Like The Ocean, Claire Parkinson Covers It All.

As always, last week was packed with new lessons, different outlooks on similar ideas, and a ridiculous amount of laughter. As well as learning about some mind-blowing philosophy, human reproduction, and valuable information on water, there were other useful skills we developed over the week. In third period, Zargar and his senior sidekick, Jackson, taught the class not only passive transport of cells, but how to properly chest pass in basketball, and volley in soccer. We celebrated our science aid Kent’s birthday on Thursday; it turns out one of the reservoirs that the MWWD informed us of in preparation of our field trip was named after him! Kent reservoir, of course, along with other popular areas, Kentfield and Kentucky. I'm only kidding. Although our classroom environment is filled with laughter, we do study topics that deserve a more serious tone.

Some sources say we reached a mind-blowing  global population of seven billion people on Monday. Whether that huge number has in fact been reached or if it’s in several months to come, the importance remains. The world’s population and industry are booming--and fast. Our precious, plentiful Earth can only take so much. There will be a point in the future, sooner then you may think, when there simply won’t be enough resources and space for everyone. We have to unite and stop our destructive ways and need for more, before it’s too late.

Zero period tied directly to our lessons about population growth. Health class consisted of a continuation of the people from Huckleberry sharing their knowledge with us. We learned about Human anatomy, reproduction, and birth control. In developing countries, where people are less educated and stricken by poverty, population growth becomes a problem. If people can’t afford to purchase birth control, or have no idea such a thing exists, they are unable to reduce the number of kids they have. Aviva Joseph is an eco-psychologist who spoke to our English class this week. She said there are many realms of consciousness, and unconsciousness within yourself. This includes the things you know (like that you can speak English, or understand what the Pill is and how to use it), the things you know you don’t know (like that you can’t speak Chinese, or put a condom on correctly), and then there’s the things you don’t know that you don’t know( like you have no idea that Flemish is a language, or you aren’t even aware there is such a thing as birth control.) These are tough concepts to grasp, but show that the universe holds many secrets, we will never really discover them all, and things exist that we couldn’t even dream of!

The book Siddhartha’s main character is on a quest to discover the secrets that exist in his universe. Siddhartha is a novel by Herman Hesse, which we recently dove into in English class. The book focuses on the tough journey a determined man faces as he seeks enlightenment. We learned about aspects of Eastern religions in preparation for reading. We all awkwardly practiced uttering the meditative word “om” and singing along to the “Circle of Life” which related to Samsara (the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.) Maya is said to be the illusions that exist in life, much like the illusion we have that our environment will continue to provide for us, no matter the extent of our demands. Of course, the illusion is not true. Siddhartha goes about his goal by following the Eight-fold Path and discovering the Four Noble Truths. Buddhists believe that life is suffering, and the way to end this suffering is to end desire. Rejecting one’s cravings is a difficult task, which makes stopping addiction a tremendous problem. We all learned the foundation of addictions in English a few weeks ago, and even discovered our own when writing our “Trash Talking” Essays. Siddhartha and his companion, Govinda, become Samanas early in the book, and participate in an ascetic lifestyle, which means separating one’s self from material objects and desire, in order to attain a higher level of spirituality. These people live in the woods with no possessions, food, shelter, clothing or anything else we take for granted in our day-today lives. They spend their days meditating and begging the streets. Our trash essays really made us think about our own consumption habits, and how--although extreme-- maybe the Samanas were onto something.  How much easier would our lives be if we could be content with less stuff?

Modern society teaches us in a variety of ways that we constantly need more and better. Advertising tells us if we just get that one makeup product or cologne then we will finally be beautiful! Weeks later, that item is useless as the new, improved object hits the market, and all of a sudden we need that one now...and the cycle continues. The media traps us into this idea that more is always better--but is it, really?  Will that one possession really make my life so much more fulfilling? Companies also try to convince us that expensive, packaged bottled water is superior to the cheap, clean tap water that flows straight out of your kitchen faucet. Water rules our modern lifestyle, and without it we wouldn’t be able to survive. People argue that it is not fair to charge for water, because then poverty-stricken people cannot get access to a resource necessary for life. In the movie Flow, they are trying to get the UN to pass “Article 31”. It states that charging for water would be like charging for oxygen, such a needed resource that is is unjust to be paid for. It states that all people, no matter their financial status, have a right to clean, safe, accessible water. We need to change our culture and convince society the truth--that less could really be better, not only for the environment, but for our personal wealth, health and happiness. In Biology several weeks ago, we watched a TED video that pulled all these concepts of “stuff” together. We need to understand that our own actions have a water-ripple effect on everyone else, and look at the world as a whole.

If you look on a globe, the areas of blue far outnumber the areas of green: the Earth has much more water then it does land. The amount of water on this Earth is not the crisis we are facing; it is the accessibility and quality of this water that is problematic. The Hydrolic cycle has recycled the same trillions of gallons of water on Earth for millions of years. Most of this water is not usable for humans, the majority of it is salt water, and even most of the fresh water is trapped in glaciers or underground. Less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (and only 0.007% of the Earth’s total water) is available for human usage. Many factors have caused the health of the world’s water to deplete.  Pollution of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and dumping of sewage and waste into water bodies are ways humans directly input chemicals into water. People don’t realize the effect they have on the Earth, and themselves and how we are all connected. As Megan reminded us and the Buddhists believe, everything is a cycle. If you put pollutants in water, your own drinking supply of water becomes more toxic, which affects your own health, just like the idea of Karma: “what goes around, comes around.” Our own cycle of individual consumption is the driving force that leads to a long list of adversities. Places in the world are suffering because they do not have access to sanitary water. In Madsen’s Geography class, we learned about how dirty water affects Africa, and we brainstormed solutions together as a class. We analyzed our own behaviors and made a list of all the ways we use water on a daily basis. We need to learn how to control our own actions not just for ourselves, but for the entire planet, because we are all connected and all have our “biophilic instinct” (E.O Wilson) whether we like it or not.

Sure, we will be doubted. People won’t believe a ‘measly’ group of twenty-five freshmen can change anything in a crisis the covers the entire surface area of the Earth, an enormous 510,072,000 square kilometers. They have no idea what we are capable of! This Earth is a vast, wondrous, beautiful place that is worth saving. We understood our beauty and our connection to nature when we listened to the poem by Gérard de Nerval in the beginning of the week: “Look carefully in an animal at a spirit alive; every flower is a soul opening out into nature; a mystery touching love is asleep inside metal. "Everything is intelligent!" And everything moves you.” Ms. Leonhart also quoted Margaret Mead in the beginning of the year, and her idea recently popped up again in the movie Flow It describes our mission perfectly. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Marin SEL has unlimited possibilities, and as long we we believe in ourselves, we can truly change the world.

Sources:

(http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/.)

(http://www.universetoday.com/42186/how-big-is-the-earth/.)

What Flows Around Comes Around, by Megan Harvey

 Our day to day lives are made up of cycles, from waking up at the same time every day to sitting through the same classes. When you think about it, cycles can be found everywhere. For instance, recycling is most likely one of the most common cycles in our daily lives. The lifespan of a plastic water bottle goes far beyond just using it once, throwing it away, and never thinking about it again. The most common cycle, however, is the cycle of life. We are born, we live, we die.  It just makes me think how we want to enjoy and make meaning of our lives. This week, that is what I found myself drawn to in every class because it seems cycles keep coming up. Life truly is one big cycle and we explored this idea in each of our classes this week….

     The Huckleberry Youth Center came to speak with us in Health about our choices and actions in terms of our reproductive health (speaking of life cycles). I never though about how such small decisions could have such powerful impact; for instance, becoming pregnant or getting an STD from one unprotected encounter.  Some of the ways we can protect ourselves are being abstinent, and thinking and acting with responsibility.  Making these choices now means we protect our futures. Even though it might have been awkward learning about all the body parts, it was still a good time. The week was filled with facts, games, giggles and yawns as we learned about the cycle of reproduction and life. 

     This week in English, we did a poem mural of Ted Loder’s “Let Something Essential Happen to Me.” The poem expresses one’s desire for purpose and meaning in life: “something essential and joyful…something like the blooming of hope and faith, like a grateful heart, like a surge of awareness.”  As teens, we can all relate to this poem’s message, because we all want to find our purpose through positive action. Once we put all of our lines together, the poem flowed like a river, just like the Water Unit! Now, I find myself noticing cycles in the book we are beginning to read, Siddhartha, about a man who discovers himself through a hero’s journey—another cycle!  His metamorphosis connects to the decisions that we make in our own lives, for example, in reducing our eco-footprint and actions regarding our health. The intro lessons we prepared related to concepts from the book, like Samsara, Maya and Karma—all cycles of birth, death, and rebirth.

     Speaking of karma, we need to make fundamental changes regarding our use of water. As the population reaches seven billion, major conflicts arise over our limited water supply. The planet had the same amount of water it has always had, but the health of that water is deteriorating. The hydrologic cycle, or water cycle, is the process of water evaporating, coming back down as rain, and flowing back to the oceans. It’s constant. Mr. Madsen introduced the idea of paying for water: who has rights to water, third world countries unable to pay for water, and the overall cycle of money and business. In class we researched conflicts regarding water in Africa, and found that water issues relate to poverty, lack of education, sickness and hunger. I found myself thinking about how money, government and water all connected. If you’re poor, you don’t get water?! Water is like air; it should be free for everyone alive.  The movie Flow brings up the idea of compromise between economic growth and water rights. When we manipulate natural cycles we harm the earth and ourselves.

     Cycles exist not only in vast bodies of water, but in places as tiny as cells. In Biology, we learned that cells involve cycles too because they complete their functions over and over and are always changing.  Our projects focused on ocean acidification, which is where the pH levels, or amounts of acid in the oceans increase, killing off many species of animals. We looked at specific bodies of water that impact many peoples' business and food, and saw how acidification has affected these aspects of life. Groups researched places such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Amazon River and created a prezi to present their findings. The results were incredible. Ocean acidification affects everyone everywhere, even if it is not recognized yet. The steps leading up to acidification are also cycle: more fertilizer being used means more being swept into water bodies and pollution in air means more acid rain. These small changes create a huge affect to the water, making it unhabitable for life. No fishing means no business and no money for fisherman and other businesses relying on the fish. Everything is affected, like dominos knocking each other over. It is really just one big never ending cycle unless we take action to help stop acidification. 

        Overall, this week was filled with lessons that connected to each other. It's unique and interesting to be able to study one thing in five different ways, seeing something in a different light every time. My classmates and I never knew how water could be connected to money, literature, pollution, and health. I certainly never knew what acidification was and how it caused dead zones, and I never knew that water could be so influential to money and business. It truly is facinating to see how different elements interact to form one large cycle of never ending changes.