Reading # 16 - The Land Ethic

                According to Leapold, the land ethic is based on symbiosis (a relationship of mutual benefit or dependence).  He asserts that ethics are a part of the ecological evolution.  The first ethic deals with individuals (the Golden Rule).  The second ethic is a land relation based on what humans can get from the land (strictly economic).  The land-relation ethic evolved into the ecology of the human environment. 

                Leopold maintains that "land as a community" will steer the future course of events.  He argues that the only way this will come about is through education, and responsibility of the landowner.  The paradigm of conservation based solely on economic  terms will continue to falter.  Loepold refers to the land ecology as a "biotic pyramid" which releases energy, whereby population density is actually viewed as a positive instead of a negative.  A "revolt against these modern trends"  is necessary for the land ethnic to continue evolving.

Field Trip: Urban Envrinment - Coral Springs, Florida

Throughout my field trip I went with my sister, Elizabeth and stopped at the Coral Springs museum located in Mullins Park. It was interesting to learn about the place we have lived for nearly 18 years and all the history behind each road and building. After we went to the museum, we stopped at the Covered Bridge and had a picnic on the lawn next to it. We both found it a little amusing that we pass the bridge every day, sometimes more than once, and we have never stopped to think about its significance. This field trip taught me the importance of a stable community and how very fortunate I am to have been raised in such a wonderful atmosphere.

Reading #14 - Reasons for Hope

Reading Healing Earth's Scars: It's Never Too Late by Jane Goodall, Gail Hudson, and Thane Maynard was definitely unlike the majority of the articles in University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future. The authors optimism flourishes throughout the reading as he gives reasons to not give up on saving the environment. Although there are several listed stories about peoples dedication and success in restoring an area of lost hope, I unfortunately don't think that it is enough to save the children of tomorrow. Although I do believe that the global community has made the environment a high priority, it's not high enough. One factor that can contribute the awareness of the environment is to use positive reinforcement, much like the reading Healing Earth's Scars: It's Never Too Late. Every time the environment is talked about it usually is associate with negativity. Positive interactions with the environment and its people can inspire citizens with hope.        

Reading 13 - A Fable for Tomorrow & The Obligation to Endure

The first article I read by Rachel Carson, A Fable for Tomorrow, was an interesting way to put our future global environment in perspective. The unique approach was certainly entertaining and educational. The way she grabbed my attention with her underlining meaning made me like her article even more. Her main focus was if sustainability isn't achieved before the result of deterioration occurs then there isn't much hope of the environment. This article relates to our environment because now is the time to save our earth and reconstruct the damages of our previous living.
Rachel Carson's second article, The Obligation to Endure, was an interesting view about pesticides and other damaging chemicals. Not only was it an enjoyable read, but it was also very informative. There were a few quotes that stuck out, one being "Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation." This was said by Albert Schweitzer who was quoted in the article and was used to emphasize how dangerous the current produces are because of the chemicals used. Additionally, Carson noted that there are over 500 new chemical that the human body has to adapt to each year. That point was absolutely mind blowing because I knew that there were chemicals added to our foods, but never had I thought about what kind or how it can affect our body. Usually, people are worried about general foods that are good or bad, but now we have to worry about the chemicals used on our foods.      

Field Trip: Marine Environment - John Pennekamp

I went to John Pennekamp with my family to explore the marine environment. We went snorkeling and explored life underwater. During our time in the ocean we saw interesting species like needle fish and artifacts like an underwater shipwreck. Our trip got cut short because the weather started acting up and a thunder storm was well on its way. After we were done swimming around, we walked to the museum and talked with the volunteer about John Pennekamp. It was unanimous decision that as soon as we get scuba certified we are going back to explore all that John Pennekamp has to offer.               

Field Trip: Agricultural Environment - The Girls Strawberry U-pick Farm

I went to The Girls Strawberry U-pick farm with my best friend, Val, my sister, EB, and her friend, Andrea. We spent the whole day walking around the farm, picking strawberries, taking pictures of the animals, and talking to the employees about the farm. All of their products are organic and hydroponically grown because they want to conserve and sustain all their nutrients. With the strawberries we picked, we all went home and make strawberry shortcake. We also compared and contrast the size and taste of natural strawberries from genetically enhanced strawberries.        

Field Trip - Freshwater Ecosystem: Everglades National Park

My family and I took a trip to the Everglades National Park Visitor Center in Homestead, Florida. It was a cloudy day, the humidity was high, and the smell of rain was in the atmosphere. When we first arrived, we walked inside the visitor center reading all about the history of the Everglades national Park, the ecosystems, animals, and the current threats of the environment. We than took a short 30 minute tour with one of the volunteer employees that showed us around and pointed out several popular species throughout the Everglades. While we traveled through the environment there were several moments where it was completely silent and we all listened to the nature. I can speak on behalf of my family when I say that it was a very relaxing, enjoyable, and informational experience. After the tour we sat at one of the picnic tables that were on a balcony overlooking the spectacular view and ate lunch. Overall, the field trip to the Everglades National Park Visitor Center was a wonderful and memorable time.

Reading #11 - Endgame

Reading the article Endgame, by Michael Grunwald, was an interesting battle to ultimately conserve the Everglades. Whenever there is talk about the environment and conserving it's usually associated with negativity and a loss of hope. It was nice to read an environmental article with a happy ending. Although the job of conserving and preserving is never a job completed, the battle during Clinton's election for the "A Time to Act" campaign was a prevailing win for Everglades. Although it was hard to keep up with the variety of Senators and activists throughout the reading, there was one man stood out to me the most, Senator Smith. His reputation as a grueling Republican did not suffice with the environmentalist and without giving him a chance they wrote him off and expected nothing from him but disaster. He proved them all wrong and devoted his time and efforts to preserve the Everglades. The best quote that Senator Smith stated was "part of being a conservative is to conserve." All in all, I enjoyed the read about the politics of conserving and how people are so passionate about making sure that our environment stays intact.        

    

Reading #10 - Vandana Shiva

Reading the article about Vandana Shiva in the University Colloquium and watching the youtube video of her speaking was very overwhelming. She clearly presents herself as an activist for organic agriculture. Although there is an abundant amount of information that she presented, I can't decide whether I fully agree with her proposal that biodiversity is the ultimate resource that keeps a health food production alive. Shiva is very set that globalization is one of the main reasons that biodiversity is deteriorating, but I believe that globalization had made not only the United States but several other nations prosper with their imports, exports, and international affairs. Additionally, she comes from a very bias stand point because she continually insults the United States and Europe, but highly praises her home of India.
Although there was much that I didn't agree with, there were a few statements that Shiva stated in which I had the same opinion. The one part of the youtube videa that intrigued me was when Shiva said that at a convention she attended there were a group of companies that had a common goal to merge into five main companies to create a monopoly in the food industry worldwide. When she addressed this statement, unfortunately I wasn't baffled because I know that a monopoly has been created in the meat industry in the United States, but I certainly didnt' think this could carry on onto an international level.

Reading #9 - A Tale of Two Farms

I enjoyed reading A Tale of Two Farms by Jared Diamond because of his approach on presenting information about the evolution of cities. Diamond explains several reasons why a city, like the Gardar farm, can collapse and deteriorate while a neighbor farm land prospers and grows, like the Huls Farm. The five point frame work explains why certain cities dissolve and they are: environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, friendly trade partners, and the society's responses to its environment. I liked how Diamond openly admitted to leaning about how much more there is to the destruction of a city other than environmental causes. Reading about each one of the five points was enlightening and although it is a tragedy to think that it is possible that any city can be destroyed, he seems to present his opinion from an optimistic point of view.
The most interesting part of the reading was on page 32 when Diamond presents both sides of an environmental opinion. There are the "environmentalists" who urge the importance of the environment and insist that the government takes action to achieve a sustainable lifestyle. According to the "environmentalist" economic and population growth cannot be achieved sustainability without a prosperous environment. The opposite of the "environmentalists" are the "non-environmentalists" who think the importance of the environment is over exaggerated and that a nation can grow without the help of the environment. After reading this section, I started to think where I stood on the political environmental spectrum. Before college I really could care less about the environment and what happened to all the animals. Now, I look back and think how ignorant I was to think that humans can do things all by themselves. Nature plays a large role in everyone's life regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, age, or color. I'm glad that I chose FGCU as my college and even though sometimes I think one person isn't going to make a difference, I'm constantly reminded of our ecological footprint and what we leave behind.        

Reading #6 - Moving Ecoagriculture into the Mainstream

Chapter 2 helped me understand the concept and importance of ecoagriculture. Until now, I never knew that it was a way for agriculture, rural development and managing the ecosystem to balance each other out and work together. I enjoyed reading about agroecological farming and the different types, such as organic agriculture, agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and evergreen agriculture. It was interesting to understand the flow of the environment and how important each role contributes.

Reading #5 - Charting a New Path to Eliminating Hunger

After reading chapter 1 in State of the World, I thought about how much food I waste from a day to day basis. For example, after dinner I throw all of my left-over's down the drain or in the trash. Also, I thought about food processing in America and the overall quality. It made me think how fortunate I am to be able to live in a country with plenty of food and where starvation and hunger is not an issue. I've always known that Africa was a poor country that doesn't have many resources, but I never realized why. Chapter 1 explained to me why their methods of crop growing are failing and that many people need to be educated about proper farming techniques. Personally, I think I can help out by buying fruits and vegetables at a local farmers market. This chapter was very eye opening and I am excited to read more.

Reading #4- Summary

                I thoroughly enjoyed all of the reading and video's on interactive, environmental learning. Coming from a fairly large family with four children, who are all 1 year apart, and two loving parents, there seizes to be any form of peace inside the house. Both my brothers are prescribed with ADHD and both my sister and my mom are prescribed with ADD, so sometimes my house can feel like God is pushing the fast-forward button on a dramatic reality TV show.  Despite the household craziness, after reading and watching the information, I began to think back to my childhood, how it's affected me today and how privileged I am. While my dad was at work, my mom would pack a cooler and plan a day trip to a nature reserve, the beach, a park, or anything that hand enough space for four children to run around outside. Although the majority of my family is prescribed with some sort of "disorder" my parents never believed medicine would fix the problem. Yes, there was several behavior issues along the way, but I enjoyed seeing my family express their creativity instead in sitting for hours focusing so intensely on their homework due to Ritalin. My mom was able to detect our higher level of concentration and better performance in school if we were able to play outside.
                Out of all the videos, I enjoyed Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity the most. He had a funny sense of humor and spoke the truth about our school system not only in America, but also on a global scale. It hurts me to think that someone  will spend their entire life searching for a passion because it was overlook as a young child and known as "misbehaving". Ken Robinson and John Dewey's perspectives are very inspiring as well as educational. Because I am an education major, I have previously been introduced to John Dewey and this theories.  He emphasized the importance of a strong community and how each person plays an important role because of their natural strengths. Additionally, he proposed that working with and in an environmental setting can only be beneficial.
                I am very happy that this issue was addressed in this course because I think it is important for not just education majors to understand that the environment can be used for much more than a pretty picture. As the book University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future states that the environment is a simple solution to better concentration and overall health. All of the information has given me a different perspective. Instead of looking at a child who has a "disorder" and feeling sorry for them, I am going to think that they have some sort of creativity and charm about them that no one else possess. I hope to keep and practice this information as I travel inside the classroom and teach in the future.                 

Reading #3 John Dewey

Researching John Dewey and his importance to education was very interesting and informative. All of his theories have dramatically impacted education. For example, his observation on collective learning and group work is something that we use today in schools. Students come together and share the information together inside a classroom and sometimes are broken up into even smaller groups to complete a specific task. Additionally, he emphasized on kinestetic learning and working with your environment. Being a kinestetic learner myself, I agree with Dewey and his style of teaching.

Personal Journal #1 - May 21

The beginning of the week was the start of triathlon training for me, so I have been spending quite sometime outside either swimming, running, or biking. Usually, I think about how much I want to stop, go home, sit on the couch, and watch endless hours of trash TV or read a book with a storyline filled with high-line drama. Today was a little different. Before I started my run, I was greeted by our large, stray, lizard with a curly tail. Although he runs away every time he sees me, I get excited and say hello as if he understands. I began to jog and felt the sweet form on my forehead from the unforgiving sun beaming on me. As I reached my 2 mile marker, I suddenly became worried as I saw a hand sized turtle in the middle of the road, huddled in his shell, hiding, as the cars rolled over him. I quickly jumped in the busy traffic (at the safest time possible) picked him up and placed him in the bushes. After my good dead for the day, I continued running thinking maybe training isn't so bad after all.   

Field Trip #1



I walked around my neighborhood this afternoon and it was absolutely beautiful! It was a cloudless sky, the sun was shinning bright, and there was a light breeze. As I was wondering around, I noticed how little there was to look at near all of the houses. There were a few flowers and trees that were planted by the home owners, but other than that there really wasn't much too see. Although, I did enjoy the few natural plants and animals when I saw them. My favorite part of the trip was sitting and watching the lake water ripple and crash into the grassy edges. The few questions I wrote down are:

1. How many different types of animals are in the lake and what is the most common?

2. What plants and trees are indigenous to this community?

3. Without the irrigation systems what would my neighborhood look like?

4. As technology increases will the natural environment decrease?

5. Instead of building out, wouldn't it make more sense to build up?

5. Will the lake near my house be there in 50 years?

6. How many people live in the neighborhood and contribute to pollution?

7. Are there plants that are better for the environment than others?

8. Due to the increase of urbanism, have the number of animals decreased? 

9. Will I ever see the otter I saw in the same like 10 years ago again?

10. Why has it become so difficult to see such a beautiful natural landscape?

Reading #2 - Quality Enhancement Plan

All the vocabulary is relevant to this class because they explain the type of learning that will be done throughout this course, the motive behind University Colloquium, and the goals that are set after accomplishing this class. As the class continues many of the vocabulary words can be referred back to because of their importance. For example, the terms colloquium, goals of environmental education, sustainability, civic engagement, and critical thinking are all major factors of what this course is based upon. The same motives and goals of this class can also be applied to my life. Although, as unique individuals we all have our own problems and struggles, we all share the environment.   

Reading # 1 - Orientation

Throughout this course I would like to learn more about the global community and how to work together in order to achieve environmental peace. I know that there are several small choices that humans are making that are hurting the environment and eventually evolve into a large problem. I would like to know how to eliminate our destruction and maintain sustainability. Additionally, I would like to interact more with my home environment, rather than traveling elsewhere to observe environmental beauty.

Introduction

Hey!

My name is Hannah Swope and I am a Junior at FGCU. I'm majoring in Education and can not wait to teach in a classroom! I love to travel, experience new cultures, and meet new people. Tri Delta is an important part of my life, as well as our philanthropy, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. My favorite thing to do is laugh and my favorite place to go is the beach.