Introduction
The Secretary of the future project was the first one of my Sophomore year. We were asked to create a proposal to a local representative to change a plot of land, that would impact the site. Our plot of land had to be the size of a football field and we had to provide a model of the site. We had to make predictions about the climate, soil/ground condition, abiotic factors, main species, food web, carrying capacity, biodiversity, populations, matter cycling, flow of energy, and species behavior, of the site in 50 years, 100 years, 300 years, and 1000 years with and without the policy. We also had to predict how our policy would affect the globe world wide.
My group started out with picking our site. We choose the Indian Valley College pond and the area around it. From there we started researching all the concepts (seen below). Then we decided halfway into researching, our policy was going to be placing solar panels by the pond to power the college. So we all took on different tasks that we needed to get done for the project. . Because we all worked together we finished early. Since we finished early, we realized we needed to add something, so we also added a picnic area to our policy. We added this so that people from all over can sit down and learn about our solar panels. In this project I worked on researching everything about solar panels, from the price to what kind we needed. I also researched everything about the picnic area, and the soil condition of our area. When we finished the project we presented our slides (seen below) about the policy and wrote to a representative about implementing it.
My group started out with picking our site. We choose the Indian Valley College pond and the area around it. From there we started researching all the concepts (seen below). Then we decided halfway into researching, our policy was going to be placing solar panels by the pond to power the college. So we all took on different tasks that we needed to get done for the project. . Because we all worked together we finished early. Since we finished early, we realized we needed to add something, so we also added a picnic area to our policy. We added this so that people from all over can sit down and learn about our solar panels. In this project I worked on researching everything about solar panels, from the price to what kind we needed. I also researched everything about the picnic area, and the soil condition of our area. When we finished the project we presented our slides (seen below) about the policy and wrote to a representative about implementing it.
Slides about Policy
Concepts
Policy: A course of action adopted or proposed by a individual, government, or business. Our policy is to place solar panels and a picnic area near the pond in the Indian Valley Preserve.
Climate: Weather conditions in an area in general or over a long period of time. The climate in the Indian Valley preserve is warm dry summers, cool wet winters.
Soil/ ground condition: The soil that is on or under the surface of the earth. In our project the soil is muddy, with a high clay content.
Abiotic Factors: Physical or nonliving factor that shapes an ecosystem (non-living factors). The abiotic factors in our site are water, elevation, and sunlight.
Main Species: A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in an environment. The main species in our project is deer, but our apex is a coyote.
Carrying Capacity: A number of organisms that a region can support without environmental degradation. An area reached a limit when there is no longer any resources.Our Carrying capacity is higher than average.
Biodiversity: The diversity of life in a given area. Our area's biodiversity is average, because it has nothing special to this area.
Matter cycling: Where matter is constantly cycled between living and nonliving parts of the environment. Matter cycling helps us predict the future, in 1000 years. We don't have any water cycle in our area without our policy.
- Nutrient Cycle: The movement and exchange of organic and inorganic matter back into the production of living matter.
- Carbon cycle: The biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere , and atmosphere of earth.
- Nitrogen cycle: A Biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into various chemical forms as it circulates among the atmosphere, terrestrial, and marine ecosystem.
- Water cycle: The journey water take as it circulates from the land to the sky and back again.
Flow of energy: Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, typically from the Sun, through photosynthetic organisms including green plants and algae, to herbivores
to carnivores and decomposers. In our area this is our flow of energy.
Biome: Group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities. Our Ecosystem is part of chaparral biome.
Biology: Science that seeks to understand the living world.
Biotic: Biological influence on organisms within an ecosystem. (Otherwise living factors)
Population:A group of homogenous individuals that live in the same habitat. Our populations includes frogs, deer, coyote, oak trees, and more.
Ecology: The study of the interactions between living things and their environment
Ecosystem: How Communities interact with their environment. ( abiotic-nonliving, biotic-living or once living)
Food web: Webs that show the more complex relationship in the flow of energy through an ecosystem. Seen above.
Biosphere: Where all life exists on earth. ( 11km below earth's surface to 8km above the surface)
Individual: A single living organisms
Community: Populations of different species interacting with each other.
Decomposer: Organisms that Earth's atmosphere.
Greenhouse effect: When heat is retained near earth by layer of gases in the earth's atmosphere.
Niche: The way of life of a species or its role in an ecological community.
Symbiosis: Means to live together. Happens when two species have a close relationship with each other.
Parasitism/Predation/Herbivory: A interaction that harms one organism but benefits the other.
Competition: An interaction that harms both species.
Mutalism: A type of interaction where both species benefit each other.
Commensalism: An interaction that benefits one species and does not affect the other species at all.
Autotroph: Uses energy from the environment to create food.
Heterotroph: They rely on other organisms for energy/food supply. There are herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, detritivore, and decompress in this.
Producer: Autotrophs that are at the bottom of the food chain. Made up of all plants.
Detritivores: They feed on plant and remains of other dead matter for energy.
Consumer: They consume food or energy from others. The first type is herbivores in the environment. The second level eat first level consumers. Top level consumers eat 2nd level consumers.
Trophic Level: The different steps in a food chain or web energy flows from the bottom to the top level.
Resources: A supply of many things that help people live and thrive.
Ecological Succession: Ecosystems are constantly changing in response to natural and human disturbances. As an ecosystem changes, older inhabitants gradually die off and new organisms move in, causing changes in the community.
Primary Succession: Succession that takes place on surfaces where no soil exists.
Pioneer Species: First species to appear in succession.
Secondary Succession: When disturbance of some kind changes an existing community without removing soil. ( example: New plants growing back after forest fire)
Non-Rewable sources: Resources that can't be reused, and can only be used once.
Renewable Resources Resources that can be reused or regrown.
Solar Panels: A panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy for generating electricity or heating. These were our policy plan.
Climate: Weather conditions in an area in general or over a long period of time. The climate in the Indian Valley preserve is warm dry summers, cool wet winters.
Soil/ ground condition: The soil that is on or under the surface of the earth. In our project the soil is muddy, with a high clay content.
Abiotic Factors: Physical or nonliving factor that shapes an ecosystem (non-living factors). The abiotic factors in our site are water, elevation, and sunlight.
Main Species: A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in an environment. The main species in our project is deer, but our apex is a coyote.
Carrying Capacity: A number of organisms that a region can support without environmental degradation. An area reached a limit when there is no longer any resources.Our Carrying capacity is higher than average.
Biodiversity: The diversity of life in a given area. Our area's biodiversity is average, because it has nothing special to this area.
Matter cycling: Where matter is constantly cycled between living and nonliving parts of the environment. Matter cycling helps us predict the future, in 1000 years. We don't have any water cycle in our area without our policy.
- Nutrient Cycle: The movement and exchange of organic and inorganic matter back into the production of living matter.
- Carbon cycle: The biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere , and atmosphere of earth.
- Nitrogen cycle: A Biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into various chemical forms as it circulates among the atmosphere, terrestrial, and marine ecosystem.
- Water cycle: The journey water take as it circulates from the land to the sky and back again.
Flow of energy: Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, typically from the Sun, through photosynthetic organisms including green plants and algae, to herbivores
to carnivores and decomposers. In our area this is our flow of energy.
- Oak and Bay trees Producers/autotrophs
- Insects eat trees
- Salamanders and frogs eat insects
- Frogs and salamanders eaten by birds and coyotes
- Birds eaten by snakes
- Nuts of oak and bay eaten by squirrels
- Fox eats whatever it finds
- Raccoon is main detritivore
Biome: Group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities. Our Ecosystem is part of chaparral biome.
Biology: Science that seeks to understand the living world.
Biotic: Biological influence on organisms within an ecosystem. (Otherwise living factors)
Population:A group of homogenous individuals that live in the same habitat. Our populations includes frogs, deer, coyote, oak trees, and more.
Ecology: The study of the interactions between living things and their environment
Ecosystem: How Communities interact with their environment. ( abiotic-nonliving, biotic-living or once living)
Food web: Webs that show the more complex relationship in the flow of energy through an ecosystem. Seen above.
Biosphere: Where all life exists on earth. ( 11km below earth's surface to 8km above the surface)
Individual: A single living organisms
Community: Populations of different species interacting with each other.
Decomposer: Organisms that Earth's atmosphere.
Greenhouse effect: When heat is retained near earth by layer of gases in the earth's atmosphere.
Niche: The way of life of a species or its role in an ecological community.
Symbiosis: Means to live together. Happens when two species have a close relationship with each other.
Parasitism/Predation/Herbivory: A interaction that harms one organism but benefits the other.
Competition: An interaction that harms both species.
Mutalism: A type of interaction where both species benefit each other.
Commensalism: An interaction that benefits one species and does not affect the other species at all.
Autotroph: Uses energy from the environment to create food.
Heterotroph: They rely on other organisms for energy/food supply. There are herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, detritivore, and decompress in this.
Producer: Autotrophs that are at the bottom of the food chain. Made up of all plants.
Detritivores: They feed on plant and remains of other dead matter for energy.
Consumer: They consume food or energy from others. The first type is herbivores in the environment. The second level eat first level consumers. Top level consumers eat 2nd level consumers.
Trophic Level: The different steps in a food chain or web energy flows from the bottom to the top level.
Resources: A supply of many things that help people live and thrive.
Ecological Succession: Ecosystems are constantly changing in response to natural and human disturbances. As an ecosystem changes, older inhabitants gradually die off and new organisms move in, causing changes in the community.
Primary Succession: Succession that takes place on surfaces where no soil exists.
Pioneer Species: First species to appear in succession.
Secondary Succession: When disturbance of some kind changes an existing community without removing soil. ( example: New plants growing back after forest fire)
Non-Rewable sources: Resources that can't be reused, and can only be used once.
Renewable Resources Resources that can be reused or regrown.
Solar Panels: A panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy for generating electricity or heating. These were our policy plan.
Reflection
My group accomplished a lot this project. Some peaks were that we all got along great together. We did not have any major arguments, and we usually all agreed with each other on what we were doing. Not only that but when one member of the group was getting frustrated at the work we all calmed that person down.Not everything was perfect though, we struggled with keeping everyone on task. When one person was working hard on the project another would be playing games on the computer, and people in the group had to be constantly told to stay on task. Next time, I will to make sure they are on task the entire time.
Some skills I have acquired from this project is using google world to measure distances. At first I had know idea to use google world, I didn't even know it was a site, but throughout the project I used it to takes measurements of the area and the area of where we are going to put the solar panels. Another thing I learned was to take the initiative. Usually I am fine with being the working bee and completing things that people tell me to do. In this project, I had to control the group. I had to make sure everyone is on task, and that we had everything we needed on our slides. It was difficult, but it was a good learning experience.
Some things that I could have done better, and that I will continue working on is challenging myself more. This project I really didn't pick the hardest and most creative policy. I picked solar panels and picnic benches, both things that I learned later, other groups were doing. Next time, I will think of something that is more complex. Also in this project I need to work on keeping everyone on task. I should make sure that even if they don't want to work on something, they still have something to do. In this project since they were on games I assumed that they didn't want to help so I sometimes didn't give them a task. Next time, I will make sure everyone has something to do. Overall this project was a great experience where I learned things about myself and about the science concepts.
Some skills I have acquired from this project is using google world to measure distances. At first I had know idea to use google world, I didn't even know it was a site, but throughout the project I used it to takes measurements of the area and the area of where we are going to put the solar panels. Another thing I learned was to take the initiative. Usually I am fine with being the working bee and completing things that people tell me to do. In this project, I had to control the group. I had to make sure everyone is on task, and that we had everything we needed on our slides. It was difficult, but it was a good learning experience.
Some things that I could have done better, and that I will continue working on is challenging myself more. This project I really didn't pick the hardest and most creative policy. I picked solar panels and picnic benches, both things that I learned later, other groups were doing. Next time, I will think of something that is more complex. Also in this project I need to work on keeping everyone on task. I should make sure that even if they don't want to work on something, they still have something to do. In this project since they were on games I assumed that they didn't want to help so I sometimes didn't give them a task. Next time, I will make sure everyone has something to do. Overall this project was a great experience where I learned things about myself and about the science concepts.