Blog Post #2: Favorite Projects

For our first officially assigned presentation, I think everyone did quite well, and with practice, we will only become better. However, out of all the projects presented, my top three would have to have been the humorous dinosaur-chicken related project, Mariana's Trench, and the presentation on the evolution of the human species. 

The dinosaur-chicken project not only related the chickens and dinosaurs to one another, providing evidence for how and why the two species are closer related to each other than many other organisms, but also engaged the audience through humor and jokes. The image of the "dancing dinosaurs" at the beginning of the presentation immediately captured the audience's attention, and allowed the presenter's to share their information with an already alert group of students. During the presentation, the two presenters kept straight faces all the way until the end of their project even though they included jokes throughout...skill. They successfully kept the crowd entertained, while also educating the audience about the relationship between dinosaurs and chickens. My favorite part of their project was the ending, by far. They concluded with their "Dinosources" and finally cracked, unable to retain a straight face any longer. 

Mariana's Trench is incredibly mesmerizing to me already. The presenters of this project seemed engaged in their topic as well, and exhibited a thorough understanding of knowledge on the subject. I was able to easily follow along with their presentation and learn new, interesting facts about the underwater wonder. The presenters also included a comical and cute video of the well-known Sebastian, from The Little Mermaid, singing about the Mariana's trench to the tune from "Under the Sea." He elaborated in song on the various fishes that can be found in the trench, their appearances, and why and how they are able to survive in the depths they live in.

Finally, the evolution of human species presentation was fascinating. I learned a lot more about our growth over time and the development of our species into what it is today. The fact that we are still continuing to evolve and change amazes me. Honestly, I had not realized that humans had looked so incredibly different years and years ago. The only human specie I was aware of that appeared similar to us were neanderthals. It is incredible to see the maturation of humans over time, and the subtle or harsh changes between the different varieties. 

It was entertaining to view the different presentations of our class. Everyone had their own unique style and presented different pieces of fascinating information relating to our geographic world. "Practice makes perfect," and I am eager to see the projects presented at the end of the school year.