Dave Stone, University Laboratory High School, Urbana, IL.

CTER Program Final Project, Summer, 1998.

Lesson #5 - Assessment of ForestWatch Activities/Environmental Monitoring

Assumed Background:

Prior to this assessment activity, all students will have learned about IL ForestWatch through classroom introduction and reading of material posted at the IL ForestWatch web site. They will have spent the week prior to the activity preparing equipment for establishment of an ecological baseline in a section of Busey Woods (Urbana, IL). Students will have already performed the majority of the activities from the student version of the IL ForestWatch Manual.

Objectives:

• Students will perform detailed analyses of each of the three protocols performed at Busey Woods in early October, 1998.
• Students will read and summarize a scientific journal article dealing with garlic mustard, an invasive species in Illinois.
• Students will develop and write an essay comparing the impacts of two invasive species, garlic mustard in IL and cane toads in Australia.
• Students will find, read and write detailed critiques of three Internet sites pertaining to any of the areas that they've read about or experienced since the onset of the ForestWatch activities.
• Students will write a summary letter to Pete Jackson, Coordinator of Illinois ForestWatch, evaluating the three ForestWatch protocols listed below, including suggestions for improvement.

Materials:

• Each group of 3 - 4 students will require monitoring materials listed in the IL ForestWatch Manual (to be updated late Summer, 1998.)
• Each student will need a computer connected to the Internet running Netscape 4.0 or higher, word processing software and access to a printer.

Time:

• Approximately five class periods and the weekend Open Lab period will be required for completion of all of the components of this assignment.

Assignment:

Learning Opportunity/Assessment of Effort/Exam #2

This assignment carries a weighting equivalent to a single exam and will be due on Tuesday, October 13th (tentative). It consists of a number of components involving: 1) detailed analyses of each of the three protocols you read through and performed at Busey Woods on Sunday, October 19th, 2) reading and summary of an article dealing with garlic mustard (an invasive species), 3) an essay comparing the impacts of two invasive species, garlic mustard and cane toads, 4) detailed critiques of three Internet sites pertaining to any of the areas you've read about/experienced since we began the ForestWatch activities and 5) a summary letter to Pete Jackson, Coordinator of Illinois ForestWatch, evaluating the three ForestWatch protocols listed below, including suggestions for improvement. This assignment must be completed in its entirety and handed in to me by 8 am on Tuesday, October 13th (tentative). Be certain to include a cover page including an appropriate title, your name and date of completion. Please limit this assignment to a maximum of the equivalent of ten word processed pages excluding the cover page. Good luck with the assignment! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions relating to its various components. As you know, my home phone number is 643-7622. Please do not call after 10 pm.

1) Analysis of Protocols - Pages 1-3

ForestWatch Component #1 - Establishing a Long-Term Monitoring Transect

In a paragraph summarize the activities of this component. Then, evaluate the clarity of the directions as they are written. Is there a need for further clarification or are the directions fine as they are written? Was the profile reasonably easy to evaluate? Was soil sampling easy using the procedure outlined on page 23.? If you did not have the opportunity to test the soil at the site, be certain to test a sample of soil at Uni using the soil color card and the criteria outlined in the handout. Do you have any suggestions as to how this section can be improved? Do you have any suggestions as to how we could improve the equipment used in this component of ForestWatch?

ForestWatch Component #2 - Measuring the Structure of a Forest

In a paragraph summarize the activities of this component. Then, evaluate the clarity of the directions as they are written. Is there a need for further clarification or are the directions fine as they are written? Was the division of responsibilities logical? Did you decide to divide up responsibilities in a different manner? Did the final division of responsibilities work well? If so, why? If not, why not? Discuss tree identification using the key on pages 40-50. Was the key easy to use? Did you have confidence in your classification to genus? Why or why not? How could the key and its accompanying diagrams be improved? Would you recommend the use of additional keys and/or diagrams of a broader variety of species within each genus? Would you recommend additional equipment such as binoculars? Were the materials supplied sufficient for your purposes?

ForestWatch Component #3 - Surveying Invasive Non-native Species of Plants

In a paragraph summarize the activities of this component. Then, evaluate the clarity of the directions as they are written. Is there a need for further clarification or are the directions fine as they are written? Was the division of responsibilities logical? Did you find any of the species discussed in this component of the protocol? If so, which ones? Were the diagrams sufficient to assist you in classification or do you have suggestions to improve them?

2) Summary of a Scientific Paper Dealing with an Invasive Species - Page 4

Please read a copy of "Current and Historical Distribution of Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petioliata) in Illinois." The article comes from a scientific journal entitled Michigan Botanist. Summarize the main points of this article that are of particular importance for individuals studying forests, such as the one at Allerton or studying invasive species in general.

3) Essay Comparing Impacts of Two Invasive Species, Garlic Mustard and Cane Toads - Page 5

The bold statement above says it all. Be certain to take a good set of notes on the video entitled "Cane Toads - An Unnatural History," shown in class on Monday, October 5th (tentative). Keep this video in mind as you read the article listed in #2 above.

4) Critiques of 3 Internet Sites Pertaining to an Area We've Read About/ Experienced During the Past Week - Pages 6-8

Be certain to use one of the search engines accessible through Netscape to examine a number of sites that deal with any of the topics we've dealt with over the past week. I suggest that you consider either AltaVista or Metacrawler. Find three good sites. For each site, list its name, its URL and who produced it. Summarize why you believe this site to be useful and an excellent reference site. Be certain to include a brief summary of the number and quality of links to other sites from the home page/site that you have selected.

You may want to examine the Illinois Natural Resources Information Network as a starting point. An extremely small sampling of topic ideas are presented below for your browsing pleasure...

classification

dendrology

ecological monitoring

forestry

Illinois ForestWatch

invasive

non-native

soil(s)

taxonomy

transects

Also, feel free to look up various species or genera that you find to be of particular interest.

5) Letter to Pete Jackson, Coordinator of Illinois ForestWatch - Page 9

Keeping in mind the fact that this is the third time that a high school is using this protocol, I would like each of you to submit a letter to Pete Jackson regarding the parts of the manual evaluated in Part 1 above, outlining both the parts that work well as presented and suggestions for improvement. As I'm certain you are aware, this feedback is essential for the success of a project of this type and magnitude. Please restrict this letter to a single page. I will forward them to Pete Jackson the week following the due date.

Return to Sample Lessons

Last modified on July 26, 1998.