Nature Experience Project [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 3, 5]Prior to beginning this assignment, please listen to the podcast, ‘The Sound of a Snail’: A Patient’s Greatest Comfort(Links to an external site.).

Throughout this course, we have been exploring environmental issues and challenges, such as fresh drinking water scarcity and biodiversity loss. But what would our own lives be like without nature? How might nature experiences benefit us? In this activity, you are asked to spend time in nature, record your experiences, and then share your reflections with the class. This project is due on Day 3 of this week. Incorporate feedback that you have received and complete the sections below.

Note: You will not be able to view others’ projects until you have posted your own.

Go Outdoors: Find a place outside where you can be in nature for at least one hour. This could be a national, state, or local park, a city square with trees and gardens, an old cemetery, or even your own backyard. Be creative. For those of you who may think there is no nature whatsoever around you or you will not have the opportunity to get out into nature, the podcast ‘The Sound of a Snail’: A Patient’s Greatest Comfort(Links to an external site.) will give you get a sense of creative ways to complete this assignment, particularly if you are living in a highly urbanized setting.

Observe: Once you are outdoors, choose a comfortable spot where you can stand or sit quietly for at least 1 hour of uninterrupted solitude. Turn off all electronic devices. Quietly take in your surroundings. What do you notice? Use your senses of sight, hearing, smell, and feeling to take the world in. Be as still and quiet as you can.

Please note: You should plan to complete this step no later than Week 4.

Write: Either while you are outdoors or as soon after your return as you can, set aside at least a half an hour of uninterrupted time to write about your nature experience. It should include both what you directly experienced during your time outdoors and your feelings and reflections on the experience itself. In your writing, consider this question: Are human beings a part of nature, or apart from it?

Please note: You should plan to complete this step no later than Week 4. It is not necessary to share your journal work with anyone, but taking the time to write about your experience will provide you with valuable raw material for the next step.

Create: Choose a creative means of sharing your nature experience, and what you learned from it, with the class. This could take the form of a series of photographs with captions, a poem, a song, a brief personal essay, a work of art, the design for a board game, a video of some kind, or any other creative avenue you can think of. The work should be entirely your own product.

Please note: You should plan to start on this step by Week 4 at the latest.

Share: Share your completed creative project with the class by uploading it to the Nature Experience Project discussion board by Day 3 of this week. If your work is entirely visual or auditory (e.g., fine art, photography, music, etc.), please include a brief statement of 100 to 200 words that (1) relates your work back to your original nature experience; and (2) relates your work to the question of whether you feel you are a part of nature or apart from it. Upload visual or auditory content to an online repository that allows you to share a link to the content with others. Follow the directions for uploading your video to YouTube (Android Upload videos(Links to an external site.); iPhone/iPad Upload videos(Links to an external site.)) or other web-based video platform to obtain the link to share with others. Audio can be recorded or uploaded in Vocaroo (See Vocaroo’s(Links to an external site.) for more information).

Comment: Feel free to share your thoughts about other students’ work. Make sure to communicate in a respectful and positive way. This step is optional, but encouraged.

Required Resources

Text

Bensel, T., & Carbone, I. (2020). Sustaining our planet. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

• Chapter 9: Managing Our Waste
• Chapter 10: Sustaining Our Futures

Multimedia

National Public Radio. (2010, August 28). ‘The sound of a snail’: A patient’s greatest comfort(Links to an external site.) [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=129475625

• This podcast provides information on how a nature experience can happen anywhere and despite overwhelming obstacles, and will assist you in completing your Nature Experience Project discussion forum this week. This podcast has a transcript.Accessibility Statement does not exist.Privacy Policy(Links to an external site.)

npcCONV. (2010, May 25). Disposability consciousness(Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/72Z2wmgLiTc

• This video provides information about reducing waste and will assist you in the Ecological Footprint and Comparison discussion forum this week. This video has closed captioning and a transcript.Accessibility Statement(Links to an external site.)Privacy Policy(Links to an external site.)

TEDx Talks. (2016, July 6). Two adults, two kids, zero waste | Bea Johnson | TEDxFoggyBottom(Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/CSUmo-40pqA

• This video provides information about reducing waste and will assist you in the Ecological Footprint and Comparison discussion forum this week.Accessibility Statement(Links to an external site.)Privacy Policy(Links to an external site.)

Web Pages

Global Footprint Network. (n.d.). What is your ecological footprint?(Links to an external site.) Retrieved from http://www.footprintcalculator.org/

• This web page provides an interactive calculator for determining your resource consumption and is necessary for completing your Ecological Footprint and Comparison discussion forum this week.Accessibility Statement does not exist.Privacy Policy(Links to an external site.)

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Carbon footprint calculator(Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/

• This web page provides an interactive calculator for determining your greenhouse gas emissions and is necessary for completing the Ecological Footprint and Comparison discussion forum this week.Accessibility Statement(Links to an external site.)Privacy Policy(Links to an external site.)

Website

Water footprint calculator(Links to an external site.). (https://www.watercalculator.org)

• This website provides an interactive calculator for determining your water consumption and is necessary for completing your Ecological Footprint and Comparison discussion forum this week.Accessibility Statement does not exist.Privacy Policy(Links to an external site.)

Supplemental Material

Carolina Distance Learning. (n.d.). Oil spill bioremediation [Investigation manual]. Retrieved from https://ashford.instructure.com

• The Oil Spill Bioremediation investigation manual is available in the online classroom. This lab manual provides information about oil spills and will assist you in your Oil Spill Bioremediation Laboratory assignment. This manual is available for download in your online classroom.

Laboratory Supplies

Carolina Biological Supply Lab Kit (Links to an external site.)

• This lab kit provides lab supplies and materials for the hands-on labs that you will conduct for this course. Although the lab kit provides most of the lab supplies for the labs, there will be materials that you need to purchase independently for a few labs. Be sure to prepare a list of what you will need to purchase independently by viewing the lab investigation manuals and lab kits in advance. To see a checklist of the additional lab supplies that you will need each week for this course, access the Additional Lab Supplies Checklist.

Recommended Resources

Multimedia

Ashford University. (2018). SCI207 – The scientific method(Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://ashford.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/SCI207 – THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD/1_5325onvq

• This video provides information on the scientific method that will assist you in completing your Stream Morphology laboratory activity this week. This video has closed captioning.