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.