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1/8/09
Today, we read over the syllabus and read the first quote in the Reading the Environment" project. You must bring to class a printout of Reading the Environment. For the next class, you should complete the questionnaire on the environment at the beginning of the Reading the Environment project. We will be writing a series of essays in this course on the environment. You will also be reading essays on the environment. In the computer center, you can find the entire Reading the Environment). Go to the computer center on the second floor of Russell Hall. Across from the printer in the back, there is a row of computers. Go to the second computer across from the printer and open the files for the C drive. You will see a folder named "Reading the Environment Comprone." Open this folder and print out both the files on Reading the Environment. Please bring this prinout to class every single day of the semester. We will work on grammar and editing in this course as well.
Today, we discussed global warming. Everyone had to do a five minute freewrite about what their generation thinks about global warming and climate change. We then discussed the freewrite in class and concluded that most students do not know enough about global warming. Most people in the class believed that we don't do enough to solve the problem of climate change. Please keep this assignment in your notebooks. Also, you should have completed the questionnaire on climate change and placed it in your notebook. In our next class, we will also discuss grammar. Homework for notebooks: Please take read the following web page article about polar bears as well. Do a one page freewrite on what you think about polar bears being put on the Endangered Species list. Do you think that further restrictions on carbon emissions could save the polar bears from becoming extinct? If the polar bear is placed on the endangered species list, companies would have to do more to protect the polar bear from extinction by paying more attention to the environment. This would increase the costs they would have to pay during the present economic recession. See the article at this link: Should the polar bear be placed on the endangered species list?
Today, we covered grammar and discussed global warming and the Kyoto protocol. We concluded that if there is to be any change in the environment to prevent global warming, it has to happen on a global level and not just a local level. We also discussed grammatical terms, such as independent clause, dependent clause, subordinating conjunction, etc. In our next class, we will do some diagramming of sentences. Please complete the freewrite on polar bears in the previous post (see the link above) and place the one page freewrite in your notebooks. Also, if you can communicate to me through the blog, we can have a discussion about the assignments and projects. You might have some ideas about links to web pages that I could include in this site.
Homework: for the next class, read the science panel's conclusions on global warming (this article can be found in the Reading the Environment printout). We will do an in class assignment on Friday dealing with this article. What do you think of the wording of this article? Write one full page.
Also, watch Al Gore's video on the environment. Do you agree the environmental crisis also exists because people do not care enough about their communities and don't get involved? Are you surprised about what happened to the polar ice cap? Are you surprised that most Americans do not believe global warming is a threat even though they know that it exists? Write a two page paper describing what you learned from his slideshow and lecture below: Do you have questions about my assignments? Would you like to participate in an online discussion about the topics in this class? Then go to my blog and comment: Dr. Comprone's Blog
Today, we discussed the assignments that I gave in my last class. I would like to collect your notebooks with these assignments by next Friday, January 32rd. You will need the following assignments in your notebook: 1) the completed questionnaire 2) the one paragraph freewrite on global warming and the response to the question on polar bears 3) the two page essay discussing Al Gore's lecture on global warming 4) the one page essay describing your response to the panel on global warming New: 5) Examples of five of the following types of pronouns used in a sentence: demonstrative pronoun, reflexive pronoun, personal pronoun, reciprocal pronoun, indefinite pronoun, possessive pronoun 6) Edit the paragraph under number 83 on the editing webpage--see the link to the editing page under Spring 2009 course updates
Please make sure that these two new assignments are included in your notebook. We will do some practice editing in class on Wednesday. If you have any questions, please post them under my blog.
Extra credit assignments are an excellent way to improve your grade. Also, if you make over 10 posts on my blog during the semester, you will receive an extra 5% on your final grade.
Extra Credit: Discuss the fate of a penguin species that is soon becoming extinct, perhaps due to global warming. Visit the following link and post a comment on my blog: penguin species becomes nearly extinct. Extra Credit: Do an oral presentation to the class on Obama's green agenda and the hurdles his administration will face in promoting a green environmental policy. Who are the big players (the supporters of the oil companies, of wind energy, etc.)? Refer to the following article: Tug of War in Washington: 1/21/09 Please turn in your assignments this Friday. We covered editing in class today, and we also discussed the different type of pronouns.
NOTE: The hours of this class has been changed. I am now teaching this course on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Notebooks will be due on the 29th of January. Please include all six assignments. Students from Dr. Baltazar's class will also have to complete these assignments by next Thursday.
1/29/09
Please note that Honors Composition is now held in the basement of the Chicago Building from 2:30-3:45 PM.
By February 5th, Thursday, turn in all nine assignments. 1) the completed questionnaire 2) the one paragraph freewrite on global warming and the response to the question on polar bears 3) the two page essay discussing Al Gore's lecture on global warming 4) the one page essay describing your response to the panel on global warming New: 5) Examples of five of the following types of pronouns used in a sentence: demonstrative pronoun, reflexive pronoun, personal pronoun, reciprocal pronoun, indefinite pronoun, possessive pronoun 6) Edit the paragraph under number 83 on the editing webpage--see the link to the editing page under Spring 2009 course updates 7) write on the blog about your carbon footprint (calculate your footprint by going to google and searching for a carbon footprint calculator). State what you learned from this exercise. 8) Include the brainstorming we did in class on pollution. What types of pollution do we create? 9) take one quote from the Vaclav Havel essay and write about it in the blog 10) Extra credit: do you think that the Obama administration is making a wise decision to invest in alternative technologies and green energy now? What if the technology we invest in now is outdated in two years (e.g. hybrid cars replaced by fully electric vehicles with a lot of horsepower)? Do you think we are making this decision too late? Do you think that hybrid cars, solar panels, ethanol, and wind turbines can prevent global warming from becoming worse? Read the article about Obama's bold decision to invest in alternative energy and to hire millions of Americans in the process. Do you think the green revolution can halt the recession? Answer a few of these questions and place your answers on the blog (put "extra credit" at the top of your post). Here is the link discussing the Obama administration's new policies: link 2/3/09 Today, we are going to discuss and write about two issues along with the Havel essay: You should do a one page freewrite about electric cars. Do you think electric cars are the solution to the environmental problems we face today? Or are they just plugging into an electrical grid that is polluting the environment because we rely on coal to supply most of our electricity? Do you know the difference between plug-in electric vehicles and hybrids? See link Second Assignment: Obama's policies and the recession. Do you think it is smart to pursue investments in environmental technologies while we are in a recession? Do you think the government can give enough incentives for private businesses to invest in renewable energy? Do you think Obama's plan is ambitious enough (it is far less than the bailout money for big banks)? See link 2/05/09
We discussed Vaclav Havel's essay "Our Moral Footprint." We concluded that Havel doesn't give specific evidence about global warming in his essay. We discussed global warming and its consequences. We decided that students will give a Powerpoint presentation for the midterm in addition to the writing assignments we have in class. Next week, we will watch "The Day After Tomorrow" after we watch a Powerpoint presentation given by myself about global warming and our climate crisis.
I also assigned presentations for every student in this class in place of a midterm exam. Please choose one of these presentation topics. This will be your chance to lead the class and to explore the topic of global warming more. Your presentation should be at least 10 minutes in length (at least 10 slides), and you should be prepared to answer questions from the class and the professor. You will be required to write a written description of your presentation and what you learned from it.
When you do your presentation, you will have to write a two page essay describing the material you covered during your presentation and state what you learned from the project.
Please choose a topic to do a power point presentation on (I have included links under each topic so you can get further information on the subject):
Poverty and the Environment slum dwellers What is the ozone layer? What is global warming? global warming What are carbon emissions? carbon emissions What are solar panels? What are renewable energies? renewable energy Will penguins become extinct? Will polar bears become extinct? polar bears What is Obama's plan to protect the environment? Obama's detailed energy plan during campaign What is the greenhouse effect? What are wind turbines? What is geothermal energy? What is clean coal technology? What is acid rain? acid rain Why is recycling important? How do fossil fuels affect the environment? how fossil fuels impact the environment How does the melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the North Pole affect the world's climate? What is the effect of global warming on the individual? global warming What is the effect of trash on the climate? How does pollution affect the air we breathe? What is smog and what are its effects? Will sea levels rise and flood Washington, D.C. and Florida? link 1 Should carbon emissions be regulated by the goverment? Are we addicted to oil? What is a hybrid car? What are fuel cell cars? What is ethanol? Will coral reefs disappear? What does it mean to live green? What are biofuels?link Is climate change really happening? Are the increase in wildfires around the world a consequence of global warming? Australia 2 South Africa wildfires Bird migration and global warming Fish and global warming 02/10/09 Today, we watched a PowerPoint presentation in our class on the environmental crisis and Havel's essay. I will place a copy of the presentation on the computer where the Reading the Environment file is. You can ask Mr. Macklin in the second floor computer center for the location of my files. They will be easily visibile on the desktop screen in a folder marked Reading the Environment. By the way, there is an intriguing article in Time magazine that links the wildfires in Australia to global warming. The whole planet is supposed to heat up 7 degrees by the year 2070 according to some scientists' calculations, and that is even if we use alternative energy. In other words, whether we go green or not, the earth is heating up more rapidly than we thought. In the same article, there is a discussion of how the fires have killed up to 160 people and caused devastating damage (like Australia was bombed by napalm). Time article For extra credit, you can write your response to the article. Write a two page essay describing what you think living on the earth will be like if it becomes 5 degrees hotter than normal in 70 years. By the way, I also have carrots growing in my garden from last year, and it is February! LIST OF ASSIGNMENTS DUE *completed questionnaire from the beginning of the Reading the Environment project *one paragraph freewrite on Obama's energy plans, see the link in earlier link *science panel: write your reaction to the language of the science panel on global warming. one page * write one paragraph on the link concerning electric cars; do you think electric cars are a solution to the problem of global warming and pollution for fossil fuels?electric * brainstorming: do a wheel with the words climate crisis or global warming in the center * calculate your carbon footprint and post your carbon footprint on the blog calculator * post a quote from Vaclav Havel's essay on the blog and respond to the quote (read the Havel essay in the Reading the Environment link) * write a paragraph about global warming and state whether you think it is a danger or not * write one page about whether you think polar bears should be placed on the endangered species list Should the polar bear be placed on the endangered species list? * watch the youtube video on Al Gore (you may use some of the computers on the second floor of Russell Hall to watch these videos, see Mr. Macklin); write two pages on your response to his video (be specific about what you learned) Should the polar bear be placed on the endangered species list? * do an editing assignment: Edit the paragraph under number 83 on the editing webpage--see the link to the editing page under Spring 2009 course updates * do the assignment on the types of pronouns (give examples of demonstrative, reflexive, reciprocal, personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns) * sign up for a presentation and have at least 10 slides (see topics above) Feb. 12/2009 Today, we watched the film Out of Balance. If you weren't in class, please come and watch it during my office hours. * write a one to two page paper on Out of Balance, the film we watched on Exxon Mobil and its profits off of fossil fuels that are polluting the planet. Do you think that we are headed towards a doomsday scenario? 2/17/09 Extra credit: Write a one page essay expressing your opinion about Obama's project to green the poor: link Extra Credit: Global warming debate video warming Write: Discuss the view that some people question whether the planet is warming or not. The earth periodically went through periods of cooling and warming, and scientists are still unclear what triggers ice ages and periods of warming, although they know it is correlated to the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, to the geography of the planet, and to the currents in the oceans. At one time, 55 million years ago, there were trees in the poles and where we are now was a tropical paradise. After watching films on global warming and findng evidence of it, what do you think of these scientific findings? ice age If you look at the following map, you'll see that in January 2009, temperatures in the Northeast and Southeast of the United States, as well as in Europe are much colder than usual, while temperatures in the North Pole are much higher than usual. This means that global warming is affecting planet differently, with some places getting hotter and others getting colder at certain periods. it is interesting that the temperature in areas in places next to the North Atlantic are getting colder, which could mean that the Gulf Stream (the tropical water current moving warm water to Europe and North America from the Caribbean and Africa) could be weakening. If the Gulf Stream weakened considerbly, we could be headed towards an ice age in North America and Europe--that's exactly the scenario in the movie that we will be watching in class this Thursday, The Day After Tomorrow. See the image of the current temperature changes on the earth (red means warmer places, white means the average temperature is occuring, and blue means unusually cold temperatures) developed by NASA: NASA
Assignment for The Day After Tomorrow: What do you think would happen to North America and Europe if the Gulf Stream current shut down? Does this make you more certain that we really don't know what the consequences of global warming will be? Do you think the scenarion in the move is realistic? See this link about the science behind the movie: ice age also look at this scientist's view: current Extra Credit: Many scientists are now saying they cannot predict the pace of global warming because so much more carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, coal, and pollution are being put into the atmosphere. Write a one page response discussing your views on this subject and read the following article from the Washington Post and from MSN: global Extra Credit: Dwindling water supply could be a real problem in the future. You can write about this and read about it here, or maybe you would like to do your presentation on this subject: water
Tuesday Feb. 24th, 2009 Today, we finished watching the film The Day After Tomorrow. I also discussed the results of a recent MIT study on global warming and its consequences.
Write a two page paper on The Day After Tomorrow. Right now, Europe is in the grip of freezing temperatures, and the sea surface temperatures of the Gulf Stream are colder than usual, suggesting that some of the ideas in this movie could become a reality (maybe not so extreme). Read this article and see that some people have even frozen to death in Europe because of the extreme cold temperatures. If the Gulf Stream were to shut down, most of Northern Europe and England would be under ice. Global warming could disrupt the ocean currents and set off a glacial period in part of the planet. See this link: link link2 Information about global warming: Today, MIT released a new study that revealed that the earth can heat up to 12 degrees fahrenheit more by 2100 if we do nothing about global warming; on the other hand, if we reduce the amount of emissions, by 2100, we will have a temperature increase of 5 degrees fahrenheit. See the links below: Thursday, Feb. 26th Several people finished their presentations. Many students have yet to complete their presentations. Please present to the class as soon as possible. We also finished watching The Day After Tomorrow. There is evidence that the earth is rapidly warming up now--faster than anticipated. Consequently, scenarios the opposite of what is described in The Day After Tomorrow could occur. Do you think our government should take action? Do you think a catastrophic scenario could arise due to global warming as in the film? Write this paper in response to the film. Extra Credit: Recently, there has been increasing evidence that the pace of global warming is happening faster than anticipated, primarily because of the rapid development of industry in China and India (where dirty coal is used to produce electricity for billions), because of the release of greenhouse gases from frozen plant matter in permafrost near the Poles (at least 1 billion tons of methane, a greenhouse gas), and because of new data that tropical rainforests may actually start to produce carbon rather than absorbing carbon (because of the increased temperatures in the tropics, setting off massive wildfires). There is evidence that within 10 years, New York City could be hit by a major hurricane and the Southwest of the U.S. could suffer a massive drought, and in Africa, millions could die from lack of water. However, Exxon Mobil lobbyists are now saying that global warming is good for us. Write your response after reading this interview with a scientist from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. See link
3/3/09 Tuesday Today, we discussed the papers and presentations that are due. We also discussed air pollution--a question was brought up--is it more environmentally friendly to fly rather than to drive? After doing further research on the Internet, I discovered that there are different responses to this question. One of the problems w/flying versus driving is that airplanes emit more pollution into the upper atmosphere, and the nitrogen oxide and CO2 released from large planes has a more immediate effect on global warming. On the other hand, the emissions from airplanes are far less than from cars because more people are driving than flying. If you are interested in this topic, you can find more information about the pollution from planes here.
Are you writing your paper on The Day After Tomorrow? If you want to look at an interesting view of what could happen if the earth went through a complete glaciation, covering all of the land and oceans with a thick layer of glaciers that would kill off everything on the planet, it has happened at least two times in the past. This theory is called Snowball Earth. Geologists and other scientist have documented how deserts on the earth were once covered with a layer of ice (see the video at this link): link
Extra Credit: Although some people are saying that we are in a cooling phase, new information about global warming in Greenland is emerging. It appears that the rate of warming is increasing dramatically in the northern latitudes, such as the far north of Greenland near the North Pole. Do you think that the glaciers (sometimes several miles thick) in Greenland could melt in your lifetime? What do you think the planet will look like after the seal level rises several meters? Washington, D.C., Norfolk, Florida, New Orleans, and many other location would be underwater. Write one page on your opinion and read this article from the Accuweather Global Warming Blog. link
Extra Credit: Global dimming, the reduction of sunlight reaching the earth, is offsetting global warming in some regions of the earth. Global dimming is caused by smog and particles in the air that create clouds that are polluted, which in turn reflect the sun's rays away from earth. While it might seem that global dimming is beneficial, it is destructive and as dangerous as global warming because the soot in the air from exhaust pipes, contrails (the vapor trails after jets), and smokestacks is unhealthy to breathe. The irony is that a recent study states that having cleaner air would enhance the effects of global warming (for instance, Europe had an excessively hot summer in 2003, perhaps because of its improved pollution standards concerning air pollution). Ideally, we should get rid of air pollution and stop emitting greenhouse gases to stop both of these patterns. For a link to global dimming studies, see global dimming To make matters worse, a three day conference in Copenhagen among scientists and leaders of the world led to the conclusion that despite global dimming and even cooling trends such as La Nina, the cold water in the Pacific cooling the Northern Hemisphere, global warming is happening faster than ever and will result in the death of millions, if not billions, by the end of the 21st century. See the link here: warming This extra credit assignment is: how do you view the current climate crisis after reading these articles? Do you feel that most Americans should be informed about this subject? What did you learn from these two articles? What do you think we should do to prevent further crises? Do you think the use of the word "irreversible" by scientists is frightening? Does this encourage the public to view global warming as inevitable?
3/24 Today, we read Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech in Reading the Environment, Part One (after the Vaclav Havel essay). Write a two to three page essay on Gore's description of the struggle against global warming. Does he persuade you that global warming is a threat? What analogies does he make, e.g. what does he compare the struggle against global warming to? Include quotes from his essay in your discussion of Gore's ideas. If you believe that there is a better way for him to formulate his argument, what would it be?
4/1 Today, we read Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech in Reading the Environment, Part One (after the Vaclav Havel essay). Write a two to three page essay on Gore's description of the struggle against global warming. Does he persuade you that global warming is a threat? What analogies does he make, e.g. what does he compare the struggle against global warming to? Include quotes from his essay in your discussion of Gore's ideas. If you believe that there is a better way for him to formulate his argument, what would it be? 4/2 Here are the two latest assignments for this course: * Write a two to three page essay on Gore's description of the struggle against global warming in Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech. Does he persuade you that global warming is a threat? What analogies does he make, e.g. what does he compare the struggle against global warming to? Include quotes from his essay in your discussion of Gore's ideas. If you believe that there is a better way for him to formulate his argument, what would it be? * Write a two page essay discussing at least three facts that Dennis Avery discusses in his critique of the global warming movement. Do some research on the web and try to find legitimate sources of information about global warming from sites such as the NOAA website and the International Governmental Panel on Climate Change. Is Avery making a valid argument? Or is he manipulating the facts? Lastly, state what you learned from this exercise.
Upcoming assignment: The Environmental Protection Agency has released a series of facts about the nature of climate change and its impact in the United States, region by region. How does the scientific information on this link influence the way you feel about global warming? How does the information from this site differ from the information on the blogs that we read in class? See the link here and write two pages on your response. This second link discusses the effects of global warming, e.g. more intense hurricanes, salinization of fresh water by sea level rise, droughts, increased crops in more northern climates, more heat waves, the spread of algae in rivers, bays, and the ocean, the loss of land, etc. See the link here: Also, in response to the argument that other planets are heating up in the solar system, I found this interesting link. While there is heating in some of the planets, scientists are concluding that it is the result of orbital cycles that are entirely different, whereas human made global warming has a different impact. See the link: link Another point from the Real Climate blog is that Mars is not actually warming even though one report said an ice cap was shrinking there in 2001. The seasonal variations on Mars are different because a year on Mars lasts twice as long on earth. Plus, there are other factors influencing the climate, and Mars may actually be cooling. See the link: cooling Also, see impact of global warming on California:link 4/14/09 We discussed suburban sprawl in this class. We also addressed the topic of global warming and the fact check essay that is due this Thursday. According to a recent study, global warming can be reversed to a certain extent if greenhouse gas emisisons are reduced by 70% by all countries of the world. If not, the earth's temperature will rise 4 degrees Celsius (about 6 degrees Fahrenheit) by the year 2100, with catastrophic droughts, hurricanes, floods, and scarcity of water. You may use this material in your essay refuting Avery's arguments. See this link: study In class, we read "The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream" in the beginning of Reading the Environment: Part Two. See the link under Course Updates. It is the second article. We discussed development and how houses are becoming less original and cheaper as development increases. You are to write a two page essay on your views of suburban sprawl, which is the growth of suburbs outside of major cities. What are your opinions on development? What do you think it does to the environment? What do you think of the problems concerning overdevelopment, e.g. noise pollution (we discussed airports in class), traffic jams, large stores that are all the same (Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.), and cheaper, mass produced items from China? Include at least one quote from the essay on sprawl.
4/21/09
Here is a detailed list of all of the assignments that were ever due. Please complete any missing assignments:
* PowerPoint Presentation * The Day After Tomorrow essay * Out of Balance essay * questionnaire on global warming * Obama plan: write about your views on Obama's plan for a green economy * Science Panel: read the article about 2007 Intergovernmental Science Panel's conclusions on global warming in Part One of Reading the Environment * Electric cars: read the article on electric cars and Obama's plan to put them on the road * calculate your carbon footprint and place it on the blog * brainstorm about global warming (do a wheel with associations about global warming) * choose a quote from Vaclav Havel and place it on the blog * do a brief freewrite on global warming * read the article on polar bears at the beginning of my posts and discuss your views on the extinction of the polar bear * watch the YouTube video by Al Gore and discuss the impact of global warming * give examples of different types of pronouns, e.g. demonstrative, indefinite, personal, possessive, reflexive, reciprocal, interrogatie, and relative, in sentences * edit paragraph 83 under editing (see links under Spring Course Updates) * write an essay on your PowerPoint presentation * do a freewrite in class on Al Gore's views * Read Al Gore's speech after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize (see Reading the Environment Part One) and write an essay discussing whether he persuaded you to believe in global warming. If you believe he wasn't successful, state why. * Read Dennis Avery's article in Reading the Environment and check the facts he gives by reading articles from the EPA, CNN, and NOAA. How does Avery distort the facts? Use MLA format and write at least two pages. * Blog freewrite: go to a blog such as the Real Climate Blog and print out one of the replies to a post on the blog. How does the person respond to the issue of global warming? Evaluate the blog response in a paragraph. * Write about suburban sprawl. Read the article in Reading the Environment Part Two about the decline of the American dream and suburban sprawl. What problems arise when the suburbs become overpopulated? * Watch the movie Arctic Tales. Write a two page essay discussing what you learned about the fate of polar bears and how it relates to global warming. Give specific examples from the film.
FINAL EXAM: Write about what you learned about global warming during this class. You can bring additional information to class to supplement your views. Discuss the problem of global warming, describe why it is happening by defining the process of global warming. Define what a greenhouse gas is and discuss what we can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a personal level and a governmental level. Address the threats that global warming poses.
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