Movie Project
Movie Script
Project Reflection
ecosystem/ecology project
Methane Report
Infographic
Project Reflection
Methane/Ecology Project Reflection
Brigid O’Brien
12/2/16
What methods, theories, ideas and skills that you learned or used in class/current curriculum/other experiences were useful in completing this project?
The method of informative writing, also called “science writing,” that we learned (and are still learning) in this class was helpful to me in completing this project because of my role in our methane report. I introduced methane in the Four Corners by writing about what it is, what it does, and where it comes from, along with the predominant ecosystems that it affects. Learning how to write informatively helped me write a concise introduction.
What are two of the most significant things you did during the experience? Through those actions, how did you contribute to the success of the project?
I think that the most significant things I did during this project were making my infographic and writing my section of the report. Both of these things required research and hard work; therefore I think that they both contributed to the success of our project. The research that I did for our report correlated to my infographic, and the more research I did for my infographic the more I was informed about the topic of our report.
In what ways did you experience difficulties (e.g., interacting with others, accomplishing tasks) and what personal characteristics contributed to the difficulties (e.g., skills, abilities, perspectives, attitudes, tendencies, knowledge)?
In the beginning of the project I found it very difficult to get the ball rolling with my infographic, and struggled with starting to format on Venngage. I think this was due to my habit of procrastinating--if I hadn’t put off starting the infographic, I would have had more time to work on it. I also struggled with finishing my work in class, which led to a lot of work outside of school. In another situation similar to this, I will definitely practice procrastinating less, because if I don’t I will probably be setting myself up for struggle in future high school years and college.
What assumptions or conceptions (about yourself, others, or how things work) were confirmed or contradicted by the experience?
My preconceptions on how our group worked were confirmed and contradicted at the same time. Throughout the project, my group members and I had a tendency to be off topic and mess around. While I was expecting this, I also predicted that we wouldn’t get everything done. This assumption was contradicted because my group members worked hard with the skills that they had, and I thought that some of them would probably slack off - but I was proved wrong… mostly. I think that some of the people in our group could’ve contributed more and did not really care about the outcome of our project. However, we ended up getting everything done and I think that we all worked hard, with the inevitability of some people working a little bit harder than others.
What did you learn about your subject matter/research area that you had not known prior to having completed this project?
I learned a large amount about the reliability of a website and what websites are better to use than others. I got most of the information for my infographic and report from the Environmental Protection Agency’s website. However, I also came a across a lot of sites whose validity was questionable. Because of this, I had to research more thoroughly, which left me with a deeper understanding of what websites are more trustworthy and educational than others.
If you could do the project again, what might you do differently to achieve improved results?
If I could do the project over again, I would choose to expand more on the introduction of our report. I think that I could have gone into more depth on what methane is and what it does, then left out the less relevant information regarding the ecosystems affected by methane. In retrospect, I think that writing about the ecosystems was almost irrelevant to our report. When reading over the introduction, I found the ecosystem information to be the least interesting part of my written section. To further improve the report, I would instead write something more relevant for the introduction.
What could be the implications of what you learned from this experience for your future work/research/career?
My career “dream” is to become an endangered species biologist, so the knowledge and skills that I learned for the duration of this project are a great starting point for a future career in biology. Learning how to write an informative report and looking into ecosystems and how they affect animals/plants is an essential part of why animals may be endangered. The research that I did for this class will probably closely correlate to what research I will be doing in college or a future career.
What skills, knowledge, or experience did you wish you had prior to attempting this project that would have aided you to get more from the experience and/or achieve a better outcome?
I think that additional knowledge of biology in general would’ve helped me with this project. Honestly, I have not received the greatest science education in previous schools, and I worry about my lack of prior knowledge negatively impacting me when I attempt to learn more about science. I think that if I would’ve known more about ecosystems and how they are affected, I would’ve been able to contribute more to my group. In this case, I had to do a lot of extra research on information that I probably should have already known (such as the basics of what greenhouse gases are, and what they do).
How well did the activities focused on in this experience mesh with your learning style?
I think that this project-- and the activities that we did to learn content--worked pretty well with my learning style. I honestly like lectures, so I really enjoyed the beginning of the project when we took notes on ecosystems, biotic and abiotic factors, and relationships between different plants and animals. Later in the project, I struggled with working in a group because there are times when I struggle with communicating and prefer to work by myself. Other than that, I liked this project because of the incorporation of digital design/art and writing, and also because of the way we built our knowledge for the end product of our project.
How will having participated in this experience change how you approach projects/tasks/research in the future?
As stated before, I frequently struggle with getting a project started. This project has shown me that once I begin something, I really get into doing the assignment - meaning I find myself really productive and hardworking when I finally start a project. From this project, I have realized that I don’t need to waste time wondering how I will start a project and ruminating about whether or not it will be perfect and refined enough. Instead, I know that it does not matter how I start something. Getting a project started is more important than the quality of it in the beginning, because I can always refine it later. If I follow this plan, I will also be setting myself up for success because I will have a larger amount of time to work.
Brigid O’Brien
12/2/16
What methods, theories, ideas and skills that you learned or used in class/current curriculum/other experiences were useful in completing this project?
The method of informative writing, also called “science writing,” that we learned (and are still learning) in this class was helpful to me in completing this project because of my role in our methane report. I introduced methane in the Four Corners by writing about what it is, what it does, and where it comes from, along with the predominant ecosystems that it affects. Learning how to write informatively helped me write a concise introduction.
What are two of the most significant things you did during the experience? Through those actions, how did you contribute to the success of the project?
I think that the most significant things I did during this project were making my infographic and writing my section of the report. Both of these things required research and hard work; therefore I think that they both contributed to the success of our project. The research that I did for our report correlated to my infographic, and the more research I did for my infographic the more I was informed about the topic of our report.
In what ways did you experience difficulties (e.g., interacting with others, accomplishing tasks) and what personal characteristics contributed to the difficulties (e.g., skills, abilities, perspectives, attitudes, tendencies, knowledge)?
In the beginning of the project I found it very difficult to get the ball rolling with my infographic, and struggled with starting to format on Venngage. I think this was due to my habit of procrastinating--if I hadn’t put off starting the infographic, I would have had more time to work on it. I also struggled with finishing my work in class, which led to a lot of work outside of school. In another situation similar to this, I will definitely practice procrastinating less, because if I don’t I will probably be setting myself up for struggle in future high school years and college.
What assumptions or conceptions (about yourself, others, or how things work) were confirmed or contradicted by the experience?
My preconceptions on how our group worked were confirmed and contradicted at the same time. Throughout the project, my group members and I had a tendency to be off topic and mess around. While I was expecting this, I also predicted that we wouldn’t get everything done. This assumption was contradicted because my group members worked hard with the skills that they had, and I thought that some of them would probably slack off - but I was proved wrong… mostly. I think that some of the people in our group could’ve contributed more and did not really care about the outcome of our project. However, we ended up getting everything done and I think that we all worked hard, with the inevitability of some people working a little bit harder than others.
What did you learn about your subject matter/research area that you had not known prior to having completed this project?
I learned a large amount about the reliability of a website and what websites are better to use than others. I got most of the information for my infographic and report from the Environmental Protection Agency’s website. However, I also came a across a lot of sites whose validity was questionable. Because of this, I had to research more thoroughly, which left me with a deeper understanding of what websites are more trustworthy and educational than others.
If you could do the project again, what might you do differently to achieve improved results?
If I could do the project over again, I would choose to expand more on the introduction of our report. I think that I could have gone into more depth on what methane is and what it does, then left out the less relevant information regarding the ecosystems affected by methane. In retrospect, I think that writing about the ecosystems was almost irrelevant to our report. When reading over the introduction, I found the ecosystem information to be the least interesting part of my written section. To further improve the report, I would instead write something more relevant for the introduction.
What could be the implications of what you learned from this experience for your future work/research/career?
My career “dream” is to become an endangered species biologist, so the knowledge and skills that I learned for the duration of this project are a great starting point for a future career in biology. Learning how to write an informative report and looking into ecosystems and how they affect animals/plants is an essential part of why animals may be endangered. The research that I did for this class will probably closely correlate to what research I will be doing in college or a future career.
What skills, knowledge, or experience did you wish you had prior to attempting this project that would have aided you to get more from the experience and/or achieve a better outcome?
I think that additional knowledge of biology in general would’ve helped me with this project. Honestly, I have not received the greatest science education in previous schools, and I worry about my lack of prior knowledge negatively impacting me when I attempt to learn more about science. I think that if I would’ve known more about ecosystems and how they are affected, I would’ve been able to contribute more to my group. In this case, I had to do a lot of extra research on information that I probably should have already known (such as the basics of what greenhouse gases are, and what they do).
How well did the activities focused on in this experience mesh with your learning style?
I think that this project-- and the activities that we did to learn content--worked pretty well with my learning style. I honestly like lectures, so I really enjoyed the beginning of the project when we took notes on ecosystems, biotic and abiotic factors, and relationships between different plants and animals. Later in the project, I struggled with working in a group because there are times when I struggle with communicating and prefer to work by myself. Other than that, I liked this project because of the incorporation of digital design/art and writing, and also because of the way we built our knowledge for the end product of our project.
How will having participated in this experience change how you approach projects/tasks/research in the future?
As stated before, I frequently struggle with getting a project started. This project has shown me that once I begin something, I really get into doing the assignment - meaning I find myself really productive and hardworking when I finally start a project. From this project, I have realized that I don’t need to waste time wondering how I will start a project and ruminating about whether or not it will be perfect and refined enough. Instead, I know that it does not matter how I start something. Getting a project started is more important than the quality of it in the beginning, because I can always refine it later. If I follow this plan, I will also be setting myself up for success because I will have a larger amount of time to work.