Reflection: Weeks 15 and 16

It's the end of the semester.  Wow.  I can't believe we are actually done after this week.  I have learned so much throughout this class and it seems like it was such a short time.  I will be sad to not have classes with all of you anymore, I had so much fun! Here is what we did the last 2 weeks of class...

Week 15

First off we made our Advocacy Project Learning activity.  I thought it was a bit challenging for my topic, but I ended up finding something that I thought was useful.  It was fun to see everyone elses ideas as well.  Next, we had our guest speaker, Sue Whitney, who came and taught us about "junking."  She also gave each one of us one of her new books, which was really cool.  Then some of our classmates participated in the junking activity and it was really fun to see what they had come up with using things from home.  I was impressed.  The last thing we did during our actual class time was going outside in the courtyard and talking about everything we learned.  It was gorgeous outside and I think it was a good closing to a great semester!!!:)

Week 16

Well it is finals week for us right now, which I can't wait to be over with.  This week we did our eye opener posts by doing each person in our groups' activities.  I thought everyone in my group had really good ideas and I actually learned things that I didn't know before.  That was our last post other than this one and comments, which means we are pretty much done.  

*Good luck to everyone on the rest of your finals and I hope you all have a great summer!*

Reflection: Weeks 13 and 14

HEY!!! I can't believe that we only have 1 more week of class left and then it's finals week!!! This semester just flew right by!!  I will miss all of you next semester!! Anyways..on to the last 2 weeks.

Week 13

We started off week 13 by watching a video called "Story of Stuff."  It explained in detail the cycle of all the goods and services.  Also, it brought up many of the social and environmental issues that we are facing today.  One thing that I really liked is how she compared how economy works today and how it worked in the past when material objects weren't the biggest concern.  The example she used, about one year "thick heels" being in and then the next year "skinny heals" being in, put what is going on in our economy into perspective, because it is so true!!

During this week we also got to go to Bagley Nature Center and do a navigation project.  It was a really nice day out, so it was nice to be able to be outside.  We got to learn how to use a compass, which I preciously didn't know how to use.  It was fun to see how good or bad you were at reaching each tape point.

Week 14

On Tuesday we  had a speaker come in, who is currently working for AmeriCorp .  It was really neat to learn what he is doing to help out in the environment.  I also didn't know very much about AmeriCorp, so it was nice to be able to learn something about it.  I thought he was a very good speaker!

Yesterday we did a SUPER fun activity.  We got into our web groups and Dr.V brought in some "junk" items and we had to come up with ideas of what to do with them.  All the groups were really creative during this and it was fun to see what everyone had come up with.  I have to say that our group was pretty funny when it came to this challenge! Great Job Guys!!:) 

Well lets get through this last week and then we can enjoy summer!!:)

Reflections: Weeks 11 and 12

Hi guys!! The last couple weeks have kept us busy with our advocacy project and last documentary.  The school year is really starting to wind down!

Week 11

This week in class we watched the documentary "Unnatural Causes".  This was one of my favorite documentaries.  I am going to school for health care management and this was relating a lot to my major.  It was crazy to see the years difference for life expectancy in just one city!  During this week we also talked about how to use the THOMAS feature for our advocacy project.

Week 12

This week in class we were assigned another section of our advocacy project.  We had to choose a topic from Healthy People 2010.  I chose increasing long-term care for older adults.  It was hard to find a bill that directly related to only this topic, but I did find one that worked well.  I am interested to see what other things I will find out about this topic the more research I am able to do.  Also we got our reusable bags from Super One!! I can't wait to go grocery shopping and actually be able to use it! It will feel good!  It was really fun to see what topics everyone else chose.  There is a good variety and a lot of creative topics.

Reflection: Weeks 9 and 10

So the school year is really flying by now! I can't believe we are almost done. I feel like my brain has been packed full of information from this class, but I still am ready to learn more!  

Week 9

In week 9 we started learning about advocacy. We also started the first step of our project, which was to find our political representatives.  This should help us out along the way with our advocacy project.  During this week we also discussed our photo essay and there were a lot of really good ideas brought up during discussion.  This week seemed more of a preparing week for what was to come.

Week 10

In week 10 Dr.V was gone, so we didn't have class.  We did have to have our photo essay done though.  I have to say that I struggled at first with what to do for my photo essay.  I really hadn't come up with anything creative.  I decided to do things that my work has done to go green.  I thought it was kind of neat to see local businesses doing their part as well.  My boss also is excited to read my post about it, so that could be interesting haha! 

I hope that the rest of these weeks go good for everyone! :) Keep up all the hard work!

Reflections: Weeks 7 and 8

Week 7
To start off week 7, I was one of the people assigned to do the reading of chapter 16. I couldn't decide if I really liked the reading, but I think that it was trying to send a good message! It also tied in really well with the documentary titled "Green" that we watched. The documentary focused on chemical plants along cancer alley, and how it is affecting all of the people living around those areas. It is causing rare cancers to occur more frequent. Also the plant moved people right on top of a dump site, and after people began to complain to fix the problem they decided to remove the top 2 feet of the ground off, but there is 17 feet of dump underneath them. That is NOT going to fix the problem! I think this really opened up my eyes, because I didn't know that this was such a huge problem and how much we are contributing to it by buying the products these plants make.
We also were assigned an eye opener called Environmental Working Group, which allowed us to pick out products that we used in our everyday lives and see what they contained and how they affected us. I ended up chosing contact solution and my results were scary! I think that most of our class was shocked to see what their products actually had in them! I really liked that website and am gonna use it to look up other things that I use and what products compare and are better!

Week 8
We had a discussion on the reading Privatizing Water. I didn't even know that this was going on at all. I think that water is a human right and companies shouldn't be allowed to own any water. If companies start to take over water what will we have as a human right? The companies are just going to jack-up the prices for the poorer nations and people won't even be able to afford water, which we need to survive! I couldn't believe that it took a 17 year old to be shot and killed during a riot for the government of Cochabamaba to take back their contract and make water private.
This week we started to watch a documentary called, "Thirst." This is an appropriate name considering it talks about water being privatized. In the movie it also showed a poorer city with a very limited supply of water and how they overcame it. The idea spread throughout the country and they are now able to have a larger supply of water! I didn't have any idea that they were actually trying ot privatize water in a city in California either. On top of that the mayor wasn't even going to let the people of the town vote on what they wanted to do. I think that is wrong, because that is a right and in America we vote!!

Reflection: Weeks 5 and 6

Ok, so I know that most of you have already commented on my post, but I honestly didn't put a lot of time into it, so I am going to fix it. I didn't have my computer for the past week, because it had a virus on it, so I completely forgot that this was due and didn't realize it til' Sunday. I freaked out and hurried up and wrote something lol! UGH..what a struggle!

Week 5
We had to do another eye opener called CSPI. It showed us how the amount of certain foods that we eat effect the environment. My intake of meat definitely was bad! I was really shocked to see my results, because I didn't think I was really that bad. I have since been looking into some other options so I still get my protein and other nutriets from meat without actually having to eat them as often.
We also go to watch the documentary, "Diet for a New America." I admit there were parts in this movie that kind of grossed me out! One of the things that really stood out to me in this documentary were that they would put a bunch of animals in very small areas so that they couldn't move very much, which would then allow the meat to stay more tender! SO SAD!

Week 6
In this week we watched a Documentary titled, "The Future of Food." I found this documentary very interesting. I can't believe that we eat HMO foods and don't know we are eating them because they aren't labeled! Also it made me very mad that Monsanto is suing 9,000 small farming businesses for "stealing" their seeds. I think that Monsanto should be responsible for watching where their seeds float off to! It kind of scared me too, to think that our food supply could be in danger because off all the big corporations that are trying to "own" certain seeds and types of food!
We also were assigned individual readings. I really really liked my reading. It was really interesting to me! It was fun to read everyone elses posts on their readings too. Some of them made me want to go and read their whole article as well! Everyone did a really great job on this assignment!

My Thoughts
I can't believe that these 2 weeks are over already!! It is crazy, our semester is almost half over! I feel like I have already learned so much! It also seems that everyone has the hang of blogging now, which is good. Personally, I really enjoy blogging in my free time. (Kinda nerdy haha) I can't wait to see what is in store for us the next 2 weeks! Keep up all the great posts!!:)

Reflections: Weeks 3 and 4

So these last 2 weeks we have mostly been watching the documentary called "An Inconvenient Truth." I really like this video and think it is packed full of information, most of it I didn't even have a clue about! I think that everyone should watch this documentary, because it is a real eye opener. Also it hit me the hardest to think that the government more or less just ignores the issues and comes up with every excuse in the book of why they don't do anything about it! It makes you feel kind of helpless considering that they run our country and can most of the time make the biggest impact. I also really liked that he put many real life examples throught the video, such as when he showed if Antartica melted the sea level would rise 20 feet everywhere in the world. He had pictures that showed how it would cover Manhatten, San Fransisco, and many others. Examples like that, at least for me, hit me the most because I feel that it is something that I can relate it to. It's one thing to hear about what is going on in the world and the impacts that the way we live has, but to actually see what is happening or will eventually happen is VERY POWERFUL!

Also we did quizzes for our first Eye Opener post. It was fun to see what everyone's results were. I think that everyone was really shocked to see the impact they make on our earth. I know that I was shocked to see mine. I think the ecological footprint was probably my favorite quiz that I took. We really started to get into more environmental issues these past 2 weeks and it seems the class is only going to get better from here on out! I can't wait!

P.S. Everyone's blogs are turning out really great! Keep up all the hard work!!:)

Reflections: Week 1 and 2

The first week of class I wasn't registered for the class, so I didn't make it the first day of class. I did make it the second day, thankfully. We learned what Environmental Health is and why it is important. We also did a Star Wars activity with rope circles, where we tried to fit everyone into the circles and at the end had to fit everyone's feet into one circle. When we got to the last circle everyone just yelled out ideas until one was heard and we just did it. I think that this helped us to see that it can be like that in the world today. We can't all speak at the same time, or noone will be heard, which is why it is important that we elect the right person to speak for us and what we want to be done. As long as we are willing to all work together we can accomplish anything!

The second week was a little tougher, as we tried to learn about blogging. I am new at it and am finding it a little bit difficult. It is getting a lot easier the more that I am on it and just try new things. I think this will be a good learning experience and a nice change in the way of doing class work.

I am really excited to see what is to come in the class and all the topics that we will be able to discuss. I haven't taken a class like this before and am very intersted. Cant wait!!!!:)

Welcome to Kaileigh's Nature Log

Hi, My Name is Kaileigh. I am currently a student at UMD and am majoring in Health Care Management. This blog is going to be confronting environmental issues throughout the world today and how it is affecting us. Please feel free to leave comments!

There are 5 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:
1.Advocacy Project
2.Eye Openers
3.Reflections
4.Reviews
5.Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post is has been labeled with all five kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. (Place labels gadget below blog header but above blog text). All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.

The members of my web group are:

1. Kathy

2. Christen

3. SteveGoesGreen

4. SharsVirtualEnvironment

5. Heather

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Have a Great Day! Hope you enjoy!:)