Our Task
Our task was to create a presentation on a species from the IUCN “Amazing Species” list. The animals on this list were all endangered or close to extinction. We had to answer these following questions:
How have humans affected your species survival?
What specific resources does your species require and how do they get those resources?
What resources are most limited for your species? How does this affect their survival?
How is your species dependent on other species? How are other species dependent on your species?
Why does biodiversity matter in order for your species to survive?
How is your species designed to ensure successful reproduction?
How is reproductive success threatened for your species?
What is the ancestral history of your species?
How has your species changed over time?
Predict if your species will survive or become extinct.
Our group chose the Colombian Basin Pygme Rabbit. Here below is a picture of it.
How have humans affected your species survival?
What specific resources does your species require and how do they get those resources?
What resources are most limited for your species? How does this affect their survival?
How is your species dependent on other species? How are other species dependent on your species?
Why does biodiversity matter in order for your species to survive?
How is your species designed to ensure successful reproduction?
How is reproductive success threatened for your species?
What is the ancestral history of your species?
How has your species changed over time?
Predict if your species will survive or become extinct.
Our group chose the Colombian Basin Pygme Rabbit. Here below is a picture of it.
Here is our video
Vocab.
Evolution: The process by which species change through natural selection and adapts to create a new species or changes to better fit their environment.
Extinction: When a species has no surviving individuals in the world. The whole species has died.
Natural Selection: The process where organisms with advantageous traits (Traits that are beneficial to survival) pass on through offspring and become a gene common in a whole species throughout lots of years.
Artificial Selection: This is where humans choose which individuals survive in a species and how the species evolves.
Biodiversity: All the different types of species in an environment that live together and are beneficial to each others survival.
Gene Pool: All of the genes or traits that a population possesses.
Mutation: A random event where a new member of a population is born with a trait or gene that was not in the gene pool. This results from a mistake of the copying of the DNA for the newborn. Mutations are one of the only ways that a gene pool can change, and are important in evolution.
Gene Flow: All of the genes in a species.
Shrinking Population: When a population gets very small for any possible reason which also decreases genetic variation.
Non-random Mating: When organisms have a preference of mating, just like humans. The individuals with desirable or advantageous traits usually reproduce more, so they pass on their genes and change the gene pool.
Adaptation: A new behavior or trait that a species takes on that is advantageous. Adaptations help a species survive in its habitat. Some mutations lead to adaptations, but some are not considered adaptations because they do not help a species survive.
Speciation: It is the process by which a species splits into two or more different types or possibly new species. There are multiple types of speciation such as: allopatric and sympatric, geographic isolation, genetic drift, and more.
Extinction: When a species has no surviving individuals in the world. The whole species has died.
Natural Selection: The process where organisms with advantageous traits (Traits that are beneficial to survival) pass on through offspring and become a gene common in a whole species throughout lots of years.
Artificial Selection: This is where humans choose which individuals survive in a species and how the species evolves.
Biodiversity: All the different types of species in an environment that live together and are beneficial to each others survival.
Gene Pool: All of the genes or traits that a population possesses.
Mutation: A random event where a new member of a population is born with a trait or gene that was not in the gene pool. This results from a mistake of the copying of the DNA for the newborn. Mutations are one of the only ways that a gene pool can change, and are important in evolution.
Gene Flow: All of the genes in a species.
Shrinking Population: When a population gets very small for any possible reason which also decreases genetic variation.
Non-random Mating: When organisms have a preference of mating, just like humans. The individuals with desirable or advantageous traits usually reproduce more, so they pass on their genes and change the gene pool.
Adaptation: A new behavior or trait that a species takes on that is advantageous. Adaptations help a species survive in its habitat. Some mutations lead to adaptations, but some are not considered adaptations because they do not help a species survive.
Speciation: It is the process by which a species splits into two or more different types or possibly new species. There are multiple types of speciation such as: allopatric and sympatric, geographic isolation, genetic drift, and more.
Reflection
I think our project went pretty well.. We worked well together and all decided on everything unanimously. We made a slide show with just facts and we decided that it was boring so we restarted and made a video. Even though in the video we didn't cover a lot of material, we pulled up the slideshow at the end of the presentation. We wrote a script, but when we were in the middle of filming it, we didn't follow the script very well. I was very sick for a few days in the middle of filming our video, so I wasn't in it.