WEEK 1: Feb 1-7, 2024
Ecological Concepts -- February 7, 2024
This Week's Topic
Ecological Concepts - Unit 5 in your textbook. Complete the optional quiz HERE.
Our Expert on Stage
Sam Kieschnick, Urban Wildlife Biologist, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
Read Sam's BIO
Pre-work - Must be completed by class time
Watch three videos and complete short Google Forms
How Wolves Change Rivers (4:33)
Habitat Fragmentation (3:44)
Population Dynamics (4:34)
Watch the three videos from our speaker, Sam Kieschnick and complete questions
The Importance of Master Naturalists (11:35)
Basics of Ecology Part 1 (11:15)
Basics of Ecology Part 2 (10:37)
Complete the organism activity from Sam's "Basics of Ecology, Part 1" video. Print and complete this worksheet, or just follow the instructions in the video and complete the activity on a plain piect of paper. Bring the completed activity to class with you. We will discuss in small groups.
Optional Activities
Respect points will be awarded for exploring the Population Balance Activity This web-based modeling activity lets you explore how various factors impact the carrying capacity of an area. Activity instructions and optional data collection worksheet can be found here.
Optional videos:
Energy Flow (7:46)
Species Interactions (4:08)
Bring to Class
Completed organism activity from Sam's video. (See #3 above)
Reminders
Are you caught up?
Please review previous weekly updates and make sure you are all caught up!
MEET AND GREET
Sunday, February 4, at the Heard Museum's Science Resource Center, 2:00 -4:00 PM. Be sure to let your guide know if you will not be able to attend.
The Science Resource Center (SRC) is located a 1/4 mile behind the museum building.
Volunteer and Training Opportunities
Advanced Training (AT) Opportunities
Tuesday, February 13: 12:00 noon (TMN Tuesdays) - 1 hour AT, see the registration link here.
Tuesday, February 13: 7:00 PM Monthly Chapter Meeting - 1 hour AT, see BPTMN home page for info on the featured speaker
Tuesday, February 13: 12:00 noon, The Great Backyard Bird Count Webinar, 1 hour AT, registration link
Other Ecology Resources
Joe Santore's Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t (caution: use of expletives)
Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard (2020) by Doug Tallamy
Bringing Nature Home-Updated & Expanded (2009) by Doug Tallamy
"I will argue that every scrap of biological diversity is priceless, to be learned and cherished, and never to be surrendered without a struggle."
-E.O. Wilson
CLASS MEETING INFORMATION
Meet at the Science Resource Center at the Heard Museum
Week ONE: Wednesday, February 7, 2024
6:00 - 9:00 PM
Class meets IN PERSON
WEEK ONE CLASS UPDATE
Week One: Feb 1 – Feb. 7
Happy Thursday, Class of 2024! We are kicking off Week 1, and things are thawing out just in time! Hope everyone has stayed warm and is ready to get to work!
Important notes for this week:
Your Class Yearbook is ready! A huge thank you to Vicky Sanders for putting this together. (And thanks to all of you for getting your pics and bios to her in a timely manner!)
YOUR AGREEMENT AS A MEMBER-IN-TRAINING:
Remember that in your initial application you agreed to complete 1-2 hours of prework before each class. It is very important that you don’t fall behind, as each week will be busy! This week will be one of the heavier weeks, so I recommend you get started as soon as possible. Your Prework is on the Class Website on the
Week 1: Ecological Concepts tab.
Go to the Countdown to Class tab to see all the previous weeks’ emails, in case you need to refer to them. (And to make sure you are caught up!)
This week, you will have about 45 minutes of videos to watch on EdPuzzle, including three from our speaker, Sam Kieschnick. By getting this general content out of the way before class, we are able to have more time for interaction with the speaker during class. Past classes have told us that this is one of the valuable parts of the training course.
The Meet and Greet is this Sunday, 2:00 – 4:00 PM. There will be more details on the class website, including a map and parking details. We will start at 2:00 PM and wrap up at 4:00.
** If you are NOT going to attend, be sure to let your guide know, so they can pick up your supplies and get them to you.
Our first Texas Master Naturalist class is on Wednesday February 7 from 6:00 - 9:00 pm. Please arrive by 5:45, as we will start promptly at 6:00. We will provide snacks and drinks, but you are welcome to bring dinner with you if you like.
As always, if you have questions, please reach out to your guides or to me and we'll do our best to help you out.
See you all Sunday,
Lisa