Final Reflection

Plant life on campus!

When I first heard about group 4, in 9th grade, I was terrified. I remember imagining a very complicated and serious process that I was sure to not do very well in. However, this project was a lot more relaxed, engaging, and fun than I ever would have assumed. I really enjoyed the fact that we could delve into a wide range of topics, choosing something that we were actually interested in and were motivated to learn more about. I am, and was, very interested in plant life - we're learning about this in biology and I love the fact that you can see proof of your research blossoming all around you. When we were germinating our seeds I was so enraptured by the little leaves and plumule poking their way out into the world that I actually took two of our sprouts home and currently have them set out on my windowstill to germinate further. I've also planted some seeds in some soil outside and am going to start a small herb garden. I think that this process is amazing and I'm so glad that I got to explore just how resistant plants are. 

Overall, I think that this project had both it's positives and negatives. I think this project, for me, was all about transformation and learning - my eyes were opened up to so many different things, and I have definitely progressed as a person. I learnt what my own strengths and weaknesses are, and just how important it is to have a positive mindset and collaborate well with others. 

Working with my group members made me realise that though I am strong with regards to organisation, focus, motivation and working, I can sometimes lack the ability to let loose and relax in what I do. I need to be more willing to hand over to others when I take on a leadership position. 

I think a positive development of mine was the fact that coming into the project after the original wednesday meeting I was far more aware than ever of my weaknesses in the group (being overpowering and not letting others do as much work as they would've liked (despite my best efforts to integrate them)) and so I decided to take a big step back from my leadership position and let my other team members take more control. There were a lot of times when my group members would look at me for instructions but I tried to shift things towards their ideas instead. I think that the reason that Leya and I clashed a little on the wednesday meeting was because we both wanted to take on the leadership position, and we were tugging for control. I truly thought, on the wednesday, that I was letting my group members have their say - I would often stop to ask for their advice and offer them roles, and I would compliment people on their work, etc. However, despite my strengths in organisation, motivation and commitment, after some time to reflect I realised that perhaps I had not done as good as a job in teamwork as I had thought. The days after Wednesday were a lot better in terms of cooperation because of my acceptance and awareness of this flaw, and my work to improve it. For example, I tried to let the others, especially Gwynne, take on a major part of the presentation. I think everyone got along a lot better because of this increased collaboration. 

Nevertheless, though I am aware of my original weakness in collaboration, I feel that Leya was slightly harsh in her view and treatment of me during the project. I understood that she had wanted to be more of a leader, but I think she was also weak in teamwork due to the fact that she did not help me to improve through communication and consideration but more through irritation and a stubborn refusal to cooperate with me. During the day she dealt with her annoyance at me by withdrawing into herself and not putting her full effort into the project, spreading some negativity in our group. I think that a big part of working as a team is helping your group members overcome their challenges, and I didn't really feel supported by her. All the same, I am glad that I was made aware of my faults and was able to improve.

Gwynne and Naledi were very cooperative and supportive, and I got on well with them. Naledi was a good member of the group, consistently making quality contributions, whilst Gwynne was a hard worker and seemed very motivated. They were both adept at designing and setting up the lab, and worked very hard in finding articles about plant life on mars. 

I feel that I would probably score a 5/6 on this project. I feel that motivation was not an area that I was lacking in, due to my interest in biology and the natural world, and that I was very aware of my own strengths and weaknesses and have reflected thoroughly. However, I feel that I do not deserve full marks on this project due to the teamwork aspect. I think that I score a partial (1) in this section due to the fact that I did exchange views and put effort into collaboration and communication, but required the guidance of my teammates to realise that I was not putting my best foot forwards to change and collaborate. With this guidance I was able to collaborate with my group members, and I have now realised one of my biggest weaknesses - perfectionism and an overbearing character, when in a leadership role, because of it. I will be able to use this knowledge (and have already used this knowledge) to improve my collaboration in the future, which I am glad about.

This project has been a very educational experience in the whole. I now know what it will be like in the 'real world' after school, where people from all different areas must come together and collaborate. Sometimes collaboration can be a difficult task, but it is rewarding and very much worthwhile. I have learnt a lot about communication and teamwork during this past week, and I think this will be very useful as I progress in life. We could have done our lab slightly more accurately and practiced presenting a little more, but other than that I think we were very productive with regards to our project. I'm pleased with what I have achieved, and I hope that my other teammates are similarly happy!

Presentation Day!

Today we met at school at around 8:00 to practice and finish up our powerpoint before the presentations. We all met in the commons and then went down to the biology lab to collect our lab results. The lab had gone quite well, and we could clearly see that the testas had been ruptured and that the plumal's had grown a great deal. It was interesting to observe the fact that the bean exposed to no light (grown in darkness) had the longest plumals, and that the bean grown in normal light (our control group) was the only one that had developed a great deal of chlorophyll pigment (as seen by its green color, compared to the yellow color of the other beans grown in the light of lamps). This told us that the beans developed different pigmentations depending on the wavelengths of light that needed to be absorbed. Furthermore, we also observed that one of the seeds placed in the cup was always smaller than the other. We thought this was because the two seeds competed for resources.

I thought that our lab results were very interesting indeed, and that we did a good job designing and carrying out the lab.

After we had taken measurements and done some qualitative data collection for the lab we headed back to the commons and put it all into the powerpoint. We sat for a while and practiced our presentation.

Results of our lab - The effect of light on seed germination
Independent variable: The number of cm the bean was placed away from the light source
Dependent Variable: Length of the plumal

We then began the presentations! Watching the other groups present was a very interesting experience, not only was I able to discover and learn about a series of incredible investigations into life at the extremes, but I also managed to observe how team members interacted with each other. I liked how Josh's group did a talkshow for their presentation, I thought it was creative and very informative, and it was clear that they had done a great deal of research. The other groups all worked in various forms of media to enhance their presentations, another group doing a lab as well, which made the day far better. I was originally worried that we hadn't done the right thing and that we had slightly too many slides to our prezi, but by watching the others I grew more confident with what we had accomplished. I think that our presentation was unique due to our 'X-Treme show' clip and lab results, including the fact that we could pass round beakers with our results for people to see. I was glad that our audience found our video entertaining, and I think that our information was well organised and presented as well. The lab and video also added a more interactive aspect to our presentation, and I thought the audience were more engaged because of it. While we were presenting I was pleased to find that we all managed to say a great deal, Gwynne especially being given an opportunity to present her findings.

 I had tried to take on a smaller role in the powerpoint, so as not to control and dominate our presentation, giving my other team members more to do. During all of our meetings after the Wednesday activities I have done my best to surrender some of my control and let my other team members get more of a chance to do work, as I realise that this is something that I was weak at, and I think the group is doing far better because of it. I've been trying really hard to be less commanding and controlling in this project, and I hope that my team members have realised how much effort I'm putting into this.

In conclusion, today was very good for the group, we worked well together and presented the powerpoint really nicely. I'm glad that all of our hard work amounted in something that we can be proud of, and I think that I've learnt a lot from this experience - both about the natural world around me, and myself. 

Meeting 1

Yesterday we met at 7:30 in the commons to discuss our project. We went over what we had already done and spoke about our lab and presentation. Gwynne and I arrived first and did a small reflection for the group, going over our strengths and weaknesses and evaluating our labwork. We also went over her slides, as she was a little confused about what to say. I had done the majority of the research and was studying our topic in bio so I was able to expand on what we had on the slide. The rest of the group arrived at around 7:45 and we practiced reading out our slides together. There was a little confusion at first as to who was reading out what, but we found the plan we had created and everything was made clear.

After we had finished practicing our slides we discussed the lab. Our beans are currently in the biology lab, but there was a little trouble regarding temperature over the last few days. The temperature increased too much and the beans were not adequately hydrated. However, we managed to move them yesterday to a more stable location and we have been watering them consistently. Some of the seeds have broken their testas, but I have not been able to observe whether or not the plumal is actually visible.

To conclude, we still have to do a little more research and put in our lab results, but our presentation is basically complete and we have practiced our presentation and know what we are doing. We are definitely getting better at working as a group and I feel that we have all formed stronger friendships as a result.