NHH 1302 "Introductory Fieldcraft: Reading Nature as Text"

NHH 1302


“Introductory Fieldcraft”



SPRING 2011

W 2:00-4:50



Dr. Susan Tomlinson

201B McClellan Hall

Honors College

742-0036 x239

susan.tomlinson@ttu.edu

Office Hours: R 2-5; or by appointment



Link to the course website can be found on: http://doctortteaching.blogspot.com



Core Curriculum Objectives: Technology and Applied Science:

This course meets Technology and Applied Science credit. The following is a description of the core requirements for technology and applied science curriculum from the TTU catalog: “The objective of the technology and applied science component of a core curriculum is to enable the student to understand how profoundly scientific and technological developments affect society and the environment.”



At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to fulfill the following in order to meet Technology and Applied Science competency requirements: “Students graduating from Texas Tech University should be able to demonstrate understanding of how technology and applied science affects society and the environment and to demonstrate understanding of the relationship of ethics and technology.”



Course Description:

NHH 1302-H01 Introductory Fieldcraft: The Naturalist’s Journal

The field journal is a powerful component in the naturalist’s bag of tools. With it, the naturalist documents plants and animals encountered in the field, creates maps of discovery, and writes about the meaning of it all. In this course, students will learn the cultural significance, history, and purpose behind the naturalist’s journal—both traditional versions, like those of Lewis and Clark, and more contemporary versions, such as those kept today on “blogs.”



These journals span the range of form and time, from the notebooks that Darwin kept on the voyage of the Beagle to the present day blogs. We will conduct a critical examination of their aesthetic and scientific values, and the ways they have helped and continue to help shape our knowledge and understanding of the natural world. Students will also keep their own nature journals—traditional and contemporary—using skills they acquire in class, like drawing, writing, and mapmaking.



Along the way, they will learn to identify flora and fauna, regional ecology/geology, and basic field skills, as this class becomes a “deep study” of the Llano Estacado and the southwestern region of the United States. We will use “The Mappist,” a short story by Barry Lopez, as a guide for method and purpose, and will feature an indigenous plant (Mesquite) and bird (Lesser Prairie Chicken) as subjects of deep study.



LEARNING OUTCOMES ASSESSMENTS

A: List and evaluate reasons why human-designed systems, products, and environments need to be monitored, maintained, and improved to ensure safety, quality, cost efficiency, and sustainability.

A: Field journal notes, blog posts (includes species accounts, drawings, and maps), and class discussion.

B: Draw and identify plants and animals of the region, and discuss their importance to past and present human culture. B: Field journal drawings and notes, blog posts.

C: Make maps of important ecological components (plants, animals, geology) of a local area, and identify and interpret these data in a cultural/societal, and/or scientific context.

C: Field maps, journal notes, blog posts.

D: Discuss, in writing, ethical issues regarding the environment, particularly as it concerns the prairie ecosystem. D: Field journal notes, blog posts (written reports and species accounts).

E: Explain and differentiate creative works as expressions of values within cultural and historical contexts. E: Journal and blog analysis of historical naturalist notebooks.

F: Identify and describe a body of works (individually and collectively) in the creative arts. F: Journal and blog analysis of historical naturalist notebooks





Required materials:

Field art kit (available from Varsity Bookstore)

National Geographic Field Guide to North American Birds

Wildflowers of the Western Plains (Zoe Merriman Kirkpatrick)



Recommended (Optional)

How to Keep a Naturalist’s Notebook (Susan Leigh Tomlinson)



Course format:

All classes will be held outside, regardless of weather. Students are expected to be prepared and dress accordingly. Class location will vary from week to week; students are expected to consult the course blog to find out where it will be:

http://doctortteaching.blogspot.com/



Students are expected to bring their field kits to each class. Field kits include the following:

Journal

Art kit

Binoculars (provided)

Compass



Topics to be covered (not necessarily in this order):

The history, aesthetics, and cultural significance of the naturalist notebook

The natural history of the Southern High Plains:

Plants

Animals

Climate

Geology

Environmental issues

Mapmaking

maps as records

maps as cultural/societal/scientific interpretation

Field drawing and notes:

identification

record-keeping

observation

interpretation and personal response

Field Identification

birds

plants



Field Trips

Class location will vary from week to week, with the majority of them held at Lubbock Lake Landmark; students are expected to consult the course blog to find out where it will be:



http://doctortteaching.blogspot.com/



Students are expected to arrive on time (2:00 for campus locations; 2:20 for Lubbock Lake Landmark). They are expected to be mentally focused and prepared for any weather conditions we might encounter. Daily grades will be assigned for how well the students perform in the field.



Required Weekend Field Trip

There will be a mandatory field trip to the Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival in Milnesand, NM (April 15-17) Focus: LPC



(Camping supplies, food, and transportation, will be provided by TTU Outdoor Pursuits Center. Students will be required to provide any clothing and personal items recommended by the instructor in charge of the trip.)



Students will work on journal assignments on during the course of each weekly trip. The final project/exam will also result from material gathered during the New Mexico (LPC) field trip. Field deportment will also be graded on these trips and be factored into the Field Skills portion of the final grade.



Course Schedule (by week):

Introduction; binocular check out and use; bird identification

Intro to history of field notebook (survey of tradition and purpose); intro to field sketching (simple shapes; tonal values

Discussion of “The Mappist”; field sketching continued (trees)

History of field notebook continued (sketching styles); Field sketching continued (birds)

Bird identification, notes, sketching

History of field notebook continued (observations and interpretation); field notes (daily logs; daily maps; observations; sketches)

History of field notebook continued (the nature blog); field notes

Ecology of the Llano Estacado (playa lakes and salinas) Field excursion (destination TBA)

Midterm check-in (Nature blog up and running for class presentation)

Ecology of the Llano Estacado (geology); field excursion

Ecology of the Llano Estacado (prairie systems); field Excursion

Museum visit (LPC); ecology of the Lesser Prairie Chicken

Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival

Field drawing (botanical)

Wildflower identification



Weekly homework will be assigned in class and posted on the blog. Students are responsible for knowing the homework assignment.



Grading:

Field notebook 30%

Blog 30%

Field skills (deportment) 10%

Final 25%



Field Notebook

Students are required to keep a comprehensive field notebook as part of this course. As new skills are added, we expect that they will be incorporated and used throughout the semester. Journals will be assessed for comprehensive record keeping, attention and care given to field drawings and notes, and natural history content. Students are expected to keep a daily log and map for each field entry. Failure to do so will result in a lowering of one letter grade for that week’s journal.



The notebook is handed in to Dr. Tomlinson each Tuesday before noon for a weekly grade. No late work will be accepted. Notebooks will be returned the following day after noon.







Blog

Students will be required to start up and keep a personal weblog about their observations and scientific learning in and outside of the field experience. They will be graded on blog design and content. Content will be graded on the basis of thoroughness, scientific accuracy, and contribution to public knowledge about the prairie ecosystem.



Field Skills

Students will also be graded on daily field deportment. That is, they will be graded on attentiveness, preparedness, ability to focus and complete assignments. Failure to arrive on time or dress properly for weather conditions will result in a poor grade for field deportment.



Final Project/Exam

The project/exam will consist of a blog species account for the Lesser Prairie Chicken (LPC), (including, but not limited to, a report on the habitat and environmental threats), as well as a map, field guide notes, and written response to questions regarding the LPC (including, but not limited to, the student’s thoughts on ethical questions regarding the environmental threats to the LPC). The final will count for 25% of the final grade. The species account will be posted only after instructor approval. Final due Monday, May 9, 4 PM



Accommodation for Disabled Students:



Any student who, because of a disability, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact the instructor at her office (McClellan Hall 201 B) as soon as possible to request necessary accommodation. Students should present appropriate verification from Student Disability Services (Access TECH). No requirement exists that accommodations be made prior to completion of the approved university process.



Student Absence for Observation of Religious Holy Days



A student who is absent from classes for the observation of a religious holy day shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment scheduled for that day within a reasonable time after the absence if, not later than the fifteenth day after the first day of the semester, the student had notified the instructor of each scheduled class that the student would be absent for a religious holy day.



Academic Integrity (TTU O.P. 34.12)



Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, falsifying academic records, misrepresenting facts, and any act designed to give unfair academic advantage to the student or the attempt to commit such an act. The university definitions of academic dishonesty and policies for dealing with it are laid out in the Code of Student Affairs and in University Operating Policy 34.12. You should be familiar with these definitions.



Cheating of any form, but especially plagiarism (i.e., the representation of someone else’s work or ideas as your own) will be dealt with harshly. At a minimum, the offending essay will receive a grade of 0, which will be averaged into your overall grade. Flagrant or repeated cases of plagiarism may result in a grade of F for the course. All cases of cheating will be reported to the appropriate academic dean and to the Honors College dean, who may take additional disciplinary action as they see fit.