Reflections: Week 9 & 10

(Photo taken at the Apostle Islands)

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind!

Week 9:



During this week, we were taught about advocacy and the importance of it. We were taught the ethics of it and how it relates to our Seven Responsibilities of Health Educators. I thought that this was interesting becaus it's always nice to see what you're learning and how will relate to the responsibilities of a future job possibility.



Throughout this week we also did a project on our Political Representatives. We were asked to make a blog post that have all of the following information: our President, State Legislatures, Governor, City Counselmen and Duluth's Mayor. This was interesting to me because I did not know that Duluth had different counselmen for the different Districts. After looking into this more, I found that I live in the District 2 area! :)





Week 10:



This week we did not meet as a class (as well as two of my other classes :) ) but we were assigned a project to have finished this past Thursday for Dr. V to look at once she returned to lovely Minnesota weather... This project was a photo essay. My original idea (littering of the rivers, streams and lakes in Duluth) for this project was ruined by the snow, so I had to go back to the drawing table and think of something else. I did a little research and the area I had traveled to over spring break, Jekyll Island, GA, and found something quiet interesting about the bridge I had a picture of. The brigde that connects Jekyyll Island and Brunswick was built in 2002 and while in the process of building, the builders had taken into account the animals that live in the swampy areas underneath. Each year, turtles migrate to Jekyll Island and in the middle of the night, by moonlight, the leave the island to find new areas to live. The builders paid attention to this aspect and installed lighting system that provides enough light for drivers on the bridge but won't effect the turtle who will be navigating by the moon. Cool right?!

Well, that's it for my Week 9 and 10! I look forward to the rest of the semester and seeing what we talk about as a class and what information I will take away as an individual!

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

When I decided what I was going to do for this project, my idea was immediately ruined by the snow... So, I thought of what I did over spring break and if there were any pictures that I could use for this project... Here's what I came up with!

The bridge that is seen here is the Sidney Lanier Bridge that is located in Brunswick, Georgia. The original bridge was built in 1956 and has been recently re-built and improved! (It was originally built by the same company that had built I-35W that had collapsed in 2007).



After visiting Georgia, I did some research. I found that this bridge, which is a cable-stayed bridge (cables support the bridge deck) completed back in 2002, actually is environmentally friendly!

The most southern part of Georgia is VERY popular for turtles and where they lay their eggs... Once the turtles are hatched, they end up migrating back to the water by following the moon light. Since the Sidney Lanier Bridge is a popular port in Georgia, it is very important for there to be proper lighting for ships entering and leaving the area. It was important that "to keep lights on the 4,000 foot-long, cable-stayed Sidney Lanier Bridge from disorienting the migrating turtles, the Georgia Department of Transportation worked with the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to install a minimum number of lights on both the bridge deck and the approach road and to use shielded low-sodium, low-wattage lights that cut glare and light scatter. Since every season there are an estimated 100-120 turtle eggs laid in each nest on the island beaches and on average approximately 64,000 of the nestlings make it to the water, the lights may protect a large number of turtles. "

I found it VERY interesting that the people who built this bridge, were looking out for the turtles and doing whatever possible to help continue their migration in Brunswick, Georgia!