Lover's Key Sate Park-6

On today's field trip we went to Lover's Key State Park. This field trip was probably my favorite field trip so far. As a class, we got to experience the beauty of the beach and the ecosystem that surrounds it. Dr. Morris explained to us at the beginning that the type of ecosystem we were in was an Estuary. An estuary can be defined as a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it. We saw many different animals while exploring the beach. There were sea slugs up on shore. There were also crabs and many different types of fish. The shore was coated with all different types of shells which I though was very pretty. The park has many different activities that is very environmentally friendly to the area. People can bike, hike, fish, canoe, or kayak at the state park. It is also a perfect environment for having a picnic.

Class-5

Our colloquium class had no field trip today. Instead we stayed inside the class and learned many new things through videos and lectures. One of videos we watched was about consumerism. I learned the definition of Consumerism. It is a social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in great amounts. The video broke down exactly how this works and how the government tries to get us to buy goods that we don't even need! Or they will make products that are so cheap that it will lure you in to buy them and then very soon after the product will break. Most likely when your product breaks you will go buy another and another and the flow continues. During this class we also discussed our Ecological Footprint. An Ecological Footprint is defined by the measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystem. We went through as a class a set of questions to figure out what our ecological footprint is. Our class's ecological footprint came out to be 8 worlds! Thats terrible! That means with the amount of resources we use or don't use that it would take 8 worlds to fill what we consume on a  daily basis. At the end of class we got into our groups for our Plan B 4.0 and discussed further our presentations that are due in 2 weeks.

ECHO-4

Today we went on a field trip to ECHO farms. ECHO was a great learning experience and it is a great cause. ECHO is a non-profit organization that helps to reduce world hunger. During out field trip at ECHO we traveled through the fields and saw all the ways that they help to reduce world hunger. ECHO's main mission is to equip people with resources and skills to reduce hunger and improve the lives of the poor. One of the things that interested me the most was the urban gardening solutions. Using materials such as garbage, tires, and carpet can be used to garden in your back yard even if you live in a city. This is a great solution to better our society in many ways. We will also be helping out the community and helping ECHO. We will be making knowledgeable videos on certain types of plants located at ECHO that will be available for the visitors of ECHO to see. This will help to better the knowledge of the visitors and anyone who take tours through ECHO about that certain type of plant.

Class-3

Today's class we did not go on any field trips. In class we watched a variety of videos and talked about the environment. For each video we watched, Dr. Morris told us to write down something new we learned from the videos, something we didn't believe to be true from the videos, and something that was relevant to Southwest Florida. One of the videos talked about the Ecosystem. The Ecosystem is a life support system and humanity couldn't live without them. I learned about the huge dust bowl that was the worst environmental disaster and that the land never fully recovered fro, it. we learned about far,s and how they can become more environmentally friendly by not using as many chemicals while farming. During this class we also talked about our upcoming projects coming up and Dr. Morris put us into groups for our Plan B 4.0 presentations. We also had time at the end of class to meet up with our groups and discuss our presentations.

Corkscrew Swamp-2

On todays field trip we went to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. The swamp was surprisingly a very educational and fun field trip to go on. I learned so many things while walking through the swamp and also got to see many different types of plants, animals, and tress. We saw an alligator and her baby gators, a bald eagle, a vulture, different types of birds, and many other animals. Some of the plant life that we saw included bald cypress which has more feathery leaves than that of a pond cypress which has more skinnier leaves. We saw alligator flag, swamp lilies, and also a resurrection tree. One of the cool aspects of the swamp that interested me was the boardwalk. The boardwalk is made out of a south american wood called Ipe. This particular type of wood is perfect for this type of habitat because it does not rot and is very strong. Even the animals such as panthers use this wood as a scratching post so it is very beneficial to the area and the inhabitants. The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems which includes the wildlife and their habitats. this benefits humanity and the earth's ecological diversity.

Food Forest -1

Today was the first day of attending University Colloquium. We took a field trip to the on-campus garden called "The Food Forest." The Food Forest is a student run botanical garden located on the campus of FGCU. I learned many things while touring the food forest. We got to try a variety of leaves and berry's that grew inside this garden. One of the purposes of the food forest is to provide students with the opportunity to learn about different types of edible and useful species from all over the world that can be grown in South Florida. Food Forest is also a great opportunity to get service-learning hours and it also free for anybody to go into this garden and check it out.