We finished off the week by transplanting a dozen cattails and other wetland marginal plants within and along the edges of the wetland. These we sourced from one of the City of Fredericton's attenuation ponds: Over time, these ponds are colonized by wetland plants which the city removes in order to keep the ponds functioning optimally; by transplanting some of these plants we're giving them a chance to thrive and contribute to a habitat elsewhere, rather than become compost or landfill.

We'll monitor the progress of these plants over the next few weeks, with the intention of transplanting more later in the summer.

 
Station DJs receive "props" (votes of approval from other listeners in the blip.fm community) each time a listener favourites a track. Our goal is to inspire 100 props by the end of the course, and generate an entertaining—and environmentally relevant—playlist in the process.

Listen now: ENVS2023 radio

 
At the end of the film, the class had a number of questions/comments, which have been forwarded to the NFB—I'll post any responses I receive, here.

1. Will "Suzuki Speaks" be hosted online like the rest of the NFB's catalogue?

2. The film's message sometimes got lost in the visuals, which either dominated or seemed out-of-place on occasion; occasionally the film's soundtrack made Suzuki hard to hear.

3. In the film, Suzuki warned against the saturation of technology in our societies a number of times; however the film itself relied heavily on technology and digital special effects to deliver it's message. How much input did Suzuki have during the production of the film? Has he commented on the final product since completion?

It is often difficult to deliver environmental news stories and discuss research and reports as many of the messages are so negative: our global situation can often feel hopeless, leaving one feeling overwhelmed and paralysed.

Using the excellent "Taking Action" resources from Soka Gakkai International (Canada) as a starting point, I presented the following survey to my students in an attempt to gain insight into their viewpoints and assess attitudes with respect to global environmental issues. The graphic below illustrates the mean of the class responses:
 

It will be interesting to revisit these questions as the course progresses.

A place in which a species lives where it takes advantage of all resources within the biosphere.

I consider "environment" to be our surroundings.

Mother Nature and her natural resources.

The environment is the natural world in which we live that surrounds us every day.

The environment is all the things surrounding us on the planet.

The natural and built world that people, plants, and animals inhabit.

Your natural surroundings.

The environment is the area which surrounds us, whether it be nature, people, etc., and is subject to manipulation.

Our surroundings.

Where humans, plants, and animals live; natural resources which provide essential tools for survival.

The world we live in and what surrounds us.

The physical area in which an organism lives.

Everything that surrounds me. An object's surroundings and the interactions between them.

Natural surroundings and our impacts or dependance upon them.

The areas in which life exists and resources are available.

The habitats and interactions within habitats in an area.

The environment pertains to the surrounding elements that are crucial for our healthy lifestyles.

The interaction between plants, animals, people, and their surrounding world.

That which is around us and interacts with us.

Living and nonliving things around you that interact with each other.

It surrounds us: from mountains to deserts, the environment is what makes that area unique.

All surrounding settings involving nature or otherwise.

Everything together: the land, sea, oxygen, plants, weather, etc... How they work together — cause and effect.

Best wishes to everyone for a safe and joyful 2009. May our—and others'—food, shelter, and nesting needs be met!

[Photo: Local neighbourhood trail, College Hill, Port Moody, British Columbia]

 
Within the next week or two we'll install a class set of benches within the fence perimeter and then that's it until the spring.

The Grade 7 students made it out earlier this week to tackle the weeding of the tree nursery beds, which, if you'll recall, looked like this:
 

 
...and now look like this:
 

 
Great job, everyone!

From the photo below, you can see that the trees have grown and filled out nicely, becoming bushier and more robust since their initial planting last fall:
 

 
Come the spring, a bed of two of these trees will be planted out around the wetland and elsewhere in the green space at the back of the school.
 

Anything's better than sitting in class—even digging in the dirt!

—Grade 7 student