What are your thoughts on how the content from this section (as well as previous sections) might support components of a MWEE?

First thoughts....

First thoughts....

by Candice Autry -
Number of replies: 2

Initial thoughts..

Washington DC city kids throw their garbage away and do not give it much thought after it is ‘gone.’  I want to push my students to understand what their carbon footprint means, to observe their own patterns of behavior and take notice of the resources used and the waste they produce.  I want them to compare their energy use to students living in other parts of the world.

We investigate the water in Soapstone Creek, a tributary to the Potomac River and walkable from my school.  It is illegal to swim and fish in any open water in DC because of unhealthy nitrates; this sparks student interest and in the past students get fired up about writing letters to those in government.  We compare this Soapstone creek water to a location in Paige County, Virginia, where our students go camping one time a year. In addition, we visit a landfill in Virginia, and learn about how methane is recycled to power a nearby factory.  

I keep coming back to a question along the lines of-- "Look at your Carbon Footprint.  How can you act personally make a change?"

In reply to Candice Autry

Re: First thoughts....

by Michael Burkett -

Hi Candice,

Your comment on nitrates caught my attention.  My school, along with a Garrett Co. school, were part of a pilot study on how school yards contribute to nitrate pollution.  This is headed up by the Appalachian Environmental Lab, and we now just finished up our third year!  We collect water samples coming in and going off of our site at different land use locations and see how we impact, in a positive or negative way, atmospheric and terrestrial nitrates.  Our samples are sent to the lab for analysis and once we receive it, we plot, do statistical analysis, and present our findings to the researchers.  My students are getting to do real science with real scientists!

We tie our behavior to nitrates, and as you commented, I want to tie it in to the carbon cycle more.

Mick

In reply to Candice Autry

Re: First thoughts....

by Elise Trelegan -

Candice you have some great thoughts here and in my head I see them as two different "MWEEs."

Certainly we are overwhelmed by all of the single-use objects in our world and many do not consider the enormous impact that they have. Getting students to the point that they are more thoughtful about their choices is a noble goal and fits within the civic engagement/stewardship component of the MWEE. I think the most challenging part is making the watershed connection and will require some thinking around how to best organize around this idea. 

The nitrate issue is an interesting one because there is a concern that we might see increased nitrates in waterways because of changes in agricultural practices and land use in response to climate change. I just read this article on Nitrogen Pollution which you might find interesting and applicable to what you're considering. Theres a nice call to action for reducing high-animal-protein diets in there too.