Sources

This sources talks about coyotes living in city's, and suburban areas. This is exactly the type of thing i am looking for, because one of the sounds i want to record is coyotes howling, and the concept of this article directly relates to my project.

Moyer, Ben. "Coyotes make a living from the suburbs to downtown." Post-Gazette.com. 21 Oct. 2009 .



This is the urban ecology homepage. Urban ecology is deals with the interaction between plants animals and humans-which will have good information for my project.

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"Urban Ecology." Urban Ecology. 21 Oct. 2009

Revised Senior Project

Group
I will be working alone

What?
My project is based on the idea of the similarities and tensions between nature, and man made things (cars,planes,talking, markets,house appliances, etc) I am going to record the sounds of these things with a digital recorder, and make them into songs, containing two or more recordings. I will also take pictures to represent the things i am recording.

Display
I am going to have my research and pictures on a poster, and recordings playing from a CD or laptop- which i can display at exhibition.

What i need from John
-Help with research sources
-Finding people i can possibly interview
-Other ideas of sounds i can record

My next steps
-Get more recordings, and start putting them togather
-Start taking pictures
-Start researching
-Go to beaches, canyons, etc to find sounds to record
-Talk to more people, to get their opinions and critiques on my project

Research
-Urban ecology
-Urban animals-pigeons, cockroaches, rats, skunks,possums, etc
-What makes them different from other animals? Why do the live with humans when other animals stay away?
-Why didnt other animals adapt to staying with humans?
-Are these animals beneficial to us?
-What other life forms coexist with humans? plants, mold, bacteria.


Who i can get help from
-John
-Margaret
-Mom/Dad
-Marci
-friends

These are the sound combination's i am thinking about

Shower/faucet – Ocean
Super Market – Farmers Market
People talking – Night animals
Planes/helicopters - Doves/Crows
Guitar-crickets,coyotes,owls, etc



Essential Questions
• In what ways do Humans coexist with nature in urban settings
• What are the natural happenings and life in San Diego
• What are the tensions between humans and nature
• What defines natural vs unnatural?


Photos
-All of the above





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Compost

Composting is a way to decompose food scraps, and other unwanted organic materials, and with it you can make soil garden ready. Composting can be very helpful in our society because a lot of the food we through away can be made into compost. If that compost is collected on a large scale it could be used as a natural fertilizer which would be much less harmful to us and the environment.
Although most people don’t compost or don’t know what it is, composting on a large scale is already being put into effect. On October 21 in San Francisco it will become mandatory to recycle food waste, which will be used for enriching the soil of organic farms. "Conventional farming — tilling the land, using commercial fertilizers, etc. — puts 3,700 pounds of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere per acre per year. Applying compost, which helps grow 'cover crops' that draw carbon in part from the air, returns 12,000 pounds of carbon a year to the soil."
Besides Organic and backyard farming, compost could also be used in urban gardens, and parks. From what I can tell, most public parks are planted with fertilizers, and chemical pesticides and herbicides. And if compost is used to improve the quality of the soil, instead of using chemicals, then there will be no health risks for people, animals, and the plants themselves. And in that way our “trash” will naturally decompose into the soil.
Another big improvement that composting can make, is it decomposes waste. Normally everything we through away goes into landfills, but a lot of it can be made into compost. Compost greatly improves the structure of soil, which helps the plants grow, and be healthier. Americans also waste a lot of the food they buy, and instead of throwing it away, they could easily compost it. So if composting becomes more widely known about, and becomes part of the waste pick up system along with recycling, Than America would become a much more environmentally friendly country.

Sources


"Benefits and Uses - Composting for the Homeowner - University of Illinois Extension." Untitled Document. 14 Oct. 2009 .

fertility, tilth. In addition, you disperse in the soil a magnitude of beneficial micro organisms which help the vines fully develop, produce full flavored grapes, thus, premium quality wine, and " says owner Fred Cline.. "San Francisco’s Composting Ordinance Turns Waste into Wine | SolveClimate.com." SolveClimate.com | Daily Climate News and Analysis. 14 Oct. 2009 .

Worm composting

What we need for worm composting

• a plastic storage bin, with holes in the lid for ventalation (it should be 24 inches (61 cm)
• If your compost is too we use a burlap sack as a cover
• To prepare the box for the compost/worms fill it with strips of newspaper, cardboard, and grass clippings
• Sprinkle it with dirt and water, and allow it to soak through for at least a day before you put the worms in
• Get worms
• keep bin elevated from the ground, on bricks
• If you keep the compost damp you don't have to worry about the worms escaping
  
• Sprinkle the surface with water every day
• Feed your worms vegetable scraps once a week
• Feeding them lightly will often produce more worms
• Add more newspaper, cardboard and other fibers once a month

How to harvest compost ( from Wikihow.com)

"Put on rubber gloves, and move any large un-composted vegetable matter to one side. Then, with your gloved hands, gently scoop a section of worms and compost mixture onto a brightly lit piece of newspaper or plastic wrap. Scrape off the compost in layers. Wait a while giving the worms time to burrow into the center of the mound. Eventually you will end up with a pile of compost next to a pile of worms. Return the worms to the bin, do whatever you want with the compost, and repeat"


Source

How to make your own worm composting system

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Own-Worm-Compost-System

Farmer in Cheif reflection

In the Socratic seminar the class participated in today there was a common idea that kept coming up. A lot of people said that America cant change our destructive ways and become more environmentally conscious, because Americans are to lazy to change their convenient lifestyles.After thinking about this idea throughout the day i got a new opinion on this topic. What i realized was that we would not have any of the inventions and advances in technology that we have today, if Americans are really that lazy. We could still be going everywhere in horse-drawn carriages, if someone hadn't taken the time to invent the car. So Americans ARE capable of change, we just have to do it!
Another topic that several people brought up was we can teach the next generation of school kids to be more green. We could do this buy having school gardens(that could possibly be for the whole community) serving healthy foods for school lunches, and teaching kids to recycle, and not be wasteful. I think that if these ideas are treated as thinks you have to know, like reading and math-then they will become universal. I know for a fact that as a kid i would never try to learn math,reading, and writing if i didn't have to.
Above all i think that there will always be problems going on with the world, and we are going to have to keep finding solutions, and giving up some of our comforts and conveniences will be hard at first, but it wont kill us.