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Thank You all for being part of my learning journey! I hope you enjoyed my blog and learnt a lot about being sustainable!

#BeMoreSustainable

WEEK 12:

I honestly cannot believe that I am into week 12 of my first semester at university. It has been a semester of hard work but one where I have learnt so much and improved my knowledge especially in regards to science and sustainability.

During the final lecture of the semester for SCIT140, we were shown more ways to be more sustainable in life. An example of this was a photo of a café which used wooden seats made from trees for customers to sit on and recycled bed springs to hold up flowers. These are great ways to be sustainable which I hope I can continue to do after completing this unit.

For the final tutorial class, it was my groups turn to present our presentation. Our group’s presentation was very different as we presented a play about the story of Charles Darwin. I was very nervous for this but also felt very excited to finally get it done! Overall I thought our presentation was great as we combined a series of elements such as background music and puppets to make our play more interesting and engaging for the audience.

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WEEK 11:

During this lecture I learnt about the two natural systems:

- the biosphere

- the lithosphere

The biosphere is the “thin layer at the surface of the earth where life is possible” and the lithosphere is the “minerals in the Earth’s crust”. (Martin, 2016)

I also learnt about the main root causes of unsustainability which includes:

- “We extract large flows of materials from the Earth’s crust”

- “There is an accumulation of substances created by society”

- “We inhibit nature’s capacity to run natural cycles”

- “We create barriers to people meeting their basic needs worldwide”

(Martin, 2016)

This information that I have learnt makes me feel very passionate about the future. As I am studying to become a primary school teacher, it will be my responsibility to help the children of the future avoid these root causes.

In the tutorial class today, the presentation was about genetically modified foods. I learnt that much of the fruit we eat is genetically modified as we need as much fruit as we can to feed as much people on the Earth as we can.

WEEK 10:

It is the beginning of week 10 and I can’t believe how fast time has gone! In today’s lecture the main talking point was about the video we had to watch called ‘Origin of Us’. This video was one of my favourite viewings from this unit as I am very interested in evolution. The video taught me a lot about our ancestors and the way we have evolved, such as our jaws (Dailymotion, 2016). The question that surrounded the lecture was: Are humans still evolving? What do you think?

I believe that humans are very much still evolving. The reason I believe in this is because simply history has shown us that we have continued to evolve. There is no reason why we have stopped evolving so I expect this trend to continue. In this week’s tutorial class, the presentation was about biodiversity.

6 weeks post planting of small veggie patch

WEEK 9:

The week 9 Lecture focused on Victoria’s main ecosystems such as:

- the alps

- grasslands

- the coast

- marine environments

- dry forests and woodlands

These ecosystems must be recognised to be protected because too much of the Earth’s ecosystems are being ruined.

In today’s tutorial the group presentation was about the dynamic problem of pollution. I was astounded to learn about the acidity caused from burning wastage. I was also further shocked to learn that for some objects, it can take millions of years to get rid of. This information provided highlights the importance of minimising wastage because of the slow process of actually getting rid of it. We must live a lifestyle that limits wastage because there is not a lot of space for the Earth to store wastage. If we continue on the trend that we are on, pollution on the Earth, in the air and water will become worse and the future generations will suffer from poor quality air and water.

#ControlYourWastage

WEEK 8:

This week I learnt about many things about biodiversity including:

- grass is a primary producer of biodiversity (Martin, 2016)

- 70% of our crops are grasses (Martin, 2016)

Biodiversity can have different meanings in relation to

· Ecosystems

· Species (the range of plants, animals, fungi, etc)

· Genes (genetic makeup within species)

· Food

Biodiversity in my opinion is very important, for example the more crops that is produced the more food there is. I also learnt that “Australia is one of the most diverse countries on the planet, home to around 20,000 plant species and 2,300 animal and bird species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world.” (Martin 2016) Another video ‘Why Biodiversity Matters’ (Suzuki, 2011) was part of this week’s readings. I found this video very interesting as I was able to watch a lot of people speak passionately about the importance of biodiversity.For this week’s tutorial class, the presentation was about Fresh Water in Australia. The group talked about how important this natural resource is to us and if we are unable to protect it, the children of the future will suffer.

WEEK 7:

The focus of today’s lecture was about energy. Specifically in the lecture I learnt about renewable energy such as solar and wind and about non-renewable energy such as gas and oil. (Martin, 2016) I learnt that it is very important to use renewable energy as much as possible because the Earth has limited resources and if we use more resources than we have, the world will not be a sustainable place to live in. One of the weekly readings this week was a video involving Rob Hopkins. Hopkins talked about oil as a non-renewable energy and how we are running out of it. Hopkins discussed how we need to learn to live without the use of oil to protect the planet in the future. (TED, 2009) In today’s tutorial class the group presentation was scaling the solar system group. During this group presentation I learnt a lot about the solar system and a lot of interesting facts because the last time I learnt about the solar system, I was in primary school!

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WEEK 6:

The main focus for the lecture in week 6 was the natural resource of water. The most interesting fact I found out about water is that it “makes up about 70% of the surface of our planet.” (Martin, 2016) Therefore we must take usage of water very seriously and not take it for granted. Another key talking point I took out of the lecture is that water is a remarkable substance. It is highly remarkable as water can float as well! This is in regards to ice being less then dense than water.

The reading for this week was ‘Sustainability Victoria – Newsletter. In this reading I learn about litter, specifically Clean Up Australia Day and Litter Prevention.(LitterAlly,2016) It is very important that we respect the Earth in regards to cleaning up litter as there can be detrimental effects if we don’t look after our home (Earth).

The group presentation during this week’s tutorial class was Stories of Cosmology. In this lecture I learnt about different theories about the creation of the world. The two that I found the most fascinating was Genesis (God’s creation of the Earth in 6 days) and the theory of the Big Bang. What I find fascinating is that these two theories are very different, and therefore brings large debates about the creation of the world.

#IfYouCleanTheKittyLitterMakeSureYouCleanUpYourOwnLitter ProtectTheEarth

WEEK 5:

Week 5 was the beginning of implementing my design I came up with for Assignment 1. I’ve selected to use a process of keeping a food diary to track the amount of meat I consume as well as make a small veggie patch so I can consume more vegetables. Through this assignment I am hoping to improve upon by ecological footprint. Also during week 5 the group presentations began. The first group’s presentation was a game show called ‘Family Feud’ in which they combined their topic of Technology through the Ages. During the lecture I learnt a lot about the role worms have in our world. I learnt that worm farming is an excellent way to reduce food wastage which in turn can help lead a more sustainable life and help the Earth.

#WormLifeHelpsEarthLife

#VeggiePatch

First day growing my small veggie patch

WEEK 4:

During this week, the focus was E Waste that is “Electronic waste, or e-waste, is a term for electronic products that have become unwanted, non-working or obsolete, and have essentially reached the end of their useful life.” (Electronix Redux, 2011) During the lecture we watched an extraordinary video about E Waste in Ghana which was called ‘ToxiCity: underreported, life at the world's largest e-waste dump in Ghana.’ This video was very interesting but yet saddened me. Through watching the conditions that some people had to live and work in, I also feel very fortunate for the life I am living but angry for the conditions these people have to live in which compromises of a highly toxic environment which in turn can cause many diseases and infections. (RT Documentary, 2015)

During the tutorial class we discussed the video and also formed our group for the group presentations. My group randomly selected the Charles Darwin presentation which will take place in week 12.

#StopEWaste

WEEK 3:

In my third week in this unit I learnt about matter and waste. For my definition of wastage I described it as the things that we don’t need any more that are thrown away/discarded. We talked about how science is viewed at primary school and what assumptions children make about scientists. We also talked about how scientific research doesn’t involve just one person, there are more people involved. The week’s reading was in fact a video called ‘The Story of Stuff’. The main talking point that I took out of this video is that we as people live on a finite planet which cannot store the amount of waste we are producing. ( The Story of Stuff Project, 2016) This video made me feel strongly worried about the future generations as they will live in a world dominated by pollution. There was no tutorial class for this week in our unit.

#WastageNowEqualsWastingTheFutureOfTheEarth

WEEK 2:

During the second lecture we began to discuss the concept of sustainability and the importance of leading a sustainable life for the protection of other people and the Earth. According to Jenny the amount of resources nature is able to produce is 1.8 global hectares. (Martin, 2016) This was very alarming for me as when I completed my own ecological footprint the results indicated that 7.1 global hectares would be needed to support my own lifestyle. This made me feel very disappointed in myself as I was living a very unsustainable life which is impacting negatively on the world. This disappointment was further heightened when I read the readings for this week, especially the ‘Living Green’ booklet as it gave eye-opening information about the effects of living a poor sustainable lifestyle such as climate change, water wastage, energy wastage and more. Within the second tutorial class we began to design our own water cycle using recycled materials. I learnt to construct the water cycle through the design cycle which compromises of investigation, design, make, test and evaluate. Below is the finished product of the water cycle my partner and I completed.

#BeMoreSustainable

The Water Cycle

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