INTRODUCTION
The main goal of this project was to use biotechnology to solve a current issue in the world. We were to do this by working collaboratively in teams and use our knowledge and understanding of biology to identify a real world problem and then create a proposal to a biotechnology company to further our research or to create/get invest in our product. As you can see we were given a very large amount of freedom on this project, but we were still monitored by the implementation of checkpoint assignments, or "stages", to show we were making progress. On this page I will explain and show all of the stages and then our final product so that you can fallow along the thinking path that my partner, Ryan Miller, and I went through.
TERMS/Concepts
Biotechnology- The use of living systems and biological concepts in a technical or technological application.
Mentor- An experienced or trusted adviser. We used a mentor for questions and advice.
Ecosystem- A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Biodiversity- The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
Competition-A relationship between organisms in which one is harmed when both are trying to use the same resource related to growth, reproduction, or survivability. Competition stems from the fact that resources are limited.
Predation-A form of symbiotic relationship between two organisms of unlike species in which one of them acts as a predator that captures and feeds on the other organism that serves as the prey.
Extinction-When there are no more individuals of a species left in the world.
Invasive-An Invasive Species is a plant or animal that is not native to an ecosystem. They are usually introduced to the ecosystem in question due to humans moving them there or migration due to extreme weather or global warming changing climates and allowing them to move to or thrive in the new ecosystem. These species compete with endemic species for resources and in almost all cases the invasive species out preforms, over eats and destroys ecosystems due to them having no natural predators in the new ecosystem and no competition.
Endemic-An Endemic Species is a plant or animal that only exists on one location. They are usually found on either a specific continent, region, or island and they develop differently due to geographic isolation from their counterpart, or there is no counterpart, this makes endemic species rare, and very vulnerable to non-native threats.
Domesticated-An animal that is tamed and used to living around humans as either a pet or on a farm.
Stray-A domesticated animal that is lost or wandering.
Feral-An animal that has never been domesticated, and is living in the wild state.
Evolution-Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of populations over time. In our case we focused on how the evolution of a species is dependent on the conditions of its location and the other species it shares that location with.
Trophic Levels-A trophic level is the group of organisms within an ecosystem which occupy the same level in a food chain. There are five main trophic levels within a food chain, Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary Consumer, Tertiary Consumer, and Decomposer.
Food Webs- A graphical model showing the interconnecting food chains in an ecological community. Used to show the flow of energy and relationships between all members of an ecosystem.
Pheromones- A chemical substance that is usually produced by an animal and serves especially as a stimulus to other individuals of the same species for one or more behavioral responses.
Hormones- A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and regulates the activity of certain cells or organs.
Australia-Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands.
The Galapagos-The Galápagos Islands is a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. A province of Ecuador, it lies about 1,000km off its coast. Its isolated terrain shelters a diversity of plant and animal species, many found nowhere else.
Hawaii- Hawaii, a U.S. state, is an isolated volcanic archipelago in the Central Pacific. Its islands are renowned for their rugged landscapes of cliffs, waterfalls, tropical foliage and beaches with gold, red, black and even green sands.
Poison-A substance that is capable of causing the illness or death of a living organism when introduced or absorbed.
Mentor- An experienced or trusted adviser. We used a mentor for questions and advice.
Ecosystem- A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Biodiversity- The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
Competition-A relationship between organisms in which one is harmed when both are trying to use the same resource related to growth, reproduction, or survivability. Competition stems from the fact that resources are limited.
Predation-A form of symbiotic relationship between two organisms of unlike species in which one of them acts as a predator that captures and feeds on the other organism that serves as the prey.
Extinction-When there are no more individuals of a species left in the world.
Invasive-An Invasive Species is a plant or animal that is not native to an ecosystem. They are usually introduced to the ecosystem in question due to humans moving them there or migration due to extreme weather or global warming changing climates and allowing them to move to or thrive in the new ecosystem. These species compete with endemic species for resources and in almost all cases the invasive species out preforms, over eats and destroys ecosystems due to them having no natural predators in the new ecosystem and no competition.
Endemic-An Endemic Species is a plant or animal that only exists on one location. They are usually found on either a specific continent, region, or island and they develop differently due to geographic isolation from their counterpart, or there is no counterpart, this makes endemic species rare, and very vulnerable to non-native threats.
Domesticated-An animal that is tamed and used to living around humans as either a pet or on a farm.
Stray-A domesticated animal that is lost or wandering.
Feral-An animal that has never been domesticated, and is living in the wild state.
Evolution-Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of populations over time. In our case we focused on how the evolution of a species is dependent on the conditions of its location and the other species it shares that location with.
Trophic Levels-A trophic level is the group of organisms within an ecosystem which occupy the same level in a food chain. There are five main trophic levels within a food chain, Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary Consumer, Tertiary Consumer, and Decomposer.
Food Webs- A graphical model showing the interconnecting food chains in an ecological community. Used to show the flow of energy and relationships between all members of an ecosystem.
Pheromones- A chemical substance that is usually produced by an animal and serves especially as a stimulus to other individuals of the same species for one or more behavioral responses.
Hormones- A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and regulates the activity of certain cells or organs.
Australia-Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands.
The Galapagos-The Galápagos Islands is a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. A province of Ecuador, it lies about 1,000km off its coast. Its isolated terrain shelters a diversity of plant and animal species, many found nowhere else.
Hawaii- Hawaii, a U.S. state, is an isolated volcanic archipelago in the Central Pacific. Its islands are renowned for their rugged landscapes of cliffs, waterfalls, tropical foliage and beaches with gold, red, black and even green sands.
Poison-A substance that is capable of causing the illness or death of a living organism when introduced or absorbed.
STAGE 1
The task of stage 1 was to research and identify at least six challenges or limitations to solving a current health, food, energy, waste or water issue. We had to do six of these so they are very bare bones.
STAGE 2
The goal of stage 2 was to as a group research possible biotechnology products/solutions for chosen problem. Then each person will take a specific solution per problem and research it more in depth. We also made a poster for this and did a peer review and gallery walk. At this point we had decided on doing overpopulation. We also had to choose a mentor to send an email to. At this point me and my partner were still doing overpopulation.
STAGE 3
The assignment for stage 3 was to choose one biotechnology product/solution from their pool of possible products and develop a detailed description of the problem, your approach, and the product. At this point in the project me and my partner changed subjects from overpopulation to invasive species. We did this for two reasons, one, because the solutions to overpopulation are more social and not biological, and two, we felt that we wouldn't do our best on that topic.
STAGE 4
The endeavor of stage 4 was to plan and test your product. Obviously since we are high school students and not licensed toxicologists we instead wrote out what test would be conducted for our product if we had money, time, and licences.
STAGE 5
The mission of stage 5 was to create our product and give a detailed description of what it is.
OUR PRESENTATION
Reflection
For the last project of the year I feel like this was perfect. It was a culmination of all the concepts we learned, it let us use the work ethic we developed over the year ourselves, and it gave us so much creative freedom. For this project I feel me and my partner did really well. Both our time management and quality of work is quite well, especially during Finals. Our time management for this project was excellent as when we were given so many work days we were able to get a lot done in class. I also believe our quality of work is nice due to the freedom of this project giving us the ability to do what we want. Overall I feel like we went out with a bang for our final project.
Honestly I can't really think of that many issues we had. If I had to give two I would say seriousness and work sharing were the only issues. The seriousness of this project was really only an issue before we changed subjects from overpopulation as my partner really felt that the best solution would be to get rid of humans and that joke idea somewhat went to far and led to some struggles in the beginning. Our work sharing I felt was fine, but looking back I was a little bit of a work hog. This is mostly because of how free we were leading me to have an idea of a project and taking the work from my partner to complete my ideal. This wasn't that bad as it was not that frequent and he was cool with it, but looking back I will try to improve on this in the future. All in all this was a great final project and I can't wait for next year.
Honestly I can't really think of that many issues we had. If I had to give two I would say seriousness and work sharing were the only issues. The seriousness of this project was really only an issue before we changed subjects from overpopulation as my partner really felt that the best solution would be to get rid of humans and that joke idea somewhat went to far and led to some struggles in the beginning. Our work sharing I felt was fine, but looking back I was a little bit of a work hog. This is mostly because of how free we were leading me to have an idea of a project and taking the work from my partner to complete my ideal. This wasn't that bad as it was not that frequent and he was cool with it, but looking back I will try to improve on this in the future. All in all this was a great final project and I can't wait for next year.