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1. As I am following only the lecture and skills portion of the minor, I am not present for the challenge portion on Wednesdays. Therefore, I was not part of the brainstorming session. However, despite not being a part of a group, just a week of this course has prompted me to start thinking more concretely about certain climate-related topics. I have always tried to be environmentally conscious and recognized many of the topics we discussed in class, but there was a new sense of imminency to the issues. The topics that resonated with me the most were discussions of droughts and wildfires, as these were prevalent where I grew up, but I was additionally drawn to the issues of agricultural sustainability and biodiversity in urban areas, specifically concerning insects.

With all my meals this week and those that I am planning for this weekend, I can feel myself being more conscious of the amount of meat I am consuming and what meals I am primarily consuming for vegetables. As an athlete, I commonly pay attention to what I am eating and what makes me feel healthy and nourished, but I generally do not do so from the perspective of limiting meat intake. While I am not planning to cut meat out of my diet entirely, it will be interesting to see where my thoughts concerning food go throughout the course of this minor. I will also be interested to see in the agricultural discussions how meat production differs from the production of dairy and if there are significant differences in consequences.

Following the brief discussion on insect biodiversity and the subsequent issues with urban areas disrupting ecosystems and species' ability to move, it was almost comical, in a sad way, how many insects we had stuck in my apartment this week. With all the windows open to let in the breeze on the warmer days, a variety of butterflies and bees came in and often had to be assisted back outside. While I gave them access to orange slices to snack on, I felt almost hopeless pushing them back outside into the city center where there is a notable lack of vegetation. It has made me start to think about how there could be a sort of guerrilla warfare type city planting where vegetation could be introduced to pockets of the city.

2. Challenge Based Learning
Unlike many conventional project approaches in which students or groups of students are given a set topic and guidelines to adhere to, with devised learning goals in mind, the basis of challenge-based learning is less concrete. The basis changes to students needing to collaboratively define a large-scale issue, and through repeated processes of inquiring and redefining, begin to focus on decerning challenges within the bigger issue. Through repeatedly asking "why" and seeking contributing factors to issues, students can begin to find underlying factors and root issues to focus efforts on. Only once this process has been conducted, can solutions start to be devised for the defined challenge. This process is different for students who have been conditioned to immediately try to identify solutions early on.

Challenge-based learning leans heavily on student failure as the basis to learning and growing throughout the process. Only through failure can the group recognize why something may not properly address the challenge or why a particular solution is not effective. These failures are encouraged as the reasons why the failure occurred can then be productive in assessing additional solutions.

Communication and documentation are also emphasized more in challenge-based learning. Whereas in "normal" learning a student may work linearly through a project or assignment, completing the steps and gaining the skills that were stated as goals in the beginning. While there may be reflection at the end, this is different from the emphasis on challenge-based learning to document progress in each step of the process and properly reflect on it. This can guide thinking and prove as a useful tool to remembering why certain decisions were made or for insights on how something could be done differently. This documentation can, and is encouraged, be shared with other groups and individuals who may benefit from the insights as they work toward similar goals. These groups may also share insights based on failures they had in their own work. This too is different from "normal" learning where in many cases students are expected to work through their own challenges and leave others to have their own learning through struggle with the content.

The approach of challenge-based learning seems uniquely suited for the current challenges we face with the climate as they are multifaceted issues that will require many actors to work concurrently on addressing them in time. Each of the climate tipping points has a multitude of underlying factors that do not have any simple solutions. If treated as the "big idea", each of these topics will need smaller challenges to be identified so individuals can begin devising solutions to mitigate the impact of these challenges. Additionally, all solutions will require a wide range of actors with different focuses to be involved. This will require the integration of different disciplines and more importantly the communication between. This will be an important focus of the documenting and information-sharing component of challenge-based learning as these issues are worked on concurrently and repeated failures can be avoided.

3. Big idea
As previously mentioned, I have not fully worked out the details of following a "big idea" as I follow only a portion of the minor. However, growing up in Northern California (USA) I have been predisposed to many issues relating to drought and, in the last few years predominantly, wildfires. The gravity of the fires in this area is an acute example of climate change and the immediate threat it poses to people, ecosystems, and biodiversity today. I was fortunate to not have any of the fires reach my town, but neighborhoods in the area were devastated and it is painful to see entire communities wiped out by these climate events. Furthermore, I work within first response and with the local fire departments and have seen the stressors of needing to respond to these situations.

Embedded within these issues is the challenge of forest management. For decades, forestry efforts have been to prevent all wildfires in the region, which may seem promising but has now exacerbated wildfires as undergrowth that would otherwise be limited with natural, small-scale fires has been allowed to rapidly grow and now act as kindling ready to be ignited by the more increasing droughts and heatwaves.

The topics of forest management, droughts, and wildfires were discussed in sections 2.2, 2.9, 2.16, 2.18, and 2.19. The challenge of forest management could aid the climate crisis as it could limit the attributing factors for further drastic wildfires and provide more stabilizing conditions for carbon storage. Additionally, forest management that prevents wildfire conditions can limit the devastation to ecosystems that disrupts biodiversity and limits the species that can adapt to changed environments.