Article 2 - "Innovation allows Amazon villagers to make ecological history"

The Guardian: 

      My second article, which I will be writing about, is based on the innovative ways amazon villagers used to create an Eco - friendly environment. The Island of Cinders or Ilhas das Cinzas is situated between two streams of the Amazon River. The village is about a six hour boat ride and 2 days further from Macapa which is the capital of Amapa State in Brazil. 

      The villagers have kept everything in tact from the forest to the water, which is "filtered and recycled". Farming and fishing are controlled. Their main income is from Palm Hearts and Acai Berries. They live on white prawns which they found in mangrove swamps. The villagers initially arrived in the village in the 1920s or 1930s and there were only a handful of them. They came to usurp the plots of land without having any right over them. They were mainly tempted to do this due to the "potential of logging and the river's well - stocked waters". The people settled there and slowly expanded. Currently, there about 100 families and 350 people in total. 

      The village reached destitution when their supply of the white prawns was hampered when the reproduction of the white prawns was restrained by the fishing methods. The community found it very hard and time - consuming to farm and harvest because they never farmed that material, they only caught the Acai Berries and Palm Hearts. Moreover, the value of the Palm Hearts decreased and "the market for Acai juice was relatively small". 

      NGO's became quite active and an agricultural engineer, Pinto came and studied the farming techniques of the villagers. He carried out a process and set up a scheme which was well approved by the islanders. At the end of the year, the villagers decided to modify their macapis, which were the cages they used to catch the white prawns from the swamps. The size was increased so that small baby prawns could easily escape and the bigger prawns would be captured. This would help the smaller prawns reproduce and then grow. Pinto also found out that there too many macapis and so he cut down the macapis to a sustainable number. This also gave the villagers enough time to farm and harvest the berries and palm hearts. This brought more than double the income by selling larger amounts of berries and palm hearts. The islanders worked collectively and made great profit. 

      Since then, the Island of Cinders has set an example for reusing, recycling and preserving their surrounding environment. The Brazilian government even rewarded the community for using Eco - Friendly ways and promoting renewable energy. 

MLA Bibliography of Photo:

Calton, Gary. Collective Work … on the Amazon Estuary near Macapa. N.d. Photograph. Macapa. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 19 June 2012. Web. 26 June 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/19/sustainable-living-island-brazil-amazon>.

MLA Bibliography of Article:

Bourcier, Nicolas. "Innovation Allows Amazon Villagers to Make Ecological History." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 19 June 2012. Web. 26 June 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/19/sustainable-living-island-brazil-amazon>.

Yavnika Kumar

26.06.12

Personal Project Product Rubric Idea

I would like to grade myself in a creative way and so I chose proficiency levels. There are four levels: seed, seedling, leaves, and flower. I found a photograph on Google Images which helped me illustrate what I mean by saying proficiency levels:

I said seedling instead of sprout, roots and stem because these are part of the process when a seedling is growing. This photo could be used to make others understand what I would like to accomplish and in what way I will be assessing my product. I don't want just a boring rubric with numbers. These steps will help me progress because I can now categorize my steps to the final product.


MLA Bibliography of Photo:
"Smart Art – Life Cycle of a Plant." Smart Art – Life Cycle of a Plant. Ed. Christ Lutheran School. Christ Lutheran School, 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 26 June 2012. <http://blogs.clutheranschool.org/tech/2011/10/17/smart-art-life-cycle-of-a-plant/>.

Yavnika Kumar

21.06.12

Reflection 1 on Progress Till Now...

Reflection 1:

I think I haven't accomplished as much as I would have liked to till now. The summer break has actually caused me to become extremely lazy about the Personal Project. It was understandable during the last few days of school as we were having exams and that was the only thing in my mind. I have decided to finish most of my research by the end of the summer break. I have been keeping in touch with Ms. Kannan. I asked her to suggest ideas for my rubric. She suggested that I select levels of proficiency which will describe my final products progress. She gave examples like eggs, caterpillar, cocoon, and butterfly or ingredients, batter, cake and then cake with icing. I think I will want to do the plant cycle which is seed, seedling, leaves and flower. Since my project is related to the environment and its growth, this would be most appropriate. 

Yavnika Kumar

21.06.12

AOI Statement - Paragraph 1

First Paragraph of AOI Statement - 

I have drafted the first paragraph of my personal project statement which will be identifying and explaining my topic. It will also include why I show personal interest in this particular project:

"Renewable Energy is a great way of saving our earth from environmental diseases such as global warming, pollution, resource repletion and more. My project is about environment and the consumption of resources, which has increased greatly over past few years. Renewable sources of wind and solar energy can be used to alleviate several issues the world faces today. Biomass, which is the usage of plant growth for energy, can save millions of resources that are being wasted consequently. I have always cared about the environment and followed environment friendly ways, which help the earth become a better place to live on. I have been linked with many energy projects in which I tried to establish the need to recycle and reuse materials. The environment has a huge role because it the first and foremost basis of our lives. Our actions on sustainable development and conservation are what improves and maintains our atmosphere. We have several responsibilities to our environment, which require deep understanding on every consequence that can occur. Therefore, I will be taking action on issues concerning our environment and what should be done to maintain and improve it."

I think I might need to refine some of the information because I feel I am repeating myself sometimes. Overall, I think I have nicely explained my topic and why I want to do this. 

Yavnika Kumar

21.06.12

Day Before PP Adviser Meeting 3

Tomorrow I will be meeting with Ms. Kannan again. I will show her my personal project AOI statement and will also make corrections to it. I will post the final copy as soon as possible. I have been wanting to meet Dr. Abhiyankar for a long time now and I think I should meet him this weekend as time is flying by and I need to get some work done. I haven't started my research at all yet and I hope I have enough time this summer. My goals are to complete the research by this summer. I will start my research report as soon as I come back to school. I hope Ms. Kannan will be assisting me greatly in this process. In the meanwhile, I will also be creating some kind of awareness for the issues I found by my research. This will give me a start on my integration with public process. I have some more things planned to do after I am done with my research. I will be discussing all of this with Ms. Kannan and since it is our last meeting before the school starts again, I would like her advice on some research strategies and how to commence it. 

Yavnika Kumar

7.06.12

Pre - Final AOI Statement

AOI Statement

                Renewable Energy is a great way of saving our earth from environmental diseases such as global warming, pollution, resource repletion and more. My project is all about the environment and the consumption of resources, which has increased greatly over past few years. Renewable sources of wind and solar energy can be used to alleviate several issues the world faces today. Biomass, which is the usage of plant growth for energy, can save millions of resources that are being wasted consequently. I have always cared about the environment and followed environment friendly ways, which help the earth become a better place to live on. I have been linked with many energy projects in which I tried to establish the need to recycle and reuse materials. The environment has a huge role because it the first and foremost basis of our lives. Our actions on sustainable development and conservation are what improves and maintains our atmosphere. We have several responsibilities to our environment, which require deep understanding on every consequence that can occur. Therefore, I will be taking action on issues concerning our environment and what should be done to maintain and improve it.

                The AOI context for my project would be environment because its regards resources found in our environment. I will be linking human activity and its effects on the environment. My focus areas are:

-          Awareness and Understanding:

§  The roles our environments play in our lives and well – being of humankind.

§  The effects of our actions, attitudes, and constructs, such as sustainable development and conservation.

§  Nature and the role of local and international organizations responsible for protecting our environment.

-          Reflection on:

§  Our responsibilities to our environments

-          Taking actions on:

§  A range of issues related to environments

I will be creating several small products such as models, posters, informational blogs etc. but my main goal will be to write a research paper on renewable energy. My final product will consist of relevant research pertaining to the topic and ways of preserving our environment. This will include reflections, interviews and surveys related to my topic, which will help me understand the basic issues. My specifications depend on the quality of my research work and my presentation of it in my multiple small outcomes. I would really like to make sure I am choosing relevant information pertaining to my topic for the research. If I am able to make a difference in any environment through my products, I will think that I have successfully achieved my personal project goal: to make a difference.

Yavnika Kumar

7.06.12

PP Adviser Meeting 2

On 28 May, 2012,
I met again with Ms. Kannan for my second meeting. I showed her my AOI statements first draft on which she gave me useful detail and corrections which I would have to make. She specifically told me to make AOI learning expectations explicit in my write up. We looked at the new blog I made and she advised me to start posting more posts whether it was research, thoughts, or reflections. So far, I have not been able to work a lot on my personal project. I am planning to finish all my research by the end of the summer break. She also agreed with me on this and said it would be better to start early than to finish late. We fixed that our next meeting would be on Wednesday June 6, 2012.

Yavnika Kumar

4.06.12

AOI Statement - Draft 1

This is the first draft of my personal project AOI statement:

Renewable Energy is a great way of saving our earth from environmental diseases such as global warming, pollution, resource repletion and more. My project is all about the environment and the consumption of resources, which has increased greatly over past few years. Renewable sources of wind and solar energy can be used to alleviate several issues the world faces today. Biomass, which is the usage of plant growth for energy utilization, can save millions of resources that are being wasted consequently. I have always cared about the environment and followed environment friendly ways, which help the earth become a better place to live on. I have been linked with many energy projects in which I tried to establish the need to recycle and reuse materials. The AOI for my project would be Environment because it regards resources found in our environment. The environment has a huge role because it the first and foremost basis of our lives. Our actions on sustainable development and conservation are what improves and maintains our atmosphere. We have several responsibilities to our environment, which require deep understanding on every consequence that can occur. Therefore, I will be taking action on some issues concerning our environment and what should be done to maintain and improve it. I will be creating several small products such as models, posters, informational blogs etc. but my main goal will be to write a research paper on renewable energy. My final product will consist of relevant research pertaining to the topic and ways of preserving our environment. This will include reflections, interviews and surveys related to my topic, which will help me understand the basic issues. 

I showed this to Ms. Kannan during one of our meetings. She appreciated my start and said that I should develop the paragraph more and make it at least three paragraphs. I understood that the first paragraph would be explaining my topic and identifying it. It would also include why I have personal interest in this area. The second paragraph would be identifying the focus areas and AOI context which are three sub topics: 1. awareness and understanding; 2. Reflection; 3. Action. The third paragraph would determine the product or outcome of the project and the specifications which are the criterion's. This would mainly be how I am evaluating the result of my project. 

Yavnika Kumar

4.06.12   

PP Adviser Meeting 1

On 16th May, 2012,
I met with my personal project adviser and we talked a lot about the project. The first thing I did was explaining the topic furthermore to Ms.Kannan so that she could understand it better. She gave me a couple of sheets on the AOI context and criterion sheet. She asked me to write my AOI statement based on a couple of things such as explanation of topic, basis of personal interest, focus areas, reflections, actions, products and specifications of the products. The meeting basically initiated the process of written work. Ms. Kannan explained to me what my project could lead to and what precautions I should take before it is too late. She even advised me on my product which is a research paper. At the end we simply discussed how the Area of Interaction deals with our project. My AOI is environment because I am doing research on our surroundings, resources and how they can be saved and preserved for future. We planned our next meeting would be Monday 28 May, 2012.

Yavnika Kumar

4.06.12