Unit 1 Reflection

Unit 1’s basis was, in a speculative sense, perspective and how it can be analyzed to interpret a situation’s reality. As the NEW School Core meandered through the unit, we were presented with information that provided  different perspectives on human health. We were given a lot of content that contained bias and we were expected to distill truth from many of these works containing other people’s penchant. Three of the most recurring viewpoints regarding human health are the biological effects, the social effects, and the personal effects. The NEW School Core did many things to insure that this information was relevant and present.

First and foremost, in science primarily, the class received a biological prospect on health. In the class we learned about the digestive system and heart disease. Doing activities like the Making Poop Lab helped the class understand what goes through their bodies and other’s bodies can affect the consumer. For instance, how the Hello Kitty Marshmallows passed through the simulated digestive system next to a food item like strawberries. We learned that foods like the marshmallows were malnourishing, because they didn’t digest. Another big thing I picked up on specifically was heart disease. When watching Forks Over Knives, the class learned about the heart disease epidemic. We learned about how cholesterol builds up in the coronary artery when ingested excessively and how negative it can impact a human’s chemistry. Even though biology is significant, there is more to the story.

Another crucial perspective is the social perspective. The class spent a lot of time learning about how epidemics like heart disease has become such a quandary. A lot of the field trips the class went on and books and articles that were analyzed really tied into real world. When interviewing farmers at the Windsor Farmers Market, I learned about dilemmas like organic food labeling and foods that were sold in bulk like corn, especially corn. We also a book called the Omnivore’s Dilemma. When reading this the class learned a lot about corruption amongst the food industry and moral debates that have influenced the way we eat and take care of our bodies. Social issues funnel down right into a person’s personal mindset.

We learned that each person’s health is affected directly biologically and socially. We learned how to take care of ourselves and how to take care of our bodies. The NEW School Core went on field trips that gave us access to people that would be able to help us and sent in many guest speakers that expanded our knowledge of ourselves. One guest speaker that came in, the Mushroom King, taught us how to prepare mushrooms and make them nutrient rich for ourselves. Another example is when Mrs. Wagner came in. She showed us how to exercise and she also taught us how to prepare nutritional food for ourselves. Throughout the unit we were also given opportunities to read.

To conclude the reflection, I would like to state what I got from the unit overall. I believe that this unit, on the surface, was there to teach us about nutrition, but I believe the core of the unit was learning to learn, widen our perspectives, and give us a better view on nutrition and how it relates to ourselves and the world overall.