Author: chris

Water Resources, Water Pollution, and Agriculture
SCI221
Course Text: Environmental Science
•    Chapter 10, “Food, Soil, and Pest Management”
This chapter addresses the environmental issues associated with food production. It includes information on food safety, production limits, and protecting crops from pests.
•    Chapter 11, “Water and Water Pollution”
In this chapter, you will explore ideas on using water more sustainably and increasing the water supply.

•    H2O Conserve
http://www.h2oconserve.com/home.php?pd=index
This site allows you to calculate your “water footprint.”
•    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2010). Water: Science and technology. Retrieved from http://water.epa.gov/scitech/
General, reliable information on water is available at this EPA site.
•    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2010). Water: Pollution control. Retrieved from http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/
This site is a source of information on water quality by state.
•    Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. (2010). IATP food and health. Retrieved fromhttp://www.iatp.org/foodandhealth/
This site provides information regarding domestic and international policy making.
•    U.S. Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Natural resources conservation service. Retrieved fromhttp://www.nrcs.usda.gov/
This site provides information on conserving soil, water, and other natural resources.
•    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2010). Hunger. Retrieved fromhttp://www.fao.org/hunger/en/
Check out the Hunger Map to see how various countries are faring in the fight against hunger.

Web Resources
•    International Rivers
http://internationalrivers.org/
This site has information on human rights and environmental protection.
•    Natural Resources Defense Council. (n.d.). Issues: Water. Retrieved January 11, 2010 fromhttp://www.nrdc.org/water/default.asp
This site presents information on issues related to water consumption and pollution.
•    Union of Concerned Scientists. (2009). Food & agriculture. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/
This site examines sustainable agriculture practices.
•    U.S. Department of Agriculture. (n.d). How to delineate a watershed. Retrieved January 20, 2010 from
This site details how to locate and connect all of the high points of a watershed on a topographical map.
•    U.S. Department of the Interior Department of Reclamation. (2010). Reclamation: Managing water in the west. Retrieved from http://www.usbr.gov/
This site is maintained by the U.S. Bureau of (Land) Reclamation and has information related to water issues.

Please proceed to the Discussion.

WEEK 6
Water Resources, Water Pollution, and Agriculture
Discussion 6: Water Use and Pollution
Water is essential to life and is one of the most versatile natural resources that humans use on a daily basis. You drink it, shower with it, brush your teeth with it, and use it in cleaning, cooking, watering plants, and keeping your lawn green, among other uses. Have you ever thought about how much water you use each day, each month, each year? Have you considered how your lifestyle may create water pollution? Even with daily access to clean water, developed nations still face water pollution problems brought on by lifestyle choices that wash chemicals and other wastes into the water supply. Natural resource departments and water plant managers must evaluate the impact of water consumption and pollution on the environment and people, find solutions to clean the water, and sometimes mandate water conservation for residents. In this Discussion, you will analyze your own water consumption and evaluate the impact you may have on water pollution.
Questions about this assignment? Post them in the Ask the Instructor area under Course Home. That way, everyone in the class will see and benefit from the Instructor’s response.
To prepare for this Discussion:
•    Review Chapter 11 in the course text, Environmental Science.
•    Use the water usage calculator at the H2O Conserve website to determine your “water footprint.”
•    Read about water science and water quality at the EPA websites.
•    Consider the ways you may contribute to water pollution, such as the household soaps and chemicals that wash down your drain, the chemicals you use to wash your car, the fumes from your car that enter the atmosphere and return as acid rain, and the fluids that may leak from your vehicle.
•    Reflect on the environmental impact on natural ecosystems when water supplies become polluted.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 3, 1–2 paragraphs in which you examine the relationship between uses and availability of water and analyze the harm caused by water pollution. Your post should include the following:
•    The estimate you calculated using the Water Usage Calculator and which of your activities uses the most water
•    Three ways in which you can reduce your water consumption and how your conservation will impact the environment
•    A description of how pollution enters the water supply
•    Three things you could do to reduce water pollution and how feasible it would be to incorporate these ideas into your life immediately
•    Ask a probing question.
•    Offer and support an opinion.
•    Validate an idea with your own experience.
•    Make a suggestion.

Academic level- Undergraduate/college (junior-senior level)
Life of Hildegard of Bingen – Even though Hildegard of Bingen is a woman composer why and how she became one of the famous Medieval music composer. also about her career as well.

As a potential professional in the field of psychology, you bring many of the concepts learned in this course into clearer focus. This assignment helps you clarify your own multicultural views as they relate to working as a counselor with multicultural clients.

Address the following issues, and be sure to respond to you peers in an inclusive, sensitive and respectful manner:

Explore the relationship between appreciating diversity among racial, ethnic, and other minority groups and being an effective counselor. Substantiate your answer using examples.

What types of racial, ethnic, and other minority groups do you think you would work particularly well with? Explain why.

What types of racial, ethnic, and other minority groups do you think you would have difficulty working with? Explain why.

What steps would you like to take in the near future to improve your sensitivity to diverse clients and become an effective counselor?

Watch the Frontline program online.

Frontline: A Class Divided http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/

A Class Divided explores the nature of prejudice. Third grade teacher Jane Elliott deliberately created a classroom situation to teach her students how it feels to be on the receiving end of discrimination. This is an encore presentation of the classic documentary on third-grade teacher Jane Elliott’s “blue eyes/brown eyes” exercise, originally conducted in the days following the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. This classic classroom experiment, conducted in the late 1960s in a small Midwestern town, demonstrates how quickly and easily schoolchildren can internalize prejudice and discriminate. Years later, these children discuss the valuable lessons they learned from this experiment. Elliott employs this same teaching strategy with a group of adults in the workplace, and discusses their reactions.

This assignment is designed to allow you to synthesize what you have been learning about the various dimensions of diversity and the necessity of treating everyone in an inclusive, sensitive and respectful manner.

Discrimination Paper Part I: Interpersonal Reflection

After viewing the video, consider the following questions and write your response. Your response should be 4-5 pages and should address each question thoroughly, reflecting an accurate representation of what you have learned in this course. Demonstrate scholarship by utilizing supporting resources to justify your ideas and responses:

What did you learn from the film? What scene or scenes do you think you’ll still remember a month from now and why those scenes?
Did any part of the film surprise you? Do you think someone with a disability, of a different sexual orientation, an older American or some of a different religion would also find it surprising? Why or why not?
Both Elliott and her former students talk about whether this exercise should be done with all children. What do you think? If the exercise could be harmful to children, as Elliott suggests, what do you think actual discrimination might do? Use an example, different from the example you used to describe labels, from what you have learned about people with disabilities, older people, sexual minorities, or people of differing religions.
How can negative and positive labels placed on a group become self-fulfilling prophecies? Use an example from what you have learned about people with disabilities, older people, sexual minorities, or people of differing religions.
Based on what you have learned in this course, discuss an example (either from the video or from your experiences) that illustrates each of the following statements:
Dimensions of diversity may be hidden or visible.
Dimensions of diversity are in a constant state of flux.
Dimensions of diversity are not always clear-cut or easily defined.

Discrimination Paper Part II: Personal Interview

For Part II of this assignment, you will have a conversation with someone who you feel may have faced discrimination. Examples include someone with a disability, an older American, someone who is a sexual minority, or someone who lives in a multicultural family. After choosing an individual to interview, explain to this individual what you have seen in the Class Divided program. Invite them to watch the program, or parts of the program, with you. After watching or discussing the program, pose the following questions to the individual. Be sure to explain the reason for your questions and why you have selected them to participate in the interview:

What, if any, discrimination do you experience?
How have you coped with this situation?
What do you think needs to change at the cultural level to reduce discrimination?

Following your refection (Part I listed above), add 2-3 pages to your paper which addresses the following:

A description of the individual you chose to interview and why. Explain how you went about approaching this individual for the interview.
What are your observations about the person’s view of discrimination and how it affects his/her daily life?
Did the interaction with the person change your view of discrimination? If so, explain how the interaction has affected you either positively or negatively. If it did not change your view of discrimination, explain why.
How well do you think you would cope with discrimination from this person’s perspective?
Finally, what is the best manner in which to advocate for those facing discrimination? What actions will you change based on what you have learned in this course and how will you serve as an advocate for those individuals who face discrimination?

Your final assignment, consisting of both Part I and II, should be approximately 6 -8 pages. Be sure to address each topic listed above and, as appropriate, cite the online course, the textbook, and other credible sources to substantiate the points you are making. For example, when discussing an example of how diversity may be hidden or invisible cite sources, which you have referenced to substantiate the points you are making.

explain how fast systems need to be and why that is. Give example of show you understand that the need for speed may be variable.

Create a PowerPoint presentation (10-15 slides including title and reference slide) that addresses the following questions (consider employees, customers, farmers, and any other stakeholders in your response for both questions):
1.How does Starbucks motivate any three of its major stakeholders?
2.Using one content, one process, and one reinforcement theory, how does Starbucks build and maintain morale in its business?
3.Describe how Starbucks has been both effective and efficient in its communication with any three of its major stakeholders.
4.Using your textbook and the assigned articles, identify any five major 21st century challenges that Starbucks encountered?
5.How did Starbucks overcome these challenges?
6.Present your overall impression of Management (as a process) of Starbucks.

Water Resources, Water Pollution, and Agriculture
SCI221
Assignment 6: Food Production
Most people buy groceries from their local grocery store or supermarket, which today offers a wide selection of processed, commercial foods, and possibly organic or natural foods. In order for a wide selection of fruits and vegetables to be available to the public, produce is imported from other states or countries and kept as fresh and “presentable” as possible through a variety of commercial methods such as chemical additives, refrigeration, or early picking. Your protein selections have also been commercialized so that shelves can stay stocked, helping to keep up with the demand for meat and eggs. You may not be aware of what goes into providing the selection of food you buy at the grocery store. This Assignment will help you investigate the different processes of producing meat and produce for human consumption.
Questions about this assignment? Post them in the Ask the Instructor area under Course Home. That way, everyone in the class will see and benefit from the Instructor’s response.
To prepare for this Assignment:
•    Review Chapter 10 in the course text, Environmental Science.
•    Research different methods of commercial and natural/organic production for one protein and one produce item, selected from the following table. Use Internet sources to determine the chemicals, processes, and use of natural resources used to produce these foods and bring them to market.

•    Consider the impact that chemical fertilizers, often used in produce production, have on human health as well as on the environment.
•    Reflect on how you feel about growth hormones or antibiotics being used on animals that you may later consume.
The assignment:
Choose any protein item: such as chicken or egg or beef or fish AND any one produce: such as apples or bananas or strawberries, that you regularly buy at the grocery store and compose a 2-page essay in which you analyze the effect of pesticides, herbicides, and hazardous wastes on human health. Your essay should include the following:
•    A summary of your findings for the commercial and natural/organic production of the protein and produce items you chose to research
•    A comparison of the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with natural methods of production, based on your research. Analyze what impact each of these methods may have on human nutrition, human health, and the environment.
•    Suggestions you would make on a local or national scale for dealing with the health and environmental issues associated with this impact
•    A conclusion that reflects on what changes you might reasonably make when buying groceries after completing your research. If you would not change anything, what are the driving factors that influenced your decision?

Drawing on The Essential Lewis and Clark, choose an encounter between the Corps of Discovery and an Indian group. Provide a brief summary of the chosen episode that examines the nature of cross-cultural exchange between the American explorers and particulars.

You will be writing a Comparison and Contrast Essay that examines two different poets from two different backgrounds exploring the theme of race relations. You will apply at least two (2) literary elements found in both poems to illustrate your analysis of the poems. For background information on the two poets you will be writing about,
Listen to the talk “ The Danger of a single story” by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie:  http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
Watch the video clips:
“A day with Wole Soyinka” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dprnVlsw9RE
“Sharon Olds Speaks at the 2008 Poets Forum” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9jFc9UyAbE&feature=related
Preparation for writing the essay:
Before beginning your essay, read about the comparison and contrast essay at the Excelsior College OWL:  http://www.mydistancecourses.org/owl/mod/resource/view.php?id=411
Writing the essay:
You will use the close reading methods previously covered to illustrate and support your explication method and to gather evidence and quotes from the poems to support your thesis in this comparison and contrast essay about two different poems expressing views on race relations.
Having read the poems:
“Telephone Conversation” by Wole Soyinka
“On the Subway” by Sharon Olds
Write a 500 to 750 word essay comparing and contrasting the themes of these two poems, examining at least two (2) specific literary elements in both poems, and ensuring you include quotes from each poem to support and illustrate the theme.

•Explain why health care is important—from your personal perspective, as well as from a societal perspective.

•Describe and analyze one or more significant issues or challenges related to health care delivery, and explain potential implications for health care administrators.