Monday, May 11, 2009

Reflections: Weeks 15 and 16

Hey Bloggers! Well this is farewell for now. I had so much fun throughout this course and feel that we all worked very hard throughout the semester. Everyone brought so much to the table and exhibited themselves very positively. As I'm writing about weeks 15 and 16, I am very sad to say this course is coming to an end. This class has been by far my favorite class throughout my whole college experience. I am very thankful for all of my classmates and for Dr.V most of all!

Week 15 and 16
During Week 15, we were very fortunate to meet Sue Whitney author and founder of JUNKMARKET. I loved all the ideas she gave us and was very thankful for the free book she distributed to our class. I've been reading it like crazy getting new ideas for those good ole' summer rummage sales. I loved how she explained her childhood to correlate with what she presented. She told us that she didn't have many possessions when she was young and thought of getting something in a store brand new as a huge gift. I definitely take for granted how fortunate I've been to all the things I own. Throughout the class period, various students shared their experiences with their "junk" and how they refurbished it as well. Kathy and Brenda came up with a few neat ideas with junk they found. I never will look at a rain gutter the same after seeing how they created a yarn holder... very creative by the way! I really enjoyed this experience since I am very interested in making my own decorations already. I really hope to use her ideas to eliminate my wastes even more. And of course the subway was perfect! Thank you again Dr.V for making all of this possible!

Our last class was a very inspiring experience. Dr. V was presented with her picture frame gift that had many interesting artifacts attached to it. Each student had the opportunity to reflect on their item's purpose. Each of us had the chance to reflect on the whole semester and what we had learned throughout the way. I really feel like we were the perfect class! I had so much fun throughout the semester and met a lot of really cool people. I really believe that we were placed in the class for a reason. I would like to thank Dr. V first and foremost. She taught us many life long lessons in a very laid back fashion. She made it really fun to learn and let us express ourselves in a humorous fashion.I would also like to thank my classmates. You all worked really hard and really made the class an enjoyable experience. I hope that we all take the lessons learned and apply it to our lives. I really have learned a lot through this experience and plan on being an advocate of going green!! I will miss you all!!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Share and Voice: Award!


Hey Bloggers, I just received an award from Sara H for my post on my Share and Voice on the ESG Highway Cleanup!. Thank you very much Sara! I am passing my award onto Katie Kares for the Environment for her share and voice about Fast Food Nation. I think you had a lot of statistics which made it a very interesting post and also gave us an inside look on the business of fast foods.. Great Job... Follow the Award instructions below to pass on the award!!

1. Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.
2. Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).
3. Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).
4. Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.
5. Publish the post.
6. Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.
7. Continue the process...

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Steve's Learning Activity

Name that Phobia

Section 1:

1. Pteromerhanophobia - The fear of flying
2. Tachophobia - The fear of speed
3. Wiccaphobia - The fear of witches/witchcraft
4. Autophobia - The fear of being alone
5. Bathmophobia - The fear of stairs/steep slopes
6. Glossophobia - The fear of speaking in public
7. Chronomentrophobia - The fear of clocks
8. Cacophobia - The fear of ugliness
9. Leukophobia - The fear of color white
10. Mysophobia - The fear of dirt and germs

Section 2:
1.Fear of Cooking-Mageirocophobia
2 Fear of Birds-Ornithophobia
3 Fear of houses-Domatophobia
4 Fear of needles and points- Aichmophobia
5 Fear of clowns-Coulrophobia
6 Fear of cats-Elurophobia
7 Fear of the sun-Heliophobia
8 Fear of gaining weight-Obesophobia
9 Fear of strangers/ foreigners-Xenophobia 10 Fear of large things-Megalophobia

I learned a lot through doing this activity. I could not believe all the phobias that actually exist. I was the most surprised by ones such as being afraid of the color white, afraid of cooking, and afraid of houses. Very great activity for us to do!!

Shar's Learning Activity

For this activity we took an adventure through the home and classified whether items in the home contain harmful allergens and other materials.

The Roof

Problem: The roof of the house that has a hole in it is classified as a damage because it can lead to mold growth which is harmful to your health.


Solution: By fixing leaks right away, you can avoid the problems in the future.

Bathroom:

Problem: The cleaning products on the floor release harmful chemicals in the air that are damaging to your health if exposed for a long period of time.

Solution: Put the items away when not using, use ceiling fans to circulate the air in the surrounding area, and read the manufacturer's instructions when using any chemical products to know their effects.


Bedroom:


Problem: If the plants in a bedroom do not have any fresh are and are surrounded by humidity, they may grow mold and cause allergy problems for some people. Also, the paint in the bedroom needs to be dealt with since they can give off harmful gases.
Solution:

It is important to find the source of the humidity causing the mold to accumulate. The solution for the paint and varnish would be to put away the materials when finished with task and make sure you are surrounded in a ventilated area.


Kitchen:


Problem
: Gas stoves can produce nitrogen dioxide, which irritates the lungs and contaminates indoor air.


Solution
: When using a gas stove, it is important to have a range hood for venting air pollutants to the outside.

Living Room:

Problem: Cigarettes are the main source of indoor pollution in homes. Another problem would be the wood fireplace. Wood smoke releases many harmful substances.

Solution: Have people smoke outside if they must and not inside the house. For the fireplace, keep up with the maintenance of it to reduce accidents.

Garage:

Problem: Exhaust gases from vehicles contain carbon monoxide, a toxic gas. When a car is idling in the garage, carbon monoxide can penetrate into the house.

Solution:
Don't leave your car idling in the garage.


Basement:

Problem: Mold growth in a house may cause respiratory problems and allergic reactions in some occupants. Another problem in the basement is the lack of maintaining, combustion appliances, like your furnace, which can release pollutants such as carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas.

Solution:
Find the source of the humidity and make changes to it. The solution for the combustion appliance is to make sure you get yearly checkups by a specialist to make sure it's working well.

Laundry Room:

Problem: Steam from a dryer not vented to the outside can create excessive humidity, which can promote mold growth.

Solution:
Dryers must be vented to the outside.

The ones that surprised me the most would have to be the plant in the home causing mold. I knew that plants need fresh air and sunlight, but didn't know they would create mold.

Kaileigh's Learning Activity

I really liked this website. I didn't realize that Medicare does not cover long-term health care. I think that long-term care should be more affordable for the individuals receiving the care as well. Like the link said, we don't know what kind of shape we'll be in in the future. Some of the policies are known as "indemnity" or "expense incurred" policies. This means that the indemnity policy pays up to a fixed benefit amount regardless of what you spend. With an expense-incurred policy, you choose the benefit amount when you buy the policy and you are reimbursed for actual expenses for services received up to a fixed dollar amount per day, week, or month.

I also learned the national average costs.

  • Examples: age 65 = 1,337, age 79= 5,330

  • Premiums generally remain the same throughout the years
I thought this was a very good activity because health insurance is becoming an issue for people to afford which decreases as the economy weakens. I did my advocacy project on health insurance which made this topic easier to understand.

Kathy's Learning Activity

DOWN
1. Along with the other effects of lead poisoning,__Fetal____development is effected even with extremely low levels of lead.
3. Pick one: "OLDER" homes or "NEWER" homes may contain lead-based paints. OLDER
4. Lead was banned in this year for residential use. 1978
5. A common misconception or ________ was that the most common form of poisoning was eating leaded paint chips. Myth

ACROSS
2. Other sources that contain lead besides paint is __Gasoline_________.
4. About 2/3 of homes built before this year contain heavily-leaded paint. 1940
6. Lead is found in this item that was put on the walls of houses. Paint
7. Lead also effects reproduction. In men, your count of these little swimmers will go
down. Sperm
8. How many percent of homes in Duluth were built before the 1950's? 80%
9. The most common pathway of childhood lead exposure is through ingestion of small lead particles called__Dust_____.


For the challenge, I had talked to my landlord about the history of our house. She did not have an exact date for when the house was built, but it was definitely before 1950. We had repainted our whole house before we moved in due to the lead paint. I had taken part in painting the house and am glad that we made the adjustments needed.


Heather's Learning Activity I took part in the learning activity "Cost of Care" portion and found a lot of interesting information that I didn't know before. I chose the option of breaking your arm to determine the cost of care for this procedure. These were the results of the medical costs needed (annual). I found this website very interesting since many people are not aware of how much health care costs add up. This definitely showed me how important health insurance is to help you with these expenses.

Broken Arm

Condition Cost Data (annual)

Median Typical Range

Total without pharmacy $1,545 $ 915- 2,710

Total with pharmacy $1545 $915- 2,745 Detailed Treatment Cost Data
General
ER visit $145- 480
Arm Casting $80- 800
Follow-up Office Visit $55- 115 X-Ray of arm $20- 55