Take Action Term Project

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Take Action Term Project

For our fourth and final project we are going to engage with our environment and other species in it.  Did you know that 99.9 % of species that have ever lived on Earth have gone extinct? Yes extinction of species is a normal part of biologic process.  Species lose their foothold, are exposed to changing conditions, or lose their source of nutrition, and they die out.  About 2 species for every 10,000 species in every 100 years is the normal background extinction rate.  There are about 8,750,000 different species.  Not all of those are as cool as polar bears and eagles. Species that have very niche needs, like one plant that they eat, or have large nutritional needs, and a low reproductive rate tend to die out.  Human beings have put additional pressure on species ecosystems, competing with species for space and food, and human impact reaches beyond our immediate area.  Fertilizers, industry, recreation, and waste disposal often increase our impact into the public lands and waters around us.  Invasive species, are species taken from one area, and placed in an area they have never lived.  Being new to the area, they may have no natural predators, and an outsized advantage over indigenous (local) species.  We as human beings have played our part in bringing in There have been 5 previous mass extinction events, and some scientists believe we are in the midst of a 6th global extinction.  Estimates vary widely and I don't believe that case is proven yet, but that does not mean we shouldn't act to improve the world around us.  It is due by May 12th, 2023.

This term I encourage you to do something about it!  There is no midterm check this time.  This assignment is worth 20% of your grade, and is 100 points.  Your options for your term project are this:

NO SLIDE SHOWS ARE ALLOWED!!!!!!

1. Pull a full leaf sized garbage bag of Dyars Woad, an invasive plant species that populates trails and roadsides and the hills of Northern Utah and is bad for cattle and other grazers.  Get a pair of gloves on and only do this in safe places. Spend an hour getting rid of this plant.  When its seeds turn black and fall to the ground they  kill the other species around them.  Here is information on how to identify it. https://extension.usu.edu/crops/research/identifying-and-managing-dyers-woad-in-pastures-rangelands-and-non-crop-settings Links to an external site.

Take a picture of yourself pulling Dyers Woad, and email it to me, and bring in your large sized garbage bag of the noxious weed.  I will dispose of it.  

2.  Volunteer An Hour at the Ogden Nature Center.  Take a picture of yourself and email it to me,  record your hour with the center.  They keep an official record of volunteers, so bring your record for full credit. 

3. Visit Utahs Hogle Zoo.  Zoo's and their breeding programs are often the last resort for our endangered species.  Support the Zoo. Take a picture of yourself next to  one of the endangered species in the zoo.  Take a picture of the plaque that describes the animal. Write a paragraph about that animal. Send it all by email to me. 

4. Clean a trail a park or a road.  Please make sure you are in a safe place, and not on the side of a busy road.  Put on some gloves, take a picture of yourself in the place you are cleaning and email it to me.  Bring in the large trash bag of trash that you clean-up.  I will dispose of it.  Do not pick up old needles please. 

5. Visit the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District at 2837 UT-193, Layton, UT 84040.  They have a native plant garden there to help their water customers decide how to landscape with beautiful native plants.  Take a pictures of yourself there and one of the plants you like.  Write one paragraph about the native plant.  Email pictures and paragraph to me. 

6. Make a compost bin for your own home. Drill holes in an old plastic tub with a lid, a plastic garbage can, or other container, so that the compost is getting oxygen, then start putting grass clipping and kitchen organic waste into it.  Take pictures of you working on it and your bin completed and in use.  You can fertilize the garden with it and reduce your household waste.  Write a paragraph about the benfits of composting.https://www.thespruce.com/compost-bin-plans-4769337 Links to an external site.

7. Visit Antelope Island and talk to a park ranger at the visitor center.  Find out about the shrinking Salt Lake, and where the water table is this year.  Take a picture of yourself at the shoreline, or with the park ranger, and write a paragraph about ideas to conserve water in your home.  Send pictures and paragraph to me.

8. Visit Snow basin and measure the depth of the snow at the parking lot level.  Record the snow level and the date, and take a picture of yourself doing so.  Look up what the snow level has been for the last 5 years and in a paragraph compare, and discuss what you might be able to do to save water or reduce driving.

9. Build a bird feeder or a bat house and take pictures of yourself doing so.  Bring it in if you can.  Get some bird seed from me. Take a picture of birds or bats visiting if you are able.  Here are instructions for very inexpensive bird feeders. https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/14-easy-diy-winter-bird-feeders/#:~:text=A%20water%20or%20milk%20jug,hang%20it%20in%20a%20tree Links to an external site..  bat house plans ( more expensive) https://www.thespruce.com/bat-house-plans-4775009 Links to an external site..  Write a paragraph about endangered song birds. Submit pictures and paragraph by email.

10.  If you have a license and like to  fish, take a picture of yourself fishing, and write a paragraph about what the fishing laws say about how to treat different species of fish, invasive and native.  Send the picture and paragraph to me.  https://wildlife.utah.gov/fishing/fishing-regulations.html Links to an external site.

11. People can't think about how to treat their  environment when they are experiencing poverty, hunger, or lack safety. Collect canned food for the Utah Food bank, and when you bring it to them, take a picture of yourself giving it to them. Write a paragraph about Maslows heirarchy of needs. Send pictures and paragraph in to me. https://www.utahfoodbank.org/ Links to an external site.

12.  Visit the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake city.  Take a picture of yourself next to the display of an animal that has gone extinct. Take a picture of the explanatory plaque.  Write a paragraph about that species. Email the pictures to me.  https://nhmu.utah.edu/ Links to an external site.

13.  Traditional Option: Pick an endangered speicies or invasive species and write a two page  research paper, single spaced, with 3 citations, about that plant or animal.  Twelve font, normal margins, thoughtful information.

NO SLIDE SHOWS ARE ALLOWED!!!!!!