Biology Movie Project
Biology DP Update
Process
What was the purpose of the project?
Well, first of all, the purpose of the project was to create a quality movie that demonstrated our knowledge of DNA and what the cells in our bodies do. Overall, our goal for this project was to create a movie outline, script, and science scenes, and have a film that was around 20 minutes long and everyone had a job. I also feel that the purpose of this project was to have the whole class work together as we haven’t had many opportunities to do that this year.
To what extent did you, as an individual, meet the purpose?
For this project, I was in the script-writing team with Brigid and Owen. For that team, we needed to create the whole plot, develop all of the characters, outline, script, and science scenes. Overall, I feel that I met the purpose, for my group, of the project as we ended up with a finished script of the entire movie, with all of the science scenes, and characters. For our script, I helped with creating all of the parts in our script.
To what extent did we, as a whole class, meet the purpose?
Overall, our class didn’t have enough time to finish the entire movie, but I feel that everyone put the time and work in to make the movie turn out as best as it could in the time we had. When we started, it was hard to get everyone a job and organized, but after a couple of days and the restorative justice circle, I feel that almost everyone was on task with what we needed to do. I do feel that the class met most of the purpose, everyone had a job, the actors were usually on task, and while we didn’t have 20 minutes of the movie, we had around 7 minutes, some of the science scenes, and what we had seemed professional.
Warm Feedback
What did you personally do well on throughout the project?
While the project had a lot of unstructured days I feel that I spent my time wisely on the task at hand. I feel that I did personally well on time management for this project as I was on script writing and had to be on task all of the time with all of the pressure to finish the script in time. Most of the days, I would come in and get straight to work, either on writing the script or discussing with my team what needed to be done and then doing it. I feel that I was on-time all the time and always at work until we finished the script, at which point I transitioned into working on my Mitosis, Meiosis flipbook.
What did the whole class do well throughout the project?
Well, at first everything was unorganized and a lot of people didn’t have jobs, but after we went through the restorative justice circle everything seemed to flow better. I think that overall, the whole class did well at communication after the first few weeks. Everyone was letting each other know what they needed, such as if we had to add more science to the script, what actors we needed for the day, or even how we wanted to hang the curtains for the exhibition. In the beginning, everyone had trouble communicating what they needed, but eventually, we all realized that if we were to get anything done, we would have to talk to each other. Most of all I think that the whole class did well as tolerating each other, as a large project can stress people out and make each other hate each other sometimes.
Areas for growth
What challenges did you experience on a personal level?
For me, I found that I was challenged by everyone else. While I was on task most of the time creating the script, other people would be running around, making noise, or hanging out with friends. While this wasn’t really their fault, as it was mine, I found it hard to work with when my team and I were rushing to finish something. While that was what I was challenged by the most, I also found myself challenged by creating the script. Having to come up with all of these ideas and put them into reality was hard for me because I wasn’t sure if my peers would like it or not. While some of my ideas were shut down, most of them we kept.
What challenges did we experience as a whole class?
I think the main challenge for all of us was not having enough time to finish the movie. During the last two weeks of filming, we hadn’t gotten anything done. I think that we all found ourselves arguing with each other over what we needed to do in the time we had left, should we film, should we write a new script, etc. I think that the time was challenging for all of us because we didn’t realize how long it would take to do each part of the film, so we ended up wasting a lot of time which we could have used for filming or writing science scenes.
How could these challenges (both personal and whole class) be better handled in the future (again, think about what you can control)?
I think that the challenges that everyone faced for this project were diverse, but I also think that the project could have some parts that we can adjust to make everyone happier. The challenges that II faces, mostly being distracted, I think could be handled by making sure that everyone has a job at all times and isn’t wandering around distracting everyone else. However, when I faced that challenge, I was able to plug headphones in and ignore everyone, but it depends on the person. I think that for the whole class, we need to make sure that is also the same, making sure that everyone has a job at all times, whether it’s spreading out writing the script to more people, or even having them paint walls, so that not one group in the project feels pressured to finish so others can start.
What did collaboration look like in this project?
For my group, scriptwriting, it looked like all of us getting together at one table and working on creating ideas and jotting them down on paper and eventually into a document. However, collaboration for the whole class seemed to be more in the communication area. Most of the class didn’t have the same jobs as everyone else, but each group would need something from another group, which means communicating what they needed. And that happened more after the Restorative Justice circle, but still was a major part of collaborating. I also think that collaboration for this project happened whenever a job needed to be done and there weren’t enough people to do it, so more students would automatically jump in and give a hand.
How did you collaborate in this project?
For this project, I spent most of my time writing the script and outlining idea. However, that was also where I collaborated with my peers. When we were writing the script we all had to communicate with each other on what we needed to put into the script in order to meet the standards as well as the plot line. I spent a lot of time editing the script and making sure that it flowed well from one scene to the next, but overall I ended up helping with most of the script. I think that I collaborated with the filming team as well as the director in order to figure out what we still needed in the script. I had to go from one group to another, getting feedback as well as input in order to finish the script in time. Overall, looking back on the project it is hard to remember exactly specific events that I collaborated in other than the entire project, which was the point of a class movie.
Looking forward: If you were to do this project again…
What would you change about your approach to collaboration?
I think that if I had to do this project again, I would spread out the jobs a bit within the larger groups such as acting, scriptwriting, and directing. I think that if everyone had a part in every one of the jobs instead of just one, they might be more willing to work with the rest of the class simply because they got to do something they wanted to. However, I feel that I approached our group collaboration in a way that seemed suitable, I would ask questions, get feedback and make sure that everyone in my group had a say. I honestly would not change the approach I had, other than making sure that we switched jobs within our groups more often, but otherwise it was good the way it was.
What would you change about the project?
I think that if I was to change anything about the project, I would change the time and expectations that we were given. I think that the time we were given was more than enough time to complete a movie with adequate science scenes and entertainment, however, I don’t think that the movie created in that time could be more than ten minutes without feeling rushed and less than professional. I think that if the time we were given stayed the same that would be fine, however, I think that the expectations need to change to fit the skill of the class, and the topic might need to be different. Creating a whole twenty-minute movie based upon the movie Gattaca was a little much to undertake with no prior major movie making skills.
What would you keep the same about the project?
I think that overall the concept of the project was really well thought out, creating a movie where we had the freedom to choose the topic, and giving us the freedom to have the jobs we wanted. I think that keeping the concept is really important while changing some minor details might not be as important such as the length. I really thought that in the beginning, the movie was going to turn out because the concept of creating a movie for Biology seemed to be really exciting and new for sophomore year. However, while the movie didn’t turn out, the main thing to remember is that the concept was interesting and really got me going, which is what everyone was looking for this year. And while the project does need a few tweaks, I think that it was worth it overall.
Process
What was the purpose of the project?
Well, first of all, the purpose of the project was to create a quality movie that demonstrated our knowledge of DNA and what the cells in our bodies do. Overall, our goal for this project was to create a movie outline, script, and science scenes, and have a film that was around 20 minutes long and everyone had a job. I also feel that the purpose of this project was to have the whole class work together as we haven’t had many opportunities to do that this year.
To what extent did you, as an individual, meet the purpose?
For this project, I was in the script-writing team with Brigid and Owen. For that team, we needed to create the whole plot, develop all of the characters, outline, script, and science scenes. Overall, I feel that I met the purpose, for my group, of the project as we ended up with a finished script of the entire movie, with all of the science scenes, and characters. For our script, I helped with creating all of the parts in our script.
To what extent did we, as a whole class, meet the purpose?
Overall, our class didn’t have enough time to finish the entire movie, but I feel that everyone put the time and work in to make the movie turn out as best as it could in the time we had. When we started, it was hard to get everyone a job and organized, but after a couple of days and the restorative justice circle, I feel that almost everyone was on task with what we needed to do. I do feel that the class met most of the purpose, everyone had a job, the actors were usually on task, and while we didn’t have 20 minutes of the movie, we had around 7 minutes, some of the science scenes, and what we had seemed professional.
Warm Feedback
What did you personally do well on throughout the project?
While the project had a lot of unstructured days I feel that I spent my time wisely on the task at hand. I feel that I did personally well on time management for this project as I was on script writing and had to be on task all of the time with all of the pressure to finish the script in time. Most of the days, I would come in and get straight to work, either on writing the script or discussing with my team what needed to be done and then doing it. I feel that I was on-time all the time and always at work until we finished the script, at which point I transitioned into working on my Mitosis, Meiosis flipbook.
What did the whole class do well throughout the project?
Well, at first everything was unorganized and a lot of people didn’t have jobs, but after we went through the restorative justice circle everything seemed to flow better. I think that overall, the whole class did well at communication after the first few weeks. Everyone was letting each other know what they needed, such as if we had to add more science to the script, what actors we needed for the day, or even how we wanted to hang the curtains for the exhibition. In the beginning, everyone had trouble communicating what they needed, but eventually, we all realized that if we were to get anything done, we would have to talk to each other. Most of all I think that the whole class did well as tolerating each other, as a large project can stress people out and make each other hate each other sometimes.
Areas for growth
What challenges did you experience on a personal level?
For me, I found that I was challenged by everyone else. While I was on task most of the time creating the script, other people would be running around, making noise, or hanging out with friends. While this wasn’t really their fault, as it was mine, I found it hard to work with when my team and I were rushing to finish something. While that was what I was challenged by the most, I also found myself challenged by creating the script. Having to come up with all of these ideas and put them into reality was hard for me because I wasn’t sure if my peers would like it or not. While some of my ideas were shut down, most of them we kept.
What challenges did we experience as a whole class?
I think the main challenge for all of us was not having enough time to finish the movie. During the last two weeks of filming, we hadn’t gotten anything done. I think that we all found ourselves arguing with each other over what we needed to do in the time we had left, should we film, should we write a new script, etc. I think that the time was challenging for all of us because we didn’t realize how long it would take to do each part of the film, so we ended up wasting a lot of time which we could have used for filming or writing science scenes.
How could these challenges (both personal and whole class) be better handled in the future (again, think about what you can control)?
I think that the challenges that everyone faced for this project were diverse, but I also think that the project could have some parts that we can adjust to make everyone happier. The challenges that II faces, mostly being distracted, I think could be handled by making sure that everyone has a job at all times and isn’t wandering around distracting everyone else. However, when I faced that challenge, I was able to plug headphones in and ignore everyone, but it depends on the person. I think that for the whole class, we need to make sure that is also the same, making sure that everyone has a job at all times, whether it’s spreading out writing the script to more people, or even having them paint walls, so that not one group in the project feels pressured to finish so others can start.
What did collaboration look like in this project?
For my group, scriptwriting, it looked like all of us getting together at one table and working on creating ideas and jotting them down on paper and eventually into a document. However, collaboration for the whole class seemed to be more in the communication area. Most of the class didn’t have the same jobs as everyone else, but each group would need something from another group, which means communicating what they needed. And that happened more after the Restorative Justice circle, but still was a major part of collaborating. I also think that collaboration for this project happened whenever a job needed to be done and there weren’t enough people to do it, so more students would automatically jump in and give a hand.
How did you collaborate in this project?
For this project, I spent most of my time writing the script and outlining idea. However, that was also where I collaborated with my peers. When we were writing the script we all had to communicate with each other on what we needed to put into the script in order to meet the standards as well as the plot line. I spent a lot of time editing the script and making sure that it flowed well from one scene to the next, but overall I ended up helping with most of the script. I think that I collaborated with the filming team as well as the director in order to figure out what we still needed in the script. I had to go from one group to another, getting feedback as well as input in order to finish the script in time. Overall, looking back on the project it is hard to remember exactly specific events that I collaborated in other than the entire project, which was the point of a class movie.
Looking forward: If you were to do this project again…
What would you change about your approach to collaboration?
I think that if I had to do this project again, I would spread out the jobs a bit within the larger groups such as acting, scriptwriting, and directing. I think that if everyone had a part in every one of the jobs instead of just one, they might be more willing to work with the rest of the class simply because they got to do something they wanted to. However, I feel that I approached our group collaboration in a way that seemed suitable, I would ask questions, get feedback and make sure that everyone in my group had a say. I honestly would not change the approach I had, other than making sure that we switched jobs within our groups more often, but otherwise it was good the way it was.
What would you change about the project?
I think that if I was to change anything about the project, I would change the time and expectations that we were given. I think that the time we were given was more than enough time to complete a movie with adequate science scenes and entertainment, however, I don’t think that the movie created in that time could be more than ten minutes without feeling rushed and less than professional. I think that if the time we were given stayed the same that would be fine, however, I think that the expectations need to change to fit the skill of the class, and the topic might need to be different. Creating a whole twenty-minute movie based upon the movie Gattaca was a little much to undertake with no prior major movie making skills.
What would you keep the same about the project?
I think that overall the concept of the project was really well thought out, creating a movie where we had the freedom to choose the topic, and giving us the freedom to have the jobs we wanted. I think that keeping the concept is really important while changing some minor details might not be as important such as the length. I really thought that in the beginning, the movie was going to turn out because the concept of creating a movie for Biology seemed to be really exciting and new for sophomore year. However, while the movie didn’t turn out, the main thing to remember is that the concept was interesting and really got me going, which is what everyone was looking for this year. And while the project does need a few tweaks, I think that it was worth it overall.
Biology Infographic
Ecology Project Reflection
At the start of this project, I didn’t really have any skills that I could use to complete this project as I had never studied ecology. Between studying the ecosystem with Trails 2000, and learning about the local populations of organisms online, I was able to use this new knowledge to write my research paper on the local ecosystems. I think that having a good understanding of the way the organisms on our planet function really helped me with writing the final research paper, because it gave me a better understanding of how everything relies on each other. I also found that having a good understanding of the scientific method and scientific writing was very important because we had to do all of are papers without using personal describers such as We, I, or Myself, as well as having a non-biased outlook.
While this ecology project had many different parts with different concepts that we needed to learn about, I found that everything I learned had a place in the finished project. Although, at the start, we learned about the local ecosystems and how we impact them as humans, which I found to be very enlightening. I felt that the field trip was where I contributed the most because I was giving back to the ecosystems that support life on earth, and was helping to save the populations of organisms in the wild that add to the world’s biodiversity. I also found that researching the ecosystems was significant because it gave me the chance to go in-depth in our final report with the specific organisms, and how they are affected in our ecosystem that we studied.
This project was enlightening but did bring up some difficulties for me. The largest difficulty that I came across was creating my infographic, which needed to explain our ecosystem and its issue. This was mostly because I like to create in-depth articles that explain everything clearly. The infographic had to be created in the completely opposite way, where everything had to be explained using charts and pictures, something that I struggled with in the end.
When I started the project with my group, I thought that we would be able to finish our assignment relatively quickly without much of a hassle, but the longer the project went on, the more in-depth we tried to go. While this was good, we started to struggle finishing what we had planned to do before class ended. In the end, this was a good lesson to learn, that nothing ever goes as planned and to make extra time when needed.
Before the ecology project, I didn’t know very much about the ecosystems and how they functioned. So this project taught me so much that I needed to learn, and was engaging, which drew me into the project. I think that learning about organisms and their functions was the biggest one for me, this is because I knew nothing of them before and was genuinely intrigued by what they did for us in the world. I also learned a lot about the producers and the food chain, and how much each animal must eat to survive, something that I found to be interesting but not entirely helpful.
While this project was very good, and I learned a lot, there are a few things that I think I would change if I were to redo it next year in order to get better results. Most of it would be with the infographic, where each group member had to create a separate one. I would change it so that there was one infographic per group, but each person had contributed part of their knowledge to it so that at the exhibition, everyone would have something to show from the project. Overall this was a good project and I am glad to learn about new things.
I think that the future holds many opportunities for me to use the knowledge that I gained from this experience. At the current moment, I do not know what my future holds for me, but I do know that if I were to choose a scientific career this project will have given me a great understanding of part of our biosphere. I felt that the research for this project was a great introduction to the world of scientific study. By doing this project and introducing me to the world of ecology, I feel that I will have a deeper understanding of what is around me and how I can help to save the many organisms that keep our world in balance from extinction.
While I learned a lot during this project, there were a few skills I wish I had prior. I think that having some more experience in creating infographics would have helped me achieve a better outcome because it would have given me an idea of what I needed to create, something I had no clue about. Other than the infographic experience I think that the project went smoothly and I’m proud of what I accomplished.
As most people have different learning styles than each other, I can say that this project had different activities that went well, and didn’t go well with my learning style. My learning style usually involves a little bit of hands-on work with a mix of writing and research, and this project offered a wide variety of styles that I found good as well as bad. I found that the research and hands-on parts of the project were well structured and went well, whereas some of the writing I felt a little confused in some spots.
After this project, I feel that I won’t change the way I approach projects, but I do feel that I will go into projects with a better understanding of what is expected of me. Overall I think that this project was a great experience and that I will be able to use this knowledge in the future, whether it be for research papers or infographics.
Methane Report
joeandybrigidalma_methanereport.pdf | |
File Size: | 533 kb |
File Type: |