#roadsalt

for OCS that aren't big into anime, they'd watch the more 'mainstream' ones, like dragon ball or sailor moon. the list of OCS that are into anime (also the ones that would watch more niche stuff) are:

babette

honeydew

fanta

holly

ione

kaspar

kitty

nuka

pom pom

roadsalt

robin

saskia

sorbet

taffy

teddy

tobi

uma

vikram

virgil

For this weeks prompt, I reviewed the podcast titled “Salty Situations”. My first impression of this podcast from the beginning was that it was extremely appropriate for the age group of the audience and that it was very well thought out! The group members used loud, engaging voices as well as humour to engage their young audience. It is essential to entice audiences by getting them intellectually and emotionally involved (Beck, Cable,& Knudson, 2018). I loved this podcast topic as well because I actually conducted an experiment testing road salt, its effects on road side plants, and the effects of alternatives (including beet juice and sand!) in the Greenhouse my second year at University of Guelph. It was very cool to see this topic catered to a young audience to make a change from old habits. 

Figure 1: This is my poster project for testing road salt from a previous course (ENVS*2230). It is safe to conclude that road salt is harsh and that there are other effective alternatives!

The first lesson this podcast offered me is to directly tell a young audience to educate their parents on environmental issues. Children are very impressionable and what they learn indirectly influences the adults in their lives (Beck, Cable, & Knudson, 2018). However, it might not be enough to hope that children will educate the adults in their lives, so it was great that the members of this group influenced this action directly by telling them that you were going to tell your parents to stop using road salt and switch to an alternative right away. 

Another lesson I learned from this podcast is how they took their influence to the next level. As adults, we want to influence our younger generations to make better decisions. How can we get children to get involved in the community, past educating their families? Write an email to the Mayor! Encouraging actions like these is what influences our younger generations to be confident in taking bigger action. It is true that different regions of Canada and different nations already use road salt alternatives, so why can’t we? I really appreciated introducing taking big steps of action to an impressionable audience and encourages me to influence young children I know to be brave and share their voices. 

The third thing I learned from this podcast was the influence of road salt on marine life. I was aware of the damage that road salt had on vegetation, or even dog paws, but it is logical that road salt will travel to our surrounding waters. To introduce this topic from a marine organism gives life to the information being presented. This allows the audience to construct their own thoughts and beliefs that guide them towards processes of knowing themselves and the life around them (Gallavan, 2005). If they care about marine life like fish (which most children do because animals are fascinating), then they will be able to interpret the effects of road salt on this species, triggering emotional responses. 

One tool that this group absolutely excelled at is sound effects. The sound effects were persistent, engaging, and humorous. It was evident that this podcast use art-based environmental education to engage their audience about natural phenomenon in unfamiliar ways to introduce them (van Boeckel, 2015). The sound effects used reminded me of children’s cartoons, movies, and shows which would make children think that the podcast they are listening to is familiarly fun and interesting. I will definitely focus on sound effects for the next podcast assignment to add life and a story to the topics being discussed. It also aids in influencing emotional responses from the audiences which we want as presenters to ignite a passion for environmental issues. 

Figure 2: You used a sound effect of the noise we associate with a light bulb going off in our heads. It makes me imagine the sound effects visually like this!

Overall, this group did an amazing job presenting their topic, interpreting it through art, and teaching an important lesson about road salt and how we, as environmental stewards, can make a change for our future.

References:

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018) Chapter 7: Serving Diverse Audiences. In Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage For A Better World (pp. 146-161). Urbana, IL: Sagamore-Venture Publishing LLC.

Gallavan, N. P. (2005). Helping teachers unpack their “invisible knapsacks”. Multicultural Education, 13(1), 36.

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