Introduction
Ecosystems make the world go round, and without the species that make up these ecosystems, they would surely collapse. Today, more than ever, our planet is constantly threatened by human activity, and numerous organisms and their respective homes are put in danger by the use of fossil fuels, deforestation, and overall greed. Humans are constantly contributing to problems, and it is more vital than ever that we find ways to solve them. That being said, for our project, we used our knowledge of biotechnology in order to spread awareness on saving either a species or an ecosystem. Our group decided to research the impacts of excessive carbon use, global warming, and human activity on the survival of bees. We were able to find that bees are truly central to our ecosystem and world, and that our use of pesticides and conquest for more land and industry has hurt them in a highly detrimental way. We found that a lack of bees can hurt us in more ways than we could have possibly imagined, and action is needed now in order to save them. In order to spread awareness, our group held a public shaving for Kian as the bees can disappear just as fast as his facial hair if we take no action. Additionally, we also created many songs and a subsequent musical adventure to teach our class about the bees. The script can be found below.
Skit
Roles as follows:
Sean as a schoolboy
Ethan as the overall bad guy (pesticides, global warming, etc.)
Kian as a flower
Izagani as a bee
Sean: Wow! Stem has been so much fun today! I learned so much about carrying capacity, resources, predation, competition, and disease! I even learned about the carbon cycle, and all the other processes within our world. This day has been great! If only there was some way it could get even better…
(izagani enters the room)
Izagani: Well hello there little boy
Sean: What? Who are you
Izagani: I’ll tell you
(Izagani music and dance number)
I’m just a bee
Well i’m only a bee
And a bee is what i’m gonna be
But pollution has destroyed my home
Pesticides do not cause flowers to grow
And right now I am just a sad bee
Sean: well mr. bee, why are you so sad?
Izagani: Oh, I’ll tell you why
There are a lack of resources which I really hate
Not much flowers are left for me to pollinate
The industry has taken my home
Trees and bushes have been viciously mowed
So there’s now, no more hives for a bee
And while the bears they are, sometimes a predator
And different types of bees, sometimes hate each other
None of these can even really compare, to human pesticides put into the air
Make me sick, spread disease to us bees
Sean: Wow! That’s horrible Mr. Bee!
Izagani: I know!
Humans when you go out, please appreciate
The crucial bees that you seem to hate
We’re responsible for most of your food
Killing bees it is not really the mood
So for now, please just go save the bees
(song ends)
Izagani: You see little boy, us bees are in a lot of danger. We get involved in nearly all of the processes that make food on this earth, and yet we are dying and disappearing! Our precious resources our disappearing due to deforestation and industry! The leaves, and trees that we once used to make our hives are being chopped, and the flowers we pollinate are getting destroyed as well. You see, we do have some predators like bears who eat honey, and some competition in the sense that other bee populations often want to use our wildflowers, but our real enemy has become human impact. HUmans have been releasing pesticides that kill flowers and also make us sick. I guess you can say that I am really bee-pressed
Sean: With all of your habitats going away as well as all of your flowers, does that mean that your carrying capacity is also decreasing?
Izagani: Of course!
Sean: I thought so, with the decreasing amount of resources and hives to live in, it would seem that your ecosystem can’t support that large of a population anymore.
Izagani: Exactly, and our disappearance hurts everyone in the process.
Sean: Mr. Bee, how exactly do you interact with your ecosystem?
Izagani: I interact with other plants and animals in a multitude of ways. My place in the food web is odd, as I help the producers grow so the consumers may be able to eat.
(Kian as the flower comes in)
Izagani: You see, I come in as a pollinator, and I help spread the seeds of the flower and other plants throughout the ecosystem
(Rub up against kian)
Izagani: I drop the seeds everywhere and they grow into full size plants, which are then eaten up by the consumers
Sean: Wow! That’s amazing
Izagani: So I guess you can say that I hold the whole ecosystem together
Sean: Mr. Bee, how do you help cycle matter and energy across the ecosystem?
Izagani: well, as I said, I’m heavily involved with plants. And of course you know that plants create energy via photosynthesis and create glucose. Well, since I spread plant growth, I spread the amount of energy producers, then the animals consume these pants and in turn use them to create ATP themselves in cellular respiration. I personally get my energy from the sweet nectar of flowers, by in any case, I am in charge of a great deal of the energy flow of the environment. And of course you know about the 10% rule of energy. Well, since I create so many plants, I’m able to help create enough energy for the tertiary consumer since some energy is lost as each trophic level.
Sean: So you’re almost like energy control!
Izagani: Exactly! Us bees are also heavily involved in the carbon cycle of the world, as the very plants that we pollinate take in CO2 on the daily, and the carbon they store is passed on to other animals. However, there has been an exponential increase in CO2 due to human activity, and the pollen and different parts of the plant are acting very sensitive to it. This is making the food I get from plants less nutritious and it makes me weak. An imbalance in the carbon cycle due to a disproportionate amount of it in the atmosphere is hurting me! All of the plants and beings in the biosphere are negatively impacted when I am negatively impacted, as I make much of their food.
Sean: Wow looks like we need to take action now before it gets any worse
(evil music starts to play)
Sean: Oh no, what is that ominous sound?
Izagani: I know what it is, big industry has come to destroy us!
(Ethan enters)
Ethan: Mwahahahahaha! I am evil Mr. Industry, and I have come to deforest your lands, put carbon into the air with my big machines, and take your homes so I can make money!
Izagani: Oh no!
(Ethan kills kian)
Izagani: Not the flower!
Ethan: Do not fear little bee I am just building a new mall over this nature area, no harm shall be done.
Sean: But no! You can’t do that! (sean proceeds to explain how hurting the plants destroys homeostasis as the balance of plants and animals is out of whack and the bees maintain it)
Izagani: Yeah! (Talk about how this is causing a lack of plants and decreasing the amount of animals, less food for us all)
Kian: (Stands up, starts talking about how getting rid of the plants gets rid of the bees, which gets rid of the animals leading to a lack of biodiversity and that it is harmful)
Sean: (says more about biodiversity)
Ethan: Wtf I thought you were dead!
Izagani (talk about how humans depend on food and should not destroy the area for that reason)
Ethan thinks for a second, but decides he does not care and starts to destroy everything
Proceed to start to die, then sing lucid bees
Ethan expresses a change of heart, we sing don’t you forget about bees together
Roles as follows:
Sean as a schoolboy
Ethan as the overall bad guy (pesticides, global warming, etc.)
Kian as a flower
Izagani as a bee
Sean: Wow! Stem has been so much fun today! I learned so much about carrying capacity, resources, predation, competition, and disease! I even learned about the carbon cycle, and all the other processes within our world. This day has been great! If only there was some way it could get even better…
(izagani enters the room)
Izagani: Well hello there little boy
Sean: What? Who are you
Izagani: I’ll tell you
(Izagani music and dance number)
I’m just a bee
Well i’m only a bee
And a bee is what i’m gonna be
But pollution has destroyed my home
Pesticides do not cause flowers to grow
And right now I am just a sad bee
Sean: well mr. bee, why are you so sad?
Izagani: Oh, I’ll tell you why
There are a lack of resources which I really hate
Not much flowers are left for me to pollinate
The industry has taken my home
Trees and bushes have been viciously mowed
So there’s now, no more hives for a bee
And while the bears they are, sometimes a predator
And different types of bees, sometimes hate each other
None of these can even really compare, to human pesticides put into the air
Make me sick, spread disease to us bees
Sean: Wow! That’s horrible Mr. Bee!
Izagani: I know!
Humans when you go out, please appreciate
The crucial bees that you seem to hate
We’re responsible for most of your food
Killing bees it is not really the mood
So for now, please just go save the bees
(song ends)
Izagani: You see little boy, us bees are in a lot of danger. We get involved in nearly all of the processes that make food on this earth, and yet we are dying and disappearing! Our precious resources our disappearing due to deforestation and industry! The leaves, and trees that we once used to make our hives are being chopped, and the flowers we pollinate are getting destroyed as well. You see, we do have some predators like bears who eat honey, and some competition in the sense that other bee populations often want to use our wildflowers, but our real enemy has become human impact. HUmans have been releasing pesticides that kill flowers and also make us sick. I guess you can say that I am really bee-pressed
Sean: With all of your habitats going away as well as all of your flowers, does that mean that your carrying capacity is also decreasing?
Izagani: Of course!
Sean: I thought so, with the decreasing amount of resources and hives to live in, it would seem that your ecosystem can’t support that large of a population anymore.
Izagani: Exactly, and our disappearance hurts everyone in the process.
Sean: Mr. Bee, how exactly do you interact with your ecosystem?
Izagani: I interact with other plants and animals in a multitude of ways. My place in the food web is odd, as I help the producers grow so the consumers may be able to eat.
(Kian as the flower comes in)
Izagani: You see, I come in as a pollinator, and I help spread the seeds of the flower and other plants throughout the ecosystem
(Rub up against kian)
Izagani: I drop the seeds everywhere and they grow into full size plants, which are then eaten up by the consumers
Sean: Wow! That’s amazing
Izagani: So I guess you can say that I hold the whole ecosystem together
Sean: Mr. Bee, how do you help cycle matter and energy across the ecosystem?
Izagani: well, as I said, I’m heavily involved with plants. And of course you know that plants create energy via photosynthesis and create glucose. Well, since I spread plant growth, I spread the amount of energy producers, then the animals consume these pants and in turn use them to create ATP themselves in cellular respiration. I personally get my energy from the sweet nectar of flowers, by in any case, I am in charge of a great deal of the energy flow of the environment. And of course you know about the 10% rule of energy. Well, since I create so many plants, I’m able to help create enough energy for the tertiary consumer since some energy is lost as each trophic level.
Sean: So you’re almost like energy control!
Izagani: Exactly! Us bees are also heavily involved in the carbon cycle of the world, as the very plants that we pollinate take in CO2 on the daily, and the carbon they store is passed on to other animals. However, there has been an exponential increase in CO2 due to human activity, and the pollen and different parts of the plant are acting very sensitive to it. This is making the food I get from plants less nutritious and it makes me weak. An imbalance in the carbon cycle due to a disproportionate amount of it in the atmosphere is hurting me! All of the plants and beings in the biosphere are negatively impacted when I am negatively impacted, as I make much of their food.
Sean: Wow looks like we need to take action now before it gets any worse
(evil music starts to play)
Sean: Oh no, what is that ominous sound?
Izagani: I know what it is, big industry has come to destroy us!
(Ethan enters)
Ethan: Mwahahahahaha! I am evil Mr. Industry, and I have come to deforest your lands, put carbon into the air with my big machines, and take your homes so I can make money!
Izagani: Oh no!
(Ethan kills kian)
Izagani: Not the flower!
Ethan: Do not fear little bee I am just building a new mall over this nature area, no harm shall be done.
Sean: But no! You can’t do that! (sean proceeds to explain how hurting the plants destroys homeostasis as the balance of plants and animals is out of whack and the bees maintain it)
Izagani: Yeah! (Talk about how this is causing a lack of plants and decreasing the amount of animals, less food for us all)
Kian: (Stands up, starts talking about how getting rid of the plants gets rid of the bees, which gets rid of the animals leading to a lack of biodiversity and that it is harmful)
Sean: (says more about biodiversity)
Ethan: Wtf I thought you were dead!
Izagani (talk about how humans depend on food and should not destroy the area for that reason)
Ethan thinks for a second, but decides he does not care and starts to destroy everything
Proceed to start to die, then sing lucid bees
Ethan expresses a change of heart, we sing don’t you forget about bees together
Carrying Capacity
In populations of species, the ability to maintain a consistent amount within an environment is absolutely crucial to the survival of not just individual organisms, but the prolonging of the species survival for many years to come. That being said, even though population should grow for some period of time, in an environment, it is impossible to continue growth forever. Due to factors such as limited resources and an overall lack of space, there must be some cap on how many animals can be present at once. This so called cap is known as the carrying capacity. Each population has some type of a carrying capacity that the the organisms in the area cannot exceed. If the carrying capacity is in fact exceeded, the the lack of resources will cause a decrease in the population, regulating it back down to be within the constraints of the carrying capacity. This carrying capacity can be altered over time due to factors such as climate change. If climate change is able to effectively decrease the amount of resources in an area, then the amount of organisms it can support will be not as many, thus decreasing the carrying capacity of the population, making it lower than before.
Limiting factors
As stated, in a population, there must be a maintaining of a reasonable level due to things such as a carrying capacity. At the same same time, there are certain factors in an ecosystem that keep the amount of beings level. These are known as limiting factors. They keep the population from growing, sometimes in a beneficial way, but at other times, more or less killing off other animals. There are two main types of limiting factors, those being density dependent and density independent. In a density dependent factor, the population size impacts whether it will happen or not. Examples of this include disease spreading or a lack of resources. A density independent factor is one that is not related to population size. This includes natural disasters as whether they will happen or not does not depend on the amount of people in an area.
Symbiosis
In an ecosystem, the interaction between organisms is absolutely essential to survival, whether this interaction is always positive for both parties or sometimes negative. Symbiosis aids in keeping homeostasis in an environment, and without it, an ecosystem would quickly collapse. Simply put, symbiosis are the processes by which animals interact with each other on a daily basis in order to survive in the places in which they live. In class, we observed four different types of symbiosis. Those were:
Competition - When both animals involved go for the same resource against each other, with both using up energy in such a way that uses up both of their energy, thus negatively impacting them both. (Example: a lion and a hyena going for the same zebra)
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Parasitism/ consumption - When one animal is left negatively impacted from the relationship while the other benefits (Example: a tick on a dog)
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The different environmental factors
In an environment, numerous factors contribute to how the organisms in the area live and thrive. These said factors can either negatively impact the beings in the area or be rather beneficial to them. These environmental factors are for the most part separated into two different categories. These two said categories are known as Abiotic and Biotic factors. Biotic factors are the living factors in an ecosystem, while abiotic factors are the non living things. Biotic factors, for example, may include the plants in the area that the animals may use as a habitat. On the other hand, abiotic factors may include the wind flowing through the area or the rocks that are found there as well. For our project, biotic factors can be seen as flowers, while abiotic factors were the water in the area and the dirt near hives.
Cycles of matter
One of the most basic rules that runs the world is the law of conservation of matter. In this law, it is stated that matter cannot be created or destroyed, and is constantly cycled over time to help sustain the planet earth and its beings, as well as keeping it safe. These cycles follow predictable patterns, and are balanced to ensure that everything is done correctly to provide the most benefit. Everything is cycled, and changed into different forms, used by us for prolonged periods. That being said, different things are cycled in different, albeit similar ways. The three main types of cycles that we looked at in class were the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and the nitrogen cycle.
Water cycle: Water is essential to life and is cycled throughout the ecosystem via processes like evaporation, condensation, filtration, transpiration, etc. Rain and other types of perspiration bring water down to the surface, and it is initially stored in the atmosphere in things like clouds. All living beings need water in order to survive, so the water cycle is a vital one. An example of the water cycle can be seen in our project as water helps plants grow, thus cycling in order to help the bees indirectly.
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Carbon cycle: A great deal of carbon is found in our world today, and it is regularly cycled into different forms. A lot of carbon initially starts as CO2 as part of the breathing process, with humans exhaling CO2 and plants taking it in. Then, the plants transfer this carbon to organisms when they eat them and so on. On top of this, dead animals release carbon as part of the process of decomposition, and the decomposed, later fossilised animals can be used for fuel, burned to release carbon. Due to human activity, however, more carbon is being added into the atmosphere, leaving the system out of balance.
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Nitrogen cycle: Nitrogen is one of the most abundant elements on our planet, and is also cycled like water and carbon. Initially coming from the atmosphere, it is in different forms that cannot be consumed by living beings. Thus, nitrogen fixing bacterias are utilized to change its form, thus allowing it to be used. Plants take in the nitrogen, and the animals that consume the nitrogen also gets passed on to them. Then, once these animals die, they decompose and certain types of bacteria re transform the nitrogen into an atmospheric form, and the cycle continues on from there.
Levels of organization
In the world, there are multiple different organizations of living things that flow together in order to create the larger world. The first phase starts with the individual. Individuals are the single beings that can mate with others to procreate more individuals. Individuals are then part of larger groups known as a population. Populations are composed of individuals in the same species, and they have certain shared characteristics and live in the same area. The populations stated make up a community. Different species of different populations within the community live together and either directly or indirectly benefit the area in which they live. This area, also the next level, is the ecosystem. Ecosystems include both the living beings, as well as the biotic factors of and area such as the mountains and rock formations found there. The next level is the biome, which are a group of ecosystems around the world that share certain similar characteristics. Lastly, the biosphere is the final level which are all the added up parts listed.
Biomass
The plant or animal material that is often fossilized and used for energy by humans in order to power everyday functions. This use of biomass is often carried out by burning (ie. fossil fuels).
Food webs and chains
Food webs are often used to show the interaction of energy in an ecosystem, using a system of arrows to show predator and prey interactions within an ecosystem. These interactions show how the consumers and producers are very much intrinsically connected and how they work with each other to support the ecosystem at large. On the other hand, a food chain shows more emphasis of the trophic levels present within a system. For example, the trophic levels are shown by displaying how the producer leads up to the tertiary consumer. The cycles of predator prey relationship are, thus shown in a different yet similar setting. Another way that energy transfers are shown is in an ecological triangle. According to the 10% rule in biology, only 10% of energy is transferred from level to level, thus, as the triangle leads up to the tertiary consumer, 10% of the quantified energy is lost. All three of these ways show the energy transfers as well as predicted feeding patterns in an ecosystem.
Biodiversity and homeostasis
In an ecosystem, it is always important that there is a biodiversity present. These means that there are a wealth of different organisms present in an area. These differences mean that different beings will be able to fulfill different ecological jobs, in turn keeping the ecosystem functioning and in balance. Without biodiversity, certain jobs would not be done and the environment would be hurt. These jobs described help lead to something called homeostasis. Homeostasis is the ideal state for any ecosystem, as it means that it is in a balance. There is not too much or too little of anything, and everything is working in harmony, However, this homeostasis is collapsing due to a lack of biodiversity, spurred on by human activity. Deforestation, climate change due to a release of greenhouse gasses, and overall ignorance have allowed for certain parts of nature to be disrupted. There is too much carbon and too little of plants, hurting homeostasis, thus destroying the environment at large.
Reflection
Throughout the year in biology, a greater majority of the projects we have done have all been related to the real world applications of the subject at large. In projects like the crime scene investigation, we learned about how biotech is used to catch criminals, we explored the biological factors that create a disease, and we even used our knowledge of homeostasis to investigate its impacts on humans. That being said, I have personally never worked on a project thus far that had as profound implications as the ones within our ecology project. In this project, I truly felt that a culmination of our knowledge took place, and the duty given to us to incite change was highly empowering. Because of this, I found this not only one of the most enjoyable projects of the year, but the most important. The creative liberty we were given to raise awareness in an effective way truly opened up my eyes to the possibilities of the applications of STEM. This project was never monotonous, and I learned something new everyday. In addition to this, I also enjoyed the people I was working with, and this project was probably also the best in terms of interaction with teammates. We were all friends, which made the process easy going and fun.
That being said, one of the areas that I believe I performed my best on this project was my use of creativity. In other projects, I would often think inside the box, not going above and beyond to create a truly original finished product. For example, on projects like the evolution project at the beginning of the year, my group and I made a video just like everyone else, making it in such a way that it could not truly stand out. This was rather disappointing, as it made us feel like we could have done even more on our project to make us truly satisfied with our work. However, on this project, my group and I actively tried to think of unconventional ways to achieve our goal of spreading the word. We were ultimately able to come up with our shaving stunt, musical adventure, and serenade for Ms. Mathews. Thus, we believe that we were not only able to learn a wealth of information ourselves, but be able to teach it in an efficient manner. In order to maintain this into the future, I will in essence force myself to come up with new ideas as a preliminary step as part of the project.
In addition to this, I believe that another way that I have improved this project was how I have truly figured out Ms. Mathews grading criteria. This may seem a bit odd, but I have noticed that learning about the different grading preferences of teachers while in high school is vital to reaching classroom success. That being said, towards the beginning of the year, I had not realized the depth of work required to get an A in Mathews class, thus I was often frustrated with the grades I received. However, because I now know how to work towards her system, I am able to perform better in her class. I was able to apply this to the project, as I made sure all the necessary material and quality was involved, and consequently, I was able to get an A. In order to keep this going into the future, I will try harder to learn more about my teachers from the get go.
Even with all of the improvements I made and the good things that Idid, there are also other things that I most definitely need to work on. One thing that I need to learn to do better is being able to condense information and not drag it out. During our musical adventure, I feel that it may have ran a bit too long, possibly boring people and stopping them from enjoying the lesson. This is a great concern for me, as I hope that people are able to enjoy the projects that I work on as much as I do. In addition to this, I believe that efficient communication is important. In order to improve this in the future, I will practice my presentations more prior to the actual thing in order to make it more streamline.
Another thing that I would like to improve upon is being able to manage my time more in a more laid laid back group. As stated I got along well with the group that I was in, however, this meant that there was a fair share of messing around. Instead of working on our project, we would often just play games on our computers together. Thus, we were falling behind at some points and had to scramble to some degree at the end of the project. This made things stressful towards the end, and we all lost some much needed sleep to say the least. In order to fix this problem in the future, I plan to try my best to be a group leader in order to steer everyone away from going off task.
That being said, one of the areas that I believe I performed my best on this project was my use of creativity. In other projects, I would often think inside the box, not going above and beyond to create a truly original finished product. For example, on projects like the evolution project at the beginning of the year, my group and I made a video just like everyone else, making it in such a way that it could not truly stand out. This was rather disappointing, as it made us feel like we could have done even more on our project to make us truly satisfied with our work. However, on this project, my group and I actively tried to think of unconventional ways to achieve our goal of spreading the word. We were ultimately able to come up with our shaving stunt, musical adventure, and serenade for Ms. Mathews. Thus, we believe that we were not only able to learn a wealth of information ourselves, but be able to teach it in an efficient manner. In order to maintain this into the future, I will in essence force myself to come up with new ideas as a preliminary step as part of the project.
In addition to this, I believe that another way that I have improved this project was how I have truly figured out Ms. Mathews grading criteria. This may seem a bit odd, but I have noticed that learning about the different grading preferences of teachers while in high school is vital to reaching classroom success. That being said, towards the beginning of the year, I had not realized the depth of work required to get an A in Mathews class, thus I was often frustrated with the grades I received. However, because I now know how to work towards her system, I am able to perform better in her class. I was able to apply this to the project, as I made sure all the necessary material and quality was involved, and consequently, I was able to get an A. In order to keep this going into the future, I will try harder to learn more about my teachers from the get go.
Even with all of the improvements I made and the good things that Idid, there are also other things that I most definitely need to work on. One thing that I need to learn to do better is being able to condense information and not drag it out. During our musical adventure, I feel that it may have ran a bit too long, possibly boring people and stopping them from enjoying the lesson. This is a great concern for me, as I hope that people are able to enjoy the projects that I work on as much as I do. In addition to this, I believe that efficient communication is important. In order to improve this in the future, I will practice my presentations more prior to the actual thing in order to make it more streamline.
Another thing that I would like to improve upon is being able to manage my time more in a more laid laid back group. As stated I got along well with the group that I was in, however, this meant that there was a fair share of messing around. Instead of working on our project, we would often just play games on our computers together. Thus, we were falling behind at some points and had to scramble to some degree at the end of the project. This made things stressful towards the end, and we all lost some much needed sleep to say the least. In order to fix this problem in the future, I plan to try my best to be a group leader in order to steer everyone away from going off task.