Week 6

 This week in lab we started by checking in on our fast plants again. The plants seem to be progressing nicely and are growing at a rapid rate. Next we revisited our food chain models from last week, this time with a changing ecosystem activity. In the activity, my group had our rainforest affected by agriculture and the housing industry which led to deforestation. As a result, several of our primary consumers that get energy directly from the trees, were eliminated. Lastly, we did a fun activity centered around sea turtles. We listened to a read aloud that told the story about how difficult it is for baby sea turtles to get to the sea after hatching. After the read aloud, we simulated this by doing the "Turtle, Turtle watch out" activity and developed line graphs depicting the amount of sea turtles that survived over time. 

I like applying this type of activity towards my future teaching. I think it was an engaging way to teach about both the natural factors and human factors that can affect the survival of certain organisms. It is a great way to teach students that their actions have implications towards our ecosystems in ways that they may not even realize. On the contrary it teaches that they can act in ways that can help the survival of organisms in various ecosystems.

Remaining questions that I have are: what other animals (if any) make such a treacherous journey so early in their life? Is this journey for the sea turtles essential towards their growth and development or could humans intercept a number of the turtles and carry them directly to the water to ensure their survival? 

Comments

  1. Julia MikkelsenFebruary 22, 2023 at 12:28 PM

    I do agree that teaching our students about these factors can really impact them and how they interact within our environment. I know when I was a child and I learned about all the trash in the ocean I was really saddened by it and the next time I was by the beach I found myself trying to pick up any trash I saw.

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  2. Amber EmbrockFebruary 22, 2023 at 1:04 PM

    Those are really good thoughts Matt. Your remaining question about what other animals have long/hard journeys that we are not informed about. It even makes me think more about what humans are doing that impact such a hard life/journey for them.

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