Updates on individual work:
One student chose to visit Trenton on their own free time and took a few pictures of vacant lots, corner stores, and bus stops. You can find pictures of each below:
Another student completed their map of Trenton. If you look closely, you will be able to see churches, banks, schools, social service centers, parks, etc.
Lastly, one of the students listed some things that she has learned so far while doing this project:
She noticed that the availability of parks may help (or hinder) health. For example, if a population does not have many parks (an area in which one can participate in recreational activities, or exercise, they could become obese. She also saw a connection between road congestion (having great amounts of car and bus traffic) and health. She hypothesizes that the pollution given off by these automobiles could make people less likely to venture outside, and thus less likely to get the proper amount if exercise.
To look forward to: Each group is in the process of making final plans to travel to the cities and take pictures of the on-the-ground realities. They will incorporate these pictures into their final group projects which will consist of one 5-7 page paper that summarizes and combines the findings of the short (individual) papers. Stay tuned to hear about their findings next week!
