Essay #2 - Production Sample

Production Sample -  (Thanks Mohamed Al Zubaidi - CID)

The second stage of the “Story of Stuff” cycle is production, where the resources extracted are converted into products. In her presentation, Leonard defines production as “mix[ing] toxic chemicals in with the natural resources to make toxic contaminated products” (Story of stuff, 2007). There are many side effects affecting both consumers and people working in these production plants.  The mixing of different chemicals together result in new toxic chemicals that nobody understands their effect on human health. These new toxics are now found everywhere around us, including the bodies of adults and even newborn babies.  These toxics cause a lot of diseases including cancer. Some companies have decided to move their plants to other countries to reduce the pollution. However, this leads to polluting another country and exposing the workers in that country to toxic chemicals. This problem should be solved by using nontoxic materials in production, and not sending these factories to poor countries where there is cheap labor and no regulation.

Essay #2 - Extraction Sample

Extraction Sample -  (Thanks Mohamed Al Zubaidi CID)

Extraction is the first stage of making stuff, where the raw materials are taken from nature to be converted later into the “stuff”. There are three main concerns regarding extraction. Firstly, producers are using so much of the nature resources, which will lead to the exhaustion of these natural resources. This is because consumers consume more stuff with time, that’s why producers are trying to produce more and more. Secondly, the process of extraction itself is damaging the environment. For example, chopping so many trees to use wood in production has reduced the amount of forests in the planet by 80 percent. Finally, the developed countries are using the resources of other countries. According to Leonard (Story of Stuff, 2007), “we [The U.S.] have 5% of the world’s population but we’re consuming 30% of the world’s resources”. Therefore, the current extraction methods should be replaced by extracting less material, producing materials that last longer and using clean energy with more recycling.

Final schedule for LSEC 1103 - 2012

Here is the schedule for the final assignments:

Final schedule for LSEC 1103 - 2012

1. For Thursday, 3 May SoS: Introduction; Extraction; Production;

(Monday, 6 May) Distribution (4 paragraphs) 

2. For Thursday, 10 May Consumption; & Disposal (2 paragraphs)

3. For Thursday, 17 May Consumerism in UAE & Conclusion. (2 paragraphs)

And Draft essay#2 due 5pm.

4. For Thursday, 24 May Final version of essay #2 due 5pm. 

5. For Thursday, 31 May Final Portfolio2 (essays 1+2) + Personal reflection2

+ Vocab due

If you follow this schedule we can finish by the end of May, just in time for the start of your final exams.

Good luck,  The Fox

Final Project – Essay #2

LSC 1103                                          Final Project – Essay #2  

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard demonstrates the problems that consumerism is having on our planet.  We are all concerned about global warming, but no one wants to actually stop consuming. Our consumerism uses up resources, pollutes the planet, poisons humans, destroys species, keeps people in poverty, and contributes to global warming—all without really making anyone happier. 

Write an eight hundred word essay (600-800 words) outlining the problems caused by consumerism and discuss possible solutions. Include at least one paragraph which describes the situation in the UAE. Mention the UAE’s carbon footprint and discuss reduce, reuse and recycle and pollution reduction.

• ·         Write an interesting (high-level) introduction. You may mention the Story of Stuff video.
• ·         Identify the problems associated with consumerism. (You should have six sub-  headings) = five + Consumerism in the UAE
• ·         Discuss the possible solutions.
• ·         Describe what is being done to reduce the problem in the UAE.
• ·         Write a strong conclusion.
• ·         Bibliography: There should be a minimum of 4 sources. For higher grades                   you would be looking at 6 - 8 sources.

·          

·         There must be four in-line citations. Use APA format. All Sources should be in your bibliography! 

Write between 600 and 800 words approximately.

The more work you put in the higher the likely grade. 

Any plagiarism will result in a mark of zero for this assessment.

Essay #2 - Story of Stuff Introduction- sample

Essay #2 - Sample Introduction by  Mohammed Al Zubaidi CID

The “Story of Stuff”, narrated by Annie Leonard, is a short 20 minute video that tracks the origin of stuff and explains how stuff is produced, purchased and discarded in a fun and simple way. The system of producing stuff is interacting with cultures and communities affecting humans, and exhausting the natural resources. These factors are often ignored when talking about the production systems. The core of this problem is the change in consumption behavior in the last few decades.  This essay will discuss the following different aspects of the story of stuff: extraction, production, distribution, consumption and finally disposal.  The essay will then briefly discuss the consumerism in UAE and suggest potential solutions. 


Word count: 114

Model - Houbara Bustards

Houbara Bustards - (Mohamed Abdulsalam Al Amiri, 2012)

The numbers of houbara bustards has been decreasing throughout the past decades due to illegal human actions such as hunting. The UAE’s government has opened a houbara reproduction center in Morocco in order to save those birds from extinction. The center works in a very careful plan; from breeding, examining sperm samples, training and the number of birds let go every season. After the eggs are laid, most of the houbara’s are released into the wild. “Chicks due for the release are kept in wire cages. They are then released in two batches in one of two stretches of land” (Todorova, 2011). The programmed has been a success according to the scientists who monitor the released houbara’s and their numbers are increasing.

References

Todorova, V. (2011, May 27). UAE-funded centre revives endangered bird population - The National. thenational.ae - The National. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/heritage/uae-funded-centre-revives-endangered-bird-population

APA formatting by BibMe.org.

Word Count : 124

Personal Reflection for your Blogs

Personal Reflection:

For your personal reflections you need to write 240-250 words about learning and writing in LSEC 1103. Your reflections should include your view and ideas about writiting:

1. The summaries, and reading the articles

2. Writing citations and using Bibme.org for your bibliography

3. Not being able to ‘copy’ your writing from written articles

Add your reflection to your blog with Graded Summaries #1 & #2 –

See this example:

Personal Reflection – From Saleh (2011)

This CLA language course was intended to help improve our level of writing, understanding, and also to be able to properly define the words that might be used in our workplace in the future.

My classmates and I were taught by Mr. Gregory Vrhovnik, an American language teacher. To me, Gregory was by far one of the best at making students feel that what they were doing was not work, he had a way to make us feel motivated, which lead us to interpret writing as something that we could do at any time, as if it was common sense.

Some of the best learning experience that I had with this course was doing in-class summaries, this pushed me to think fast on how to write a perfect summary in a certain amount of time, pushing me to exceed my boundaries, and learn how to be an effective writer. Another useful method that was provided with this course was the online vocabulary quizzes which helped me boost my understanding of words and how to use certain words in certain sentences.

I personally think that this course was extremely helpful, useful, and very resourceful. This course has made my very confident with language. I can now easily tackle any sort of grammar as well as write about anything I am assigned to with ease, all thanks to the experience I had during this language course.

Word Count: 244