Vernon Martin

He started by showing us a dollar. Which grabbed all of our attention. He said that its just a piece of paper with ink. This is so true it only means something to us because we make it mean something. We make it valuable. I never thought about money like that.

Also he brought up the mall and how it is set up. Most stored have windows to make you feel like you are outside. And to let natural sunlight in. Decorations are set up to look lik eoutside. This makes people feel calm and relaxed because they dont feel trapped inside. I never thought about this tell he brought it up which is so true.

Us as humans want to save all the cuddly animals. Even thought most of the time they arent the ones that do more for the environment. We always see commercials for the panda bears.

It was also weird to think about how people buy nature. But what they bought probably harmed nature so that is funny to think about. As people we do what is convenient.

Joe Mederios

We are all part of the ecosystem. We need all the different species or we will not survive. He also talks about what species to save or not save. We need to look at key species or the ones that are more of an impact then the cute animals. Insects and ants play a major role here on earth. They are the backbone. I cant believe that rainforests only cover 6% of the world but are essential and provide a lot of oxygen for the earth.
I think that we need to make changes in our living style. The US holds 5% of the worlds population but we consume 25% of the world resources. This is horrible.

toxins

Yes I care, the stuff in mining waste is very toxic to our health. This must be dealt with for the safety of everyone in the Sierras. Mike Thorton showed me that my environment isn't as clean as I thought it was. I don't want my kids playing in basebell fields that are toxic to them. As soon it becomes toxic enough to hurt anybody its time to do something about it. I think that the abadoned mines should have warning and be reinforced better so that people dont walk into them or fall. I dnt know how to get rid of them because we cant put them in the ocean. Mabye put them away so that they wont harm anyone. We need to inform people about the toxins. We could ride our bikes,reuse bags etc.

Gary Noy

I also think Gary Noy did a good job informing us about the sierras. Like that we get are water from the sierras. I thought it was very sad hearing that people would get payed to kill the native americans. There is a lot of diversity in the sierras its been there for more then 600 million years. The sierra has 3500 different plant species, and 400 vertibrate species.
Its interesting that so many people risked their lives to build the railroad and mine. Most people died within 8 months of building the railroad. That is so scary.
I also liked should we contain the fires or let them keep going. Also the roles of women making a impact. that they climbed Mt. Whitney. I cant believe that the sierras were different before humans came to the sierras.Overall I learned a lot form Gary Noy.

Mike Thorton

I was really intrigued by his presentation. He did a really good job with informing us about all the tozins in mines. I didnt realize that there was so many dangers to left over gold mines. I have been on field trips to gold mines back in elementary school. I thought they were so cool. But now that i think about it i wonder if our school teachers knew the dangers they were putting us in. I think its realy suprising that kids playing baseball are at risks in some places. I dont eat fish but I dont think after hearing his presentation I ever will. Because fish get the mercury and then we are eating the fish. Which isnt very healthy for us humans. I think we should notify more people about this problem. As we saw in the class no one was familiar with this problem.
He also talked about the there are over 47,000 abandoned across california. There are lots of toxins in these mines. like mercury,lead , arsenic. All these toxins are very dangerous to humans. They mostly affect pregnant women and kids which are the ones we should be most concerned about not harming.

Preservation of Species

I think that you should conserve that a lot of other important animals are dependent on. If it is a species that will have a large affect on the food chain, then they should be conserved. If a species is dying because of a man made crisis that they should be saved because its not part of evolution because its not part of the natural order. Otherwise if a species is to die naturally then it should be considered a part of evolution. New species that are introduced should not be disregarded, for that is how we have the new species now. Humans need to be conscious of how our actions affect the environment.