Animal Investigation Labs: Self-Reflection

Posted on June 15, 2022June 15, 2022 by Marco - Benjamin

Artifacts:

Curricular Response:

The various dissections that I was able to do in this class allowed me to learn about the complex body systems of certain animals. This was interesting because I got to improve at identifying structures that may be different or similar to that of other organisms I had dissected. I feel that I learn best when I am actually implementing what I am taught. Doing the dissections helped in making important observations that were needed in completing and doing well in the lab assignments. Moreover, these observations were connected to studying the many adaptations that helped these animals survive in their habitats. Becoming aware of the changes that these organisms had to undergo while dissecting them definitely aided my understanding of the evolutionary process. The dissections performed created a more engaging and fun way to be able to create a detailed picture of the concepts I learned. These dissections that were done for this class were far more beneficial than just staring at a diagram in a textbook. Therefore, I feel that dissecting various animals expanded my overall knowledge of each organism’s individual body systems and how they evolved into what they are today.

Core Competency Self Assessment:

Which dissection lab are you the most proudest of and why?

I am most proudest of the dissection performed in the Cephalopoda lab. In this lab, I was able to open up the squid and observe its internal structures. I was surprised that I was able to keep many of the structures that I removed completely intact. This made it easy to compare what I had found to that of the squid diagram. It was cool to see all the adaptations the squid had to survive in the ocean while I was dissecting it. This lab made me appreciate the complexities that the animal contains. Furthermore, the fact that the class got to eat the squid we dissected as calamari was also somewhat fun and strange. Overall, I really enjoyed doing this lab and I am proud that I did it well.

What challenges did you face during these investigations?

I did not face many challenges during these dissection labs. However, I would say the most difficult part of them would be in carefully removing the various body structures in each organism for observation. This was because they were quite small and fragile. Another problem was probably the obvious gross smell that the organisms gave off. Sometimes the smell would be so strong it was sometimes distracting. Additionally, sometimes the internal organs were difficult to observe in organisms like the earthworm. This was because the blood and fluid that the organisms secreted would block the view of these structures. Besides these small challenges, my investigations went pretty well.

What strategies did you use to overcome those challenges?

The first issue of dissecting the various body structures was usually solved by cutting slowly or by getting a second organism just in case I made a mistake. If I felt that I butchered an important body structure during removal, I would just try to remove the same part from my backup organism. For the most part, I was able to cut the various body structures cleanly. As for the smell that came from the organisms, I just tried my best to ignore it and continue to work. I think that it definitely helped that I kept my mask on during most of the dissections though. In the organisms that produced a lot of fluid that made it difficult to work on, I just tried to use a paper towel to remove the excess fluids. This helped quite a bit, but it was still somewhat difficult to see the internal organs at times. With this in mind, I just tried to estimate where these structure might be by comparing it with the diagram. In the end, these problems were quite minimal and I was able to complete the labs.

English 11 Poetry Reflection

Posted on May 30, 2022May 30, 2022 by Marco - Benjamin

My Poem

A poem I created about an inanimate object: a pillow.

Curricular Competencies Reflection

The main purpose of this poem was to describe an inanimate object in my life. I decided to write about a pillow as I feel that it is an unacknowledged object that most people have. My intended target audience was towards anyone who can relate to the comfort of having a pillow to rest their head on. This helped make the figurative language I imbedded into the poem much more relatable to a reader. The elements of this poem that are personal to me would be the fact that I need a pillow to sleep at night. I would simply be unable to sleep at night without one and I often forget this fact. I planned for this poem to be engaging as I chose an item that most people own. Then, I developed this idea to become relatable by using poetic devices that could slowly hint at the identity of the object. This would help make the tone of the poem to be more intriguing to a reader. I made this poem engaging because I feel I brought greater awareness to an item that most people ignore. In my opinion, the most interesting poems can make someone think about an idea that they did not have before. I finally used imagery by using the specific time of the day (nighttime) that this item is most available to someone and used this as the foundation of my poem. Furthermore, I used figurative language to show how this object feels like (ex. A cozy warm hug).

Creative Thinking Core Competency Reflection

During the process of choosing a topic for the poem, I wanted to use an object that other people would probably not write about. I ended up deciding to write about a pillow because I felt there was a lot of aspects about it that I could use descriptive vocabulary on. I formed and developed my own original ideas by coming up with poetic devices that would help provide imagery to the poem. I found inspiration by describing this object as if I were describing a person to make it original. The biggest strategy that stimulated my imagination to complete this poem was to find words that were closely related to my topic and I made them rhyme. Doing this added flow to the poem and made it seem more professionally written. My poem is innovative because it has a metaphoric meaning behind it. The way I wrote about a pillow is representative of people in my life that are not appreciated for the work they do. Using this connection made my poem more authentic. In terms of what I could improve on for next time, I would probably make my poem longer. I felt that my ideas were sufficient, but I know I could have definitely added more.

Core Competency Self-Assessment

Posted on April 10, 2022April 10, 2022 by Marco - Benjamin

Creative Thinking

Artifact: Virus Project Pamphlet

I demonstrated the core competency of creative thinking in my virus project about HIV by creating a visually appealing pamphlet. This was done after I decided to use Canva as a medium to express what I researched about the virus. I have never used Canva for a pamphlet template as I had mostly relied on Word to create pamphlets. I decided to try out Canva after hearing positive feedback about the platform. For the most part, I found Canva to be user-friendly. However, I experienced a minor issue, which provided me with the opportunity to further develop creative thinking. One problem was that the selected images would sometimes move across the template and unexpectedly cover the text boxes. I solved this issue by taking a screenshot of the selected images so I could crop it into the correct dimensions. I could now include all the important parts of the image while still maintaining a sufficient image size. The main strategy that helped me accomplish this was trial and error, which allowed me to experiment with different approaches before arriving to a solution. In future projects where I may be asked to prepare a pamphlet, I will improve my ability to create an outline before working on the final product. This is because I had some trouble organizing where I would put the various text boxes/images and determining if I had enough room to fit them all in. If I had prepared an outline on a Word document before, I would have saved more time.

Natural Selection Critical Thinking Self-Assessment

Posted on March 10, 2022March 10, 2022 by Marco - Benjamin

This is me pivoting as I replicate the predation of red and black “prey” during the Natural Selection Lab.

I demonstrated that I can collect and analyze evidence when I was able to collect numerical data from both the natural selection and feeding frenzy labs. In the natural selection lab, each partner was required to act as a predator to capture the prey (red and black licorice pieces) in varying colour environments (white, red, and black). We were each given 40 seconds to capture the prey and record the number of each colour of prey that survived each trial of predation. Based on our results, we found that there was a higher rate of survival with prey that was the same colour as a colour environment. In the feeding frenzy Lab, my group were given various feeding adaptations (broken fork, broken chopsticks, broken fork, knife, fork, spoon, and spoon without a handle). We then began a competition to see who could fill their stomach (plastic cup) the fastest in varying feeding areas (sugar, spaghetti, puffy wheat, and rice). This experiment resulted in finding the feeding adaptation of a spoon to give an advantage as this person filled their “stomach” the fastest in all the environments.

I demonstrated that I can connect evidence I collected to big ideas when I was able to answer the follow-up lab questions and give descriptive reasoning for each. In the natural selection lab, the prey that had the highest survival rate was the one that had a nearly identical colour to that of the background environment. Clearly, this relates to the adaptation part of natural selection as the prey who survived had an advantageous trait. The idea of genetic variation was also represented in this lab as the prey had different appearances (lines on licorice) and came in varying sizes. As for the feeding frenzy lab, I found that some people in my group were given more advantageous feeding adaptations over others. This was measured in each person having the ability to partially or completely fill their cup. This relates to the survival of the fittest concept in natural selection as organisms with an advantageous adaptation are more likely to be able to survive and reproduce over those who do not. This experiment also showed the idea of the struggle for survival as people with less advantageous adaptations used their traits to “fight” others with more advantageous adaptations to gain greater access to the feeding area. These are some of the examples of how the evidence that was collected in this lab connects to the big ideas of the evolution unit.

I demonstrated that I can make predictions based on evidence when I had to respond to questions regarding how the adaptations seen in a population of organisms may change over successive generations. In the natural selection lab, my group found that as there was an increased survival rate amongst a certain colour of prey. This advantageous adaptation would be more widespread into following generations. I could predict that there would be an overproduction of offspring with prey with the advantageous adaptation. This lead me to infer that this would cause an increased struggle for survival amongst prey populations as they would have to compete over limited resources within the environment. I could also predict that predators would also have to survive in order to survive within the varying environments. This could come in the form of improving their other senses in order to find prey blending in with its environment. In the feeding frenzy lab, I could predict that that organisms with an advantageous feeding adaption were able to pass on their genes to the next generation until most of the population of the feeding area will eventually have this trait. This is because I found that these adaptations affect heritability. I could also predict through observation, that organisms who have a less advantageous adaption would have to migrate to other more favourable feeding areas in order to survive and pass on their traits. The examples provided show how I can make predictions based on the evidence that was collected in both experiments.

I demonstrated that I can draw reasoned conclusions when I provided real life examples of how these adaptations relate to nature. Using such examples, can connect the labs data to how a population of organisms actually survive with certain adaptations. In the natural selection lab, I used an example of the rock pocket mice to conclude that varying colour adaptations to certain colour environments can help this particular organism evade predation. In a lighter coloured environment, rock pocket mice with a lighter coloured coat had a higher survival rate compared to mice with a darker coloured coat. In darker coloured environments, mice with a darker coloured coat survived over those with a lighter coloured coat. Similar to this, the evidence collected in the natural selection lab demonstrated this pattern. In the feeding frenzy lab, I concluded that organisms with advantageous feeding adaptations may migrate to provide geographical isolation in order to survive in a certain environment. I could relate this to the finches naturalist Charles Darwin studied in the Galapagos Islands. These finches migrated to different areas in regions where their adaptations would be advantageous to them. Eventually, new species were created from this movement even though each species came from a common ancestor. This is related to the lab as there were people who could not collect anything in a certain feeding environment. However, these same people were able to collect more in other feeding environments with the same adaptation throughout. The examples I have given from nature show how the data from the lab was accurate and that my conclusions have strong reasoning behind them.

Marco’s Blog

Category: Grade 11