My favorite sub-discipline for biology has
always been natural history. Natural history is also incredibly important for
an environmental educator. Topics in natural history are taxonomic (mammology, herpetology,
botany) ecological (stream ecology, alpine ecology, forest ecology) and interdisciplinary
(geology, historical).
These concepts matter because they allow
people to understand how organisms and abiotic factors impact each other, as
well as set up a framework for being able to view and distinguish details in
the natural world. Knowledge of these subjects is useful to hikers,
backpackers, fishers, hunters, scientists, urban planners, farmers, and
numerous other people.
I think looking at specific ecosystems are
a great way to be interdisciplinary, as in one single ecosystem a person can
look at the human history, the geologic history, the animals, the plants, the
climate, and perhaps the literature that arose from it, or the art that was
inspired.
I would love to do a project with students
where we create a natural history database/reference for the local area.
Student could evaluate the knowledge already easily available, analyze what
would still be needed, and create media for public consumption. Off the top of
my head, I can imagine nature documentaries, field guides with pictures, dichotomous
keys, oral histories being recorded, and seasonal changes being recorded. There
might be articles written about fun facts, or radio interviews encouraging
people to become aware of an issue. I think for natural history, having it be
local will really engage students, once they start exploring, because they can
take ownership of it. Connection to the land is very important, and being able
to communicate all the different ways to connect will be inspiring and
meaningful.
I would like to encourage mastery over a
certain subject for each student, as well as a broad knowledge of the rest of
the subjects. I think having students cooperate with each other and share
knowledge is extremely powerful.
¡Hola!I read your sketch project, and I liked it a lot. I also think that we have a lot in common because mine was about eco-health and healthy habits that can affect out community, but both of us what we want to create is awareness to our students over the ecosystem and the need to improve it. I like the way you are thinking to keep track of data and develop other ways to inspired students to bring solutions to possible problems. Hope in the near future we can bring this projects alive and shared on the net. Ana♣
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support :)
ReplyDeleteJenna, thank you for sharing your project idea. My project is based on statistics, but I was able to link it to ecosystems as well. I like your idea of creating a local historical database. I would agree that it would engage students and connect them with their own community. We are connected to the land in which we live and I think that your project would be important to all students and others in cyber space that wish to learn more about ecosystems.
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