Personal Rubbish Diary | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for social studies we did an activity about collecting rubbish. Last week we were tasked to track how much rubbish we have thrown for three days, it was categorised as rubbish, recycling and organics. After we have collected our data we had to put that data on a hand-drawn bar graph. 

What can be done to reduce what goes into your rubbish bin?

Use fewer plastics and throw organics in compost. Instead use reusable lids that can be used again, to cover up leftover food. 

Where was the majority of your waste going?

Organics/Recycling or Rubbish?

Most of my waste was rubbish according to the data. 

Did you find that one day had more waste than another day? Why was this? 

I had thrown away more waste on the first day because we didn't have food cooked for us. 

Sustainable Fishing | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, in social studies we have been working on learning more about sustainable fishing and how it is useful to prevent us from damaging our oceans. We had to create a Prezi explaining why overfishing, bycatch and dolphin-safe labels are problems and what sustainable fishing can do to help with it. 

References:
National Geographic
IUCN
Scuba Diving 
Reefci
WWF
MSC
FAO

Recycling Bin | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post. Today for social studies we learned about how lazy recycling is affecting the environment and society. After reading an article about it, we needed to answer some questions about it. 

What % of rubbish can cause a recycling truck to be dumped?

10% of rubbish in trucks have to dump their contents. 

What is going into people's recycling bins?

People are currently putting in non-recyclable content inside yellow bins which harm the environment and creates a problem for the organizations that help with dealing with our everyday waste. 

What is the current penalty?

As of May 03, 664 bins has been removed by the city council due to the amount of lazy recycling that has been happening all around the country. Many other residents and citizens have received warnings because of their recycling habits. 

Article Link

Greenpeace | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for social studies we learned about Greenpeace, what they do and the impacts of their action. After learning about them we had to create a slideshow about them. 

Ecotourism | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Today for social studies we learned about ecotourism, how it affects the environment and the benefits of having ecotourism. After learning about it, we had to answer some questions about it to show our learning. 

What is ecotourism?

Ecotourism is defined as a way to cater to tourists visiting a natural environment perhaps a coral reserve, without damaging the environment or disturbing animal life. 

“responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people and involves interpretation and education” - ecotourism.org

Why is it a growing trend? 

There is greater awareness in the world to protect these areas, which means there are more supporters towards this cause. Because that space is being protected more tourists would come to that spot making a better economy for that particular country. 

How can tourism help our oceans? 

Like the video above represents ecotourism is very helpful for the ocean because we are conserving and protecting the animals that are being threatened by poachers and fishermen. As the video states, the act of ecotourism increases the number of animals being breaded.

Sustainable Fishing | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for social studies we learned about sustainable fishing, what it is, the impacts of overfishing/commercial fishing, and what overfishing/commercial fishing is doing to the ocean's food chain. We then had to answer a question about it.

Credit: Iberdrola

How is commercial fishing a threat to dolphins and birdlife [by-catch]?

Over the years commercial fishing has become a very large industry. It is has provided countries around the world with delicious seafood and profits. But, commercial fishing has also been a huge threat to the ocean, sea animals and food chains around the ocean. Problems such as overfishing and bycatch, which harm the ocean's animal populations and damage many ecosystems within the ocean. 

Overfishing is the act of fishing at a relatively quick rate where a species do not have time to develop more, which affects the population of that certain species, creating an underpopulated area. Bycatch is the act of catching a marine species unintentionally while catching other animals such as crabs or tuna. 

In a segment of Seaspiracy, it mentioned how dolphins are being bycaught by fisheries who are aiming to catch tuna. Most of the time the dolphin that was caught is thrown back to the ocean, they might even dead by the time they are thrown in. 

Birdlife is also decreasing due to the amount of fish being taken out by the ocean, this is because ocean birds feed on the fish that is being chased to the surface by other large predators. So when we overfish areas where birds feed, they won't have any food, they will then starve, after that, they will then die. 

Given these points, commercial fishing is a huge threat to many marine sea life and ecosystems around the oceans. This is because of the dangerous fishing techniques done by many fisheries that are either legal or illegal, which can be a threat to the marine life population. 

Shark Finning | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for social studies we watched a bit of the Netflix Documentary 'Seaspiracy'. In that little bit of the show, we learned about Shark Finning and why it is a problem. After watching and discussing it we needed to answer some questions about it. 

Credit: Sharks.org

What is Shark Finning?

Shark finning is the act of cutting off the shark's fins and using it for a traditional Chinese dish called 'Shark fin soup', which is a very popular dish in China. This is a very horrible practice. After cutting off the fins of the shark they would throw the shark back to the sea. This is bad because they wouldn't be able to swim properly and they would still be bleeding. 

Why is it a delicacy?

Shark fin soup is a symbol of social standing and aristocracy, so when someone eats shark fin soup it is a symbolism that they have money and that they are rich. The fins of the shark take on a consistency similar to noodles. 

Credit: Wikipedia

How is this impacting our ocean?

Sharks are a very important key to the balance of the ocean's food chain and the many eco-systems. If sharks aren't around it will affect other animals in the food chains. 

Starfish Poem | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for social studies we read a poem about a starfish, after that we then had to analyse the texts so that we could find out what the main message of the text was. We also then had to give evidence to support our opinion of that. 

Evidence: These highlighted parts in the poem show how one can change the world, it takes one person. This is very important because it tells us one person can make a difference and inspires us to make a difference. The highlighted bits also show us that our opinion does matter even though it may be a small one.

This also tells us to help the environment because it is only getting worse and it will affect us and many other living things in the world. 

THE  STARFISH  POEM
Once upon a time there was a wise man 
who used to go to the ocean 
to do his writing. 
He had a habit of walking 
on the beach 
before he began his work. 
One day he was walking along 
the shore. 
As he looked down the beach, 
he saw a human 
figure moving like a dancer. 
He smiled to himself to think 
of someone who would 
dance to the day. 
So he began to walk faster 
to catch up. 
As he got closer, he saw 
that it was a young man 
and the young man wasn't dancing, 
but instead he was reaching 
down to the shore, 
picking up something 
and very gently throwing it 
into the ocean. 
As he got closer he called out, 
"Good morning! What are you doing?" 
The young man paused, 
looked up and replied, 
"Throwing starfish in the ocean." 
"I guess I should have asked, 
why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" 
"The sun is up and the tide is going out. 
And if I don't throw them in they'll die." 
"But, young man, don't you realize that 
there are miles and miles of beach 
and starfish all along with it. 
You can't possibly make a difference!" 
The young man listened politely. 
Then bent down, picked up another starfish 
and threw it into the sea, 
past the breaking waves and said- 
"It made a difference for that one."

Newspaper Article | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for Social Studies we learned more about the Great Pacific Garbage patch and the causes and effects it on the environment and living things. To showcase our learning we were tasked to make a newspaper article outlining the problem in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, this features the causes and effects of the problem. 

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, this term for social studies we have started a new topic that is called 'Trashing the World'. In this topic, we are learning about the importance of the oceans, what we are doing to help sustain the oceans and what is happening in the ocean that damages it. Our first task was to create a slideshow, informing readers about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and what we are doing to help clean up the oceans.