Class Presentation Jason Santiago

             We can say climate change can be a controversial topic to us as a society. Many have ideas and ways we can do as a whole to prevent climate change. Others simply do not understand or don’t care to look into it, which is the honest truth. To be fair, I wasn’t too aware about climate change as I am now after working on this topic with my peers in group 2. I had no clue that something as simple as changing our diet or substituting chicken in place of meat helps with the whole topic of climate change. Many of us simply just understand the concept of “Carpool to reduce emissions.” There is a lot more to climate change and my group and I did a great job finding different ways to prevent climate change and spread awareness to our classmates. Personally, I am glad we got to choose this topic. I’ve learned a lot in just 1-2weeks of research then I had known my whole life. Given my experience, that may tell you that many out there can relate to me and we have to start spreading ways and ideas for us to come together and help prevent climate change. Some conspiracy theorists out there may not believe there is such a thing as climate change. That’s why our group did extensive research and found many sources and proof that climate change is in fact a real and growing problem today. As factories open up and more of us demand their products, we keep feeding that growing problem. 

       The way we were able to put all of our ideas together as a group was a great idea. We split different topics of the general concept “Climate Change” Two of my group members and I chose the subtopic “Climate change solutions.” For my part, I decided to search up foods that can affect climate change and how we can come up with alternatives to substitute those foods. The way we eat is not as climate friendly as we might think. Food miles, clearing land, and resource consumption can be bad for the environment. Also by eating locally sourced food it can cut back on transport emissions. Also, by eating less meat we can eat less meat on factory farms. Another solution is adding more ways to travel….. One thing we can do to change this is how we get to work. This could include using public transportation, using a bicycle, and/or carpooling. This is one of the biggest problems here in Miami. It seems that everyone needs a car to get around anywhere here. Adding more efficient public transportation will greatly reduce the energy we use to get around. 

         The other topic that group 1 was able to cover was gender inequalities. This can easily be one of the most talked about topics in schools or even amongst ourselves through social media daily. Group 1 did a great job covering this topic and helped us understand the importance of helping those who are discriminated against due to their gender by others. Gender equality is a human right that should not be violated by any means. I do truly believe that it is unfair that the income gap between women and men is still a large difference. Even now with all the protest and awareness many cooperatives still lean more towards men when looking to promote a candidate. Everyone should earn the income for their level of expertise not because of their gender. If a woman has more knowledge than a man, why should the man get the job instead of the woman? Group 1 did an amazing job on their presentation and gave us a clear view on what is going on today in society and how we can help stop gender inequality. The only issue I had with their presentation was the video in which the child told his story. His story was touching. I just felt that it was rather long for a presentation and made me lose focus. Overall, everything was great. The kahoot they invited us to was a great idea. They took their presentation to the next level and made it interactive!

          The last topic we were able to learn about was Infrastructure, in which group 3 presented for us. Honestly speaking I had no clue what infrastructure was. Group 3 helped me understand why it is important. I learned that we do not realize the importance of infrastructure until it affects our lives. Infrastructure makes up our roads, water pipes, and water treatment. I now understand the importance of investing in public infrastructure, the conditions of roads, bridges, and schools affects the economies ability to function and grow. After listening to the presentation I was intrigued and started doing more research on my own. This new bill that is proposed by the congress will help provide clean energy, electric-vehicle charging stations, clean water and broadband internet. Just by providing EV (Electric Vehicle) charging stations, will have a huge impact on our economy. This will translate even to helping climate change. By having more ability to charge your EV’s more and more Americans will soon own EV’s. The importance of infrastructure overall has left me speechless as I’ve learned more and more about it. Thanks to group 3 I have a better understanding on the topic and will continue to read upon it and keep up with it. 

        In Conclusion, I am grateful that I had a chance to learn all these different topics and had my peers explain it thoroughly.  Climate change has been a topic for years and many organizations help spread awareness. Just talking about it in class between our classmates helps because that one classmate now has more knowledge and could transfer that knowledge to another and it goes from there. Gender inequality has been a hot topic these past few years and less individuals are being discriminated against just because of their genders. If we can come together and spread it not just in the U.S. but around the world where they do not have the same practices as us will be huge. Lastly, Soon infrastructure will change drastically in the U.S. and the economy will keep getting better as years pass by. Thank you to all the groups that presented and for showing us the importance of finding solutions to these problems. I had a great time doing the project and learned a lot.

By Jason Santiago