Description
Part 1. Ecological Footprint:
Feel free to choose from the following what you would like to discuss, or come up with your own ideas for discussion of the ecological footprint.
Discuss the findings of your Ecological Footprint activity.
Were you surprised by the results? Were there questions that surprised you?
Why do you think the calculator asked about what percentage of processed, packaged, not locally grown food you eat? What are the specific environmental impacts of agriculture?
What other factors should the calculator have taken into account when determining an ecological footprint?
Part 2 – Project Topic
Course Project Steps and Assignments: Week 2 Discussion: Environmental Issue
In the course of completing your ecological footprint, you learned about many of the resources used to supply our needs and absorb our waste. Unfortunately, this has led to the degradation of many of our resources which has caused environmental and human harm. For your final project, you will choose one of those issues from the list below and research both the problem and solutions at a local level. Each week our discussion and assignments will add to your final project. For this discussion, you will simply choose your topic and give a brief description of what you learned about it while doing your ecological footprint. That can include both personal reflection and general knowledge.
**Your topic must be specific and local. For example, if you choose water or air pollution, you must choose a specific type of pollutant and the city where it is a problem. That will allow you to focus your research and get good, specific data.
**You must title your thread with the name of your project topic choice (including what and where)! Then choose a topic that is different from your classmates as much as possible.
Topics (choose one for your project and discussion):
Water pollution – Examples include lead, coal mine runoff, plastic, sewage, oil, thermal
Water shortages
Air pollution – Examples include ozone, particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, lead, methane
Light pollution
Deforestation – Make sure this is specific to at least the state level (or region if using another country)
Invasive species (choose a species)
Waste – Topics can include 1) medical, 2) hazardous, 3) nuclear, 4) industrial, and others
Loss of biodiversity – Example: 1) A specific endangered species or 2) Overall loss of biodiversity due to urbanization of a specific city.
Agriculture – topics can include 1) Loss of soil fertility, 2) Eutrophication of water body
Coral Reef loss
A great place to get ideas and begin your research is the Library’s Environmental Science Research Guide – https://www.apus.edu/apus-library/online-research/research/research-guides/school-of-stem/environmental-science
Since this is not a writing assignment but a discussion, you will not need to formally reference your work but need to attribute it to the source you found it, something likely you do in everyday conversation. For example, “Yesterday I was reading in the Washington Post that . . ” or, “I found this interesting video on YouTube.” Add the link to the bottom of your discussion post.
Replies:
For this week’s replies, offer information that can help your classmates develop their projects. What do you know about the issue or what resource can you offer that will contribute to their project?
Whether you disagree or agree with your classmates’ initial posts, let them know why. Try to bring in any personal experiences you have on the topic. Don’t be afraid to offer different ideas and outside resources. Make links clickable – much more likely it’ll be viewed. Remember that replies need not be lengthy, but need to be substantive.
