For my personal project, I have decided to involve my interest in natural diversity since I have always been curious about the ecosystems and their components that can be found in different regions. This is also a way of exploring these interests, since I may take a greater approach in biology, and choose this study as a possible career path in the future. For this reason, I want to achieve a goal, which is to create a website, with an art exhibition that explains and shows the different ecosystems and biodiversity of four countries: Poland, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile. I chose these specific places because I have lived in these countries. Indeed, I am myself, half Polish and half Mexican, and I have traveled through Colombia and Chile as well. This is why I am very familiar with the natural environments of these regions, but I still want to research more about the specific characteristics of the fauna and flora, especially because of my own curiosity. Besides, I will explain the importance of wildlife, inform about the threats that some species have, and spread awareness about taking care of these ecosystems.

Goal
This is a SMART goal since my project has a specific goal, which is creating a website in which I will explain different biospheres with its biodiversity of Chile, Poland, Colombia, and Mexico. Also, I will create an art exhibition with paintings that will show the beauty of the environment. It is a measurable goal because I will investigate all the information needed by December, as well as I will create the design for the website by this time. It is an attainable goal for the reason that I will investigate at least 2 ecosystems from each country and I will do at least one painting of the landscape or the biodiversity of each of the regions. It is a relevant goal, meaning that by creating this website I will also explain how we should protect these places, to make my community more conscious about the importance of nature. Finally, it is a timely goal, because by December 20 I will have finished the research part of the project, as well as the design of the website.

Therefore, this goal is challenging for me since I have to investigate at least 2 biospheres from each of the countries mentioned and create several artworks about the landscape, fauna, or flora of the region. For these reasons, this project will take time management skills, my research skills, creativity skills, and good planning to organize each of the steps.








Global Context

Moreover, my goal is related to a specific Global context of the IB, which is scientific and technical innovation. I chose this Global context because in my personal project I am going to talk about the natural world that surrounds us, mainly about the contrasting natural areas that some countries have. In this way, I will analyze the interaction between people and the natural world, as I will explain how we, as a community, can care for and help these habitats remain safe and preserve their fauna and flora.

Prior Learning

Furthermore, another important element for my project is my prior and subject-specific knowledge, which will help me to understand better the components and the investigation that will create my goal. In my prior learning, I have had extra-curriculum Art lessons, in which I acquired some knowledge about the basis of the elements in art, that will help me to creatively make my art exhibition. Besides, I had Natural Sciences classes, in which I learned about topics regarding biodiversity, nature, landscapes, and biomes. This knowledge will help me to achieve my objective, of presenting different kinds of natural environments.

Also, I have obtained through my MYP subjects, different types of skills, that will help to develop my project. For example, through my Design classes, I made several websites, so I'm already familiar with designing and planning a website. Then, in the Visual Arts classes, I have studied several painting techniques, as well as the visual elements of artwork that will help me with the composition of the paintings. At last, during the geography class, I have learned different aspects of some geographical regions and their fauna, flora, and environmental issues. This will help me to better understand the components of a natural region and the issues that it faces, along with the solutions for the problems.

Later, I demonstrated my research skills by conducting my initial research, in which I investigated and chose the natural environments of each country, to find out which are the places on which I will do my personal project. For Chile, I decided to do the Chilean Patagonia and the Atacama Desert; for Poland, the Białowieża Forest and the Tatra National Park; for Colombia, the Tyrona National Natural Park and the Cocora Valley, and finally, for Mexico, the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, and the Lacandona Jungle.

Then, I investigated the topics that I will research for each of the chosen regions, which are: the main characteristics of the place, location, climate, ecosystems, fauna, and flora, and how we can preserve the habitat. Also, to know better what I will have to explain about each environment, I had to first know the meaning of my main keywords . According to the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary, an ecosystem is where all the plants, animals, and people, live in an area and are considered together with their environment as a system of relationships. Next, the meaning of the fauna is all the animals of a particular area or period of time. Finally, the meaning of the flora, which is all the plants of a particular place or from a particular time in history. In the same way, the divulgation and spread of information about these concepts, is especially significant to understand how the biodiversity and the ecosystems that surround us, are meaningful for the world. Indeed, as it is shown in the article “Why is biodiversity important?,” by Julie Shawn from the Conservation International, ecosystems provide different services, such as the conservation of freshwater, the soil fertility, food and medicine resources, and pollination (Shaw). Also, each of the species from an ecosystem, have a specific role that ensures survival of other species, as they are dependent on one another (Shah). This relationship balances the ecosystem, and contributes to climate stability, since natural environments supply 30 percent of emissions reductions that are needed to stop the possible climate disaster by the year 2030 (Shaw).

At last, the sources used previously are reliable, because they are created by specific institutions, like the Cambridge Dictionary from the Cambridge University, that provide concrete definitions. Organizations, like the Conservation International, have the purpose of guaranteeing protection of ecosystems, and the propagation of information regarding diversity. Finally, in the Global Issues organization site, several global issues that affect the whole world are described, and for this, crucial facts about the conservation of ecosystems is described in a reliable way.