Unit 7 Reflection

        Throughout the following unit, I learned about the concept of ecology, and what it entails. Many of the topics covered, however, included ecosystems, and what effects them. For example, multiple nutrient cycles were included into the vodcasts, including the nitrogen cycle, phosphorous cycle, and the carbon cycle. During the course of this unit, I also learned about different biomes, and the huge amount of biodiversity hidden within them, through food chains and food webs.
        However, I have come to realize that many ecosystems are under fire from many different things, all of which are damaging ecosystems at a constant rate, which will only get bigger if nothing is done to save the ecosystems. This is shown in the movies and videos that we watched as a class, such as "Bag It!", and "Story of Stuff". While watching these videos, I found out that much of our trash is being thrown into landfills, of which were previous ecosystems, and the air is becoming more and more polluted from this, as well as incinerators. While recycling can help this, much of our efforts are useless, as our rate of trash being produced is much higher than we can ever hope to recycle. This means that unless government action takes place, much of our environment will be at the mercy of our trash.
        While I watched videos and vodcasts, I felt as is nothing illustrated what we learned better than the group project did on conservation biology. Through this project, I learned much about how ecosystems worked, but also was able to grasp onto the many dangers that threatened the ecosystem currently, and how big the dangers were. I also learned how to work better with other people, as at first it was hard to schedule time in order to put the final product together.
        Although I learned a great deal from these things, this information all relates back to the main themes of ecology, which are interdependence, homeostasis, and cause and effect. For example, interdependence was shown not only in our vodcasts, but in our group project as well, showing that all creatures in an ecosystem relied on each other in order to survive. Homeostasis is also shown through this, showing how populations can boom and bust because of temperature changes, or the loss of a food source. Cause and effect, on the other hand, is shown mostly in the videos seen in class, making me think of how much our trash is effecting the rest of the natural world. Through this, I believe that I have learned not only the nature of ecosystems, but their threats as well, and the dangers that loom over us all.

Story of Stuff

        The "Story of Stuff" explains how broken our economy is in relation to our government. This is illustrated through a diagram, which shows the five steps in our economic system, which has duped the government into favoring corporations, instead of the people. The first step in this diagram is Extraction, where raw materials are striped from the Earth, ruining the land. After this, toxic chemicals are poured into the raw materials in order to make consumables for the public, of which almost none of the chemicals have been tested. Once the products are ready for the public, they are put into stores, where consumers buy products constantly. After they buy new products, they throw their old ones away, which are incinerated into the air, releasing man made toxins into the air. This process is not great, which emphasizes the economy over the environment. However, this system will become obsolete because the environment will not be able to give raw resources to the corporations once depleted. Therefore, the economy would have to change drastically in order for something substantial to happen.
        While the situation seems difficult to get out of, we can help. One method would be through recycling. However, while this method can be useful, it is deafened by the scale of 70 trash cans to every one can of trash that you produce went into. This means that 70 cans of trash went into making the one can of trash that you are throwing away. This is also not a complete option because most products are not recyclable. This means that we as a nation would have to vote to make the government take back power from the corporations, at the cost of our own money. This is proven by the solution of making the government put a tax on extra waste produced. This would make the masses stop buying new things, therefore forcing companies to make more durable, expensive things for products.