Below are review questions prompted from my instructor about what we learned that week and about the resources out school gives. 1. Do you think that the 4 factors (overpopulation, over-exploitation, poverty, and externalizing costs) truly do serve as the foundation for the environmental problems that we face today? Which of the 4 major factors do you think is most interesting? What prior knowledge/ experience do you have with this factor? Absolutely, I think we are overpopulated and that's what causes us to overexploit the Earth's resources. The population is the hardest one to solve in my opinion, this is because unless you want to take people's rights and dip into the realm of a science fiction movie where you restrict childbearing and you punish those who have done more than they are allowed to then there really isn't a good solution. My only prior knowledge of what people do to prevent overpopulation is the one-child policy in China as mentioned before and the Netflix original "What Happened to Monday" where it demon straight the one-child policy but it's about a set of seven girls. I personally with no scientific proof feel like this is why we still have serious illnesses like Cancer and the new coronavirus, it's nature trying to keep the human population in control so the rest that remains can live here longer. But that is just my personal opinion. 2. What was your Ecological footprint? What areas were the greatest? How can you improve? Will you? (Be realistic and talk about what you can and can't do.) What societal/ economic systems/ constructs make it more difficult for you to live a sustainable lifestyle? My total footprint was 22.53 hectares or about 55.6491 acres or roughly 9 Earth's worth of a contribution if I live with my same actions every day. My top three biggest contributors are transportation, food and energy use. Optimistically I could improve all of these aspects but realistically food and energy are the only two I'll work better at. My car is an asset that I can't live without, when I'm out I do 10 other stops before going home and I'm always doing something that waiting for a train or bus would be extremely hard for me. However, I do plan on getting a new car soon since mine has almost reached the end of its life so now that I know what miles to the gallon are most ideal for the environment I'll shoot for one of those cares if I can't afford an electric when I go shopping. As for food consumption chicken has been something that I've tried to cut out of my diet since I had already cut out all other types of animal meat, but eggs are the only thing I know that at least for now I can't give up they are a really convenient source of protein for me and my go-to food. I was really surprised how much not composing causes, we used to compost but we don't garden anymore so we stopped composing. I might convince the family to start to do it again if I can find someplace who will be willing to take all of my compost, but I'm not sure that will be able to happen since it would be a lifestyle shift for the family. 3. How much did you know about the Thayne Center, SLCC Food Pantry, and SLCC Community Gardens prior to today? Do you think that these are worth SLCC spending resources on? Do you think that SLCC students need these services? Please check out Help in Times of Need module to see other resources available to you. I knew of the Thayne Center because my friend works there as a part of an organization called "Slice" but outside of the student events she participates in I didn't know a lot more about the Thayne Center and I definitely didn't know that so many people had received life-changing moments and opportunities though the Thayne Center so that was cool to find out. I only knew of the Bruin Pantry because my twin sister works at the First-Year Experience office at Redwood and they told her about the pantry and its mission. If you had asked me if it was worth it 6 months ago I would have said maybe, but I had to context. Now that she works in a very diverse office she has opened both our eyes to all the different walks of life that come to SLCC and that so many people do not have the privileges and luxuries I do. So yes I do think we need the pantry and now that I learned about the garden I think it is very necessary to the students we have and the community around us. I am glad that SLCC cares so much about their students and what to do so much to make sure we all excel. 4. Describe how the photos you took this week illustrate the concepts for the week. I took photos of the Bruin Pantry to show all the different things we offer to our students, I chose to show this because it brings a resource to the attention of any and all students who didn't know we already had this. But also because the shelves are bearish and I know that the pantry could take donations if anyone has any food they're willing to donate. I know that my sister and I donated a lot of meat products when our grandpa died because we don't eat that kind of stuff and it could make someone's day. 5. What was one thing that was particularly interesting or challenging this week? Finding out about the gardens was really interesting to me, I had heard of our community garden but I didn't know where it was and I didn't realize that it was really such an open to the community affair. I think renting out plots of land is a great idea for the school because it brings in a little bit of revenue and makes the people that live around the school feel included in its community which is something I've noticed with SLCC, they are really community-centered and pride themselves in including as many people they can with whatever they do.
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The characteristics of life are one thing all life has in common and so many living things overlap others with their needs. We all rely on our environment to provide for us but that has to come at a cost to others and humans definitely take more than their fair share. What I mean from this is that because all living things need energy and materials most get their energy from plants who get it from the sun, but the plant dies when it gives it's energy to an animal. As for materials we need we cut down plants to get materials for our homes and clothes, we impact the ecosystem chain daily. By definition population is made up of animals of the same species that live in the same area and can reproduce with one another, as that area or environment changes so much the species to survive. This is done one of two ways, evolution and natural selection. Evolution relies on mutations and natural selection to make a big difference in the species. This process is based on the random recombination and mutations in individuals and their characteristics, this is passed down and makes all future generations carry similar and helpful traits. With natural selection this happens when a species has an abundance of off spring and this has a couple of different results. Some die an early death because there is not enough food for all of them, predators pick off the weaker ones, they can't acclimate to the climate etc. but with more offspring there are more little differences are made in the gene pool. Those that do survive will pass on the surviving traits to their offspring and this will change the species over time but give them a fighting chance. It's hard to think of two things I do that affect organisms as a single entity, I drive my car like everyone else but that hurts more the population than the organism. Thinking really hard I would say that by squishing ants I hurt the organism; not just physically by killing it but also the whole colony is now one man down. Luckily ants are prepared for this kind of thing and they have an abundance of offspring and colony members to pick up the slack. The second would be that I do not intend on having children, the thought has never been appealing. As we have learned, reproduction is one of the characteristics of life so by my action I am choosing not to put my DNA with all the good characteristics it has into the gene pool that could be passed on to others. This also has an affect on the evolution of life because all my good and bad genes will be kept with me and not passed along. Below are the photos from this weeks trip: The photos with the triceratops skulls shows evolution within a species, the top most skulls are the common ancestor that the rest of them shared and as you went down the things that changed were characteristics like how long horns were or how big their frills were. This made life and mating from them most optimal in the area they were in.
The second photos with the fox squirrels show how squirrels and other neighborhood animals are reacting to human expansion. Scientist are tracking the fox squirrels to see how their behavior has changed and where they now choose to make their homes and where they find food. Then scientist will be able to tell us how the human impact affects the animals we share this space with. This being the first week the hardest thing for me was knowing what to expect, "is it vital that I take notes?" yes! "how important it is that everything gets finished before the class?" no, (or maybe it's just the first week) but it does make it so you know what's going on so you can add to class discussion so highly recommended. I think next week I will be able to have a better conversation with my classmates as I am learning what the best method of engagement is. |
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