Name of Assignment: Hawaiian Endemic Species Report Subject: Environment and Ecology Facilitator/Teacher: Ms. Gould
Description of Work/Assignment: For this assignment we had to choose an endemic species in Hawaii to study and research. It was a relatively short essay, but it had to be packed with detail. There was a minimum of one page but it was recommended to be longer if you had to add more detail. We had to include the biology, fun facts, environments, predators, and some other information to get the full credit. There was also a mini presentation that we had to do for the essay. I wrote my essay on the Hawaiian 'amakihi. This assignment had to do with the chapter on endemic, extirpated, and extinct species. I also got to learn a lot about other endemic species here in Hawaii from the other students essays and presentations.
Which 21st Century Skill do you feel this assignment addresses, and why? I think that information skills had a big part in this project. It didn't specifically have any interesting or new ways of integrating technology into the assignment, but I definitely had to find a lot of information. One requirement for the paper was to have at least two scientific sources. That was just the minimum, so I actually had to do a lot of research through a lot of different sites and articles. Writing an essay is like a puzzle because there is not one site that will have all of the information for you. Also, understanding the information that you are reading can be hard especially when it has some scientific terms that you are not used to.
What are you most proud of from this assignment, and why? I am most proud of the information that I found. Research papers are the hardest for me, and I usually dread writing them. I feel like I never can find interesting or relevant facts on the subject of the paper. This time though, I was easily able to find the information that I needed. I was also able to understand and rewrite everything that I had learned. I personally think that this was one of my best research papers, even though it wasn't that long.
How did you develop and/or improve upon your 21st Century Skill with this assignment? Like I just mentioned, for this paper I was really able to understand the information that I was reading. Usually, I just mindlessly write my research papers, and nothing comes from it. They are also very boring and hard for me to write. This essay has given me a second look I guess on research essays. I now know how to really make the most of the information that I am gathering, and how to turn it into and interesting essay.
What was most difficult about completing this task? The hardest thing or me about this essay was writing the introduction. The introduction is always the hardest part for me, and I think it may always be. I never know if I should be giving more or less information because I don't want to spoil what I am saying in the rest of the essay. I also have a hard time writing thesis statements that are attention grabbing. I guess that it is a very important thing for me to work on though, because it is a very important part of every essay.
How could you improve this work? If you could start over, what would you do different? I never really learned how to do in-text citations, so I think that would be the first thing that I would want to improve on. Luckily, my teacher didn't take any points away, and just gave feedback instead. This helped me understand a little bit on how I should do it next time. If I started over I would make sure that my sources were scientific and easy to cite in the essay.
How does this relate to what you have learned in the past? I have written many essays, some of which were research papers. Since I have written this type of paper before, I knew the format that it had to be in, and in general what to write about. I have also learned a bit about endemic species in previous science classes, which helped me to pick what species I was going to research.
How can you apply this to future learning? Like I said earlier, this essay made me like writing research papers. I learned how to get useful information from websites and how to put it into my essay in an interesting way. This will really help me on my next research paper because it kind of gives me a head start. I know how to manage my time effectively and where to look so I can make the most out of my time. I also learned more about in-text citations, so I will be able to do them correctly next time.