Unit 7 Reflection

       This unit was all about ecology and conservation biology. We learned about the different components of an ecosystem, like abiotic and biotic factors. We also learning about different factors that affect how much and ecosytem can hold, like carrying capacity and population density. Perhaps most importantly, we learned about healthy ecosystems, and ways we can keep them healthy. Healthy ecosystems have high biodiversity, and how people can protect ecosystems by methods like protecting biodiversity hot spots and restoration. I learned that humans are causing a lot of harm and are pushing a lot of species towards extinction because we are getting rid of their habitats and are contributing to climate change, which can be very harmful to many different species.

      After watching the movie Bag It!, which showed the negative effects of using plastic, I started wondering what other activities or goods do I use on a daily basis that could potentially be harmful to the environment. If we keep consuming at the rate that we are in the US, how long will all the natural resources last before we start to get limited?

       Overall, the Conservation Biologist project went very well. All of the members of my group contributed, which usually does not end up happening when I do group project. We managed to finish our research and make the slide presentation quickly, and fairly effortlessly. The only problem we had was that we first recorded our presentation in separate videos, but after realizing it was not possible to edit them together, we had to rerecord it in one take. In my New Years Goals blog post, I mentioned how I wanted to get as much work done in school as possible so I would not have to worry at home. That was true of this project, as I only had to spend about 10 minutes at home. Through this project I also learned that there is an enormous variety of threats to different ecosystems, some of which you would not expect to be a threat.

      According to the self assessment we took, my highest total was for assertive, so I would like to keep this up in the future. I just need to work on being able to ask for help more easily.