Research Logs

Research Log #1 - Solutionary Project 2020

Date: February 5, 2020
Name: Hilina’i Fabrao-Satele
Essential Question: How is the problem of endangered animals affecting society?

Three Points to Prove: #1: Society lacks awareness of certain animals that are endangered
#2: Losing certain animals can affect our ecosystems
#3: Affects the food chain

Point that this Source Proves: # 2 (bees job in the ecosystem)

Bees are becoming endangered and without bees most of our plants won’t get the pollen
which gives us oxygen.
Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

“Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the male parts of a flower to the female parts of
a flower of the same species, which results in fertilization of plant ovaries and the production of
seeds.” (Michigan State University)
“Individual bees tend to focus on one kind of flower at a time, which means it is more likely
that pollen from one flower will be transferred to another flower of the same species by a particular
bee. Many plants require this kind of pollen distribution, known as cross-pollination, in order to
produce viable seeds.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

This proves that we need bees. The provide the necessary things that most plants need to
live and produce more such as corn and pumpkins.

Work Cited (correct MLA format):
“Pollen from a Plant's Point of View.” All About Pollen, Seeds of Diversity Canada,
www.seeds.ca/swww/pollination/pollen-and-flowers/pollen.
“Pollination.” Native Plants and Ecosystem Services, Michigan State University,

www.canr.msu.edu/nativeplants/pollination/.

This is a reputable and reliable article because

This is a reliable source because it is an .edu source and was made by Michigan State University
and a save the bees organization.


Point that this Source Proves: # 3

*it’s a video*
The video says that when certain animals go extinct, it affects the other animals. If an animal, the
predator, doesn’t have the animal they eat, the prey, then it affects that animal too. If animals
can’t have the animals that they would normally eat to survive then they can’t survive either. It
goes the other way too, for example turtles. Turtles eat jellyfish, but turtles are going extinct. If
they were to go extinct the jelly fish population would increase, which could potentially cause
bad things for the environment or result in a invasive species.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5eTqjzQZDY
( I tried to cite it but it wouldn’t work, but this is my video)
This is a reputable and reliable article because

It is an educational video that has facts and statistics.


An article written by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums stated,
“While 1,459 species are currently protected by the Endangered Species Act,[1]survey
respondents said only 100 species were on the Endangered Species List.[2] Young people in the
United States (18-34) are even more optimistic, believing only 80 endangered animals are
protected.[3] Although 87 percent of those surveyed are willing to help save animals from
extinction, none of the 1,002 respondents knew the correct number of species protected under the
Endangered Species Act.”
“Respondents were most surprised to learn giraffes and hummingbirds were endangered (28%
for both), followed by salmon (19%) and cheetah (17%). Only half of survey takers accurately
identified cheetahs as endangered (53%). Cheetahs have declined to just 10 percent of their
original population size. Fewer than 30 percent of respondents know that giraffes with
extinction. Two of nine giraffe subspecies are endangered.”
“The AZA and its members are deeply committed to saving endangered species and have
established the AZA SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction® program, which uses the
collective expertise, resources and reach of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums to save
species.”

The first excerpt proves my point because there are 1,459 species on the endangered
species list and when people took a survey, asking how many animals they think are endangered,
they said only 100. This proves people have an idea about some animals that are endangered but
lack the whole picture of how many animals there are. It also lists statistics about how much the
people know about the situation. The second excerpt talks about the common animals that are or
were endangered. Such as giraffes and salmon. Many animals are going into that direction of
being endangered and many people are clueless about it. The last except talks about how AZA
and its members are working hard to spread awareness and help all the species.

“U.S. Americans Greatly Underestimate How Many Animals on the Endangered Species List,
Study Shows.” U.S. Americans Greatly Underestimate How Many Animals on the
Endangered Species List, Study Shows, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, 14 May 2018,
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid..
Point that this Source Proves: # 1 and 3

In an article Marla Spivak talks about the bee population,
“In 1945, there were 4.5 million hives of bees in the United States. Today, there are just
about 2 million. It’s been a subtle decline over time, but one that has dramatically
accelerated over the past seven years. And this should be extremely alarming, given that
bees pollinate one-third of the world’s crops.”
“We’ve talked a little about the past with bees, but in terms of the future: anybody who
likes food likes bees. It’s important that, if you think about urban planning, you think
about how to feed all of the people, and how to make the best use of space. With that
comes the need for pollinators. It’s the little connections. I like apples and almonds.
You’ve got bees to thank for that.”
“We overuse pesticides. We overuse antibiotics. We’re trying to get rid of all the little
pesty things that bother us, but in the process, we’re killing off all kinds of beneficial
insects and all kinds of beneficial microbes. We’re past the tipping point on these things,
and the bees are the ones that are telling us that we’ve gone too far.”

These three quotes relate to my points to prove because they all talk about how society is
unaware of what they are doing is hurting animals and how by hurting the animals it affects the
food chain. They talk specifically about bees and how much the bee population has decreased.
They list things such as how humans use pesticides to get rid of little things but in the bigger
picture it actually hurts everything around it, such as the bees. People are unaware that by using
things like antibiotics hurt animals. They also talk about how much bees do for our food and the
growing of them. Bees pollinate most of the plants and food we ate every day. Without bees
pollinating, our plants and crops will die. Bees are very important to our food chain and society
is clueless that they are endangered. Regardless if you like bees or not, they say “if you like food,
you like bees”

May, Kate Torgovnick. “What Is It about Bees? Three Experts on Why They're
Fascinating, Why They're Dying, What Can Save Them.” Ideas.ted.com, Ideas.ted.com, 10 Oct.
2016, ideas.ted.com/what-is-it-about-bees-three-experts-discuss-why-theyre-fascinating-why-
theyre-dying-and-what-can-save-them/.
VanEngelsdorp, Dennis. “A Plea for Bees.” TED, 3 July 2008,
www.ted.com/talks/dennis_vanengelsdorp_a_plea_for_bees#t-168119.

Date: March 6, 2020

“Before a mass extermination effort in the U.S. that decimated wolf populations
in the first half of the 20th century, wolves kept other animals' populations from
growing exponentially. They hunted elk, deer, and moose and also killed smaller
animals such as coyotes, raccoons, and beavers.”
“Without wolves to keep other animals' numbers in check, prey populations grew
larger. Exploding elk populations in the western United States wiped out so many
willows and other riparian plants that songbirds no longer had sufficient food or
cover in these areas, threatening their survival and increasing numbers of insects
like mosquitos that the songbirds were meant to control. ”
“We kill predators all over the world because we fear for our own interests, we
compete with them for prey and we destroy their habitats to expand our
communities and agricultural operations. “

These three excerpts are about how animals affecting our ecosystems. An example of this is the
wolf population. The wolf population had been decreased in the first half of the 20 th century by
the people and it caused a lot of backlash. Wolves are predators so they hunt animals, such as
elk, deer and moose, so when the people decreased the wolf population the animals that were
being hunted increased. By this increased it also affected many other things, when the elk
population increased it affected the willow trees, bird’s habitats and plants. The trees, bird’s
habitats and plants all caused other things to happen, for example songbirds no longer had the
proper or enough food, which affected their survival and caused the mosquito population to
rise, which was the birds main job. People kill the predators because they are afraid of them,
they also destroy habitats and places to live for the animals. By harming one species, it affects
every single other one out there, including plants and eventually humans too.
Bove, Jennifer. “Why It Matters When Species Go Extinct.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 16 May
2019, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid..

Date: April 1, 2020



“The big leap forward came in the 1990s, when biologists started outlining all
the ways animals and plants benefit us just by being there. These benefits, which
most of us take for granted, are called "ecosystem services". Many of our crop
plants rely on these insects to produce seeds. Some of these services are obvious.
For instance, there are plants and animals that we eat. Meanwhile, photosynthetic
plankton in the sea, and green plants, provide us with the oxygen we breathe.”
“These are quite direct, but sometimes the services provided can be more subtle.
Pollinating insects like bumblebees are an obvious example. Many of our crop
plants rely on these insects to produce seeds, and would not survive – let alone
provide us with food – without them. This is why the decline in pollinating insects
has provoked so much concern.”
“Let's not even get started on the microorganisms living in your gut, many of
which are beneficial. The point is that, while we could in theory do all these things
artificially, it would be very difficult. It is far easier to let the existing wildlife do
them for us. The scale of these ecosystem services, when you add them up, turns
out to be extraordinarily large.”

The article talks about how little people know and realize the importance of animals, and them
potentially at risk to go endangered or extinct. The first quote talks about how many of the plants
and animals we see every day affect us in many and huge ways. People take them for granted from
consuming them to those animals or plants providing essential things for humans such as oxygen to
breathe. The second one talks about how animals, specifically the bumblebees, help other animals
or plants and without them the entire ecosystem could fall apart and effect everything. That’s why
little but still very important animals or plants must be taken care of properly or it can cause big
changes for everyone. The last one talks about how people are ignorant to the importance of this
situation. They assume we can just make all the things we need artificially but in reality, that can
cause even worse problems for humans in the future. The ecosystems we live with could range from
small to huge but when combined all together it creates something big and of much importance.

Marshall, Michael. “Earth - What Is the Point of Saving Endangered Species?” BBC,

BBC, 14 July 2015, www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150715-why-save-an-endangered-species.

Date: April 1, 2020


Point that this Source Proves: # 1 and 2
Video: “A hypothetical nesting season, a female will lay at least 1000 eggs
multiple times in single year. One thousand eggs laid, eight hundred hatches, four
hundred make it to the water (effected by debris, animals such as crabs, birds,
raccoons, or gulls and other threats), two hundred progresses towards adult hood,
twenty survive till breading age (without human interference such as pollution,
beach development, plastic, poaching, long fishing lines, nets, and chemicals like
oil), and only two survive to breading age with human interference.”
Article:
“Sea turtles, especially green sea turtles, are one of the very few animals to eat sea grass. Like
normal lawn grass, sea grass needs to be constantly cut short to be healthy and help it grow
across the sea floor rather than just getting longer grass blades. Sea turtles and manatees act as
grazing animals that cut the grass short and help maintain the health of the sea grass beds. Over
the past decades, there has been a decline in sea grass beds.
“Sea turtles are part of two ecosystems, the beach/dune system and the marine system. If sea
turtles went extinct, both the marine and beach/dune ecosystems would be negatively affected.
And since humans utilize the marine ecosystem as a natural resource for food and since humans
utilize the beach/dune system for a wide variety of activities, a negative impact to these
ecosystems would negatively affect humans.”
The first quote was from a video I watched and it talked about turtles surviving rate. It is
very low which many people do not know. It does not help that humans have also affected their
surviving rate greatly. The number for their rate drops significantly from 20 to 2. That difference is
a major factor as to why turtle population has decreased. Their chances are already low and the
human factors do not help, and any humans are unaware of that. The last two quotes are from an
article talking about why turtles are so important. They affect not only one but two ecosystems, the
marine and the beach. Turtles eat many underwater organisms, which help them out because they
create a balance between the underwater ecosystem. For example, they eat seagrass which
maintains it and helps other animals such as fish and shellfish. This seagrass is their home, without
a proper home they will die off and those fish/ shellfish will die off as well. Some of these organisms
are a main food source so without a source of food the other animals will have to look for food in
other places. In some cases, they will die as well and that chain will continue until eventually it
reaches humans and we feel the impact. Although, turtles are cute and that is why people want to
help them out, they actually serve a greater purpose then most people realize, making them
unaware of the bigger picture.

Gass, Scott. “The Survival of the Sea Turtle - Scott Gass.” TED, TED-Ed, 12 Aug. 2015,
ed.ted.com/lessons/the-survival-of-the-sea-turtle.
“Information About Sea Turtles: Why Care?” Sea Turtle Conservancy, 2018,

conserveturtles.org/information-about-sea-turtles-why-care/.

Date: April 1, 2020



“Koalas consume the excess vegetation, therefore, reduce the biomass that fuels frequent and
intense fires. During the rainy season, koala droppings act as nutrients for the regeneration of
undergrowth, ensuring that the forests regenerate to sustain future life. These excrements also
serve as food for insects and small rodents. “
“Koalas are not the only species that feed on eucalyptus, other animals and insects compete for
the same source of food, but some are unable to climb higher to feed on the leaves. As the koalas
feed, they break branches and drop leaves, making them available to ground insects.”
“Global warming will likely increase the frequency and intensity of forest fires, while
deforestation and human population pressure will push the animals out of their natural habitats.
This will lead to the collapse of the ecosystem that has been shaped by thousands of years of
interdependence. If no effort is made to secure the future of the koalas, they are likely to be
extinct in the next 100 years.”
In the article, it talks about koalas and how important and prominent their role is in the
ecosystem. The first quote talks about what the koala eat, and when they consume such things it
helps everything around them. They mainly eat plants and their feces becomes a new food source
for other small rodents. Without that main source of food those rodents would have to look for food
somewhere else or potentially die from lack of food. The second one talks about koalas main source
of food, the eucalyptus, and how it is also a food source to other animals. Koalas like to climb and
do so when searching for their food so during the climbing branches and leaves fall down which is
also a source of food for ground insects. Since that plant does not have a lot of nutrients, koalas
typically sleep for 20 hours a day to conserve energy. The last quote talks about how global
warming is affecting the koala population. If people do not do their part in helping and taking care
of these adorable animals, then they will go extinct very soon.

Kiprop, Victor, and Victor Kiprop. “What Is The Role Of Koalas In The
Ecosystem?” WorldAtlas, 2 Dec. 2019, www.worldatlas.com/feature/what-is-the-role-of-koalas-
in-the-ecosystem.html.

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Research Log #1 - Solutionary Project 2020

Essential Question: How is the problem of endangered animals affecting society?

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

“Pollination.” Native Plants and Ecosystem Services, Michigan State University,

Research Log #2 - Solutionary Project 2020

Essential Question: How is the problem of endangered animals affecting society?

Point that this Source Proves: # 3

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Work Cited (correct MLA format):

This is a reputable and reliable article because

Research Log #3 - Solutionary Project 2020

Essential Question: How is the problem of endangered animals affecting society?

Point that this Source Proves: # 1

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Work Cited (correct MLA format):

Essential Question: How is the problem of endangered animals affecting society?

Point that this Source Proves: # 1 and 3

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Work Cited (correct MLA format):

Research Log #5 - Solutionary Project 2020

Essential Question: How is the problem of endangered animals affecting society?

Point that this Source Proves: # 2

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Work Cited (correct MLA format):

2019, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid..

Research Log #6 - Solutionary Project 2020

Essential Question: How is the problem of endangered animals affecting society?

Point that this Source Proves: # 1

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Marshall, Michael. “Earth - What Is the Point of Saving Endangered Species?” BBC,

Essential Question: How is the problem of endangered animals affecting society?

Point that this Source Proves: # 1 and 2

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

“Information About Sea Turtles: Why Care?” Sea Turtle Conservancy, 2018,

Research Log #8 - Solutionary Project 2020

Essential Question: How is the problem of endangered animals affecting society?

Point that this Source Proves: # 2

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

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