Ecological Self Maps and Natural Areas Observations

Stem in Society is all about understanding yourself and the world around you. For today's class we explored that area pertaining to us and our inner connections with nature. We explored our self through self-realization, an ecological approach to being in the world. 

We also had to report on the natural areas and how they connected to us, particularly on the ecological self-maps. We had to observe animals and plants and then additionally, observe and find an "artifact" of a nonhuman animal. Some animals and plants we saw include cardinal (male), squirrels, oak, azaleas, etc. 

• Cardinal - positive/inside 
• I believe a cardinal belongs on the positive side of my ecological self-map because of their curious nature and beautiful call. To me, they are something that resembles calmness and peace. 
• Squirrels - negative/outside
• I would put squirrels on the negative side only due to my fear of them. I believe they are cute and all, but ever since I had an incident with one, I tend to stay back. 
• Oak - neutral/border of tree 
• I put this on the neutral side of my ecological map only because oak trees are just simple to me. While they do many things for the environment, I would put them more on the side of neutrality since I feel no strong way about them. 
• Azaleas - positive/inside
• I would put azaleas on the positive side because of their elegant shape and color they bring to the world. They bring me joy when I look at them as I used to have them in my front yard as a kid.  

I observed a male cardinal. He was very pretty and coated in a bright red. He was perched on a chair in the pavilion. He was unafraid of the world around him, as there was a human no less than a foot or two away. I feel that I do identify with this animal because of its observant nature and curiosity of the world around him. For, I have always loved nature and exploring it day by day. I feel as if I were a cardinal, it would be a very exciting life, especially with flying involved. An example of an animal's "artifact" I saw was a nest of a robin, it seemed to be searching continuously for sticks to add to its family's nest. 

For Friday's class, we took what we learned on Thursday and applied it to the divine hierarchy, natural selection, and ecocentrism. We tried to understand the difference between something being physically part of you, but also, in the true reality of things not. We went to a deeper level that understood our connection, not only with our body, but with the world. We took things like the air and gut bacteria into consideration and how they played or didn't play a constant role in our lives.