Reflection Weeks 13-14 Combined with Reflection: Overall Course

This is the last post to be done for the class. It seems very strange because I have been blogging so much for this class that it is normal for me to check my blog all the time.

Week 13:
During this week we went to Goodwill and got a tour of the company. It was very interesting to see behind the scenes. I did not know that they provided so many disabled people with jobs. By doing this they sacrifice efficiency for humanity, and I think that is a wonderful thing. Another interesting part of the tour was to see how they crush mattress springs into bundles so that a place can take them and melt them down.

We had to do a blog post to our political representative about the bill we choose for the advocacy project. I thought it was very helpful to learn how to write a letter to a representative to advocate for something.

This was also the last week for my eco-chic lifestyle change. I think over the past five weeks I have accomplished a lot with my lifestyle change. It is still now always easy to shower that fast, but I still try because I know the impact I am having on the environment.

Week 14:
This last week we presented our junk projects to the class. I made a serving piece out of a candle holder and 2 trays. I used gorilla glue to glue it together. Here is a picture of it.




We had to create on online activity about the bill we are advocating for. Then we had to complete all the activities in our web groups. I really like doing this because it was very short, but I learned a lot of information just from doing everyone's activities.

Overall Reflection:
This class has been the most eye-opening class that I have ever taken. The documentaries that we watched were very powerful and never failed to change my thinking about the topic. The video "Tapped" had the most impact on me and I refuse to ever buy a plastic water bottle again. I will continue to advocate for reusable water bottles. I really liked doing the eco-chic lifestyle change because I got to actually change the way I was impacting the environment. The most important thing I learned was about my ecological footprint. It is still crazy to me that I alone, use about 3.6 Earths of resources. I never thought that I had that big of an impact on the Environment, but now that I do I am going to continue to try to reduce the waste I produce and lower my impact on the environment.

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Tackling Transportation: Sarah

Sarah asked us to use Google Transit to find three places we go to a lot. I put in the directions for those places to get alternate routes by either walking or the bus.

I looked at School, Work, and the Grocery store. To get to those places I usually walk or get a ride with a friend. Since I always walk to school and work I did not put them into google transit. I did look up the route for the grocery store. It will take me a total of 8 minutes to get the number 12 bus to take me to the grocery store. I will definitely try to take the bus next time, because it is an easy change to make and hardly takes any time at all.


Occupational Hazard Crossword: Samantha

Sam made a cross word puzzle for us to do. We had to search for the answers.
Answers for crossword:

Across: Down:
3. lead 1. inhalation
5. blood 2. decades
6. symptoms 4. wash
7. work

What surprised me the most was that lead can stay in your bones for decades. I also did my advocacy project on lead, so I already knew all of these answers and did not have to go searching for them, but I still really enjoyed doing the crossword puzzle.

The Effects of Smoking: Kristy

Kristy had a few fact sheets for us to read. After we read them she had us take a survey that she created on Survey Monkey.

I thought this was a really good way to learn the information because it was like studying for a test!

Water Vocabulary Match: Calista

Callie created a memory game about water infrastructure. We had to match the definitions to the word. I thought this was a fun activity to do. It also helped me learn a bunch of new definitions.

Understanding Emissions: Adam

Provided fact sheets about emissions and air pollutants. He also had us calculate the amount of emissions we create. I was very happy to see the after calculating my emissions my total annual pollution from road transport was better than average.

Three things I learned from the fact sheets are:
1. Emissions from cars are the greatest when engines are cold.
2. Maintaining vehicle property is the best way to reduce emissions of pollutants. Dirty air filters, broken air pump and a stuck choke all increase emissions of carbon monoxide.
3. Lung functions of healthy people were limited when they exercised in the presence of smog.

Breathe-Freeville Mystery: Sonny

Sonny created a detective game. The town of Breathe-Freeville was getting sick and we had to look at a suspect she provided and answer the questions.
1. Suspect: PM2.5 or PM Fine
2. Crime: Particles travel deep into the lungs and cause respiratory damage. Also can cause damage to the hear and cause cancer
3. Cause: PM Fine comes from burning fuel in powerplants, factories, cars and trucks. It also can come from the dust off of roads, fields and construction sites.
4. Lock'em Up:To help reduce PM Fine or to not get sick from it, avoid strenuous activity where PM Fine levels are high. There are also programs that put a cap on emissions from powerplants. You can also find out if your area is a non-attainment area which means that it doesn't meet the EPA national standards for air quality.
5. Case File: From this activity I learned what PM Fine is; I have never even heard of it before. I learned that it comes from emissions and can cause a lot of damage to the lungs.