The Story of Stuff: A critical Analysis

The Story of Stuff: A critical Analysis

1.     The message of “The Story of Stuff” is that the  production system is in in crisis. Annie explains how we as consumers need to stop buying  so much stuff if we want to save what is left of Earth’s resources . Also that in order to create the products we as consumers love; workers are being exploited.  Also chemicals are being released into the atmosphere and these chemicals that cote our products are endangering our health and the worker’s health.  I think the overall take home point for each consumer is that with every dollar they spend they can choose to support this toxic cycle or make choices that support a healthy planet.

This is a system in Crisis!

3.       Annie uses the persuasive technique of showing the viewer why what she is saying affects them directly.   For example she focuses on the harm that the production cycle has on the consumer, the factory workers, and those who lose their resources as to sway each of these categories of people that this vicious cycle has to stop.  As a consumer I was swayed when she mentioned that most synthetic chemicals have not been tested for safety.  Also when she discussed perceived obsolescence I felt betrayed by the corporations who design my products.  As a consumer I was disgusted by these facts and therefore I believe Annie’s persuasive technique of making the message personal to the audience to be highly effective.

What are we really allowing into our homes, our bodies, our atmosphere? 

5. Annie is fully on the side of the environment and strongly against corporations and hold prejudices against the government. Therefore all of the information she presents is missing half the picture and is coming from this perspective. Even if she is telling us facts the whole picture is much more complicated than her bias allows us to perceive. For example:  Yes, harming the environment is wrong but people desperately rely on the jobs she is so casually saying shouldn't exist. 

7.     I believe that the story of stuff makes convincing arguments as her points are explained thoroughly and with details.  For example Annie did not just state that chemicals that are part of the production process are very harmful, she used examples such as the chemicals put on pillows. Also she explained the whole cycle of production thoroughly which helped the viewer see the damage being down to the Earth and humans at each stage.  Based off all the evidence and explanations in the video I am convinced that recycling is not enough and serious life choices need to be made on the individual level in order for change to occur.

If  You don't make the change, who will?  

Video Worksheet: The Cove

Is Marine land as happy a place for the dolphins as it is the visitors? 

Worksheet: The Cove

1. Rich O’Barry is the main defender of dolphins in this documentary.

3. Rich O’Barry became involved in saving the dolphins after many years of training and doing shows with dolphins. His main dolphin named Cathy became depressed and committed suicide.  Through working with dolphins he knew how intelligent dolphins and came to realize that captivity is no place for them.  After years of helping to build up the commercial dolphin industry he feels responsible for helping show the world the truth about the horrors of the cove where dolphins like Cathy are captured.

5. Dolphins are part of the cetacean mammalian order.

7. Small Islands in the Caribbean are being bribed by Japan to support whaling in exchange for financial support.

9. When the dolphins are trapped in the cove representatives from aquariums and other organizations that use animals for amusement come and pick which dolphins they want. They usually want young females as they are popular with crowds.

11. The goal of the documentary is to raise awareness and reveal to the world the horrors that are happening in the cove of Taiji. The creators of the documentary hope that people who learn about these atrocities will speak up and help stop the killing of dolphins.

13. Bio magnification occurs when small fish have mercury within them from pollutants and then mass quantities of these small fish are consumed by larger fish.  This makes the mercury intake for large fish very high. The higher up in the food change the more the mercury intake.  Small fish have small quantities of mercury in them but dolphins who feed off thousands of small fish have very high mercury levels.

15. The fisherman think about the offer and the refuse because they have been told by the government that the reason for the killing the dolphins for meat is pest control. The fishermen have been told that dolphins and whales harm the Japanese fish supply making them pests.

17. A special effects team hides cameras in rocks.

19. When the deputy of Fisheries claims that the dolphins are killed instantly and humanely a crew member shows him a video. The video shows dolphins being stabbed by spears and frantically swimming around gushing blood and other ways that dolphins are slaughtered that illustrate the lack of humanity in the act.

21. A dolphin that is captured and wounded swims over nets trying to reach them but is badly wounded and does not make it to them.  The divers are deeply disturbed by seeing a creature they love so much understand that they are there to help; but not being able to help it.

The Dolphins we All Adore

The Costly Price For Show Case Dolphins

23. Going to marine land supports the fishermen who make around $ 150 000 for a show case dolphin. If these fishermen didn’t make such a large profit they would not being killing as many dolphins as the industry would be much smaller. When fishermen are selling dolphin meat they only make $600 per dolphin. Therefore the prospect of selling a dolphin for commercial reasons makes this market much bigger and draw people to the job. 

Mark-Recapture Sampling

Mark- Recapture Sampling

Analysis:

My estimate of the size of the pasta population was 220 pieces of pasta and the theoretical amount of pasta in the experiment was 560 pieces.  Therefore my estimate was far from the truth.  I think my estimate was  off because a group member offered an estimate of 250.  Therefore rather than thinking for myself I assumed they were right and based my estimate on their response rather than my own logic.

Ooops

Percentage Error:

When I took the theoretical number ( 560) and subtracted from it the experimental number ( 286) and then divided it by the theoretical of (560) I calculated a 49% percentage error.

Problems Ecologists may face:

When ecologists are studying animal populations they face problems like: animals removing their marking tag therefore distorting data, mortality because animals they have marked may become deceased, hunters killing tagged animals and animals from the general population interfere with ecologists,  immigration  because animals from other territories may join the group  therefore changing the population size, emigration because  marked individuals may join other groups.

Dolphins are able to help one another remove their tags

How to Improve my design:

I would improve my sampling design by using a tag that is more effective and noticeable so it is easily distinguishable when counting my sample population. I think that capturing and marking a higher amount of the population will give me more accurate results. I think that by using a measurement cup and filling it with pasta to the same point each time it would result in more accurate data rather than taking a different number of samples each time.