In the article Storm Could Spell More Bad News for BP, written by msnbc.com staff and news service reports, Tropical storm Alex might give the oil spill cleanup another setback. Currently there are two relief wells that are being dug under 2 1/2 miles of rock underwater to clean up the oil in the water. With tropical storm Alex, coming from the Caribbean, if it hits the Gulf Coast it will cause the mid Aug set date for cleaning up this oil in the water. Questions remain to how much more money this is going to cause as BP has already spent "$2.35 billion dealing with the disaster." (msnbc.com & reports, 2010) Many concerns are brought to the table when talking about the oil spill, such as how it’s affecting our economy, and the environmental damage that the oil is causing.
One of the major impacts that the BP oil spill has had is what the oil is doing to Animals. In the online blog, Caught in the Oil pictures are shown to show people what is happening to the oil covered animals. A video on MSNBC, tells about how the Blue Fin Tuna may have to be listed on the endangered species list as they only breed in the gulf. Sea turtles who are surface eaters are dying as they are being downed by the oil. In Des Moines Iowa a “new exhibit at an aquarium in Iowa that had intended to showcase the beauty of the Gulf of Mexico will instead be void of life to underline the environmental impact of the massive oil spill in the ocean basin.” (Welte, 2010) The aquarium was supposed to be filled with sharks, rays and other fish, instead they are painting the glass of the aquarium to show the oil impact drowning the sea floor of the gulf.
In regards to how the Oil Spill has affected our already hurting economy, “The oil slick could become the nation's worst environmental disaster in decades, threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life” (Press, 2010) Down in the gulf the seafood industry is the main source of income, which has now lead to fisherman losing jobs, and the demand for seafood is becoming bigger.
The question still remains as to what it’s going to take to clean up the oil in the Gulf. Actor Kevin Costner is doing what he can to help BP clean up the oil with his Costner Industries company and Ocean Therapy Solutions. “The excitement was realized with BP's order of 32 of the machines, some of which can clean 200 gallons a minute and extract 2,000 barrels of oil per day.” (Blanco, 2010)



DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an Interdisciplinary Studies course at National University. It is not a real blog


References
Blanco, S. (2010, June 16). BP Buys into Kevin Costner's oil spill clean up paln, orders 32 Separatos. Retrieved June 26, 2010, from Autobloggreen: http://green.autoblog.com/2010/06/16/bp-buys-into-kevin-costners-oil-spill-clean-up-plan-orders-32/
Caught in the Oil. (2010, June 3). Retrieved June 26, 2010, from Boston.Com: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html
msnbc.com, & reports, n. s. (2010, June 26). Storm Could Spell More Bad News for BP. Retrieved June 26, 2010, from MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37921094/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/
Press, A. (2010, April 30). Oil From Massive Gulf Spill reaching La. Coast. Retrieved June 26, 2010, from MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36800673/ns/us_news-environment/
Welte, M. (2010, June 24). Aquarium Exhibit Loses Sealife for spill. Retrieved June 26, 2010, from MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37885261/ns/us_news-environment/

Digital Immigrants Vs. Digital Natives

Children and young adults of today have a wide range knowledge when it comes to technology. As technology grows day to day the applications that can be used are becoming more accepted and more common as well. However, our parents, grandparents, and teachers currently do not hold the same kind of knowledge as the younger generation. Marc Prensky names the younger generation digital natives, and the older generation digital immigrants. He states that digital natives are, "native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the internet." (Prensky, para 5) Digital immigrants are defined as "those who were not born into the digital world" (Prensky, para 6).

Being a part of the digital native category I have grown up and have relied on the internet for everything that I do. From where I work, to the school I attend, to typing everything I need into the Google search engine. I like watching videos and PowerPoint that help me learn rather than reading a text book. Sometimes however I do wish that I had the language and learning abilities of digital immigrants. I have very short knowledge of how to do actual research from library or newspaper articles, and the way I process information I wish could be improved.

Digital Immigrants and Digital natives do have a different way in learning as when they were young and being taught how to learn and process information, they did not have all the television programs we do now, nor did they have the computer capabilities or even computers at all. Most people could not afford to have the little technology that was becoming available. All the research that digital immigrants did in school was from the little resources they had available through their library, or poor films they had to sit to watch through. For us digital natives we've grown up with TV, computers, more filled libraries, and the incredible power of the internet. This changes the way that everyone learns as typing in a simple search engine will lead you to anywhere you want to go or look up.

With all the applications what Web 2.0 has to offer to the digital learners are able to have a much easier and convenient way to communicate with friends, classmates, and teachers. Being a part of the Digital Native category I'm excited for what is in store for me when I get to teach. I'll be able to put lectures on power points to keep the class entertained with pictures and sounds. I can easily access a movie, or the commonly known school house rock episodes to teach them ways to memorize their grammar by just a click of a button. With e-mail access I'll be able to communicate easily with parents and have the ability to keep an online grade book so that parents can see their children's progress throughout the school year.

DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an interdisciplinary Studies course at National Univerisity. It is not a real blog.

Prenksy, M. (October 2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6.

Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Prensky, M. (December 2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6

Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part2.pdf

Fun with Food: The Food Pyramid Lesson Plan

The lesson plan, "Fun with Food: The Food Pyramid" created by Lisa Gassiott, allows teachers to create a fun learning environment when learning the importance of the food pyramid. Student's will be able to share the kind of foods that they normal eat in their households, and will learn where the items go within the pyramid. After presenting the information to the class, they will be able to identify where they need to eat more of daily, and what items they should be eating less of. "The student will learn about the Food pyramid and a well balanced diet through interactive and group activities." (Gassiott, 1999)

The lesson allows different disciplines to be used which helps enhance the student's learning. Math is one of the disciplines that are used in this lesson plan, where students have to identify the amount of servings are in each category of the pyramid. They will use addition and subtraction to identify the amount of food that they are either lacking or consuming too much of. "The teacher will read the worksheet with the students and help them to name the foods on the pyramid. The teacher will also ask questions like, 'What are the foods we need to eat the most of?" (Gassiott, 1999) With giving student's the ability to create their own food pyramid, and draw different types of food into those categories they are exercising their arts and craft skills, which keeps them interested in learning the subject. Science can also be a discipline that is covered, as student's might have question like, "How do they know that we have to eat this many fruits a day?" Teamwork is also generated through this lesson plan, giving the students the ability to work to create their own meal plans which teaches them discipline, nutrition, and compromise.

Using a interactive video to integrate in the lesson plan would be a way to enhance the lesson. This use of technology would keep the students interested because children like watching TV, and absorb what they watch like a sponge. With technology growing, it can be a very useful tool to teach students as this is their generation, a generation where technology is everything and keeps the children interested.

Gassiott, L. (1999, April 29). Fun with Food: The Food Pyramid. Retreived June 13, 2010, from http://www.eduref.org/virtual/lessons/interdisciplinary/INT0100.html

DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an Intersiciplinary Studies cource at National University. It is not a real blog.

Traits and Skills

Interdisciplinary studies is becoming more acceptable to the business world, in the sense that people don't question what it's about. Some might ask, "What are interdisciplinary studies?" It's simply a way to address a topic when the subject is too broad for a discipline to answer. All interdisciplinarians hold special traits and skills. "Traits are distinguishing qualities of a person, whereas skills are abilities to use one's knowledge effectively and readily in performing a task." (Repko, 2005) The traits and skills that I have are, willingness to work with others, appreciation of diversity, the ability to think creatively and intuitively, and the ability to recognize the limits of what is knowable.

Traits

• Willingness to work with others: "Interdisciplinarity is often a collaborative process. One person, no matter how thoroughly trained, will never have a complete understanding of any given problem or issue." (Repko, 2005) I believe that this is a trait of mine because I think that working with others to share ideas makes us stronger in the learning process. There is not one person who knows everything about something, but together you can get a good understanding of what that something is.

• Appreciation of diversity: "This mean, simply, having respect for people holding different views, devoted to different faith traditions, and coming from different racial backgrounds." (Repko, 2005) Even though I am a Christian, and I am of a Caucasian dissent, doesn't mean that my religion or my ethnicity is the only way to live. The world is made of beautiful people, and color doesn't make a difference in any situation. I believe that in some situations, when it comes to faith traditions for example, if I don't agree with something I just agree to disagree, because we're all different and no one can change that. There is simply no use in arguing or questioning it.
  

Skills

• The ability to think creatively and intuitively. "No interdisciplinarian is complete without the ability to imagine." (Repko, 2005) This is a skill of mine as I am always thinking of ways to improve not only my everyday life, but different avenues in regards to my current job. I constantly come up with new Way to manage my workload, while trying new ways of dealing with my agents so that when I get off the phone with them they are happy, and I continue to get good reviews. There is never one job that can't be improved. In the profession that I'm in right now, customer service is key and finding new ways to improve that customer service will never be out o the question.

• Ability to recognize the limits of what is knowable. "Practitioners of interdisciplinary studies bring to their craft a humility that comes from knowing what they do not know." (Repko, 2005) This is a skill of mine as I know for a fact that I don't ever know everything about a particular thing or subject. I really don't think anyone does. I continually find ways to improve what I know, but i don't ever think to myself that I know all about that certain something.

Repko, A. (2005). Interdisciplinary Practice A Student Guide to Research and Writing. Boston: Person Custom Publishing.






DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an Interdisciplinary Studies course at National University. It is not a real blog.