Reflection: Weeks 13-14 Combined with Overall Course Reflection

So now I write our very last reflection for the semester. As always I will say it, “Where has our time gone?!” Seriously tho, this semester flew by way too fast. I will briefly cover weeks 13 and 14 in this final reflection.

In week 13, we started off by visiting Goodwill. Here, we met with two representatives and toured the building while learning about their commitment to serving others. It was really cool to see how everything at Goodwill worked. We ended our day by doing a cool activity where we were assigned a destination wedding where we had to pick out an outfit, gift and something we couldn’t go there without. We drew Hawaii and had a lot of fun seeing everyone’s creative ideas!

Week 14 we had to bring in our Junk Projects. In this assignment we had to find an object and refurbish it into something we could use. After our Goodwill tour, I walked through the store to find my very own piece of “junk”. I discovered a cute little cookie jar so I purchased it for a whopping $.99! What a steal huh? So I brought it home and decorated it with a Christmas theme and filled it with my homemade peppermint fudge =) I then gave it to my internship supervisor as a Christmas gift. She loved it! This was a really cool experience for me because it allowed me to be creative and turn a regular piece of “junk” into something that I would use.

Overall, I have learned so much from taking this course. I was introduced to the blogging world and learned anything and everything about the Do’s and Don’t of proper blogging techniques. I have also been exposed to some very eye-opening documentaries that have changed my outlook on certain environmental issues in our society. We also learned how to advocate for health education. We were given the opportunity to research who represents us and also draft a letter of concern on an issue that we have found important to us. And we have learned that calling something "junk" doesn't always mean that it doesn't serve a purpose. After all they say "One man's junk is another man's treasure". Finally, we have challenged each other to become more environmentally friendly by incorporating small changes into our everyday lifestyles.

As you can see, I have learned A LOT from taking this Environmental Health class. It kind of makes me sad that I don't have to comment or post weekly on my blog anymore after this. Nor will I have as much excitement about finding a new topic for my Share & Voice! Oh well, it has been a good run. After this, I am definitely more confident about sharing my voice and opinions through a blog! Who knows, maybe I will keep up my daily blogging. Feel free to stop by and see what I'm up to!

It's been a good run.

Thank you for all who followed me and offered your thoughts and opinions on my daily posts.

Over and Out this is Through Green Eyes with Katie Signing Off for the last time.

Peace.

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Ashley: Calculate your auto emissions

My 1996 Dodge Intrepid has a 3.5L, 6cyl. Automatic engine. I would say that I use the average miles that most Americans do which is 12,000. For this average I use 333.33 gallons of fuel in the city and 230.77 gallons of fuel on the highway, totaling 564.1 gallons yearly. My car uses up 10,887.13 lbs of CO2 and has a 4.94MT of CO2 MT Emissions. The total CO2 credit cost is $39.52. Check out my results.

My car is a bigger and older car so I guess my results make sense. Even though I used the average amount of miles for an American I do not think that I drive this much, which would reduce my overall emissions yearly. Still, to think that I use this much personally I can’t imagine how much we use globally!

Jamie: How fit are you?

I scored a 45 on the How Fit Are You? Test. According to the site I am “super fit and the envy of the rest of us mere mortals”. I kind of expected this because I am very involved in fitness and keeping my body in good shape. One thing I need to improve on however is my flexibility. I rated myself short of my age range because I could not make 19inches. This is pretty embarrassing, but for me stretching is so boring and it hurts! I guess I should put more effort into stretching out my muscles after I workout.

Elly: How big is your footprint

I was unable to complete this exercise because my car model wasn’t listed on the website’s drop-down list. I do however remember what my CO2 emission was from doing Ashley’s online activity. According to Ashley’s activity I used up 10,887.13lbs of CO2 a year. This was an astounding number to find out because I did not think it was even close to being that much. One thing I can do to change/improve this number is reduce the number of useless trips that I make during the week. Another easy thing to do is carpool with others to wherever I need to go. I personally have no thought about switching to a more fuel efficient car only because I cannot afford it right now. Due to my college budget, this just isn’t an option for me. Some changes that I would like to see are more people ridesharing with each other. I don’t think it’s necessary to people to make solo trips especially when others may be going the same place.

Kara: Energy Dustbin Game

The dustbin was a cool game to test our knowledge about renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. I scored a 36 on this activity, which I think is good but I am not sure. This was a neat activity to test our knowledge about the differences of nonrenewable and renewable sources. I really liked the source about the Ten Facts of Renewable Energy. I think it’s really cool that enough sunlight hits the earth in just one hour is enough to meet the world’s energy demands for a whole year. It doesn’t make sense that if this is true then why are we not utilizing the sun more! It’s free! Why wouldn’t we?! From this activity is makes me wonder why we aren’t using renewable sources more, it just seems that this would be the most logical thing to do.

Dani: Waste to Energy Crossword

Doing this crossword was a really creative way to test our knowledge. I kind of wish it would have been interactive tho! I thought the sources were a great addition to this activity because it made me more knowledgeable about the different waste to energy technologies. To tell you the truth I was clueless about how many there actually are, and what each of them comprises of. Another thing I thought was neat was the amount of Waste-to-Energy facilities there are in Minnesota. I would have never guessed that we have ten, which is more than the average state in the US! This was a great activity and I am glad I now know more about Waste-to-Energy facilities.

Lauren: Workout Plan

So the purpose of this activity was to incorporate physical activity into our life. I found this to be a cool way to test our abilities of our physical state. I thought the Fitness Quiz wasn't very credible. It states that I was only 30% fit and I don't believe that to be quite accurate. The assigned Burn-Fat-Fast Workout was pretty challenging. I used to do a lot of circuit training so I was very familiar with these moves. I would have liked to see more of a variety but it was still a challenging activity. The leapfrog move was pretty tough to do for a minute straight but I don’t think it was hard enough to limit it to only twice a week. Overall, I didn’t really learn much from this online activity but it was fun to work out as an assignment :)

As far as the Physical Assessment goes, here are my answers.

1. Walking fast, Dancing, Housework, Lifting, Turning, Carrying less than 50lbs
2. 6 days
3. 40 minutes
4. Running, Walking upstairs, Basketball
5. 5 days
6. 40 minutes
7. About the same
8. No
9. 30 minutes of moderate activity 5 or more days
10. I have been regularly physically active for the past 6 months or more
11. Teach my fam and friends the importance of physical activity, Lower my stress, Feel better
12. Yes
13. My friends, just by supporting me or joining me in working out.
14. Very confident

Advocacy Project:Obesity and Your Everyday Life

Hi Everyone! Today you are going to learn about Obesity and Your Everyday Life. This online activity will make you more knowledgeable about Obesity and how it can affect your health. You will also asses your everyday habits such as eating and physical activity to see how healthy you are! Just follow the instructions and answer the questions that follow. Enjoy!

Purpose:
This online activity is designed to increase the awareness of the obesity epidemic in our country. Through this activity you will review the literature and answer some questions concerning this topic.

Instructions:
This is a two-part assignment. First read through the sources in Part One, then complete the activities in Part Two.

Part One:

Visit WebMd and read through this article: Learn about Obesity.

You will then be familiar with Obesity, its causes and when to seek help if you are at risk.

Next, visit the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to view the possible health risks that go hand in hand with being obese or overweight.

Finally, check out Steps to a Healthier You!, to get the steps, tips and information about healthy eating and ways to be active every day of your life.

Part Two:

1. First Calculate Your BMI to see if you are or at risk of becoming obese/overweight.

• What is your BMI? Make sure to check over the chart to see where you are in your weight group.
• Do you think this is an accurate way to measure body fat? Why or why not?

2. Visit the MyPyramid Plan to find out the amount of each food group that you should be consuming on a daily basis. Type in your age, gender, height/weight and how active you are to receive a customized food guide.

• According to this food guide, are you currently taking in the adequate amount of calories each day?
• Are you making the recommended requirements for each food group? If not, how do you plan to increase/decrease your intake?

3. Finally, use the Calories Burned Estimator to calculate how many calories you burn doing your favorite activities. Just enter your weight and how many minutes you do an activity. Then click calculate.

• What is your favorite activity to do?
• Were you surprised on how many calories it burned? Why or why not?

Obesity is a rising problem in our society. By completing this online activity, I hope that you now have a better knowledge of what obesity is, what causes it and the health risks that go along with this problem. In addition, you will have also analyzed your daily intake and expenditure of calories to make sure you are on the right track to keeping your body healthy and fit.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about obesity and how it can affect you.