Energy and Place Project
Essential Questions:
1. How does energy production impact place?
2. How do your sense of place, your environmental ethic, and your understanding of our energy needs influence your perception of human's use of Earth's resources and your own lifestyle decisions?
1. How does energy production impact place?
2. How do your sense of place, your environmental ethic, and your understanding of our energy needs influence your perception of human's use of Earth's resources and your own lifestyle decisions?
Project Description
To begin this project, we studied how the U.S. energy sources affect communities and their sense of place. After understanding the arguments for and against energy production in the U.S., we read famous works of writing by nature writers including Edward Abbey. We practiced nature writing by using the Grand Style of writing which provides readers with description through figurative language that evokes emotions. After practicing nature writing, we chose a place that we had a connection to. We then wrote an essay that described the relationship we had with this place or places. Some of us chose to connect our sense of place to energy production and discussed our environmental ethic through our essay; others, like myself, did not include energy production because some of the essays didn't revolve around energy but rather the sense of place whether it be spiritual, biographical, or ideological.
Reflection
Throughout this project, I learned a lot about myself. I initially thought I would discuss a place and how it connected to my environmental ethic. As someone who is passionate about helping the environment, I wanted my essay to help advocate for the environment and make a difference while also exploring my sense of place. I didn't expect to write an essay that was so personal and that did not directly connect to the environment in some way. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to write about Heartwood, which is where I have lived since I was 3. As I began to develop my essay, my own writing shocked me. My writing displayed the deep spiritual and biographical relationship I have to this 250-acre haven. The more I wrote and the more description I added, the more I began to reflect on my experience living in such an incredible place. My writing made me conscious of the feeling I had every time I come home and every time I am in nature and with the people who I have grown up with. When I finished my first draft, I felt like I was almost being selfish with my writing, by not addressing the damage that energy production has on a place. Yet, I realized that I can advocate for the environment and other ways and that energy is not a part of my daily life at Heartwood. Once I realized that my essay didn't have to be about the role energy played in my sense of place, I was proud of my essay and realized that it was powerful on its own.
I enjoyed both the Take Action portion of this project and the essay. However, I am most proud of my essay because writing it forced me to get out of my comfort zone by having to use new styles of writing. I learned about the Grand Style and how to organize my essay to create the most impact. At the beginning of the writing process, I never thought I would be able to make my audience feel like I do about Heartwood. Now I have realized that it was possible and in fact I feel I was able to evoke the emotions of my readers. This is shown especially in the end of my essay when I wrote, "We team up; JJ, Gabe, Helen, and Amanda on one team, myself, Al, Joe and Araaa on the other. The boys take leadership of the game as they have the most experience. But I don’t care how bad I am because the game is not just a game to me. It is what I look forward to every summer evening: it is who I am with that makes my heart gallop; it is the place in which I am that brings me joy; it is the pace at which I run that fulfills me; it is the evening that seeps into night that excites me. This is where I am supposed to be, with the people who make fun of me, cheer me on, and guide me, with the beautiful nature that makes my jaw drop no matter how many times I have seen it. And each night after the moon appears in the starry sky, while we are out of breath and our muscles ache, I can’t help but think of how lucky I am." This final paragraph exemplifies my strong connection to a place and the people. This is ultimately what I wanted to say and I feel that I have grown as a writer. This is why I am most proud of the essay.
I have a strong environmental ethic that has not really shifted since I was young. I have always deeply believed that energy can impact one’s experience with a place. A relationship to nature, I believe, is the purest form of connection one can have to Mother Earth. When this connection is disrupted by energy production whether that be a uranium mill or coal plant on one’s land in which they feel a connection to (spiritual or even biological), this can disrupt the relationship. Living in Heartwood and having a deep spiritual and biographical relationship to the land and community, makes me appreciative that I am able to live in such a beautiful place instead of a place interrupted by energy production. If Heartwood was surrounded by energy production that disrupted the natural ecosystem I would be feel very disconnected. Because I have lived in such a place and been fortunate to feel connection to nature, I have a strong environmental ethic and believe strongly that we should protect nature and support the animals and plants that surround us.
I enjoyed both the Take Action portion of this project and the essay. However, I am most proud of my essay because writing it forced me to get out of my comfort zone by having to use new styles of writing. I learned about the Grand Style and how to organize my essay to create the most impact. At the beginning of the writing process, I never thought I would be able to make my audience feel like I do about Heartwood. Now I have realized that it was possible and in fact I feel I was able to evoke the emotions of my readers. This is shown especially in the end of my essay when I wrote, "We team up; JJ, Gabe, Helen, and Amanda on one team, myself, Al, Joe and Araaa on the other. The boys take leadership of the game as they have the most experience. But I don’t care how bad I am because the game is not just a game to me. It is what I look forward to every summer evening: it is who I am with that makes my heart gallop; it is the place in which I am that brings me joy; it is the pace at which I run that fulfills me; it is the evening that seeps into night that excites me. This is where I am supposed to be, with the people who make fun of me, cheer me on, and guide me, with the beautiful nature that makes my jaw drop no matter how many times I have seen it. And each night after the moon appears in the starry sky, while we are out of breath and our muscles ache, I can’t help but think of how lucky I am." This final paragraph exemplifies my strong connection to a place and the people. This is ultimately what I wanted to say and I feel that I have grown as a writer. This is why I am most proud of the essay.
I have a strong environmental ethic that has not really shifted since I was young. I have always deeply believed that energy can impact one’s experience with a place. A relationship to nature, I believe, is the purest form of connection one can have to Mother Earth. When this connection is disrupted by energy production whether that be a uranium mill or coal plant on one’s land in which they feel a connection to (spiritual or even biological), this can disrupt the relationship. Living in Heartwood and having a deep spiritual and biographical relationship to the land and community, makes me appreciative that I am able to live in such a beautiful place instead of a place interrupted by energy production. If Heartwood was surrounded by energy production that disrupted the natural ecosystem I would be feel very disconnected. Because I have lived in such a place and been fortunate to feel connection to nature, I have a strong environmental ethic and believe strongly that we should protect nature and support the animals and plants that surround us.
Take Action Project
Recycled Garden: Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Project Description
My group and I decided to create herb gardens in plastic bottles. We can reuse plastic bottles while supplying our school community with healthy herbs. We cut the bottles in half and put the top inside the bottom of the bottle. We filled the tops with soil and planted a variety of herbs and flowers including rosemary, oregano, cilantro, morning glories, and moon flowers. We put strung string though the soil of each plant into the water in the bottom of the bottle so that the plant can suck up the water through the strings and ultimately self water themselves. To finish the process, we painted them! We hope we can share this with others through social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and continue to positively impact the our community and the environment.
Mission:
We believe that taking a creative approach to supporting the environment and our student body can encourage healthier lifestyles and a healthier environment. We think it’s important to collaborate to promote sustainable practices throughout the community.
Vision:
Through this project we hope to inspire younger generations and other communities and schools to join in the effort to create a sustainable environment through sustainable practices.
Our environmental ethic had a direct connection to our Take Action Project. We believe that the health of the school community and of nature is extremely important. Although this project was just a small step, it represents a larger ideology. We don't want to see our planet destroyed by energy production that can lead to pollution and wreckage of land. By supporting projects that are sustainable, the more we can work together to stop industries from destroying the beautiful and sacred nature.
This project has been eyeopening to me. I have realized that something as small as our project can have a positive impact on people and the planet. Today, we need people to be conscious about the damage that is being done to nature. We also need to think of ways we can improve how we do things right now. Our project does both to an extent; it reminds people that reusing and recycling is important while showing how we can be savvy and create something useful and can eve support the health of our students and parents.
Mission:
We believe that taking a creative approach to supporting the environment and our student body can encourage healthier lifestyles and a healthier environment. We think it’s important to collaborate to promote sustainable practices throughout the community.
Vision:
Through this project we hope to inspire younger generations and other communities and schools to join in the effort to create a sustainable environment through sustainable practices.
Our environmental ethic had a direct connection to our Take Action Project. We believe that the health of the school community and of nature is extremely important. Although this project was just a small step, it represents a larger ideology. We don't want to see our planet destroyed by energy production that can lead to pollution and wreckage of land. By supporting projects that are sustainable, the more we can work together to stop industries from destroying the beautiful and sacred nature.
This project has been eyeopening to me. I have realized that something as small as our project can have a positive impact on people and the planet. Today, we need people to be conscious about the damage that is being done to nature. We also need to think of ways we can improve how we do things right now. Our project does both to an extent; it reminds people that reusing and recycling is important while showing how we can be savvy and create something useful and can eve support the health of our students and parents.
Native American Studies Project
Project Description
For this Native American Studies project we had two options. The first option was to annotate a document or artifact with research-based analytical annotations. The other option was to write a written analysis whether it be a literary or film analysis. I chose to combine both of these options. I wrote a literary analysis on a poem by Native American poet Scott Momaday, but put it in the form of annotations that surrounded the poem I was analyzing. Leading up to this final project we looked deeply into the history of Native Americans and how their history has impacted their contemporary identity and culture. Having a greater understanding of what Native life looked like in the past and present allowed us to analyze these documents, artifacts and pieces of literature more deeply.
Reflection
I knew from the beginning of this final project I wanted to write a literary analysis on a poem. When I stumbled across Scott Momaday's poem The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee my analysis became more about the culture and beliefs of native tribes than about the history and struggles of native tribes. The beliefs that I found to be most prominent in the poem were the relationships that most Native Americans have with Mother Earth. During this project three essential questions were brought into discussion. Through our research and through exploring these questions I came to some conclusions. These three questions are listed below with my still growing and changing perspective.
1. How do the historical experiences and ideologies of America’s indigenous tribes impact their contemporary identity?
The oppressive history of Native Americans continues to impact them today. Our society has been raised mocking Natives because of stereotypes known to be associated with the larger Native American population. This treatment has been accepted because white society has held power over them from the beginning of when European settlers arrived in the U.S.. We used and manipulated Native tribes as if they were another species entirely until we forced them to alienate themselves even more by living a separate life in a separate society. Today this has had a great impact on the way Natives are viewed and the way they feel living in the United States. Native culture and tradition has never been something the white society can connect to and therefore we mock the relationship they have to spirit and community. This has often made most Natives feel disconnected from the white society. This society outside their homes has not been created to support them as traditional peoples, but rather influenced them to lose their cultural practices so they can fit in with the “superior” society. But in reality this has created a disconnect to self, culture, and white society as Natives try to find themselves within the complex and harsh White World.
2. How can an examination of multiple sources and perspectives lead to a more enlightened understanding of history AND contemporary social, cultural and political realities?
History is not one dimensional. The experiences and impacts differ between ethnicities, genders, and more importantly each individual. By understanding the diversity of perspectives, we can make our own interpretations, while taking into account the ideas and events during the past. We cannot expect every person within a group, whether that be race or religion, to have the same experiences and emotions. Often times we see this generalization with the Native population in which all tribes are grouped into a larger category. However, after reading two different perspectives in the First Person, First Peoples essays I was able to realize the individuality of Native tribes and eliminate myself from expecting the cultures and experiences to be identical. In the essay “Why Didn’t You Teach Me?”, Robert Bennett expressed his experience as Native who through high school and part of college felt more like a white man inside a Native American’s body. “I did well in a white school, played varsity football, baseball, and basketball, went out with wasicu (white) friends, dated wasicu women, attended an Ivy League school and now make a living as a professional baseball player.” He wasn’t a stereotypical Native, poor, hopeless and disconnected from the society around him. I was originally surprised to see a student who represented nothing that was expected. It gave me a deeper insight into the variety of experiences as a Native and the way one perspective is not necessarily a unanimous one.
3. Where do history and creative expression intersect to reveal the human experience?
Although historical context can give us insight into specific details of experiences that took place, it doesn’t necessarily connect with us on an emotional level. We may never know the pain and suffrage of a time, or the feeling of joy with merely facts. We learn about an experience from a first person account, not just the chronological order or events but the emotions and thoughts that were connected to these specific incidents. This is shown in the essays, First Person, First Peoples when Marianne Chamberlain discusses her insecurities during her freshman year at Dartmouth. Being a Native student is not something I and most non-natives can relate to. However, this essay brought us into her experience of never feeling like she fit in the white society or even with the Native American students at Dartmouth. “At Dartmouth, there wasn’t one place where I felt comfortable and at home. I felt trapped. To feel alive, my spirit must feel free.” Creative expression allows us to connect to a history on a deeper more human level as this quote shows. The combination of knowing the specific historical details along with a perspective on the experience (emotionally, physically) gives us a larger picture of past events and the impact it had.
1. How do the historical experiences and ideologies of America’s indigenous tribes impact their contemporary identity?
The oppressive history of Native Americans continues to impact them today. Our society has been raised mocking Natives because of stereotypes known to be associated with the larger Native American population. This treatment has been accepted because white society has held power over them from the beginning of when European settlers arrived in the U.S.. We used and manipulated Native tribes as if they were another species entirely until we forced them to alienate themselves even more by living a separate life in a separate society. Today this has had a great impact on the way Natives are viewed and the way they feel living in the United States. Native culture and tradition has never been something the white society can connect to and therefore we mock the relationship they have to spirit and community. This has often made most Natives feel disconnected from the white society. This society outside their homes has not been created to support them as traditional peoples, but rather influenced them to lose their cultural practices so they can fit in with the “superior” society. But in reality this has created a disconnect to self, culture, and white society as Natives try to find themselves within the complex and harsh White World.
2. How can an examination of multiple sources and perspectives lead to a more enlightened understanding of history AND contemporary social, cultural and political realities?
History is not one dimensional. The experiences and impacts differ between ethnicities, genders, and more importantly each individual. By understanding the diversity of perspectives, we can make our own interpretations, while taking into account the ideas and events during the past. We cannot expect every person within a group, whether that be race or religion, to have the same experiences and emotions. Often times we see this generalization with the Native population in which all tribes are grouped into a larger category. However, after reading two different perspectives in the First Person, First Peoples essays I was able to realize the individuality of Native tribes and eliminate myself from expecting the cultures and experiences to be identical. In the essay “Why Didn’t You Teach Me?”, Robert Bennett expressed his experience as Native who through high school and part of college felt more like a white man inside a Native American’s body. “I did well in a white school, played varsity football, baseball, and basketball, went out with wasicu (white) friends, dated wasicu women, attended an Ivy League school and now make a living as a professional baseball player.” He wasn’t a stereotypical Native, poor, hopeless and disconnected from the society around him. I was originally surprised to see a student who represented nothing that was expected. It gave me a deeper insight into the variety of experiences as a Native and the way one perspective is not necessarily a unanimous one.
3. Where do history and creative expression intersect to reveal the human experience?
Although historical context can give us insight into specific details of experiences that took place, it doesn’t necessarily connect with us on an emotional level. We may never know the pain and suffrage of a time, or the feeling of joy with merely facts. We learn about an experience from a first person account, not just the chronological order or events but the emotions and thoughts that were connected to these specific incidents. This is shown in the essays, First Person, First Peoples when Marianne Chamberlain discusses her insecurities during her freshman year at Dartmouth. Being a Native student is not something I and most non-natives can relate to. However, this essay brought us into her experience of never feeling like she fit in the white society or even with the Native American students at Dartmouth. “At Dartmouth, there wasn’t one place where I felt comfortable and at home. I felt trapped. To feel alive, my spirit must feel free.” Creative expression allows us to connect to a history on a deeper more human level as this quote shows. The combination of knowing the specific historical details along with a perspective on the experience (emotionally, physically) gives us a larger picture of past events and the impact it had.
Native American Studies Project
Project Description
For this project, we started out by analyzing primary source documents on the Wounded Knee Massacre. After analyzing these documents and taking notes, we used our new knowledge from the ten different documents and wrote a 3-5 paragraph writing in the form of a textbook passage. Following the writing, we watched the film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee to understand the event on a more emotional level as well as find similarities and differences to the documents that we had read and analyzed. This in-depth study on the Native American culture, tradition and history has allowed myself and my peers to form a deeper understanding of the Native American experience, as well as the past and present relationship between Native Americans and whites (specifically the U.S. government).
Rhetoric Project: Deconstructing Our America
Project Description
For this rhetoric project, we chose a topic that spoke to us and expressed our ideological perspectives. Topics ranged from U.S. foreign policy, abortion, abuse, fear, white privilege, private prisons, etc. We then created an oral project that incorporated our research and perspective such as a TED talk, speech, open letter, poem, rap, etc. After a few weeks of researching our topics, creating and refining our projects, we exhibited them at the Animas City Theater where audience members enjoyed a diversity of projects and were invited to respond to them.
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This is the Prezi I used to guide my mini Ted Talk
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The Truth About Climate Change: Debunking Industry Fallacies Reflection
For this project we chose any topic that expressed our ideological perspectives and was important to us. We created an oral project that was meant to get our perspective across and impact the audience. Topics ranged from the U.S. foreign policy, income inequality, abuse, fear, white privilege, etc. After researching our topics and refining our projects, we presented them at the Animas City Theater and invited audience members to involve themselves by commenting on projects. Projects took on many forms such as poems, speeches, TED talks, raps and open letters. I chose to focus on the relationship between industrial capitalism and climate change. This took shape as a mini TED talk that explained how corporations in our capitalist system are not allowing actions to be taken to reverse global warming.
My project incorporated several goals that rhetoric tries to accomplish like testing ideas, assisting advocacy and discovering facts. Most people don’t know what to do about global warming that will relieve the environment. But even more so, they don’t know who is in control of this process. I wanted to show them that it is not science that is wrong, nor scientists and activists that have all the control in creating change. Rather it is corporations who have the control by using their money to control policy, merely so they can continue to make profit by polluting. They have control of environmental policies, which is a scary thing when the health of our planet is not a priority for them. By showing them what corporations do and how global warming is a very important issue, I wanted to inform them and even test their prior ideas. I also had a slide that expressed how we need to come together to advocate in demanding for corporations to change how they operate so that climate stability a greater priority.
I have always been interested in understanding how we can reverse global warming and support scientists in creating positive change for the climate. However, I never knew why we were not making substantial progress. It frustrated me and inspired me to learn more. I didn’t even know where I was headed in the beginning of this project, but I ended up answering so many questions I had at the same time I informed my audience. The connections between industrial capitalism and climate change became so clear it honestly scared me to know that I and so many others had been unaware. It made me more curious and passionate to figure out a way to stop letting corporations control policies with their money and continue to dismiss global warming. I loved researching this topic and continuing to gather more and more evidence that both shocked and interested me. It was one of the most informative and fun projects I have done.
It was difficult narrowing down all I wanted to say into a five minute TED talk. It was also hard to make the connection between industrial capitalism climate change clear to the audience. I was constantly asking myself which facts I should use and whether or not they would incorporate my perspective well enough. After I figured out what was most important to include I felt that I didn’t have enough time to fully refine my project. If I were to do this project again I would have liked to read all of Naomi Klein’s book to give me more information about the relationship between capitalism and the climate. I also wish I could have refined it more and made it more relatable to the audiences beliefs and emotions.
I have learned that rhetoric is not created to be polite expression. It is to let our ideological perspectives be heard, to disturb, test others ideas/beliefs, appeal to emotions, and invite a response. I have also learned that rhetoric can be used to inform, but also manipulate. From seeing everyone else’s project, I realized that there is such diversity in ideologies and in our experiences as Americans. The more we are exposed to specific rhetoric the more it shapes our ideologies to agree or disagree with that rhetoric. Learning about rhetoric and ideologies over the course of the year, has allowed me to analyze my own ideologies and determine how I have adopted them.
My project incorporated several goals that rhetoric tries to accomplish like testing ideas, assisting advocacy and discovering facts. Most people don’t know what to do about global warming that will relieve the environment. But even more so, they don’t know who is in control of this process. I wanted to show them that it is not science that is wrong, nor scientists and activists that have all the control in creating change. Rather it is corporations who have the control by using their money to control policy, merely so they can continue to make profit by polluting. They have control of environmental policies, which is a scary thing when the health of our planet is not a priority for them. By showing them what corporations do and how global warming is a very important issue, I wanted to inform them and even test their prior ideas. I also had a slide that expressed how we need to come together to advocate in demanding for corporations to change how they operate so that climate stability a greater priority.
I have always been interested in understanding how we can reverse global warming and support scientists in creating positive change for the climate. However, I never knew why we were not making substantial progress. It frustrated me and inspired me to learn more. I didn’t even know where I was headed in the beginning of this project, but I ended up answering so many questions I had at the same time I informed my audience. The connections between industrial capitalism and climate change became so clear it honestly scared me to know that I and so many others had been unaware. It made me more curious and passionate to figure out a way to stop letting corporations control policies with their money and continue to dismiss global warming. I loved researching this topic and continuing to gather more and more evidence that both shocked and interested me. It was one of the most informative and fun projects I have done.
It was difficult narrowing down all I wanted to say into a five minute TED talk. It was also hard to make the connection between industrial capitalism climate change clear to the audience. I was constantly asking myself which facts I should use and whether or not they would incorporate my perspective well enough. After I figured out what was most important to include I felt that I didn’t have enough time to fully refine my project. If I were to do this project again I would have liked to read all of Naomi Klein’s book to give me more information about the relationship between capitalism and the climate. I also wish I could have refined it more and made it more relatable to the audiences beliefs and emotions.
I have learned that rhetoric is not created to be polite expression. It is to let our ideological perspectives be heard, to disturb, test others ideas/beliefs, appeal to emotions, and invite a response. I have also learned that rhetoric can be used to inform, but also manipulate. From seeing everyone else’s project, I realized that there is such diversity in ideologies and in our experiences as Americans. The more we are exposed to specific rhetoric the more it shapes our ideologies to agree or disagree with that rhetoric. Learning about rhetoric and ideologies over the course of the year, has allowed me to analyze my own ideologies and determine how I have adopted them.