Something random, Something different!

Something different!

For this post I thought I would do something different, so I did! My friend and I decided to go out of our way and volunteer on a free range pig farm. I know for a fact it that it was a first for me, the last time I visited a farm was during first school. We had a 8 o’clock start in the morning, to get to the pig farm we had go 30 minutes away from Chichester, driving up a beaten track in the process, this was an adventure in itself.  During our day at the farm we built a fence in the farm to help contain certain types of pigs, mainly the Gloucestershire Old Spots which is a pig listed on the endangered list with less than 2000 of them left. Building pens for pregnant pigs was another one of our tasks, this was key to ensure the piglets couldn’t run off or be pray to other animals.

Farms present an array of learning opportunities and experiences that children will remember. The images above state the links between farm visits and links to the national curriculum (Farms for Schools). This is the major selling point of farm visits, having a huge range of subjects that can be introduced. This is something I feel that any age can benefit from, and to also take away a positive feeling/experience. A final point is the need for this process to be carried on, having the younger generation showing an interest may help the longevity of local farmers. The farm experience brings out our love for nature, explained in Wilsons (1984) Biophilia hypothesis.

The biophilia hypothesis is the ground work for all nature related learning and experiences, the core ideology is that man has a must/love for nature. Having this bond with nature opens up our belief, and willingness to be a part of nature.  

To see the link for farm schools, follow the link below:

http://www.farmsforschools.org.uk/teacherguide.pdf

Reference

Wilson. E. O (1984). Biophilia, The human bond with other species. USA: Harvard College. 0.

Lesson plan

Global warming: Can I, as an individual, really matter?

Global warming:  Can I, as an individual, really matter?

Do I matter? This is a hard question, no matter what answer is given, and it won’t please everyone. It is a question that I personally find hard to answer. I have heard arguments from both sides, and both present valid arguments. I remember in my first year of university, and I was approached by someone in the street preaching about green peace, I am not going to lie but my response was along the lines of one person isn’t going to change a lot. I would like to say that over the last 3 years that my opinion has change slightly, and that I am partial doing my part.

It has been reported that individuals and households in the UK and the US claim a third of all carbon emissions released into the atmosphere (O’Garra, 2012). Although as one we present a third of emissions, how much do I personally emit! O’Garra, (2012) suggests that public ignorance has an important role to play, this is something I agree with. Like having a job, it’s not worth doing if you don’t get anything out of it!

I believe that due to the ignorance of our generation, future generations will suffer because of us. This has come down to very selfish way of thinking and our “right” for a higher standard of living. Pellegrino and Carli have said that an individual does not hold a moral responsibility for global warming, going on to say that the government needs to come up with a realistic way of tackling global warming. From what I have read and heard I believe that global warming and reducing carbon emissions has a bigger following in the UK compared to the US, due to our “right” of a higher standard of living any politician putting carbon foot prints at the top of the agenda wouldn’t last long.   

References

O'Garra. T.. (2012). Individual consumers and climate change: searching for a new moral compass . Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy. 93

Pellegrino. G., Carli. L. G. (Link Below) 

http://www.academia.edu/1215814/Individual_Responsibility_for_Climate_Change

How big is your carbon foot print?

How big is your carbon foot print?

To get things started what is out carbon foot print? Carbon footprint is the term for the amount of greenhouse gasses we release. Below is a brief abstract explaining the greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect is a combination of the earth, sun and the atmosphere. The process starts by the sun heating the planet via short wave radiation, which is then in turn emitted by the atmosphere. When the sun’s rays hit the planet, the rays that do not get absorbed reflect of the planet, heading for the atmosphere (Long wave radiation). Unlike shortwave radiation, long wave radiation gets absorbed by greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide and water vapor). When the greenhouse gases have absorbed the radiation, they reemit the rays in an array of directions. It’s the radiation that gets directed towards the earth that becomes the issue, this then creates a bounce of rays between the earth and the atmosphere (seen in the picture below). By creating more greenhouse gases, the amount of radiation being stuck between the atmosphere and the earth increases, leading to the rise of the planets temperature (Casper 2010).

The WWF (The World Wide Fund for Nature) provide a questionnaire were they give you a rough estimate on how big your carbon foot print is! According to this question if everyone was to live like me, we would need 1.82 planets. If you read the abstract hopefully you will understand the need for us to lower out carbon foot print, but how much is acceptable? Its argued that global warming is a natural event, hence some people ignorance towards it, the side is that global warming is a natural event but we are speeding up the process! So all comes back to our interpretation of the environment and how much we value it. I believe that the planet needs a massive event due to the greenhouse effect, this will then help show people that we have to look after the planet.

Web address link:

http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

Reference

Casper. J. K. (2010 ). Global Warming, Greenhouse Gases, Worldwide Impacts. USA: Infobase Publishing.

What is fire? brief science behind it

What is fire? brief science behind it.

During our lectures in the forests, without fail we have a fire! Everybody loves a good old fire, but what is the point and the science behind it!

Let’s start with the science.

Fire needs three elements to function:

·         Oxygen

·         Fuel

·         Heat (Ignition)

The need for these three elements can be seen a weakness, when dealing with fire taking one of these is the first steps. In order to have a fire there must be a combustible solid or liquid present, this counts as the fuel. In a open space oxygen will always be present, mean that two sides of the fire triangle are already present, all that is left is just the heat (ignition). The term combustible means its ability to light/burn. All combustible materials have an ignition temperature, once this temperature is met the fuel will then ignite. At this point, if the heat is hot enough the gases will be drawn from the fuel causing combustion which creates a visible flame, this is the release of energy from the fuel and the more energy the longer it will burn.

When starting a fire do you use the biggest log you can find? No! you go for the smaller logs/twigs, this is because they have a lower ignition temperature or are composed of a more flammable composition. Twigs cannot sustain a fire for a prolonged amount of time, once a fire has reach a point of self-sustainment the addition of large logs can be applied.

Something we did as a bit of fun was to change the colour of the flame, this can be a simple process. Certain elements release chemicals, of which when ignited they will emit a different coloured flame, for example if the chemical strontium nitrate was ignited it would emit the colour red.

Risk assessment

Risk assessment for den building 9-10 year olds

This entry is referring to an event we held a few weeks ago, during this time we created a scenario for school kids. In this scenario we had two year groups, year 5 acted as Britons and year 6 were the Vikings. The Image above is of a risk assessment calculator I designed on Microsoft excel, rating scaled is based on the work by Barton (2007).

This device is just an advice tool, not a guide! The way that this tool  works is by inputting the values in the correct box, for example if there was a frequent exposure to a hazard then you would put a 3 in the frequency box, and the same for the severity box. Once these values have been inputted then the total score would change to 9 (3x3), which would in turn change the advice box to a warning and to reassess their risk assessment.

The point of a risk assessment is to at the safety of activities (Perry, 2003), in this case of this risk assessment is looking at the event. Within a risk assessment it is used to address hazards around the activity, and what issues can happen because of the hazard. But most of all what are the best means to minimalize the risk or eradicate the hazard.

Having a risk assessment is an important factor to have done for every activity, this will help show if you know what the risks are, and if you are doing enough to prevent them (Ogilivie, 2005). This is important in a legal sense, if you have not done a risk assessment and have not address issues that become present. If something was to go wrong then you will be liable for the blame (Education Committee, 1994), for example if I haven’t conducted a risk assessment on a abseil location and a someone under my control was to have an accident, I would be to blame as I haven’t had the means put in place to prevent/minimise the issue.

Below is my Risk assessment for the main event. Risk assessments are there to look at all the possibilities, so including everything is important, such as getting lost, wildlife, boundary crossing and stings. Over the entire of the assessment I believe that compared to everything that the top 2 hazards are getting lost and trips and falls. These two aren’t the most serious hazards, they are the more likely to happen (frequent). I am not saying that these 2 hazards are acceptable risks, the point of this risk assessment is to try and limit the likely hood of it happening. With acceptable risk in mind, the students and the group leaders will be aware of the most blatant hazards which can happen. The lesser the severity the more that the risk is acceptable (Fischhoff et al, 1981), events such of these don’t become challenges without some form of risk. The worst kind of risk is the loss of equipment, limb or life. This rarely falls into mind with this activity as likely hood of it happen are so small compared to with kayaking a grade 5 rapid.

Den building was a section I and another group leader was assigned to, we had a total of twelve kids, along with two teachers. Having two teachers meant that when the groups were split we had two adults to six students. We had some trips over the course of building the dens, but nothing serious or demanding medical attention. Before we allowed the students to go into/sit in the dens we tested the strength of the roof and removed potential hazards. No issues occurred during out section of the event.

References

Barton. B. (2007). Safety, Risk & Adventure in Outdoor Activities. Hampshire. SAGE Publications.

Education Committee. (1994). Safety in Outdoor Activity Centres. United Kingdom. HMSO Publication Centre.

Fischhoff. B., Lichtenstein. S., Slovic. P., Derby. S. L., Keeney. R. L. (1981). Acceptable Risk. USA. Cambridge Press.

Ogivlie.K. C. (2005). Leading and Managing Groups in the Outdoors. Barrow-in-Furness. The Institute for Outdoor Learning.

Perry. P. (2003). Risk Assessments, Questions and Answer’s: A Practical Approach. Cornwall. Thomas Telford Publishing

The Role of Connectedness to Nature

Review of literature

Review of literature

For this entry I decided to have a look at some environmental literature. Why Is Nature Beneficial? The Role of Connectedness to Nature (Mayer, Frantz, Bruehlman-Senecal & Dolliver. 2009). First of all I chose this piece of literature because I find this interesting and enjoyed reading it through and through, here is the small abstract about the paper:

“ Three studies examine the effects of exposure to nature on positive affect and ability to reflect on a life problem. Participants spent 15 minutes walking in natural setting (studies 1,2 &3), an urban setting (Study 1), or watching videos of natural and urban settings (Studies 2 &3). In all three studies, exposure to nature increased connectedness to nature, attention capacity, positive emotions, and ability to reflect on a life problem; these effects are more dramatic for actual nature than for virtual nature. Meditational analysis indicate that positive effects of exposure to nature are partially mediated by increases in connectedness to nature and are not meditated by increases in attentional capacity. The discussion focuses on the mechanisms that underline the exposure to nature/well-being effects.”      

 Mayer et al (2009)

This journal provides important information, more notably the beneficial mechanisms in nature of which there are 5;

·         Recovery from stress and attention fatigue

·         Encouragement to exercise

·         Facilitating social contact

·         Encourage optimal development and a sense of purpose

·         Providing opportunities for personal development and a sense of purpose

Of these 5 potential mediators, this study predominately looks in to recovery from stress and attention fatigue. The discussion points towards our need for nature (Connectedness to nature). This study indicates that nature can be beneficial for us, but goes on to say that in this particular study that it dealt with small life problems. Does this mean that nature has limits? This could lead on the theory that the bigger the problem the more time is needed in nature.

This study has found a sixth potential mediator, the exposure to nature/well-being effect through a full meditational analysis. The journal continues on to state that as a race we have been associated with nature since then beginning, and its only in the last portion that this has changed. In turn leading to negative feelings in current urban environments, and the change in positivity when returning to nature.

The literature concluded with its third goal, which was to see if there was a difference between actual and virtual nature. They concluded that a virtual walk through the woods could not compare with the real thing. What was stated next, I took particular interest in. The next section went into the future of virtual nature and the progression of it, not everyone has access to a forest or park on a regular basis so obviously a virtual environment has to be the next thing. For example for those who use gyms may have noticed that on selected cycle ergometers they have screens attached and audio plugs. This can be seen as an attempt to introduce nature into a busy environment and potentially engaging the subject longer.

For those sci-fi fans, the use of holographic forests and nature parks have been used in healing and relieving stress of their beloved heroes. This is something I can see happening in the future with the progression and understanding of the technology.

Reference

Mayer. F. S., Frantz. M. C., Bruehlman-Senecal. E., Dolliver. K.. (2009). Why Is Nature Beneficial? The Role of Connectedness to Nature. Environment and Behavior. 41 (5), p607-643.