In Unit 7, we mainly focused on ecology, the study of interactions between organisms and the environment. There were two main, or big, ideas in ecology that we studied and focused on through the course of the unit: homeostasis which is the balance and health of an environment and interdependence which says that all living things are dependent on one another for survival. Furthermore, there were other main ideas that we focused on, including the habitat, the niche which is the role/place of an organism, biotic and abiotic factors, and the different levels of organization. So in order to show the connections between the organisms (interdependence), the energy flow, and homeostasis, food webs and ecology pyramids are required. For example, food webs can show the interdependence between animals of an ecosystem and energy pyramids can show how each trophic level must be in balance (homeostasis) in order for the ecosystem to be healthy. Similarly, in population ecology, the boom and bust cycle can show how predator and prey share an interdependent relationship and carrying capacity shows homeostasis must be maintained so that the ecosystems are healthy. Ecosystem recycling and health both showed how nature balances out the environment through processes like cycling and extinctions. Even though the environment can balance things out by itself, human activity such as overexploitation and climate change have affected many species, killing off species and hurting ecosystems. This is where conservation biology comes into play, and how each of us can work together to save and preserve the natural wildlife, through methods like identifying hotspots, protecting what we still have, smart planning, restoring, and sustainable development.
Here is a food web I created:
So in order to learn more about the health of our planet and the subject of conservation biology, we set out to do the Conservation Biologist Project, where we were assigned a biome to research and make a presentation about the wildlife and its threats. As a result, we learned about the organisms as well as the threats that the ecosystem faced and how we could potentially solve these problems. During the course of the project, we had to work in a group with three other people and in addition to learning the educational concepts, we also learned how to work in a group with different types of people and collaborate with them efficiently. Me, personally, have always been more of a passive-aggressive person, so when someone made me upset I would have to get back at them. But while I was working on the Conservation Biology project, I had to learn to be more assertive and compromise with other in order to get the task done in a reasonable time and manner. Overall, during the project not only did I have to learn the material I also had to collaborate and compromise well with my partners and be assertive rather than passive or aggressive.
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