January 23, 2015 - 17:17
Exploring Environments
a) Rank the five locations in order of where you felt happiest.
1. Morris Woods
2. English House I
3. The glass staircase in Dalton Hall
4. The campus center parking lot
5. A lab in Park Science Building
b) What influenced your comfort level? Why did you rank the locations the way you did?
The temperature of and the amount of light surrounding the environments influenced my comfort level. I visited the locations at midday. Familiarity also comes into play, as I had been to some of these locations previously and already developed some biases, while others I had not. I ranked these locations the way I did by thinking about how much time I would want to spend at each.
c) Rank the five locations in order of where you felt plants were happiest.
1. Morris Woods
2. The glass staircase in Dalton
3. English House I
4. A lab in Park Science Building
5. The campus center parking lot
d) What influences the comfort level of plants? Why did you rank the locations the way you did?
Sunlight and temperature also influence the comfort level of plants. My ranking was based on whether there were plants at the specified locations and if there were, whether they seemed healthy.
e) What similarities are there between what plants and humans find most comfortable?
For plants and humans alike, drastic temperatures can be harmful or at the very least unpleasant. Light is also essential as well for, on the most basic level, growth and energy.
f) What differences are there between what plants and humans find most comfortable?
Although light and sunlight are considered essential for humans for health reasons, it is evident that humans consciously seek well lit places for a number of other reasons: reading with one’s eyes is made easier and traveling through the unknown is less off-putting if the path is well-lit, for example. Honestly, I would not have liked to go into Morris Woods at night alone (but the plants probably don’t mind being there).