Dear Minister Heyman,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. My name is Brennan James. I am writing to share with you the knowledge I have acquired through a recent school project that focused on learning about our community and the environment, particularly the involvement of Squamish Nexen’s plant in contributing to air pollution and being a environmental issue .
As part of our curriculum, our class undertook a project that aimed to explore environmental issues and their impact on our local community. Throughout the project, we conducted extensive research, participated in interactive discussions, and engaged with local organizations and residents who are actively involved in environmental initiatives.
During my research, I came across concerning information regarding the air pollution and environmental problems generated by Squamish Nexen’s plant, which has been identified as a contributor to environmental degradation in our area. This discovery deeply alarmed me, as it highlighted the potential risks posed to our community’s health and the sustainability of our environment.
According to multiple sources, including reports from environmental organizations, academic studies, and concerned citizens, Squamish Nexen’s plant has been associated with emissions of various pollutants, including particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and greenhouse gases. These emissions have a detrimental impact on air quality, compromising the health and well-being of our community members and contributing to climate change.
Through this school project, I have not only gained a deeper understanding of the environmental issues affecting our community but also developed a sense of responsibility to advocate for positive change. It is evident that immediate action is needed to address the air pollution caused by Squamish Nexen’s plant and to protect the health of our community members and the integrity of our natural surroundings.
In light of this, I kindly request your assistance in addressing this matter. I urge your office to conduct a thorough investigation into Squamish Nexen’s plant operations, focusing on their current emission levels and the effectiveness of their pollution control measures. It is crucial to ensure that industries operating in our community prioritize sustainable practices and adhere to stringent environmental regulations.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I am confident that with your support and leadership, we can create a positive impact and work towards a greener future for our community. I eagerly await your response and any information you can provide to further our cause.
Yours sincerely,
Brennan
1) What questions did you need to research in order to create your sway?
I needed to research what the chemical plant was, what was the best way to explain the topic and issue with the topic, what was produced at the plant and what are the chemicals used for, when the Squamish Nexen Plant was in operation, what was the issue of the chemical plant, who owned the site, and what happened to the chemical site after terminated operation. I chose to be very specific in the questions, since I knew that with it being local, there may not be a lot of information on the topic I chose. These questions were straight to the point and direct, to convey questions on a rather unknown topic that I enjoyed learning about. I also needed to research a little on how to use sway and the techniques on making it as good as I could create it.
2) What new or familiar digital tools did you try to use as you worked through this project?
Gale was a helpful source of information where I was able to get a lot of information on the questions I was wondering about. Gale is a trusted database of information on the riverside site for ra eason. It is helpful, truthful information, and allows citing work to be easy with one click of a button. Most sources I have to use websites such as chegg.com to be able to get citations that are sufficient for a project. I also used google.com, and Microsoft edge. These provided a ok source of information. Google can often be misleading and untrustworthy, so to have a online source such as Gale, which is reliable, it sped up the process considerably further.
3) What was the process you used to investigate the topic and how did you verify and cite the information you found?
I followed these steps to investigate the topic and become aware on what is true and what is false with these steps.
1. Identify the key idea or notion of the issue you wish to write about.
2. Create a list of relevant keywords and phrases that you can use to search for information by brainstorming.
3. Conduct research: To gather data on the subject, I consult a variety of sources, including books, scholarly journals, reliable websites, and news items.
4. Assess the reliability of the sources by examining the credentials of the author, the publication date, and any relevant biases.
5. Sort information: Put the information you’ve acquired into categories or themes that are pertinent.
6. Analyse and interpret: Assess the information’s applicability to your subject by analysing it, then consider its meaning.
7. Cite sources: Use a citation style guide to correctly credit all of the sources you used for your research.
4) How did the process of completing this challenge go? What could you have done better?
I liked the challenge and it kept me informed on my community, my communities work, our environment, and the city as a whole. I like hearing about interesting things in our community that are more specifically in the past. It is interesting and informs me on other topics. I maybe could have done better my time management, since my phone was not working well with gale, I delayed having my computer for a couple days and it really drained my time. Once I tried to search my topic I had sources tell me many different things. I looked for the most consistent answer to get the most truth on the internet. I then checked the sources, and all of them were trusted and big sites. Overall, finding the pictures was a easy process because the questions were not especially for any of my questions. I would learn about things in my community again and found this to be a informing project that had me close to home.