Purpose
1) To develop an understanding of the various ways in which humans have impacted a specific feature of the natural environment and attempts to mitigate negative impacts on the environment,
2) To provide evidence that these impacts are understood through discovering and rationalizing examples found where you currently live in.
3) To communicate findings clearly, effectively, and concisely.
Tasks
1. watch the Global News coverage of Canada’s Toxic Secret: A troubling trend of leaks and spills in the Sarnia area.
2. Explore the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice: https://ejatlas.org/
3. Select one of the following environmental features: vegetation, animals, land, soil, air, water, or climate.
4. Take two photographs in the city/town/reserve you currently live in.
5. Create a document that contains both your photos and your responses to the guiding questions below.
6. Submit an electronic copy of your assignment as an attachment through the assignments tab on OWL.
Background and Overview
Photovoice is a visual research methodology, often used in participatory community-based research, that involves collecting photos taken by participants and documenting their perspectives and narratives. The photos guide reflection, discussion, and the development of analytical themes.
The photos you take should be distinct: one photo should represent a) a negative, driving force of an anthropogenic impact on the selected environmental feature, and the other photo should represent b) a mitigating force that positively impacts the same environmental feature.
Each photo should include i) a title that indicates whether the photograph is a driving or mitigating force, and the selected environmental feature, and ii) the location the photograph was taken.
You are welcome to use as many resources as needed to sufficiently support your arguments with scholarly evidence. Credible sources of evidence include:
· Peer-reviewed journal articles or books (https://scholar.google.ca/).
· Municipal, provincial, federal, First Nation, Métis, and Inuit government reports and/or websites (e.g., https://cottfn.com/tle-environmental-studies/).
· Intergovernmental organizations’ reports and website (e.g., United Nations).
· Non-governmental organizations’ reports and websites (e.g., World Wildlife Fund, Carolinian Canada).
· Articles from credible newspapers (e.g., National Geographic, CBC News).
It is important to note that Wikipedia, blogs, social media content, and websites that do not meet the criteria listed above are not acceptable to use in this course.
In addition to the instructions above, your submission should be:
· APA formatted, including in-text citations and a complete reference list for all cited content.
· Double-spaced and ~500 words in length (excluding references);
All dates, statistics, facts, and ideas other than your own must be referenced. It is better to over-reference than neglect to do so and risk of plagiarism. Both direct quotations (i.e., the direct transfer of five or more words from a source to your text) and paraphrased material (i.e., re-wording of something written or spoken by someone else) require an in-text citation. Any resources that have been cited in-text must also appear in the reference list and only resources that are cited in your assignment should be included in your reference list.
Guiding Questions
· For both the driving and mitigating force identified in the photos, what are three key points each (supported with citations) that describe the human impact on the environmental feature and the implications for the environmental feature?
· How are the negative impacts on the feature situated in the landscape? Alternatively, what are possible root causes of the driving force you have identified?
· What are some gaps in your understanding? And how can you begin to fill those gaps?