“Do not erase with one hand what you drew with the other.” – Felix
Today we went to a sustainable farm. At the farm Felix, our guide, told us about the various things that the farm does in order to be more environmentally friendly. The guide was a huge proponent of action and taking action in order to help protect the environment. He believes that everyone needs to know about ways to contribute to the health of the environment and how to live together with the environment.
We learned about the reasons behind leaving parts of the forest in tact on the farm and how that contributes to the health of the environment and the farm. The various benefits of the forest include: absorbing water therefore preventing erosion; providing a place for pollinators to live; being a good source of organic matter that can be used as fertilizer; and a home for microorganisms. All of these things benefit the farm and the productivity of the farm without ruining the environment. In addition, we learned about how coffee farmers’ version of crop rotation. Coffee lives for around 30 years so rotating fields between every plant is not practical. Instead they use companion crops. The system allows an exchange of nutrients between the plants and the soil and prevents all of one specific nutrient from being used up without having to rotate fields. One the farm there were also other examples of ways of being sustainable and environmentally friendly. One such way was that they contained the pig feces and used the methane that they produced as energy. Our guide told us that they could cook for up to 5 hours using this. In addition, they have a rain collection system that allowed them to capture the water and to use it where they needed. All of these things helped to make the farm a better and more practical place. In addition to learning we were also able to do some fun activities. Our guide allowed us to hold the baby goat and take pictures with it. When we were done he asked us why he let us hold it. When be answered because it was cute, he told us we were incorrect. The reason he let us hold the goat is because that would be memorable, and if we remembered that we would remember the trip. He emphasized the importance of learning and interacting with the world around you by letting us hold this goat. This is something that I can take back to my own teaching. The importance of engagement is all around us and can be emphasized in many ways. I need to understand the types of activities that are going to engage my students and work towards incorporating those into the classroom. Overall, it was awesome experience that allowed for some great opportunities to learn about he world around us. At the end of the trip we all had the opportunity to drink some coffee and plant a baby tree. By planting this tree, were left our mark on the farm. This way we have all invested something and we have all taken some action to help the environment. Having the opportunity to see the cloud forest school today was amazing. The types of learning that is encouraged there is the ideal for hands on learning. Beyond just learning in both Spanish and English that school seems to be unique because of the way that independent though was encouraged in students. The students there were excited to learn and wanted to be there. For the most part they seemed to like what they were doing and seemed excited about their futures.
While there, I observed what seemed to be a physics project studying gravity. The students were using PVC pipe and ball in order to try to reach the end point. They had to work with the angles and to control them in order to not drop the ball on the ground. I do not know if the students were aware that they were learning when they were doing these activities, however they were most defiantly learning. Having the chance to observe this is the most rewarding thing that has happened during this trip. When I saw these students it made me smile the same way that the other people with me have been smiling this entire time. I want to be able to incorporate lessons like this in my class. In addition, today I was able to interview my Spanish teacher about my action research project. He provided further insight onto the topic and allowed me to understand further how people of Costa Rica think about la ambiente. A quote from him is that the environment and nature are “parte de vida” or part of life. This supports the idea that the people of Costa Rica do care about the environment a lot. If you want to see the transcript of this interview, click on the link below. This week Spanish class seems to be getting better. I think that it is because this teacher focuses largely on discussion and making the grammar relevant once again. Learning grammar in this class is not like learning grammar in the last class. We do not read off of the smart board, we talk about what we learn and we use in in discussion. This is not only less boring; it also demonstrates a higher level of learning. I will keep this in mind when I have a class. I will always work to teach in context and relate as much of the material to the students lives as possible. When I got home I was greeted by my hermano tico. He is absolutely adorable and always says hola to me. Today I was able to play with him and with the baby in my family a little bit. We played with some toys and on my computer. Being able to interact with him despite the language difference is awesome. He speaks slowly and clearly for me so I am able to understand and I try to speak Spanish back. I have become fairly good at replying to him and he always helps to correct me when I am incorrect. In addition, I talked with my Mamá Tica. It is fun to try to talk to them because they are patient and help to guide me in the correct direction. The type of environment that I have experience in mi casa es el type of environment that I want to foster in my class. Overall, I have learned a lot here and will be sad to return to the US. I know that I will always remember my time here and it will forever affect the way I live my life. Having the opportunity to go to Arenal Volcano and La Fortuna this weekend was amazing. Hiking up the trails and being allowed the opportunity to see a volcano was something that I will never forget. The amount of green forest surrounding the base of this still active volcano was breathtaking. This weekend has once again reminded me of why the environment is so important to people in Costa Rica. The various environments and habitats that are presents in Costa Rica are unique. Having hiked around the various types of forest now several times I still wonder how this country can possibly be so small. The fauna and flora here are beautiful.
In my research of Costa Rica it has been repeated several times that Costa Rica hold 6% of the biodiversity in the world. Having experienced some of the different terrains that this country has to offer makes this obvious. I know that in the future there will be ways to incorporate many of the things that I have learned here into the classroom. Teaching chemistry will allow me to utilize a lot of the information that we have learned about the environment. I am excited to see the ways that I can incorporate this experience into my classroom. In addition, there were several parts of the experience that demonstrated the environmental awareness of the Costa Rican people. On the way we saw many wind mills, showing the awareness of the country of alternative energy sources. I remember a few months ago I read about how Costa Rica had gone around fifty days without using nonrenewable energy. This exemplifies the way that the people of Costa Rica, or at very least the government, care about the health of the environment. All of this information will be helpful in my research for the action research project. Today in class we also watched a video of a speech by JK Rowling. It was titled “The Fringe Benefits of Failure.” The things that were discussed in this were so important to me because I failure is something that I struggled with a lot in high school. It took until my senior year for me to realize that failure is not a bad thing. Failure allows us to learn and to appreciate life more. This video for me was so important and relevant in my life. I too am the type of person who is a good test taker. I manage to float by with minimal effort, however, I know that eventually this will change. At this point in my life I am trying to find something to challenge myself with. I want to discover my limit and maybe fail a few times. Failure teaches us and makes us strong. In a twisted way, failure makes life sweeter. In order to experience everything that life has to offer, one must at some point experience failure. It breaks people free of the “narrow spaces” that JK Rowling referenced in her speech. This trip has demonstrated struggle and at time failure and for that I will always be grateful. |