Aliessah                                        First Peoples Principles of Learning

There are two main First People principles of learning which are interconnectedness and sustainability. Both relate to our unit in spheres and the projects we have done so far.

Interconnectedness relates to our project of the mind map we just completed. Everything on that mind map was connected to different aspects of it. For example, the nitrogen cycle relies on bacteria and various bacteria’s in the soil convert gaseous N2 to compounds for plants (primary producers) to use for growth. Detrivores also decompose organic matter and recycle nitrogen to plants that primary producers also need. Primary producers are important because herbivores rely on them to survive and eat which then the secondary consumers (carnivores) come and eat the primary consumers and the tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers. The problem with this food chain is that primary producers are sometimes infested with pesticides such as PBC’s which is extremely harmful for animals. But since they aren’t aware of what they’re eating, they digest it and then the secondary consumers who eat the primary consumers get a lot of the chemicals that the primaries had and then it continues through the food chain. Then at the tertiary consumer, they have taken in so many of the chemicals that has been passed through all the animals before that they become sick from all the toxic chemicals and die off. This was all from the start of the nitrogen cycle and it’s all connected and lead to the extinction of certain species from ingesting toxic chemicals.

Sustainability is the ability to maintain something at a certain rate and in this case, we want to maintain the spheres and the Earth, in general. In every part of the world, humans are cutting down trees to create new communities and homes. But an important source of atmospheric water is transpiration and the destruction of trees can alter weather patterns which leads to climate change. Climate change is affecting us slowly, but surely. The Earth’s temperature is going up and if humans don’t slow it down. Al Gore says that future generations are going to ask themselves “what we’re our parents thinking” We shouldn’t let it get that far. There are many ways to help this climate change and one of them is starting off small like composting. That is why it is imposed in so many places such as SFU. When we did the discussion of what our green goal for our city is there were many great ideas. People in our city government should plant a few compost bins around the city. Another way is to not use PBC’s on plants. Maybe use another type of pesticide that doesn’t harm the animals around. There are many ways to sustain this world, and it only goes as far as it being in your own home.