For students who might have missed a class or need to catch up, here is what you should have done for the last couple of weeks…

For Oct 26, you were assigned to research the local agencies and groups that affect what happens in our local environment. Each student was assigned to a group to look at — either federal agencies that have an impact locally, state agencies, nonprofits, local researchers who compile data about our environment, or local cities and towns.

If you missed that class and didn’t get assigned to a group, just choose one of the above and write a report.

All students should hand in a brief report — a couple of pages — listing and summarizing what you found out.

For Nov 2, you were assigned to examine your personal consumption for a week and see how much you used. Be as thorough and meticulous as you can! This includes not only things you buy, but things you use — for example, you might not fill your gas tank in the course of a week, but you still consume fuel when driving your car. We will be talking about where does all this stuff come from and its environmental impact. You should compile this into a list. You can hand it in Nov 9 along with your next assignment.

Your Nov 9 assignment is similar, only to keep track of the things you dispose of and the waste materials you produce. This list and the consumption list can both be handed in on Nov. 9.

We touched on the climate change issue in class, but didn’t spend much time on it. For anyone who would like to delve into this more, here is a good, scientific introduction to the topic… http://www.fs.fed.us/ccrc/primers/climate-change-primer.shtml

If you want to explore the topic further, you can google around and find all kinds of opinions, misinformation, exaggeration, and nonsense. If you have any questions, I am happy to talk more about it, either in class or after class or via email.

Hi Class! RIGEA has decided they can offer a discount rate of $30 to students who would like to attend the all-day teacher workshop at Ponaganset on Nov 7. Go to their Web site for info and a registration form. The site doesn’t list the student rate, but just write it in, and bring your student ID with you when you go to the conference.

Go to http://www.rieea.org/

Prof G

Hi Class! Here is a link to the New York Times series that I told you about in class…
http://projects.nytimes.com/toxic-waters

Also, I forgot to announce in class, the Geography Dept is hosting a potluck get-together on Sunday, Nov 1, 2 pm, in Warwick, for all geography majors and minors, and any students who are considering becoming a major or minor. We will get to meet Seth Dixon, our new professor, and welcome Mark Motte back to the department. Having this growth in the faculty is a great thing, after a couple of years when things got very lean!! So this is an exciting time for the department, and I hope any of you who might be thinking about taking more geography, will come and join us. If you want to come, RSVP to my email and I will send you a link with directions.

See you next Monday!

Prof G

Hi Class!
Next Thursday, Oct 15, Paul Dolan of the state Department of Environmental Management will be leading hikes in the forest around Scituate Reservoir. This is rare opportunity, as this forest is generally off limits to the public! If you go, and write a report about it for the class, you can get extra credit points. Be sure to tell Paul Dolan you came from my class! And I might see you there…

Click on More for the details.

Hi Class!

For next class, as we discussed today, I want you to visit two places… a local farm, and a local access point to Narragansett Bay. I also want you to spend some time exploring our Bay geography, either out there in reality or via Google Maps. How many islands are there in the Bay? I’d like to see who can name the most, in our next class!

For local farms, visit Farm Fresh and also RI Farmways. Choose a farm near you, visit and explore. Spend at least an hour at the farm. Talk to the farmers and ask questions about their farm. Keep in mind though that they may be busy with customers etc. and may not have a lot of time for you. They might let you look around the farm though. Write about your experience. If you have time, it would be good to also visit a Farmers Market, especially if you haven’t been to one before. Farm Fresh lists all of the markets with their times and locations.

Here is a link with info about City Farm (run by Southside Community Land Trust), which we talked about in class. They generally welcome visitors there, but keep in mind anyone who’s there is probably working and may not have time to show you around or answer a lot of questions. Also keep in mind this is a marginal neighborhood and crime does happen in this area, so if you go there be very vigilant and careful. City Farm has several events during the season when it is Open House, but I don’t see any scheduled on their Web site for anytime soon.

Also, your report should include a report on the research you did for today about local farms in your area.

For your second trip, visit a spot on Narragansett Bay where you haven’t been before. Go to this site to find public access points. Just click on a town name to find public access points in your town. For this purpose, we will define Narragansett Bay as all the salty waters north of a line between Point Judith and Sakonnet Point, all the way up to India Point in Providence.

Some of these access areas may be overgrown and hard to find, so be careful about ticks (click here for more info about deer ticks in RI). Also stay off of wet rocks, which can be very slippery! and generally exercise caution near the waves. Look around for a site you are comfortable visiting. Bring a friend if you like. Be safe! Spend at least an hour at the shore. Write about your experience.

Remember, your papers should show that you are going a step beyond just reporting what you find, to analysis and inquiry. Ask questions about what you are finding. If there are terms you don’t understand, google them, or raise questions about what they mean. Evaluate your sources of information… are they unbiased? are they authoritative? reliable? Talk about any questions you have. When you visit new places, raise questions about what you saw, even if you don’t have the answers.

I’d also like you to start thinking about your environmental ethics. How do you relate to your environment, and how much do you value having a clean, healthy ecosystem to live in? Our ethics play a major role in determining what kind of environment we will create for the future. And they play a major role in choices that we make every day, though we might not be aware of it.

Because we are Americans, with one of the highest rates of consumption anywhere in the world, a major way that we impact our environment is through our consumer choices. When we choose to buy food from a local farm, for example, instead of from a factory farm, we are voting with our dollars for a certain choice. Do you think, if you costs you more to buy from a local farm, are there factors that make the extra cost worthwhile? Are you willing to support a local farm that provides open space in your community, fresh food grown with minimal chemicals, knowing that your money goes to support a local family instead of a huge corporation, all of that, even if it costs more?

Of course, other factors besides your environmental ethic weigh into that equation — for example, you must have enough discretionary income to make it possible to even make that choice. If you are stretching each dollar, then price might have to be your bottom line. But if you do have room in your budget to make a choice, then ethics will play a major role in making that choice.

Remember, your papers should be typed, spell-checked, and stapled!!

This report should include: what you found in your research about local farms for today’s class, and a report on your two field excursions, as well as some context for where you are on the Bay, derived from your visit to Google Maps.

Any questions, let me know! and enjoy your long weekend!

Prof G

Hi Class! For this week, I’d like you to explore what happens to the water after it goes down the drain in your house.

If it turns out your house has an individual septic system, see what you can find out about how it operates. You can also investigate the overall picture for your watershed … that is, do most folks have individual systems? or is there a treatment plant? or maybe there are plans in the works to upgrade the system. You can learn more about these systems and the rules that regulate them at the DEM site.

If you are tied into a sewer system, look for info about the system and how it works. Google is probably your best starting point (just search on “your town wastewater treatment”). Usually the official site for your city or town will have details about the facilities. Also click on the “News” option to see if your local news sources have reported on recent problems or upgrades to the facility. Use Google Maps to locate where the facility is within your watershed, and in relation to your house and your fresh water supply.

Find out what kind of treatment your local plant is using. Click here for a good overview of the various types of treatment, from Wikipedia.

A good source for learning more about wastewater treatment in RI is the Narragansett Bay Commission. Also click here for a good story from the Projo describing a tour of the Fields Point plant, with a short video.

Here is a story about the Providence CSO abatement project, with a short video tour of the tunnel… click here. You can also watch a more in-depth video about the project, here … although I couldnt get it to play on my Mac, but maybe you’ll have better luck.

Click here for  a good source looking at the overall picture of water quality in Narragansett Bay, via the DEM.

And here is a good source, Save The Bay, with an overview of wastewater issues and a short assessment of the three biggest facilities. They are no longer doing the annual “scorecard” of the state’s facilities and I couldn’t find any similar statewide assessment. But hopefully you will each find info about your local plant, from local sources.

Your assignment is similar to last week: Come to class prepared to discuss your findings. What I would like you to have to hand in, is a listing of the sources that you consulted and a brief summary of what you found out from each source. You should then also write a brief summary discussing what you learned and what you concluded from your research, and your opinions and concerns about the results.

Any questions, let me know!

Prof G

Oops! I see from my stats that a bunch of you visited the site on Monday… and this wasn’t posted yet. Sorry about that!

Here is some info to help with your watershed research project.

First of all, here is the assignment — you want to learn where your household water comes from, and learn about what is going on in the watershed that affects that water supply. How do you find out? Google it! and do some searching around online.

Now for some of you, the local watershed for your water may not be the same as the watershed that you live in! In that case, you probably want to focus your research on the watershed for your water supply, but if you prefer to learn about the watershed you live in, that is acceptable as well.

What you want to find out is what is going on there that has an impact on water quality. So this could include factors such as percent of forest cover, degree of urbanization, sources of pollution nearby (such as Superfund sites or dumps or landfills, just for starters), and more. (Not sure what a Superfund site is? Google it and find out!) You want to look for anything going on in your watershed that would affect the quality of your water, for good or bad.

Here is a great place to start… the RI Watershed Atlas…. http://www.edc.uri.edu/riatlas/. Click on your watershed and then SCROLL DOWN to get a list of maps with info about the area. Also visit this site… http://www.coalitionforwatersecurity.org/ … for an overview of water issues in Rhode Island.

You will also want to find out who is in charge of your local water, and who is in charge of delivering it to your home faucets. In many cases this will be the same local agency, but not always. Find these agencies online and see what they have to say about the source of your water and how it is treated. You should be able to find this info via Google. Also check the official web site for your city or town.

You also want to find other sources though, besides those particular agencies. Generally they have good information, but other sources may raise concerns about water quality that the agencies neglect to mention in their official communications. So be sure to check “google news” as well for local reports from news agencies or community groups who may have concerns about what is in the water.

You also want to consider the condition of your water-supply infrastructure — that is, the pipes and pumps and etc. that deliver the water from its source to your faucet. It’s not much good to start off with pristine pure water and then pump it through decaying or toxic systems. So it’s best to learn about both the source of water and the condition of the delivery system.

Be sure to always critically assess the sources you find online. Check the dates and check the source of information. Always ask, “Is this a credible source?” If you need to learn more about how to do this effectively, go to this site: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm

So you should come to class prepared to discuss your findings. What I would like you to have to hand in, is a listing of the sources that you consulted and a brief summary of what you found out from each source. You should then also write a brief summary discussing what you learned and what you concluded from your research — such as, is your water supply healthy? does it have problems? are you confident that it is being well managed? or not? and why.

Remember, for this assignment, don’t worry about where does the water go after you use it. That will be another topic!!

Any questions, let me know. See you Monday!

Prof G

Hi Class!

I will use this site to post assignments and sometimes other info in between classes. If you miss a class please check in here and be sure to come to the next class PREPARED. If there is nothing posted here, then check in with me via email (there is a link in the right-hand column of this blog).

There is NO CLASS on Monday, Sept 7. For Monday, Sept 14, please complete the following readings and assignments. There will be a quiz!!

Here are some sites with basic geographic info about our state:

Basic info

Basic maps

Also go to Google Maps and explore the state and your neighborhood. Click on both “map” and “satellite” in the upper right to try different views. Use the scroll bar to zoom in for more detail.

Rhode Island History… read the sections, “Natives and Explorers,” “How Rhode Island got its name,” the Royal Charter and Independence sections, and “Rhode Island Today.”

Read this pdf document about Rhode Island’s forests.

Go the State Division of Agriculture to learn about agriculture in our state. Also go to this site to learn about Rhode Island farms. Click on some of these profiles to learn about farms in your neighborhood.

Remember this is the reading for TWO WEEKS so I think you should have plenty of time for it. There will be a QUIZ, including a MAP QUIZ.

For the Map Quiz, you will be given a blank outline map of the state. I would expect you to be able to locate on the map:

• Providence, Woonsocket, Westerly, Newport, Green Airport, Scituate Reservoir.
• Jamestown (Conanicut Island), Aquidneck Island, Prudence Island, Narragansett Bay, Mount Hope Bay, Greenwich Bay. Point Judith, Sakonnet Point, Beavertail Point, and Conimicut Point.
• The three bridges across the bay — Jamestown, Newport, and Mount Hope.

Any questions, the email link is in the right hand column of this page!

Hi Class! Just to be clear with everybody, here is the final tally on the class assignments you should complete for this course:

Weeks 1 to 3… click here for more details.

Week 1…. research report, 2.5 points. Project proposal, 5 pts.

Week 2 …. Trip report (includes both prior research and post-trip report and analysis)…. 10 pts

Week 3 ….. Trip report (as above) 10 points, and research report on assigned program, 5 pts

Week 4 ……. Trip Report (10 points)

Week 5 …… Trip Report (10 points)

Week 6 ….. Independent project report (25 points) and Course summary/Week 6 report  (as noted here) 10 points (due by email by Tuesday).

Any questions, let me know!

Hi Class! Hard to believe this will be our last day already. We will be spending the day on Prudence Island, as guests of the folks who run the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Besides their research work, they have a mission for public outreach and education, and they have a lot of resources for teachers.

Before we go, explore the NBNERR web site at nbnerr.org to learn more about this organization. Also, the “Getting to Prudence” page has some info about taking the ferry. Kristin (of NBNERR) told me the new municipal lot across from the ferry is free and there should be plenty of room (this new lot is listed on the Web site, but not on the PDF with the driving directions).

If you want to get your own Google directions or use a GPS, use 162 Thames Street, Bristol, that will get you pretty close to the dock.

The ferry fee, round trip, is about $6 (be sure to have CASH). We will be going over on the 10 am ferry, so plan to give yourself plenty of time to park and be at the ferry dock by no later than 0945 to get your ticket. Be sure to allow for traffic etc!! Once the ferry is gone, that is it for the day, you can’t catch a later one. We’ll be back in Bristol at about 430.

There are no restaurants on the island, so pack a lunch, and bring water, etc! We’ll have a van once we get to the island, so you don’t have to carry your stuff all day.

You also might want to google around and learn more about Prudence Island before we go. Check it out on Google Maps to get the lay of the land. Check out this report on the bay ecology… http://www.nbnerr.org/profile.htm

Remember since this is our last day, your final project is due! We will have some time around lunch time to hear your oral reports, and there is a conference room we can use at the science center, or we can stay outside if we want. I would suggest try to keep these presentations fairly short and simple… no need to schlepp your laptop over to PI and do a powerpoint! Handouts are ok if you want. We have time for about 15 minutes or so each, for your presentation and discussion.

Also, remember that I’d like you to submit a review of the six weeks, due by Tuesday, via email! This can be fairly short, just a paragraph or two (per week) to review and summarize what you learned from each class, what you liked or what you would change, and put it all into context. Your Week 6 report on the trip to Prudence can be included in this report, it can run a little longer.

Any questions, let me know! Be sure to check back later in the week in case of any updates. Weather is looking good! Bring sunscreen and bug repellent and good walking shoes (NO SANDALS), we will be outside as much as possible. The RR Lab also sells souvenir hats and t-shirts, so bring some cash if you think you might want to buy anything.

Mary