BIS 141 Natural History of the PNW
I feel very strongly about the need to teach natural history for students in the life sciences and other majors, as society is losing the appreciation for nature. Giving students the opportunity to learn about the world around us is so essential for the conservation and future of this planet. Thus, in this course I offered an introduction to biological and ecological processes, and intro to basic methods for observing nature and hands-on opportunities to observe nature (via field trips in campus), readings, in-class discussions and pushing my students to open their eyes and to build their observation skills. I have students reading articles on current issues on the value of biodiversity and also provide information about the role that biodiversity has in their lives. Other skills I tried them to work with, is carefully observing what they see around them, via interpretative walks in the campus wetlands and they making notes in a naturalist journal. They also wrote a few entries in a blog created by them.
I like to say that I worked with some incredibly motivated students and their work demonstrates more than expected results, which is satisfying and makes up for the challenges. I encouraged students to use the knowledge they gain, but also their creativity and it is so rewarding to see how they incorporated those aspects in their work I have incorporated some visual assignments in which students take pictures, do illustrations and blog about their learning. Some students can also take on CBLR (Community based Learning and Research) opportunities in which they are matched with a local partner and gain hands-on experience learning about nature, conservation and sustainability
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Here you can find the syllabus for this course and below some examples for the work they do.
Blogs: students incorporated observations or research interest on PNW species. It is also required they write a personal reflection on their learning in connection with the course and support their information with sources. Use of creativity is also encouraged.
http://pacificnorthwestlover.blogspot.com/
https://pnworigins.tumblr.com/
https://lifeinthepnwsite.wordpress.com/
Naturalist Journal: students need to use their observations skills and explore in the practice of note taking , illustration and paying attention to detail. All of this while incorporating additional information obtained from other sources
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