The Story Of The Seed

Analysis of the Garden and Plants  To survive, our plants depend on water, sunlight, temperature, animals, etc. Biotic factors such as animals and other animals affect my plant because they kill the plant. For instance, animals can eat the plant and other plants can take the water that the plant needs to survive. Our plants compete daily against the plants in the garden for water and sunlight. In this struggle, it is clear to see the "winners" simply by observing which plant grows more and which one dies. However, it's sometimes hard to see if both plants keep growing. Our plants are also involved in predation with animals because herbivores and omnivores use them as an energy source. On the other hand, plants do not gain anything from this because they are eaten. Plants growing is evidence that there is succession in the garden. This type of succession is secondary because there was already soil. -Natalie Martinez

Cycles and Our Plants  This week, I noticed that our plants have grown a lot and are a lot taller. I also observed that they are  a lot bigger compared to other plants. Our plants play a big role in the water cycle due to the fact that they absorb the water in their roots and help it return back into the atmosphere when it evaporates from their leaves. This, transpiration, relates to my observations because the plants absorbing the water helped them grow. In the carbon cycle, our plants participate in photosynthesis and respiration. This cycle affected my plants because it keeps them alive. To add on, in the nitrogen cycle, our plants use nitrogen to make proteins, which can then be consumed my animals. The plants' nitrogen uptake keeps them alive. -By Natalie Martinez 

 My Bio   My name is Isabella Pellegrini, I don’t have much experience gardening however my grandpa and grandma did have a garden when I was younger at their house. I do not remember doing much to it but I would go outside with my grandpa and watch him water and replant some plants. At the time I was way too scared to even touch it because of all the insects inside of the dirt. But my grandma on the other side of my family is also into gardening and has a lot of plants that she loves to take care of and when she is out of town she tells me to always take care of them. As you can see I don’t have much experience gardening and I don’t know how to do much but I would love to try.

Food Inc.  Throughout this documentary,  we learned about different controversial topics relating to food. From how the food was produced to how companies treat the animals, our class discussed how these steps could be changed.   More specifically, our class talked about how companies are lying to customers about what they are putting in our food. In other words, most food companies are not putting all the ingredients on food labels. This is really bad because unknown ingredients could cause customers to get food allergies or cause them to get health problems.  Customers should also know what is in the food they buy and eat. All in all, some food companies should change the laws they have on their food labels and inform their customers about everything that's in their food.  -Natalie Martinez

My Bio My name is Natalie Martinez. Since I was born, I have lived in San Jose. I have very little gardening experience due to the fact that I never had a garden. However, I have grown plants at my elementary school and I used to help my grandpa in our garden before we moved. At my elementary school, we grew carrots, tomatoes and lemons. I remember checking on the plants weekly and being so excited when they were fully grown and taking them home.  My main inspiration for gardening is my grandpa. At our old house, my grandpa planted a big garden in our backyard and watered the plants every morning. He would also tell my sister and I when the plants were old enough so that we could take them out of the ground. My grandma on the other hand, is a master in the kitchen. She likes to make a lot of Colombian traditional food and she makes natural juices using the plants in the garden. I hope to be able to learn these traditional foods and have my own garden in the future. -Natali