OISE-Project-Plans

Hodan, Sabika, Peggy, and Benny We Canadians are getting fatter. We’re not as obese as Americans, whom account for almost a third of the world’s obesity weight even though they make up only 5% of the world’s population. However, if we do not stop opting for fast food instead of vegetables or fruits we are headed for high rates of obesity and obesity-linked diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and strokes. Since the early 1970s, the amount of adults classified as overweight or obese increased from half the population to two-thirds of the population. During the same period, the levels have tripled for children between the ages of 6 to 19. It has not gone unnoticed that during the same period of time, the sheer number of fast food restaurants have substantially increased to the point that they are on almost every street corner. Sometimes you can find multiple fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, Burger King, and Pizza Pizza (a strictly Canadian chain) occupying the same street corner. The link between frequently eating at fast food restaurants and obesity is reported on in the media and by documentaries like “Fast Food Nation” and Supersize Me”. Furthermore, many researchers have shown that in otherwise healthy adults, it has been shown that eating at fast food restaurants more than twice per week leads to substantial weight gain and an increase risk for insulin resistance. However, people __continue__ to frequent fast food restaurants putting themselves at greater risk and leading to obesity-related fiscal burdens on national budgets. || Feedback from Szilvia and Catherine: Like you guys we here in Australia are also getting fatter. It seems like this is the norm today in most western societies and yes we agree that fast food is definitely a contributing factor as is the amount of sugar and fat in these fast foods. We have all kinds of fast food chains here in Melbourne too and they are growing everyday as is our body size. I saw a forum recently where a female put herself out there for others to comment on her body as she was considered the average sized Australian woman. The responses were evenly divided into those that were shocked that the average was an overweight body. The other side considered this body type beautiful and acceptable.Psychological research indicates that we want to conform to our peer group. So that if we are surrounded by overweight people there is a high probability that we too will become overweight. Therefore based on these group dynamics if our friends and family are eating fast food we will tend to eat fast food too! Do we __start__ eating fast food just for the convenience or is it also related to the cost? Fast food is much cheaper than fresh wholesome food and in difficult economic times the tendency will be to buy the cheaper more convenient junk food that is available on every corner Response: Bernard, Ammie and Finn Hi Guys, Thanks for your post. You have chosen an interesting issue that we are quite invested in. We agree that the prevalence of obesity in the developed nations must be addressed, and that there is a strong correlation between obesity, health and fast-food consumption. We also agree that raising awareness of the affects of fast-food is important, though we feel the project is missing some key significant elements. Most of the STSE issue focuses around obesity and how bad fast food is. Like, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad. But there should be more emphasis on what the solutions are, rather than just pointing out what people shouldn’t do. For instance the ‘unhealthy’ aspect of fast-food is not unknown. Rather most people know that eating fast-food is bad for them. Like smashing down a large Big-Mac meal. We know it’s bad. So, then why are we still eating it? The reason for eating could come from a number of factors such as cost, lifestyle and time. People now need to streamline their lives in Keeping up With The Kardashians, so we know time and convenience are big factors. But we have to ask, what is the issue trying to achieve? We know there is too much sugar in the buns, and we know that clogging up out system with a box of deep fried chicken makes us feel gross. So, couldn’t the big issue be ‘why is it doing it? Rather than ‘what it’s doing?’ We feel that in addressing the issue your plan has not taken into account the impact of nutrition and nutritional awareness. That is, understanding food is not as simple as 2000 Cal or 8000 Kj a day intake, but needs to be broken down into carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Our culture needs to be made aware of nutrition at a base level in how the food they eat actually affects their bodies, not just that eating this one particular food is bad. In many ways this is just putting a band-aid over the real issue. And we haven’t even talked about how supermarkets sell food products that are just as, if not more processed than fast-food chains. You have great ideas with the action plans, especially in planning out meals for the week. In addition to the awareness about fast-food it would be great to see the action plan show solutions for what and how to improve health. Such as Jamie Oliver’s 30 min cook books and other nutritional books. It’s a great idea and I hope we’ve added another element to think about. Cheers, Bernard Street, Ammie Bergmeier and Finn Mullhall Feedback from Chris and Chloe. Hi Hodan, Sabika, Peggy and Benny! We think this is an extremely important issue as it seems to be a problem affecting a lot of the Western world. In Australia, for example, data released in 2008 stated that 61.4% of the Australian population are either overweight or obese. This survey also found that about 1 quarter of children in Australia aged 5-17 were overweight or obese. Obviously this has serious health implications for the population. One that is well documented is the increased risk of type 2 diabetes, especially in children. Currently type 2 diabetes costs the health care system $6 billion. As you mentioned, accessibility is a contributing factor and one that could be prevented. In Australia is seems that no matter where you turn there is a fast food outlet. The city of Melbourne alone has 152 McDonald's stores. || Secondary Research: Secondary research will include a literature review on the current body of work that exists in relation to obesity and the consumption of fast food in North America with particular emphasis being on papers that focused on Canadian populations. An example article would be: Fast-food Habits, Weight Gain, and Insulin Resistance (The CARDIA Study): 15-Year Prospective Analysis”. Mark Pereira, Alex I. Kartashov, Cara B. Ebbeling, Linda Van Horn, Martha L. Slattery, David R. Jacobs, Jr., David S. Ludwig. //The Lancet//, January 1, 2005. Primary Research: Our research-informed action will be based on a correlation study. We have already gathered data from over 130 individuals in Toronto. These individuals completed questionnaires and were informed that the data obtained would be used to complete this assignment and that none of the information would be used for anything else. In setting up our database, we only included data points from completed questionnaires. On the questionnaire, we asked for the following information to be provided: - Gender: male or female - Age: people could select the range that included their age - Height: provide as feet and inches à we later changed to inches only - Weight: in pounds - Number of times they ate from fast food restaurants per week: was also given as a range and examples of fast food restaurants were provided We then entered all this data into SPSS and calculated BMI using the height and weight data provided. Furthermore, in order to get a sample population that best represented the general Toronto population, we handed out our questionnaires at various malls and at OISE lounge. || Feedback from Chris and Chloe. It sounds like you have thoroughly researched this area which obviously makes your action plan easier to devise. We like the idea of surveying the public from a number of sites, especially a shopping centre, however you would need to be careful of the time of day and also the people you interview as generally, shopping centres have a large collecting of fast food outlets. Although BMI is an easy way to determine whether or not someone could be classified as overweight or obese, it is not the best method as it does not take into account bone density, muscle mass etc. However we understand that it is not possible to run full body composition tests on the public! Feedback from Szilvia and Catherine: When doing this literature review our thoughts are that the topic will be very broad (you will be swamped with references). We think its important to refine this review to the main issues; eg from your description you seem to think availability is a key issue, we believe that the level of education/income of the consumer as well as the cost of the fast food (cheaper than healthier options) are also important issues. You may need to rule some of these out with control groups. Unfortunately you have already gathered some data we think your questionnaire would have been more meaningful but incorporating some of these other issues. From Lisa Reynolds and Emma Parker Obesity is growing health issue, escalating to levels where in some cases more people are overweight or obese than healthy. This trend is predominant in Western countries such as Australia, Canada and America, as people are bombarded with unhealthy food options, such as fast food, mass produced meat products and processed refined sugars. It is something that must change, with obesity a determinant for many other serious health conditions.We believe the true essence of eating as a physiological necessity has been lost with people losing sight of healthy eating behaviours. Much of this is due to poor education about the health risks of having a diet high in saturated fat, salt and refined sugar, and how we can distinguish these ‘food demons’ on supermarket shelves.We agree that educating people about cooking healthy meals and providing pamphlets with quantitative food analysis from fast food chains will assist with growing awareness, but this only targets the adult population. We believe that in order to see changes in the future, education must occur at schools, targeting students in both primary and secondary schools. Have you considered possible actions in the context of schools? Maybe changes could occur with the National Curriculum? Or even on a Canadian Government level, where policies could be implemented to change ‘tuck-shop’ food options readily available to school students.These changes could initiate a positive step towards informing children of the future, about healthy food choices (and encouraging these behaviours when purchasing food at school), as well as placing a large emphasis on nutrition education in the National Curriculum. || // Individual Level: // Becoming aware of the number of times per week that we eat out at fast food restaurants. Instead of eating out during the week, we would try to cook healthy meals at home. In order to promote this, we think that making sure to plan out your meals for the week ahead of time would help prevent last minute fast food restaurant runs. Furthermore, when making healthy home meals they should be scaled up so that there are leftovers. Those left overs can be packed the night before and taken for lunch the next day in order to prevent the need to frequent fast food restaurants. // Society Level: // The educational campaigns for the STSE issue of obesity and fast food restaurants should be similar to the ones used for anti-smoking campaigns. For our research-informed action, we will be creating a pamphlet which educates people about the negative health ramifications from eating at fast food restaurants frequently. This pamphlet will provide individuals with the amount of calories that they are consuming from various meals from different popular fast food restaurants. Furthermore, a letter will be sent to the Minister of Health in order to address this STSE issue and will definitely highlight the need for adequate policies that set zoning guidelines (similar idea as to indoor smoking bans) for public spaces so that fast food restaurants are not strategically placed close to schools since the proximity of fast food restaurants has been shown to be linked with youth obesity. || Feedback from Chris and Chloe. In theory, planning your meals for the week is a great idea, however we all encounter different reasons as to why this may not end up working for us. How would you best combat things like getting home late, traffic, emergencies or last minute plans etc? Again making more the night before is great, but it may cause some people to go back for seconds or east more than they normally would. Educating the public is a great step because the majority of people would not know how many calories they consume in a fast food meal, the challenge would be using this to adjust people's eating habits! Feedback from Szilvia and Catherine: These are all excellent ideas and options. Education is obviously an important factor and we need to continue to help educate the general population particularly those of low socio-economic status. We really like the idea of beefing up the level of the campaigns by using scare tactics about obesity and health because RiA's need to attract attention. In Victoria there are very disturbing graphic images about the consequences of smoking. Your RiA is a great idea we like that you are lobbying for the government to zone the fast food restaurants away from schools so that they do not have the opportunity to kill your children with fat and sugar and you are targeting a high profile prominent person in power. In support of the letter, a petition would add strength to your mission. Additionally make sure you remember to include the outcomes of your research as it is important that RiA's are clear, well designed and valid investigations and results. || = =
 * YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT: FAST FOOD AND OBESITY**
 * RiA Plan || Feedback ||
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= OISE Students' Research-informed Action Project Plans =

Project Title: How Electronics Influence our Lifestyle.; Team Members: Tony, Rob, Elizabeth, Dino

Our STSE issue is focussed on the influence of electronics on our lifestyles in terms of health and/or appreciation for the environment. This project was born of a conversation that our group was having about how people who are outside or in a social setting are constantly engaged with their technology. This suggests that ‘real life’ is a distraction to a ‘virtual life’. We felt we were on the right track with electronics and wanted to look at how they influence our lifestyles on a whole. Our main interest at this point is to examine how electronics influence physical/social health and our appreciation of the outdoors. As part of our study, we will also examine whether current physical status (age, weight) or, geographical location are related to our hypotheses. Indeed, these factors may provide preliminary understanding to creating an enhanced, experimentally-based STSE project extension. || ** [Feedback from: Elleise Ngawaka & Tom Ellis] ** Dear Rob, Tony, Elizabeth and Dino. We like your STSE issue to focus on electronics and their influence on lifestyle. Whilst we certainly believe electronics have a big impact on our physical health, and also they make us quite distracted - it may be interesting to look at how electronics influence us cognitively, [|and even could be making us stupid]. Several studies indicate even things like tabbed browsing have reduced our ability to concentrate, and deeply process information - making our thinking more skittish!! Feedback from Szilvia and Catherine: We love this topic! As mothers to young children, this whole issue is so relevant as we try to control how much screen time our children have access to each day. Especially for our little boys – they seem to so quickly become “addicted” to the screens, whether ipods, computers, notebooks, whatever!! Also having an 8 year old with mild autism highlights this for me as an even greater issue. To be able to have social contact through a medium other than face to face is an absolute joy for him. Its a different way for him to communicate with others in an environment where he is completely relaxed and happy. A book which was published some years ago, called Remotely Controlled, which I read and consequently removed our TV out of our house for a couple of years. The author of Remotely Controlled, Dr Aric Sigman ( [] ) may be worth researching as he’s done some relevant work on your topic, ie online time is displacing face to face contact and this lack of social connection is associated with physiological changes. A critical bit was the lack of development of certain parts of the brain in very young children when exposed to significant amounts of screen time. || We plan to perform a survey to collect data for a correlation study. We are planning to include attributes such as the region they live, age, weight & height (BMI), the hours/week they use a cell phone, computer, watch TV, indoor exercise and outdoor exercise. This allows us to look at the influence of numerous variables (i.e. age, location, BMI) on the effect of electronic use, exercise, and/or BMI. We have yet to narrow down exactly where we want to go with this study but we figured we would cast a large net and see what stands out. We have four members in our group that we must at a minimum collect 25 surveys (100 in total) to ensure for a good data set we can make observations from. These numerous variables allow us to look at the influence of electronics on our health, exercise, and connection to the outdoor world. || ** [Feedback from: Elleise Ngawaka & Tom Ellis] ** We like the idea of conducting this research with a survey, maybe you could even send some to the ACU students to do? It is also important to note if someone doesn't exercise, has a high BMI, and has a high use of electronics, there still may be no causation to the correlation. Feedback from Szilvia and Catherine: I think some other key psychological variables may also be useful – I think there are links between lots of screen time and depression, loss of libido, insomnia. I think a key thing with the amount of screen time people are involved with is the displacement of other activities, especially physical activity. For little kids, they need to crawl around exploring the physical world when they are growing up, and the lack of this when the same kids are sitting in front of a screen I think causes many negatives in terms of brain development. I think I saw a headline recently also stating that use of the Wii has no significant impact of physical health whatsoever…..contrary to what the marketers of the Wii would want you to believe. When you mention the outdoor world, I think there are strong positive links with “nature” and people feeling more relaxed/less stressed too. I hope we’ve given you some food for thought regarding your survey design. Feedback from Therese, Vibha and Brydie We thought your idea was really engaging and relevant to our society today. Your research is well established and we liked how you included specifics into the design. We would suggest you expand on your research by including some other variables like whether the study participants have any existing health issues, like, high blood pressure or heart disease. We also suggested that you may like to question participants on how many visits they take to their GP. In addition, and on a slightly different angle, we thought you may like to question on the diet of the individuals. Each of these additional variables may be correlated to their use of electronics and give an extra insight into how electronics can effect on individuals’ social and physical health. In response to your possible actions we thought the pamphlet and website were great ways to create awareness of this issue. We thought it would be beneficial to include some direct plans of action, for example: promote a day in which physical exercise is the focus of the day and participants are encouraged to leave their electronics at home. Also it may be a good idea to include general information on ways to improve BMI and other social and physical health issues on the website. This may include fitness plans and information about the importance of a healthy diet. Another idea was to involve a fitness club or local gym into this plan. This may include a promotional fitness package, in which first time users are given a discount price to join their organisation. This simple initiative may promote and encourage healthy fitness habits in individuals. || It is a little difficult to do much more than informing others of our results. We feel the best way to approach this would be to generate a pamphlet and a website. This would include getting the people on the ground (Electronic store, park, gym, doctors, etc.) to take a look at a pamphlet with the link to a website. It may be hypocritical to use a website which requires the use of an electronic device to access to inform people of their overuse of electronics. However, we feel this would be the best way to get them to realize and access the information in an ironic way such that they could put in perspective their own use. || ** [Feedback from: Elleise Ngawaka & Tom Ellis] ** Your actions sounds like a positive step, and the ironic method of access is funny. We though there would be plenty of pamphlets and guidelines out there to get ideas from. Even an [|Australian set of guidelines/resource!] Feedback from Szilvia and Catherine: Hey guys, this is just a prelim response as I need to go, however, remember from on the pages on the stepwiser site, I think one of the recommendations was to target “people in power” due to the institutionalisation of the various SSTE issues. But, yes, definitely, informing people is a great start. Targetting parental groups with this kind of information may be helpful. With the increase of use of electronics and the rapid advances in technology we need to create future generations that will know how to manage these and create better balance in their lives. Here in Melbourne we have a free magazine called, 'Melbournes Child', I know most parents will pick up a copy of this and have a flick through. Perhaps offering an article with your results geared toward this group in society may make an impact on how they teach our future generations to deal with your issue. || Wow, thanks to everyone for a plethora of fantastic tips and resources. ||
 * ** Group RiA Plans ** || ** Feedback From Preservice Teachers in Australia (with names) ** ||
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 * Response from Rob, Elizabeth, Tony and Dino.

Jeff Gingrich, Lukas Notten, Derrick Sarwan || Seasonal influenza is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, and the total cost to the U.S. economy is estimated to be $80 billion annually. Annual flu-related hospitalizations far exceed the number of deaths. The American CDC has broadly concluded that vaccination is a cost-effective countermeasure to seasonal outbreaks of flu. The flu shot remains the best means of protecting school aged children from contracting the flu, and it is possible that a particular batch of flu vaccine may cross-protect against other flu viruses. While the flu shot is, for example, universally available for free to residents of Ontario, this raises the issue of equitable production and distribution of the vaccine globally. Moreover, in healthy adults flu vaccination reduces the risk of contracting flu by only 25%, with no effect on the rate of hospitalization. The protective benefit to the most vulnerable populations (particularly the elderly) therefore relies on “herd immunity”. The development of a vaccine is based on the best estimate of which strains will be predominant in the upcoming year, which amounts to well-informed but fallible guesswork. The mutation rate of human flu viruses is extremely fast, limiting the effective lifespan of a vaccine. Importantly, for the population most vulnerable to the flu – the elderly – accumulated evidence is still insufficient to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of direct vaccination, yet mainstream vaccine programs continue to target this demographic. The flu shot can also cause side effects, most commonly mild cases of flu. In consideration of these data, the overall cost/benefit effectiveness of widespread flu vaccination is thus arguable. || // Feedback from Emma Parker and Lisa Reynolds // The description of the issue is very well explained and provides a good background introduction. The statistics are also beneficial in that they provide a social, economic and scientific context for the issue. The number of ‘questionable’ points you have raised in regards to the issue is engaging and encourages more thought into the STSE. The research plan is well organised and easy to understand. The group has clearly stated the objective of the primary research with context and the predictions/expectations are interesting to read. It will also be an interesting discussion point, if you conduct the research, to see the results and possible identification of ‘at-risk’ groups. We would recommend changing the phrase ‘receiving the flu’ to ‘contracting the flu or exhibiting flu-like symptoms’ for clarity in the expectation section of the research plan. The list of possible actions is broad which will improve the chance of positive change in regards to the Flu-vaccination issue. In terms of the ‘Education’ action you have outlined, had you considered how you could implement education at the secondary school level in your national curriculum? The personal hygiene could be further developed and targeted at children and adolescents as part of health and wellbeing classes. This action may even fit well into the ‘Lobbying’ action that you have mentioned. Approaching the group that dictate the school curriculum in Canada, with the findings of your research, might help to encourage change to the curriculum that could have flow on effects in improving flu-vaccine awareness, deaths and hospitalizations. Feedback from Chris and Chloe Hi Jeff, Lukas and Derrick. You presented this issue really well and it was quite eye opening for us to see that the seasonal flu was one of the leading causes of death in the United States as it is not her in Australia. An interesting point to note is that as teacher's, in Australia we have access to free flu shots at school at the beginning of winter each year. Feedback from Therese, Vibha and Brydie Firstly we were very impressed with how thorough you have been here. It is clear you have well researched your topic. We understand that you find the Flu vaccine to be a contentious choice of treatment for the Flu. We applaud your pursuit of investigating something you clearly feel passionate about. Your research plans are very well organised. One thing that we thought you may wish to clarify is the definition of “the Flu.” From our own experience we have found that people with the common cold can often confuse their symptoms as being those of the Flu. Perhaps you may wish to include some information about the Flu so participants will accurately identify their symptoms. Another area in which you may wish to improve relates to the hand washing procedures of participants. Perhaps ask specific questions as to their hand-washing habits, such as what substance they use to clean their hands. This may be included in your questioning but do they use soap, anti-bacterial hand wash or simply hot water? Overall we were very impressed with your plan of research action. It was really interesting to read. || Evaluating Incidents of Influenza versus Influenza Vaccinations in the last 5 Years The objective of this study is to determine whether there is a correlation between the number of flu shots a person has received in the last 5 years, and the number of times they have exhibited a combination of “flu-like” symptoms in the last 5 years. In addition to this, factors such as age, gender, etc., will be considered to identify potential vulnerable groups (that should or should not be encouraged to receive the flu vaccine). The hygiene habits of these individuals will also be evaluated. This will include looking into number of times hands are washed per day, length of time spent washing hands, and under what situations hands are washed. It is expected that the following are examples of some possible conclusions from this study that could lead to action: > (i.e. receiving the flu shot does not increase or decrease the likeliness of one obtaining the flu) > (i.e. receiving the flu shot does significantly increase or decrease the likeliness of one obtaining the flu) * There are several other permutations of possible conclusions; this is just a list of examples In order to collect the data required, a survey created via Google Forms will be administered and a minimum of 100 participants will be pursued. The survey will consist of three main sections: It seems that your research design is quite comprehensive and definitely covers all of the the "common contributors" to the flu. It would be quite interesting to see how these things actually contribute to the common flu. Obviously these results would be heavily influenced by the age of the individual as common hygiene habits are different for each age group (eg. children) so it might be desirable to devise a way to combat this. || The group will design their action to address the STSE issue of Influenza Vaccination. The correlations found between flu history, demographics, and hygiene from the study discussed above will provide a basis by which the group will be able to then take action in the community. These are ideal actions, it is something that has been addressed and implemented in Australia. We can't remember the last time we went to a public toilet that didn't have signage about correct hand washing habits. Educating the public is a great step and if it is beneficial to get a flu shot this campaign would be very valuable in increasing awareness. The toughest part of this is getting people to change their habits as some will choose to dismiss this information at all costs. Your possible courses of action were also well set out. It was good to see some alternative suggestions. Again you have been thorough in your approach. Your suggestions to create awareness regarding this issue were varied in type and that was good to see. In Australia, we are used to seeing signs which tell us about the upcoming flu season, for example signs are often found in public bathrooms showing how to properly wash hands. It seems these have been effective in stimulating action but it is difficult to comment of their effectiveness in combating the Flu influenza. Lobbying to Governments about this issue seems worthwhile considering the huge expense to the health care system involved. It is a serious topic to which we were largely unaware so thank-you. ||
 * = __** Flu Shots - Do We Need Them? **__
 * = ** RiA Plan Details ** ||= ** Feedback ** ||
 * __ STSE Description: __
 * __ Research Plan: __
 * Study: **
 * Objective and Context: **
 * Expectations: **
 * 1) No correlation between likelihood of receiving the flu and receiving a vaccination
 * 1) Strong correlation between likelihood of receiving the flu and receiving a vaccination
 * 1) No correlation between likelihood of receiving the flu and proper hand hygiene
 * 2) Strong correlation between likelihood of receiving the flu and proper hand hygiene
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">No correlation between likelihood of receiving the flu when utilizing proper hand hygiene and flu vaccination was received
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Strong correlation between likelihood of receiving the flu when utilizing proper hand hygiene and flu vaccination was received
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Methodology: **
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Influenza History
 * A brief description of typical influenza symptoms
 * Questions relating to the individual's previous exhibition of influenza symptoms in the last 5 years
 * Questions relating to the individual's influenza vaccination history in the last 5 years
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Demographics
 * Questions relating to the individual's gender, age, and other demographic characteristics
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hand Washing Hygiene
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A brief description of recommended hand washing procedures
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Questions relating to the individual's hand washing practices as compared to the recommended hand washing procedures || Feedback from Chris and Chloe
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 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Type of Action: **
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Education
 * Poster Campaign: Information can be provided and action promoted (or discouraged) for the flu vaccine and hand washing through the use of posters around the community.
 * YouTube Video: The group could create a video containing the results of the study and informs the public about the risks and benefits of the flu shot as well as providing individual recommendations for fighting the flu.
 * Educating Vulnerable People: If a certain demographic is found to be more susceptible to the flu or to have adverse effects from the flu shot, actions could be targeted towards those people. This could include an education day at a seniors home or school where pamphlets containing information on courses of action for fighting the flu are handed out.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Personal Action
 * Washroom Signage: If correlations of the flu to hand washing are found, then increased awareness can be used to target poor hygiene in order to reduce the spread of viruses. Signage can be put in washrooms to promote proper hand washing with the intention of improving the hygiene habits of the community. Hand washing information could be complemented by the implementation of hand sanitizer stations in strategic locations.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Lobbying
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">If the study results contradict the secondary research performed, the reason for the difference should be examined. For example, the government or institutions providing the flu shot may be targeting the wrong demographic. If this is the case the group can write to government officials to bring it to their attention. || Feedback from Chris and Chloe

Cody Wilson, David Lam, Alan Kwak || Our group decided to investigate the environmental impact associated with society's increased use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. We began to have some discussion about this when we were asked to complete another group's survey which asked us how many hours we spend on the Internet a week. We found this question to be very difficult to answer. We also read the article [|Power, Pollution, and the Internet] in the New York Times. Our increased use of social media (and the Internet in general) has created the need for vast amounts of personal information to be stored. Thus companies, such as Facebook, have begun to operate large data centers which house thousands of servers. These data centers consume vast amounts of resources and often are not subject to any regulation. For example, the article states that one data center uses as much electricity as a small town! To protect against power outages, data centers also run generators which emit a considerable amount of pollution. It is extremely surprising that by simply checking our Facebook wall every hour or so we are contributing to this problem. || Feedback from Susannah, Jade and Rebecca. It’s an interesting idea to investigate the environmental impacts of increased use of social media. We have noticed that your title says “Social Media and E-Waste” however your description seems to focus more on energy consumption rather than e-waste. Our understanding of the issue of e-waste is the creation (and disposal) of large amounts of waste due to an abundance of electrical devices that become obsolete within short periods after purchase. It might be difficult to directly link social media usage with increased energy consumption. Have you considered looking at other impacts of social media usage such as psychological effects, links to depression, cyber bullying, decreased activity levels and health impacts. These impacts of social media usage may be easier for students to comprehend rather than (what they may percieve to be) an ambiguous link to environmental impacts. Feedback from James Dickinson Hi guys, this is an issue that would interest plenty of people since so many of us have facebook. The website article links in really well. Im sure so many people check their facebook every hour and would have no idea that they are helping destroy the planet. Since the introduction of smartphones everyone carries the internet in their pocket. Back in the days of dial-up internet you would have easily been able to determine how much time you spent on the internet, but now your on it all the time. e.g. maps, youtube, facebook etc. Every little bit of power adds up but most of us have the attitude of "i'm only one person, there's no point me saving power". It would be interesting to know what percentage of people would still be living without internet. || Our group plans to conduct a survey to gather information about the use of social media. We hope to gather data such as amount of time spent on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, tumblr, etc.), age, and socio-economic status (if possible). We anticipate that the respondents of our survey will face the same difficulty quantifying their use of social media platforms as we did. We are considering asking a subset of our respondents to record over a period time how much time they spent on social media sites. We hope that this will give us a more accurate description of social media usage. We plan to survey our fellow teacher-candidates, our students in practicum (if possible), and also Graduate House residents. We hope this will give us a somewhat diverse set of data. We also plan on pursuing secondary research to gather information. There has been some criticism of the New York Times article we mentioned above. We will investigate the legitimacy of this criticism. We also hope to find some other research articles on the issue. Another area we would like to research is data centers in the Toronto, Ontario area and how environmentally friendly they are. || Feedback from Susannah, Jade and Rebecca. Your primary research seems to focus mainly on how people use social media. Have you considered how to link this to energy consumption and environmental impacts? Perhaps you could incorporate data collection about energy usage (using power bills, energy meters etc) and use this to try and make conclusions about correlation between social media usage and energy consumption. Could you also consider in your survey how often phones, computers, tablets etc. are replaced and make conclusions about a possible link to electronic waste. Feedback from James DIckinson It would be good to know about data centres in Toronto since you can appreciate a little bit more the impact that you're having on the environment. Socio-economic status is a good way of breaking down a survey, since you can then determine the amount of energy that is being used by specific parts of the population. One thing i would like to know is how much time kids spend on social media compared to playing sport, and whether this in turn may lead to a whole other issue of childhood obesity. In Australia we have a physical activity guideline that kids should be spending less than 2 hours per day on electronic media. An amendment was made to this guideline just recently....."not including homework". || We believe that even the process of filling out the surveys will help the students develop an understanding of the pervasiveness of social media. We hope this will inspire them to take personal actions which might include limiting their use of social media or measuring how frequently they use social media. Perhaps some students might consider abandoning their use of social media altogether. Students might also consider taking actions which inform their peers about the impact of social media use on the environment. They could create posters, make announcements, or even use social media itself to inform their friends. They could also use the results of their research to determine which groups use social media the most and then target their awareness campaigns towards them. We could also encourage our students to lobby social media companies and the government. They might write a letter to their Member of Parliament demanding that companies such as Facebook be held to the same environmental standards as other industries. They might also write to the company itself to lobby for more environmentally-friendly practices. || Feedback from Susannah, Jade and Rebecca. We are not sure about the idea of students using social media to inform others of the negative effects of social media. It might be more effective to promote face to face interactions by organising meetings at school or after school activities. We wonder if lobbying politicians and government representatives will have an impact on social media usage and energy consumption. Feedback from James Dickinson Even little things like reading your issue would get people thinking about how they can cut down on their usage of social media thus saving energy. Your ideas would be good in a classroom setting, it would get students thinking and researching therefore trying to come up with various solutions. You could also try and create a "SOCIAL MEDIA FREE DAY". if people could go without social media for a day they may abandon the use of their facebook. ||
 * = __** Social Media and E-Waste **__
 * = ** RiA Plan Details ** ||= ** Feedback ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">STSE Description
 * Research Plan
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Possible Action

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Amanda Martin, Amy Chapman, Ryan Williams, and Giancarlo Galliani Pecchia ||= || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Our region suffers from pollution, high amounts of traffic, and low air quality, all which can be traced back into a heavy reliance on commuters’ use of cars to get to and from their job. On top of that, the ever-increasing price of gas, insurance, and car maintenance makes driving an expensive form of commuting. As the population in an urban centre increases, the infrastructure for driving becomes less and less efficient; it seems clear that commuting to work by car is a method that will not stand up to the test of time. The increase of pollution gives us further incentive to make changes to the way we commute to work. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">How does our commute to school or work affect the environment? How much can we save, both environmentally and personally, by making a change? How much of an impact would it make? Our group is looking to answer these types of questions by instituting a trial change in commute method. If a person carpools instead of driving to work, how does their carbon footprint change? How much less would it cost them? Would it take very much longer? In other words, how feasible is a more eco-friendly commuting method? And if it isn’t feasible, what would make it feasible? || Smart Commuting - feedback from Bernard, Ammie and Finn Hi guys, This is a difficult STSE that you have raised. Finding a solution to such a complex issue will be challenging. Changing the commuting habits of individuals who are stuck in their ways will prove problematic. We agree that public awareness probably the best way to deal with this. If we can change the mind set of commuters on a small scale and begin to encourage people within school communities to car pool, etc, we can only hope that extends into the wider community. When considering this issue we must take into account the whole idea of urban sprawl. Individuals are moving further out of cities and commuting to work because of their desire for space and the fact that they can have a greater amount of space outside of the city for the same amount of money that it would cost for a small amount of space within the city. Changing the mind set of a culture which is driven by ‘want’ rather than ‘need’ is reflective of Western idealism which extend from the “Great American Dream”. In looking at this, it would be beneficial to look at this from both a scientific perspective and cultural perspective. If you find that it is contributing a great amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, think about how difficult it will then be to change the habits of the culture in order to combat your STSE. Your action plan provides some great ideas. In addition to these, organising ongoing activities which incorporate exercise, like you suggested with the ride to work day, may assist in your aim to improve commuter habits as well as increase awareness for other issues such as the need for greater health and exercise. Cheers, Bernard Street, Ammie Bergmeier and Finn Mulhall Feedback from Susannah, Jade, Rebecca: We think this is a great idea for a SSI research and action plan because it can be relevant to people of all ages and backgrounds. Changing the way people commute is a realistic and achievable goal. Have you also considered the health impacts of increased cars on the road? Walking or riding bikes can lead to increased fitness and lower levels of obesity. Including this in your research and action plans may provide another incentive for people to make positive change. This description gives the reader a clear point of view of the SSI issue that the group is interested in. It provides many questions for further research and thought. Another interesting point of view to research may be how much a person can save their own health by adopting more active and daily transportation methods to work. || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Our research on commuting looked into the greenhouse gas production of different types of vehicles and the cost of gasoline or diesel for them, As background research, we explored the negative environmental impacts of those greenhouse gasses, as well as the mining and refining of petroleum used to make car fuel. We then plan to research possible positive effects of carpooling, electric or hybrid vehicles, and public transport as commuting alternatives. We also plan to compare data for different cities; namely their average commute times, average costs for each mode of transportation, their pollution levels, the amount of transit infrastructure they have, the carpooling incentives and its availability, and seasonal changes throughout the year as a commuting factor. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Our primary research will explore three options that reduce the impact of a driving commute: carpooling commutes, public transit, and using a green or hybrid vehicle. We developed a survey to question users on their commuting method that aligns with a commuting calculator available online (https://www.carpoolzone.smartcommute.ca/en/my/calc_impact.php?noheader=1). We will survey various individuals to determine how they commute to work; we then will estimate their carbon footprint and the cost of their commute using a modified version of the Commute Calculator. Using the results, we will study how a change in commute method will have an environmental impact and a cost impact. How much money would someone save by carpooling? Or by using a hybrid or green vehicle? Or by switching to public transit? || Feedback from Susannah, Jade, Rebecca: In your research it might be good to look at European cities such as Barcelona and Amsterdam, which have great programs and policies for public transport, car sharing and bicycles. [|See here] We think it's a great idea that you have considered how to use your survey results to look at cost saving for environmentally friendly commuting methods. Money can be a great motivator to assist people to change. This is a good link from your research to action.
 * = __**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Smart Commuting **__
 * //**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">RiA Plan Details **// || //**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Feedback **// ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**SSI Description**
 * [Feedback from: Elleise Ngawaka & Tom Ellis] **
 * **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Research Plan **

Your background research looks to be effective for your further research plans. It would be interesting to see the positive effects of alternative transport methods and also if it is counteracts the negatives effects such as pollution, etc. It would be interesting to compare cities in Canada to those that perhaps are in the same range of population density, and also those that have been name 'most liveable cities in the world'. Your survey/calculator is a great tool for people to use to see the effect of the transportation. We worked out that on one particular day of the week we produce 28.6kg of greenhouse gas emissions. It would be great to add a part to it that gives feedback to the user as to what this means in terms of pollution and the actual effect they have on the environment. || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Our actions will be based in three categories: public awareness, student undertaking, and government petition. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Public Awareness: In this action, we will propose ways to engage the public and increase their knowledge on the environmental and personal impacts of their commute. This can be in the form of a pamphlet, social media venture, community meetings (such as a town hall), a t-shirt campaign, or local news story. These forms serve to increase the general public’s awareness on the issues and will hopefully motivate them to make a research-informed positive change. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Student Undertaking: This can take the form of a student organized protest in the parking lot, a march to the local city hall or government office, organizing a bike to work day, setting up a car-share or ride-share system within the school environment, posters, and formation of a “Commute Smart” club. These will help younger individuals discover the benefits of greener and more economical commutes before they enter the workforce. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Government Petition: Stemming from the first two actions, the results of the research will be summarized and presented to both municipal and provincial governments in the form of a petition. This will call to expand the system of HOV (High-Occupancy Vehicle) lanes, increase funding for transit, and offer an incentive for purchasing a green or hybrid vehicle. || Feedback from Susannah, Jade, Rebecca: When considering the public awareness component of your action, it would be a great idea to use the data collected from your research, regarding cost comparisons of alternative forms of transport. This information, along with increasing awareness of environmental impact are great tools to motivate people to make research informed positive changes. Your ideas for organising a bike to work day, a car-share system or a commute smart club seem quite valuable, as these encourage people to make changes to their own behaviour. We feel this is a more powerful form of action than petitions or protests. In saying this, we do think that presenting your research results to local government will complement your other actions, as in the end change has to come from both individuals and the government.
 * [Feedback from: Elleise Ngawaka & Tom Ellis] **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Possible Actions**

Your possible actions sound effective, and its great that you have included what you can do with your students within the classroom and also out in the community. My experience with HOV lanes is that they have been employed on LA highways however they go unused, and don't seem to be effectively promoting a carpooling system. In Melbourne we have these lanes on some roads only, however no fines are attached to miss-use, therefore the purpose is defeated. ||
 * [Feedback from: Elleise Ngawaka & Tom Ellis] **

Increased garbage production has become a worldwide problem. Landfills are accumulating more and more waste, much of which can easily be diverted into recycling facilities and reused. Although most large cities and municipalities in Canada have recycling programs, there is still a resounding need to educate the public to recycle. For example, in the province of Ontario, many large cities have the appropriate structure and programs set in place to promote recycling but it all comes down to actually placing the waste product in the appropriate garbage receptacle. All households have a blue bin for placing plastics, a grey bin for paper, a green bin for compost (organic waste), and garbage bags for all other waste products. It is a matter of encouraging the public to make use of these resources and to eliminate the need to use garbage bags to send waste to landfills. The concept of recycling can easily be integrated into school curricula in order to encourage students to be more conscientious of their garbage disposal habits and in turn, educate their families at home. If small steps like these are taken at a municipal level, the combined results hold promise to reduce the waste directed into landfills. || Feedback from Monique HofmanI think this is a very relevant STSE issue as many people don’t understand and respect the need to recycle as not only are we running out of room to store our waste and garbage, we are also running out of resources to produce new materials. It was interesting to read that in Canada, you have four options for waste disposal as in Australia we only have three; organic waste, recyclables and garbage. This in itself causes an issue as we not separate our plastics recyclables from paper, resulting in the need for separation at the waste disposal plants themselves. This would be an interesting thing to implement here in Australia as it would remove the need for this separation process as well as allowing the general public to see how much plastic and paper they use in everyday life. I agree that it is a matter of educating the general public about recycling and ensuring everyone is clear on what is and is not recyclable. This is best done through schools, by educating students when they are younger so it becomes a part of their everyday life. Children would then be inclined to go home and change the recycling habits of their parents and family thus contributing to reducing waste that needs to be dumped in landfill sites. || In order to learn more about garbage disposal and recycling habits, we will conduct a school-wide survey asking students some of the following questions: We will also do a visual survey and tally on garbage day in various neighbourhoods in Mississauga (a city in Southern Ontario) to determine the number of garbage bags versus recycling bins placed on the curbside at each individual home. The idea is to determine whether an increase in recycling (through recycling bins on the curb) results in reduced garbage bags at each house. Surveying various neighbourhoods may also provide information on whether recycling habits are dictated by socioeconomic makeup of an area. Secondary research will also be conducted on the number of recycling programs in the province of Ontario, their individual feasibility, the number of municipalities that participate/don’t participate, the reasons for why some areas do not have recycling programs, the cost of such programs, how much tax is paid out for these services, as well as organizations supporting recycling causes. It is the aim of our study to determine what factors will help encourage the public to recycle and reduce waste production through environmental stewardship initiatives. || I think the idea of conducting a school wide survey is a good step towards creating awareness about waste. The questions chosen will provide a general idea of the attitude of the individual students as well as the school towards recycling. The visual survey and tally is also a great idea as it will provide an easy and diagrammatic representation of recycling practices which could raise awareness. The investigation into whether the houses who put their recycling bins out as well as their other garbage bags produce less garbage overall would provide some very interesting results, especially when comparing these results to other surrounding suburbs. This would also allow targeted campaigns or education programs to be aimed at the areas that do not recycle effectively. The secondary research would fill in the background information to support the results of the primary research. The overall conclusions would be very useful for local councils. || Based on the results of our research, we hope to have a more clear idea of whether garbage production is in fact directly linked to lack of recycling in a household. If in fact this holds true, we hope to integrate the importance of recycling into school curriculum. Teaching students about the need to place recyclable items into their appropriate recycling containers instead of the garbage bin could be an introductory lesson into environmental stewardship. We could also present videos on the amount of garbage accumulating in landfills around the world to show real life application of the issue. Students would then be asked to create a pamphlet or poster that they would distribute to everyone else in the school that lists the importance of recycling. We believe that getting students to learn about the issue and then taking small scale individual actions makes them more aware of their recycling behaviour. They are more likely to recycle when they are in fact the ones promoting the behaviour. Other initiatives could include proposing waste free lunch days in schools to demonstrate the importance of waste reduction. Students would be encouraged to bring lunch in reusable containers on these days. Moreover, based on our secondary research on areas that do not have recycling programs, we could potentially lobby for the need to have province wide recycling. Students may also be involved in this process. Our hope is that through education, there is a motivation to recycle rather than dispose garbage in the landfills. || The likely conclusions of your research would be very useful to incorporate into the school curriculum as it would provide local information about recycling that the stduents could easily relate to. Research suggests this is important as if the topics covered in school are relevant to the individual students and are tied to a local context the students’ are more likely to respond positively. By allowing the students to create their own awareness programs this would further their interest and knowledge and the behaviour would be more likely to stick with them throughout their lifetime. The waste free lunch day is a great idea, especially if the students collected information about their average waste for a particular day compared to their waste free day. This would also illustrate how easy it is for the students to reduce their waste. It would be interesting to extend your research to the local council or community groups to show them the recycling habits of the community. By encouraging local action, such as waste free days for the community, plastic bag free shopping and grocery stores and informed recycling action plans the whole community could improve their recycling habits. || Ontarians are among the biggest consumers of water in the world. For household water alone, the average Ontarian consumes about 270 litres per day, roughly twice as much as the average European. Of course this is just for household, when you factor in agriculture, electricity production and manufacturing goods then divide it per capita the average Canadian uses thousands upon thousands of litres per day. The problem lies in the fact that most Ontarians take our water for granted, we assume we have an unlimited supply because we are surrounded by large bodies of water such as Lake Ontario. Geography might say we have an abundant supply of water, but the reality is by overusing a finite resource we jeopardize the supply for future generations. There are many levels that water consumption can be tackled such as household, industrial and commercial. We will be looking at ways we can effectively and efficiently lower our own water consumption at the household level. What are some reasonable ways to lower our consumption of water? How much impact would it make if we managed to save 50 litres per person, per day? How does the supply and demand of water affect the rate at which we consume water? What are the environmental and societal impacts of excessive use of water? || From Berndard, Ami, and Finn. Facinating to hear that water is so available in Canada! In Australia we have the reverse situation - at one point our water supply in melbourne was down to 20% - about one year of water, if we hadnt had significant in we would have had no water coming out of the tap! Even so, we've had significant problems in Australia getting people to reduce their domestic water usage - we still use around 175 litres per day! Given this, i imagine it will be incredibly difficult to motivate Canadians to reduce water consumption when they dont have the threat of drought. || In order to learn more about household water consumption, we will conduct primary research in a school-wide survey asking students, teachers and other staff members questions such as: These questions are meant to gain a broad sense of individuals’ water consumption based on their lifestyle, preferences, and financial means etc. However, we will be monitoring correlations between water consumption and gender or age. The secondary research we will be doing will look at various ways that we can reasonably lower our water consumption as well as possible financial implications involved in doing so. In addition, we will look at the overall impact saving water can do for our water supply and reserves || From Bernard, Amy and Finn. Interesting to look at how attitudes vary across generations and not just take for granted that all age groups will respond in the same way. The financial implications are extremely important. As you said in your introduction, the main source of water waste is not individuals but commercial/industrial. Increasing the domestic price of water has been one mechanism promoted in Australia. Unfortunately this only puts pressure on the lower income brackets and has negative social impacts, without significant water savings. || There are many possible actions that can be done at the **individual level** such as consciously taking shorter showers, buying low-flow shower heads and buying high efficiency or dual flush toilets. At the **community level** we can post posters around schools, community centers and malls to raise awareness about our water consumption, ways we can lower it and statistics we’ve gathered concerning the issue. At the **societal level** we can also send letters to the ministry of environment on ideas about implementation of low water days, similar to Earth day but possibly once a month. The aim is to lower the consumption of water as a whole so if enough households contribute the impact could be significant. We could also petition water supply companies to provide better gauges of water consumption which will inform households on how much water they have consumed on a daily basis so they can better and properly manage their water use. || From Bernard, Amy and Finn. These are all great ideas. I think one area that might be interesting to look at is the idea of the 'shopper-voter'. For example if people are aware that it takes 4 litres of water to produce the 1 litre of bottled water they are purchasing, perhaps they will choose to purchase the water bottle that is made from recycled plastic instead. If enough people do this it becomes unprofitable to produce non-recycled plastic and so structural change occurs at the industrial/commercial level. || <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Project Title: Soda Pop and its affect on consumer health and the environment <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Group members: Andrew Woods, Nick Piatelli, Devin Tonelli
 * __Project Title:__ Increased Garbage Production and the Need to Recycle **
 * __Team Members:__ Mahin Aman and Marzena Serwin **
 * ** Group RiA Plans ** || ** Feedback From Preservice Teachers in Australia/Canada (with names) ** ||
 * ** SSI Description **
 * ** Research Plans **
 * 1) Do you recycle at home?
 * 2) How often do you throw out recyclable items into the regular garbage?
 * 3) Do you have recycling bins at home?
 * 4) Do you have compost bins at home?
 * ** Possible Actions **
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Water Consumption - Changes for Good **
 * Group members: Kelly, Kevin, Sanja **
 * ** Group RiA Plans ** || ** Feedback ** ||
 * **SSI Description:**
 * **Research Plan:**
 * On average, how long do you spend showering?
 * Do you prefer to take showers or baths? (showers tend to consume more water than baths, but it depends on length)
 * How often do you do your laundry?
 * Do you use cold, warm or hot water for showers/laundry?
 * Do you own standard, high efficiency or dual flush toilets?
 * **Possible Actions:**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our group has <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">decided to investigate the issue of Soda Pop and how it is mass marketed <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">to consumers while also negatively contributing to obesity and diabetes. The average non-diet <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">soda beverage contains the equivalent of 10.5 teaspoons of sugar. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•For children, every additional daily serving of soda childhood obesity risk increases by 60% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•Adults who drink one or more sodas or other sugar-sweetened beverages each day are 27 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">percent more likely to be overweight or obese. While consumers are becoming more knowledgeable about the negative effects of these products, sales of soda pop is still on the rise. This is likely do to the fact that companies that back these products are extremely powerful and market them aggressively to both adults and adolescents. There are some restrictions in place that prevent them marketing directly to children, however children are still exposed while be it indirectly. The mayor of New York, Mr. Bloomberg, has recently passed a bill that limits the sale of non-diet soda pop larger then 16oz. This sparks the question, should government step in to regulate the sale of harmful products and if so, where do we draw the line in a free market society. || Feedback from Monique Hofman and James Dickinson We feel that creating awareness regarding the amount of sugar in soda pop (AKA "soft drink" as the land down under calls it) is definitely important to the overall health of consumers. The public health system has supplies people with plenty of funding. this does not need to be increased by individuals lack of ability to restrain themselves from drinking soft drink. With diabetes on the rise it is improtant to educate our students as to the negative impacts a high sugar diet can have on their health. Having the government step in to limit the sale of soft drink seems a bit ridiculous. In Australia companies have begun to "shrink" their products. They charge the same price for a smaller product.Consumers do become very frustrated at this but in the long run maybe it will decrease obesity and diabetes levels in our society. || To further our knowledge related to the effects of soft drinks on human health there are a number of possible forms of research that can be taken: Our main plan to gather information involves a survey asking people about their soft drink habits as well as their BMI statistics, specifically included are - Relating the soft drink consumption rate to BMI gives us a rough approximation as to the effect of soft drinks on human health. This survey has a number of limitations, as only one lifestyle decision was included on the survey, someone who consumes a great deal of pop, while still exercising regularly may throw off the relationship between soft drink consumption and BMI. In this regard a number of secondary resources were accessed, we focused mainly on journals of public health. We found that while excessive sugar consumption (particularly in the form of HFCS) had detrimental health effects, preventing access to soft drinks in schools had very little actual effect on consumption in students. || Feedback from Monique Hofman and James Dickinson The idea of using a survey to obtain primary research is a good one. It allows for quantitative to be obtained simply and easily, wihtout any major bias. To aid with this you could also implement a scaled system ie. strongly aggree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree or a ranking of 1-5 that the participant can fill in to allow for qualitative analaysis also. The link between soft drink consumption and a person's BMI is a valid one and it is good to see that you have also discussed the limitations of using this as a difinitive tool. While some individuals may be able to consume large amounts of soft drink and this have little affect on their BMI due to their exercise habits, lifestyle factors and their diet, for others it may be a strong indicator to their lack of exercise and negative diet. Further dveleopment and inclusion of questions based around their lifestyle, diet and exercise habits would be good to include so you could provide evidence that supports or disproves this link. Although you could probably find this information using secondary sources, linking it with results from your survey would illustrate a stronger point. || The possible actions to this STSE issue are numerous. || Feedback from Monique Hofman and James DIckinson possible actions include:
 * **Group RIA** || **Feedback** ||
 * **SSI Description:**
 * **Research Plans:**
 * How many soft drinks do you consume per week.
 * What is your current weight?
 * What is your current height?
 * Do you agree with the current ban on large size soft drinks proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg?
 * **Possible Action Plans:**
 * diet soft drinks in school canteens
 * product shrinkage
 * more awareness of negative impact on dental health
 * less marketing during after school t.v. timeslots
 * promoting healthy alternatives such as low sugar juices. ||