Overview
In this project, we were given a lot of freedom. We had to pick a world problem, and solve it using biotechnology. My group decided to research the problem of overpopulation. We found that to feed the growing world population, agriculture uses over 11% of our land space and 70% of our freshwater. We think that this has to change, so we engineered a solution that uses no land, and way less water. Our solution is hydroponics, and you can see how we designed it, in our presentation below.
Our Presentation
Content
Hydroponics: the process of growing plants without soil and using nutrient solution instead
Carrying Capacity: the number of organisms that a region can support
Biotechnology: using biological processes for industrial and other purposes
pH: measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution
Electrical Conductivity: the measure of how well a substance conducts electricity
Agriculture: Science or practice of farming
Return on Investment: a profitability ratio that says how much profit you make as opposed to your investment
Nutrient Film Technique: a hydroponic method in which water flows through and system and is re-circulated
Carrying Capacity: the number of organisms that a region can support
Biotechnology: using biological processes for industrial and other purposes
pH: measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution
Electrical Conductivity: the measure of how well a substance conducts electricity
Agriculture: Science or practice of farming
Return on Investment: a profitability ratio that says how much profit you make as opposed to your investment
Nutrient Film Technique: a hydroponic method in which water flows through and system and is re-circulated
Reflection
One peak, or something good about this project, was my groups critical thinking and creativity skills. We thought of a lot of different scenarios for our barge, and we came up with solutions for all of them. We had to think about things like how the barge will effect the environment and how we would design the barge to make it use the space the most efficiently. One pit, or something that could be improved, was our class's overall attitude. I felt that our class really needed a more positive attitude, and if we had one, this project would've been way better. Another peak was my group's work ethic. We worked every single day, and while other groups were doing other stuff, we were doing work. I also spent time outside of class to make a 3D model, and I think our presentation is very complete because of all the work we put into it. Another pit was the amount of time we spent researching/brainstorming at the beginning. I think we could have spent less time deciding what we wanted to do, and instead just pick one option and go with it. This would give us more time to delve deeper on the one subject that we wanted to research.