Pacific Ocean Crisis
By Gabriella Vasquez, Kaleb Ryan, Sebastian Orellana
In this project, we were studying ecology and had to present an idea to help a biome or animal. My group decided to focus on the Pacific Ocean and the Pacific Garbage Patch that is ruining the ecosystem. We started with research of our issue and the factors contributing to the environment. At right is our presentation that includes all our background information along with possibly ways to help and how we helped. Once we finished our research and we could clearly see the problem, we began brainstorming ways to help this crisis. We compiled a list of ways everyday people could change their lifestyle to help reduce our trash pollution. And then we decided to get involved in our community by holding a beach cleanup. We had nine people come to Ocean Beach in San Francisco for three hours to walk the length of the beach and collect trash that could potentially harm sea life. All in all, we collected 23.5 lbs of trash and disposed of it the proper way. On the presentation, we have a compiled list of trash we found along with links to our awareness site and other organizations anyone can volunteer at. Completing this project was not only for this class, but also can save a few animals threatened by trash.
Content
Carrying capacity- the quantity of life that an ecosystem can support Abiotic- not a living organism Biotic- a living organism Carbon cycle- The cycle of atmospheric CO2 into carbon plants can use, and then into fossil fuels or decomposed back into the atmosphere Nitrogen cycle- The cycle of Nitrogen from the atmosphere into nitrogen plants can use through N-fixing bacteria in the soil, back into the atmosphere by denitrification Water cycle- The cycle of water from the ocean into clouds through evaporation and back to the earth through precipitation Individual- a single living organism Population- a group of homogeneous individuals that live in the same habitat Community- populations of different species interact with their environment Ecosystem- how the communities interact in their environment, abiotic and biotic factors Biome- group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities Biosphere- where all of life exists in the world Symbiosis- the interaction between organisms Competition- an interaction between organisms where both organisms are affected negatively Parasitism- an interaction between organisms where one organisms is affected positively while the other is negatively affected Mutualism- an interaction between organisms where both organisms is affected positively Commensalism- an interaction between organisms where one organisms is affected positively while the other isn't affected at all Biomass- the total mass of living organisms Food web- the system of over-crossing food chains in an ecosystem Energy Pyramid- a model of energy flow in a community, the different levels represent different groups of organisms that compose a food chain. Limiting Factors- environmental factors that affect population size and growth Homeostasis- the balance of organisms in an ecosystem Biodiversity- the variety of of living organisms in an ecosystem |
The below button will bring you to our awareness website
Reflection
This project was very successful for the small amount of time we had to organize an event. One thing I did well was rein back my leadership during this project to try and allow more teamwork. Unfortunately, my particular group was not very helpful during the project. I ended up doing almost the entire website and presentation. Another thing I believed I did well on was taking initiative. In this project, we had to find an active way in our community to help our issue, and I believe we did a good job in completing that. One thing I need to work on is communication. During this project, I got stuck doing almost all of the work. So with more communication, in the future I will be able to direct my teammates into doing more work. Another thing I will need to work on is time management. Usually I am fine in this area, but for this project my group was left frantic trying to put everything together. Overall, I enjoyed this project because it was one of the only real hands on project we've completed that was fully up to our choosing. The below buttons are links to my teammates pages
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