Reflection: Weeks 15 & 16

Week 15

Advocacy Project: This was the last assignment in this series! We had to create a learning activity related to our topic for our group members to complete. Looking back, mine was pretty boring compared to some of the fun games other people found. Sorry group! Thanks for bearing with me. :) Also, I'll admit that I was slightly afraid of the advocacy project when I looked ahead at the course calendar earlier this semester, but it really wasn't so bad and I definitely gained some useful knowledge and skills.

Tuesday: Sue Whitney came and spent the whole class period with us! She even gave us each a copy of her book Junk Beautiful Outdoor Edition. THANK YOU!

This was a very fun day of class. In my opinion, junking is very cool and it's too bad that many people these days have lost the art of reusing things - we have developed an obsession with getting everything new. I guess I never really considered myself to be a "junker" , but maybe I am in my own way. I love to reuse items, but I go at it from a more practical point of view, not necessarily in an artsy creative way. If I need something, I'll try to create it out of something else that's around, or just scavenge for it. For example, when I moved into my house last summer, I owned no furniture. Within days, I found an old desk someone had set out on the curb. It was in great condition so I hauled it back to my house and it's served me well this entire school year! Also, I created a dresser from the grocery store fruit boxes that I had used to pack my things in when I moved. My mom and my grandma have definitely served as great role models because they are both very thrifty and creative! I really liked what Sue said about making functional pieces, because in my opinion it's unnecessary to just make a lot of home decor. Previously, I tended to associate junkers with houses full of clutter, but now I think I am over that stereotype!

We also had Subway this day! Like I said, it was already a fun day, but getting free food in class never hurts. :) YUM!

Thursday: Last day of class! Prizes were given out for our mini junking contest. Congratulations to the winners! There were some excellent entries.

Then we went outside and talked about what we've learned in the class. I've learned so much, I don't even know where to start! I think the main thing I will take away from this class is my increased awareness of environmental issues and how this affects all my daily decisions, no matter how big or small they might seem.

Week 16

Eye Opener: Our last eye opener assignment was to complete all the online learning activities created by our group members. Nice work, Group 5! I'll miss blogging with you guys!

Well, I guess this will be my last real post. I honestly can't believe the semester is over, it just seemed to fly by. I will miss this class - it truly was one that I looked forward to going to. And I appreciated learning things that are so obviously intertwined with my everyday life. I know I am learning useful skills in my other classes as well, but most of it seems like things I will use "some day" when I have a "real job." Much of the information from this class applies to my life right now!

I'm glad I got the hang of blogging, and it did start to get addictive. Hopefully my new tech skills will come in handy in the near future! Also, it was great to meet a lot more people in my major. Actually, it was a little overwhelming at first because everyone seemed to know each other very well. I didn't know too many people because the other health classes I was in this semester only had a handful of people in them so this was a great opportunity to get to know you guys!

Thanks for making this such a great semester, everyone! Have an awesome summer, and I hope to see many of you next year!


(Picture taken by me: sunset on Lake Superior.)

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Here are my results to the online learning activities created by my group members:

The Salmon Challenge
Lauren's learning activity is called The Salmon Challenge. The first step is to do some online readings related to water quality of rivers, lakes, and estuaries. Then I played The Salmon Challenge. My salmon remained healthy, grew up, and made its journey safely all the way to Puget Sound! I thought this was a good activity, and it presented a lot of good questions. For instance, I enjoyed the ones related to landscaping near the river. One example is the question that dealt with keeping weeds from growing and using landscaping cloth was the best choice. I knew that this cloth deterred weeds from growing, but I never thought about how it also helps absorb rainwater! The other neat question that I specifically remember was the one about paving the driveway and how instead of using asphalt or concrete, other materials can be used that allow water to slowly soak into the ground instead of quickly running off the driveway and eroding the river banks, and this material also allows grass to grow between the cracks.

This activity does a great job of alerting participants of how to make easy simple choices everyday to protect our water sources and the wildlife that make their homes there.

Excellent find, Lauren!


Test Your WaterSense
Erika's learning activity is called Test Your WaterSense. The first step is to look at a few websites and read about water-efficient products and how we can help the environment by reducing our water usage. I'm always shocked to hear statistics on how much water is wasted to keep lawns looking super green. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "An American family of four can use 400 gallons of water per day, and about 30 percent of that is devoted to outdoor uses. More than half of that outdoor water is used for watering lawns and gardens. Nationwide, landscape irrigation is estimated to account for almost one-third of all residential water use, totaling more than 7 billion gallons per day. " Well, I'm all for making a home look nice, but is watering the grass REALLY worth it? Just one of those personal preferences, I guess.

The second component of the activity is to take a Test Your WaterSense quiz. I only got to answer 8 questions before I lost all of my lives (I've never been good at computer/video games, haha) BUT I got 7 of those questions correct! I thought the game did a good job of testing how well I read the info on the website.

This was a fun game - good find, Erika!


I Don't Want to Clean my Room!
Jessica's learning activity is called I Don't Want to Clean my Room! It's a great activity that's geared towards kids but is great for anyone at any age. I thought it was a great review of how to sort items into various recycling, compost, and garbage bins, and also items that can be donated for someone else to use them. I especially liked all the helpful hints that appeared when an item was correctly sorted, such as a reminder to rinse out aluminum cans before throwing them in the recycling bin. Also, it was great that compostable items were included, because I think that's the one area that most kids (and people in general) are least aware of when it comes to recycling, reusing, and reducing waste.

Great activity, Jessica! I think I might even make my younger siblings check out the EcoKids website. They LOVE computer games like this - especially my little brothers - and these games would actually teach them something. :)


Health Care Definitions
Jeff's learning activity required us to find the definitions to 10 commonly used health care terms. I think it's important for everyone to know basic terminology such as this so they can take an active part in managing their health! Also, I think all too often we assume we know the meanings of such terminology, when in reality we may not be as correct as we think.

Here are the definitions I found:

Pre-op: an abbreviation for preoperative; pertaining to before surgery

Post-op: an abbreviation for postoperative; pertaining to after surgery
Out-patient: a patient who receives treatment at a hospital or clinic without having to spend the night

In-patient: a patient who is admitted to a hospital or clinic for treatment that requires having to spend at least one night here

Receptionist: an office work who receives visitors and answers the telephone

Doctor: a licensed medical practitioner; any medical professional with an MD, a PhD, or any other doctoral degree

Nurse: a person trained, licensed, or skilled in nursing

Pharmacist: a professional who fills prescriptions and is trained to distribute medicines and give information about them

Anesthesiologist: a physician with a doctorate who is specialized in the practice of anesthesiology (the branch of medicine involving the use of drugs or other agents that cause insensibility to pain)

Radiology: the branch of medicine that uses ionizing and nonionizing radiation for the diagnosis and treatment of disease

One new thing I learned from this activity was the difference between an anesthesiologist and an anesthetist. Aparently, an anesthesiologist has a doctorate, whereas an anesthetist does not. (An anesthetist is a nurse or technician trained to administer anesthetics.) I had always assumed that these two titles meant the same thing! Like I said earlier, sometimes we really don't know as much as we think we do. :)

Good activity, Jeff!