Feb. 19 session

Dr. Burley and I had a successful session manging to complete the focus group and generate favorable responses from students. The students were able to think of several environmental issues such as air pollution, cutting down trees, littering, vandalism (graffiti), and the use of excessive amounts of water. Some solutions for these issues were to have laws mandating that citizens turn off their power at a certain time, turn off water when brushing your teeth, plant more trees and flowers, use music to motivate citizens to think more environmentally, and create ways to recycle our own paper. Dr. Burley urged students to think critically about their suggestions, ensuring that their ideas would not produce other environmental issues. He explained the over use of chemicals in our society that go into the land and into our bodies, teaching students that we do not want to fix problems by creating new one's. Global warming and the use of solar panels were also mentioned in discussion. Overall, the students were very responsive and eager ro share their ideas. The discussion steered off topic a few times, however we were able to refocus and continue the session.