Tragedy Of The Commons

     In class today we played a fishing game and it simulated Tragedy of the Commons. In the game we were divided into groups of three or four and we played the roles as fishers. For the game we had to make a chart that named the people in the group, how many fish we caught, and our income as individuals and as a group. The objective of the game was to use straws to suck the m&m's and place them onto a napkin. But we had to leave the some "fish" on the plate so they would be able to reproduce. After our first "years" we total up how much fish we caught and multiply our small fish by 7 which is what they are worth and the big fish by 10. Next we totaled up our income and collected data from other group members and we totaled how much fish we collected in all. Once the whole class was done we had to write reflections based on what every person did.

     When people actually use those natural resources, it's important to use them sustainably so we don't overuse and then they don't exist anymore. Fish are a good example because fish need to reproduce in order for more fish and live. We fishermen go out fishing, they can't fish out all the fish because then we don't have any left and if they're all gone, we run out. Another good example are trees. Trees are a huge resource that we often take for granted. Trees give us oxygen and they supply us with necessities. Some things are: clean air, paper, shade, and wood. Wood is used for many things. These need to be used in a way that we do not overly use and then we don't replace. Which is why people recycle and such. Back to the fishing game, it helps us realize that when we do go out for natural resources, there is only so much we can take and we need to monitor how much is being used and what is being left.