Energy & Place Project
Essential Questions:
At the start of this project we looked at multiple sources that related to U.S. interactions with energy production and how they affect our culture/community. After we understood all the arguments for and against energy production in the U.S.; we went on to read nature writing passages from authors like Edward Abby, introducing us to a aspect of writing called, "The Grand Style". Once we were able to get a sense of what "The Grand Style" is we were able to practice it through a inspiration journal. The journal contained multiple mini assignments that had us use The Grand Style to describe different themes and images, some of them of our choosing. Then after honing our skills at nature writing and developing our own environmental ethic, we were able to choose a place we felt a connection towards. Once we chose our place we created an essay that portrayed our relationship to the place, whether it was biographical, spiritual, ideological, commodified, or dependent. Some of us chose to show our community attachment to the place rather than a relationship with it, through different types of attachments like rootedness, place alienation, relativity, or placelessness. Lastly after refining and exhibiting our essays we worked on our take action project. Which was a chance for us to create our own projects that followed our environmental ethic; with the idea of inspiring others to follow our why and vision in and outside of school. I felt like through out this project I grew more as a individual.
At the beginning, when we first dove into energy production and mankind's involvement with it; I wasn't very aware of what other people thought or really how big of a impact some of our energy sources actually have on the planet and our culture. Though as we started to go in deeper down the rabbit hole I found that my mind and my own environmental ethic were starting to open up and emerge from the depths of my thoughts. This was evident when I was in the process of writing through out the inspiration journal. Just the simple process of having to look or think about an idea or theme more closely so that you can describe it in detail for the reader helped me realize the serenity and a type of odd beauty that is found in almost everything around you. Consequently when I became more aware about what I had been missing out on most of my life; I found it challenging to narrow my sense of place essay towards only one particular area. I was able to overcome this predicament by looking at it at a different angle. I ended up Incorporating my ideas and environmental ethic through a sci-fi, none fiction, short story about the balance that can occur between mankind's innovations and nature, looking at not just one particular place but everything that is around you on a daily basis. I feel very proud about the work that came out of this project.
Even though at times their was struggle and thoughts filling my head with doubt about not only my essay but also my take action plan; in the end I feel like my essay turned out to be very successful and my take action plan with my group came along smoothly. The best part I liked about writing my essay was the fact that it helped me open my mind up to more problems that my generation and possibly future generations will have to face, helping me become less ignorant. This is evident when in my essay I talk about all the oil wells that my main character finds covering the surface of a barren, desolate Earth; the purpose to show what might happen is we get carried away with profitable, cheap energy sources instead of pushing to find more efficient, Eco friendly energy.I would have to say another highlight from this project was my take action plan; when my group and I spent the time and effort towards getting the bottles ready to support a plants life and actually seeing our idea work! At first I didn't know what I would say about the essential questions that were showed to us at the beginning of this project.
When our teacher showed us what the essential questions for the project were the first thought that came to my mind when I read them was generally pretty simple. I didn't give the questions a whole lot of thought. "How does energy impact place?": At the beginning I answered something like it brings money to towns and jobs, but now looking at the question after going through this project I realize their is a lot more to it than just money and jobs. Energy, depending on what it is effects how the community acts and just in general how each individual sees the place, they will either find it beautiful or disgraceful. Energy can also impact place to the point where it changes the natural landscape and it's inhabitants living there. "How Does your sense of place, your environmental ethic, and your understanding of our energy needs influence your perception of mans use of the Earth's resources and your own life style decisions?": Starting out I didn't even know what sense of place or environmental ethic even meant but now I have a way better understanding. Now that I have developed what my sense of place is and my environmental ethic; I can honestly say as it stands right now it seems that the mindset of most of the major energy producers is to pursue cheap and affordable, instead of having the mindset of finding whats good for everyone, including Earth herself and I don't agree. We need to start slowing down on killing our planet with all these fumes and stop venturing out into space. I know we can put our heads together and focus on our home for now because i'm sure if we just put all our effort in finding a better energy source that isn't making our planet sick we would be in a good healthy state in no time.
- How does energy impact place?
- How Does your sense of place, your environmental ethic, and your understanding of our energy needs influence your perception of mans use of the Earth's resources and your own life style decisions?
At the start of this project we looked at multiple sources that related to U.S. interactions with energy production and how they affect our culture/community. After we understood all the arguments for and against energy production in the U.S.; we went on to read nature writing passages from authors like Edward Abby, introducing us to a aspect of writing called, "The Grand Style". Once we were able to get a sense of what "The Grand Style" is we were able to practice it through a inspiration journal. The journal contained multiple mini assignments that had us use The Grand Style to describe different themes and images, some of them of our choosing. Then after honing our skills at nature writing and developing our own environmental ethic, we were able to choose a place we felt a connection towards. Once we chose our place we created an essay that portrayed our relationship to the place, whether it was biographical, spiritual, ideological, commodified, or dependent. Some of us chose to show our community attachment to the place rather than a relationship with it, through different types of attachments like rootedness, place alienation, relativity, or placelessness. Lastly after refining and exhibiting our essays we worked on our take action project. Which was a chance for us to create our own projects that followed our environmental ethic; with the idea of inspiring others to follow our why and vision in and outside of school. I felt like through out this project I grew more as a individual.
At the beginning, when we first dove into energy production and mankind's involvement with it; I wasn't very aware of what other people thought or really how big of a impact some of our energy sources actually have on the planet and our culture. Though as we started to go in deeper down the rabbit hole I found that my mind and my own environmental ethic were starting to open up and emerge from the depths of my thoughts. This was evident when I was in the process of writing through out the inspiration journal. Just the simple process of having to look or think about an idea or theme more closely so that you can describe it in detail for the reader helped me realize the serenity and a type of odd beauty that is found in almost everything around you. Consequently when I became more aware about what I had been missing out on most of my life; I found it challenging to narrow my sense of place essay towards only one particular area. I was able to overcome this predicament by looking at it at a different angle. I ended up Incorporating my ideas and environmental ethic through a sci-fi, none fiction, short story about the balance that can occur between mankind's innovations and nature, looking at not just one particular place but everything that is around you on a daily basis. I feel very proud about the work that came out of this project.
Even though at times their was struggle and thoughts filling my head with doubt about not only my essay but also my take action plan; in the end I feel like my essay turned out to be very successful and my take action plan with my group came along smoothly. The best part I liked about writing my essay was the fact that it helped me open my mind up to more problems that my generation and possibly future generations will have to face, helping me become less ignorant. This is evident when in my essay I talk about all the oil wells that my main character finds covering the surface of a barren, desolate Earth; the purpose to show what might happen is we get carried away with profitable, cheap energy sources instead of pushing to find more efficient, Eco friendly energy.I would have to say another highlight from this project was my take action plan; when my group and I spent the time and effort towards getting the bottles ready to support a plants life and actually seeing our idea work! At first I didn't know what I would say about the essential questions that were showed to us at the beginning of this project.
When our teacher showed us what the essential questions for the project were the first thought that came to my mind when I read them was generally pretty simple. I didn't give the questions a whole lot of thought. "How does energy impact place?": At the beginning I answered something like it brings money to towns and jobs, but now looking at the question after going through this project I realize their is a lot more to it than just money and jobs. Energy, depending on what it is effects how the community acts and just in general how each individual sees the place, they will either find it beautiful or disgraceful. Energy can also impact place to the point where it changes the natural landscape and it's inhabitants living there. "How Does your sense of place, your environmental ethic, and your understanding of our energy needs influence your perception of mans use of the Earth's resources and your own life style decisions?": Starting out I didn't even know what sense of place or environmental ethic even meant but now I have a way better understanding. Now that I have developed what my sense of place is and my environmental ethic; I can honestly say as it stands right now it seems that the mindset of most of the major energy producers is to pursue cheap and affordable, instead of having the mindset of finding whats good for everyone, including Earth herself and I don't agree. We need to start slowing down on killing our planet with all these fumes and stop venturing out into space. I know we can put our heads together and focus on our home for now because i'm sure if we just put all our effort in finding a better energy source that isn't making our planet sick we would be in a good healthy state in no time.
Sense of Place Essay
Take Action Project
Take Action Reflection For my take action project, I decided to get together with fellow classmates that had a similar environmental ethic; the group consisted of five people. My group and I wanted to create a herbal garden out of plastic bottles. To do this we had to cut numerous plastic bottles in half and fill them with seeds, soil, and mesh that had string attached to them. The string allowed the plants to be watered "Automatically" so that we didn't have to go to the school constantly to check up on them during the summer. By creating a herbal garden out of plastic bottles; my group and I hoped to inspire younger generations and other communities and schools to join in the effort of creating a sustainable environment through sustainable practices. Our mission was to take a creative approach to supporting a healthier environment and encourage our student body to live cleaner lifestyles. I felt like our take action project correlated with each of our environmental ethics.
By having developed a good understanding of my sense of place and my personal environmental ethic and not to mention understanding our energy needs; My perception of human's use of Earth's resources and my own lifestyle decisions have greatly changed. I am now more aware of what environmental activists are talking about and support them more than I used to. In the beginning of this project I always had the notion that environmental activists were to extreme for their own good but now understanding what hey are fighting for changes my viewpoint significantly. If we could just be more aware of the negative effects of cheap, profitable energy sources; Earth might be in a better condition. I think we need to put all of our focus on finding a cleaner energy source and reversing the negative changes we have done to our planet instead of fighting each other and basing our decisions on how much money we can get out of it. This project has had a great influence on me as a human being. It has impacted me in how I think of all the small things people do to help improve the environment. It's really outstanding how a small project like ours has the capabilities to impact dozens of people around the world. Looking forward I hope that more individuals realize how special and important our planet really is and lend a hand in keeping it that way. |
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Native American Studies (NAS) Project
For this project we created a analytical essay on a topic of our choosing that related to our interactions with American Indians in the past. The purpose behind this project was to gain more knowledge about our local history. As well as critically examine not only media and cultures prejudice but also our own. Through this project we were able to develop our analytical skills. At the same time becoming more aware that literature and film is a running record of human history.
Written Analysis on F Troop
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NAS Reflection
This project impacted me in a positive way because it helped me develop and improve on my analytical writing skills. As well as gain a fuller picture of Americas history. Though it was not an easy project to accomplish. During the process of creating my final product for this project I came across a couple time consuming challenges. seeing as there is so many sources that relate to our interactions with American Indians throughout our history, It was difficult to narrow down what I wanted to do my analyitical essay on. Then when I was able to choose; the next obstacle that I found took patience to overcome was doing research on the TV series.
Working through the process of writing a analytical essay has helped me realize how important it is to look at not only one source but multiple sources to really understand the full story of a past event, culture or our present reality. By looking at multiple sources you can obtain more than just one person(s) point of view, allowing you to make a more informed and detailed opinion. Also through this project I have learned how historical experiences and ideologies of America's indigenous people impact their identity by making them forget or change who they originally were. For example with the American Indians there were multiple media portrayals that gave off the ideology that Indians can't win at anything. As a result some younger generations of Native Americans would want to act like the cowboy while playing cowboys and Indians because the cowboys were always seen as the heroes/winners. Even though at times the research felt a bit monotonous. In the end I felt like I gained a lot more knowledge and awareness about what has happened to American Indians throughout our history.
Working through the process of writing a analytical essay has helped me realize how important it is to look at not only one source but multiple sources to really understand the full story of a past event, culture or our present reality. By looking at multiple sources you can obtain more than just one person(s) point of view, allowing you to make a more informed and detailed opinion. Also through this project I have learned how historical experiences and ideologies of America's indigenous people impact their identity by making them forget or change who they originally were. For example with the American Indians there were multiple media portrayals that gave off the ideology that Indians can't win at anything. As a result some younger generations of Native Americans would want to act like the cowboy while playing cowboys and Indians because the cowboys were always seen as the heroes/winners. Even though at times the research felt a bit monotonous. In the end I felt like I gained a lot more knowledge and awareness about what has happened to American Indians throughout our history.
Wounded Knee Mini-Project
The purpose behind this project was to realize that in order to understand the full picture of our history, one should look at multiple perspectives either fiction or none fiction, instead of looking at only one side of the story. We established this idea by reading and annotating multiple primary documents and creating our own text book passage, trying our best to keep it as mono toned or in other words none biased as we could through out the whole passage. We also watched a movie called Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, afterwards creating a film response for it that compared the film to the primary documents we read beforehand.
Text Book Passage
Reflection
Film Essay
Rhetorical Discourse Project
For this project we had to create a rhetorical piece that deconstructed America in the form of a speech/ted talk, short documentary, podcast, song/rap, spoken word poem, debate, or an open letter. The genre that I chose was a rap with a partner, one side showing the patriotic viewpoint of America, while the other side showed a more cynical viewpoint of America. The reason behind this idea was because the weeks before this project, my partner and I found that there are two different views of what it meant to be American or to live in America and we wanted to just show our audience both sides of the coin so that they realized that sure, America is a great country but we have our faults, effectively showing the art of rhetoric.
I believe our project incorporated the art of rhetoric because it held two different ideas of America and had many rhetorical devices that aimed to shape the knowledge and test the ideas of our audience by rapping about different events and ideologies that have defined America over the past years. I really enjoyed this project because of the different ways I was able to connect with it, whether it was by connecting with it through my own personal beliefs of America or connecting with it through what I have experienced myself. What I enjoyed the most about this project was the whole process that lead up to the final product. Being able to do the extensive research and seminars was very helpful I feel because it helped us expand our thinking and better prepare us for what we wanted to do for a project, though the final product was very gratifying in the end it was not a walk in the park. Some of the obstacles that my partner and I had to get over was writing lyrics that would be impact full towards the audience and being able to memorize the lyrics so that the rhetoric that we were trying to get passed our audience would be even more effective in shaping there knowledge and agreeing with the ideas that we had. I think If we were to do this project again I would use more of a visual piece to backup what my partner and I were rapping about because I feel like if they not only heard about Americas patriotic and cynical view points but also saw it, they would of been able to better comprehend our message. Aside from these difficulties though this project has really helped me better understand rhetoric. Going through all of the researching and deconstructing that we did before getting into our project and even a little extra researching during our project, has really helped me expand and get a better grasp on what my personal ideology is about America. This project has taught me so much about what it means to live in America, how life is not just black and white, life is made of so many colors and shades of gray it's almost unbelievable. I have learned multiple things because of this project, like how words can be so powerful that it can persuade a whole country to change either for the best or the worst, how everyone in our country have so many ideologies that sometimes the conflict between the ideologies can end up effecting the whole world, and how everyone in America has a different experience in this great country of ours, that we can't just assume everyone is living comfortably, we have to also know a lot of people are struggling. Through this project I have come to realize that my ideology as a young American will forever be changing and developing though out the years to come and that I still have so much to learn. |
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