Influential writings

No environmental class would be complete without a look at some of the excerpts of famous environnmentalists:

Please read the following and create a comparative visual (a t-chart, Venn diagrams, comparative mind-map) and be ready to discuss.

3 readings from Aldo Leopold (developed the plan for deer management still used today):   http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/chrisj/leopold-quotes.html
C
1 reading from John Muir (developed the concept for the national park system): http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/the_mountains_of_california/chapter_10.aspx

1 reading from Thoreau (argued for the need for wild places and civil disobedience):  http://thoreau.eserver.org/civil1.html

1 reading from Rachel Carson (founder of the modern environmental movement):  http://rachels-carson-of-today.blogspot.com/2009/11/silent-spring-rachel-carson-1962.html


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Questions

1. Which of the environmentalists has a viewpoint that most matches yours?  Extreme, Spiritual, Reflective, or Action-Oriented?

2.  How do these writers reflect a PROGRESSION in environmental thought?

3.  If you could choose one of these people as an ally in a fight against a tragedy of the commons, which one would it be?

4.  How are these view points related to the idea of "Think Globally , Act Locally?"

1 page reflection to be completed by the end of the day?

Air-Ocean-Energy Connections

The air is a commons.  The water is a commons.   Energy consumption and efforts directly affect these issues.

Tuesday: 

Jigsaw the sections on Ocean Pollution, Energy Challenges, and Air Pollution.  Sticky Note the important ideas

Create a chart that connects the impacts of wind power, biomass burning, oil/gas/grease power, water power, solar, and geothermal in a pre-1900 world.  Include effects on the land, the water, and the air.

Wednesday-Thursday:  Discussion of the commons as it relates to Air, Water, and Land.   Pick an energy issue and find out its efficiency in today's world using the century 1910 to 2010.   Is this a sustainable technology or a technology that contributes to the tragedy of the commons.   Create a PowerPoint to be used at the beginning of class on Monday.

Friday:  Today is a catch-up day.   Make sure you have turned in your reflection on poverty traps.

The challenge of poverty traps

Throughout this class we have studied about poverty traps, and the impact they have on people who are poor.   Environmental degredation comes in second to hunger, parasites, and child mortality.

Sustainability is a major concern, as well as climate change, but those are not addressed when basic needs are not met.

We ran out of time to talk about this idea yesterday, so here is today's goal:

I.  Find a project that you can support (kiva.org, heifer.org, http://carmenpampafund.org, a church-related organization or a water project, etc.).  Explain to me why you think this project will make a difference by minimizing a poverty trap.

II. Develop a plan that would allow you to change life for someone in the world by helping someone caught in a poverty trap through this organization.

III.  Tell me the environmental consequences for the region if a large part of the population is caught in a trap.    Consider the biome, the effect on population, and the effect on feeding that population.

IV.  If you believe in this cause, you could (it is not required) become an activist.  Do something over the weekend to help this organization.  This could be as simple as finding coins in your couch, redeeming pop cans, or it could be something more.  If you need an address or a resource, that's fine, I can help you find it, but the goal here is to consider a need for someone in the world that is beyond our borders.

V.  On Monday, you will be asked to write a one-page reflection on what you chose to do or chose not to do.  You will be graded on the following rationale:

5 points:  What is my plan?

5 points:  What impact does this have on the environment?

5 points:  As I balance my own needs with the needs of the environment and others, what should we ask of ourselves?

5 points:  Based on my discussions with others, are people aware of a link between poverty traps and environmental concerns?
5 points:  Is working with a group on a project a better idea than working alone?  Why or why not?

Group Project:   Banana Split:  To Eat or Not to Eat  The idea of poverty traps and poverty trap reduction is an ethical dilemma.   Only YOU can decide what to do--no one can tell you in America where to shop, what to eat, or who to support.   This project asks you to read the case study and then prepare a response that answers the following questions:

What is meant by "ethical consumerism?"
What are the differences between conventional, organic, Fair Trade, and agroforestry food production systems, and how can this affect poverty traps?
What is the history of banana production in Latin America/South America?
What are struggles with tropical agriculture, including constraints such as diseases and pests?
What happens to workers who are dealing with chemicals used to produce bananas?
Is the carbon footprint of a banana correlated to the economic benefits the workers receive?  This means we have to consider what we eat, how it is produced, and where it is produced.

Poverty: Bolivia Case Study

Define a poverty trap, in your own words.

Is child labour a poverty trap or a conscious choice?
Is education a way out?
Why would we look at poverty traps in an environmental science class?
How are things connected.

Play the simulation found here

Sites to look at:

http://www.voicesofyouth.org/
Child Labour 1
Child Labour 2
Child Labour 3
Millenium Development Goals

For tomorrow (Wednesday), make a notecard that summarizes information found and your position.  Be ready to discuss



==========================
A quick snapshot:   http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/bolivia  

Food Security:  http://www.wfp.org/content/bolivia-food-security-monitoring-2010

Population Pyramid:  http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-population-pyramid

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The UAC Project

Biodiversity as a Form of Natural Capital

Seed Comparison

Pick 3 gardening magazines and choose 3 crops.  For each magazine, list all the varieties of that crop offered.


What commonalities do you notice?  What differences?  Why does this matter?  DOES it matter?   Be prepared to explain it in class discussion.


Why do places like this exist?


http://www.cipotato.org/

http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/lmd/campain/svalbard-global-seed-vault.html?id=462220

http://www.seedsavers.org/

http://albc-usa.org/

Case Study on Natural Capital

pp. 48-52 Ecosystems and Natural Capital

Section 3.6  Ecosystems and Natural Capital

Built Capital:  The Airline Industry 

Built Capital:  Spoil Material

Built Capital:  Golden Rice

Built Capital:  Water for Drinking

Above are 4 case studies.  If you don't like one of them, I can provide you with another.


Your goal is to identify natural, human, and built capital within the system.  The case studies provide you with the scenario at hand.   You should use the information provided to help you make decisions, but you DO NOT have to complete the case study.   You must organize the information you find into the two graphics provided yesterday.


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11/28/2012

Digitize the pyramid you made yesterday, and explain how you used the second graphic to identify the waste in your built capital.  WHAT is the waste, and HOW WIDELY does it impact your scenario.  Be specific.

Each of these scenarios has some degradation of natural capital that has occurred.  Identify the problem.   What need to happen, specifically, to encourage sustainability:

• within the ecosystem found in the scenario?
• within two specific cycles found in the scenario?
• to the attitudes or behaviors of the people found in this scenario?

Reflect on the built capital and its impact on the local community.  How will we best change attitudes and behaviors in this scenario to encourage sustainability?  You may choose voluntary actions, economic policies, or government actions.

Summarize the pyramid, and the information you found today in a 6-slide (maximum) google presentation to be shown to the class on Thursday, 1/2 hour into the period.

Grading

Completeness of pyramid:  5 pts
Identification of waste impact: 5 pts.
Sustainability solutions:  15 pts
Action Steps:  5 points
Presentation quality:  10 points

Text and Reflection Time

You will be reading pp. 207 to 215.  As you read, divide your comments into PROBLEMS and SOLUTIONS.

Then look at the Table on p.220 and compare it to this:

Linked from http://www.biomaya.com.my/v2/index.php/blog/2?view=blog 

Question 1: Contrast the two tables and decide which natural capitals are connected to the nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, and the sulfur cycle.

Question 2:  Have we made industrial agriculture into a Built Capital?  Why or why not?

Crosslinked from: http://sustainabilityadvantage.com/2010/08/03/4-reasons-our-current-business-model-is-unsustainable/

Question 3:  Explain how this graphic connects to the pyramid above.

Question 4:  Define different roles for business owners, consumers, bankers, and government must undertake to help shift the scenarios shown to win-win. How likely is this today?  What three things can we do to change things over to a sustainable model?

A Focus on the Nitrogen Cycle

http://www.farmingfutures.org.uk/resources/nitrogen-cycle-farm

Reading about the Cycles

Today, you will be focusing on self-guided notes  using a shared Google Doc with your team members:

Chapter 8:   Sections 3-8

Focus on the Key Concepts found in these sections, and be ready to discuss your understanding of the terms.


Chapter 7:  Sections 1-5

Focus on the relationships detailed in the Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur Cycles as you read this.



**For each section, you should be writing 1-4 sentences, or creating a graphic that lists pertinent information.   I will ask to see these materials tomorrow FOR EACH PERSON.   These must be generated by hand, not copied and pasted.**

11/14 and 11/15 Climate Change Claim Evidence and Reason

Day 1:

Powerpoint Case on Climate Change

Data for presentation 1  (Enter your responses).

Class Discussion

photo credit: net_efekt via photopin cc

Day 2:

Now what?  Based on what we did yesterday, reviewing evidence, you now have a more informed decision that you can make about climate change.  Your goal is to take this viewpoint and expand on it to create a meeting agenda for an upcoming town hall. (Here is a sample agenda) The two documents below may help you expound on your arguments.

Remediation and Change (Group 1--the believers)

Politics and Change (Group 2--the still-skeptical)

Town Hall Planning Kit

Artifact to be handed in:  Town Hall Agenda

photo credit: net_efekt via photopin cc

Personal Response on Climate Change (this is due on Monday, 11/19.   It may be handed in or submitted digitally). This is your chance to decide which of the graphics  in this post best represents your viewpoint on the issues:

OPTION 1

Climate Anthropology

OPTION 2

Climate Tradeoffs

photo credit: net_efekt via photopin cc 

Evidence for Climate Change

Carbon Dioxide Trends:  http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
Methane Trends:  http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/atm_meth/lawdome_meth-graphics.html

Ice Core Trends  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/warnings/stories/
Extreme weather events:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extreme_weather_events
Extreme weather events 2:  http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/extremes.html
Ocean Temperature Trends:   http://chartsgraphs.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/global-sea-surface-temperature-trends-1850-2009/

Water Depth Trends:   http://flood.firetree.net/

Unit 1 Alternative Assessment

This is a two-part personal project.  It is due on Wednesday.


Part 1:  Your class data on 7 political issues that could be considered a commons is listed on yesterday's blog post.   Take a look at the raw data and the trends and pick ONE of these these.

Tell me how you can prevent this issue from becoming a tragedy of the commons for the USA or how you can solve this issue if it already is a tragedy of the commons in the USA.  Remember to look at the second link under the Tragedy of the Commons links for ideas.   Prepare a digital artifact (poster, 30 second video, song, or a timeline) using a Web-based tool to get your plan across.

Grading Rubric Considerations

Is the commons defined correctly? (3)
Is the tragedy defined correctly? (3)
Are ways to prevent the commons from becoming a tragedy addressed? (8)
Are human beings currently on earth protected from harm (although they may be inconvenience) by the actions suggested? (8)
What is the quality of the artifact?  (8)
What evidence presented in this chapter (biomes or biome organization), population pyramids, natural disasters) was used to provide support for your viewpoint? (10)


Call if you have questions, please.


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Part 2:   Look up food security for a country (on the right hand of the page) and a report that tells you about current and/or future prospects.

Using the data from yesterday find it's accompanying population pyramid.

Print both reports.

Write a one page summary (handwritten is fine) explaining how/if this could be a tragedy of the commons now and 10 years from now.   Provide evidence from the reports and the pyramids to support your viewpoints.

Tragedy of the Commons Sol'n

Class Priorities

Population Pyramids by Country

Population Pyramid and Life Expectancy



Discuss How your population is affected by your biome discussion

Population as a Type of Commons

Answer the questions

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/file/martha-11-population-pyramid-cb1297294129.pdf

Answer the questions

http://www.plaidavenger.com/images/uploads/Population_Pyramid_Activity_Sheet.pdf



Look for the Commons that are inherent in each set of links.

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/


http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/worldclock/


http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=5&secNum=2

Tragedy of the Commons

The tragedy of the commons is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen. (from Wikipedia)


Tragedy of the Commons

Personal Solutions

Tragedy Revisited

Evaluating Sandy articles

Using your three articles, answer the following questions:

1. Is this information a primary or a secondary source of information?
2. What overriding message is being communicated by the information in these articles?
3. What information is missing from these articles?
4. List possible reasons (or motives) for the publishing of each of the articles you chose.
5. Which of the following best describes the information presented in this study?

• Differing opinions regarding which events are newsworthy
• Conflicts within the science community
• Differing political agendas
• Conflicts between scientists and politician

How do you personally deal with the issue of bias in the news to which you listen?

====this reflection should be at least one page long====

Read 4-3 to 4-8 in the digital book and FIX the biome-niche efforts.  Put all corrections on the back page.

Biome Reflection

Find three recent news articles that specifically impact your biome and read them. Examples of this could be an industrial project, a nutrient spill, an endangered species designation, or some other impact. A link must be provided for each article, as well as a short summary. This must be done individually and posted here

Additionally, choose an article about Sandy from a neutral, a Democratic-leaning, and a Republican-learning website that talks about climate change, water quality or food web issues that will affect the biome (Hint:  figure out the biome).   Print these and highlight, please.  Then tell me the probably effect of the storm in 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year.


Suggestions for Sites

• Huffington Post (D)
• BBC.com
• Fox News (R)
• NBC News 
• ABC News (D)
• Washington Post
• Real Clear Politics (R)

Finally, you will finish your comparison of three locations impacted by Sandy (NYC, Pennsylavania, and Appalachia, but then we need to go down a grain size. How will ONE of the biomes be affected on a level of

• ecosystem
• habitat
• community
• population
• niche level

• http://www.fi.edu/tfi/units/life/habitat/habitat.html

Biome Project

Using a team of 3-4, you will select one biome and develop the following as a linoit or pinterest project.

• food web including producers and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree consumers
• characteristics of min and max temperature, elevation, wetness and location on earth
• interrelations of 4 biogeochemical cycles shown for one species and a human being.

Project must show or explain the pictures provided.

chapter 4 env sci

Day 3: Sustainability

Using Environmental Science, 11th Edition by G. Tyler Miller Jr.

• Summarize the two pictures on p. 33
• Read pp. 78-83

Homework:  Use your Gmail login and make at least three comments about sustainability, the idea of choice, and your initial impressions about oil on this document

What do the two pictures you summarized talk about?  Be ready to discuss this tomorrow.

You and your partner must include your name:

Discuss How temperature, wind direction, and heat transfer connected to climate? 

Sustainability: What is it?

http://www.youtube.com/v/B5NiTN0chj0


What is the definition of Sustainability?

Day 1, Chapter 1

Your textbook is online: The Habitable Planet


Today we are dividing and conquering the chapter by whiteboard.

Alex 1

Atmospheric science

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/co2_human.html

http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/439.html 


Carbon Sequestration

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Carbon Dioxide Lab from Chapter 2

Data document

Final Assessment

Please fill out this form

Personal Change Project Reflection

 After you complete the presentation to the class, please answer the following questions here.