Journal 10 - invasive species

When walking into nature, there are several of different species of wildlife. Ranging from animals, to plants, and little insects. It is hard to believe that all these animals belong in that same ecosystem. Yet, after taking colloquium I found that there are so many species that live in our area, that do not belong. The most infamous is the Burmese Python. The Burmese Python found it’s way over to Florida after escaping several of holding cells during a massive hurricane. They then made their way into the wild and took over. It is three times the length of Florida’s native and biggest known snake. The Burmese Python is not dangerous to humans, yet they will turn around and eat an alligator. Imagine walking up to a lake or through the woods and seeing a fifteen-foot snake, then walking down to the nearest lake and seeing that same snake eating an alligator. A snake eating a creature than millions of people fear, absolutely amazing! There are also several of invasive species that take over Florida. The beautiful Royal Palm tree that thousands of people have decorating their yard. They are as well invasive. They are native to the regions of Cuba and the tropics. They made their way over here in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They are beautiful, yet are not supposed to be dwelling around in Florida. There is also the Tiger Mosquito that made its way over here during the Vietnam War. This mosquito is an amazing species, and very dangerous. They are a very big mosquito and have the strips of a tiger. They will bite you and they carry a very dangerous disease, the dange fever. It is also coming up into summer and it is wet season. Be sure to be on the look out for the Tiger Mosquito because it is the one invasive species that you do not want to come into contact with!

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Journal 9 - Reflections of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Upon our arrival to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, I was excited to experience what I had in store. I have heard plenty of great things about this field trip from fellow classmates that have previously taken colloquium. They told me that there are so many animals that I will see that I have never seen before, wish was very true. When we began to walk to the boardwalk, I immediately spotted a bird I have never seen before. There it was soaring in the sky, a red-shouldered hawk. This bird was so big, flying in confidence, looking for prey. The sight was amazing, and the binoculars made the experience like the bird was flying right in my face. As we made our way through the boardwalk, traveling through different ecosystems. I became amazed when our group entered the swamp area. I have never been so close to such a large alligator in my life. The sight of watching it trying to feed itself was a once and a lifetime experience. It was creeping, slowly, and patiently in order to eat the swimming fish around it. Also, waiting for an ignorant bird to get to close, so it would have a filling meal. Once we left the amazing alligator sighting, we than ran into a kite, floating itself around also looking for a meal for the morning. The birds are corkscrew sanctuary were absolutely breath taking. I have been out in the wilderness millions of times. It took just one fieldtrip to see a handful of birds that I have never seen in my life. I also heard an amazing story about the life cycle and food chain that has taken place there before. Apparently, a German family witnessed a deer get attacked by a Florida Panther. It is amazing to know that on the same land that I walked, 1 of 100 of the dying species of Florida Panther ate on that same land. I will be paying several visits back to the Corkscrew Sanctuary in the future.

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Journal 8 - List of Consumer Goods

April 13th 2011

Wake up in the morning and make breakfast. Breakfast consist of eggs in which is package that is a Styrofoam substance. This packaging must be made out of several of different chemicals that are needs to produce this. I believe it would be a smarter way to use recycled materials in order to hold the eggs. I also had a single serving package of oatmeal and cottage cheese. The oatmeal package was made of paper. This paper was most likely used from a tree that was cut down, and not recycled paper. The cottage cheese container was made of plastic. I know plastic can also be recycled and it actually said on the label that the container was made from recycled products. This is a great step in order to make our environment that much more eco-friendly. On the way out the door to class, I grabbed a 20oz-bottled water that was made of plastic. Plastic water bottles take up most of the dumps all around the world. Therefore, plastic water bottles I believe need to be depleted. The convenience factor is why most people use it, and it why I use it as well. If they were not to sell bottled water, I would drink water out of the faucet. For lunch I had McDonalds. I have two cheeseburgers and a soda. The two cheeseburgers were wrapped in a paper material that by most will get thrown out and not recycled. The soda cup is made out of paper material that can easily be recycled. Yet, like most product packaging, people will throw them right into the trash and not recycle. I also had a protein bar later on in the day. The protein bar package was made of a plastic-like film. This film seemed that it could be very harmful if burned, which most trash is burned. At night for dinner I had chicken and veggies that both came out of a plastic freezer bag. The plastic freezer bags also usually get thrown in the trash and are not reused or recycled.
All in all, just through going by my every day routine, there is so much that I throw away and do not even realize. I need to become more self-conscious with toss things that can be recycled into the recycling bin, rather than the garbage. Every time I do this exercise I am able to learn from myself and able to grow in a more eco-friendly direction.

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Journal 6: Environmental Issue Current Event

Due to the recent earthquake that shook Japan on a 9.0 scale, nuclear pools are beginning to over heat. This can be very detrimental to Japan and cause a lot of radiation to steam out of the pools. Yet, on March 16, 2011government officials in Japan decided to fly over these pools five to seven times and pour seven million gallons of water into these pools to cool them off. The only problem was that when cool water hits something hot, it also causes steam. Therefore, the cool water created a lot of steam and now government officials are worried that the radiation is going to get into the atmosphere and cause damage to the humans that live in a ten-mile radius to these nuclear pools. This can cause a huge problem to the environment of the surrounding areas of Japan.
The nuclear fall out can cause many humans to become very sick and possibly come down with cancer. It can also cause babies of several fertile women to come out not normal. People in Japan are beginning to walk around with mask that cover their mouth and nose so that that may not inhale any of this fallout. Also, the government was thinking about issuing a medication to the people that live in the surrounding areas that will fight off some of the radiation that may have affected these areas. The Japanese need to be careful about there surrounding areas. They live in a very fragile area being surrounded by fault lines that will cause earthquakes and tsunamis. Therefore, if they become conscious about the decisions they make regarding their environment and peoples safety. Japan will be able to avoid minimal problems such as this. It will also be beneficial for the people of Japan and virtually the entire planet.
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Journal 7: Electrical List and gains

March 17, 2011
Lights:
Bathroom: 5 times on/off
Kitchen: 4 times on/off
Bedroom: 2 Times on/off
Kitchen:
Microwave: 3 times
Toaster: once
Oven: 2 times
Stove: Once
refrigerator: open and close 7 times
Other electrical based components:
Television: on for three hours at a time, twice.
alarm clock: remains on throughout the day
Laptop: used for 2 hours.
electric shaver that is plugged into outlet: once.
Shower (hot water heater): twice
washer and dryer: two loads each machine (four times)
Xbox console plugged into television: one hour of game play.
vacuum: 5 minutes
sink: on and off twice with hot water (hot water heater)
Dishwasher: ran once.
Blender for protein shake: once

When going through this list that I put together over a 24 hour period, it is safe to say that I use way to much energy and electrical appliances. If I were to take the amount of energy I use and consume, I could probably use enough power to energize a football stadium. As a college student it would be a smart idea to begin being more energy sufficient for the future, not only for an environment standpoint, but also from a financial standpoint. A lot of apartment complexes in college, as well as dorms, do not charge full price for the utilities. Therefore, a college student does not realize how much electric can put a damage on our “pockets”. This exercise for marking how many times I use an electric based object, can help me be more conscious when I turn on or turn off lights, use kitchen appliances, and how I can be more sufficient with the electric. Although we may not all think it, but electric plants do a lot of damage on our environment. As humans we can make a self-conscious effort to turn off lights, un-plug appliances that are not being used, and not use the television as much. This can help the environment make a turn around into a brighter future.
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Journal 5: Reflections of Fort Myers Beach

Fort Myers beach is a big “hang” out for my friends and I. Just like everyone who may go to the beach without any research would be in the same position about the beach as I once was, “clueless”. Yet, when the class and I traveled down to the beach and we got to listen to Fort Myers story from Joan Hughes, I was shocked. The island of Fort Myers has gone through so much incredible history. It has survived incredible hurricanes, battles between the Spanish and the Indians, tremendous technology and environment growth, and went from a tiny residency up to now residing 6,000 people in season. The amazing transformation of the island is amazing, and makes me wonder how it may look in sixty years from now. Also, I was fascinated because I did not know that the island used to of bigger size. Now because of all the hurricanes that have weathered the island, it is not even as close as it is today. I though it was amazing how weather can destroy landmass.

Also on our trip to Fort Myers Beach, we took a walk through Matanzas Pass Preserve. This journey through all the different mangroves and out to the water was amazing. The scenery was beautiful and I was amazed by how the mangroves play a huge role in preserving the environment by sheltering massive amounts of nutrients as well as housing fish
on our way back to the school we also stopped at a shrimp factory. This was amazing on how the business worked. Also the way that the shrimp industry became such a big business in Fort Myers, because of a lazy fisherman we now have pink gold here in Fort Myers. “Everything happens for a reason”, and him being lazy brought a lot of money to this area.
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Journal 4: Your Carbon Footprint

While playing, “Ecological Footprint”, I was able to learn a lot about how I impact the environment just by every day life. At the end of the game, the game uses a calculation to put together a number that represents how bad, I alone, am ruining the environment. My total score was calculated at 8.2. My score was so high due to two sections of my lifestyle that were through the roof on this rating scale. The first section was my transportation. Due to the fact that I drive a truck, and it burns gas at 12 mile per gallon. The carbon footprint took into account how non-environmentally friendly my truck is, and added a huge number of 21 to my score. This raised my carbon footprint from initially being, “1.6”, to the score of, “6.2”. This was a major jump in score and it was due to my transportation, which is a huge part of my every day life. The next score in which bumped my score from a “6.2” to an “8.2” was the section of foods, and what I eat. The reason this bumped up two whole points was because of all the meat, poultry, dairy, and fruits and vegetables that I consume on a weekly basis. Due to my healthier eating habits, I consume a lot of these foods in which may be more beneficial to the planet. Also, it may be from all the processing plants that the food may go through that can damage the earth’s environment. Therefore, I need to be more conscious on my eating habits and step back and look at the bigger picture before just grabbing food at my local supermarket.
All in all, I am glad I was able to play the carbon footprint game. It allowed myself to realize how much I actually am damaging this earth alone. Due to the game, I am going to be more conscious on almost everything I may do or did in the past. I alone can make an effort the change this environment, and I will do so at any cost.

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