Dorm Sickness

For my service learning project, I am teaming up with Chris, Eric, and I now believe Kyle. We are going to help inform people living in the dorms of common infections students and fellow peers can’t contract while living in close contact in a dorm. We are looking to enhance the knowledge and understanding of not only other people, but ourselves as well. We want to inform people of the symptoms that go hand in hand with many of the sicknesses so people can quickly recognize influenza, or mono, or in worst case scenarios possibly STD’s. We look to achieve this by first doing some research and then making posters which we will post on doors and walls or dorms. We also look to put up bulletins in the stalls of the bathroom because if you’re taking care of business reading our bulletin is inevitable. I hope to learn more about sicknesses through this project and at the same time, better other people as well.

Cellular Respiration

I am collaborating with Cody Linjer and Liz Westberg for this service learning project. The plan for this project is to create an animation video of cellular respiration, taking it step by step in an entertaining presentation complete with voiceovers from the three of us and using Photoshop along with a video player. This animation will be used to help students at various ages to understand cellular respiration and to help teachers with an easy to use presentation to help explain the process. I will learn several things by the end of this project: understand more about cellular respiration, gain the ability to use a few new computer programs and the ability to make a useful presentation that will more likely than not help me in the future.

This week I have been researching cellular respiration more in depth and have been going over the basic functions and uses of the programs we will be using during development. Also, I have been thinking about the different ways in which we could present the information….thinking about different animations and ways to keep everyone’s attention.

Sturgeon Patrol

Every spring in Wisconsin on the Wolf River the sturgeon come to spawn. The wolf river is the only place in North America where the public can come and view this event. This is also the time when the sturgeon is the most vulnerable to poachers. Chad Leanna and I are going to volunteer our time for our service learning project patrolling the shores of the Wolf River making sure that nobody harasses the sturgeon during this very important time in their reproductive cycle, while they are spawning. We are going to be doing this through the Oshkosh DNR and will be taking a night shift from 7 pm to 7 am because we have classes during the day. The job entails taking a post on the shoreline and watching for people who could attempt to interrupt the fish during their run to spawn. This should be a great opportunity to learn about the reproduction of fish and more about these prehistoric animals.

Humane Association

For my service learning project I am going to work at the Humane Society. I am volunteering for the humane society because I believe that animals that don’t have home deserve the same attention as the animals that have a nice family to live with. Animals are like humans and deserve some where to live, eat, and someone to take care of them. I am going to go there with Vicki and Lynnea to work with the animals. When I am working with the animals I might have to feed them, walk them, or even pick up there waste. Some animals can even go to nursing homes to visit people who don’t have an animal to interact with. These animals can help keep people happy by playing with them and entertaining them. When I am working with the animals I hope to see how they can interact with me and other people. I hope to help the animals by interacting with them and also keeping them healthy. I want to know if different animals treat people the same way or if they only favor certain people. Also, a big part in this volunteering is to interact with the other employees. People are mammals too and have different ways to treat animals. It will be interesting to see the different techniques many people use.

Portage County Humane Society

I have not yet heard back from the Humane Society but I still plan on volunteering there. There are numerous opportunities that are available. But there are two types that i would like to partake in: Kennel/ quality time volunteers where I would take a dog for a walk or groom it or spend time with a cat/kitten; there is also a pet therapy opportunity where pets are taken to visit senior citizens or shut-in patients. What I am hoping to learn from this experience is behaviors of different animals and how they interact with people in their environment. I am also hoping that I can help to provide a better quality of life for these animals that need a home.

Humane Society

For the service learning project I will be going to the humane society to do some volunteer work. I am planning on helping out the animals there by feeding them or taking them for a walk or something. I have never volunteered for anything like this before so I am not sure what it is going to be like. The reason I am doing this is because for the service learning project that we have to do for this class this seemed like one of the things might be not that bad to do. I like animals so I am hoping it will be alright. I plan to go to the humane society for 2 hours every weekend while we are doing this assignment. I hope that my doing this assignment I will be able to learn some more things about animals and how I can help out by just giving a little of my time.

Sturgeon Patrol

For the service learning project Andy Kramer and I are going to volunteer to be sturgeon guards. What sturgeon guards do is protect the sturgeon from illegal harvest or harassment by people. This is in late April and early May. The sturgeon come up the Wolf River to spawn. The Wolf River is the only place in North America where the public can view sturgeon spawning. During spawning the fish are extremely vulnerable to poaching because they are more focused on reproducing. To do this we have to volunteer online through e-mail with the Oshkosh DNR office. We will most likely be running a nightshift because we have classes during the day. While doing this project I hope to expand my knowledge of the sturgeon spawning process and also to get some background with working with fish. Since I am a fisheries major I think that this project will not only benefit my resume` but I think that it is a great opportunity to learn about the field itself.

Service Learning in Schmeekle

For this service project, I am teaming up with Lauren Wood. What we hope to do is some volunteer work in Schmeekle by helping out in any way they need us. Whether it be picking up litter, clearing trails, or just grooming the area in other ways, we want to help make Schmeekle cleaner and more enjoyable for the people who come to enjoy nature.

The main reason we are doing our service project in Schmeekle, like Lauren said, is because neither of us have access to a car so we had to do something within walking distance. Even so, we are both interested in the environment and how we can help conserve it, so this project will help us do that.

I'm looking forward to doing this project because not only will I be doing good for nature, I will also be learning about the environment. I have only been to Schmeekle once, so it will be fun to see what's all in there and check out some cool animal wildlife as well! Hopefully once we get going, we will maybe even see how our efforts have benefited the environment in different ways.

Where Debot Goes

For my service learning project I am working with Tyler Gagner and Ian Armstrong on “Where Debot Goes.” We are making a model of a human digestive system and then we are going to have a display set up in the HEC to tell about it. I am working on this project because most people don’t know what happens after they eat or even what they need to eat in order to feel better about themselves. I would plan on showing our display that we made to people in the HEC when they are going to and from lunch at Debot mostly. We would have some type of food/drink to give out to get people’s attention. I know that I will learn more about a human’s digestive system in this project and also hope to show other people on campus a little about the human digestive system too.

Alzheimer's Project

For my service learning project, I'm volunteering at an Alzheimer's and dementia home. I work at this place, but I never really get to spend time just being with the residents. This will be a great opportunity to get to know them better and hopefully brighten their day. I think it is so sad that their lives are ending this way, and most of the residents don't have many family or friends left, so they can get really lonely. Before I go and give my time, I'm going to study Alzheimer's and learn more about the disease, the stages, and what symptoms I can expect to see. Twice a week I'll be going to the home which houses about 20 residents and spend time with them doing activities and socializing. I want to help the residents, and make their day a little better by having fun with them. I also want to gain a better understanding of the Alzheimer's, dementia, and the aging process first hand by spending time with these people.