Phase 5 Environmental Science (DB2) Instructions:
Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100-word reply about his or her Primary Task Response. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:
What did you learn from your classmate’s posting?
What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates’ postings?
Post by Alexis Pettus:
What were the most compelling topics in this course?
To be honest I think all the topics kind of hit home for me especially in Phase 4 WSM. I think it was all a good lesson learned and it is a great way to regain that knowledge that I have forgotten. Sometimes we get so caught up in our everyday lives that we forget some of these things are still important.
Yes I absolutely do look at my environment differently. The electricity I use on a daily basis I learned how to cut some of my cost down to better save which was a huge deal for me after hearing how expensive it was without making some changes. The environment that we currently live in today is in for a huge surprise. I try my best to dispose all of the waste materials that I have in the proper containers at all times already. That is something very big in the US today. With health concerns and children born into this world on a daily basis nobody needs those germs floating around in the air.
I don’t see how it can be applied to my life professional, but personally I can always use the information I learned in class to help me in my personal life. I have really enjoyed this class and also Professor Poliakon was excellent in teaching it. It is not always we get Professors like her that helps along the way and make sure we ask questions. That is a very big plus. Thanks to everyone of my classmates as well as I learned from each of you that I responded to in these discussion boards.
Post by Diahnca Quigley:
For this discussion board we are to look back over this course and talk about what we learned and how it will affect us in our everyday life. We looked at how wasteful we are and how those waste effects the environment. We looked at how our energy waste causes other environmental issues. I would have to say that the thing I liked learning the most about is the distance food travels to reach our table.
I would love to make some changes in my day to day activities if there were places in my community to do more recycling and room in my current home to do the recycling, but neither of these are an option. I feel that one of the biggest things we can all do is look at how we live and see if we can reduce our overall waste to reduce waste in landfills. My school I work at has started recycling not just paper goods, but also plastic’s, Styrofoam, and cardboard. These are small but if the district would have every school start doing this with about 35 schools it would make a bigger difference over all. The town I live in has a place where you can turn in unused paints, stains and other harsh chemicals to keep them from ending up in the local dumb and in turn in the water supply. You can go there and pick up these unused chemicals to paint, stain or water proof your home.
I think this class would yield more valuable information through doing more work in the Intellipath program and less read and write work. I would have learned more over all if there and been more information to read and review that read a small amount on then try to research and find the information on my own. I would have rather had the Intellipath as a part of this class and discussion boards.
***The bottom post is the one you did for me. Please let me know if you have any questions. Also please split the responses on. Respond to one completely and then the other. Please do not combine the responses. Thanks.***
Summative Discussion
Being an environmental science student, I have learned several things about environmental conservation and causes of degradation. Of more significance, I have understood how simple human activities contribute to environmental degradation without their knowledge. In this regard, the following discussion presents a reflection on the knowledge gained from studying environmental science course.
After delving into several topicsin the course, I encountered two major compelling topics concerning environmental science. Firstly, the topic on water pollutiongot my attention during the discussion. This is because the topic enabled me understand various forms of water pollution and the approaches that can be used to mitigate the negative effects resulting from the various forms of pollution. Discussion about energy use also formed another compelling topic for me. This is because the topic enabled me to evaluate personal characteristics on energy use, and how it impacts on the environmental conditions. In addition, the topic provided a platform through which I evaluated various approaches that can be used to regulate energy use and reduce environmental degradation.
Pursuing the environmental science course has made be to change the approach in which I view the environment. Initially, I never bothered on matters concerning pollution, considering that I though individual effects were minimal. For instance, contributions to the mass movement of foods never occurred to me prior to this course. In reality, I preferred to consume foreign food staffs in order to experience the exotic tastes. However, I have learned that mass movement of food contributes significantly to environmental pollution and there is need to change my lifestyle in order to protect the environment. Of more significance, I have I learned that patterns of energy use also affect the states of environmental conditions. In this regard, members of the public need to learn efficient energy use patterns in order to reduce environmental pollution.
Exploring issues in environmental science has encouraged me to change my habits and choices on issues that affect the quality of the environment. For instance, I have learned that my energy use patterns are not favorable to the environment because of the excessive emission of toxic gases and inefficient usage. In addition, preferences to exotic food products also lead to introduction of green house gases through transportation of the food products. As such, I have decided to consume locally produced food products and improve my energy use patterns by ensuring that I save energy whenever possible.
Studying the environmental science course has enabled me to see how science applies to my life both professionally and personally. I have learned that individual activities contribute significantly to the state environmental conditions, despite the fact that they may be unnoticeable. For example, I have realized that my habit of preferring exotic food contributes to global warming through the emission of greenhouse gases. In addition, uncontrolled energy use in my personal activities also contributes to environmental degradation. Moreover, I have learned that adoption of efficient energy systems in the professional activities can assist in the reduction ofgeneral environmental pollution.
In conclusion, I have gained important knowledge from studying various topics in environmental science course. The topics on energy use and water pollution were most interesting in the study. However, additional topics enabled me to understand various environmental concepts, which are important in my personal and professional life.
