Zac's Final Impressions!!!

Throughout this semester, I have learned quite a bit about our natural world and how others perceive it. From David Orr to “TK”, everyone has their own views on the environment and what we can do to make it what it should be. The many field trips we attended were also great learning experiences and I was able to see so many plants and animals I likely would not have seen otherwise. In terms of possible changes to the course, the only advice I would give is for our field trips to be more hands on. Aside from the canoe trip, we never really engaged in any activities other than site seeing. I believe that if the field trips applied what we have learned in some way that it would have a greater impact. The Wiki presentation had to be my least favorite assignment of the course. I lost track of what we were learning and concentrated more on the format of the site. A Powerpoint presentation would be a more practical choice and would be easier for everyone to use. The reading I enjoyed the most was David Orr’s article about a “nature deficit disorder” and how children are more prone to developing ADHD without nature. That, for me, opened a new window into my respect and concern for nature. I am not quite sure what is available in the area of Fort Myers for us to go to but if traveling out of the state was an option, I believe a national park would be an interesting trip. I had a great time in Colloquium and I feel privileged to have taken this course.

Sense of Place Interview

I was able to interview my grandmother in Ohio over the phone and the first question I asked her was “What is sustainability?”. I began with this question before I spoke about it to see how much she knew on her own of the subject. She surprised me by saying that “Sustainability is saving natural resources”. I was proud of her for knowing that but I still went on to describe more about it and what I have learned in school. I also asked her about her sense of place as a child and how she grew up. I sort of could guess what she would say because she has lived it the same house since she was a child and there really has not been much change to her town other than a few new houses here and there. She did however say that she spent much of her time outdoors and with her brothers and sisters and she was slightly upset that kids these days spend all their time playing “gosh darn video games”. I also told her what we have been doing in University Colloquium and all the activities and field trips we have been on and she seemed quite interested. She was just happy that I was having fun while learning and wasn’t inside in front of the TV. I’m glad I got to talk to her and get her perspective on sustainability and the environment.

Field Trip #6 - Canoe Trip at FGCU Marine Lab

Our last and final field trip to the FGCU Marine Lab was a great way to end the semester and our class. It was certainly an experience I will not forget here at FGCU and I’m glad everyone here will take part in it. As much as I liked canoeing and watching a couple classmates flip over in the water, I couldn’t help but notice that we were not really learning much. Yeah we did see Mangrove…..and some Mangrove…and by the way…Mangrove but that was about it. The highlight of the ride was the fish jumping in the water but I didn’t really come back knowing more than I already did. I am sure there is much value to the land and water in which we were on as FGCU would not have established a marine lab there but we were not able to see any part of that. In terms of protecting coastal areas, it is certainly important. There are numerous species of animals that inhabit those areas and protecting their habitat could mean saving an entire species.

Field Trip #5 - Urban Ft. Myers and SW Florida Historical Museum

Our trip to Downtown Fort Myers had to be my favorite trip of the semester. Not only were we able to walk through historic Fort Myers but we were also able to visit their historical museum and learn about how the town and its people use to live in the 1800s and even earlier. I will be honest though, the museum for me was the least appealing part of the trip. Even though there was a tremendous amount of things to see, much of it was not relevant to what we are learning. For example, the dinosaurs along with the Egyptian display were certainly off topic and I didn’t really see any correlation to the rest of the museum.

On a lighter note, I did truly enjoy walking through downtown and seeing all the history and the buildings that were hundreds of years old. The worksheet that Mrs. Davis gave us really helped me to concentrate on what we were learning and the sites I might not have seen otherwise. In terms of redesigning Fort Myers, the only change I could make is possibly eliminating some of the bars in the area. There seemed to be slightly too many and I think that is not the greatest way to attract people to your town. Other than that, I liked everything Fort Myers had to offer.

Zac's Energy Usage

As a college student, I see it as a priority to conserve electricity anywhere I can. Saving money is always a good thing and conserving electricity can save a lot in the long run. Here is a list of each time I used electricity on April 17, 2010:

A)

1. Air Conditioner- on and off 24 hrs a day

2. Alarm clock- on 24 hrs a day

3. Television- on 5 hrs of day

4. Hot water heater- used for 10 min to take shower and brush teeth

5. Toaster- used in morning to toast a bagel

6. Lights- only on when home (give or take 10 hrs a day)

7. Stove- used for 20 min to cook a chicken dinner

8. Computer- used 7 hrs a day

B) I live in the College Club Apartments so I do not have access to a meter in order to check my usage.

C) The power company in my area is the Lee County Electric Company (LCEC) and responsible for all of Lee County. Their electricity is generated at a power station by electromechanical generators, primarily driven by heat engines fueled by chemical combustion or nuclear fission but also by other means such as the kinetic energy of flowing water and wind.

D) My Mileage on April 19, 2010:

· College Club to FGCU (12:30pm) 1.8 miles

· FGCU to College Club (2:00 pm) 1.8 miles

· College Club to San Carlos Park (4:30 pm) 2.8 miles

· San Carlos Park to College Club (6:45 pm) 2.8 miles

· College Club to Coconut Point Mall (8:00 pm) 5.1 miles

· Coconut Point Mall to College Club (10:00 pm) 5.1 miles_

Total mileage: 19.4 miles

During each car ride, I did not car pool and was the only person in the car.

E) I was able to compute my gas mileage recently and I determined that my 2007 Jetta gets roughly 27 miles per gallon. In the past year I have traveled 12,569 miles.

F) Annually, my 2007 Jetta emits 8.5 tons of CO2 which is 0.02 tons per day.

G) Reflecting on my energy usage, I can say that I do not make sustainable choices for the better of the environment. The choices I make reflect more on the price of using each energy or fuel source.