Ecotourism (12/4-12/8)

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Summary:

Do you ever wonder if you have a big impact on the environment? Many people take the environment and wildlife for granted without even thinking of the impacts and effects that we as humans are making on it. Ecotourism is tourism in natural areas that are protected. An example of ecotourism is in national parks. A big debate on ecotourism is whether it is helping or hurting our environment. 

 There are many pros and cons to ecotourism. Ecotourism can help tourists to learn more about the world we live in, inspiring tourists to become more sustainable. For example, founder and president of the nonprofit Manta Pacific Research Foundation Keller Laros is studying Hawaii's ray population and attempting to determine how ecotourism is affecting the manta rays. “People see a manta ray and they come away from it changed,” Laros said. “All of a sudden they're curious about marine ecology and they're passionate about marine conservation. These animals change people's' lives. They changed mine.”

Even though ecotourism is having a positive impact on humans, there are many negative impacts on the animals and plants in the area. A major impact on animals is that when humans are nearer to them, they are getting more used to it, making them less wild. As they become more attracted to humans, they can follow them for food which puts the humans and the animals in danger. In addition, when animals get less and less wild, they start losing their life-saving instincts which help them survive. This can also put them in danger of predators and more.

SP7: Engaging in Argument From Evidence

This week, we used various evidence on both sides of the claim that ecotourism is helping/hurting our environment. We gathered evidence and compared the claims that each source gave us. After we had our evidence, we started creating our own claims about ecotourism and its impacts on the environment. I formulated evidence based on solid data when I stated that ecotourism has negative impacts on the environment and that it is hurting the environment using various sources and websites as evidence for my argument.

XCC: Cause and Effect 

This week in class, I observed a cause and effect relationship between humans and the environment. The cause is that humans are coming to various national parks and natural areas of plants and animals as "ecotourism." This leads to the effect of plants and animals in danger of extinction for various reasons. This relationship has been tested by many scientists before. This can be tested by paying attention to animals and plants that are not affected or near humans and comparing that to animals and plants that are near humans almost every day and that are starting to get used to them being there.

Multiplier

This week, I was an initiator. I investigated various sources and sides of the argument so that I could learn more about the topic and understand the topic from a different point of view. Being an initiator has helped me learn more about the topic at a different level by investigating many sources and arguments and starting a conversation with my group and team members. I started and contributed to conversations with my table group so that we could all ask each other questions and get insight on the topic.

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