Within this assignment, I demonstrated multiple different core competencies. The core competency of creative thinking is something I practiced while working on this poster. We were given the opportunity to have complete creative freedom within this project. I found myself trying to think outside of the box and think creatively while I was formatting and designing this poster. I tried to add colours and photos that I thought represented my faux carnival. Throughout working on this assignment, I demonstrated personal awareness and responsibility. I was absent from class when we were assigned this project. I was responsible and caught up by myself. I figured out what I had to do, and I did it in an efficient and timely matter. In doing this, I practiced personal responsibility. The last core competency that I demonstrated was critical and reflective thinking. I had to analyze the package we received, and interpret it into a table. I used critical thinking skills to create the table. I also used reflective thinking when writing the paragraph. I had to reflect on which app I thought was the best fit for making the poster. Overall, my demonstration of creative thinking, personal awareness/responsibility, and critical/reflective thinking were evident within this project.
Throughout our fetal pig dissection, my experience of collaboration showcased the communication core competency. A partner was required in order to dissect the pig, therefore, the entire experience included collaboration in each step. Going into this week-long dissection, my partner and I felt it was fitting to assign roles and responsibilities to each person. In doing this, we maintained an efficient and organized work area, as we knew what the tasks we had to complete once walking into the lab each day. The fetal pig dissection was by far our hardest lab within anatomy and physiology twelve, so we had to come up with strategies to navigate our project goals and any misunderstandings. The time constraint was our largest issue, so we strategized by setting up goals we needed to complete before leaving class. An example of this being taking an entire class to memorize each organ/accessory organ before we left. My partner and I were very vocal within this lab, we used communication to further our understanding, and to ensure we made as little mistakes as possible. We would constantly ask each other questions about where to cut, which organs are which, and what cleaning procedures to take. In doing this and utilizing communication to our advantage, we shared our knowledge and ideas to each other which allowed us to succeed in this lab.
Thinking Core Competency:
Within the dissection of our fetal pig, my experience of critical thinking represented the thinking core competency. We found this lab challenging, meaning we faced a few problems within the dissection. We persevered through any issues we faced, and used critical thinking to solve these problems. An example being the verbal test we were required to take; our pig was not in the greatest shape, it was difficult to differiante organs within the digestive tract. In order to overcome this and perform well on our verbal test, we used a different group’s pig to practice on and take the test with. Using our critical thinking skills, we were able to analyze evidence to make decisions while studying for the oral test. We were given a sheet which contained all of the organs we needed to learn, as well as a diagram. We analyzed this sheet and applied it to our actual pig, where we made decisions on which organ was which. When we were cutting our pig open, we found it difficult to cut through the skin, as we wanted to make sure we didn’t cut anything within the digestive tract. We asked our classmates for advice, to which they gave us feedback on how to make the cuts more precise. We took this feedback and we improved on all of our other cuts.
Personal/Social Core Competency:
Throughout our fetal pig dissection, my experience of personal awareness and responsibility showcased the personal/social core competency. I managed and supported my wellbeing during this lab by ensuring I was prepared and organized each day. In coming to class in the right mindset, with the necessary sheets and equipment, I set myself up for success and demonstrated responsibility. I made sure to come to class on time and prepared during this time-crucial lab; this supported and managed my overall wellbeing. If I was not organized, I would’ve become stressed to complete everything. A strategy I used to support my personal awareness and responsibility was coming in during cent time, flex time, and lunch when it was needed. In doing this, I set myself up for success and took ownership of my own learning. Another strategy I used was asking classmates and my partner for help when needed, this ensured I was completing each task correctly, therefore showcasing my personal responsibility.
Throughout the animal unit within my life-science eleven class, we had the opportunity to dissect a various number of animals. My two favourite dissections were the squid dissection and the mussel dissection, which are pictured above. Although my teacher provided the class with diagrams of each animal, seeing them up close and in real life, allowed me to improve my understanding of each body system. An example would be the squid lab, there were so many different body parts that I had not heard of before, and I was nervous going into the dissection. Once we arrived in the superlab and I had my squid in front of me, I was able to look at the provided diagram and figure out where each part was. My teacher also went through each body part, pointing to where they were. I am nearly certain that if we did not go over that, I would have been confused as to where each part is, what it looks like, and the function of each. When I was dissecting the mussel, I opened it with a razor blade and studied the parts. Seeing all of the parts in real life helped me to memorize where the parts were, which is important to know for my upcoming animal exam. Within the animal unit in my life-science eleven class, using the dissections to my advantage furthered my understanding and helped me to learn each part of the different animal body systems.
Core Competency Self-Assessment
The Mantel, Arms, Pen, and Tentacles of the squid.
The dissection I am most proud of is by far the squid lab; and not only because we made calamari with it. I believe it is important to celebrate your accomplishments, it is a great way to award yourself after doing something challenging. I was nervous going into the squid lab, as it is the biggest animal we have dissected within this course. There were many hard cuts that I had to be precise with, or else I would have messed up my entire dissection. I am proud to say I completed everything successfully, and in order to celebrate the class’s accomplishments, we made calamari with the squids that we dissected. After a long lab, eating calamari with the squid that we dissected was the perfect way to celebrate. As seen in the photo to the right, my final product can be seen, which I am very proud of.
Throughout the various animal labs, I faced physical, intellectual, and emotional challenges. A physical challenge that I face in almost every dissection lab was my shaky hands. It was hard to make precise cuts when my hands were shaking. In order to overcome this challenge, I went slow and took my time. I eventually made those precise cuts, although I fell behind the class. I really wanted to make sure that all of my cuts were perfect, and by taking my time I did just that. An intellectual challenge I had was in the mussel dissection lab. I was confused as to where all of the body parts were. In order to overcome this challenge, I had to look at multiple diagrams and ask my partners for help. Eventually, I identified all of the parts, but it took me some time. An emotional challenge I had was during my worm lab. We got to play with the worms one day, and then the next day they were dead and we had to dissect them. It was hard for me to dissect them, as I was sad that they were dead. Emotionally it was hard to cut into them with a razor blade, as I had previously named them. I overcame this emotional roadblock by realizing that in order to get a good mark, I would need to dissect the worms. I also realized that they were already dead, so even if I were to dissect them, it wouldn’t matter, as they were already dead.
A screenshot from our three- minuet-long-infomercial about Herpes Simplex Virus One
A close up of the model of Herpes Simplex Virus One that we used within our virus infomercial
Throughout our two-week-long virus unit in Biology 11, we learned a variety of different things that all relate to viruses. Some examples are the structure of viruses, how they spread, the immune system, and immunity toward viruses. Everything that we learned can be best represented with our final virus project about herpes simplex virus one. My group consisted of three people, we all collectively worked together and agreed that an infomercial would be the best choice to demonstrate our knowledge.
When working on a group project where the criteria are solely talking and informing an audience, the core competency of communication is key to success. Initially, starting this project, we all knew that we had to keep everything organized, so we gave everyone designated responsibilities and roles to follow through on. I played the role of the director and organizer of this project, one group member played the role of researcher, and another group member played the role of the artist. My main role in this project was to direct, edit, organize, and come up with a layout for this three-minute-long infomercial. I represented communication skills doing this by communicating with my group members about new ideas or paths that I wanted this video to take. Anytime anyone had a new idea, all of us listened thoroughly and gave feedback. By doing this, we never once had a disagreement, as we all worked together to bring all of our ideas into one. I made sure that everyone was happy with the layout and editing of the infomercial by showing each group member and listening to their suggestions or feedback to make it better. One suggestion a group member gave me was to add light music to the background of the infomercial. After I added the music, the video felt complete and more professional. Overall, I wouldn’t really change much about this project as my group members and I had great teamwork and communication skills.
Collecting and sorting red and black prey, while they are camouflaged in a red environment. An example of natural selection.
I demonstrated that I can collect and analyze evidence when I recorded my data for both labs. During the first lab pictured, I successfully went through the steps of the lab, executing them properly and efficiently. Afterward and during the lab, I collected all of the evidence I had found; an example is when I counted the amount of red prey vs black prey and compared them towards each other in each environment. A second example is when in the second lab, I analyzed all of my collected data and came to a conclusion. The conclusion was that the spoon-feeding tool was the best for gathering food in each environment.
I demonstrated I can collect evidence and connect big ideas when doing lab questions. After each lab, we were asked multiple questions regarding the data that we found. This is a perfect example of connecting evidence/data to big ideas. An example would be within the pictured lab; I connected my evidence/data and discovered that, over successive generations, there would be genetic changes based on the specific environment that the prey are in. In a red environment, as pictured above, over successive generations due to natural selection the black prey would slowly turn more into a red colour, as demonstrated the data recorded, the red survived/thrived more within this environment than the black.
I demonstrated that I can make predictions based on evidence during the second lab. Within this lab, we were each given different feeding tools, (spoon, fork, knife, chopsticks, broken fork, and handle,) and we had to pick up various food with them, to fill up a small-sized cup. During the lab, I recorded evidence and data to make and prove predictions. One of the predictions I made was that the spoon-feeding tool will become the most common in each environment. This is because of the data I found; in each of the four environments, the spoon filled up the cup in the fastest amount of time and was efficient doing so. Based on this evidence, I can confidently say that the spoon will be the “alpha utensil,” within each tested environment, with the other utensils either migrating, dying off, or struggling for survival due to starvation and competition with the spoon.
I demonstrated that I can come to reasonable conclusions when completing lab questions. During both of the labs, multiple conclusions were made based on the data and the process of doing the lab. An example of one of these conclusions is from the first lab; the ultimate conclusion was that when prey are camouflaged, they will survive compared to the prey that are not. An example of this conclusion is within the red environment pictured above; the data was a clear depiction of camouflage equalling survival. The data collected shows a significant number of red prey survived, and a significant number of black prey died. This reasonable conclusion uses both knowledges of natural selection, as well as using the data to its full advantage.
