2A Muir Woods

a. Observation: What did you choose? What do you see or hear or feel or think of in the choice you made? What is the subject of the work? If you chose a 'thing' what is the work made of and what techniques (colors, lines, shapes, textures)does the creator use? Be specific in your description. If you chose a place, be specific in your description of what you see or hear. Talk to your reader as though they cannot see the item but somehow must draw a painting of what you see or hear. 1 point

For the place, I decided to choose Muir Woods National Monument . It's located in Marin County and it's well known for its beautiful Redwood Trees. I specifically picked Muir Woods, because I visited it once and absolutely loved it. For some reason, I have not returned. Some people may not find interesting, but when you start walking into the redwood forests you are surrounded by 300 foot trees. The rest of the planets and wildlife adds to the scenery of the place. I went when it was raining and it actually made the forest look almost enchanting. It was truly a unique experience.

Interpretation: What is your choice about? Give specific examples to support this statement in 2 sentences; do so in a way that teaches us something about your choice. Make Paulo Freire proud! .75 point

Being in Muir Woods was a unique experience, like I said before. You feel so small in this world and in a way you realize how enormous this planet is and all the beauty it contains. I truly appreciate the beauty of trees and how grateful I am to have this monumental park so close to home. It may sound silly, but I value my place in this world more because I realized that there is so much more out there.

Judgment: What led you to your choice? What do you think or feel about this choice? Why do you feel this way? Support your thoughts with specific observations. .5 point

My younger cousin had gone as a field trip and said he liked it. I decided to go since I live in Marin County. I went and from what I have written you know that I fell in love with the place. My father would always take my brother and me hiking to China Camp (in San Rafael, CA) and I always liked being in nature. China Camp has lovely oak trees but they're tiny compared to the immensity of the redwood trees. My father has a passion for the outdoors, not so much hiking and bird watching, and I think that has a lot to do with how I felt about Muir Woods.

Questioning: What else would you like to know about this choice? When completing the question section, lead your audience into the question by stating a fact you do know, yet you still have the related question. This way, both your audience and you will have an educational experience. Example: I learned that John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath was based on his personal experience working with farm workers. I would like to know if the characters he used in that book are fictitious or are they people he met? .5 point

I know that Muir Woods is a national monument. I want to know when and why it became a national monument.

Muir Woods became national monument on January 9, 1908. The proclamation was made by President Theodore Roosevelt. William and Elizabeth Kent bought 611 acres of the "Bay Area's last uncut stands of old-growth redwoods" in 1905. To protect the trees they donated 211 acres to the Federal government.

5. Using your classmates work from last week, tell us one thing you learned from 1 student. Is this one thing some common experience you share or some experience that is completely different than what you experienced? Is this one thing related to our class theoretical foundation and if so, how? Is that one thing related to historical or cultural context of this country or a different one? 5 points


Denya's Blog
http://dbeaudryhuman7.blogspot.com/2008/06/2a-san-francisco.html


The location Denya choose was San Francisco and she likes going there because many different cultures can be found in one city. I completely agree. I love San Francisco for the same reason. It's fun seeing the different aspects that make up a culture rather than just reading from a book. Not to mention some of the best food can be found in the City!



This link will show you a slideshow of Muir Woods:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT2FUx_OjxE



Links:

http://www.nps.gov/muwo/historyculture/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muir_Woods