# data[].attributes.body
What research tool, idea, or methodology caught your attention?

One of the tools used during the session that really caught my attention was the kanopy, videos and documentaries available for us from local or international places. Sometimes is not open but you can hear it while driving or even doing exercise.  Definitely an amazing option for many of us, that do many things at the same time. Also, eBooks is another good option, to avoid carry on heavy stuff and having an option to read it anywhere, how easy it is to access and find all necessary information for a specific material. Prof Duque is such an amazing instructor, what a pleasure to have an instructor so dedicated and with such knowledge about the topic. Definitely is a person to look if you need a extra help or have questions.

What topic did you select to research?  Why did you pick this topic?

The topic that I decided to research was late-term abortion. Here in the state of Florida, the law states that a late-term abortion can be done until 24 weeks of gestation, which means that women can carry on the fetus until 24 weeks and decide to get rid of it. I pick this topic as a personal problem because I was born 24 weeks a few decades ago when medicine was not advanced as now. I don’t have anything against what people decide for their life, but waiting until 6 months is unbelievable, because you are putting your life at risk and the baby could survive somehow. So maybe helping people to understand this can help them decide to do something as soon as they found out that they are expecting, probably in the first two months. I would agree with the abortion in that late-term in case of any serious circumstances, like the death of the baby or any medical complication. Miami is a place, where you can find regular and many more irregular places that actually do those types of procedures, and many women use those places because of financial hardships. Some cases are not reported, and complications can bring death or complicated health issues.

Work Cited

"State Policies on Late-Term Abortions in the United States, December 2018." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/SLLHTZ187665813/OVIC?u=lincclin_mdcc&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=410800ba. Accessed 26 Jan. 2022.

# data[].attributes.headline
My reflections about this magnificent biology class...

# data[].attributes.subject
My reflections about this magnificent biology class...

# data[].attributes.body
First of all, all the activities done in this class were eye-opening to everything that is happening around us. Especially about our environment and the history of how stuff was first used or invented in purpose to our benefit. From reading articles and watching videos, I did learn a lot, and most of this stuff made me think twice about it. I think that before getting into those activities, we always think or assume that it is boring and non-sense assignments or videos, and repeated stuff, but I was wrong about it. All those activities were worth more than anything that I have done before, I feel like now I can talk about those things and get my own opinion about those specific subjects. My expectations were pretty much low, but after completing the very first one, I was just enjoying and getting used to it.

In the SP2 activity, it was an enjoyable virtual meeting, Prof. Isabel Duque, gave out a lot of amazing tips about researching and I learned about not-so-good articles or repetitive ones. Information that I saw before but never focused on like I did in this assignment, Prof. Duque definitely played a good part in making it easy to understand.

About the CAS1 activity, the water bottle article, about the lies, that most of our water bottles are recycled, but only 2% are for real. We all as global citizens, need to change our way of life and respect nature. Set up new ways to add a filter to our homes, and reusable water bottles, this is the only way we can avoid adding waste to landfills and avoid them going into our ocean. I believe that is our duty to challenge this generation into creating healthy habits to improve our environment, so they can pass it down to the next generation. I, personally have done so many changes in my house about recycling more, re-using stuff, and the most basic solutions that my children can learn and follow.

In the CAS2 activity, I learned about how other countries are working harder in order to go green, per example Brazil started this process in 2002 and it is protected by law. Those new regulations should be applied to every country must protect the people and our environment. The system needs to be equal for everyone, and not just good for those big companies and riches. I learned that here in Florida, those prejudicial activities related to burning canes are still being practiced. Most of the time people that live on the poverty line are the ones who suffer the most and I believe that the government should be more aware of this situation.

About the CAS3 activity, the surprising solution to ocean plastic video, the innovative idea of social plastic, where people from poor countries can recycle and receive some income to help them to buy food, goods and pay for their basic needs. This idea can put recycling on the right path and people eventually will learn more about recycling. We are losing our environment is the fastest rate ever, and fixing this problem can take generations. I believe that under any circumstances, doing the right thing is always a winning situation for all of us. I learned that we all around this big world could get along and found a cure to one of our biggest problems, which is waste disposal.

As a person, I have learned of instead of judging each other, as a nation or community, we need to fight for solutions or create them to save our environment and ourselves. All those activities were like Lego pieces, when put together I can see how much I have learned without even noticing. I wish everyone could have a class like this in their very first year of college, it makes you enjoy it more than any other ordinary teaching method. I really enjoyed doing those activities and everything that I learned so far.

# data[].attributes.body
Video 1: Can China achieve its ambitious climate pledges?

This video shows how China has made a historic pledge to fight global warming and trying to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The phenomenon of China’s growing economy was due to the use of fossil fuels, the world’s largest coal consumer, oil consumer, and contributors to the growth in demand for gas. But now they need to work hard to avoid more damages to the global warning system, which can easily affect the world by three or four degrees warmer. China has pledged to not build any kind of coal power plants abroad and will start to phase out coal consumption. They are one of the largest users of wind and solar energy but need to double it in the next nine years. China wants to become a “great socialist modern country”. A veteran environmental economist believes that the country of China can achieve its climate pledges at a lower per-capital income.

Liu, Hongqiao. “Can China Achieve Its Ambitious Climate Pledges?” Hongqiao Liu: Can China Achieve Its Ambitious Climate Pledges? | TED Talk, TED, Oct. 2021, https://www.ted.com/talks/hongqiao_liu_can_china_achieve_its_ambitious_climate_pledges.

Video 2: The surprising solution to ocean plastic.

This video talks about how we can help the world by recycling plastic and transforming it into social plastic. Social plastic is a wealthy and brilliant way to help the less fortunate and provide some form of income. This guy, David, turned an amazing idea into reality to help those who litter, that way they can afford to pay for basic needs, food, and even help family members. Cleaning the ocean is not enough, it is necessary to stop the cycle of depositing plastic and garbage in our ocean. This app will soon be implanted into poor countries and directly help the environment. Our environment is suffering loss every day at a faster rate than ever before. One of the consequences is the plastic getting to our food and entering our bodies.

Katz, David. “The Surprising Solution to Ocean Plastic.” David Katz: The Surprising Solution to Ocean Plastic | TED Talk, TED, Dec. 2017, https://www.ted.com/talks/david_katz_the_surprising_solution_to_ocean_plastic.

Reflection: What did you learn?

Both videos were eye-opening to our and following generations, everything that has been done until now had either a good or bad side effect. Fortunately, the bad side effect can be changed and transformed into something different to save our world. China had glorious days with a brilliant economic empire, but they forgot about the environment, now they need to rush against time to save themselves. Nothing everything that shines is gold. The same issue we have with plastic because it was way cheaper than glass, but nobody had no idea of how this could affect us, resulting in landfills and an ocean full of garbage. I learned that every scenario in life has a possible U-turn to be followed and solve 100% of our actual problems, especially environmental issues, which now people are more worried about it. I was impressed by the litter app, idea, or program, such an amazing way to create a full healthy cycle between humans, necessity, environment, and garbage. In the next few years, China is about to show the world if it is possible to overturn the damages already done to the environment and if we can avoid doing the same mistake. People who lived in extreme poverty are already worried about food, shelter, and heath, so it can be really hard for them to follow a pattern without any additional benefits. Additional benefits as income, food, school institution, health insurance, and many basic necessities as a human being.

# data[].attributes.body
Hello you all...
First of all, let me introduce myself, my name is Maria Gabriela Cardoso, and I am 37 years old. Currently married to a Cuban guy (14 years and counting) and a mother of two incredible kids (12 and 10 years old). I am from Brazil, and United States has been my home for the last 22 years. First ten years here, I lived in Broward County, which is when I graduated from high school with a GED program. Last twelve years, I moved to West Hialeah, where I learned my Spanish. So, in 2018, I decided to go back to college (best decision ever) and changed the dynamic of my life. I am doing a double major in Paralegal Studies and Law, and this is my last semester at MDC. My MDC campus is Wolfson Campus (Bayside) because it is where the law department is, and most classes are related to law majors.

My hobbies are any activities that I can include my kids, camping, going to the beach, swimming, riding a bike, hunting, fishing, and the list goes on and on. I like to focus on outside activities, where you can enjoy nature, travel, and see the world differently. The ideal place to call home is in a quiet neighborhood, with a big backyard (not so easy to find in Miami) to have animals and plants, I believe that home is where you put your heart, and everything else will just come together. I am a big-time eater, love to eat, cook and put the family together at the table to eat and enjoy. It can be Brazilian, Italian, Cuban, or Portuguese food, so the list can go on and on because I like almost every kind of food.

In the next five years, I can see myself working as a paralegal (at least three years) and continuing my law degree to become a lawyer. I do not think that age is an issue at all because all you need is to set your mind and go for what you want. I am fascinated with law school but to go into it, I need my kids to be a little more independent. It is my chance to make a difference in this world, help unfortunates, fix those wrongs done and try to help people to get their rights. Language is sometimes a barrier to so many people, so since I speak Portuguese, Spanish and English, maybe that can be helpful.

Success is a small word where you can try to squeeze in whatever you want, you want to be, and where you want to be. For me, the definition of being successful is just doing what I love, helping others, and living my life. Personally, my weakness is emotions, death, and my strength is always trying harder and being a better version of myself every day. I don’t give up easily and my motto is to try to do the best in everything in my life. My life goes around my family, where my strength and weakness are. My proudest moment, for now, is to be alive at 37 years old, mother of two, and almost graduating college.

I am looking forward to fun in this class and learning more every day!

# data[].attributes.headline
Documentation about "My story stuff" and my reflection.

# data[].attributes.subject
Documentation about "My story stuff" and my reflection.

# data[].attributes.body
1st video – “The Story of Bottled Water.” https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-bottled-water

The video is about how the world started using and buying bottled water. Water bottle companies have been seducing us, lying to us, and demanding us to buy bottled water because it is safer than our tap water. But the big problem is that only 2% or less are recycled and the rest are sent to landfills, where it takes years to decompose. There are a lot of people around the world who doesn’t have access to clean water, but we can change this by spending less on bottled water and spending more on way to help those people to have clean water. Last few years the market put up refillable water bottle, which doesn’t produce garbage, so people are buying those and avoiding the waste in landfill.

2nd video – "The Story of Cosmetics." https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-cosmetics/

This video is about how the cosmetic business keeps adding chemicals to our products that can affect our life, health, and future generation. But they try to seduce us into a beautiful promise of better hair, skin, and smell.  Few of those chemicals are not that dangerous, but how people can know about that and how the industry started testing on animals and including us. How do companies and the government decide on products that can be used by us, many products contain a chemical that can cause cancer. No law controls the chemicals used in our products, only 8 chemicals have been banned out of more than 12,000 chemicals. But his has been changing from last years, companies are already starting to change their chemicals and people still got what they need or want but without the toxic in it.

Reflection:

A.  How does consumption relate to your role as a global citizen?

As global citizens, we need to change the way people believe that tap water is not safe, and they have options to put filters in their houses or sinks. Every one of us must produce less waste and learn from other countries how they recycle or re-use stuff. We must protect the planet and help the unfortunate to have access to basic stuff on life, like clean water and a garbage-free environment.

Related to the cosmetic video, we are responsible for asking for a change in this broken system, we need to report and demand a safer regulation to our products. As global citizens, we are responsible to make this world and society better to live in and for the next generation, it is our duty to avoid any diseases produced by chemicals used by the industry. I know things are changing but it is necessary to push it harder and use our rights to keep us safer.

B.  What changes are you inspired to make after watching The Story of Stuff videos?  Why?

I have already done so many changes in my house, including not buying water bottled, recycling every way possible, and avoiding producing unnecessary garbage. So, watching those videos is like a confirmation of what I am doing is the right thing to do. It encourages me to teach others about and talk about it with kids, so they can pass it down to friends and practice. I believe that people have learned a lot since the pandemic started, but others got worse with all those unnecessary garbage and stuff (Personal observation).

The video about cosmetics is eye-opening, since I have children, it is really interesting to look around and search for a healthy and clean option for shampoos, lotions, makeups, and everything we have in the bathroom. I don’t them to be affected by it, so my changes will be to read labels, buy only safe products, and teach them how those chemicals can bring diseases and other effects to their health.

Work Cited

“The Story of Bottled Water.” (video, released on March 22, 2010.)

https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-bottled-water/

"The Story of Cosmetics" (video, released on July 21, 2010.)

https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-cosmetics/

Personal observation

# data[].attributes.body
Article 1: Amazing New Process Treats Wastewater, Captures Carbon, and Makes Renewable Energy.

Engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed new wastewater treatments that mitigate carbon dioxide and, also capture greenhouse gases. It is a friendly way to recycle the water from the wastewater and use the gases produced by that waste into renewable energy in the same process (“Amazing New Process Treats Wastewater, Captures Carbon and Makes Renewable Energy”). The amount of wastewater produced in the United States can help the nation to save money and reduce the amount of energy used in the process of cleaning wastewater used today. This method is a huge opportunity to reduce air pollution, and energy usage, and treat wastewater in the same place to avoid any additional problems related to transportation and contamination. Many wastewater companies are located on coastlines and if this new treatment is implemented in those companies that can avoid any spill in the ocean or mitigation. This new technology has many benefits for us and our environment.

Article 2: Burning Sugar Cane Pollutes Communities of Color in Florida. Brazil Shows There’s Another Way.

The process of burning sugar cane, which was used a long time ago when people used to manually cut the sugar cane, is a disaster for the air quality. This article shows how this process can affect people, who live on the poverty line, in many ways from health to daily routine. In Brazil, the process of burning cane has been banned in Sao Paulo since, by law in 2002, they adapter well to the new regulations,s and people are not getting sick from it anymore. But here in Florida, we still have this practice without the full need of it, because they harvest the cane with machines (Sussman), and the burning process was to make a better, safe place for those workers who used to work manually. Raw cane has way more benefits than burned, even the cane trash can be used to protect the soil, and the same trash if burned produce more smoke and can start a fire nearby. Therefore, in Florida, the richest companies and people, complain about the pests that this trash can bring, but not about the air pollution. So, the burning process can only happen in months when the wind blows to the west because that will only affect the poverty line but if you burn in the other months, it is illegal because that will affect the richest of West Palm Beach (“Brazil Shows You Can Harvest Sugar Cane without Polluting the Air”). This process will take longer or will never stop here in Florida until this problem got bigger than it is already.

Reflection:

This new wastewater treatment is revolutionary, it is something that in the long term can help us reduce many types of pollutants and keep our environment safe for the following generations. Every day I learned that many things can be saved, used, recycled, and yet it amazes me how engineers came up with this magnificent idea. This has infinity of benefits for our environment, and most of it goes to the ocean because the ocean every year got the worse of us, waste, gases, and garbage. Those innovations again you don’t see that often in the other types of media, I believe it is because big businesses are not genuinely interested in this type of news. About the sugar cane article, it was eye-opening on how people today still practice the burning cane which can be so prejudicial to the environment and people’s health. It did catch my attention that Brazil could forbid and change its way around in the process of harvesting cane, and it is one of the most producers of sugar cane in the world. I learned that we people care about the environment and people do everything in every possible way to change it. Companies here in Florida are not trying to change or make life better for those who live close to their businesses. This subject is only an article, but people need to know and learn how this can be changed. I think that other media couldn’t stand or develop a story due to legal problems, financial issues, and how things can change when you deal with people that have an advantage, like money and power.

Work Cited

“Amazing New Process Treats Wastewater, Captures Carbon and Makes Renewable Energy.” Alternet.org, 18 Aug. 2015, www.alternet.org/2015/08/amazing-new-process-treats-wastewater-captures-carbon-and-producing-renewable-energy/?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker. Accessed 28 Jan. 2022.

Sussman, Nadia. “Burning Sugar Cane Pollutes Communities of Color in Florida. Brazil Shows There’s Another Way.” ProPublica, www.propublica.org/article/burning-sugar-cane-pollutes-communities-of-color-in-florida-brazil-shows-theres-another-way?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker. Accessed 28 Jan. 2022.

“Brazil Shows You Can Harvest Sugar Cane without Polluting the Air.” Www.youtube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqC3QPkdeYg&t=604s.

# data[].attributes.body
Video:  “Palm Oil Isn't as Bad as You Think.”

Reflection.

First of all, palm oil can be used in many things, food, and even combustible. Palm oil’s cultivation is being misused, and lands are becoming empty, due to the fact that people don’t want to follow a rule and respect, and protect our environment. There is a new variety of palm oil plant, which is a dwarf palm oil plant, that can be cultivated in a small space and produce the same amount of oil.  By 2050, there is an estimate that we will be using double more palm oil than now, and if nothing is being done to regulate the cultivation, there is a disaster on the way. The crops are well sustainable and survive only in the tropics because they need rain and sun. Palm oil can bring many benefits to the land by protecting soil from heavy rain and slowing down the process of evaporation. The idea of planning and projecting the harvest for palm oil is important to our environment and our necessity on daily basis related to useful products, food, and fuel. The deforestation done to palm oil can be controlled and managed by rules made by local authorities, governments, and entities that fight for our environment. Another thing is that we can help by demanding products from those specific farmers, who follow and obey the rules. This dynamic between people (buyers) and farmers (sellers) can benefit us all, including monetary and a healthier planet.

Works Cited:

“Palm Oil Isn't as Bad as You Think.” YouTube, Planet A, 4 Mar. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTSLzEJnYIw.

# data[].attributes.body
How late-term abortion affects women at any age and the babies in Miami?

1.    Burke, Monica. "To Prevent Painful Suffering for Children, Late-Term Abortion Should Be Banned." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/PJWTRN539932313/OVIC?u=lincclin_mdcc&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=634fbc5d. Accessed 11 Feb. 2022. Originally published as "To Prevent Painful Suffering for Children, Late-Term Abortion Should Be Banned," The Daily Signal, 2 Oct. 2017.

My second article is about how late-term abortion can be complicated and cause the baby pain and suffering, but it needs to be banned because born at late-term just as 20 weeks can feel everything that doctors are doing. So, an Act should be created in order to protect those premature babies.

2.    Howard Price, Joyce. "5 clinics shut on accusations of late-term abortions; Florida doctor's license suspended; 'flagrant disregard' of law cited." Washington Times [Washington, DC], 18 Aug. 2006, p. A11. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A149671019/OVIC?u=lincclin_mdcc&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=b0c21c44. Accessed 11 Feb. 2022.

This article is about how cruel mothers and doctors can be by practicing abortion in the third trimester of the pregnancy, which by law if forbid. But this is not about saving a life, it is about making money and forgetting about this responsibility as a doctor. Facilities can be open in many places, even with an irregular status and doctors with suspended licenses.

3.    National Review, Inc. "Here is an abortion story: in the Miami area, a woman named Sycloria Williams went to get an abortion." National Review, vol. 61, no. 4, 9 Mar. 2009, p. 12. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A194279897/OVIC?u=lincclin_mdcc&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=54c43197. Accessed 11 Feb. 2022.

This article shows how a late-term abortion at 23 weeks gestation, is extremely dangerous for the woman and the baby, who was born alive and could breathe on her own, but unfortunately, that life had no importance at all to justice, to the mother, and the medical practice staff. The baby was born alive but denied the right to live or get any additional help.