Unit 7 Reflection

Unit 7 was about the study of ecology. Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment. A habitat is a place that includes all aspects of an area where an organism lives including biotic and abiotic factors. Biotic factors are living things. The root word "bio" means living. Abiotic factors are non-living things. The levels of organization are: organism, population, community, ecosystem, and biome/biosphere. Producers provide energy for other organisms in an ecosystem, while consumers get their energy from eating living or once-living resources. A food chain shows how each organism gets its energy.

This is a picture of a food web. There are more primary producers than tertiary
consumers because the higher up the food web, the more scarce the organism is.

This is a picture of a food chain. It is not as complicated as a food web.

 Primary producers are  the source of all energy in an ecosystem. The 10% rule states that with the amount of energy produced at each level, only 10% is passed on to the next level. The other 90% is lost as waste. An energy pyramid shows how energy is transferred from producers up the food chain to top level consumers. Population ecology is the study of populations in relation to the environment. Succession is the sequence of community and ecosystem changes after a disturbance. Primary succession occurs where succession begins with no soil to start with. Secondary succession begins in an area where soil remains after a disturbance. Biodiversity is the total number of species in an ecosystem. Genetic diversity is all the different genes within a population and between different populations. Species diversity is the variety of species in an ecosystem and throughout the biosphere. Ecosystem diversity is the different types of ecosystems throughout the planet. Biodiversity is threatened due to habitat loss, introduced species, over exploitation, and change in climate.

I really enjoyed watching the movie "Bag It" in class. There were many interesting facts about plastic and how much gets wasted annually. Before watching this video, I never really thought about plastic and the effect it had on other organisms. After watching the movie I went home and looked up more interesting facts about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This patch is located between Hawaii and Japan. Since the plastic is not biodegradable, it breaks down into smaller pieces called mircoplastics. It is said that 70% of the garbage is below the water, so no one knows how much trash is really in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Our biology conservation project was about the Artic Tundra. I really liked working in a group to complete this project because it was fun to learn about this cold and dry place with others. We were able to finish our project before the break so we had no time pressure to submit it on time. We had a bit of trouble getting the audio to work with our video, but other than that, our project had no other major problems. I learned that there are many endangered species in the Artic Tundra including: polar bears, arctic foxes and beluga whales. Our group collaborated well through facebook messenger. Here is a link to our video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0rHk8eio-sFaDlVNXY2NEhoTUU/view?usp=sharing

My dominant conflict style was passive aggressive. I like to indirectly resist the demands of others. If i get in an argument, I usually let the other person win. After letting the other person choose what the want to do, I usually hold a grudge and make sure that the other person knows. I can be more assertive by trying not to hold a grudge and just let the argument go.