Ultimate Survival Unit Reflection

1.) Reflect on what has helped you in understanding the "big idea" of the unit.
         I thought that the movies in particular helped me to understand the "big idea" of this unit, because they gave many good examples, and good visual aids that really helped me understand what humans are doing. Human Footprint actually counted and gathered everything that we use as humans, and showed each item amount in a variety of different ways. That helped, as well as Food Inc - it actually showed what was going on inside of the factories that produce our meat, and had many interviews with company victims, farmers, and people that were prey of mass food production. Food Inc. and Human Footprint really helped me to understand what humans are doing, how we can help, and how we can maintain the balance between man and the natural environment.

2.) Reflect on the unit question (What is a necessity and how does an organism ensure survival of its species within its environment?) and how it relates to the unit title: Ultimate Survival.
        There are many different ways that organisms ensure the survival of their species. Almost all animals have adaptations that help them to lengthen their lives.  For example, mosquitoes have developed parasitism, a blood sucking proboscis, and light bodies, which help them eat and feed their young.  Tigers in Africa have adapted to the African savanna by growing stripes, which help them to blend in with the tall grasses they hunt prey in.  Some animals will produce two offspring and terminate the weaker one in order to make sure that the strong one will get enough food and pass on it's strong genes to future generations.  Animal adaptations relate to the unit title, "Ultimate Survival," because adapting is ultimate survival.  It's particularly extreme to kill your own child to make sure that the good one lives. 

3.) What would you have liked to do more of?  Less of? 
          I thought that maybe we didn't have to make the owl pellet report such a big deal, or if we did, it would be better to do it all at one time.  We started the lab, but then there was a huge gap of time where we just forgot about it and did other activities.  Then, when we started up with the pellets again, it was all out of our heads, and it was difficult to get back into a rhythm.  It would have been nice to observe something outside, like an insect or some other small creature (not a plant) and take notes on their behavior and see how they ensure the survival of their species.


4.) In your point of view, how well did we investigate the unit question, concept, and area of interaction?  Include this in your reflection as well and give specific examples to support your opinions. 
          I think that there really wasn't anything else we could do to investigate this topic.  We explored the different biomes and ecosystems of the world and the different animal adaptations there, we studied how humans are affecting the planet, we made visuals about different things humans are doing, and the resources we are using up.  We watched a couple of videos about surviving, someone came in and gave a talk, and much, much more.  There's almost nothing left to study about survival.