Environment Project Reflections

Project based learning is when you select a small, specific topic to become an expert on. You had to start by choosing a topic, (Mine was African Elephant Poaching). Following choosing a topic, you had to come up with a key focus question. This question had to be a relevant, critical thinking question. After finding a question, we studied up on our topics by using documentaries and reading through information. We had to able to compose a list of questions for our source, so we needed to know some things in advance.Once you had made a list of appropriate questions, you then had to find a primary source (Some of us had a hard time finding one). When you found your source, you composed a letter asking for assistance in your project. The majority of sources in our class responded that they would help, so from there you either emailed, called, skyped, or arranged a meeting with them so they could answer your questions. From there, you pooled all your information together and created an interesting way to represent your learning. When you created your project though, you had to make sure you answered your key questions.

 

Two projects I really enjoyed watching were ‘Why is China’s Panda Population Decreasing? And Why is it important to us?” and “What is Lyme disease? And why does it affect mammals differently? Can a cure be in the future?” . I found the Panda project quite interesting because it was similar to my subject. Because it was similar to my subject, I found it was something I was very interested in. I love animals, and the fact that Panda’s are highly endangered really captured my attention. It was also presented really well. It was a original Imovie that had great effects and caught your attention.

I found the lyme disease project interesting because it’s presentation was also done very well, but it is also something that can affect us. We have lots of ticks in our area, and just because lyme disease isn’t here yet doesn’t mean it’s never going to get here. It was very informative and told you lots of ways to be on the lookout for it.

 

One project I had trouble connecting to was about the moose population in the Redlake area. I had trouble connecting to it, because I couldn’t really find the problem. We live so close and I don’t often hear about it, so I had a hard time connecting. The focus question is “what is the status of the red lake moose population? And how will this affect the ecosystem?”. The way it was presented was an original youtube video. I had a bit of a hard time understanding some of the things that was said, so maybe an improvement would have been to have better sound.

I have learned a lot about the environment in the past couple of weeks that we have been working on these projects. I’ve learned that my role is everywhere, and everything that has a problem is everyone’s fault. We all need to chip in and help or nothing will be able to be solved. One example would be the panda problem. If we stopped buying things made from bamboo, then there wouldn’t be a demand for the products. If there wasn’t a demand for the products, their habitat wouldn’t be torn down. The Environment is the most important part of the world, so it needs to be saved.

The Thread

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Is a single strand of thread is able to link you to the whole entire world?  The answer is yes, we can be connected to the world from a single strand of thread.  Tom Wayman knows this because he wrote a poem called “The Thread” which explains to us how a single strand of thread from a shirt cuff can link us to the whole world.

 

On our poster we represented many scenes and words in the poem.  To represent the earth and people we made an earth and added many children’s faces to show many people living on earth.  WE also showed a cotton field to show the workers and many people who contribute to the little things.  We also added commercial businesses and planes to show the transportation, and businesses that contribute to a single shirt.  Some of our words were small, future,live,night,shift and many more.  All of these words were picked out of the poem to show keywords that really related to our scenes and the whole story of one single thread connecting everyone.

I think we did do a good job of representing the poem. Our poster had everything covered, from the t-shirt to the cotton fields to the  different factories of the world. This is a great representation of the poem, because it shows clearly how everything in the world can be linked by a single thread. The details were created really well, and helped show the depth of the poem even more. The poster overall (In my opinion) did a good job.

 

The Evolution Of Computers

This slideshow demonstrates the evolution of the computer. It shows the changes from years such as 1970- 2020. The difference in these pictures are quite noticeable. In the 1970 picture, the computer is very big compared to what we have now. It also has an oddly shaped frame and structure, compared to the computer styles seen in later years. One example would be of the computer found in 2011. It’s very sleek and has much more options compared to the 1970 computer. Computer’s have really evolved.

The computer now a day makes sure that you are able to work so you are able to do things productively.  With the computers now we are able to many different things that may help us with our jobs.  The great thing about computers is that you are able to communicate with people.  Now a computer has many different applications that will let you communicate with your friends and family that may be half way across the world.  With a modern day computer you are able to find somewhere hot in no time and you are able to book flights and hotel rooms super fast.  The modern day computer is able to help problem solve, because it can sometimes be easier to apologize to a person if your are not speaking face to face. Also, if it’s useful to the police. If someone is plotting something, (A terrorist attack for example) police can hack into their computer and access their files to see what they are up to.  It may be able to solve problems, but it can also cause them too. Some people use computers and the internet to cyber bully, or harass people. People use computers and the internet for this, because, like I said before, it is sometimes easier to say things over text, than to people’s face. A modern day computer also helps you with your education because  if you need to research anything about something it will help you quite a bit because you will most likely get the information you need.

Technology can affect your job choices and future, because soon everyone will be using a form of technology. Almost everything today uses technology, too. If you don’t know how to use different forms of technology, you’re going to need to learn how to. When you’re applying for a job they are going to want someone who knows how to work it, so lots of jobs will have that requirement. This will affect everyone’s future.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Change Yourself Before You Change The World

“Before you can change the world, you have to change yourself, And education will help you accomplish your goals.” I agree with this quote, found in the book ‘Global Issues’. You have to be willing to change yourself before you can move forward and start to make a difference. This quote tells you that. It also tells you that education can be helpful and assist you in reaching your goals. That is also true. I know this because education can help teach you things that you never knew before. One example of this would be medical school. If your dream is to help people and find a cure to a disease, medical school can teach you how to spot the disease and treat people with it.  Based on that knowledge, it can help you with your research in finding a cure.  An example of having to change yourself would be going green. If you are telling people to go green, and use things like solar power than you need to show them that you’re doing it too. People need reassurance and they need to know and see what they are getting into before they use it. Also if you’re preaching people on not using solar power, it will look bad on your part if you don’t use it too. You need to change yourself, before you can change the world as the quote said. 

  

 

Poaching African Elephants

The environmental project that I chose to study is Poaching African Elephants and how it’s affecting their population. The key questions I’m using to further my knowledge on the topic are “How is poaching African elephants affecting their population?” and “Why should we care about their species preservation?”. 

Today I watched a documentary on the Smithsonian national zoo. I watched it because it was talking about species preservation, and why we should care about it. They explained that each animal plays a role in the Eco-system, so they are all important. If a species goes extinct, it can throw the whole system into a loop.  I really enjoyed the documentary, it was very interesting and fun to watch.  A couple questions I have for tomorrow are “Are their more humane ways to harvest Ivory from elephants?” and “What do poachers gain from poaching the elephants?”. Tomorrow I’m really going to be focusing on my research. 

Linfen, China vs Redlake, Canada

Linfen, China is the most polluted city in the world.In this post, I will be comparing it to the place I currently live, Redlake.

Linfen is full of polluted air and artificial smog. The doctor that lives there says the most common things he treats is lung problems and pesticide exposure.  A large amount of people also have emphysema as well. Here in Redlake we have fairly clean and fresh air, thanks to all the trees and large forests surrounding the town.  Because the air is so clean, we don’t have a lot of people around with lung or breathing problems. I’m very thankful of the air quality here.

Another comparison would be water quality. The water in linfen is terrible, children play in rivers so dirty they’re brown, and they only have water in the river when it rains upstream. The water is so polluted, because of the factories. The factories do not clean up their pollution, before they dump the waste into the rivers and streams. In Redlake, we have a beautiful lake and amazing water treatment facilities. Without our lake and water treatment, we could very well end up like the people in Linfen with tainted drinking water. I don’t know how many times I’m going to say I’m thankful for things in this essay, but I’m also thankful for the clean water we have here.

My final comparison is about the coal mines. The coal mines take up a lot of the land in Linfen, and the trucks that come out of them clog up the road. 1000s of coal trucks leave Linfen full each day, and all of them return empty to only drive out again full the next day. The amount of pollution that comes from just the trucks is astounding. The coal mines are also huge, and if they aren’t government owned they will end up buried and smashed to the ground. That’s pollution there, too. Redlake was started by prospectors coming up to stake their own claim of gold, and nobody was ever in trouble for that. We also don’t have a large amount of traffic going in and out of the town, or at least not as much as Linfen, and that lowers our pollution rate too. I’m thankful that goldcorp hasn’t taken over our town, like the coal mines have in Linfen.

Hopefully Redlake will remain as beautiful as it is now for a long time. I certainly don’t want it to end up like Linfen, without the beauty of nature and wildlife.

An Inconvenient Truth

Recently we watched a  documentary in class that focused on global warming, and the pollution going on around the world. It was made by Al Gore, a former vice president of the United States. In this documentary Al is warning everyone of what is going to happen if we don’t try and fix our environmental mistakes. Mistakes such as pollution are causing global warming, which is basically Al’s main focus. The documentary follows Al from city to city as he makes his presentation to raise awareness of the ongoing problem.  When there is more carbon dioxide, the temperature get’s warmer which causes global warming. “An Inconvenient Truth” is a really touching and well put together documentary.

In my opinion, the documentary should be watched by everyone on the planet. If we’re going to solve this crisis, we are going to need everyone to step up to the plate and do their best.  This documentary is quite relevant to the crisis, as it  explains how we need to try and make a change by using proof scientifically, and with personal proof. One example of scientific proof Al uses in the documentary is a series of graphs that show the increase of the co2 levels  and how it matches with the heat. We can change that by lowering pollution rate, as it causes the heat to spike. An example of personal proof Al uses is photographs of Mt.Kilimanjaro through the decades. It shows massive change, as the first photo was full of vegetation, but the last photo was a nearly barren landscape. Personal experiences that I have had, showing that this video is true and important, would be my visit to the Winnipeg zoo and being apart of our school’s Eco team. My visit to the Winnipeg zoo is a proof, because of the International Polar Bear Conservation Center. It talks about global warming, and how it’s affecting the polar bears population and  habitat. They are also apart of a polar bear breeding program (A program trying to raise the population of polar bears)  now that they have Hudson the polar bear joining their zoo.  Being on the school’s Eco team also opens my eyes to global warming and environmental problems, because we discuss these  things at our meetings.  This documentary is an ‘Inconvenient Truth’, it’s inconvenient to humans, but it’s the truth.

This documentary was the kick-start to a new project, this time one on the environment. Some critical thinking and inquiry based learning projects I thought were a good idea are listed below:

– Poaching  African Elephants, and how it’s affecting their population. (I think I’m going to use this as my project!)

–  How air pollution is affecting human’s health.

–  Local mines, and how they are contributing to the pollution problem.

Thanks for reading!

 

Portfolio Night!

Tonight is portfolio night here at GLC. Sadly, it will be my last portfolio night ever, because next year I’m off to high-school. If you are interested in seeing some of my work I will post some of my favorites in a few links below. You can also just click around my website :D.

My Smarties Geography Assignment is .

My Call of the Wild culminating assignment is .

Sydney and I’s awesome geography YouTube video is .

I Can See It Now…..

Today in class we studied an infographic about incidents and events that could possibly happen in the future. It showed us the probability of those events happening as well.

 

Some of the events that we thought would be possible were:

 

• Using google earth in video games- We thought this was pretty realistic with all the technology and video games that people are playing these days, and how advanced google is as a computer program.
• The global population hits its highest ever point and then start to decline- We thought this was also pretty realistic due to the population increasing on and on each year and that it could then decline because of lack of resources like water,food and land for shelter.
• Robots are widely used for agriculture tasks on farms- it is reasonable because we already have a few robots in use! Robots are already used for household chores such as vacuuming, so we could see them evolving to work on farms.
• world government-we think that a world government would be good because that means there would be less war because we would all be run by the same government.

An event that we really want to happen:

Uploading the contents of your brain to a computer- We thought this would be great because you could picture a scene/memory with your brain, and when you uploaded it, it would be like taking a picture with your mind! We think that would be awesome, because sometimes in life’s greatest moments you don’t always have a camera with you.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Flipbook Art!

Our recent art project was sticky-note flipbooks. They are a  lot of fun to make, and you can create any sort of animation you want!

These videos are some of the flipbooks the class made: