Wiggling: using and evaluating information

I have used a very simple Inspire diagram to organize some of the information that I have found on my topic so far. While I know it's pretty basic, this type of visual organization really helps me to stay focused on the direction in which I am proceeding.



If you click on the image a larger view will appear.

The "Wiggling" and "Weaving" steps are closely related. In the Eisenberg and Berkowitz Big 6 we see that these two steps are combined into one step called "Information Use" in which information is extracted from the total accumulated. In the "Information Use" step, a determination is made about which information is important.

Webbing: the quest for quality information

If I'm going to do my personal inquiry project on the local versus organic debate, it's time to start sifting though information.

First I have to figure out what I'm looking for. It seems to me that what I'm going to need are these main items:

1. What are the benefits of organic food?
2. What are the benefits of local food?
3. While it would be ideal to be able to purchase both, on balance which is most important ecologically speaking?

Results of initial web search:

I found these articles which looked like they might provide some good information.

16 Organic Apples and a Gallon of Gas by Christopher Wanjek
Chews Wisely by Samuel Fromartz
Eating Better Than Organic by John Cloud
Health Care Benefits Now Offered At The Supermarket? by Shane Heaton
Local or Organic? I'll Take Both by Wendy Pennybacker
Local food 'greener than organic' by BBC News
My Search For The Perfect Apple by John Cloud

I've decided to take some of the key points from these articles and make a diagram using Inspire to help me determine whether I have any holes in my content. More on that in my next post!

Wondering: Which to choose?

I think that my choice of topic should be determined at least in part by which topic I am able to form the most interesting and important questions about. I'm tending toward the topic of organic vs. local because I've been a proponent of organic produce for many years, but I have recently been hearing more about the importance of local produce, and in our area it is often not possible to meet both objectives at the same time. So which is most important?

Questions that would need to be addressed include: What are the advantages of organic produce? What are the advantages of buying local produce? (In this investigation we will focus on the advantages for the environment - kind of an "Earth Science" perspective) Are there any drawbacks of either local or organic? Can there be any realistic measure of environmental impact?

More on these later!

Watching: the development of possible topics

Since personal inquiry involves the exploration of a topic that is of personal interest, I thought I'd start by making a list of possible topics in this post. For this post I will simply put the possible topics in list format. I find each of these topics interesting, but would need to expand my knowledge in order to create a project on any of them.

• Buddhist precepts: maybe something pertaining to Samsara?
  
• Eating organic versus eating local: which is most important?
  
• U.S. Government: Democracy or not really?
• Labor Day: is it really just a day off for grilling?
  
• Climate Change: at hot time in the old town tonight
  

Test post

Just wanted to try a test post on the new personal inquiry blog. I haven't started thinking about topics yet, but at least now I have the blog set up so that I can circulate the address.