Summary Of No Impact Man By Colin Beavan

After my group read the book No Impact Man by Colin Beavan we were able to discuss as a class on what it means to be a citizen. We were able to bring different aspects of life's situations into the Socratic Circle Discussions because different groups read different books. In my opinion, the reading of the book No Impact Man did not really define the understanding of what it means to be a citizen. However, once we began talking more outside of the books in the Socratic Discussions; I was able to add to my own knowledge of what it means to be a citizen. The reason the book did not really teach me anything new was because Colin Beavan was not trying to show what it means to be a citizen. Instead, Beavan was showing what it really takes to

Colin Beavan was able to overcome may obstacles that were put in front of him and his family like finding alternative diapers for his daughter Isabella and eating sustainably to reduce his waste product. Although, some of the decisions he could have made would not have changed how it affect the environment such as cancelling their trip to see their grandparents. Even though the Beavans did not fly, the plane still went up and flew across the country. The Socratic Circle Discussions on the other hand gave me a better understanding of what it means to be a citizen. As a class, we were able to put our heads together over a wider range of topics. Instead of only talking about how helping the environment will help our understanding of the meaning of citizenship we were able to talk about

I enjoyed them because there was no yelling or arguing, unlike the debates i’ve been in in past years. Those debates are always out of hand and they usually end up with people arguing and shouting. I do not like the shouting. I actually really dislike being in and participating in debates. These Socratic Circle Discussions are much better to be a part of in my opinion because they are quieter and calmer. I liked how people could chime in at any moment to add onto a point or be able to ask for clarification on a statement. There also was no hand raising, but it was very orderly which surprised me. I also thought it was cool that the teachers did not really have to get involved. All the classmates were able to come up with their own questions and answers. Once we were able to speak more broadly on the topic on the meaning of being a citizen we could talk about almost anything. One example was how exchange students reacted when coming to the United States. Mrs Olsen said that their exchange student did not realize that the United States is not all hustle and bustle, but instead it is peaceful and full of polite people. We were able to talk about different rules that set the United States apart from other countries. Take China; parents decided what their children would grow up to be at very young ages where as here, most people do not fully decide until their twenties. Being