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.
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.