Kieran's EDUC450 Blog!: Sep 24 Entrance Slip

My first "stop" was when the alter global movement was mentioned - a term I was not familiar with. I took a few minutes to read up a little bit on google and am fascinated with some of the ideas presented. I resonate with the idea that economic globalization is not the longterm solution. My basic understanding is that it seems to rely on the exploitation of some group, somewhere in the world. Not only is this wrong, and has been the foundation for the development of western capitalism, it doesn't feel like a sustainable economic model. As the global south develops, the increase in wealth and education will mean that either the cost of manufacturing will rise, or we'll need to find new regions to exploit. Eventually we won't be able to continue this model. A continued focus on local economics could be a reasonable path forward to transition to a more sustainable economic future. Furthermore, in the case of the garden, I believe that local agriculture's immediate presence will maintain he conscience of consumers (It's easier to wreck an ecosystem if we don't need to see it everyday).

Okay back to maths.

I have a few ideas for lesson plans using the garden as a co-teacher, mostly involving some modelling with math. One, is for a longer term project, whee a student might study growth rate of a plant and try to use math to describe the ways in which the environment affects its growth. Another, might be to study competition between plants. For geometry, we could look at the shapes found in the garden. This could range from understanding basic geometric shapes, to modelling the way a branch hangs with calculus. Topics such as fractals can be taught through bifurcation etc. Finally, I've been thinking a bit about the way that nature seeks to optimize things. Feeling for things in this direction could be grounds for a range of interesting topics and projects.

Verdon Gorge, France