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.. 

Announcement: Special E-Book is Now Available on Kindle....What Do You Want to Know about The Water Sprite with Roots?

Announcement: Special E-Book is Now Available on Kindle...What Do You Want to Know about The 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?

Excerpt: The Incredible Journey of The Water Sprite with Roots.

I am pleased to announce the Kindle publication of my e-book, The Incredible Journey of a Water Sprite with Roots on his mission to discover Cyclical Truths for all ages who care about Earth's ecosystems.  

Here is the Kindle blurb:

There is nothing more powerful than creative writing which mixes science to express facts and feelings about our Earth’s ecology.  Welcome to a powerful credible first-person narrative about a living, feeling, talking water sprite with roots so you can share his experiences on his water cycle and discovery of several crucial natural cycles we may not talk about but cannot be taken for granted.  

His story combines imagination and fantasy with scientific reality.  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. He empathizes with all habitats and inhabitants from microorganisms to hydrocarbons of all forms. He connects the dots between climate, pollution and food production.

He is a living, feeling, talking water drop who narrates his experiences in present tense as he discovers several important cycles to maintain a healthy ecosystem, a healthy biodiversity and a healthy humankind society. Most importantly, he helps to explain the Cyclical Truths that are very real and essential to the Earth's ecology as he embodies the words ‘sustainable development’ and ‘ethical consumerism.’

There can be no more precious bonding than to consider water as a valuable friend, as a person and necessity for survival? You wouldn't hurt or bully a good friend, right?

In the end, science and imagination weave a fascinating story that only a water sprite with roots can tell; that in order to survive, we need to balance our Earth’s Cyclical Truths  and protect the diversity found in ecological ecosystems from the smallest to the largest.

Most importantly, the hope is for children of all ages to accompany him and respect our natural environment even more around every chapter. At the end, we should all  care deeply for his manners, fears and hopes. 

What an amazing friend especially for children to get to know.

 

Check it out today ...read the first two chapters. Let me know what you think. 

Sincerely,

Annemarie 

amarie10@gmail.com

833 471 4661 (leave a message)

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

As well, I am always interested in podcast interviews to discuss our Earth's ecology, problems and solutions. Our footprints matter. 

See list of 12 questions...two have been answered.

Clarion Call in Defense of Public Education in a New Digital Social Order

Clarion Call in Defense of Public Education in a New Digital Social Order 

“The decisions I made after that moment were not the ones she would have made. They were the choices of a changed person, a new self. You could call this selfhood many things. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal. I call it an education” ― Tara Westover, Educated

A Clarion is a shrill, narrow-tubed trumpet formerly used in war; also, a clear and loud description.

Let me be that soldier or educator with my call out to say that public education as decreed for hundreds of years must not be ingested by the many current online strategies to displace its value. This week for the first time, I saw a TV advertisement and a Facebook page for an online Academy to enroll students from kindergarten to high school. At the same time, the American government requested to cut more than $8.5 billion from the Education Department budget and add a proposed $5 billion plan to support private schools. Realizing the power of mass media, public opinion can be willfully diverted.  

 A public school is an icon of the community. As such, teaching takes an active role in social responsibility in a changing technological society to maintain values, manners and fundamental skills for survival. But when society has undergone such a radical change in such a short time, what do we know how to best educate for survival in this new social order of massive technological changes, information overload where quick tweets can substitute for learned input. 

The public educational process has gone through numerous reformations to meet continuing societal demands. But I worry how public education will survive this technological opponent under various names of modern education, online e-learning and free public virtual schools, especially at the elementary level.

First, I can mainly refer to my 24 years as a public-school teacher teaching grades from grade 3 (7 years old) to grade 8 (14 years old). I have an Bachelor of Education degree based on four years of university teacher preparation with core subjects as well as early childhood development, psychology  and sociology.

Yes, I worked with specific curriculum objectives as mandated by the provincial Department of Education to ensure standardized learning outcomes at every grade level. There were daily lesson plans complete with resources, outlines, activities and evaluations. There was satisfaction at the end of a class and the school year when the students left with more What I Know Now vs What I Didn’t Know when I Started.

Every subject had its particular parameters, facts, schematics, formulas, and hypothesis. But the classroom atmosphere had much more to offer. There could be 30 young people of different backgrounds, aptitudes and abilities in an enclosure who also had to learn the values of obedience, co-operation and group management.  There was mindfulness for students of limited abilities. There was problem-solving and creativity from many perspectives and challenges. There was brainstorming and decision-making with multiple variables where the best alternative was with democratic approval. Analysis was communal and leadership self-evident.

These are essential skills of listening and collaborating that are co-factors in an integrated public-school education, along with a broad based global and historical courses of study from biology to physics to algebra to ancient history to literature. It wasn’t about any student's self-centered preference about whatever I want to learn, but public participation in how society and environment continue to work together. 

No doubt, a public-school system has its constraints in a digital society. Perhaps a well-rounded core education doesn’t matter to your all-knowing cellphone. But it’s not a matter of learning to use a calculator versus learning the multiplication tables by rote; or better yet, by drawing pictures of things multiplying or dividing into equal groups. It’s not a matter of using Google to spell correctly or use grammatical syntax. It’s the sequential thinking process that matters. In my brief encounter with computers in a classroom, I have yet to see a program that outlines how to write specific stylistic paragraphs for various reasons while sharing evaluations for improvements.  

No doubt, several complaints about public education can validate discussions such as too much curriculum being teacher centered; an old grading system related to passing exams; passive disengaged students more electronically geared; overcrowding and school closures; lack of parental involvement; being passed on to higher grades without grade level adequate skills; facing negative group behaviors; too  many extra-curricular distractions; and even, possibly poor teachers who practice favoritism. But I remember my Math professor once saying all you really need is one good teacher to turn you into a life-long student ... maybe he was right … virtual or a real handshake.

No doubt, there are several compliments about online learning that works best for the self-directed motivated students, who can progress at their own pace, working in a home environment, with remote instructors and virtual tutors, with interactive media and resources, automated evaluation via digital logs, and who can manage to stay the course from entertaining games. Parent supervision may be needed  to make sure assignments are turned in. Perhaps you’d agree that this self-directed learning is better for older students or adults interested in upgrading.

But, there are also problems such as lack of social interaction or developing relationships with peers, other than communication on forums, chat rooms, message boards and videos usually with homogeneous viewpoints. So how do you learn to deal with diversity or discrepancy in different  situations?  

Undeniably, digital screens have become the natural habitat of young people in a transformation of subjects and thoughts unlike anything experienced in human history.  This Internet of all Things has created Great Changes in our society and culture forever, but where are the educational safety nets for young developing brains?

For example, my current worry and project is especially about educating teen girls who are surrounded by a brand-new vocabulary and motivation in a Selfie Domain with no training or denotation.

And therein are two problems. First, a general lack of teaching knowledge how to cope with this new subject matter. Usually, any new subject requires learning with clear objectives like any other study; preparation, asking questions, content, decision making and evaluation. Unfortunately, there is a lack of training for young girls at any level to gain any kind of understanding much less mastery over these overwhelming changes. Ignorance and confusion are a lethal mixture.

 The second problem, based on lack of preparation within the context, is how young girls are being taken advantage of by mass media which brainwashes their developing minds with adult prerogatives.  For example, how unnatural is it for young girls to sexualize their bodies to be "LIKE" adult images or role play? Part of this assault is their addiction to their cell phones and manufactured Selfies but with limited educational or survival strategies.

More than ever, I believe public schools are the best places to address and discuss this issue and others related to information overload and hyper social media interaction. These are serious social issues best dealt with by social discussion and remediation where listening, cooperation and empathy play central figures and consensus is mutual.  

I believe that business and political opportunities should not interfere in this sacred passage rite from childhood to adulthood. The future of education must not be monopolized by internet corporate giants with material agendas which is much easier to do with e-learners in digital controlled environments.

There is no doubt that technology as an integral part of daily life, for better and worse, needs to be incorporated into traditional classrooms.The fact remains that more and more educational tools, resources and Apps are always on the horizon to facilitate the learning process and improve outcomes.

But, as a final word, I hope it will be a broad-based public education with an open classroom with different backgrounds, experiences, and decision making based on majority consensus in order to show students how to effectively participate in society and produce positive contributions. 

Your comments and questions are always important to continue this discussion. 

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

PS: You may be interested to read how 24 centuries ago, a Greek philosopher started with an image of a large cave descending into the Earth, our natural connection. Read how how Plato’s allegory of the Cave still applies even more in the search for truth via education especially in a digital world. 

Excerpt: There has never been a greater urgency to make the case that public education must remain democratic, diverse and strong; especially for young people who are the stimulus and hope as they inherit the future with greater degrees of fairness, ethics and justice, both to the kinds of society and environment they want to live in.

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.blogspot.com/2019/07/discovering-platos-allegory-of-cave-in.html