation Biology Project, we all pulled a good amount of our own weight. What did not work well was sometimes certain group members would spend entire class periods doing nothing and saying they could do the work at home. This was mostly problematic for me because I could not continue with my parts of the project until they had finished. I learned that working with others is a lot easier when you make friends with them. That way, you care about their feelings and their ideas, and they the same with you.
Latter in the project, I became more aggressive when we were not going as fast as I would have liked and often took time out to discuss things that did not seem to matter. Fearing I would loose my A in bio due to one project, I got angrier to get the project moving along faster, for people would hopefully fear an outburst from me and get a move on. Becoming aggressive is my "one-tick-pony." It works surprisingly well once. If I do more projects with the same people, they will probably hold past impressions and grudges and it will be harder to move the project along.
To be more assertive in the project, I will try to find positive ways of motivating people to work faster, probably by complimenting their skills and helping them imagine how great the finished project will be with their work or how great it will be if we finish early.
Videos for an aggressive attitude pattern:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsVq5R_F6RA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7_0IJTBoNA
We learned about the big ideas of ecology, like equilibrium, or homeostasis, interdependence (living things depending on each other), tolerance range (the ranged that an organism is adapted for and can survive in) and niche, which was on of the most difficult for me to remember and identify. A niche includes all the factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy, and reproduce.
A big lesson we also learned was the difference between food chains and food webs. Food chains mainly show how each organism gets energy and very simple levels of it, while food webs are more accurate, showing how energy can be transferred in different ways.
One of the most important rule we learned about was the 10% rule. This rule stated that only 10% of energy is passed on to the next level. This was easy for me to remember because I learned about it before, it is an interesting fact, and it's easy to visualize when seeing food chains.
Another major concept we learned about was population ecology. We learned many different ways ecosystems gain and lose organisms, and how these work together to create equilibrium. Along with keeping populations going, we learned about how they were started with the order of succession. These organisms are healthy when they have large populations of tertiary and quaternary consumers, diverse communities of producers and decomposers, and high biodiversity.
I want to learn about more solutions for the problems humans are causing to the environment.
In the Conservation Biology Project, we all pulled a good amount of our own weight. What did not work well was sometimes certain group members would spend entire class periods doing nothing and saying they could do the work at home. This was mostly problematic for me because I could not continue with my parts of the project until they had finished. I learned that working with others is a lot easier when you make friends with them. That way, you care about their feelings and their ideas, and they the same with you.
Latter in the project, I became more aggressive when we were not going as fast as I would have liked and often took time out to discuss things that did not seem to matter. Fearing I would loose my A in bio due to one project, I got angrier to get the project moving along faster, for people would hopefully fear an outburst from me and get a move on. Becoming aggressive is my "one-tick-pony." It works surprisingly well once. If I do more projects with the same people, they will probably hold past impressions and grudges and it will be harder to move the project along.
To be more assertive in the project, I will try to find positive ways of motivating people to work faster, probably by complimenting their skills and helping them imagine how great the finished project will be with their work or how great it will be if we finish early.
Videos for an aggressive attitude pattern:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsVq5R_F6RA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7_0IJTBoNA
Monday, February 22, 2016
Story of Stuff
- over 100,00 synthetic chemicals in use today
- BFRs- brominated flame retardants
- US citizens are targeted with over 30,000 ads a day
- if everyone consumed at US rates, we would need 3-5 planets
- we are running out of resources
- not everything is recyclable
- because it contains too many toxins
- or is impossible to separate into raw materials
- factory waste, not household waste is the worse problem
- many things are recycled only once
- many companies don't want recycled products
- fresher plastics look better for consumers
- for every one garbage can of waste from your house, there are seventy cans of waste made upstream just to make the materials from whatever product is going into your one garbage can
- we are a nation of consumers
- we are paying for things that don't cover the proper costs that it takes to make them
- after 9/11, Bush told the US to go out and shop
- this contributed to the US becoming a nation of consumers
- burning our trash contributes greatly to air pollution
- air pollution causes cancer and asthma
- their are many examples of corporations trying to get us to constantly buy new things
- our nation's happiness has greatly gone down since the United States started to buy more and more things
- an example Annie used in the video was women's shoe heels
- ads constantly made people feel they were behind and need more to be up to date and be as classy as everyone else
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