Sunday, March 17, 2013

March 12 Colloquium Reader

Cristina-
        Louv talks about how nature has been taken out of students' lives, and how detrimental it is to them both short them and long term. It is crazy to think that students in elementary and middle school do not get to enjoy recess like I did, nor have time during the day to attend physical education. The best part of the day was heading outside to run around the playground as well as see my friends from other classes as we played on the swings or tell stories on as we layed in the grass. In my opinion, a vital part of a child's development stems from being able to spend time in the outdoors and building a relationship with nature. If your relationship with nature is one that only uses nature for its resources, you probably won't appreciate it as much as someone who enjoys hiking, fishing, or walks in the park. I think it is important to find a way to add nature back into education - but to also let it be one that forms naturally and not forcefully.



Melanie-
Today's class discussion was very interesting; it went from very negative views to a more positive outlook on our environmental future. It all started out with the collapse of our societies and how this has been something that is always occurring. This could easily happen to us if we don't change our ways. Then it went into ways that we could change, like it isn't the end just yet. There is still time for us to do something. Finally the book ended with some good information on Everglades Restoration and the types of animals, plants and flora we have in the everglades that make it so important to us. The Everglades is something that we need to take care of and make sure stays apart of our world. 

"There are no other Everglades in the world. They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth; remote, never wholly known. Nothing anywhere else is like them."

-Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Kristin
I have really enjoyed every presentation our group and others have given through out this class. I like that we give the "lectures" on the chapters, because when our group is assigned a chapter we really get to look into the concepts in the books and gain a better understanding of what they are all about. In our chapters this time I found the Attention-Restoration Theory for people with ADD very interesting. I know a good amount of people who are on medications for ADD and knowing that simply being outdoors could help them is amazing. At the same time it makes me a little upset that doctors are putting all of these people on medications right away without seeing if simply spending some time in nature can help. In addition, I found it very interesting how people are debating on who is to blame for our environmental "unawareness". I think our class had a great discussion on this and I agree that I don't think any one group or people from any certain time period are to blame. I think that over time people as a whole have lost their connection to nature and have begun to overlook how important it is. I think that overall last class all of the groups were able to teach us new and different aspects of the book and they were able to get the class into great discussions.

Meredith-
I found the Attention-Restoration Theory very interesting, which leads to an increased attention span of children, especially those with ADHD.  The Human-Environment Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois found that green outdoor spaces foster create play, improve children's access to positive adult interaction and relieve symptoms of attention-deficit disorder.  Families of ADHD children aged seven to twelve were surveyed about their after-school and weekend activities, which left their children functioning particularly well or poor.  Green activities included, camping and fishing and non-green activities were watching television or playing video games.  They discovered that greenery in a child's everyday environment, even views of green through a window, specifically reduces attention-deficit symptoms.  Encouraging children to play outdoors in green spaces, and advocating recess in schoolyards is a great way to help them benefit from fresh air. Learning this information was very interesting and I realized that outdoor treatment may be the best approach for doctor's to prescribe to children first before medication because it is a healthier alternative for them to adjust to.

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