Good evening fellow bloggers and classmates, its time for another installment in what I affectionately refer to as "what the heck am I doing?" While I am not an EST major, I have been fascinated by the ocean and its many lifeforms for a big part of my life. Though most of the fascination for me surrounds the hydro-thermal vents, specifically the astounding array of life that has adapted to thrive under such extreme conditions, I identify heavily with these beings as my life has been full of adversity and obstacles that I have sometimes had to revert to out right cunning to overcome. I have never the less overcome every thing life has thrown at me and here I am, adapted and thriving!
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| My niece and mini-me, Madilynn Nichole |
I am currently an Earth/Space Science Ed major and as such I found myself questioning not only the reason that career chose me, but my sanity as well. I actually sort of backed into teaching, I was originally a nursing major who wanted to be an anesthesiology nurse but I found how much I enjoyed teaching when I was tutoring some fellow students in a Chemistry class and after a few exploratory education classes I found out something new about myself; I can spend everyday for the rest of my life in a classroom and go home happy every evening. That is a big plus for me since I have been at my current job (dispatching for a taxi company) about 8 years now and I often come home in a terrible mood hating my job, the people I work with and myself for not escaping sooner. But teaching, for me is more than just an "escape" it has become something I am terribly passionate about. To see that "aha" moment in someones eyes when they finally connect an idea or thought to something they already are familiar with has become a source of happiness and great pride for me. To see my students eyes light up when I mention an experiment or homework assignment that I have carefully researched and planned specifically to make them think but be happy about is quite rewarding. But the most rewarding thing of all about teaching (at least for me) is to have a student say to me because you believed in me I didn't give up, I believed in myself. I am of the mind that everyone is capable of learning if a teacher can connect the student to the correct method, but not everyone is capable of teaching. I have heard before "Those who can do, those who can't teach" and that thoroughly infuriates me, Teachers can and most DO! We have just come to the conclusion along the path of our lives that someone else might benefit from what we have to say or give. I mean after all......if it weren't for teachers there would be no other professions just a bunch of people "winging it" as my husband says.
Not only have I often thought of why I chose my career field, but more recently I have been losing sleep over what my IRP might be, but Dr. Woodall to the rescue. She knew my desire of being able to easily translate my IRP into my classroom and make it personal for my students and boy did she deliver! She suggested to me that I may be interested in micro-plastics in the ocean as a possible IRP and the idea resonated with me as that is something every person should care about, they end up in our food and water supply and, as I have begun to wonder since doing a little research about the topic, could they possibly be the source of elevated levels of sicknesses such as cancers and aggressive auto immune disorders? Hmmm. One has to wonder as they are nasty little beasts and I am learning just how much of our everyday products contain these unnatural buggers like toothpaste (which Dr. Woodall informed of...thanks Dr. Woodall :)) as well as personal care items like facial washes and shampoos and even some of our clothing items contain these micro-plastics. The more I look into this topic the more disturbing it becomes.
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| My greatest source of happiness, my puppy love Codi in his pool last summer. |
Lilli--I've had you in a few classes now. I have to say--you have certainly blossomed into your 'own' person! It's beautiful to see! And I also have to admit that the OCE lab ghost--Angela Boney--should be given a certain amount of credit for your micro-plastic topic; Angela started plastic research in or lab. Angela will certainly be guiding you research with hard-asked questions and guided direction. Carry on, Lilli--you're off to a great start!!!! And BTW--if my children were younger, I'd be honored if you were their teacher!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Dr. Woodall, given my respect for you that is high praise indeed! I have been quite nervous to be "picked" by Angela but it seems unavoidable now. I welcome the challenge.
DeleteSo, we have a definition dilemma. To me the minuscule (less than 1mm) plastic pieces in hygiene products are microbeads, which I assume is what Lilli will be looking for, and I have had zero success with. I was wondering if Cathy ever managed to find any during her continued research?
DeleteMicroplastics, to me, are resin pellets (what plastic products are made of) and tiny plastic fragments due to items disintegrating, which are all visible using just one's eyes.
If Lilli does do any tests in the lab trying to separate microbeads from sand, do not make my mistake and confuse the wax beads (usually colored) in facial and body products for plastic beads (usually white or colorless), which are much smaller!
P.S. Thank you for trying to give me credit, but if it weren't for you and the lab I'd still be lost and would've never had the opportunity to explore this interest!
DeleteI am intrigued, as I had not considered there would be different "types" of micro plastics and am now wondering if my topic is perhaps too broad. Should I narrow my research to one type of micro plastic or should my research encompass both wax and plastic types?
DeleteAngela--there is no 'trying'--there is only 'doing'--and it is well deserved! Check your email--the 'ghost of Angela' continues to plague our lab....as it should be!
DeleteHey Lilli, I'm sorry for the confusion. I meant if you are specifically looking for plastic microbeads (the stuff in face wash, body wash, toothpastes), make sure if you are conducting any experiments in the lab to figure out a method for separating plastic microbeads from sand, to not confuse the wax beads, that are also in face wash and body soaps, for plastic beads. I used different face washes and body washes, mixed them in water and added sand to figure out a method for finding plastic microbeads. The beads I easily found turned out to be wax beads, but I was mistaking them for plastic beads at first...imagine my disappointment! I've never actually considered what wax beads do to the environment.
DeleteNo worries! I appreciate the feedback as this a foreign topic to me. Dr. Woodall and Mallory have suggested I stick to micro plastic particles in water as opposed to microbeads due to the lack of ability to separate the beads (I am assuming). Thank you for your feedback Angela please feel free to guide me in the future you are obviously much more well versed in this subject than I and I am sure I will benefit from your extensive knowledge.
DeleteWill you be conducting field work? I still haven't figured out how to find microplastics, from e.g. face wash, in a sample of sand, but hope you do and share your methods.
ReplyDeleteShould you end up with the same issue, though, another area to possibly look at are bits and pieces of plastic on beaches that are driven on (e.g. Daytona Beach) versus beaches that are not driven on. If there are more bits and pieces on beaches that are driven on, how does that affect the environment? If those bits and pieces end up in the water, where could they get washed to? I know fish and birds are famous for eating trash, but once, while collecting plastic on Daytona Beach, I saw ants carrying a tiny piece of plastic to and down a hole in a dune, the hole itself was surrounded by tiny pieces of colored plastic....what are ants doing with plastic?
Hello Angela! It is certainly an honor.
DeleteIt is my understanding that, yes, I will be conducting field work while working with Mallory at the Marine Science Center as well as a fellow classmate, Sam I believe ( I am terrible with names but never forget faces). I will indeed be certain to share my methods and related data here on the blog and I hope that if there is something I need to change that my fellow students and the CUR's here do not hesitate to inform me of better methods. That is a most intriguing idea, I had not considered the impact that driving would render on the plastic content though I have often considered the wildlife in question and have been a long time supporter of banning beach driving. I look forward to learning about this topic as it is fairly new to me and my knowledge is limited as of now. I will hopefully be in contact with Mallory in the next week. Thank you Angela, not only for your questions but for posing some thoughts I had not had. I can see this is going to be a wonderful learning opportunity for me.
This discussion has been making me think, thank you. If you are going to be researching microbeads (I assume due to your statement about toothpaste and other hygiene products) in the ocean: do genuine microbeads actually float? I used to think all plastic floated, but learned I was very wrong about that. 1 oz of plastic microbeads is available on Amazon for $1.99 plus shipping, might be worth getting a clean sample and put it in water to check if the microbeads float or sink? If the sample floats, after initial testing in distilled water you might then want to put it in a container of ocean water and let it sit to see what happens (as biogenous material adheres to the plastic, does it sink?)
Delete(Since I will probably be commenting quite a bit on your posts, due to the German half in me I'm often very direct, but I always mean well!)