Project Reflection
In this biology project, I chose to study the current issue of the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch (The North Pacific Gyre). It was required to write a
management plan (a bullet pointed paper describing the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch, and a plan for managing this problem) to fix this issue of waste being
thrown into the Pacific Ocean. Along with the plan, I created a budget and
figured the amount of money it would take to go through with my plan for getting
rid of garbage in the Pacific Ocean. A timeline was included in this project, I
set dates for when specific events would happen such as
lectures being held in the city of Durango to educate on the negative
effects of plastic on the environment, that date on the timeline was put at
December of 2012. As a final project to display all of my work on the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch I created a poster board with my management plan, budget,
timeline, and graphs and diagrams explaining the location of the North Pacific
Gyre, and the plastic build up over the years. I had to conduct a lot of
research on this topic as many sights and scientists have very different
perspectives on what is really going on out in the Pacific Ocean. For example
the size of the patch is still undecided, some scientists believe it is twice
the size of Texas or the size of the USA; however others think it is no bigger
than Hawaii. Many things about the patch have yet to be determined and many
details have not been agreed upon by scientists, however research is being done
to learn more about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and what can be done to
clean it up, and to stop the amount of plastic and garbage that is being added
to the patch daily.
My strongest idea for managing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is raising
awareness in Durango and around La Plata County about the negative effects
plastic has on the environment. I decided that scientists, as well as
specialists in the area of plastic, and ocean waste would come to Durango and
lecture the City Council as well as the citizens of Durango (through lecture
series and school power lunches) on plastic waste in the ocean, and to let them
know what they can do differently as far as recycling and using a less amount of
plastic in Durango. The hopes for this plan is that if enough citizens in
Durango as well as stores around Durango buy into this mindset of using less
plastic, this idea will spread around Durango and hopefully turn all of Colorado
into a “green”state. The idea being that this mindset will eventually spread to
all of the USA, using Durango as a starting place for spreading this awareness.
Through this project I developed a very important skill, which is
learning how to write scientifically. My plan is to become a doctor after
college, and by doing that, I know that all reports and papers I write will have
to be in scientific writing. I like writing descriptively, how I am supposed to
write in Humanities class, I had always thought of not using descriptive
language as creating a very boring paper. However, through this project I
learned the importants of writing scientifically, and how this makes for a more
professional paper, and how it is easier in getting a point across about a
current, biological issue. Ecology is the study of biotic and abiotic organisms
interacting in an environment. I learned through research that marine life is
being negatively affected by plastic (an abiotic factor) entering the ocean.
Marine life is being poisoned by a chemical called Biphenyl A (BPA) that comes
from plastic. Also, sea animals are ingesting smaller pieces of plastic and
since plastic does not biodegrade, and it does not digest, this plastic stays in
the animal’s stomachs unable to pass on. This plastic fills up an animal’s
stomach slowly, and then eventually, the marine animal has no more room to fit
food that holds nutrients essential to an organism’s life. Before completing
this project, and conducting research on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, I
thought I was educated in the ideas of recycling and negative effects of plastic
and waste on the environment. However, it turns out that I knew almost nothing
about what really happens when plastic is not disposed of properly. By doing
this project, I learned much more than I originally did on plastic and
recycling, I see the awful effects on what plastic can do to the environment and
to marine life especially. I now see the importants of recycling and being green
on our planet, without this, many animals will die, and our oceans will be
filled completely with plastic.
Management Plan
Pacific Garbage Patch (The North Pacific Gyre). It was required to write a
management plan (a bullet pointed paper describing the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch, and a plan for managing this problem) to fix this issue of waste being
thrown into the Pacific Ocean. Along with the plan, I created a budget and
figured the amount of money it would take to go through with my plan for getting
rid of garbage in the Pacific Ocean. A timeline was included in this project, I
set dates for when specific events would happen such as
lectures being held in the city of Durango to educate on the negative
effects of plastic on the environment, that date on the timeline was put at
December of 2012. As a final project to display all of my work on the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch I created a poster board with my management plan, budget,
timeline, and graphs and diagrams explaining the location of the North Pacific
Gyre, and the plastic build up over the years. I had to conduct a lot of
research on this topic as many sights and scientists have very different
perspectives on what is really going on out in the Pacific Ocean. For example
the size of the patch is still undecided, some scientists believe it is twice
the size of Texas or the size of the USA; however others think it is no bigger
than Hawaii. Many things about the patch have yet to be determined and many
details have not been agreed upon by scientists, however research is being done
to learn more about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and what can be done to
clean it up, and to stop the amount of plastic and garbage that is being added
to the patch daily.
My strongest idea for managing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is raising
awareness in Durango and around La Plata County about the negative effects
plastic has on the environment. I decided that scientists, as well as
specialists in the area of plastic, and ocean waste would come to Durango and
lecture the City Council as well as the citizens of Durango (through lecture
series and school power lunches) on plastic waste in the ocean, and to let them
know what they can do differently as far as recycling and using a less amount of
plastic in Durango. The hopes for this plan is that if enough citizens in
Durango as well as stores around Durango buy into this mindset of using less
plastic, this idea will spread around Durango and hopefully turn all of Colorado
into a “green”state. The idea being that this mindset will eventually spread to
all of the USA, using Durango as a starting place for spreading this awareness.
Through this project I developed a very important skill, which is
learning how to write scientifically. My plan is to become a doctor after
college, and by doing that, I know that all reports and papers I write will have
to be in scientific writing. I like writing descriptively, how I am supposed to
write in Humanities class, I had always thought of not using descriptive
language as creating a very boring paper. However, through this project I
learned the importants of writing scientifically, and how this makes for a more
professional paper, and how it is easier in getting a point across about a
current, biological issue. Ecology is the study of biotic and abiotic organisms
interacting in an environment. I learned through research that marine life is
being negatively affected by plastic (an abiotic factor) entering the ocean.
Marine life is being poisoned by a chemical called Biphenyl A (BPA) that comes
from plastic. Also, sea animals are ingesting smaller pieces of plastic and
since plastic does not biodegrade, and it does not digest, this plastic stays in
the animal’s stomachs unable to pass on. This plastic fills up an animal’s
stomach slowly, and then eventually, the marine animal has no more room to fit
food that holds nutrients essential to an organism’s life. Before completing
this project, and conducting research on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, I
thought I was educated in the ideas of recycling and negative effects of plastic
and waste on the environment. However, it turns out that I knew almost nothing
about what really happens when plastic is not disposed of properly. By doing
this project, I learned much more than I originally did on plastic and
recycling, I see the awful effects on what plastic can do to the environment and
to marine life especially. I now see the importants of recycling and being green
on our planet, without this, many animals will die, and our oceans will be
filled completely with plastic.
Management Plan