Project
Our task was to find an open area in Novato that was the size of a football field or larger and was unused. After we found our area we had to create a policy change to improve our area. We then made predictions on what our area would look like in 50, 100, 300, and 1000 years with and without our policy change, to show why we would need to implement our policy. We would then send a proposal of our changes to a representative of California.
Our area is an empty field in Hamilton, where the city of Novato was once going to build a sports complex, but decided not to because of the loud noise it would cause and disturb the neighbors. Our plan is to create a peaceful garden space and walking/biking paths for residences to enjoy.
Our area is an empty field in Hamilton, where the city of Novato was once going to build a sports complex, but decided not to because of the loud noise it would cause and disturb the neighbors. Our plan is to create a peaceful garden space and walking/biking paths for residences to enjoy.
Presentation
Main Concepts
Biotic Factor- Something in an environment that is or was living. This was used to create food webs of our site
Abiotic Factor- Something that has never lived. This was used to study the impacts of our policy change.
Ecology- The study of the interractions between living things and their environment. Ecology was the primary area of science covered in this project
Individual- A single organism
Population- A group of homgeneous species
Community- Populations of different species interracting with each other
Ecosystem- Interactions between organisms and their environment. We studied the ecosystems of our site to make predictions of a policy's effects
Biome- Groups of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant species. All of our site selections were in the same boime.
Biosphere- The area on Earth in which life exists (11 km below Earth's surface, 8 km above).
Autotroph- An organism that makes its own energy. We studied autotrophs, as they are the base of all food chains.
Heterotroph- An organism that consumes other organisms to get energy. We studies heterotrophs during the part of the project where we studies food webs.
Producer- An autotroph. Producers are at the bottom of the food chain.
Consumer- A heterotroph. Consumers make up most of the food chain.
Trophic Level- Different levels of consumption between organisms. During our study of food webs, we studied trophic levels to determine where each organisms fits in a food chain/web.
Detritivore- A scavenger who eats dead organisms eaten by other predators. A vulture is an example of a detritivore
Decomposer- An organism that breaks down dead matter to get food / energy. We learned that decomposers are one of the most essential component of any ecosystem
Ecological Pyramid- A pyramid that shows energy transfers between trophic levels, as well as population differences. We used these to represent energy differences between trophic levels.
Nutrient Cycle- The cycle of movement of nutriens through trophic levels
Carbon Cycle- The movement of carbon between reservoirs over time. We learned about the Carbon Cycle to learn about the movement of carbon throughout ecosystems.
Nitrogen Cycle- The process of changing the forms of Nitrogen so that life may use them. We learned about the Nitrogen cycle to learn about how life changes the form of Nitrogen for use.
Water Cycle- The movement of Water through different forms. We learned about the water cycle (briefly) to make accurate predictions for our site with regards to rainfall.
Weather- The atmospheric conditions at a given place and at a given time. We learned about weather when we studied Global Climate Change.
Climate- The atmospheric conditions at a given place over time. We learned about climate to help make predictions for our site.
Greenhouse Effect- The process of gases trapping heat on Earth by means of reflecting heat back as it reflects off the Earth. We learned about this to learn about Global Climate Change and to make predictions with regards to GCC.
Niche- The place in an ecosystem's food web that an organism has; an organism's role in an ecosystem. Note: niche is pronounced like "Nitch" and rhymes with "Itch." We learned about niches when we learned about relationships between organisms.
Symbiosis- The relationship between two organisms
Parasitism- A relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits at the cost of the other. It is also known as Predation and Herbivory
Competition- A relationship between two organisms where both organisms are harmed by each other's needs for resources.
Mutualism- A relationship where both organisms benefit from each other's actions
Commensalism- A relationship between two organism where the actions of one organism benefit the other, but the other oganinism's actions do not affect the first organism.
Succession- The changing of an ecosystem's inhabitants as older inhabitants are eliminated and newer organisms take their place. We learned about succession to make accurate predictions pertaining to the organisms inhabiting our sites.
Primary Succession- Succession that occurs where no soil exists
Secondary Succession- Succession that occurs after a disturbance changes the community without removing soil
Pioneer Species- One of the first species to appear in a place undergoing primary succession
Biodiversity- Diversity contained within environments, including environments, species, and genetics, that provides a defense against threats such as disease. We learned about biodiversity to help make predictions about the number of species in our sites following the implementation of our policy.
Abiotic Factor- Something that has never lived. This was used to study the impacts of our policy change.
Ecology- The study of the interractions between living things and their environment. Ecology was the primary area of science covered in this project
Individual- A single organism
Population- A group of homgeneous species
Community- Populations of different species interracting with each other
Ecosystem- Interactions between organisms and their environment. We studied the ecosystems of our site to make predictions of a policy's effects
Biome- Groups of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant species. All of our site selections were in the same boime.
Biosphere- The area on Earth in which life exists (11 km below Earth's surface, 8 km above).
Autotroph- An organism that makes its own energy. We studied autotrophs, as they are the base of all food chains.
Heterotroph- An organism that consumes other organisms to get energy. We studies heterotrophs during the part of the project where we studies food webs.
Producer- An autotroph. Producers are at the bottom of the food chain.
Consumer- A heterotroph. Consumers make up most of the food chain.
Trophic Level- Different levels of consumption between organisms. During our study of food webs, we studied trophic levels to determine where each organisms fits in a food chain/web.
Detritivore- A scavenger who eats dead organisms eaten by other predators. A vulture is an example of a detritivore
Decomposer- An organism that breaks down dead matter to get food / energy. We learned that decomposers are one of the most essential component of any ecosystem
Ecological Pyramid- A pyramid that shows energy transfers between trophic levels, as well as population differences. We used these to represent energy differences between trophic levels.
Nutrient Cycle- The cycle of movement of nutriens through trophic levels
Carbon Cycle- The movement of carbon between reservoirs over time. We learned about the Carbon Cycle to learn about the movement of carbon throughout ecosystems.
Nitrogen Cycle- The process of changing the forms of Nitrogen so that life may use them. We learned about the Nitrogen cycle to learn about how life changes the form of Nitrogen for use.
Water Cycle- The movement of Water through different forms. We learned about the water cycle (briefly) to make accurate predictions for our site with regards to rainfall.
Weather- The atmospheric conditions at a given place and at a given time. We learned about weather when we studied Global Climate Change.
Climate- The atmospheric conditions at a given place over time. We learned about climate to help make predictions for our site.
Greenhouse Effect- The process of gases trapping heat on Earth by means of reflecting heat back as it reflects off the Earth. We learned about this to learn about Global Climate Change and to make predictions with regards to GCC.
Niche- The place in an ecosystem's food web that an organism has; an organism's role in an ecosystem. Note: niche is pronounced like "Nitch" and rhymes with "Itch." We learned about niches when we learned about relationships between organisms.
Symbiosis- The relationship between two organisms
Parasitism- A relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits at the cost of the other. It is also known as Predation and Herbivory
Competition- A relationship between two organisms where both organisms are harmed by each other's needs for resources.
Mutualism- A relationship where both organisms benefit from each other's actions
Commensalism- A relationship between two organism where the actions of one organism benefit the other, but the other oganinism's actions do not affect the first organism.
Succession- The changing of an ecosystem's inhabitants as older inhabitants are eliminated and newer organisms take their place. We learned about succession to make accurate predictions pertaining to the organisms inhabiting our sites.
Primary Succession- Succession that occurs where no soil exists
Secondary Succession- Succession that occurs after a disturbance changes the community without removing soil
Pioneer Species- One of the first species to appear in a place undergoing primary succession
Biodiversity- Diversity contained within environments, including environments, species, and genetics, that provides a defense against threats such as disease. We learned about biodiversity to help make predictions about the number of species in our sites following the implementation of our policy.
Reflection
I felt that this project went very well. A couple things that I did well were that I completed my tasks on time and contributed my ideas to the project. A few things that I can work on are staying on task and not talking to other groups about non-project related topics. I feel that our group worked really well together and helped one another great.