VII. Group Reflections😍

The local or global issue we are trying to solve is reducing unstable buildings so more buildings will be able to withstand natural disasters and the test of time by figuring out the shear and tensile strengths of soils. When we have a greater understanding of the soil strengths, nations will be able to build better infrastructure. Different soil types have different soil strengths. For example, if we were to randomly dig up the soil at two different locations in the world, they would have different soil strengths. The soil strength of the soil found in the ground differs from the soil that is used for construction, as they are made up of different components. For example, loam is the best soil type for construction due to its evenly balanced composition of silt, sand, and clay and how it maintains water at a balanced rate. (RAMJACK, 2015) Once we are able to identify the soil good for construction, nations can adjust the building foundation methods/materials better.

Doing a science experiment we chose ourselves made us independent and responsible for the whole project. We had to give each other roles and each person had to do much of the work as there were only two people in our group. A lot of research also had to be done, letting us hone our research skills which would be useful for other performance tasks too. We also had to be cautious and be aware of our own safety when doing our experiment. Lastly, we became better at organising and analysing our data, by putting together tables and graphs and pointing out anomalies. Our personal effectiveness has and will keep improving over the course of this performance task.

With only two people in our group, we had to work closely together. We would have to discuss everything and do up each of our deliverables. This made us collaborate a lot and made us better at understanding each other’s viewpoints. We also got better at discussing and implementing each other’s ideas which made us speak up more. We also became better at coming to an agreement and making peace after any arguments. If we ever had any contrasting opinions, we would discuss them together and come to a middle ground, making our collaboration much better. We would also have to calm down and make up with each other after any disagreements, enhancing our peace-making skills.