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Showing posts from July 10, 2015

Dialogue Skills with Rocky Mountain Institute

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Campers Learned Many New Skills at RMI Programs at Environmental Camp Today, with the Rocky Mountain Institute, students learned how to have nice dialogue skills with others when having a disagreement. They were told not to just talk; listen to others. Give reasons why you think your idea is better, and then hear the other person out. These were just a few tips the Rocky Mountain Institute gave to the campers. The students were then thrown into to simulations of a disagreement and were told to use the skills they had just learned about. The first simulation was that two people were members of a council and they had to decide where to spend their  pretend one-hundred thousand dollar grant. Different groups decided on different ways to spend the money. The second simulation was that two people were stakeholders around a lake. Different stakeholders wanted different things from the lake, and the six different stakeholders had to compromise on what to do with the lake and how t

Redesigning Our Future - Eco-Olympics

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Ready, Set . . . Go By Kayla Blackburn On Thursday night, a series of Eco-Olympics events were held between randomly divided teams, allowing a respite from focus groups to create new friendships. Each self-named team had to compete in assorted events in both physical and mental fields, led by their skilled counselors. The games began with a competition that involved each team choosing a popular song and rewriting the lyrics (while also choreographing some awesome dance moves) in a way that dealt with the environment . . . with only 10 minutes to use! The teams then had to perform their songs in front of all the campers at the Summit. Some song examples were parodies of "Shake It Off" renamed "Save the Earth" and "Let It Go" as "Let It Grow." Not only did these presentations provide a great laugh, but they also ignited many ideas about conservation and recycling. The next events were the Sack Race, the Three-Legged Race, and the Whee

Jupiter, Saturn, and S'mores

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By Annabelle Nagy On Thursday night, after a long day of speakers and focus groups, the campers got to go to Catawba's observatory. And have s'mores. Photos By Cathy Green To wrap the night up the counselors set up a fun night of relaxing and having fun. Groups of people went up to the observatory to look for planets in the major microscopes at the college. Saturn and Jupiter made their appearances last night. The microscopes were so magnified that you could see the stripes of Jupiter and rings of Saturn. Many students stood looking in the microscopes with their mouths wide open, amazed at what they saw in the sky. The planets moved surprisingly quickly and the microscope would have to be readjusted every couple of minutes or so. While certain groups were in the observatory others stayed below making s'mores and eating pizza. Off to the side there were students playing cards, goofing off, and having a good laugh. Students of all different backgrounds bonded

Redesigning Our Future- Why Bees Are Important

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Today there are approximately 7.125 billion people living on Earth, and the population is only growing. It is common sense that the more people there are the more food that needs to be produced. Crops today are becoming scarce and Genetically Modified Organisms are rapidly replacing naturally grown foods. As more and more farmers start to lose their once pure and uncontaminated farms, the world starves. It is essential to have these miraculous Hymenoptera on this Earth because of overpopulation. These creatures are killed simply because they are thought to be a 'menace' to the world. We do not give pollinators as much credit as they should get. I am not saying that you should treat bees and other insects with as much respect as the President or anything, but you should know their purpose for this world. Let's talk honey. Honey can cure your sore throats and heal any cuts. You can put it in tea, or just eat it raw. But if you buy brand name honey it may not be as good.

Redesigning Our Own Personal Futures By Chloe Fedor

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Everyone holds their own hopes and dreams: their dream college, dream career and dream life. But,  everyone holds different hopes and dreams; usually these aspects in our life are impacted by everything we experience in life. Each and every one of us have been impacted by the Redesigning the Future Environmental Summit this week.  Some campers have even envisioned and revised their life goals and dreams while listening and observing the keynote speaker and other speakers from this particular summit.  Examples of campers who have revised and envisioned their particular futures this week are: Macayla Upright Enjoyed Exploring Her Passion at Camp Macayla Upright, a 17 year old Senior from Salisbury, NC: "This week has helped me explore my passion for the outdoors and the animals in the outdoors. It has made me consider conservation biology as an option and the activities my group " Backbone For Conservation" have done like turtle trapping. The turtle ac

Gisselle Anaya Learns All About Mosquitoes at Camp

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                                                                               Photo by Brinsley Stewart Summer Campers Get a Closer Look at Mosquitoes and How They Are a Part of Our Environment "What's Bugging You?" This is a question Redesigning the Future high school campers considered in a summer Focus Group led by Dr. Carmony Hartwig. Giselle Anaya Giselle Anaya , one of the campers in the group, said that she first learned about the various types of mosquitoes. While most people may think that a mosquito is just a mosquito, there are a number of different types - around sixty-five with about thirty having been identified at the preserve behind the Center for the Environment at Catawba College. Using microscopes, the summer campers got a closer look at some of the various types of mosquitoes. Giselle said that there were mosquitoes in colors like purple, gold and yellow. She especially like a gold one with blue highlights. To check out the mosquitoes

Environmental Conciousness in Urban Areas

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Walking down a street in almost any city in America, you see trash littering the ground. Trees are stunted and surrounded by seas of concrete. Cars are jammed in traffic miles long, emitting toxic pollution into the air. Everywhere around you an urban wilderness extends as far as the eye can see. So the question is raised: How do you reach people in these incredibly urbanized areas and educate them about what they can do to help the environment? Education can begin with simply alerting the public to what is happening all around. Simply by being on this blog and absorbing the content is educating yourself. The next thing to do is make a lifestyle change. Something as simple as walking to your friends house instead of driving or walking those two extra feet to recycle instead of puttting it in the waste bin. When the Rocky Mountain Institute came and spoke to the camp at the Center for the Environment (see article ), they expressed the importance of connecting different type

Redesigning Our Future - Kudzu In the Kitchen

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By Kayla Blackburn Gavin McQueen from Asheboro, NC wears a vine of kudzu as he researches about invasive species. Here at the 2015 Redesigning Our Future: National Environmental Summit for High School Students, the Invasive Aliens Plants and Animals: Friend or Foe to the Environment? focus group collected and then cooked the well-known invasive plant called kudzu. After prepping the kudzu in a batter, students deep-fried the plant to create an interesting treat, called a "kudzu funnel cake" by Grace Vaughan from Fries, Virginia. They also made tea and a kudzu quiche!  Samantha Long from Rocky Point, NC dips kudzu leaves in a mixture of flower and water to prepare the plant for deep-frying. The finished product, deep-fried kudzu! So how else is this Asian-native plant used around the world? Kudzu roots contain starch, which are traditionally treated with pomelo oil and used in beverages in Vietnam. In Japan, the starch is used as a thickener and can al

"Go Ahead: Change Your Mind" Focus Group - What We've Learned

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Professor: Dr. Seth Holtzman Counselor Deep Dave talking about the focus group said "It takes a lot to change your mind, but when you learn other people's perspective, it becomes a lot easier." Emilee Batten: "I love that when we read the poem "Snake" by D. H. Lawrence that everyone interpreted one thing so many different ways. It's so interesting that people have different ideas." Abbey: "I've enjoyed learning about how the human mind makes decisions and is influenced. I can apply what I learned in this class when trying to convince others about why the environment matters." Makayla Utt: "My favorite thing about the focus group is learning about everyone's point of views." Carolina Altunyay: " I love psychology, and the psychology of change is a fascinating and relevant topic. I enjoy hearing the knowledge Dr. Holtzman brings to the table." Ciena Fedor: "I really enjoyed this focus