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Define the terms autotrophy, heterotrophy, primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer.
Define the terms autotrophy, heterotrophy, primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer.
Autotrophic are those organisms that use other organic chemicals to manufacture their own food. Autotrophic are known to be independent on this process of manufacturing food. They highly depend on nonliving substances like sunlight and chlorophyll which acts as a catalyst in this process. The process of the autotrophic manufacturing their own food is known as photosynthesis. Examples of autotrophic organisms include plants, blue-green bacteria and algae. These organisms diffuse solar energy from the radiations to help in the process of photosynthesis.
Heterotrophic are creatures that take in biomass for production of energy and nutrition in their bodies. All heterotrophic are fully dependent on autotrophic for biological products. All animals are known to be heterotrophic and also the microorganisms. Heterotrophic are classified according to the biomass they take in. For example animals that feed on plants are referred to as herbivores. Animals that feed on other animals are called carnivores. Also there are those microorganisms that feed on dead plants and animals and they are referred to as decomposers. There is also that class of creatures that feed on both plant and animals that are living and they are known as omnivores.
Primary producers are all those organisms that take in chemicals and other nonliving materials to manufacture their own food. They do not feed on other organisms to gain energy and nutrition but they manufacture their own food. All plants and algae are known to be the primary producers. This means that autotrophic are primary producers. On the other hand, all herbivores are primary consumers but not all primary consumers are herbivores. This is because herbivores are those animals that feed on plants only. Plants are known to be primary producers therefore this makes the herbivores to be the primary consumers. Examples of herbivores include cows, goats, sheep, rabbits and all other animals that feed on plants. The other class is that of secondary consumers which carnivores. These are the animals that feed on herbivores. The herbivores feed on plants and the herbivores are feed on by the carnivores. This trend is what creates a food chain as it starts from the primary producers to the last which are the decomposers.
What is Pico plankton? What are some examples of these organisms? Why are they important?
Pico plankton is a fraction of plankton which is usually classified into photosynthetic and heterotrophic. Photosynthetic Pico planktons are those that assist in the process of photosynthesis while heterotrophic Pico planktons are those that do not perform the process of photosynthesis. Achaea form a major part of Pico plankton in the Antarctic and they are also in a large portion in other parts of the ocean. Photosynthetic Pico planktons are found in the central parts of the ocean where the plants are located very deep in the waters therefore the levels of nutrients in those parts are very low. There are present in order to assist in the process of photosynthesis for those plants that are found in the deep waters. Examples of Pico planktons include the prokaryotic and eukaryotic phototrophic and heterotrophic organisms that are located in most of the lakes and tropic state.
Explain the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates?
Vertebrates are all those animals that have a backbone. Vertebrates can either be warm or cold blooded. Those that are warm blooded can only survive on land and places with favorable temperature. Those that are cold blooded have adapted well in water bodies as they retain the heat within the body. Examples of vertebrates include mammals, reptiles, fish, birds and amphibians. All human beings are vertebrates because they have the back bone and a spinal cord. Animals like crocodiles, fish, cows, dogs, frogs and birds are all vertebrates because they have the bone structure. Vertebrates have a high developed brain and nervous system. They have an outer protective skin for their cellular.
However invertebrates are insects and worms that do not have a bone structure. They are termed as invertebrates because they do not have a back bone. They usually reproduce sexually and they have no cell wall. They therefore do not require a skin for protection. Examples of invertebrates include ants, ringworms, tapeworms and grasshoppers. Most invertebrates are known to be heterotrophic.
What are extremophiles? Where can they be found? How can they survive there?
Extremophiles are those organisms that have a unique characteristic of being able to survive in area with extremes. They are known for their high tolerance in areas that are considered of extreme environments. For example there are animals that can survive in waters that are extremely salty and they make that as their habitat. There are those who will do very well in areas whose temperatures are extremely low and others extremely high. There are also those organisms that will be best suite by volcanic pools and they adopt that as their habitat. Basically extremity can only be described by the beholder of such extreme conditions. However there are those organisms like plants and animals that have a complex life and therefore cannot survive in such kind of extremity because they are fragile.
Majority of extremophiles are Achaea and bacteria which can survive in very hostile conditions. They are known to be fragile but they have a way of making themselves adapt to such extreme climatic conditions. Extremophiles can be found in areas with very low temperatures, high concentration of sugars, high levels of dissolved metals and places with very high acidity level. These bacteria need such extreme condition for them to survive and to work efficiently. They have been made in a way to survive in those harsh conditions.
What are wind turbines? Why is it often desirable to locate them offshore?
Wind turbines are devices that are well known for their extraction of energy from the wind. They can only work under the pressure from the wind in order for them to drive a pump. Wind turbines are usually used for the production of electrical power. These wind turbines are best located offshore because this is where the concentration of wind is constant. The quantitative measure of wind energy is best at the offshore of large water bodies. Cyclic winds may destroy the turbines due to the strong forces that accompany them.
What does it mean to be bio-degradable?
Biodegradable matter is usually the organic material such as animal or plant matter that comes from living organisms and their breaking down can be put to use by the microorganism. All living organisms that have cells in them are biodegradable meaning that they decompose easily once their cells are dead. There is an extracellular surfactant that is secreted by the microorganisms that hasten the process of decomposition. The whole process of decomposition of the living organisms is what is known as biodegradation.
Define stakeholders and explain why they are important to a project
Stakeholders
Insert Name
Insert Institutional AffiliationDefine stakeholders and explain why they are important to a project
Stakeholders can be defined as the various individuals or organizations that are actively engaged with the project process or those whose interests are either negatively or positively affected upon execution or completion of the project (Snyder, 2013). These stakeholders include customers to the project, project sponsors, resource managers, the organization executing the project and the public. The interest of these stakeholders may be direct or indirect. Project stakeholders are important to the project for three main reasons. First, they might be sponsoring a project hence they have a financial interest in the project or are concerned about effective completion (PMBok 2013). Secondly, upon completion, or execution of the project they may have an interest or gain to attach. This especially applies to the customer of the project, executing organization and the individuals to benefit from employment when the project is in process. Thirdly, the stakeholders are important to the project because they may have a positive or negative influence in the process of project execution or completion. The society and the government are examples of stakeholders that mostly fall under the third consideration. Through government legislation, a project can stall or continue to completion. The government does (or is expected to) represent the interests of the general public or society hence they mostly have coincidence of interests in projects. Maylor (2010) argues that when stakeholders are put in groups, it is possible to come up with three main groups for the stakeholders as internal stakeholders, core external stakeholders and the rest of the world. Based on this classification, examples of internal stakeholders include financial managers, the legal and regulatory team, systems and human resources among other persons generally found in the internal environment of the executing organization. Similarly, external stakeholders include suppliers, consumers, the lobby groups, the media, unions, regulators and competitors. The rest of the others are the other stakeholders who have no direct interest in the project execution and completion.
Stakeholder Systematic Identification Process
In order to establish all the stakeholders to a project, the process should involve a systematic process that starts with identification of all stakeholders involved followed by identification of their interests and this may either be direct interests or indirect interests. After identification of the stakeholders’ interests, the next process is to identify the judgment criteria of the stakeholders and then identify which ones are needs and which ones are wants. Any potential conflicts must then be identified and resolved or ways of resolving such conflicts aptly identified (Mantel et al 2011). The next step is to evaluate the impact each stakeholder, their respective interests and the conflicts identified have on the project execution and completion. In the process of identifying the stakeholder interest, those stakeholders with low interest but high power in the project need to be kept sufficiently involved in the project execution because they are moderately priority group to the project (PMBoK, 2013). They need to be kept satisfied that the project is being executed as expected and that all aspects are under control (Maylor 2010). Stakeholders with high level interest and high power have the highest priority in the project and they need to be managed closely through active stakeholder engagement (Maylor 2010).
Still on the issue of stakeholder power and interest, stakeholders with low power and low interest in the project have the lowest priority for the project management and therefore they don’t need to be overloaded with communication. The project manager can monitor them with minimum effort. There are those with low power in the project but still have very high interest in it. This group should be a moderately priority group for the manager and therefore the project manager’s objective is to keep their interest going and weight them when it is deemed they are useful to the project (Burke, 2003). Lastly, there is need to identify what each stakeholder can do for the project. This means that each stakeholder’s contribution to the project has to be assessed and determine which stakeholder has a greater and key contribution to the projects execution and completion.
Describe various communication methods you might use to work with stakeholders to scope the project and its deliverables; for each method give an example of an appropriate project that could use that
The method adopted for communicating with the stakeholders depends mainly on the requirements of the stakeholders and the project and can range from phone calls, communicating through public forums, through interviews, via workshops where communication is through issues, and requirements among other ways (Meredith et al 2008). Communication may also be achieved through focus groups, and project chartering sessions. Public forums are essential where the project’s main consumers are the public or the public have key interest and high power in the project and therefore either need awareness or they need to be provided with progress reports and knowledge of the project. Phone calls are best for projects which do not have extensively technical details that have to be communicated or where the stakeholders have full information about the project and communication is only meant for minor or intermittent issues. Interviews are essential where the project demands for stakeholder feedback. Focus groups can be used for projects that have a certain group of stakeholders that comprises a lot of people and their interests are homogeneous.
What method/criteria would you use to rank stakeholders and identify the “key” ones?
The criteria and method for stakeholder ranking start with stakeholder identification where all stakeholders are listed as shown in the second section (Walesh, 2012).. This is followed by analyzing the stakeholders to gauge their perspectives and interests. Stakeholder mapping follows where the relationships to objectives between stakeholders are visualized. Stakeholder ranking then comes and this is achieved through assessment of stakeholder relevance and identifying key issues. As an example, key stakeholders can be identified through their requirements, what it is expected of them, their degree of influence and power, and communication strategy needed to engage them.
Give examples of how you could maintain contact with the “key” stakeholders during the project.
The table below gives examples of how to maintain contact with key stakeholders.
Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 1: Keeping Contact with Key Stakeholders. Source: Class Notes
References
Burke, R. M. (2003) Project Management: Planning and Control Techniques (4th Edition) John Wiley & Sons
Frame, J. Davidson, (2003) Managing Projects in Organizations: How to Make the Best Use of Time, Techniques, and People, 3rd edition, Jossey-Bass, ISBN 0-787-96831-5
Mantel, J. S., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M. & Sutton, M. M. (2011) Project Management in Practice; 4th Edition. John Wiley & Sons
Maylor, H. (2010) Project Management. Financial Times Prentice Hall
Meredith, R. Jack and Mantel, Jr., Samuel J., (2008) Project Management: A Managerial Approach, 7th edition, Wiley, ISBN 0-470-22621-8
Project Management Institute- PMI (2013, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: (PMBOK’s Guide), 5th edition, PMI,
Snyder, C. (2013). A user’s manual to the PMBOK guide–fifth edition. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Walesh, S. G. (2012). Project Management: Critical Path Method and Scope Creep. Engineering Your Future: The Professional Practice Of Engineering, Third Edition, pp. 195–230.
Define Risk And The Risk Management Process
Define Risk And The Risk Management Process
Risks refer to the uncertain events which cannot be controlled in organization despite the proper planning. However, risk management is a process of recognizing as well as, managing the internal events and external threats which are likely to have an impact on the success of a project. Today, risk management is applied to all levels of an organization in both operational and strategic contexts (Larson & Gray, 2003). Risk management process includes; risk identification, risk assessment, risk response development and risk response control. In risk identification, lists of possible risks are generated through risk profiling, brainstorming along with problem identification. In risk assessment, the vulnerability of the risks are analyzed and measured (MacCrimmon Wehrung, & Stanbury, 2006). In risk response development, the risks manager identifies all the activities which aim in reducing the likelihood of the risks from happening. These include; risk mitigation, risk avoidance, risk transfer and risk retaining. However, in risk response control, the risks managers establish a change management system and risk control such as initiating contingency plans while monitoring, tracking and reporting risk (Lientz & Larssen, 2006).
Explain the relationship between risk and cost during the project life cycle (5 Points)
The relationship between risk and cost during a project life cycle is that, on the basis of uncertainty, risk management cost under certainty while risk loss cost under uncertainty. During project development, the project developer has to balance cost and risk by understanding their relationships as well as, developing a learning organization from cost and risks lessons. During the project development, the cost and risk are very high. For instance, the cost used to develop the project may be higher just like risks that the project may not be the best, hence can be rejected by the client (Larson & Gray, 2003).
Explain the project change control process. (10 Points)
The purpose of the project change control process is to ensure that an action on the proposed changes occurs on purpose, but without unnecessary delay as well as, interfering with the project process (Lientz & Larssen, 2006). The project change control is significant because it allows the project team to identify, evaluate, approve as well as, document the proposed changes to the project baseline. First, the process is initiated a change request. The change request is a formal mechanism used to propose and assess a deviation to the project being developed. After the change request is evaluated, there is approval that is granted at an appropriate level after which the change request becomes a change order for implementation (Larson & Gray, 2003).
Second process is where the change order is communicated to the affected parties along with cooperating them in the project baseline in that data integrity is preserved and budgets reconciled across the project documentation such as work Authorization Document (MacCrimmon Wehrung, & Stanbury, 2006). In change control process, the three phases such as request change, review phase and documentation phase are accomplished in request change phase, appropriate classification is determined, however, for the review phase, assessment of a proposed change request is accomplished while the approval is obtained from an appropriate authority level. Lastly, the approved changes are thus implemented and the integrated project baseline documents are revised in the document phase (Lientz & Larssen, 2006).
Silver Fiddle Construction Case
Potential risks associated with the project
Risks are events which its occurrence can cause positive or negative effects on the project’s objectives. However, risk management helps in identifying, assessing, responding, monitoring as well as, reporting of the risks. For the Silver Fiddle Construction Case, the risk management plan will define how risks associated with the Silver Fiddle Construction Company are monitored throughout the project lifecycle while providing practices for recording and prioritizing those risks (Larson & Gray, 2003). Conversely, there are various potential risks which can be associated with the project. For example, these risks may be;
Unfavorable weather conditions such as earthquakes, rain, snow and many others
The workers may decide to on strike during the projects development
The Czopek on the other hand may change their mind on a certain part of the house
If the project need more materials to be used than what was projected
The Silver Fiddle Construction (SFC) may fail to find enough subcontractors to help with all the 11 projects
If the house costs more than the actual cost of $500,000 to finish the project
If the Silver Fiddle Construction (SFC) receives faulty appliances such as kitchen appliances.
Risk assessment form to analyze identified risks
Risk Event Likelihood Impact Detection Difficulties When
Unfavorable weather 4 6 4 From when groundbreaking begins till completion
Workers strike 2 2 2 Throughout the whole project
Czopek’s change their mind on the part of the house
3 5 5 After the foundation has been poured and frame built
Need more materials than what is projected 3 4 2 Early stages of development
Receive faulty appliances 2 4 2 End of the project or when the appliances are installed
House costs more than the projected cost 3 3 2 Throughout the project’s completion
Less subcontractors – – – Prior to beginning the project
Developing a risk response matrix similar to outline how to deal with each of the risks
Risk event Response Contingency planning Trigger Who is responsible
Unfavorable weather Retain Working around until the issue of weather clears up When unfavorable weather is predicted for the future No one
Workers strike Avoid Avoid all cost and if it continues to happen seek for other subcontractor Workers start to complain Kimberly and Ronald
Czopek’s change their mind on the part of the house
Avoid Avoid through communication if this will make them to feel happy The Czopek’s may start to ask for additional work to be added to part of the house Kimberly, Ronald, subcontracted companies
Need more materials than what is projected Avoid Avoid by ordering more projects Materials start to be scarce The subcontracted Companies
Receive faulty appliances Avoid Go for a reputable supplier Appliances malfunction General contractor
House costs more than the projected cost Avoid Get insurance in the beginning Start to exceed the budget General contractor and book keeper
Less subcontractors Mitigate Outsource reliable company Project is a month away from beginning General contractor
References
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” Larson, E., & Gray, C. (2003). Project management. The Managerial process. Retrieved December 27, 2013, from http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/fayad/current.courses/cmpe203-fall2013/docs/Articles/Project%20Management%205th%20Edition.pdf
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” Lientz, B. P., & Larssen, L. (2006). Risk management for IT projects: how to deal with over 150 issues and risks. London: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann.
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” MacCrimmon, K. R., Wehrung, D. A., & Stanbury, W. T. (2006). Taking risks: the management of uncertainty. New York: Free Press ;.
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” Saporita, R. (2006). Managing risks in design & construction projects. New York: ASME Press.