Ecosystems Closure: Project Blog - (3/6 - 3/9)

Summary: 

     An Ecosystem is the interaction of living and non-living organisms, known as biotic and abiotic things. Normally, an ecosystem can stay stable since there is an equal amount of everything. However, it can go unstable (sometimes permanently) for several reasons. One can be that there is a lack of one or more organisms. For example, if the fox population in a fox-rabbit-grass ecosystem disappeared decreased significantly, the rabbit population would increase since there is no fox eating the rabbits, making the grass population decrease since all the rabbits are eating it. Another way that an ecosystem can go unstable is if an invasive species (a non-native species) is introduced into the ecosystems. It can eat the prey faster making the predator population decrease, or can make the producer population go extinct, killing the energy pyramid. 

Backwards Looking - How much did you know about the subject before we started?:

     I knew most of the things learned in this unit. I knew that an ecosystem had an energy pyramid with the apex predators at the top, the primary, secondary and tertiary consumers in the middle, and the producers (plants) at the bottom of the pyramid. At the very bottom of the pyramid had decomposers which turned the dead organisms into nutrients which went into the soil for the plants to use. I also knew the effects of an unbalanced ecosystem if a certain population increased or decreased. For example, I knew that if the primary consumer population increased, then the producer population would decrease. Before I started on the ecosystems unit, I also knew a little bit about invasive species and how they would affect the non-native ecosystem it entered. 

Inward Looking - How do you feel about this piece of work? What parts of it do you particularly like? Dislike? Why? What did/do you enjoy about this piece or work?:

     I thought that this project could have been a lot better than it was. The main thing that I thought could have been better was the execution of the information I had gathered. The part of this project I personally liked was the brainstorming and research since I could explore which invasive species I could present. The part that I dislike the most was making the actual poster, since although the information I gathered sufficed, I thought that I could have added more graphics and made the poster much more neater. I also thought that the presentation could have been better since I was unprepared for it and had no script.

Outward Looking - Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?

     Many of the presentations I saw had work that was online/on a device. However, the work that I presented was a physical poster talking about my invasive species. Also, some groups didn't do the invasive species project. Some groups talked about an endangered species. What all groups had in common, I believe, was the work process. The first thing that all of us did was that each member in a group gathered information on three invasive/endangered species and then all members in the team agreed on one organism to focus on. Then each group worked on specialist sheets that when filled out, would contain certain information about an endangered species. For example, the ecologist sheet showed information about the origins of the invasive species and the impact, while the biologist sheet showed the basic information and the characteristics of the invasive species. Once the specialist sheets were filled out, it was essentially a checklist of the information that needed to be presented.

Forward Looking - What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?:

     If I were to do the invasive species project all over again, I would change a few things. The first change is to change the invasive species I was researching, since the one that I initially researched (Asiatic Citrus Canker) had some information that was difficult to find such as the organizations working to stop it. I would also change the presentation from being a physical poster to a virtual poster online, since it is easier to organize online. The final thing that I would change is the presentation. Next time, I would prepare a script on what I was going to say since in this project I didn't have one. These changes that I would make if there was a revision would make the project much better.

      

Invasive Species - (2/27 - 3/3)

Image Source: https://goo.gl/5MjIZj

Summary:

     An invasive species is a living organism that is not native to an ecosystem. Many invasive species get to an ecosystem they don't belong to through humans traveling/trading. Humans have introduced many species to ecosystems they don't belong to. An invasive species is usually harmful to the environment since it can disrupt the food chain. If there was an additional predator added to an ecosystem, the prey might be eaten faster killing both predators or the invasive predator might eat the prey faster than the original predator, leaving the original predator with nothing to eat. 

SP6 - Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions:

     This week, I constructed explanation about the invasive species I was studying which was the Asiatic Citrus Canker and I designed solutions by suggesting ideas on how to stop the disease from spreading/getting worse. I constructed an explanation of the basic information of the Asiatic Citrus Canker (where it was originally from, what type of species it is, what it does, the impact, etc.). I also found out all actions that were/are taken to attempt to eradicate the disease. That helped me construct the solution to the problem that the Asiatic Citrus Canker was causing. I suggested that we should continue disposing of plants with the Citrus Canker to stop and prevent its spread. Also, farming tools/equipment should be sanitized to prevent the disease from infecting the plant.

XCC - Stability and Change: 

     The system that by default stays the same/stable is an ecosystem. The primary consumers eat the producers (plants), the secondary consumers eat the primary consumers, and the tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers. An ecosystem usually remains stable since there are always producers growing and providing food for the primary consumers. However, if there is a new species introduced into the ecosystem, then the ecosystem will most likely collapse/become unstable. The invasive species could speed up the amount of prey (specifically primary consumers & producers) being eaten which kills off the animals that eat that prey and eventually kills/significantly decreases the top of the energy pyramid. The invasive species could also introduce a new virus/disease that its native ecosystem is immune to, but not the non-native ecosystem it is in. 

Intro to Ecosystems - (2/13 - 2/17)

Image Source: https://goo.gl/85gC2e

Summary: 

     An ecosystem is the interaction of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) things. For example, many animals which are biotic require water which is a non-living thing to survive. This is one example of how biotic and abiotic things interact. There are also systems in an ecosystem. The Carbon Cycle is how carbon is used and recycled. Carbon comes from the atmosphere. It goes to the plants for photosynthesis and then to the animals that eat the plants. It eventually returns to the atmosphere through cellular respiration/photosynthesis. The Nitrogen Cycle is how nitrogen is used and recycled. Like carbon, it comes from the atmosphere but instead of going directly to the plants, it is first turned into nitrates by bacteria in order to be usable. It is then passed on to the animals that eat the plants. When the animals die, it goes to the decomposers. From that point on, it either goes back to the plants or it goes through denitrifying bacteria which turns the nitrates back into nitrogen which returns to the atmosphere.

SP3 - Conducting Investigations:

     This week I conducted many investigations to see what would happen if a certain organism disappeared, underpopulated, or overpopulated in an ecosystem. I identified my variables and controls, which was the population of the organisms and whether they were diseased or not. I designed and performed experiments to test my hypotheses. One of my hypotheses was that removing approximately 3/4 the hawk population would make the ecosystem of hawks, snakes, rabbits, and grass nearly collapse, but then recover back to normal. When I tested this out, I saw on the graph that the snake population increased which made the rabbit population decrease which made the grass population increase. It then reversed to the snake population lowering to the rabbit population increasing then to the grass population decreasing. Eventually, everything balanced out since there was an eventual increase in snakes which gave the hawks the opportunity to grow.  

XCC -  Stability and Change:

     The system I will be identifying is the energy pyramid of the ecosystems. This system involves producers which are plants, primary consumers which are the animals that eat the plants, the secondary consumers which consume the primary consumers, and the third level consumers which eat the secondary consumers. For this system, I will ignore the apex consumers. The energy pyramid system is normally stable by default. However, it can turn unstable if there is a lack of any of these consumers. For example, if there was very little producers, that would mean the primary consumers that eat the plants would die off, which means that the secondary consumers would also die off, meaning the third level consumers would as well, die off. But since there is a lack of primary consumers to eat the producers, that means that the producers would have a chance to grow, which means that the primary consumers would grow in population and so on. If there is ever a lack of a consumer/producer in an ecosystem, the ecosystem will go unstable, but has a good chance of re-stabilizinghj as seen in this example as long as the consumer/producer doesn't go fully extinct in the area. If that were to happen, everything would die off.

Genetics Unit Closure - Project Blog - (2/6 - 2/10)

Summary: 

     Genetics is how traits are passed on from parent to offspring. For every trait that someone has, there are two variants of that trait known as alleles. A set of two alleles for one trait is known as a genotype. The trait that is visible is called a phenotype and is based off of the genotype. An allele can be either dominant or recessive. A dominant allele is the allele that shadows the recessive (weaker) allele. If you have at least one dominant allele in your genotype for a trait, you will get that dominant trait as a phenotype. If you have no dominant alleles and both alleles in the genotype are recessive, you get the recessive allele as a phenotype. The contents of the genotypes can be either two things- heterozygous and homozygous. Homozygous genotypes have two dominant or recessive genotypes. Heterozygous genotypes have one dominant and one recessive trait. To determine an offspring's trait from two parents, use a Punnett Square. To use a Punnett Square, take the genotypes of a specific trait from each parent. Both genotypes should go on two different sides of the square that are not parallel to each other. Next, align the letters of the genotype with each outer edge of each grid square. Once you align the genotypes with a square edge, fill in the middle of the square by taking both letters that align with it and putting it in that specific square. Once you fill the Punnett square, you know have a chart showing the probability of a child having a specific trait. For example, if the square has all dominant traits, the child will have a 100% chance of getting that dominant trait. 

Backward Looking - What process did you go through to produce this piece?:

     To produce the Genetics Project, I first had to get information on genetics. Information such as 'how are offspring traits determined?' or terms such as homozygous, heterozygous, alleles, etc. After I had a full understanding on genetics, I started on my superhero project. I first made the concept document and artwork of my superhero, Invisi-Blend showing the basic information such as his superpowers, name, how the superpowers work, etc. Once I had established what my superhero was, I chose a random, female supervillain (I chose Black widow). This is so I can determine what the offspring of Invisi-blend and the villain would look like. I then determined the genotypes of the traits they had, put them into a Punnett square, and found out what my offspring would look like. After I determined the traits of the offspring, I determined his Epi-Genetics, which are the events that occur in the offspring's future depending on what the offspring's mother did while she was pregnant with him/her. If the mother made unhealthy choices and/or had stress, the offspring will too have an unhealthy life. The opposite goes if the mother made healthy choices. Since my offspring's mother had an unhealthy diet and didn't exercise, the offspring would have heart disease and depression in the future. Once I completed the offspring info, I moved on to the superhero origin story. Invisi-Blend was genetically modified as an experiment which made him have traits of a chameleon. Finally, I created the villain. He had both a nefarious and normal mode and I drew and explained four of his normal/nefarious organs. After all this information was gathered, I put it onto a tri-fold as the final piece of my superhero portfolio. 

Inward Looking - How do you feel about this piece of work? What parts of it do you particularly like? Dislike? Why? What did/do you enjoy about this piece or work?

     I think that this was a really fun project to do with a good outcome. I personally like working on the villain since I had the chance to be creative with the organs and how they turned from normal organs from nefarious organs. I dislike working on the superhero origin story. Although it came out good, it was kind of stressing to work on since I found it hard to get information on how to genetically modify something. I also liked working on the animation box since it was a hands on/arts and crafts activity. Overall, I liked the majority of this project.

Outward Looking - Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?:

     When I viewed other people's project's I saw that the content was very similar. People had the superhero, offspring, and villain portfolio with the two QR Codes. However, there were some ways that made their projects differ from mine. For example, most people used chart paper/poster paper to put their papers on. However, I used a tri-fold to present my project since it was stable when standing. Also, many people didn't have a background for their animation boxes. Other than those two examples, many of the content that was on their work was similar to mine.

Forward Looking - What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?

     If I were to revise on this project, I would mainly work on the quality/neatness of the product. One of the things I would like to improve on is the presentation. On exhibition night, I feel as if I had rushed what I was going to say and I also kind of stuttered a bit, so I would like to revise on this part and make the script better. Although small, I would also like to change the titles on my tri-fold. I think these were also rushed and had very low quality, so if I had a chance, I would like to improve upon it and make it much more neater. One more thing I would like to change is the animation box. When looking at it, the cam/cam follower and frame look very sloppy and I would also improve the quality of the animation box.

     

Superhero Genetics - (1/30 - 2/3)

Image Source: https://goo.gl/wIPIOX

Summary:

     Genetics is the study of how traits, phenotypes, genotypes are passed on from parent to offspring. Genes are made up from DNA and determine the traits of an organism. The gene can come in multiple forms. A variation/form of a gene is called an allele. For each trait that someone has, there are two alleles. A combination of two alleles that show the same variation for the trait is known as a genotype. A phenotype what is actually seen based on the genotype. Alleles can be one of two things: recessive or dominant. If the offspring has at least one dominant alllele in the genotype, it will have that trait. If there is two recessive alleles in the genotype, the offspring will receive that recessive trait. For example, if you had a genotype consisting of the black eyes allele which was dominant and the brown eyes allele which was recessive and if the offspring has at least one black eyes allele in their genotype, they will have black eyes since it is the dominant trait. However, if they have two brown eyes allele in their genotype, the phenotype will be brown eyes since there is only recessive traits and no dominant traits.    

SP8 - Communicating Information:

      I communicated findings clearly and persuasively when I presented my Superhero Genetics Project Portfolio on a tri-fold. On that tri-fold, I presented my superhero, his superpowers, and how he got them through being genetically modified. I also showed my superhero's offspring and how his traits were determined through many Punnett Squares. I then showed the Epi-Genetics of the offspring, which determined the events he may encounter when he gets older (heart disease, depression, etc.). The events happening depend on what the offspring's mother did when she was pregnant with him/her. My superhero's offspring's mother had a lack of exercise so the offspring will encounter depression and heart disease later in the future. I also added my super villain, his normal organs and his nefarious organs and explained how his organs turned nefarious. 

XCC - Stability and Change:

     This week I found something that relates to genetics and how the genes of an organism can change so it has a brand new trait. When two of the same organism creates an offspring, it usually has the same genes as its parents, and these genes are usually passed on from generation to generation. This usually remains stable, but mutations can occur which can lead to the offspring having different traits that its previous generation. For example, humans (may) have had tails and walked on all four, but eventually have evolved out of this and now have no tail and walk on two feet. This is one example of how genes can change overtime when passed on from generation to generation. 

Organ Systems Revisit - (1/23 - 1/27)

Image Source: https://goo.gl/Les1jl

Summary:

     Humans have several organ systems that help them function. Some organ systems humans have that help them function are: the Skeletal, Muscular, Digestive, Respiratory, Nervous, Circulatory, Urinary, and Immune System. Many animals have these organ systems, often modified to fit their environment/needs. One example of an animal that has organ systems similar to a human is a bird. A bird's respiratory system is similar to a human, but modified a little bit to fit the bird's needs. Since birds are doing many activities such as flying, they a lot of oxygen. Air sacs are sacks that are connected to the lungs that provide more oxygen to the bird. Other than the air sacs, the bird's respiratory system is very similar to a human's respiratory system. This is an example of how an animal's organ system is similar to that of a human but modified..

SP6 - Constructing Explanations:

     This week I constructed an explanation of how some of my super villain's organ systems had similar features of a bird's organ systems. I did this for four types of organ systems which were the Respiratory, Circulatory, Skeletal, and Integumentary (skin) system. Mainly, I explained that my super villain's organs had split apart or merged together to create organs similar to a bird. Case in point: the Respiratory System. I explained that the cells making the human lungs split apart into air sacs to provide the villain with more air for flight. The remnants of the original lungs are now smaller, similar to a bird's lungs. With the Integumentary System, I explained that there was a lot of blood flowing to the skin. Due to this event occurring, oil glands produce more oil and hair grows a lot faster. Groups of hair are then glued together by the oil, making something that is similar to feathers. These are two examples of what I did to explain how my villain's organ systems turned to nefarious mode.

XCC - Structure and Function:

     One structure and function relationship was in the skeletal system of the bird I was studying this week. The bones of the bird are nearly hollow, which makes them very light. Since these bones are light, the bird is significantly lighter in comparison to a bird with no hollow bones, allowing it to fly in the air. Another structure and function relationship within the organs of the bird that give it the ability to fly is the respiratory system. The respiratory system is made up of several air sacs connected to the lungs. This allows a higher oxygen supply to the bird, which also helps give it the ability to fly. 

GMOs and Mutations - (1/9 - 1/13)

Image Source: https://goo.gl/YanBPI

Summary:

     Mutations and GMOs are the two main ways that DNA can change. Mutations are accidental changes in DNA. Mutations can come from internal factors such as errors when copying DNA or external factors such as radiation. Mutations can be helpful meaning that it benefits you, neutral meaning that it doesn't really do anything, and harmful, meaning that the mutation can possibly harm or kill you. Mutations are one way that you can change DNA. Another way people change DNA is through GMOs. GMO stands for genetically modified organism. It is when an organism, typically a plant or animal has modified DNA so it is immune to a certain type of disease, durable against weather, etc. There are many methods as to changing an organism's DNA. The Gene Gun is a type of gun that shoots the DNA into the organism's tissue using gold particles. Another method is using vectors. Vectors are viruses with modified DNA in them. When the virus is injected into the body, it will put the modified DNA into yours to give the body new instructions.

SP6 - Constructing Explanations: 

     This week I constructed an explanation of how my superhero got his powers through explaining how GMOs work. My superhero was genetically modified to have similar traits to a chameleon (blending, tail, etc.) when scientists were experimenting with genetically modified humans. My superhero had restriction enzymes put in him which cut out a part of his DNA. He was then injected with the DNA of a chameleon that gives the chameleon its blending, tail, 360 eyes, etc. to replace the cropped out DNA. Once the new DNA replaced the old, cropped out one, it was stitched with an enzyme called DNA ligase. Once the procedure was done, he was going to have similar traits to a chameleon. This is what I explained to show how my superhero was genetically modified to have the similar traits of a chameleon. 

XCC - Stability and Change:   

     One system that I identified that relates to Stability and Change is with DNA and cells. The DNA is the basic blueprints for life. It works with the cell to make an organism function. Some parts of the DNA can turn on and off to make different kinds of cells which do different jobs. Despite mutations happening all the time, it is usually unnoticed and stable, but can go unstable. In both an internal and external mutation, the DNA is changed to function differently. This can be harmful, helpful, or neutral. Mutations occur when there is a wrong base pairing (substitution), an extra letter appears in a DNA base pair (insertion) or when one letter in a DNA base pair goes away (deletion). The chromosomes which store the DNA can also duplicate in amount (duplication). Part of the DNA code can also be deleted (deletion), reversed (inversion), or be in a different area in the code (translocation). GMOs can also change the way DNA works. This is how DNA which is most of the time stable can go unstable.