Analyzing Community and Environmental Factors: Neighborhood Walkabout

This assignment presents an analysis of a neighborhood walkabout, where the student observed and documented various aspects of their local environment. The student recorded observations, categorized them as managed by people or naturally occurring, and noted what caught their attention. The assignment then delves into specific observations, such as children playing, birds, and the presence of garbage. The student answered reflective questions about what they saw, highlighting community pride, sustainability, and sources of noise and color. Furthermore, the assignment explores the services provided by both positive and negative elements within the community, such as clean air from trees, the role of garbage collection, and the impact of cars. The student considered the benefits and drawbacks of different aspects of the neighborhood, providing a comprehensive assessment of the community's environmental and social characteristics.

Community Walkabout
Worksheet 1
Walk around your neighborhood and take description of what you see. Select about 10
descriptions to share by filling out the table below
Describe where you walked:
Managed by
People? Y/N
Naturally
Occurring?
Y/N
Why did this catch your
eye?
Like Don’t
Like
Living
Dog Y Y Playing around with children Like
Birds Y Y Beautiful colored birds
chirping and making nest
Like
Neighbor’s
Children
Y Y Playing during Halloween Like
Non-living
Parked
Trucks
Y N Filled with garbage Don’t
Like
Garbage bins
overflowing
Y N Smell coming from it Don’t
Like
Trees in the
Park
N Y Birds sitting on top of trees Like
Street Y N Filled with traffic Don’t
Like
Surprised to
Find
Police N N Talking to neighbors Don’t
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Like
Consider these other questions related to things you found in your neighborhood:
What did you see that was beautiful?
The children playing around with dogs in the park with birds chirping was beautiful and attracted
my attention. The sight of neighbor’s dogs playing with ball by chasing it was also a pleasant
sight to watch. The birds were chirping away and adding a beautiful sound to the environment.
What did you see that showed community pride?
The clean park area reflected community pride. The community made it a point that a garbage
bin is installed where wastes can be disposed and the park area along with other area be cleaned
regularly. This helps maintain cleanliness of the society.
What did you see that showed sustainability?
Trees and small plants everywhere showed sustainability.
What did you find that was loud?
The cars that were moving out of the community were honking to chase
children and dogs away were loud.
What did you see that was colorful?
The birds were colorful which were seated on tree tops and on various plants
in the park.
Reflective Questions
1) From your descriptions that show things that are desirable/beneficial for people/plants/animals:
list the services that are being provided by these things for people. Don’t forget that some
services might be unseen like clean air or natural sounds (like bird song)
The plants and trees needless to mention provide clean air. They help carbon dioxide from the
environment in the community and release fresh oxygen. The dogs and birds add to the variety in
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the community. As with only humans, the community might appear to be monotonous. The
children provide the people in the society with laughter and joy. They are essential especially for
the aged people as they add to the spirit of living.
Garbage bins and trucks that carry garbage are essential as they take away wastes from the
society. The trucks helps the wastes reach their destined location from where they are recycled.
In absence of these garbage bins or trucks, there would be loads of garbage that would pile up in
the society.
Police help ensure our safety and security. In absence of police force, there would be no law and
order personnel to be implemented. Thus, police helps maintain law and order within the society.
2) From your descriptions that show things that are undesirable/harmful for people/plants/animals:
list any services that are being provided by these things for people. For example, a street
provides an efficient way to move people, but may bring more cars into your neighborhood.
The concept of individual cars can significantly harm the environment of the community. They
create environmental air pollution as well as noise pollution. They are run by people and used for
their convenience however, in the long term they can be harmful for the children as well as
elderly of the society.
The garbage truck that was parked in the community area contained tremendous amount of
wastes collected. The standing truck not only spread bad smell but also germs and diseases.
Trucks loaded with garbage needs to be moved to a recycling area such that it can be sourced
into useful material.
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