1. The document discusses a webinar about cultivating full-time learners through the NatureMapping program.
2. NatureMapping trains teachers and establishes learning centers to facilitate field research projects by students to monitor biodiversity in their local communities.
3. It has collected over 360,000 biodiversity records from citizens since 1991 to help conservation efforts.
9. NatureMapping links diverse groups together through active participation in science and the use of emerging technologies … retired natural-resource professionals … business
Some of you may be already familiar with NatureMapping through the Adopt-a-Farmer – Leapin Lizards project. I’m going to give you are brief history of NatureMapping and explain why ALL teachers from all subject levels should become involved.
Margaret Tudor and myself began the NatureMapping in 1992. Both of us had different reasons, but we agreed on the following 4 goals I needed data for the statewide biodiversity project I was involved in. I knew schools could help by reporting what they saw and where they saw it. We so realized that many people wanted to help, but needed training on different skill sets, so we developed materials and a set of progressive workshops. I thought schools would be perfect, because their schoolyards could become long-term monitoring sites. But the data had to get back to the communities so they could develop a report card of their wildlife…and we would show them how.
In 1991 I was tasked to find all the wildlife records for 640 species in Washington State. I collected over 360,000 records mainly from museums and long-term research projects like the Breeding Bird Survey. I only used 62% of the data because of a lack of good geographic information. Records would say Mt. Rainier or King County. But what amazed me the most was the lack of data. Look, one-half of the mammals, amphibians, and reptiles had less than 100 records collected over the past 196 years. With all the birders out there watching birds, there were still 72 species that had no documented sightings….seen, yes, but documented where, no. I knew there were plenty of people out there collecting observations and I set out looking for them, asking them for help because we needed data to make good range maps for the animals. These maps are used for land management decisions and we wanted the best maps possible.
Margaret was very involved in the environmental education in our state. She wanted students to do “real science” and do it outdoors. These weren’t field trips, but synchronized field investigation. Students had specific tasks, worked with local agencies, and wrote and drew their observations in their journals. When a field scientist or astronomer, for that matter, begins a research project, he or she just watches and records what is seen. This is called descriptive analysis. When enough data are collected a scientist can begin to make comparisons and look for correlations. Rarely do field scientists begin with hypotheses and work with control variables. It is pretty hard to control the ocean or moon! But science hasn’t been taught without control variables…so how could we expect teachers to know what to do in outdoor field studies? Furthermore, state testing didn’t include the “ologies” – biology, entomology, ornithology etc nor technology….so as we know, many teachers didn’t teach something that wasn’t being tested. But, NatureMapping is more than just science. It is for students involved in changes in their community or artists…this is taken from a 10th grader’s journal.
NatureMapping is asking for help to learn about biological diversity and communities have to do this together.
NatureTracker is our data collection software that is loaded onto a Pocket PC with built-in GPS unit. The screens are icon driven to allow for fast and consistent recording. Data are displayed as individual records, tables and points over a map. These data can be exported to GIS software for more analyses.
Our website has been going through a dramatic update and it continues adding new materials. Another change has been to develop a separate CA website which will be coming online very soon.
We wrote and updated our activities with protocols and finally put the activities on the Washington NatureMapping website.
The Student Guide allows practice and skill-building for students.
We are developing “fact sheets” or an online field guide for students. The fact sheets you see here are for grades 7-12. There are another set written for K-6. A high school Spanish class has been translating the sheets into Spanish.
Even with all of this work, we realized last year that we needed to get to down to the basics for some of the activities. At the same time the George Lucas Education Foundation approached us to do the exact same thing! Not only does the Overview Page link to the NatureMapping website, but there are links embedded in the lessons themselves providing additional materials.
We also developed a “Lesson Library” for educators coming into the NatureMapping site first that links them back to the GLEF site. But, wait, there is still more!
Within the Lesson Library are materials that are referenced in the Lesson that may not be on the GLEF site or additional materials to help you with the lessons. We will go over Part 3 in Lesson 5 to explain.
So let’s begin at the New Day for Learning page. Notice the materials call for a compass wheel, and compass and there are no links.
Reading down the lesson we come to Part 3: Mapping the Schoolyard with GPS units. Read the 4 steps. Notice we tried to provide guidance for grades K-8.
You go to the Lesson Library to see what materials are available. There are pdf’s of a compass wheel and instructions for using a compass, and the link back to Lesson 5. The How to Additional Exercise – refers to the section of the lesson the materials listed below it are used and in some lessons, like this one, some extra exercises, graphics or photos. Notice the “mapping the schoolyard” pdf
The field of biomimicry is growing….learning from nature for our long-term survival. Biologists don’t usually care for mechanical things, but life does compute, manufacture, does chemistry, builds structures and design systems Pharmacists watch how animals use different plants for medication. And can you imagine what we can learn from the Anna’s hummingbird that crosses the Gulf of Mexico on 1/10 th ounce of fuel or prairie dog colonies that maintain a constant temperature and air flow without air conditioners or heaters?
This pdf is a series of 3 pictures showing 4 th graders work. Each student was assigned an object in the schoolyard. They walked the grounds without a GPS and then made and placed their object on a schoolyard map.
Learning about scale became real to the students. Notice the bleachers are taller than the school.
The students went back out with GPS units and their teacher drew grid lines on the paper and labeled them. The students learned how to move meter sticks in a straight line and find their latitude and longitude.
The Lessons are not hard, but they have a lot of details. We have decided to separate all the parts of the Lessons into separate Lessons and include all the materials into one book. There has been more than one time we could have used the Teacher Activities in places without electricity. So we have decided to create a NatureMapping Teacher/Student Activity kit. Tentatively the kit will be available to purchase in March and the Lesson book by the end of summer.
NatureMapping has been developing a network of partners….informal education organizations that meet NatureMapping’s criteria. We don’t have them in every state yet…we only really begun 3 years ago with the Center idea. But you can find the ones we do have on the NatureMapping website under “Centers” or through the US map.