Wednesday 13 May 2015

Systems Thinking Research Post

In 1950 ,the Dayak people of Borneo an island in Southeast Asia were suffering from an outbreak of malaria. So they asked for WHO or World Health Organization for help .WHO's solution is to spray copious amount of DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) around the island .The result is that the mosquitoes were killed so did the malaria.

But the side-effect is that DDT also killed some kind of wasps that control the population of thatch-eating insect ,and the roofs of Dayak's people homes got eaten by these thatch-eater. The DDT alloyed in many insects on the island including gecko which is the food of cats ,cause the cats who dine on gecko to die and population of rats came up alot. The rats caused even more problems to Dayak people by eating their grains and spread the plaques. The Dayak people asked for WHO for help again and now the solution is to send cats parachute into Borneo and finally now the cats stabilize the situation.

 System Thinking means to think of a whole ,look at the picture from many views or looking at whole. In my opinion system thinking is important because humans we're social animals that rely on each other  and to decide or do something  we have to think as a whole .Doing business needs system thinking as a main construction to make a decision .To play stock market you need to look at many different things and make sure that you're investing on the right side and will get profit back. 

Sunday 10 May 2015

Plastics Creative Component


Research Question Confirmation

How does non plastic bottle and plastic bottle affect affect people height?
I'll ask the participants which can be both genders men and women. For example 1:What kind of bottle do you use at school ,plastic or something else? 
2:How long have you been using it?
3:How tall are you ?

RN: Energy Resources

Range of Energy resources 

Both Renewable and Non-renewable resources can generate energy. But we can clearly see that renewable resources are more sustainable because there's no depletion of natural capital such as solar power hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass and tidal schemes. Which is opposite for non-renewable resources that cannot be replenish such as fossil fuels . 

  But according to worldwide energy consumption chart in 2004 we can see that most of the people use non-renewable resources much more than renewable resources because it's cheaper and doesn't require much process .


Advantages and disadvantages of energy sources

Fossil Fuels are the energy resources that is formed when dead animals or plants decompose ,the process takes more than thousand years.

  • Gas and oil are made from oceanic organisms . 
  • Coal is from land plants (mainly from trees growing during the Carboniferous Period).
  • Fossil are made from the dead preserved dead organisms
These energy sources contain alot of carbon from under the water which when the energy are used up it will release quite amount of carbon.

Fossil Fuels

  • Cheap and plentiful but it contribute climate change and unsustainable.
  • There are technologies controlling pollution from the fuels but it's getting more difficult to extract the fuels 
  • Oil can be delivered over long distant by pipeline but oil spilling is very dangerous for nature ecosystem and living organisms
Nuclear Power
  • Nuclear power plant produces radioactive waste that can last for thousands of years but does not produce carbon dioxide or the cause of climate change  
  •  A large amount of energy can be generated in a single power plant but it is extremely dangerous if something unexpected happens to the power plant such as terrorist attack .

Advantages and disadvantages of renewables

  • Fossil fuels are cheaper 
  • The locations of renewable resources are limited 
  • Cannot run out because the resources are renewable 
  • Produce fewer emissions 

Hydroelectric power


The turbines can be switched on whenever it’s needed — it’s reliable.

The disadvantages of HEP is that many areas may be flooded (habitats, farmland and displacement of people).

Tidal power


It produces energy by using the ebbing or flooding tide to turn turbines.

Disadvantages of tidal power

It required to generate sufficient energy and the right shape of coastline to channel water through the turbines.

Solar energy


It’s very expensive to turn into high quality energy for manufacturing (compared to using fossil fuels).

Passive solar energy (combine with insulation) is cheaper for heating homes than fossil fuels.

The disadvantage is that it’s limited in northern countries during winter months.

Wind power


Produced by wind turbines.

The disadvantage is that if there’s no wind, no energy is generated.

The location of the turbines is hard, it need to be in areas of consistent high wind.

Biofuel 


Biofuel energy is produced by burning plant material to produce heat.

Disadvantages of biofuel is that it produces emissions and require large amounts of land to grow the biofuel crop.

Wastes


It can be burned to generate energy.

Advantages of wastes

It’s available at all times and it does not deplete natural capital.

Disadvantages of wastes

The burning adds to global warming gases.

Geothermal energy


Can be obtained from heat in the ground.

It does not release any form of pollution.

Monday 4 May 2015

Research Project Ideas

1:Our first idea is Kayak from plastic bottles which around 2 average people can sit on
2:The next idea is a lamp made out of recycled plastic bottles
3:And a chair made out of plastic bottles which is easy to make but useful


Monday 27 April 2015

Nepal Earthquake

What is the causation of this incident?

Earthquake is movements within the Earth’s crust cause stress to build up at points of weakness, and rocks to deform. The reason of this devastating event is the regular movement of the fault line that runs along Nepal’s southern border, where the Indian subcontinent collided with the Eurasia plate 40 million to 50 million years ago.

When did it happen?


An earthquake with magnitude 6.7 occurred near KATHMANDU, Nepal at 07:09:08.90 UTC on Apr 26, 2015.

Lost

Estimated around 3218 people who have confirmed lost their lives by morning Monday April 27 2015 (the number has risen up to around 3800) and more than 6000 injured  ,most the building, temples and landmarks are destroyed  

Effects

The US is sending a disaster response team and $1m also are India China Japan UK Pakistan UNICEF and many other countries including Thailand are sending help aids medical teams to Nepal .

Idea

We can help donating the money to the people who contact to Nepal organization ,helping them out though its not that much.

Citation

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/world/asia/nepal-earthquake-international-aid-agencies.html

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/25/nepal-earthquake-us-disaster-response-aid



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nations-rushing-rescue-aid-to-nepal-earthquake-survivors/

Tuesday 21 April 2015

The Tragedy of the commons

The tragedy of the common .Harbin explained that if there is a ground that is for everyone in the village and people want to start  grazing the animals on that commons as much as possible hoping to get more products while the grass ,land of the commons are getting worse and worse in another way if we put fences on the common and limit them we have less cow but can produce more in the future because animals have more foods to eat.

Earth Day Pledge Table


Earth Week Apr 20-26  Monday
    
 Tuesday  Wednesday Thursday   Friday Saturday  Sunday
 PledgeTake shower less than 10 minutes  Turn on Air Con 25 degree while sleeping  No Single Plastics Don't use laptop Not watching TV Turn off all the switches after leave the house Shutdown computer after finish using 
 Actual I took shower 30 minutes ,cannot. Yes ,I did I used one plastic bottle on the day I had to work on the internet  Yes ,I did I forgot to turn off WifiI did

Thursday 16 April 2015

Earth Day 2015


What is it?

Earth Day is the day designated for fostering appreciation of the earth's environment and awareness of the issues that threaten it.

When is it?

United Nation Environment Program, or UNEP has designated every year on 22 April as Earth Day 


Purpose?

1. To reduce the rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is very dense.
2. To eliminate chloro fluorocarbon. Which destroy ozone and cause the heat of the atmosphere.
3. In order to conserve the remaining forest. And a campaign to plant a forest
4. To not buy - sell living organism that have the risk of extinction.
5. To establish the authority to organizations. Around the world to join together to protect the atmosphere water and the others out of the wrongful acts of man.
6. To create a consciousness of the world as well as individuals, communities and nations.

Thursday 2 April 2015

Single-use plastics

Compass 


Well-being 
  • Plastics are actually not good for us, it contains alot of dangerous chemical that can harm our body .There are different types of ways that plastic is dangerous for humans. Direct toxicity from plastics comes from lead, cadmium, and mercury. 
  • Diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) contained in some plastics, is a toxic carcinogen. Other toxins in plastics are directly linked to cancers, birth defects, immune system problems, and childhood developmental issues.
  • Other types of toxic plastics are BPA or health-bisphenol-A, along with phthalates (mentioned above). Both of these are of great concern to human health. 
  • BPA is used in many things including plastic bottles and food packaging materials. But also there's a positive side of plastic that save humans and make our lives better .
  • So many items or things we're using now adays are made of plastics such as plastic bottles ,plastic bags that make our lives more convenient and it gives us happiness and harm our bodies at the same time. But as long as we cannot find the replaceable resources for plastic ,plastic is convenient for us.

Nature 

  • A lot of animals mistake plastics for foods and eat them and it cannot be digested and also affected their habitats.
  • Plastics are made out of fossil fuels which is non-renewable resources 
  • It takes 100 years up to thousand years or longer to decompose plastic which is not good for environments and it also release toxic when decomposing.
  • No, basically plastic has no goods to the environments at all only destroying .


Economic 

  • Yes, "A Lot" of things humans are using now adays are made out of plastics which benefits to many organization related.
  • Plastic are Cheap and more affordable , each year more than 600 million plastic bags are used worldwide .
  • Single-use plastic producer gain huge amount of profits where they would earn orders from many convenient stores and shopping malls (such as bottles beverages or  plastic bags)  

Society 

  • No, the more we use single-use plastic the more trashes will pile up in the world because its non-renewable.
  • It will disturb not only humans society but also other animals if plastic bags are still floating around in the air or on the street. 

Are you going to continue using single-used plastics? Why or why not?

I'm going to have to keep using single-used plastics but will try to use it less. Because I find it very hard to just stop using it because if I'm going to 7Eleven and bought alot of foods and milk but but I cannot use plastic bags but have to carry them all would be a really bad idea and take alot of times and for paper bag is not as strong as plastic so it cannot be a solution of plastic bags. 

Mind Factory Farming

Factory farming

up to 20000 chicken warehouse

Normal duck live up to 10 years
But in farm factory duck live up until the farmer sees that it is big enough to be slaughter

Pigs

Impregnated at the age of 7 and go to slaughter house or send to another place if they are males

Cow

Males cow will be sold for meats

564 kilos in 6 months to reach the market weight

In Vitro-meat Pleng Current Event

In Vitro-meat
also known as cultured meat, lab grown meat or test-tube meat

Fetal bovine serum
-The blood fraction remaining after the natural coagulation of blood and later remove any remaining blood cells

First In-Vitro Beef burger
-On August 5, 2013
-The world's first lab grown burger was cooked and eaten at a news conference London
-Took stem cells from cow and grew them

There is no fat in this meat but there is some intense taste that is similar to the real meat

Is this In-Vitro meant answer to sustainable meeting global food demand ?

-Compared to farm beef ,lab beef require alot less in anything

Pros
-Cleaner
-Require less food input ,water and waste
-Healthier
-More ethical in terms of animal welfare
Cons
-Unnatural require enormous capital investment for research and Development

Is it good for us?
-It does not includes saturated fat, no heme iron, no growth hormone, it seems cultured meat have many potential benefits

Wednesday 1 April 2015

Review sheet

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14oRTFhXJR2kWCVVNy0D7C4b3humcK9UWkRbt-tv7LrI/pub

RN: Resources - Natural Capital Continues

Intrinsic Value of the environment 


Economic Value - determined from the market price of the goods and services

a resource produces.

Ecological Value - no formal market price. (soil erosion control, nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis)

Aesthetic Value – no market price. (appreciation of a landscape for its visual attraction)

Intrinsic Value – value in their own right, not economic value.


Economic uses

Direct use - values of ecosystems good and service that directly used by humans. 
  • Consumptive use - such as harvesting food ,fuel ,hunting animal for foods or cloths.
  • Non-Consumptive use - some cultural activities that does not require harvesting .
Indirect use - values are derived from ecosystem services that provide benefits outside the ecosystem itself . 
  • Optional values - use of ecosystem goods and services not currently used – either by yourself or future offspring 
  • Non-use values include aesthetic and intrinsic values

Recreational value – For natural resources to attract the tourist that can provide an alternative income that is sustainable and does not deplete the source of natural capital.

Sustainability 

Sustainability means using world's resources at a rate that will allows nature to restore itself and 

cause less damage to the environment.


Sustainability applies to harvesting natural capital, to the generation of energy to process the product, and to how the product is packaged and marketed.

Humans will reach the sustainability limit by 

  • Over population (more people more resources needed)
  • Financial motives (when money is more precious than what it's made of)
  • Ignorance (doesn't care about the nature and balance)

Global or Local

Global perspective for managing resources sustainably is desirable because many problems have worldwide impact.

Global perspective also helps us to understand that our actions have an impact on others.

Local perspective, human actions are often culturally specific (traditional farming methods).

It is also the case that individual and small community action can be effective for managing resources sustainable. (recycling schemes)

Monday 16 March 2015

Pre-Movie Background Research

Movie Title/ Year : Bag it /Initial released September 1, 2011

Producer : Michelle Hill and Suzan Beraza 


Genre : Documentary Film ,Comedy and Drama 


Summary of documentary film :
An average guy makes a resolution to stop using plastic bags at the grocery store. Little does he know that this simple decision will change his life completely. He comes to the conclusion that our consumptive use of plastic has finally caught up to us, and looks at what we can do about it. Today. Right now.

Intended message to be delivered : 

Persuade people to stop using plastic bags 


Any actions/ movements after the film? :

The Surfrider Foundation is a nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world's oceans, waves and beaches.

Eco-cycle in Boulder advocates a zero-waste system, which addresses our resource use from product design to disposal.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a federal agency focused on the condition of the oceans and the atmosphere.

The Algalita Marine Research Foundation is dedicated to the protection of the marine environment and its watersheds through research, education and restoration.

Oceana is the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation.

TEDX is a nonprofit organization dedicated to compiling and disseminating scientific evidence on the health and environmental problems caused by low-dose exposure to chemicals that interfere with development and function.

Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawai'i (B.E.A.C.H.) is an all volunteer, nonprofit organization concerned with bringing awareness and solutions to the problem of marine debris on Hawai'i's beaches.

Plastic Bag Free is attempting to get rid of disposable bag use across the UK.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition effort launched in 2004 to protect the health of consumers and workers by securing the corporate, regulatory and legislative reforms necessary to eliminate dangerous chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products.

The Plastic Pollution Coalition aims to end the global dependence on disposable plastic, the primary source of plastic pollution and reduce the overall global plastic footprint for individuals, businesses and organizations.

 Successful stories? :


The film received the Best of Festival Award from the Blue Oceans Film Festival, an Audience Choice Award from the Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival, the Best Documentary Audience Award from the Ashland Independent Film Festival, the Audience Choice Award from Mountainfilm in Telluride, and second place Audience Award at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Sunday 15 March 2015

MMR Vaccine (Jinny)



Vaccination
-Exposure of very small, safe amount of viruses or bacteria that have been weakened or killed
-Our immune system learns to regonize and fight the disease later in the future

4types of vaccine available today
-Live virus vaccines -use weakened from of viruses e.g. vaccine
-Killed (inactive) vaccines -made from protein or small pieces from bacteria
-Toxoid
-Biosynthetic

MMR Vaccines
-MMR stand s for Measles, Mumps, Rubella
-Measle is an

MMR Vaccines
-CDC (Centres for Disease Control and prevention) recommend that children receive 2 doses
- First at 12-15 months
-Second (4-6 years)
93%effective

Cases and Outbreaks
-Highest number of cases of measles in US was during 2014
-644 cases from 27 states reported to CDC's National Center for
-US is currently experiencing a large, multistate linked to an amusment park in California
-Three other outvreaks are occuring in Illionois, Nevada and Washington

Causes
-Majority of the people who got measles were unvaccined
-Travelers with measles contribute to the spread of the disease

Anti-vaccination movement
-There are organizations that do not support vaccinations
-SInce 1990s, they believe that vaccination can cause Autism due to mercury-based preservatives called Thimerosal in vaccines
-They threaten the effectiveness of public program

Truth
-There is a scientific consensus which states that vaccines are safe
-Only one out of third flu shot  contain thimerosal
-Research has shown that there is no link between autism and thimerosal
-Allergic reaction is very rare

Solution
-The government and other organiztions can actively spread awareness of the truth and importance of vaccination
-Health care should be provided so that vaccination becomes a necessity

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Oil Spill is the release of a liquid called Petrolium Hydrocarbon (Jihyun Current Event)



Reasons for Oild Spill
- People making careless mistakes
-Equipment failure
-Natural disaster such as hurricane or tornado

Effect on marine animals
-Seabirds are strongly affected by oild spills
-They are covered in oil which leads to heavy oil weights down the bird feathers
-Oil is poisonous and can die

Killer Whales
-Strongly affected group of animal
-Oils spill led to endangering of killer whales
-Effects in two ways
-Plugs up the blowholes of killer whales
-The foods the whales such as fishes are covered with oil can affect the whales too

Effect on plants
-Oil forms a very thick layer on the surface of the water, which prevents light and gaseous exchange
-Plantts will not be able to do photosynthesis
-Marine animals will find that supply of oxygen will slowly dimish

How are oil spills cleaned?
-Use dispersants to break down the oil
-A liquid or gas used to disperse small particles in a medium
-Add biological agents to the spills
-Let the oil break down naturally

Rayong Oil Spill (2013)

-Occured in July 27th, 2013 in the Gulf of Thailand off the coast of Koh Samet and Map Ta Phut
-Pipeline owned by PTTGC plc , Thai state company oil busted

Effect
-Affected areas of tourism
-Rayong and nearby resort island of Koh Samet were impacted by the spillage
-Marine aniamls were harmed

Monday 9 March 2015

RN: Resources - Natural Capital

The Earth contains many resources which support the natural systems.

Biosphere (living parts)
  • Forest 
  • Grassland 
  • Desert 
  • Tundra
  • and other biomes
  • Upper layer of the atmosphere 
Humans have an anthropocentric (human-centred) view toward these resources and uses.
If properly managed, renewable and replenishable resources are forms of wealth that can produce natural income

The income from natural capital may be in the form of goods or services Goods: Marketable commodities. Ecological services: Flood and erosion protection, climate stabilisation, maintenance of soil fertility.

Natural capital or resources are divided into 3 parts: renewable, non-renewable, and replenishable. 


  • Renewable is living species and ecosystems which can be replaced by natural productivity. 
  • Replenishable is non-living resources which are continuously restored by natural processes (e.g. rivers and streams, the ozone layer.
  • Non-renewable – Natural resources which cannot be replenished within a timescale.(fossil fuel or coal)

Dynamic nature and concept of a resource

  • The value of resources has been changed over time as long as human keep develop new technologies.
  • Resources become more valuable as new technologies need them.

Monday 23 February 2015

Recent trends & Overhunting/captivity

Elephants Hunting 

Elephant is the animal that once was on Thailand flag which means that it represents Thai people ,but its also one of the wild animal that has been hunted for a long time.

When did it start?

Its believed that people have been hunting elephants for thousand of years already

Where?

Most common places that people will hunt elephants and trade out are in South Africa(Kenya Algeria etc.) and Asia (India Thailand China Japan Korea etc.)

Why?

People hunt elephants because they want to steal their ivory and sell out to become accessory to human and take away elephants baby to train and become circus elephant. 

How?

Now adays humans technology is really advance such as gun. We have a a specific gun to beat down an elephant just in less that 2 minutes. 

Pictures (visual support)


How is it connecting/resulting in overhunting/captivity/cruelty?

According to the question How? We human use guns to take them down so easily and the demand of baby elephants and ivory keep increasing every year mostly in  Asia just to use them to become accessory and part of the holy rite. For this reason inspire local people to hunt them down and sell out because its an easy way to get money .

Create a COMPASS analysis on this current trend. N.E.S.W

  • Nature - Elephant eats about 150 kilograms per day which 60% elephant dung has become food for other animals. And because it doesn't digest elephants become a transporter for plants seed to spread in distance. Elephants like to dig out small trees make a small seedling comes out and grow replace the big tree. 
  • Economy - Elephants hunting creates so many jobs for people such as hunting trading or carving but it also destroy the beauty of the wild animal for other career such as guide or people who's taking care of these animals. 
  • Society - People won't be able to experience how does it feel to ride an elephant. Some people doesn't feel right that elephant the symbol of Thai walking around the street being force but they still do nothing about it. 
  • Well-being - It's good to have a good and new style looking accessories that comes from ivory and to have pianos key to play.

Do you have any personal connections/experience towards this current trend?

Yes, I have seen people keeping elephants and train them to let the tourist ride in Ayutthaya. And I have seen a person walking with an elephant selling banana or sugarcane to people and feed them to the elephant. 

Are there any local organizations/awareness campaign/etc supporting a more balanced option for this current trend?

http://www.elephant-soraida.com/main/th/

How can we reach a more balanced and sustainable solution?

We offer people a better jobs and educate them how important the elephants are. Or find the replacement for things that are made by ivory such as piano keys we use plastic instead and accessory  there are so many other jewelry that's  prettier than ivory why don't we use them like emerald.

Discussion Questions for class 

  1. In my opinion we can't actually stop this cruelty on elephants because the more we protect them the more rare they become and it will increase the demand and their price up ,so is there any other way we can actually do anything about this ?
  2. If we sees elephants walking aside the street what can we do other than support them by buying a food to feed itself?


  • People catch baby wild elephant and sell out. Mostly this will happens around the border between Thailand-Burma because baby elephants are easy to catch and transport also the demand of baby elephants are more than adult elephants. Most of the buyers are elephant training group that will train these elephants to be Circus Elephant Show.


  • Hunting elephants to take their ivory. There has been ivory trading in Thailand for a thousand years ,most of the ivory will be brought to carve as decoration or part of the rite.

  • Hunting elephants to take their organs such as ivory tails and genital of males elephants which these are just a byproduct of hunting for ivory or baby elephants 

Sunday 22 February 2015

Tuesday 17 February 2015

Old Traditions Resulting in Overhunting - Summary & Analysis Assessment Stage 1

Pangolin

In present days this animal called Pangolin is very popular for men because they believed that fresh blood , and their meat of pangolin when cook as food or medicine have to ability to make us live longer or elixir and dried scales can cure variety of ills .Also can increase the sexual strength. These beliefs keep on going around from China to around most Asia countries which including Thailand cause the increment of pangoilin's price and diminish the number of pangolin. 


Citations 


http://onca.org.uk/chinese-medicine/
"Pangolins and Chinese Medicine." ONCA. N.p., 23 June 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.

http://www.e-travelmart.com/club_07.html

Thursday 12 February 2015

Reading Task: TCM and Species Protection

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Endangered Animals


Traditional medicines are widely used all around the world mostly derived from plants and animals. The number of population is growing faster and cause the demand of these remedies and medicines to rise along.

Chinese people believe that natural plants ,animals and minerals remedies relate to vital energy or force (qi) and yin and yang which is to balance humans body. We don't know the exact time of the origins of TCM but it believed to be born around 28th century BCE which had a compiling catalogue of 365 species of medical plants which later became the basis of later herbological studies. During the time the development of these remedies ,the medicines have been pass on to other countries from China to Japan Korea and South East Asia and continues to today .

Tiger (Panthera tigris)
In TCM the bones of Panthera tigris have been used in wines, plasters, and manufactured medicines to treat arthritis and other joint ailments .Which increase the tiger bones trading business and that also means the number of tiger decrease as well ,now there are only about 5000 - 7000 tigers in a wild .they are designated as endangered on the 2007 World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species. About 5,000 tigers are being raised on farms in China as well. In 1993, China banned the domestic trade of tiger bones

In June 2007, under pressure from tiger farm owners, China announced a plan to lift its trade ban on parts from farmed tigers but it is being opposed by India , Nepal, Bhutan, and Indonesia as well as by tiger conservation groups around the world


  Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros horn decoration is used to treat fever ,convulsions and delirium .According to the report there have been a reduction of many species of Rhino in Africa and Asia though there are protective laws but Rhinoceros horn business still continues because of the need from Asians market.


Black Bear

Bear bile is used to treat a wide variety of illnesses and injuries, including liver ailments and headaches .China in 1984 the farm that confined a lot of bears in a small cage to extract for their bile ,According to CNN, more than 7,000 bears are kept on 200 farms in China.

Musk deer (Moschus)

Musk deer is believed a various remedies in Western homeopathic medicine, and of some perfumes. It is used to promote circulation and to treat skin infections and abdominal pain. And from the report Musk deer in China's demand is alot that must use at least 100,000 deer a year .

Seahorse (Hippocampus kelloggi)

The seahorse, used as a treatment for kidney ailments, circulatory problems, and impotence. In the presence day approximately 90 health and medicine products containing seahorses are sold in China and elsewhere. The demand of Seahorse had reached 500 tons annually by the beginning of the 21st century. China’s demand alone was 200–250 tons per year, 95 percent of which had to be imported. Currently the seahorse is not listed as endangered and there are no international regulations on trade, a tragedy in the making. 



Tuesday 10 February 2015

Discussion Points: Shark Bait

Purpose of the documentary

In this documentary Mr.Gordon is trying to persuade people to stop eating shark fin soup because the more we consume the more sharks will get killed. 

Connections you see with the documentary?

People are just eating Shark fin soup because of just social status and some belief from the generation to generation that its good without knowing what exactly are shark fins. And the same for most people that are doing business about shark fins ,they just know the grades and price because they are just this to make money to survive .

Feelings after watching the documentary?

  • I feel like some people thought they already knew the consequence of eating these soups they will still eating it because it can benefit them a lot. 
  • I myself never liked Shark fin soup and after watching this make me doesn't like it even more
  • We use only 5% of sharks body but humans hunt and kill them like sharks are treasure.

What can we do as students?

  • As a student first we start will ourselves stop eating shark fin soup and then try to convince people around like parents or relatives tell them how many lives do we have to kill just for our own satisfaction. 

Questions

  1. Is it just a matter of time that shark will become extinct if we keep on hunting them like this ?
  2. What's the benefit of sharks for other organisms under the water?
  3. Is it true that they just throw sharks back into the ocean after they got their fins ?

Monday 9 February 2015

Reflection: Old Traditions Resulting in Overhunting

How did you decide to pick your choice of old tradition to share in the first place?

Because Serow is one of the wild animal specie that is about to become extinct already though its under the protection of Thai Government and there is a law that forbid to hunt Serow but people are still hunting them for medicine which is not even true. 

Were you aware of this old tradition before your research?

No , before I do the research about this over hunting i knew only the existent of this wild animal that it is going to be extinct  but I didn't know that people are still killing them .

What is one most memorable and surprising share you have heard from the table?

Snake Wine  is one of the thing that made me quite surprise .But I have kind of heard about it before that people put the snake in the bottle with alcohol preserved them and drink usually they will use the venomous ones which believed that once they drink they will get the strength from the snakes too. 

 Do you see some connections and/or similar beliefs/traditions amongst your table? If yes, why do you think there is. If no, why not? 

For both Snake Wine and Serow hunting they both have a belief that it can be a medicine . Mostly all of these medicine belief came from China also which is the same for Serow and Snakes . 

Saturday 7 February 2015

Old Traditions Resulting in Overhunting

Serow  (Capricornis sumatraensis)

 Serow is one of the wildlife animal that is under the protection of Thailand government because it is close to an extinction ,but some people still trying to hunt it because of some belief. 
Other than their habitats being destroyed ,Serow are being hunted because it was believed that the animals oil can be used in the treatment of wounds, injuries from falls or wounds from being shot or heal broken bones which is not true at all .Each one of the Serow can make a lot of benefit for the entrepreneurs by boiling the heads and bones of the Serow with coconut oils and then put in the bottles 100 - 150 cc which is around 10 baht per bottle .


Other than hunting , destroying the habitats and invasion to change to agricultural areas. So in many areas Serow were driven to live on the high mountains , especially limestone mountains.In addition, the destruction of habitat limestone mountain Serow often come down to find the water and food in the lower area which will be easier for the hunters to hunt them .Because of this Serow population are decreasing greatly . And, the explosion of the mountains to the production of cement and crushed stone production. Destroying resident safety of Serow directly.

Monday 2 February 2015

Shark Guardian

Shark Guardian is a worldwide organization that helps protecting the sharks from being hunted for the use of human such as we people kill sharks just to take their fin . Shark Guardian presentation explores many topics related to sharks such as: why people are afraid of sharks, what media has done to the image of the shark over recent decades and recently, how often people are attacked by sharks compared to other wild animals, an introduction to shark evolution, shark biology, existing species and how sharks are in danger from becoming extinct because of humans.

Shark Guardian is a registered Charity with the UK Charity Commission as of 1 July 2013. Shark Guardian was founded as an organization since January 2009. Shark Guardian promotes shark conservation through education by visiting International schools, resorts, dive communities and participating in national environmental conferences.

Q: Do sharks sleep?
Q: Is shark meat found in supermarkets safe for human consumption?

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Note PH

Acids and Alkalis
When a substance dissloves in water it makes a solution solification

Solutions can be sorted by whether thay are Acidic ,Basic and Neutral

When the oxide of some non-metals dissolve in water they make an acid

Acids have a sour taste
They are corrosive (breaking down thing)


They are many kinds of acid present in our life everyday

Some strong acids : Hydrochloric acid, Sulphuric and nutric acid

Some weak acids

Neutralisation
-Acids and Alkalis combine with each other. The alkali cancels out the acid in the reaction. This is called neutralisation

Alkalis

Many everyday substances are slkalis
They feel soapy
They are corrosive
When the oxides  of some metals dissolve in water they make an alkali solution

Alkalis react with acids and neutralise them
Calcium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide are strong alkalis

Ammonia is the most common and weak alkalia

Litmus paper (blue)

Litmus is red in an acid
Litmus is blue in an alkalis

Litmus paper

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Water Collection

I brought the water from the fish pond aside of the road around Chitlom .I chose this water because I want to know how clean it is so how will it affect fishes's health .

Monday 19 January 2015

UN Read - Global Water

Millennium Development Goals Report 2012 has a report that around 783 millions people are still lack of access of drinking clean water such as public standpipes, boreholes and many others .The United Nation is trying to solve this water issue that goes worldwide caused by insufficient water supply for humans basic needs and many conferences have been held consulting and focused on this vital resource.

One of the most important step of The United Nation is the United Nations General Assembly of the human right to water and sanitation. The Assembly recognized the right of every human being to have access to sufficient water for personal and domestic uses (between 50 and 100 liters of water per person per day), which must be safe, acceptable and affordable, and physically accessible. Millennium Development Goals are for to improve drinking water sources of people