Biodiversity Endangered or Invasive Species Project Blog 2/17/18

Link to My Project

Summary:

       What we had to do for this project was first choose (with a group) if we wanted to present about either an invasive or endangered species. Then after that we had to choose what species we would like to choose (must be a species that is the type you choose in the last step), then you had to research that species and create a 5 min presentation with an infographic to go with it about your species. What I learned through doing this project were the zoology, ecology, and the conservation of the Giant Ibis. The zoology I learned about the Giant Ibis were a description of the Giant Ibis, its adaptations, breeding behavior, and more. I also learned that their is little to no information on the Giant Ibis' breeding behavior, this is due to the fact that the Giant Ibis has an extremely low population that is around 200. The ecology I learned about the Giant Ibis are some abiotic and biotic factors that affect the Giant Ibis, the diet of the Giant Ibis, the importance of the Giant Ibis to its ecosystem, and more. I also learned that an adaptation of the Giant Ibis has to do with the fact that part of the Giant Ibis' diet is aquatic species. One of the adaptations of the Giant Ibis is the fact that it is a wading bird, meaning that it walks through water. Through research I found that the reason it is a wading bird is so that it can eat aquatic species. What I know now about the conservation of the Giant Ibis is why the population of the Giant Ibis is so low, what people have done to help, what more we can do to help, and the timeline of endangerment for the Giant Ibis. The main reason that the Giant Ibis population is so low is because of forest loss from human development. The forests of Cambodia are home to almost all of the Giant Ibis population, so the fact that humans are destroying their homes, has taken a huge toll on the Giant Ibis'. Because of humans doing these things, in 1995 the Giant Ibis population was declared critically endangered by the IUCN Red List.
     
Backward-Looking:

       What I knew about the subject before it started were what it meant to be endangered, and some endangered species. What it means to be endangered is that a certain species' population is so low that it is close to actually becoming extinct. Some endangered species I knew were certain types of pandas, bears, and elephants. The process we went through to produce this piece was a 3 step process. We first did all our research, then we were figuring out what we were going to say, do, and have on our infographic and presentation (we figured out what we were going to do on a google doc), and lastly we began to complete our infographic and presentation. The research part of the project took about one whole school week, the planning (the second part) took about 1½ school days, and last part took about 4 days to complete. This project was new and old for me, in terms of I have done work like this, and I also haven't. I have created a wix site and infographic before, but I have not created a wix site and infographic like this one I created, this wix site was much more informal and involved much more research than before. Same with the infographic except I did have to do research for the other infographic I did.
     
Inward-Looking:

       I feel pretty good about my project, this is due to the fact that I got 49 out of 50 (98%) on this project. The parts of the project I like are the homepage on the website and how each page on the wix site looks nice and neat. I like the home page because I feel that it is very simple, and pleasing to the eye, I like how each page looks nice and neat because it means that my presentation (wix site) is very professional and well thought out. What I dislike about my project is that I feel that my infographic could've been better and had more graphics. I dislike this because I feel that 50% of an infographic is the graphic part about it, and I feel that we could've done better on that part. We simply didn't have enough graphics. What I enjoy about project is how organized it is and the fact that it is not boring. Having a project organized means that it is well thought out and having a project that is not boring means that people will actually listen to your presentation and will actually like it. Which to me are two very important things to have in a presentation. What I found satisfying about my finished product is that we followed all directions and everything needed (and some more). To me, if you don't even have everything that your teacher told you to have, this means that you won't get the best possible grade. We did have everything that was needed which is why we got a high score. What I found frustrating about our project was the infographic. As I mentioned before, our infographic didn't have enough graphics, which I really find frustrating. My standards for this project were to get an A for us to try our hardest. We almost met our standards, we did get an A, but I feel that we could've tried a bit harder, and I feel that if we did try harder, that we would've gotten a 50 out of 50 (100%).
     
Outward-Looking:

       My group did do this project the way that others did theirs, but we also did ours different from others as well. We did our project similar to others due to that many people created their project on google draw (for their infographic) and wix (for their presentation). Although, we did ours different because we didn't use a gallery for our timeline, we just had a graphic of dates and text to go along with it. Also, we had a homepage for our wix site. Many people didn't have a homepage for their site and their start page was just the description of their chosen organism. If I was the teacher, the comments I would make on this project are that it is very organized, informal, and a bit entertaining (meaning that it is not boring). The grade I would give this project is a high A (meaning 95%-100%). I would give it this grade because of the fact that we followed all the teachers directions and made sure that we had everything that was required of us. Another reason is because during our presentation I feel that we very much did show full knowledge on the Giant Ibis and very rarely did we have to look up at the screen for things to say. The last reason is because of the fact that we did actually get a high A on this project, because we got 98%. If our teacher thought our project deserves that grade, then that means that we do deserve that grade, which is why I would give my project that grade.
     
Forward-Looking:

       One thing I would like to improve upon is making infographics and wix sites with more graphics and animations. Which is why I would like to learn more about that in school and get more help with it as well. Another thing I would like to improve upon is becoming a better leader. Almost in every project I have been in, I have taken the role of the leader. Although, every time I am a leader I tend to be very bossy and whiny. I don't want that to happen anymore, which is why I would like to improve upon that. What I would change if I had the change if I had the chance to do this project over again is that next time I would like to do the infographic on a different website. This is due how I feel that google draw doesn't create the best infographics. Other websites people used seemed to have much more graphics and it seemed to be something that could really improve our infographic. One goal I would like to set for myself next time is to get 100% (50 out of 50) on my grade for the project and to have a better infographic that has more graphics.