For the eighth experience, I decided to take care of the plants present on my balcony. My mom is really fond of nature and she strongly believes that greenery improves the quality of air further making an individual feel fresh and calm. Also, growing plants can be considered as a life skill because it helps develop a sense of responsibility. In this CAS experience, I did not only learn how crucial it is to provide water to plants for their growth but also learned what kind of different measures various we can take to keep plants healthy such as finding the right sunlight spot, cleaning the pots, adding fertilizers and etc.

Weakness: Due to the rainy season, plants were not able to receive the required amount of sunlight, which in a way affected their growth a lot. Also, sometimes I used to forget to water the plants, which also impacted their growth to a great extent.

Learning Outcome 1
1. Did you identify your strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths: My balcony has a lot of space to keep the plant pots and it is the best place at my home to grow plants as it receives the perfect amount of sunlight and wind from the environment which is essential to obtain nutrients further helping in growth.

2. Did you work/or would like to work on your weakness? Relate one area where overcoming this weakness would have benefited you.
I did work on my weaknesses by implementing all those actions that were required to work on them. For example, to remember to water the plants on a regular basis, I set a reminder on my phone and asked my mother to remind me before I ate breakfast. Still, there were many such times when I could not work on them. For example, I have no control over the weather conditions and so whenever it rains I can t do anything to stop it.

Learning Outcome 2

1. What was so challenging and why?
   The most challenging part about gardening was the upkeep of the same. I had to make sure that I didn’t forget to take care of the plants and learn how much quantity of water is required for each plant, as each plant has different requirements.

2. Have you done anything similar before?
Yes, I have done something similar before. During the times of COVID when I used to live in my farmhouse I used to water the plants in my garden for fun but at that time I really didn’t know how important it was to consider small details and intricacies such as the amount of water and sunlight or the type of soil a plant needs while gardening.

3. How did you overcome this challenge?
I overcame this challenge by researching the various plants on my balcony and making rough notes in my diary for general knowledge.

4. How do you feel about having undertaken this challenge? Why is it important for you to undertake new challenges?
I feel satisfied that I took on this challenge and it is important for me to take on new challenges in order to earn new information and knowledge about topics that interest me.

5. Did you discover any skills you hadn’t known or learned yet? How could this skill be useful to you in the future? How does having this new skill make you feel about yourself? Why is it important to learn new skills?
Yes, I did discover several skills I hadn’t known or learned yet, like cultivating the soil in the pot, pouring an appropriate amount of water in the pot, using basic gardening tools, etc. These skills can be useful to me in the future when I open a nursery of my own and having these new skills makes me feel much more confident. It is important to learn new skills as it helps us gain new knowledge-based perspectives and new experiences which further trains our brain to handle a wide range of challenges leading us to achieve our ultimate goals.

Learning Outcome 3

1. How did you organize yourself? I organized myself by making some rough notes in my diary and those notes included information about different plant requirements, such as which plant requires how much quantity of water, soil type, etc.

2. Are you usually an organized person? Yes, I am an organized person and I like my schedule to be systematic so that each and every pending work could be completed on time and with accuracy.

3. What was difficult? Planning or initiating?Why?As such, nothing was difficult for me because I really didn’t have to plan or initiate anything. Writing about different plant requirements was the only step where planning was required, and other than that, planning was not required at all. Talking about initiating, when I was finished with my seven CAS experiences, I simply decided to start with the eight CAS experiences.

4. Did you discover any skills you hadn’t known or learned yet that you had to use for the planning and initiating of this activity? No, I didn’t discover skills that I hadn’t known or learned yet that I had to use for planning and initiating.

5. Do you think planning or initiating anything in the future will be easier now? Yes,I think planning or initiating will be easier in the future now because I have already developed those skills and I will try my best to apply those skills in all the areas possible in order to make my work easier, faster, and with the greatest accuracy.

6. Why is it important to know how to plan and initiate activities? It is important to know how to plan and initiate activities because planning helps us identify and achieve our goals easily and also it helps us keep a check on our time management skills by meeting the due dates and deadlines.

Learning Outcome 4

What made this activity difficult where perseverance or commitment was necessary? How did that make you feel? Providing water to more than seven plants continuously for one month and changing their soil twice a month was definitely very difficult, and this was the area where perseverance or commitment was necessary. There were many circumstances where I used to forget to water the plants or where I felt exhausted, but my will to see the plants grow on my balcony motivated me to keep going.

What commitment was required to complete this activity? My commitment to seeing the plants grow at least till the sprouting stage was required to complete this activity.

Is it easy for you to commit to things? To be persistent? Why or why not? Why is showing perseverance and commitment important? Yes, it’s easy for me to commit to things and be persistent but sometimes there are circumstances where I procrastinate or lose my interest which makes it harder for me to commit to things. It is important to show our perseverance and commitment because it helps us work hard further helping us achieve success.

Learning Outcome 6

1. What were the issues? This CAS experience focuses on creating and building sustainable cities and communities by planting as many plants and trees as possible. Further, this CAS experience can also cover topics like life above land, deforestation,pollution and etc.

2. Why are they important globally? How? Where? How did you know? I believe that as years are passing by the rate of air pollution is increasing which is further deteriorating the quality of air. I was concerned about the environment around me and so I decided that I would do whatever I can in my power to bring about the slightest positive change in this array.

3. How does knowing about global issues contribute to your personal growth? If I am aware of a global issue that is happening in my surroundings such as in my community or in my environment I would take an initiative and do whatever I can at my own personal level to resolve that particular problem which will teach me new skills, help me gain new experiences and most importantly be a responsible citizen of my community.

4. How does it make you feel now that you are aware of this global issue? How does your work in this CAS activity make you feel about that global issue? Now that I am aware of this global issue it makes me feel like taking immediate action towards resolving the issue and my work in this CAS activity makes me feel like continuing with what I was doing now to protect the environment till I live on Earth.

Final Takeaway

What learner profile characteristics have you developed in this activity?

Caring: I showcased empathy, compassion, and respect towards the environment and I had a personal commitment to service and act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and to the environment.

Yes, there is a link between the subject “Biology” and this CAS experience and this activity has benefited the environment. The highlight of this experience for me was knowing about different plant types and their nutritional requirements. My perspectives or values were challenged and altered because I understood how crucial it is for an individual to fulfill its responsibilities towards the environment. I achieved success as a lot of my neighbors and friends started growing plants at their homes too. Even though these actions lead to small changes, when all these small changes are combined, they can create a big change. If I do this activity again, I would like to grow plants in the gardens of my society. From this CAS experience, I have not only learned about what issues are prevailing in the environment around me but I have also learned how I can be a responsible citizen and complete all my duties to resolve these issues. Lastly, I will continue growing plants and continue spreading as much information as I can so as to inform more and more people to take some powerful actions and measures in order to stop deforestation and plant more trees.

Evidence