Interdependence indicates how nothing on this earth can operate on it’s own. The meaning of interdependence is that different systems often rely on one another to simply survive (Kaufman, 2019). Before the past two sessions, I found it difficult to understand the true meaning of interdependence. However, the past two sessions have highlighted that even humans are involved in interdependence as we rely on certain things in order for us to survive, for example, we rely on innocent animals for our food supply for ourselves and our families.

Our first session of interdependence was our visit to the two different types of farm. The names of these two farms were Mosgile Farm and Strandhead Farm. Although both farms worked with cows and their dairy industries, they worked in very different and inspiring ways.

Strandhead Farm was very much industrialised. Everything relied on forms of technology. There wasn’t really much involvement from farmers as everything was completed by machinery. The cows were kept in pens all day everyday for milking purposes however we actually discovered that the cows preferred to be in their pens because when farmers had let them out into the fields they just came back to their pens again!

There was a milking machine that allows the cows to be milked by a machine instead of a farmer and also a machine that pushed hay towards the cows in order for them to have food.

ACB178C4-4A04-454C-8812-1BF2F213D5F5

The machinery however can also have a negative effect on farming. Due to all the milk being pasteurized through various types of machinery, it can effect our society as the milk being sold throughout the industry could be a danger to us as it is not being done organically therefore there is likely to be more chemicals involved in the milk process(Hind,2018).

The second farm was the Mosgile Farm. As mentioned before this farm was the complete opposite to Strandhead farm as everything was completed here organically. They pasteurized their own milk to cut down production time and they allowed the cows to be out in the fields every day to enjoy the environment.  Mosgile was a family run farm that was passed down from generation to generation. Bryce who was in charge of the farm currently, told us about the situations the family had went through due to family bereavements and difficult situations such as bankruptcy. Bryce had shown us how if you do not have a steady income then you can not provide for your family. This family farm had a knock on effect from one thing to another since Bryce’s grandfather passed away. As the family farm went bankrupt due to serious circumstances Bryce had lost loads of cows and his farms money in order for the farm to be saved. This difficult time stopped his family farm to contribute to the economy as there was no milk to sell because the cows had all been given away to save their business.

The farm visit was such a good experience because it was a great resource of outdoor learning that could be used in my classroom. It would be a useful task to use because it involved everyone and would encourage kids to think about how much farming actually provides a living for the majority of our families and what impact they have in our world which then links teaching with the professional standard of social integrity. I found it very inspiring to see how hard these farmers work on a daily basis and will start to reflect on what I can do as an individual that could reduce their workload and help the environment by doing things such as eating less meat or drinking less milk.

Our directed study task focused on “Sustainable Seas”. This allowed my peers and myself to create an Infographic based on our oceans. Oceans are a key part of our planet and we rely on it very much. It helps us to breathe and is the home to various fish species which provide a food supply within our communities (MSC). We gained knowledge from this task as we discovered how much over fishing is effecting our wildlife under the ocean. It had shown us the impact fishing has on our economy as well as prices to run boats were becoming too expensive therefore it had a knock on effect to our economy as many people were loosing their jobs through the fishing industry. We discovered that  many governments are trying to put an end to overfishing as for example, the Scottish Government are no longer renewing fishing licences meaning that fishermen will no longer be allowed to fish without one (Scottish Government, 2011).

Below is a link to our groups inforgraphic about Sustainable Seas.

https://create.piktochart.com/output/41757512-interdependence?fbclid=IwAR3o_UVQcGyQAQJXxkbt4jsgb0DbHDVymS6g8U5wVBLTnqH8iYroykyKTgc

Overall, the sessions has shown the real importance of Interdependence and how much us as humans rely on things in order to survive. The sessions have allowed me to gain effective communication, collaborative and analytical skills. This is an important subject which I look forward to teaching!

REFERENCES

Hind, D. (2018) Could Cows Reverse the Effects of Climate Change? [Online] Available: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent .co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/cows-beef-farming-reverse-climate-change-global-warming- a8202121.html%3famp/ [Accessed: 21st October 2019]

Kaufman, J. (2019) What is Interdependence? [Online] Available: https://personalmba.com/interdependence/ [Accessed: 21^st October 2019].

Marine Stewardship Council. Oceans at risk [Online] Available: https://www.msc.org/uk/what-we-are-doing/oceans-at-risk [Accessed 22nd October 2019].

Scottish Government (2011) Fishing [Online] Available: https://www2.gov.scot/Publications/2011/03/16182005/63 [Accessed: 22^nd October 2019].

Climate change occurs when the climate temperature does not remain consistent (May, 2017). Climate change is a broad topic which covers areas such as global warming, greenhouse gases, fossil fuels and carbon dioxide for example. Before the session on climate change I had no idea just how badly climate change is affecting our earth.  After this session it was horrifying to see just how many things us humans actually have a huge affect on the climate change just purely by the food that we eat or the types of cars that we drive on a daily basis.

Climate change affects things such as agriculture as our crops are starting to stop growing. This can cause huge issues within society as without any crops there is no food to produce for ourselves to buy. Climate change can also  have an affect on our society as the rising increase in global temperatures can also be know as Global Warming. For example, 2016 was ranked as the warmest year on record due to global warming (Shaftel,2019). People do understand that global warming exists however there isn’t a lot we can do to prevent it.

Politics and local governments have started to take action on climate change and global warming. They can do things such as set new policies for the general public to follow in order to protect the earths climate. It is the governments job to teach the public what action that they can take at a local level.

The Scottish Government created the Climate Change Act 2009. They set a target for 2050 to reduce climate change completely. The aims of the act are things such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, make provision about reduction and recycling of waste and giving advice to  Scottish Ministers relating to climate change (Scottish Parliament). This shows the general public the positive actions the local governments are beginning to take to reduce climate change for our earth.

In groups we worked together with our peers to become our own political party. Within this group we had to decide what cases of climate change where the most important within our community and had to address what one we thought should be completed first. This highlighted different opinions about climate change and what actions our government should take in order to fulfill these issues. Within this tasked I gained multiple skills such as teamwork, critical thinking and also problem solving whilst working with my peers.

Our science workshop again linked to climate change. We took part in various activities that allowed us to create fabulous resources for pupils within our classroom that educates them whilst having fun.

One activity was putting food colouring into different water jugs. Blue colouring went into the cold water and red went into the hot water. You then had to put the cups of food colouring into a tank of water and watch the two colours come together. This taught children how hot and cold air are different but create a wind when they come together. It truly amazed me how a small activity such as this taught pupils about teamwork skills and also broadened their knowledge of the world and how climate change can impact things as simple as our weather!

Another experiment was to create a tornado by using a jar filled with hot water, washing up liquid and green food colouring. The aim was to move your arm in a specific motion so that you could create tornado in the jar. This allowed pupils to gain problem solving skills as you had to find the correct arm movement in order to create the tornado and they successfully learned about tornados and how they were made.

I took part in the WWF footprint calculator by completing a survey based on my day to day life. It focuses on food, travel, stuff and home life to be exact. After I took  part in the footprint calculator it really indicated to me how much influence I actually have on the environment and climate change. It educated me in ways which I can actually try and reduce certain things that I do on a daily basis to protect the environment from harm in the future.

Overall, my thoughts on climate change have surely changed after the weeks session. I had many misconceptions about the importance of climate change and never really thought it was a big deal. However, after this session it has opened my eyes to all the things the general public can do to try and reduce the growing rate of climate change on earth purely based on their day to day lives.

I gained knowledge of how I can help reduce the impact of climate change on the world by completing the WWF calculator. Also by looking at the Climate change Act (2009) I have now gained knowledge on what local governments are doing to reduce climate change.

I look forward to involving climate change in the classroom!

References 

May, S. (2017) What is Climate Change? [Online] Available: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-climate-change-k4.html . [Accessed: 1^st October 2019]

Shaftel, H. (2019) Global Temperature [Online] Available: https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/. [Accessed: 1^st October 2019]

Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. (n.d) [Online] Available: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2009/12/notes/contents. [Accessed; 8^th October 2019]

https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/?_ga=1.176985891.745195644.1442412124#/