ABI 198 Section B - First day of class!
We had a successful first day of class! Today was mostly spent discussing course logistics and planning for the quarter. The presentation slides from today's class are in the Miscellaneous folder in the Google Drive. Here were our meeting minutes:
| Time | Activity | Duration |
| 10:00 AM | Introduction + Goals | 15 min |
| 10:15 AM | Slack Signup | 10 min |
| 10:25 AM | Description of Roles + Organization | 15 min |
| 10:40 AM | Google Drive Signup | 5 min |
| 10:45 AM | MC/Blogger Signup | 10 min |
| 10:55 AM | Blog Signup | 10 min |
| 11:05 AM | Name Chain w/ Hobby | 20 min |
| 11:25 AM | Lunch / Walk | 30 min |
| 11:55 AM | Constraints + Resources | 10 min |
| 12:05 PM | Google Earth Tour | 15 min |
| 12:20 PM | Down to Lab (069 Briggs) – Equipment Exploration | 20–30 min |
| 12:50 PM | Zotero Signup | 10 min |
| 1:00 PM | Reading as a Part of Research | 10 min |
| 1:10 PM | SMART Goals + Action Plans | 10 min |
| 1:20 PM | Progress Tracking – Self + Collective | 10 min |
| 1:30 PM | Crystal – Homework Description + Prepare for Friday | 10 min |
Everyone in the class should be signed up and able to access the course's digital infrastructure which includes:
- The class Google Drive
- Slack server (installing Slack on your phone and turning on notifications is highly recommended)
- Blogger website
- Zotero shared folder
The goal of this class is to complete an original research project with you, the students, in the driver's seat! The world is your oyster, and myself and Marshall will do our best to facilitate any project of your choosing in animal field ecology. This project will serve as your practicum project. However, there are few constraints:
- Time (the quarter is only 10 weeks!)
- $1000 to purchase supplies we are not able to obtain from Marshall's equipment collection or from (nicely) asking others on campus
- Location must be near Davis
- Complying with IACUC for vertebrate manipulations
- Must be a collaborative ecological experiment
If you have any project ideas, please deposit them in the Idea Repository in the Google Drive!
ABI 198 Field Notes (this blog)
We will rely on this course blog to both remember what we have done, and plan what we will do. Each meeting, two class members will sign up for roles 1) The MC – runs the meeting, keeps the class on task 2) The Blogger – write down what has been done during a meeting, and write the agenda for the next meeting. The blogger will implement their agenda as the MC in the next meeting. Please refer to the sign-up sheet in the Drive to see what dates you are signed up for.
On notebooks: almost all scientists have one, and keep them on their person. Most importantly the notebooks serve as a repository for ideas. They don’t need to be neat, but knowing where you wrote down an idea can be invaluable weeks or months later.
A break from the logistics
The highlight of class today for myself was visiting BOG where we all were able to spend time observing organisms in the garden. We observed various plants, bees, ladybugs, lizards, rolly pollies, and more!
The often messy process of science
We all spent some time today discussing the traditional scientific method and how the reality of science is often much more messy.
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| Credit: https://undsci.berkeley.edu/science-flowchart/ |
The scientific method is rarely as linear as we learn in our intro science courses, instead the process looks like the flow chart above.
Moving into the quarter, we should be prepared to be creative! The best ecological questions often come from embracing a child-like wonder about the natural world.
But where are the ants going? Why are trees green? Do ladybugs have friends? Why do spiders have to eat other animals and not plants?
I definitely asked my mom variations of all of these questions as a kid! We should embrace these sorts of simple questions throughout the quarter, they could be the basis for our research project. While publication, peer review, experimental design, and statistics are important; creative thinking must happen first! The rest will follow.
Science can be a daunting and frustrating process, but all scientists have bad days, even Charles Darwin. He wrote this quote in a letter:
"But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything. One lives only to make blunders."
This process can feel scary, but you will get through it! You have the support of your classmates, along with Crystal and Marshall to help you. Don't hesitate to rely on your scientific community for support. Ideally, this course should be a fun experience where you learn important skills.
Our next class meeting
For our next meeting we will be visiting the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve! Please be prepared to spend two hours outside. Bring a notebook and pen, close-toed shoes, and water.
We will meet at the Mann Lab Parking Lot across Kleiber Hall Drive from Briggs and Storer. Please be on time!
We will spend our next class period making observations of the different types of organisms in the Reserve and their behaviors. After completing the observation activities, we will spend time discussing our observations as a class and finding common threads. We will then brainstorm any potential hypotheses or project ideas that come to mind.
We will also discuss this week's readings from How to Do Ecology (Ch. 1 and 2, available in the Zotero). You should also choose a reading (besides the book chapters) from the shared Zotero folder and read that before class.
Make sure to complete the readings before class!
You should update the Reflection Board in the Google Drive as you spend time on this course. Please post a response weekly!
Our first R homework will also be due next Monday. Please submit your R homework in the Google Drive.
Update with agenda:
12:25 - Arrive at Putah Creek, explain activities and riparian area
12:35 - self-guided observations; 10 minutes on plants, 10 minutes on invertebrates and 10 minutes on vertebrates. General observations and exploration remaining time.
1:15 - reconvene and group discussion
How do the readings impact your observations? Do any potential study questions come to mind? How are these different organismal groups interconnected?
1:45 - Depart Putah Creek
How do you think seasonality is affecting plants right now? What life stage are they in? How might this change over the quarter?
12:35 - self-guided observations; 10 minutes on plants, 10 minutes on invertebrates and 10 minutes on vertebrates. General observations and exploration remaining time.
1:15 - reconvene and group discussion
How do the readings impact your observations? Do any potential study questions come to mind? How are these different organismal groups interconnected?
1:45 - Depart Putah Creek
Observation Activities and Questions
Plant community observations:
How many tree and shrub species do you count? Collect a leaf from each species that has leafed out. Do you think any of these species are invasive?How do you think seasonality is affecting plants right now? What life stage are they in? How might this change over the quarter?
Invertebrate community observations
Spend 10 minutes observing the invert community. Either choose a group/individual to observe or see how many different types of inverts you can spot. Where did you see the most inverts, the fewest?Vertebrate community observations
Lastly, observe the vertebrate community. Which types of vertebrate groups did you observe? What are some challenges with observing vertebrates?Discussion Questions
How did the readings impact your observations? How are these different groups of organisms interconnected?What general patterns did you observe in the riparian area? Do any potential study questions come to mind? What was your favorite type of organism to observe?
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