# data[].attributes.headline
Research an Endangered Animal: Key Largo Wood Rat

# data[].attributes.subject
Research an Endangered Animal: Key Largo Wood Rat

# data[].attributes.body
This animal is located only on one island in the entire world, Key Largo.

The Key Largo Wood rat (Neotoma floridana smalli) is a rodent that can get up to around 12-16 inches. This rat has a brown and black back with reddish brown on the sides. The Key Largo Wood Rat also has a tail that is brown near the top and fades to white towards the bottom. This animal eats nuts, fruit, seeds, mushrooms, and leaves. Key Largo Wood Rats reproduce all year and females give birth to one to four young per litter with two to three litters born each year.

# data[].attributes.body
An Ecological Footprint is the mark you leave behind in the world. The 'footprint' takes into consideration the amount of energy you use each day and how much energy it takes to produce the things you consume. In my ecological footprint, my biggest area of resource consumption is "services" or the societal impact. The "services" area is government assistance, roads, infrastructure, public services, and the military of the country that we live in. In the quiz that we were given, all citizens of the country are immediately given their share of these "services". The amount of land that takes to support my lifestyle is 25.3 acres. Most of this land is taken with Energy Land which takes up 28 tons of carbon dioxide. If the whole world had the same lifestyle as I did, then we would need almost 6 Earths to compensate. I have been recycling, eating local foods, and using LED lighting. All of these activities have helped to minimize my ecological footprint in my daily life. Even though I do these things, my lifestyle is not all minimalist. Sometimes I leave the water on when I am brushing my teeth, sometimes I don't unplug the appliances when I am not using them, or sometimes when I could walk or bike, I still ride in the car. These things affect my ecological footprint in negative ways. Now that I have learned of the concept of an ecological footprint, I will take shorter showers, unplug appliances that I am not using, and I will bike or walk when I could choose to ride in a car. I hope that these things will help with lowering my ecological footprint. I just wish that the rest of the United States could be aware of the same things. America has a such large ecological footprint because Americans have such big expectations for their lifestyle. The more developed and "first-world" the country is, the bigger their ecological footprint is. The Everglades are in danger due to the ecological footprints of Floridians. The Population of Florida has risen rapidly and the Everglades are affected by this. The more people there are, the more runoff water, ground water, and waste is dumped into the Everglades and the Ocean.

# data[].attributes.body
"Who Will Help The World?"

Help me
Are the words the world calls
These words are uttered
By each plant
And by each animal
Who will help the world?

The humans can't help
They destroy everything they touch
There are some people who wish
But they don't make a dent in the destruction
The destruction they created

Even some of their own ask in despair
Help me
But they turn their heads in disgust
The world is falling

Help me
These words are uttered
By each thing that lives on the earth
Everything that needs help

Every bird of the air
Every fish of the sea
Every creature of the land
Every insect of the forest
Every animal that slithers, walks, runs, climbs, and sleeps
Each one is crying out in anguish and resentment

People turn blind eyes to the desperation that has laid waste to this earth
There is so much wretchedness in this world
It is almost helpless

Everything is crying out
Help me
Who can help it now?

-Alyssa Kapusta

My worldview is an ecocentric view, but it is also depressing. I believe that at the rate that we are going, the Earth will deteriorate and will be extinct. The Earth is an amazing collection of different species of creatures. We are only one type of many. We may be at the top of the food chain because of our brains, but the world only has so many resources and if humans use it all up, then the rest of the creatures of the world will suffer. Nature exists for all creatures and all the resources of Earth are there for ALL of us to SHARE. The success of the Earth depends on how we spend these resources and how smartly we share them. To help the Earth last, humans should promote earth-sustaining forms of economic growth and exclude the machinery that debilitates the Earth.

# data[].attributes.body
See Movie in IMovie

# data[].attributes.headline
Law/Legislation: Conditional and Prohibited Nonnative Species Regulation

# data[].attributes.subject
Law/Legislation: Conditional and Prohibited Nonnative Species Regulation

# data[].attributes.body
This law forbids certain nonnative animals to be released into the Florida wild. This law says that to bring or possess a nonnative animal in Florida, you have to have a permit. This law regulates the amount of nonnative  species from becoming INVASIVE. This law protects the wildlife of the Everglades and the rest of Florida. This law has been effective in making sure that the invasive species are kept lower. Now that this law has been passed, more people are aware of the need to bring in, alive or not, nonnative species.

http://laws.flrules.org/files/Ch_2010-185.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
These maps are comparing The Everglades National Park before the drainage system was installed and what it is like now with the drainage system. During the Florida trip, we learned that this area, which now holds major cities like Miami, used to be bigger. Now the government is trying to protect these collections of wetlands.

# data[].attributes.body
This picture is of a Blue Heron in the Everglades. I believe that this picture is important because it shows how beautiful creatures are in the wild and shows why this beauty should be protected. The Blue Heron is one of the main waterbirds in the Everglades and by protecting them, we help show future generations how graceful these birds can be.

# data[].attributes.body
Initiative to restore one million corals launches in the Caribbean and Florida Keys by Mote Marine Laboratory

This article is about an organization, Mote Marine Laboratory, that wants to restore one million corals to the coral reefs of the Florida Keys and the Caribbean. When we went to the Florida Keys and went snorkeling, one of the people who worked on the boat taught us about the effort that is described in this article.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160912173953.htm