Enviromental Science Blog #4: Initial Plant Write-up

I would like to plant sunflowers in the garden because I think they will add beauty and color to the garden and it will for sure make the garden look more presentable then it already is. The Sunflower was first domesticated in Mexico by 2600 BC. Sunflowers can be turned into sunflower oil which was founded to be very popular in Europe with member members from the Russian Orthodox Church because sunflower oil was one of the few oils that were not prohibited during lent. Therefore, sunflowers can be used to beautify the garden as well as be used as cooking oil.
Growing Sunflowers is a way to attract bees, butterflies and birds to our garden. Late spring is when we should plant the sunflowers. I would prefer planting the ‘Ring of Fire’ which is a 5-inch wide pollen-less flower; bi-colored petals in dark red around a chocolate brown center which will then taper off to golden yellow tips. These sunflowers can grow 4 to 5 feet tall. Due to the height of these beautiful flowers lots of space is needed in order to grow.
The sunflower plant can grow from 3 to 18 feet tall. A sunflower only requires 90 to 100 days to grow. A single sunflower can have up to 2000 seeds inside of the head. Sunflower seeds are used to produce numerous things like cooking oil, medicine, paint, animal feed and biodiesel, these items that it can produce or be used for is very beneficial to us humans and animals as well.
I believe if we add sunflowers into our garden it will attract our community into seeing what we seniors have created over the past year. Adding color as well will attract our community into seeing the garden as well. Since Sunflowers take such little time to grow we can possibly grow different kinds of sunflowers within the garden. They are now creating sunflowers which have an orange head (middle of the flower) which is something that we are not yet used to. One of the most beneficial uses of sunflowers is that it can remove toxic waste from the environment which is excellent.

Enviromental Science Blog # 3: Reflection on Socratic Seminar

Having this Socratic Seminar in class was a big help to me in understanding the text and getting a different views from many of my classmates. For me reading long packets is quite difficult for me especially if they contain many big words that I am not use to seeing so having this seminar in class was a big relief because I got to ask clarifying questions on things that I didn’t understand as well as oppose questions for further explanations on why something is happening and how we can change this. Fortunately, my classmates are very smart and know how to explain things in ways that others can understand and I am grateful for that.
In the seminar we opposed two questions, one of the two included ‘should we get rid of junk food’? I love talking about food and nutrients and it had caught my attention. Growing up I have been fascinated with the percent of obese people around the world. While talking about banning junk food that can lead onto many other discussions such as, are they depressed? Eating food to most of obese people in America is an escape from reality. It “takes” all their problems away but once their problems come back it will then lead onto more eating of junk food which then causes obesity because these people are not limiting themselves and are just eating away. If Americans limit their eating habits of junk food and start going to buy fruits and vegetables from farmers market or local grocery stores it will then lead to positive feedback such as more jobs, like becoming a farmer and selling and harvesting their food that they grow.

Enviromental Science Blog #2: Agriculture

Growing up I would always see my grandmother watering her plants outside of her Arizona home. Adding new plants and picking fruits off her trees it made me wonder why she was so into this. Then I asked her about this and she said that when she was young her mother and father were migrant farmers trying to support their family of 14. Since my grandmother was one of the oldest of the children she was forced to help out with the farming by planting seeds picking fruits and vegetables and soon she fell in love with this kind of living. Although she didn’t make much money off of it she had then decided to start her own garden with flowers, fruits, veggies, as well as different kind of herbs. It made me think about starting my own kind of garden. And hopefully this will happen one day with the help of my grandmother.

Enviromental Science Blog 1: Interests in the Natural World

Many things within the natural world interst me. One in piticular would have to be the migration of peguins. To me it is just so interesting how the mothers' go off to find food for the family while the fathers' stay and keep the egg warm until the egg hatches. This is just such a beautiful thing that happens. Another for me would be flowers in general. Within the world there are so many different kinds of flowers - Daisys, Sunflowers, Roses, Calla Lilys, Cherry Blossoms, Carnations, the Cornflower, the Tulip just to name a few. The structure of the flowers and colors of the flowers are so interesting because they all somewhat have their own personality and notcie how every flower is equal to phi (Perfect). It is such a beautiful plant and it amazes me how people tae advantage of these plants and destroy them in its enviroment. Overall the world is full of interesting things and nature happens to be the biggest thing of all.