Post 12: References

1. http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=10TCvK 9v70C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0

2. http://encarta.msn.com/find/

3. http://www.tulane.edu/~eeob/Courses/Ecology_Materials/arctic_alpine_99f.html

4. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/tundra.php

Post 11: Pyramid of energy

Energy Chart

Organism	KJ/year
Duplici cicapitatus (omnivore)	210, 700
Panthera camelus (carnivore)	330, 000
Ungues parva (carnivore)	13, 500, 000
Suaviter furorem (herbivore)	6, 900, 000, 000
Viridi spicatus (plant)	418, 600, 000, 000

Energy Pyramid – kJ/year

Post 10: Self-playing Presentation Link

The link for my group's self-playing presentation: http://goo.gl/kloM6

Group members:

Liu WanRui (16)
Madhumitha Pandiaraja (18)
Rita Mok Wei Tong (20)
Wang Yuxing (34)
Yamon Min Ye (35)
Clarice Yeoh Hsin Yee (36)

Post 9: A brief reflection

This Biology performance task has allowed me to learn and understand ecology in a very engaging and entertaining manner. By allowing us to apply what we learn about the relationships among organisms in this eco-system, I have gained a deeper understanding of symbiosis and also how animals take on different features to thrive in their habitat. Moreover, I realized that an organism cannot be too weak or too strong for its predator or prey. This would cause an imbalance in the food web because it will not be playing its role as a predator/prey effectively. The force fitting was truly another activity that I enjoyed. It was the first time I used this technique and it turned out very useful as it boggled my mind to be more creative and innovative. Creating the video also allowed me to explore iMovie. All in all, it was an enriching, pleasurable and unique experience. 

Post 8: Photographs of my final organism

Front View

Back view

Side view (Right)

Side view (Left)

Top view

Bottom view

Post 7: An annotated photo guide to how I made my organism

Materials used

1. 2 malleable facemasks

2. Foam          

3. Green-coloured modeling clay

 4. Green Twist Tie

5. Green Synthetic Paint

6. Paint Brush

7. White glue

8. 4 Styrofoam leg-like structures

9. 2 Styrofoam spheres

10. 2 pieces of fur coat

11. Squeeze bottle

12. 4 screws with hook

1. Poke holes at the sides of the masks.

2. Use the green twist tie to tie the masks together on one side.

3. Put the head of the rubber ducky through one of the “eye holes” in the mask.

4. Ensure that when the rubber ducky’s head it squeezed, sound is produced.

5. Make a hole at the bottom of one mask, as shown in the picture (near the chin area of the mask).

6. Fill a plastic squeeze bottle with talcum powder.

7. Use the tube from the liquid soap bottle dispenser and fit it through the hole on the lid of the squeeze bottle. This is in order to make the tract for the powder to come out longer.

8. Put the tube in the modified squeeze bottle through the hole mentioned in Step 5.

9. Cut out a small opening (giving space for the index finger to enter) on top of where the squeeze bottle will be placed within the two masks.

10. Compress and fill the whole space between the two masks with foam and newspapers until it is very tight and packed.

11. Tie the other end of the masks together.

12. Fill up the “eye holes” in the mask except for the one with the rubber ducky, with modeling clay to even out the surface.

13. Close up the exposed top and bottom of the facemasks, put together, with modeling clay as well.

14. The structure made so far till Step 13 will be the body of the organism.

15. Paint the body of the organism, including the modeling clay, dark green colour.

16. Let the paint dry, which will approximately take 12 hours.

17. Dig 4 holes into the bottom of the body of the organism at the 4 corners, using the screws. 

18. Pierce the screws through the Styrofoam legs to hold the legs in place.

19. Paste the fur coat using white glue onto the top of the organism’s body.

20. Cut 4 strips of another piece of the fur coat.

21. Paste each of these strips at the upper part of each leg where it joins the body.

23. Use the cutter to cut the sphere-shaped Styrofoam balls into two halves.

24. Using white glue, paste 2 hemispheres as the eyes on the two sides of the front of the organism.

Post 6: Sketches of my organism (including improvements made to my organism along the way)

Sketch 1

Sketch 2

This is my second sketch. After looking at the adaptive feature of my organism’s predator, I realized that strong, hind legs were not enough for the organism to escape. Hence, I decided to add the feature of the tube, which squirts a powdery substance. A pleasant smell emanates from this powdery substance, which would be carried by the strong winds to the predators. Thus, the predator will be deluded and this would give more time for my organism to escape.

Sketch 3

This is the final sketch of my organism. I have added an organ which produces seductive sounds to attract mates. My group mates commented that the organism is not very pleasing in terms of appearance and hence, it would be hard for mating. Thus, I decided to add this adaptation so as for mating to occur in ease and therefore, ensure the continuity of this organism’s kind.