Self-Reflection

Self-Reflection

                My beliefs really haven’t changed since I started this topic. When I started I was for the saving of the polar bear population and I was against pollution. However, now that I have studied this topic in heavy detail, I can now back up my ideas more. This way I can help protect them outside of this project. The reason I chose this was because we had talked a lot about it in my Environmental Science class.

                I feel that this project has increased my knowledge a lot. I enjoy being able to tell others about my project and feeling very successful in completing the whole thing. Polar Bear population has become an issue I like to address on a personal level. I like to use the knowledge I have gained to persuade people to my side, as well as answer their questions and argue my points.

                I feel that this project has further prepared me for college and other post-secondary learning. I am very prepared for things to come. I feel that all of this work, from doing annotations, to typing a 3 page essay has increased my knowledge and prepared me for future English classes to come.

                Well from the start of public schooling they have tried to prepare me for post-secondary schooling. They all say the same thing, about taking notes all the time, study all the time, and other stuff like that. I feel like it’s just become general knowledge, but this project has given me hands on experience of the things to come. I have no idea why they didn’t make me do anything like this before but, it’s kind of weird that they waited until the last minute.

                I really like taking on the responsibility of teaching myself. They gave us all of the options in the world. We basically made the project ourselves. This benefitted everyone because we got to learn about something important to us, instead of something the school district feels is important. Now, I’m not hating on the school district, but what they think is a good book, or a good project, is NOT what a high school student thinks is important at the time. I feel like they should get more options like this project.

                The aspects of this project that seemed most difficult would probably be the 3 page essay. The only reason this was so hard was because in all of my high school years my largest paper was 2.5 pages… 3 pages is a lot to a current high school student. I think that they should better prepare kids for larger papers because in college a 3 page essay is small. Even double spacing it was hard.

                I liked everything about this project! I did really well on the first part of the project getting everything done on time or ahead of time and worked really hard on everything I did. The second part I feel was rushed. The due dates were a lot closer together for such a lot of work and I just feel like I was rushed on everything I did. My essay I cut short because I didn’t have enough time to work on it and this I had to do only in study hall because I needed class time to work on my creative text portion. I designed a collage and now have to type a page about it. I still have no idea how I am supposed to type a whole page about a single collage.

Creative Text (polar bear collage

Sam Crotty

Polar Bear Population

According to the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG), the population of polar bears is decreasing so fast that by the year 2050 if the changes in climate and pollution do not change over 2/3 of the Polar Bear population will be inexistent. Even now in May 2008, U.S. Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act. Canada and Russia list the polar bear as a species of concern. All of this is because of Global Warming and Pollution. It is a proven fact that Global Warming exists, and that pollution from us as a whole is directly affecting it in a negative way.

The Polar bear is a wondrous, majestic creature that lives in many different places of which the main one happens to be the Canadian Arctic. Even now their population was only estimated in 2008 to be about 20,000-25,000 and decreasing rapidly. Polar Bears live on the frozen tundra that is melting away because of Global Warming. In the documentary Earth: The Climate Change he explains how we know for a fact that Global Warming is happening and how he knows that we are directly effecting it. It states that because we are polluting so much and not doing anything about it the problem will get exponentially worse. In that documentary they take a sample of the air near the ozone layer to analyze it to see how much CO2 was actually in the air. In the year 1958 we had 350 parts per million and in the year 2008 we already had 386 parts per million of CO2. This relentless year on year rise in Carbon Dioxide is the one undisputed piece of evidence in the Global warming debate. It meant that nobody could seriously argue with one simple stat, the people of earth have steadily increased their emissions of CO2. The reason this is such an important undisputed fact is that CO2 traps heat. What I mean by that isn’t that CO2 can hold more heat than normal air, but it acts as a super-insulator. Therefor the more CO2 in the air the more heat that in turn gets trapped. So indirectly our pollution is affecting the population of polar bears and other such creatures.

Some people just think of pollution as the exhaust coming out of your car, or the garbage you throw out on the street, but its way more than that. Acid rain was not considered a serious environmental problem until the 1970s. During that decade, scientists observed the increase in acidity of some lakes and streams. Acid rain occurs when there is too much Sulfur Dioxide in the air and it absorbs into the rain clouds. In 1982 Acid rain became a huge problem in the United States. It was so bad that the rain was killing the fish and other wild life in our lakes and streams, as well as even doing damage to trees! We caused all of this acid rain… Sulfates and Nitrates most commonly come from burning coal, smokestacks and exhaust from any type of vehicle. NOx comes from the exhaust in our cars which also contributes to the acid rain. The reason that this is so important to my topic is because just recently they have discovered chemicals in the ice from taking samples, it is the same combination of chemicals of that in acid rain. According to, "Polar Bears Victims of Europe's Pollution", scientists have been testing the toxins and chemicals being ingested by polar bears, and have named them one of the top 10 most infected species on the planet. The chemicals being absorbed are suppressing their immune system and decreasing female fertility rate. And because polar bear cubs are drinking their mother’s milk they are getting a double dose of chemicals in their system. Soon they won’t be able to fight off disease nor even have cubs, therefor eliminating the polar bear species all together.

Why do we need them? Why is it so important? As a child I loved going to the zoo. They have become one of my favorite animals in the zoo. Without them my child would never get too see the wonderful, playful, and majestic creature, I grew up loving. They are a rare species right now. If we don’t stop pollution or take measures to decrease it not only will the polar bears be eliminated but we will go on the endangered species list as well… Because the planet is warming at such an alarming rate and shows no signs of stopping we will eliminate the polar bear and every other tropical species in a matter of years. We are running out of time to save them, other animals, and ourselves.
           

Full Video Representation

3) Although i didnt watch this whole video, i did watch a lot of it. This talks about the global warming crisis and he explores simple yet complex questions about it. Is it real? Are we causing it? How do you prove it? He does all of this in this hour long true documentary about it. He starts in the 1970's and works up to 2000's. He proves all of these points and gives a large amount of information and proof. This is a very good video! He describes how this should really be called, global climate change, instead of just global warming. Its very factual in that it provides different examples. Its not bias, and is strictly factual. It provides facts from both sides of the argument. I will use this strictly for facts presenting my issue and presenting the other side. It will be for the more broad topic.

"Earth: The Climate Wars." Top Documentary Films. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/earth-the-climate-wars/.>

Annotated Bibliography

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1) "Dianna Cohen: Tough Truths about Plastic Pollution." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dianna_cohen_tough_truths_about_plastic_pollution.html.>
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This video is about plastics. Dianna Cohen chats about how bad plastics really are. She talks about how she is starting to actually melt plastics to form bricks which are actually really strong and is using them in building things. She was really against using plastics and plastic bags. She talks about how we could change this by just using different packaging or bags. They are also going out in the pacific ocean and collecting all the plastics from the ocean and believe it or not, thats where they get the majority of there material. This is bias against plastic polution and only gives her view, however it is very factual. I will use this for mainly the pollution perspective of my project, not as much the polar bear part.
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2) "Earth: The Climate Wars." Top Documentary Films. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. .<http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/earth-the-climate-wars/>
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Although i didnt watch this whole video, i did watch a lot of it. This talks about the global warming crisis and he explores simple yet complex questions about it. Is it real? Are we causing it? How do you prove it? He does all of this in this hour long true documentary about it. He starts in the 1970's and works up to 2000's. He proves all of these points and gives a large amount of information and proof. This is a very good video! He describes how this should really be called, global climate change, instead of just global warming. Its very factual in that it provides different examples. Its not bias, and is strictly factual. It provides facts from both sides of the argument. I will use this strictly for facts presenting my issue and presenting the other side. It will be for the more broad topic.
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3) Kump, L. R. (2011). THE Last Great Global Warming. Scientific American, 305(1), 56
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This whole article is about global warming and how it is affecting the polar bear population. It talks about different scenarios and whats actually happening to them. It opens by talking about how a lot of people come to zoo's to see the polar bears and other exotic creatures and how they werent so exotic and rare at one time. This article is bias against polution for supporting the bears.

I will use this article for my narrow topic which is polar bear population. I was very happy to find such a good article about my topic. I will also use it to describe the different types of polution and how it can effect us all.
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4) Maczulak, Anne E. Pollution: Treating Environmental Toxins. New York: Facts on File, 2010. Print.
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This book is all about pollution. It's about treating the environmental toxins, and how we relate to the toxins. Its bias against pollution slightly however it is mainly a very factual book. It states fact after fact after fact and gets actually really boring. I did read alot of this but not the whole thing word for word.

I will use this about the broad topic of pollution. I will use it for factual representation and proof of how humans are effecting pollution directly.
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5)"Polar Bears Victims of Europe's Pollution." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Mar. 2008. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTsmOWb7VwM..
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 This video talks about how polution isnt only depleting the ozone. Pollution, and other toxic chemicals are being caught in the air steams and taken north. The chemicals then drop out of the air and seep into the ice. Researchers are now testing the chemical content in female polar bears. The chemical levels are so high that they are decreasing their fertility and is in the milk served to the cubs as well. This article is bias against pollution and for saving the polar bear population. I will use this for my whole topic about pollution and polar bears.
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6)Pringle, R. M. (2005). Such Low Temperatures in the Arctic Region: How Can the Polar Bears Call It Home?. Science Activities: Classroom Projects And Curriculum Ideas, 41(4), 29-32
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This article directly relates to my topic! This was by far the best article I found. It talks about global warming, polution and how it directly correlates with the polar bear population. It talks about there habitat, the ozone layer, their cubs, how they are having to adjust and swim more often. It gives the history and background of the creatures and other creatures being affected by global warming as well.

I will use this article mainly for my narrow topic! Its kinda bias but not really, it just states the facts and gives there sources. This will be my main article I will use for the project.
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7)Seuss. The Lorax. New York: Random House, 1971. Print.
8)Sherblom, S. (2007). Global warming in schools: relational approaches to improving school climate. Journal Of Moral Education, 36(2), 251-255. doi:10.1080/03057240701325407
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This article is about teaching children in there schools about global warming and the cost benefit analysis of doing so. They say in this article that teaching children about it will better prepare them for the future world. If they recycle and take care of the earth now this will better there future of the world. Preventing global warming at such an early stage of life benefits everything. This article concentrates more on education and cost more than anything though.

I will use this article in talking about schooling. This will be a good article to use, however it seems to be more bias about teaching global warming in schools to prevent it in the future. If i had to take a guess these people would be against sand mining considering the way the talk about it.
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9)Spivey, A. (2001). Polution 101. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(12), A578
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This article is about how some colleges are having to pay fines for there recycling and waste management and things. It gives good information about the current regulations and laws about waste management in schools. However it doesnt talk much about global warming or pollution. It would help most on the broad topic about global warming and polution.

I will definately use this to cover the area about covering rules and reglulations. This doesnt talk about the polarbear population at all but it does cover a lot of the rules and regulations about my topics.
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The Lorax is a story about the tree loving Lorax and the greedy Onceler. When the Onceler shows up, he notices a forest of truffula trees. He realizes that these natural resources could be profitable by making "THNEEDS" out of them. A thneed is a fine something that all people need. The Onceler, in his greedy state, encounters the Lorax. The Lorax "speaks for the trees because the trees have no tongues". He protests the He called his family one by one and then all of them came and started to help him. They started whacking down trees to make Thneeds, something that everyone needs. These "things" started to sell at an amazing pace and the Onceler was making so much money. Pretty soon, something very terrible happened. In his quest for money he polluted the air, polluted the water, and deforested all the "special trees" from the land. This, in turn drove away the animals that had lived in the area. They had relied on the trees for food and shelter. After the very last truffula tree was chopped, his family left him with no trees and no more money. When The Lorax drifted away from the polluted mess he left a pile of rocks where he stood, with one word ...''Unless''.

This is bias against pollution. I will use this for my broad topic of pollution because it doesnt say anything about longboarding. It describes the difference between needs and wants and how we pollute so much when we cant tell the difference between the two.

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Book Citations

Pollution, Treating Environmental Toxins

-- Maczulak, Anne E. Pollution: Treating Environmental Toxins. New York: Facts on File, 2010. Print.

The Lorax

--Seuss. The Lorax. New York: Random House, 1971. Print.

3 video representations

1) This video talks about how polution isnt only depleting the ozone. Pollution, and other toxic chemicals are being caught in the air steams and taken north. The chemicals then drop out of the air and seep into the ice. Researchers are now testing the chemical content in female polar bears. The chemical levels are so high that they are decreasing their fertility and is in the milk served to the cubs as well. This article is bias against pollution and for saving the polar bear population. I will use this for my whole topic about pollution and polar bears.

"Polar Bears Victims of Europe's Pollution." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Mar. 2008. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTsmOWb7VwM.>

2)This video is about plastics. Dianna Cohen chats about how bad plastics really are. She talks about how she is starting to actually melt plastics to form bricks which are actually really strong and is using them in building things. She was really against using plastics and plastic bags. She talks about how we could change this by just using different packaging or bags. They are also going out in the pacific ocean and collecting all the plastics from the ocean and believe it or not, thats where they get the majority of there material. This is bias against plastic polution and only gives her view, however it is very factual. I will use this for mainly the pollution perspective of my project, not as much the polar bear part.

"Dianna Cohen: Tough Truths about Plastic Pollution." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dianna_cohen_tough_truths_about_plastic_pollution.html.>

3)This video is a very humorus interpretation between global warming and polar bear population. It shows a guy trying to kill a polar bear like any way possible until he realizes the easies way to kill one is through just pollution. He calls his friends to turn on their lights and drive everywhere and stuff to polute a ton. eventually he kills the polar bear. Not even thinking about it everything we do indirectly decreases their population. I will use this mainly for an introduction video to my project. It doesnt include any facts or information, it just gives a representation. This isnt really bias either. Its just a cartoon representation.

BOXCreativeAnimation. "Global Warming:How to Kill a Polar Bear." YouTube. YouTube, 24 Sept. 2008. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBHRbnIwDyA.

Thesis

I believe that polar bear population is directly correlated to global warming and polution and I believe we should do something about it.

Annotations

1) Pell, J. (2000). Polution is Personal. Innovation: The Health Letter Of FAIM, 12.

This article is about a guy who had gotten sick from different issues that just built up to him almost dying in a hospital. He first gets sick from murcury in the water, and in some fish that he had caught and ate out of a local lake. He talks about how everyone knows that pollution clogs the air, dirties the water, and causes cancer but than goes into a much deeper talk about what pollution can actually do to your health.

I could use this article for the much more broad topic of global warming and pollution. This doesnt directly relate to my more narrow topic of Polar Bear Extinction, but makes alot of good points. Its also bias against pollution, and certain things that cause it.

2) Spivey, A. (2001). Polution 101. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(12), A578.

This article is about how some colleges are having to pay fines for there recycling and waste management and things. It gives good information about the current regulations and laws about waste management in schools. However it doesnt talk much about global warming or pollution. It would help most on the broad topic about global warming and polution.

I will definately use this to cover the area about covering rules and reglulations. This doesnt talk about the polarbear population at all but it does cover a lot of the rules and regulations about my topics.

3)  Sherblom, S. (2007). Global warming in schools: relational approaches to improving school climate. Journal Of Moral Education, 36(2), 251-255. doi:10.1080/03057240701325407

This article is about teaching children in there schools about global warming and the cost benefit analysis of doing so. They say in this article that teaching children about it will better prepare them for the future world. If they recycle and take care of the earth now this will better there future of the world. Preventing global warming at such an early stage of life benefits everything. This article concentrates more on education and cost more than anything though.

I will use this article in talking about schooling. This will be a good article to use, however it seems to be more bias about teaching global warming in schools to prevent it in the future. If i had to take a guess these people would be against sand mining considering the way the talk about it.

4) Kump, L. R. (2011). THE Last Great Global Warming. Scientific American, 305(1), 56

This whole article is about global warming and how it is affecting the polar bear population. It talks about different scenarios and whats actually happening to them. It opens by talking about how a lot of people come to zoo's to see the polar bears and other exotic creatures and how they werent so exotic and rare at one time. This article is bias against polution for supporting the bears.

I will use this article for my narrow topic which is polar bear population. I was very happy to find such a good article about my topic. I will also use it to describe the different types of polution and how it can effect us all.

5)Pringle, R. M. (2005). Such Low Temperatures in the Arctic Region: How Can the Polar Bears Call It Home?. Science Activities: Classroom Projects And Curriculum Ideas, 41(4), 29-32

This article directly relates to my topic! This was by far the best article I found. It talks about global warming, polution and how it directly correlates with the polar bear population. It talks about there habitat, the ozone layer, their cubs, how they are having to adjust and swim more often. It gives the history and background of the creatures and other creatures being affected by global warming as well.

I will use this article mainly for my narrow topic! Its kinda bias but not really, it just states the facts and gives there sources. This will be my main article I will use for the project.

Article 1:

Pell, J. (2000). Polution is Personal. Innovation: The Health Letter Of FAIM, 12.

Article 2:

Spivey, A. (2001). Polution 101. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(12), A578.

Article 3:

Sherblom, S. (2007). Global warming in schools: relational approaches to improving school climate. Journal Of Moral Education, 36(2), 251-255. doi:10.1080/03057240701325407

Article 4:

Kump, L. R. (2011). THE Last Great Global Warming. Scientific American, 305(1), 56

Article 5:

Pringle, R. M. (2005). Such Low Temperatures in the Arctic Region: How Can the Polar Bears Call It Home?. Science Activities: Classroom Projects And Curriculum Ideas, 41(4), 29-32.

DUE MARCH 9th

Topic-Polution

What Problem is this topic addressing?
-Global Warming
-Sand mining in Wisconsin
-Run Off

Introduction to your topic
-I will be reasearching pros and cons of frac mining and other issues
-I will look at the much broader topic of Polution and how it all affects Global Warming

Importance of your topic
-Frac mining is a huge topic in wisconsin right now
-Global Warming is a huge part of everyones lives
-Polution causes Global Warming

Why you chose this topic
-I chose this topic because i know alot about run off and frac mining
-It became an important issue to me when i took Environmental Science this year and studied alot about all of this stuff

Those affected by your topic
-The people who may be opposed to it could be large business'
-People who need a job
-Coal companies and other companies with high polution rates

Resource Ideas
-I have a book and a couple documentaries i know of concerning all of this
-I have been educated a lot about these topics