Independent Component 1

L.

I, Kaitlyn Grayson, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

For my task, I created 1 powerpoint explaining different aspects of sustainability to my family 7 slides long with about 1 paragraph of speaker notes per slide.

Then, I researched different parts of sustainability such as composting (3 sources), conventional vs. organic food vs. natural food (4 sources), recycling (3 sources), organic food in general (2 sources), effects of conventional farming (2 sources), and energy conservation (1 source).

Next, I created a powerpoint pitting organic food vs conventional with 8 slides.  7 of which have about 1 paragraph of speaker notes per slide.

I also quizzed the family individually about sustainability with 10 questions:

1. What is sustainability?
2. What is global warming doing to our planet?
3. What can we do about wasting energy?
4. What can we do about wasting water?
5. What other stuff can we do to take action against pollution and waste?
6. How much of the disease in the world is caused by polluted water?
7. Why should we care?
8. What is one of the main energy users in the house?
9. What can cause a house's temperature and noise level to drop and rise incessantly?
10. When did people start becoming more environmentally aware?
    
    Then, I graded them in my notebook.
    
    
    Also, during the space of 2 weeks, I got the family to the local farmer's market twice, thus converting our food completely to sustainable organic.
    
    
    Afterwards, I replaced all of the incandescent lights in the house with CFL's.
    
    
    Lastly, I got my family to help me sort recyclables for 1 hour.
    
    
    I.
    
    
    The log of my hours for each part of my task is located in my notebook which I will hand to my teacher as evidence.
    The powerpoints made it easier to explain what I was doing to the house and our diets to my family as many of them are audio/visual learners.  Also, the research I did backed up what I had to say so that I knew wha I was saying and doing throughout the task.
    The family quiz was to make sure my family understood what I was trying to get across so that there was no confusion later on.
    Family participation in the Farmer's Market, CFL's, and Recycling made it so that they can experience firsthand what it is like to become sustainable and figure out if they are willing to adopt some of the aspects.
    
    
     A.
    
    
    This helped me answer my E.Q. because I got to experience firsthand how hard it can be to convert an entire family and household into a more sustainable lifestyle.  One of my new answers for my EQ is "Persistence".  This is because two relatives were a bit hesitant to participate in what I was setting up and I had to negotiate with the owner of the house in order to even start my Independent Task.
    
    
    
    

Idea Approval

1) I would like to create a working alternative energy source such as a small, homemade wind turbine that can be used at my house for a fraction of our energy consumption.  I would also like to work for a community garden.

2) It will be worthwhile because the experiences will teach me how to install and maintain sustainable technology as well as helping me learn about better agricultural techniques.

3) If I get the experience, then I can better understand what I want to teach people.  Also, this can help me find small, easy steps that regular people can take to gradually improve their lifestyles.