Dare to be a Force of Nature Project
Info Background on Project
This project is about saving an endangered species and helping them out which my team and I chose to save the corals in the Great Barrier Reef and others which is important to many ecosystems and benefits humans as well that without them it will lead to negative changes in ecosystems. It is not too late to save them, there is still time and there are many ways to help. We decided to help out by trying to spread awareness with an instagram account @magnificent_barrier_reef which supports our website about the corals in the great barrier reef and more. It has a lot of ways to help out either by donating your time and effort or money to the cause and to invest in the future.
Vocabulary Terms
Carrying Capacity- Amount of life ecosystems can hold.
Interdependence- All components of ecosystem work together so if one species is affected then all are.
Energy Flow- The flowing of energy through organisms after eating which producers obtain energy then it is passed down to those that eat them and energy is lost as more times energy is past due to heat and such.
Symbiosis- A close relationship between two species living together and there are 4 types of symbiosis which are competition, parsistism, mutualism, and commensualism.
Competition- Two species compete for the same food leading two lower fitness for both and both are affected negatively because of that (-,-).
Parsistism- One species benefits while the other is being affected negatively (+,-)
Mutualism- Both species benefit each other (+,+)
Commensualism- One species benefits while the other is not affected (+,0)
Density dependent- When species get to a certain size that limits resources to lower the population size (ex: food, land/shelter, limiting resources, disease, etc.)
Density Independent- Does not depend on population size (ex: natural disaster, human activity, etc.)
Limiting factor- causes population growth to decrease
Biomass- total mass of organisms in a given area or volume
Ecology- Study of interactions with living things and their environment
Organization in Ecology: individual- a single living organism; population- a group of homogeneous individual (species); community- populations of different species interacting with each other; and ecosytems- how communities interact with their invironment.
Biome- Group of ecosystems that have same climate and similar dominant communities
Biosphere- where all life exists in the world (11 km below Earth's surface to 8 km above the surface)
Ecosystems- Living organisms
Lithosphere- land
Hydrosphere- water
Atmosphere- air
Abiotic- nonliving
Biotic- currently living or was once living
Homeostasis- stable environment
2 Ways to obatain energy: Autotroph- use energy from environment to create their food (sunlight and chemical) and heterotroph- rely on other organisms for energy/ food supply (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, etc.)
Autotrophs- Photosynthesis (sunlight→energy) and chemosynthesis (chemicals→energy)
Heterotrophs: herbivore- eat only plants to obtain energy; carnivore- eat only animals to obtain energy; omnivore- eat both plants and animals to obtain energy; detritivores- feed on plant and animal remains (ex: vultures); and decomposers- break down organic matter
Trophic levels- different steps in food chain or web which energy flows from bottom to top levels (pyramind)
Food chain- show flow of energy
Producers- All plants, autotrophs are at bottom of food chain
First Level Consumer- herbivores
Second Level Consumer- Eat first level consumer
Top Level Consumer- Eat 2nd level consumer, at top (multiple levels)
Decomposer- Fungi, bacteria that decompose organic matter
Content and information on coral reefs is in our website below
This project is about saving an endangered species and helping them out which my team and I chose to save the corals in the Great Barrier Reef and others which is important to many ecosystems and benefits humans as well that without them it will lead to negative changes in ecosystems. It is not too late to save them, there is still time and there are many ways to help. We decided to help out by trying to spread awareness with an instagram account @magnificent_barrier_reef which supports our website about the corals in the great barrier reef and more. It has a lot of ways to help out either by donating your time and effort or money to the cause and to invest in the future.
Vocabulary Terms
Carrying Capacity- Amount of life ecosystems can hold.
Interdependence- All components of ecosystem work together so if one species is affected then all are.
Energy Flow- The flowing of energy through organisms after eating which producers obtain energy then it is passed down to those that eat them and energy is lost as more times energy is past due to heat and such.
Symbiosis- A close relationship between two species living together and there are 4 types of symbiosis which are competition, parsistism, mutualism, and commensualism.
Competition- Two species compete for the same food leading two lower fitness for both and both are affected negatively because of that (-,-).
Parsistism- One species benefits while the other is being affected negatively (+,-)
Mutualism- Both species benefit each other (+,+)
Commensualism- One species benefits while the other is not affected (+,0)
Density dependent- When species get to a certain size that limits resources to lower the population size (ex: food, land/shelter, limiting resources, disease, etc.)
Density Independent- Does not depend on population size (ex: natural disaster, human activity, etc.)
Limiting factor- causes population growth to decrease
Biomass- total mass of organisms in a given area or volume
Ecology- Study of interactions with living things and their environment
Organization in Ecology: individual- a single living organism; population- a group of homogeneous individual (species); community- populations of different species interacting with each other; and ecosytems- how communities interact with their invironment.
Biome- Group of ecosystems that have same climate and similar dominant communities
Biosphere- where all life exists in the world (11 km below Earth's surface to 8 km above the surface)
Ecosystems- Living organisms
Lithosphere- land
Hydrosphere- water
Atmosphere- air
Abiotic- nonliving
Biotic- currently living or was once living
Homeostasis- stable environment
2 Ways to obatain energy: Autotroph- use energy from environment to create their food (sunlight and chemical) and heterotroph- rely on other organisms for energy/ food supply (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, etc.)
Autotrophs- Photosynthesis (sunlight→energy) and chemosynthesis (chemicals→energy)
Heterotrophs: herbivore- eat only plants to obtain energy; carnivore- eat only animals to obtain energy; omnivore- eat both plants and animals to obtain energy; detritivores- feed on plant and animal remains (ex: vultures); and decomposers- break down organic matter
Trophic levels- different steps in food chain or web which energy flows from bottom to top levels (pyramind)
Food chain- show flow of energy
Producers- All plants, autotrophs are at bottom of food chain
First Level Consumer- herbivores
Second Level Consumer- Eat first level consumer
Top Level Consumer- Eat 2nd level consumer, at top (multiple levels)
Decomposer- Fungi, bacteria that decompose organic matter
Content and information on coral reefs is in our website below
Go to the website to learn more and donate and follow our instagram account with the links below
Reflection
Two things that went really well is that the Instagram account has a few followers although more is our aim although something is better than nothing. We will still check in on the project and support. "Algo es mejor que nada" which is "something is better than nothing" in Spanish. Another thing that went well is we managed to finish and meet the requirements for the website. Two things we did poorly was procrastinate and not really communicate. I felt like I had to make sure to be included in the work with each person doing their own thing and not really checking with each other but we managed to figure it out and finish it overall.
Two things that went really well is that the Instagram account has a few followers although more is our aim although something is better than nothing. We will still check in on the project and support. "Algo es mejor que nada" which is "something is better than nothing" in Spanish. Another thing that went well is we managed to finish and meet the requirements for the website. Two things we did poorly was procrastinate and not really communicate. I felt like I had to make sure to be included in the work with each person doing their own thing and not really checking with each other but we managed to figure it out and finish it overall.