Podcast Interview Question # 9: Why Big Picture Learning about Nature is Best Described as “Making the Invisible Visible?”

Podcast Interview Question # 9: Why Big Picture Learning about Nature is Best Described as “Making the Invisible Visible?”

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Albert Einstein

This will be one of the most important blogs or conversations I can have especially because I am a both a teacher and a student of the natural world.

My job is to help grow concepts as fundamental building blocks of thoughts, beliefs,abstract ideas or general notions that occur in the mind. My challenge is how to make sure that  mature concepts include the Big Picture overview, investigate the roots or origins, avoid patchwork thinking and stay adaptive to changes.  

On one hand, talking about the principles of teaching to facilitate the process of learning comes easily:  lesson plans, learning objectives, content analysis, comprehension questions, deductive answers that open up both critical and  creative thinking.

My teaching career has been based on the 4 general principles of learning 

1. Concrete experience … sensory perceptions of differences or similarities with objects and their actions 
2. Reflective observation … use words or images to describe experiences
3. Abstract conceptualization … emotional feedback … critical and creative thinking (decision making) 
4. Active engagement … content exercises to reinforce personal understanding and memory

On the other hand, there are so many realities, especially in nature, that cannot be seen by the human eye. We can look at a tree with shining leaves dancing in the sun, but do you visualize the layers of growth inside the trunk or see the network of roots? Can you honestly give credence to the amazing composite Big Picture without some curiosity how the smallest details play such important roles?

Some of the most amazing things I have learned about Nature are not visible to the naked eye, but nevertheless are main components in their natural functions and organization. Some agents are uni-cellular or microscopic without which the first steps in a long process can't begin. Some energy flows are vital and all- encompassing affecting cells to organs to bodies to ecosystems. How do you pay homage to systems with no critical parts missing? 

Here are some examples best understood as a composite whole:

Why is good dirt so valuable? Look inside the decomposition value of fertile topsoil with humus is started with microorganisms, bacterial and fungi. Without humus, plants wouldn’t grow as well affecting animal consumers, including humans.

How does a leave breathe or make food? Look inside the cellular structure of a leave to see different layers of cells and holes for breathing. Some cells contain chloroplasts filled with envelopes of green chlorophyll that react with sunlight to make a simple sugar compound.

How does a flower make a fruit or vegetable? Look inside the flower petals ready to attract pollinators to shake the pollen from the anthers to the receiving ovary which will develop into a mature fruit with its own seeds for dissemination.

How do pesticides affect the food web for everyone? Look at a synthetic Organochlorine molecule made up of atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine which build toxic concentrations and magnify food-webs from microorganisms, to frogs, to birds, to fish that humans eat.

How do you protect the precious fresh-water cycle? Look at the passage of a water droplet through many stages in his water cycle beginning and ending with the ocean, evaporation, condensation, precipitation, run-off, percolation, pollution, assimilation into nutrient cycles, and human digestion.

How do you protect the Ecosystem? Draw a map that connects all levels from non-living factors (air, water) to primary food producers (plants) to secondary food producers (animals) to decomposers (recycle waste into nutrients). Add factors of climate change and human interactions.  

One of the most amazing miraculous compositions by nature has to be the process of photosynthesis … we can’t physically see it happening, but without it, life would not be possible on earth, so it's best to understand the basics.  

• It begins with the specialized structure of green plants that have cells called chloroplasts that contain the green chemical,  chlorophyll.
• The sun’s light energy activates it, and together with carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) a carbohydrate molecule (C6 H12 O6) as a simple sugar, glucose or fructose, is formed.   
• These simple sugar molecules bind with glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose (C12 H22 O11) which is  absorbed directly into blood during digestion.
• Note that oxygen is released as a byproduct which supplies the oxygen content for the Earth’s atmosphere.

I have never looked at a leave the same way again! My responsibility for and admiration of Nature have never been stronger than when holding a leaf in my hand in communion with its molecular structures and functions that can making food for everyone from air and water. The question is how I can share this communion with others, especially young people?

In my opinion, there is nothing more antithetical to the learning process than to be a narrow-minded, opinionated, fuzzy thinker with incomplete facts and lack of connections. Importantly, knowledge cannot be limited to what is obvious, but must go beyond the visible to the microscopic life forms that begin the energy cycles that intertwine Nature's bio-systems together.

So, here was my teacher’s challenge. How do you take Nature’s complex functional interdependence and present the cases for self-organization, mutual reciprocity, and respect equality for every creature? You write a story with living characters so they can become heroes and friends. You don't bully a good friend, right?

So, I wrote two e-books for all ages where nature’s major characters were personified as talking, interactive, feeling organisms with many chapters about probable experiences. If they can inspire a few more minutes to look at a leave or a bumblebee, then my educational mission is accomplished.

1. The water sprite with roots had to commute between the animal and plant world on his mission to discover Cyclical Truths.
2. The birch tree is inhabited by a tree dryad who as the age-old essence of knowledge having traveled with people before, shares his experiences, community and realities of succession.

Both stories have numerous pictures and diagrams to best offer a Big Picture overview. 

Along with this  personal narration, the hope is that each reader will find identity and purpose in life through connections to their community, to nature’s  bio-systems and  to compassion and  peaceful co-existence.

Questions and comments are always appreciated and welcome. What is an unique experience with the natural world that takes your breath away?

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

1 833 471 4661 (leave a message for a return call)

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

   

Excerpt: And then the shattering of that glass bottle; for what purpose, he wondered.  Why do people do that without reason except for a momentary fling, some entertainment? What was their reason to leave their own personal mark for the sake of many futures to come? Why couldn’t they see that they could  pass on the legacy of a tree as nature intended to their offspring to admire and respect? Their lifespans were so much shorter than most trees so why would they endanger their existence for a few symbols?  Words didn’t exist in nature, other than when people called them “things,” possibly to suit their limited visions rather than embrace the abundance of nature itself without words. Did people have words to celebrate the connections in harmony with nature that only an invisible spirit could invoke? 

Ecological Succession of Birchum Birch

Photosynthesis ... ever wonder how a leave makes food?

Podcast Interview Answer #3: Why the Top 3 Inches in Topsoil Are the Most Important Gift for Life on Earth?

Podcast Interview Answer #3: Why the Top 3 Inches in Topsoil Are the Most Important Gift for Life on Earth?

“Everything is connected to everything else. Everything must go somewhere. Nature knows best. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you don't put something in the ecology, it's not there.”  Barry Commoner: The Closing Circle, Making Peace with the Planet

No trick question: You have a choice between a box of fertile topsoil and a bag of gold coins. What would you choose? Maybe you’ll change your mind after reading this answer.

First, look at the Big Picture and see two main facts as clearly as possible:

1. Only 4-12 inches (10-30 centimetres) of soil that contains humus is found on the Earth’s upper crust. This thin layer of earth is all that exists to provide nutrition to all human life.  It can be said that human destiny is dependent on these 12 inches.
2. Humus formation is a biological process of the ecosystem where the energy flow starts with the sun through photosynthesis to help plants make food that is consumed by animals. The last stage is decomposition of organic waste matter in order to release carbon back to the air and convert dead biomass back into mineral nutrients like  nitrogen compounds, phosphorus, sulfur, calcium, potassium, and magnesium.

Humus is often associated with beginning leaf litter around trees. Its formation can be called an “organic pre-digestion” for plants; providing a pantry of living nutrients to be absorbed by plants for continued growth with sufficient water and sun. 

Amazingly, nature’s infinite organization provides order here, too. The metabolism of dead and living material has its own food cycle web.  It starts with microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes. It is followed by macro-organisms like springtails, mites,  millipedes, daddy long legs, woodlice, earthworms, snails and slugs.

There are many irreplaceable functions of good humus.

(Please note it is impossible to duplicate the process with any man-made fertilizers).

• Maintains crumbly soil structure
• Regulates water retention
• Recirculates oxygen and accumulates carbon
• Decomposes organic matter into mineral elements
• Suppresses pests, parasites and diseases
• Controls plant growth
• Recycles nutrients for plant roots, microorganisms, bacteria, fungi and litter-feeding insects (larvae, crickets, ants, termites)

In basic terms, topsoil formation is the movement of living material from the waste material of living things into plants, to return to the living material into Mother Earth.

As living matter, you may well ask how can we manage and protect, not deplete humus?

In fact, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, a third of the world’s soil is now moderately to highly degraded.

There are four main reasons why humus may be depleted in our soils:

1. Over use of chemical fertilizers which are generally harsh salts that can oxidize living carbon-based matter 
2. Mechanized rough tillage of soil upsets fragile soil structure
3. Failure to protect microbes... misunderstanding their importance. Microbe life can be nurtured by using cover crops and feeding them with fish emulsions
4. Failure to build organic matter after using chemical fertilizers. Important to add various crop covers to maintain organic matter in the soil for abundant micro-life and strengthen vigorous roots.

In summary, humus is natural decay when leaves and other plants material are decomposed by soil microorganisms into the most basic chemical elements and nutrients that depend on soil for life, such as plants.

We must never take soil and humus for granted and preserve its creation by life, out of life, for life. 

The more you learn about nature's infinite bio-systems, the more impressed you must be that Nature is a dynamic living system where soil, water and energy; plants, animals and people are part of a complex web of relationships and networks, interconnected and interdependent.

Just think, a box of dirt will at least grow some food ... a bag of gold is useless if there is no food. 

Check out other podcast questions and answers

Questions and comments are always welcome.

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

1 833 471 4661 (please note best time to call back)

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

  

"Soonday’s smile widened like a rippled puddle. Birchum, you should be proud. You have made a real actual humus garden here. You have a host of bacteria, fungi and protozoa partially eating and softening the leaves so that a crew of mites, sow bugs, silverfish and more insects can continue to digest and release the minerals. Along with water, these nutrients are taken in by your tree’s roots and then carried up to become part of your trunk, branches, twigs, buds and leaves … you are part of this total picture … be proud.” Excerpt from Ecological Succession of Birchum Birch

Two Big Picture Questions and Teacher’s Answers that Matter for Parents and Teen Girls on Social Media

Two Big Picture Questions and Teacher’s Answers for Parents that Matter for Teen Girls on Social Media

"No teen girl should be like an insect nymph getting sustenance from the environment dominated by a Giant Clown Face. What kind of organism would destroy its youth society through mind control before reaching the adult stage? What kind of adulthood would result?"

Excerpt from Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand

On a recent podcast show for parents I was asked a pointed question upfront:

What is the one thing about you that would make parents want to listen to you?  

The answer was simple, drawn from a long background of pride and achievement.  I am a  teacher, now retired, with 24 years of teaching experience. I am a disciplined teacher with total faith in the teaching principles such as asking questions, analyzing content, making a decision with multiple viewpoints. 

Good teaching results in good learning such as comprehension, association, critical and creative thinking. My main job as an educator was to show the Big Picture of any unit study … how all the parts fit together to make any system function as a whole.

However, we are now faced with a new unprecedented unit of study…it’s new, only 20 years old, it’s a technological revolution affecting humanity. Social media has absorbed our communication systems for better or for worse. 

As adults, with wisdom, we can try to cope and handle the changes. But what about teenagers, especially teen girls, how do they find their way without rules, discipline or foresight? How do their adolescent brains know what is right or wrong, dangerous or doable without consequences? What viewpoint do they have to see the Big Picture of how social media has impacted their normal social rites of passage and potential?

And so, I wrote this short e-book with a Big Picture. A teen girl narrates her story of making some bad choices about Selfies and drugs pointing to a symbol of the Social Media Circus impacting an adolescent brain in a dream. She keeps asking, “Is it my fault?”  Her grannie helps to explain the transition of time as experiences with symbols in the sand and the power of choice made in reference to a timeline with 3 essential questions. 

My deep fear is that young teen girls can find too much sustenance on Social Media which can metamorphose into adult lifestyles that defy cultural norms.

The second important question was: what is the most important message you can give to parents? Such an important answer deserved two parts:

First, there is an image in the story that shocked me even to think about it where symbols can mean so much more than words. One of the main characters is a symbol of the Social Media Clown Face … a huge, amorphous, hatch-tagged, cell-phone slinging organism that appears again and again. Another real symbol is the damselfly that represents the fragility of life and self-survival skills of even the smallest being.

In the last chapter, the two symbols meet. The teen girl relates to the damselfly nymphs that survive in their underwater environment with their special appendages for many years only to emerge as adults, to mate, lay eggs and die within weeks. The shocking image shows a nymph with a teenager’s profile finding nourishment and sustenance from this huge Social Media Clown face. The words ring loud and clear:

   Yes, perhaps, like a nymph, I, too, have struggled with my adolescent brain. However, my food supply was scavenged from a giant clown face imposing sexualized Selfies, trying to molt me into grand media impositions, a classification where I never belonged. It never gave me the strength or confidence as a child to metamorphose into a strong capable adult.

As a society, we need to take a closer look at this Big Picture and what matters to our youth as they transition into adulthood to build a sustainable culture.   

Second, parents always ask for advice about better ways to communicate with teenagers in competition with social media. There is much advice to be found on the internet. My best message, however, is to spend as much time as possible with your teenager doing anything that doesn’t involve a cell phone in your hand … making dinner, playing a game, helping a community project, building a  sandcastle.  Since learning is based so much on experience and repetition to form new pathways in the brain, it  is so important to replace ONLINE time with OFFLINE time together. It might even be fun enough to do again and again.  

The heavy-duty social media wavelength is here to stay in sickness and in health. What we all need is the key to better choices to value our personal timeline as our most valuable commodity. This is the theme of the story called Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand.

Ask yourself the same question: what is the one thing that would make people want to listen to you?

Questions and comments are always important. For more podcast questions check this blog. What other questions would you ask this teacher? Challenge her experience because she is the first to admit she has never posted a Selfie! 

 Sincerely,

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

833 471 4661

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com 

Excerpt: "I idly trace a square shape in the slightly damp sand.  Yes, I can call this yesterday … can't relive it but learn from it.  Fill it up so many bad choices, so many regrets without the context of present and future. I was so young to be powered by a rash and brash developing brain. I am now so much better informed about new vocabulary and protection in our changing society.

.

Then, something different, I trace a long deep line in the sand and mark off a short section near the beginning. This is my total lifeline and this very short segment shows my teenage years. Six short years can make a profound difference on a long lifeline, that's for sure.

Now I draw a heavier more rippled line above my lifeline. This, I think, is the internet's social media timeline.  It is powerful and here to stay forever; but I will not allow its size and influence to affect this small section of my life called teen years. I will not fall into a hole created by the Media monster."

 

Questions about Ecology, Diversity, Sustainability Make for an Excellent Podcast Interview

Questions about Ecology, Diversity, Sustainability Make for an Excellent Podcast Interview

How is it possible that the most intellectual creature to ever walk the planet Earth is destroying its only home? – Jane Goodall

How would you define the effect of these important words on you and your family? Do they warrant more discussion about common environmental problems, denial of ecosystems, loss of species, too much waste pollution, material over-consumption, not to mention global warming.  

MISSION STATEMENT:  As a society, we must have an affinity for our finite planet and  must never diminish the Big Picture of survival in our limited biosphere without having a personal relationship to the diversity and symbiosis of all living and non-living things on Earth.

Ongoing research has opened new personal windows of understanding and appreciation. Nature ripples in her streams, languishes in her lakes, whispers in her wind, wavers fathoms deep into oceans, holds the baby bird, watches the green caterpillar on a cabbage leave, entertains families on a beach … and embraces the only life we have on Earth. But who will speak on behalf of Nature as a living, breathing entity unto herself for future generations? 

I look forward to podcast shows which may be interested in discussing ecology from Nature’s perspective. A previous blog outlined 10 questions with two given answers:

 Why is it important to know the similarity between biosphere. ecology, ecosystem and environment?

What is the interesting relationship between water molecule and a hydrocarbon?

Here are two more questions to answer on a podcast interview:

1. Why is environmental sustainability based on biological diversity?
2. What are some amazing Cyclical Truths discovered in a water cycle journey that may be less known?

1. Why is environmental sustainability based on biological diversity?

Every ecosystem has four parts or levels ... if one is missing, then the other parts will be unbalanced ... first rule of all ecosystems:

 1. Non living elements the sun, air, water  2. primary food producers 3. secondary consumers 4. decomposers to return the nutrients as well as release gases for breathing.

 

What is biodiversity: defined as all variety of living species of plants, animals, bacteria and fungi, and human beings. Their survival is based on their diversity, interactions and co-dependence in any given ecosystem to maintain balance and support life with food, clean water, medicine and shelter.

However, some reports (Global Assessment -2019 and WWF - 2018) have noted an average 60% decline in global population of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians where many species may even face extinction. 

The reasons are population growth requiring one third of land mass and 75% fresh water for crops or livestock production.

Other human infractions are over fishing the ocean, clear cutting forests, depleting natural resources,  polluting our water and worsening a climate crisis. 

What is environmental sustainability? defined as maintaining and protecting biodiversity  that allows humans to satisfy their needs without exceeding the capacity of its supporting ecosystems to regenerate the services necessary to meet the long-term needs of future generations. 

We must realize as both individuals and corporate citizens, no matter how small or large, that we must help to maintain our environment with every positive action as part of a larger cycle. We can check out "green teams," improve eco-friendly supply chains, and reduce harmful or excessive waste. Our planet, society, and economy must sustain our future generations.

For example, if you cut down trees, make a plan to reforest. 

If you have a manufacturing factory, make sure your emissions are up to code.

If you run an industrialized agricultural operation, improve crop rotation, use less fertilizers or pesticides.

2. What are some of the less known but amazing Cyclical Truths discovered in a water cycle?

Each ecosystem has its own energy cycle which contains all of the living species and all non-living elements in any particular environment, whether as a single tree, a forest or even a puddle. This energy flows from the sun through plants, primary food producers, secondary consumers like animals and humans, and microorganisms which ends with decomposition in order to recycle the process again. 

In fact, numerous interdependent cycles are required for ecology to balance and sustain these many lifeforms and systems in an inclusive, cooperative biosphere. 

• food chain starts with sun’s energy for producer organisms  (such as grass or trees) to make their own food, for consumers (such as animals and humans), to decomposing species. Energy and nutrients pass from one link to another.  For example, if you eat a hamburger for lunch, you are part of a food chain that started with grass to cow to human.
• pesticide cycle are chemicals like insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides. They can be absorbed by insects, fish and other organisms, blow away to non-sprayed areas, flow with rain water into streams or seep through the soil into ground water and remain in the environment for years. Pesticides damage ecosystems by disrupting food chains as part of food webs, or decrease biodiversity through loss of populations, even cause extinction of species. Also note that the higher up in a food chain, the more concentration of chemicals at the top.  For example, from a grasshopper to a shrew to an owl who gets sick is called  bioamplification.
• nitrogen cycle is the circulation of nitrogen in various forms through nature. Nitrogen is essential to life because it makes proteins and nucleic acids.  Most of the atmosphere is nitrogen gas, but this gas can only be used by plants and animals if first transformed by microbes called nitrogen fixation or nitrification.
• carbon cycle is probably the most important cycle as explained in a previous blog about the relationship between a water molecule and a hydrocarbon. Bottom line ... if too much carbon dioxide is returned to the atmosphere, an imbalance of greenhouse gases will influence global warming.Just think, a tree will use 48 pounds of carbon dioxide in year and supply enough oxygen for up to 4 people daily.

And so, this special story about an incredible journey to discover Cyclical Truths was written to combine imagination, fantasy with scientific reality. The water sprite with roots is personified as a friend who experiences many encounters, imbalances, fears and hopes in his natural ecological journey. Because he shares an affinity with any organic life form derived from carbon and hydrogen, he can communicate with other beings and express their stories from their realities. Most importantly, he talks the walk through his mission of discovering cyclical truths from the sun to water to nutrients to plants to animals to decomposing bacteria to respecting the biodiversity essential for all life. 

Who do you know in the podcast sphere of influencers who may be interested in talking about our one and only blue planet, it's biodiversity and cry out for environmental  sustainability? Once again you can check out the other 10 questions for podcast interview on previous blog link above.

What questions do you have about our earth's biology and how to maintain and respect it?
What actions or changes do you see that may help or harm our future generations?

Sincerely,
Annemarie
amarie10@gmail.com
833 471 4661 (leave message and the best time to talk)
https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

Excerpt from The Incredible Journey of a Water Sprite with Roots

      Stentor stretches his long neck as long as he can.

"This is termed the food chain and it is part of the great ecological cycle.  This is one of the great Cyclical Truths … if one part lives, then the other part lives; if one part is destroyed then the other part will be destroyed in time.

Who gave Mother Nature such divine plans, how to look after even the smallest, to even the largest. Isn't ecology wonderful how it makes plants, animals and humankinds can stay living in co-operation? Isn't co-operation wonderful, a true democracy through diversity?"

Co-operation … co-operation … so many heads are now reciting the same word and thought.. 

How would you answer these 10 questions in a Podcast Interview? 2 Complete Answers Given

How would you answer these 10  questions on a Podcast Interview…two Answers given

Do you realize that only 40 per cent of surveyed people associate the benefits of biodiversity and nature with necessities of life such as food, water and fresh air? Time to change this.

Here is the background:

We have the moral responsibility to live in harmony with nature, but what exactly does nature give us? At their simplest, nature’s services are things people often take for granted:  the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat all ultimately rely on nature and biodiversity.

But other services are less obvious: nature is the bedrock for the production of the most common goods in our way of life which rely on bio-diverse environments. Oceans and coral reefs provide food and livelihoods to hundreds of millions of people. Forests clean the air, regulate the local climate and retain water for rivers. Healthy soils are essential to grow crops. Mountains and glaciers are key sources of water for major rivers. Increasingly, the fragility of ecosystems poses huge risks to societal and economic stability.

Quite simply, our natural balance is the foundation for a healthy society, fair economy for all, and global security.

I am looking for podcast hosts interested in discussing questions about ecology

Here are two questions answered:

1. What are the relationships between Earth’s biosphere, ecology, ecosystem and environment and us?

Biosphere is a global ecosystem which extends from a few kilometers into the atmosphere to at least 200 meters below the oceans based on water, air, minerals and all living organisms. 

Ecology is the study of relationships, competitions and interactions of all living organisms and fellow beings within its surrounding environment  

Note: Its etymology means study of the house, in this case, the planetary house.

.

Ecosystem is a more functional localized unit with its own energy cycle containing all of the living species and all non-living elements in any particular environment. This energy flows through four levels from the sun through plants, food producers, consumers like animals, and  microorganisms, which ends with decomposition in order to recycle the process again. This can be as simple as puddle, a single tree or a forest. 

Environment depends on sunlight, soil, topography, water, atmosphere which includes energy cycles like food chains, nutrient cycles and ecological succession. Plant and animal communities as well as micro organisms form their self-sustaining habitats.

So, how important is it to relate to the Big Picture? Of course, it helps to better visualize how you and I have an individual footprint in our own habitation which is connected to the entire biosphere. By polluting our home, we add distress to the ecosystem of every other organism extending into our biosphere. When we drink a glass of fresh water, that water is  interconnected to the Big Picture and needs to be protected from its base.

2. What is the relationship between a water molecule and a hydrocarbon character?

I must say that hydrocarbons were some of the most amazing research for this e-book…I had no idea how carbon is one of the  most important elements on Earth

The most common building block for all organic life on Earth is the carbon molecule.  It is found in the soil and sedimentary rocks as well as in the atmosphere where it's a part of carbon dioxide gas emitted when fossil fuels are burned or when living organisms breathe out. It is also found in the ocean sediments developed from decaying hard shells and body parts of marine organisms.

Carbon also comes from photosynthesis which is the light energy that transfers electrons from water (H2O) to carbon dioxide (CO2), to produce carbohydrates and release oxygen.

Carbohydrates  are molecular compounds made from just three elements: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Smaller molecules are known as  glucose and  sucrose often called sugars. To make proteins, carbon will bind with hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen (and sometimes sulfur).

Just think the food we eat is really a complex amalgamation of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Does it make you wonder how we can ever gain weight?

  

A Hydrocarbon only has the elements of carbon (C) and hydrogen (H). The carbon atoms join together to form the framework of the compound, and the hydrogen atoms attach to them in many different configurations. Standard composition for petroleum is 85% carbon 12% hydrogen and maybe a little nitrogen / oxygen.

The water sprite (H2O) has a a natural affinity with a hydrocarbon because they contain hydrogen. 

However, molecular chemistry is not the theme of this story even if it's interesting how bonded we are with other life forms. Almost 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. 

Only about 0.85% is composed of another five elements: potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium.

Then you ask Google what is a tree composed of: almost 98% (by weight) of a tree is made up of six elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. 

Because we are bonded together with such common elements, it is vital to respect all forms of life to maintain natural balance. It is not surprising that this unique water sprite with plant features is often amazed with his encounters with different characters, some imaginary, but in real settings; and how many life forms and systems are interdependent where one broken link can affect the whole system.

Other relevant ecological questions are:

• What are the 5 parts of the water cycle beyond evaporation and condensation?
• How is climate change affected by the water cycle and vice versa?
• Why is environmental sustainability based on biological diversity?
• What are some amazing Cyclical Truths discovered in a water cycle journey that may be less known?
• How is pollution related to all  5 parts of a water cycle?
• What Is the difference between a natural cycle and a human manufacturing process?
• How can our lifestyles help to protect our water resources?
• Why does the water sprite hero have roots … doesn’t that make him immobile?
• Can scientific facts be understood better through an imaginative creative license as a first person bonding experience?
• Can water teach us about morality?  Does ecology have an ethical base?

Many of these questions can be answered by a living, feeling, talking water sprite with roots  with affinity to all lifeforms as he narrates his discoveries about several important cycles to maintain a healthy ecosystem, a healthy biodiversity and a healthy humankind society.

His story definitely connects the dots between climate, food production and ecosystems, but most importantly, he becomes a friend to the readers to be respected and protected.

What are some questions you would like to know about ecology or environmental sustainability?

Questions and comments are always important ... this finite blue planet is all we have. 

Sincerely,

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

833 471 4661 (leave message and best time to call back) 

Excerpt: The Incredible Journey of a Water Sprite with Roots

 I wonder but I really don't know. I wonder if anybody knows, even humankinds who are probably too busy with no time to dig deeper into what the right connections can mean to us all. But I care. Is caring a cycle? If you care enough about something, is that caring returned to you? If responsibility is given or taken, is that responsibility respected and used well? Generally speaking, do humankinds believe in being responsible at least, if not appreciative, of how past, present and future actions are all connected?

...a friendly micro-organism found in fresh water ponds