End of the Unit Reflection

Reflect on what has helped you in understanding the "big idea" of the unit.
(Big Idea:  Students will understand the use and management of natural resources, the transformation of resources into human capital, goods, tools and machines as well as sustainable development of human society to maintain the delicate balance between man and the natural environment.)

This has been my favorite unit so far, I have loved learning about the balance between man and the natural environment. A lot of things have helped me learn about the “big idea.” Here are some examples of things that really helped me have a better understanding of this unit:

·         The stories that Mrs. M was a great starter to this unit, it go us warmed up for what we were about to learn.

·         When taking notes in different sections not only did we learn about organisms and habitats, we learned how to take notes in an orderly fashion.

·         We watched short movies in the beginning of the quarter increase our knowledge on how animals survive, and the different types of survival tactics they have.

·         We did projects on little things that helped us see the bigger picture. Julia and I did a project on the Arctic and Antarctic habitat. Not only did we see how a food chain works but also how ecosystems are affected if one population is withdrawn.

·         We made a slight change after the Ecosystems project and did more “earthy” projects, like A World in a Bottle.

·         While continuing with projects and our lab, we had note taking which tied every lose string together.

·         Then we started slowing down and finishing up everything we hadn’t fully completed, and started watching movies that have a lot to do with our unit. I think that this was a great way for us to end such a wonderful unit.

·         Then we had one last project about packaging, which was almost like “Further Inquiry” in a lab. I think that the last project was like the cherry on top, the finishing touch to finish a fine unit.

The reason I used bullet points instead of a paragraph for is because I wanted to show how much we covered in just a semester. I think that Mrs. M did a great job teaching us very thing that she knew, still making class extremely interesting and fun!

Reflect on the unit question (What is a necessity and how does an organism ensure survival of its species within its environment?) and how it relates to the unit title:  Ultimate Survival.

ne·ces·si·ty/nəˈsesətē/Noun

1. The fact of being required or indispensable: "the necessity for law and order".

2. Unavoidability: "the necessity of growing old".

That is Google’s definition of necessity, my definition of necessity is; something that is mandatory for life or vital to a species in order for it to survive. An organism ensures survival of its species within its environment by using its survival tactics that it is born with. For example a Turtle is born with hard shell for it to hide in from predators, and the fox is born with keen eyes and ears to find food. These techniques keep an open balance between the prey and the predator making it so both animals survive and this is what ensures survival. Every organism has a variety of adaptations and a roll to play, each animal has to play its part for the whole ecosystem to function this is call a Niche. All animals are connected in a food chain, they all help each other in some way, just like the whales and krill, and the whales eat the krill, but supply them with nutrients for their food to help them stay alive. Each organism has a very unique characteristic, and each characteristic has its own effect to survive in the environment. Natural selection has a big effect on the survival of a species; their own natural selection helps some animals get their food and other hide from the predators.

This relates to the unit title Ultimate Survival in many ways. Every living thing wants to live, and to do that we do anything we can to survive. The unit title Ultimate Survival relates to how living things do anything to survive. For humans to survive we adapt to our surroundings we learn about our environment just to survive.  

How did the unit question allow us to view survival through The Area of Interaction: Environments:(FOR EXAMPLE:  The effects of one environment on another, the roles our environments play in the lives and well-being of humankind, and the effects of our actions, attitudes and constructs, such as sustainable development and conservation.)
            As we learn about the effects of our human foot print and damages we have done to this world it has allowed us view the earth’s survival in a very concerning way. Our roles in the ecosystems are coming to be so large that can’t keep up. Our vast amounts of deforestation and pollution have gone souring high in the last 50 years. The reason this is happening is because of overpopulation of humans, and with that comes more of everything, more energy, land, and food. These are all factors of the bad effects on the environment. Soon this might lead to going over Earth’s carrying capacity!! That is why we are starting to save and conserve our precious world by creating a sustainable environment and not over use what we have.
What would you have liked to do more of?  Less of? 
            I think that if I were to do this unit over I would do more hands on activities. Since this year we have computers, we are doing a lot on them but I miss the posters and the dioramas we do by hand. I like that we did a little of this in the on the unit, but maybe giving a choice whether you want to do it by hand or on the computer. Like I said, this unit is my favorite unit so far, and I hope the next few years other people will like this unit just as much as I did.


In your point of view, how well did we investigate the unit question, concept, and area of interaction?  Include this in your reflection as well and give specific examples to support your opinions.
            I think that we not only covered our unit question but covered every little detail there was! I think that Mrs. M did a great job of creating such a fun and interesting unit, I really liked it and many other people did to! Creating blogs was a great way for us to post our current events and reflections; I also like how we get to read other peoples writing and thoughts on their blogs!