Twiiter and Facebook

For all my students and other earth lovers. You can now follow me on twitter or facebook. Look for Rean Tirol.

Simulation for April 5

I have an exciting simulation in mind for the Monday after Easter. To prepare for this, students are encouraged to read about sustainable communities and settlements. The video on CELL in a previous post may also prove useful as wells as readings on Biosphere2 and Earthship. The activity will also build on the lessons learned in the Social Marketing session. Students will need to bring manila paper, cartolina, cardboard, paper, paints, pens, glue, tape, cutting and measuring instruments. I expect the simulation to take about 2.5h.

Fr Sean McDonagh

I have created a shared dropbox folder for the presentations of Father Sean McDonaugh. He is a Columban Missionary priest who was stationed in Mindanao in the 1970's - 1980's. His work with the T'boli in Southern Mindanao exposed him to the impact of rainforest degradation to the socio-economic life of indigenous people. He has authored books on the environment and is a strong advocate for more eco-centric policies within the Catholic Church. He is an advocate of the New Creation Story proposed by Thomas Berry. While I do not fully agree with the evolutionary mechanism proposed by this theology, I do think that it is worth musing about. I do agree that nature seem to have anticipated the arrival of living creatures.

I put this folder because I am very much inspired by this man's work pushing us towards a more integrated view of creation rather than being anthropocentric. A lot of the stuff I used in my Worldviews presentation were taken from him. Here is an interview of him during a lobby of religious people to stop climate change in the UK.

NATSCA2 Field Trip Update

As writing, this term's field trip will be in Cavite. We will be going to the Center for Ecozoic Living and Learning, CELL. Quite excited about this because CELL has a reputation for providing a model for eco-living as well as integrating eco-consciousness with Christian spirituality. At the end of the day, we will be going to Tagaytay to stay overnight in a Convention center (DAP?). The following day we will have a talk with a resource person on sustainable agriculture. Still have to clarify if we will visit another farm.

I have embedded a video I found on you tube. It think this was done by students as seen in the quality of the work. However, it has a good explaination of what CELL is.



Cost is about P3000 inclusive of transportation, board and lodging, fee's related to places and resource people. The cost may change according to the number of attendees. Interested students need to fill up the new survey.

Blog Entries

This is to remind my students that blog entry homework items are exercises. These comprise 35% of the final grade. Last week's homework was done by only one person. It is time for you to be savvy at blogging. Welcome to the Internet age!

Social Marketing Session

This coming Monday, I will be discussing social marketing. My NATSCA2 students are encouraged to read about social marketing. They are expected to answer the following questions (DUE 3/29/10):

1.) How is Social Marketing different from traditional Marketing?

2.) In your opinion is Social Marketing easier of more difficult compared to traditional Marketing?

3.) Cite any examples of Social Marketing you are aware of.

These questions are expected to be in blog sites of each students. It should follow the following format:

( Link to this blog entry at www.earthwatching.tk )

Answer 1 (60 words)
Answer 2 (60 words)
Answer 3 (60 words)

For the class activites, students are to bring Manila paper, painting materials, colored pens, tape. These materials will be shared among members of the new groupings that will be formed in the class. This activity will build on the results of the last simulation. Students are expected to reflect on the critique that was done last week.

GMO Rice

Earlier this evening, I watched an Episode of Convergence on Net25. They highlighted the current work done at IRRI Los Banos where they are trying to improve the yield of rice. With respect to carbon fixation, or the ability to take CO2 and convert it to carbohydrates, rice (C3 crop) is said to be less efficient compared to Corn or Sorghum (C4 crops). This is because of the physical structure of the leaves of C4 crops that allow more sunlight into the process. The scientists at IRRI, funded by leading charities like the Bill and Melinda Gates foundations, are working on how to modify the genetic properties of rice so it will enable C4 photosynthesis. In other words, this is a GMO project. The question is whether the genetic engineering will trigger malevolent side effects in the physiology of man and other organisms that consume the rice. Will the benefits of higher rice yields outweigh the costs resulting from genetic manipulation? Have we reached the limits of developing our agricultural technology and engineering such that we have to resort to genetic engineering? Interesting questions that require convincing answers.