To help solve these impacts it is important to understand how our actions affect the environment. For this portfolio option you will choose a natural area that you want to ensure will be around for many generations. It can be any natural area, such as a coral reef, a local pond, the savannahs of Africa, etc. You will produce a paper about the threats your natural area is facing and how you can help stop them. You will also create a pamphlet that you could use to spread the word about the issues your natural area is facing and encourage people to help save it. Your paper will address the following elements: Describe your natural area, including what species live there, what the climate is like, a description of the geography, and a discussion of the role of humans in your natural area. Discuss the threats facing your natural area. Is climate change causing problems there? Is there a problem with habitat loss? Is pollution causing problems there? Are humans or organizations a threat? What else affects your area? Describe how these threats facing your area affect other natural areas as well. Discuss solutions to the threats facing your natural area. What solutions have been presented by those working in the field? What solutions can you think of, based on what you know? Choose one way you can help save your natural area. Try it out and record data to show how your changes will have an impact. Collect trash there. Start recycling for a week. Volunteer to weed out invasive plants. Reduce the amount of time you spend in the car for a week. Is your house drafty? Look into ways to reduce the loss of heat/cool air and try one out. Reduce the amount you use the heater or air conditioning by increasing or decreasing the setting a few degrees. What else can you think of to do? This must be a change in your habits from before so you can record data on the impact your change had. Discuss why you chose the method to help that you did and how it went. Present the data you collected from before and after the change to show the impact your change had. Is this something you could continue to do? What would be the impact on the environment if you did continue to implement this change? The CSU-Global Library is a great place to find resources.