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