ESRM 201

Sustaining Pacific Northwest Ecosystems

Landsat Image, September 25, 2000

Term Project

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Term Project

You will be assigned to a group to investigate the physical, biological, and social characteristics of three sites, one of a hardscape area called "plaza," one of a mixed hardscape and vegetated area called "park," and one of a natural vegetated area called "forest." You will choose the sites within your group; a one page description of your proposed sites is due on Oct. 15.  You will then answer specific questions and make original observations at each of the three sites, making comparisons. You will write a report and be prepared to discuss your findings during the final lab session. This report should incorporate material learned throughout the quarter.  More instructions are below.

 

 

Term Project Description

             The urban to wildland matrix includes a wide diversity of habitats and organisms.  The physical conditions of the habitat strongly influence which plants and animals are able to survive.

             For the term project, you will be assigned to a group. If you REALLY want to work with a friend in the class, let us know.  Also, if you live far from campus and/or have transportation issues, let us know.  The group will choose three different sites, which you will observe, analyze, and contrast over the quarter.  We will call these three locations the “plaza,” “park,” and “forest.”  You will search for and identify the sites as a group, write up a proposal that describes each site, to be turned in for credit on 10/15 (see below for instructions) then observe the sites over several weeks.  A group paper (up to 5 pages) is due by the lab session on Dec. 10, when we will also discuss the your findings..

             You should plan time to be at each site as a group, but each of you may spend time with at each site by yourselves, as well. All of you should be familiar with all three sites and discuss them among yourselves.

 

Sites  Sites may vary in size

Plaza   This will be a heavily urbanized location such as downtown Seattle, Red Square, or a plaza at University Village.  It should have at least 75% paved surface.  NOTE: intersections are not to be used for this.

Park This is a mixed paved (no more than 40%) and vegetated area.  Cultivated areas such as a residential yard with walkways or a city park or university area with sidewalks would be appropriate.  Lawns count as vegetation.

Forest  This should have no paved areas and should have a varied structure of shrubs and trees, most of them native. You may want to portion it into the center and edge of the site and make separate observations since the ecological characteristics of the edge of a forest are often very different than its center.  Describing ‘edge effects’ is very relevant to the essence of this class, so students who make the effort to do so will be remembered when the grading pen hits the paper… If you do not do this, please find an area no less than 25 meters from the forest edge and limit your observations to that area. You may use a site in the city to mimic a forest and some are suggested below.  If you have transportation and the desire, you may visit an actual forest outside Seattle, but remember that you will need to visit more than once.

 

Potential Project Sites (but you are in NO WAY limited to these sites)

 

Park:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plaza:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forest:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Observations  To get an adequate feeling for each site each group member should plan to spend several minutes a week at each location, sitting quietly and recording your observations. You may wish to keep a journal. You should plan on trying to go at different times of the day.  If you can’t go every week, try to spend longer periods of time at each site less frequently.  The point of spending time at the site over a period of time is not so much to view change through the quarter, but to adequately capture what happens at the site at more than just one point in time.  You might want to plan some times when the whole group goes together and some times when you go alone or with one other person.

 

1. First, observe the physical nature of the site. 

a. How does the wind move through it?  Sit or stand in different places and concentrate on feeling the wind.

b.  Are some areas hotter than others?  Why might that be? (You may want to actually take a thermometer out and record temperatures) 

c.  Does rain penetrate all the areas equally?  Is there run-off of water from the pavement?  Where does it go?  Is there anything different about this area? 

d.  Are the soils all the same? (You can take samples from around the area and make qualitative comparisons of texture and color – we can show you how to use a soil corer and can loan one to you). Are the soils compacted in some areas more than others?

e.  Is there leaf litter on the ground? 

f.  What other aspects of the physical environment may be affecting the biological component? Are there buildings nearby?

g.  All of these questions are meant to help you notice how the physical conditions change at each site and among sites.  Use them as a starting point, and take note of any other physical conditions that you think are important.

2. Next,

a. Try to identify by both scientific and common name all the plants and most of the animals you see. Mosses, lichens, and fungi may be briefly described but not identified.  This may not be easy to do this time of year, but give it a try. By the time you finish the class you should know many of the natives, but perhaps not species in the parks. Sarah can work with you to identify plants if you bring parts of the plants with leaves, flower, and/or fruits.  Lichens can be very sensitive to the temperature, moisture and pollution at a site; if you’d like more information on how to use this to improve your report, talk to Royce for help with observing and identifying lichens.

b. Briefly describe any patterns you see in the distribution of the plants, trying to relate them to the physical factors you have analyzed.

c. Try to identify insects into large groups (e.g., ants, caterpillars, beetles).  (N.B. the TA looks kindly upon those who account for the little critters at their sites, and can provide guidance and a very simple key to help you do so) 

d. Please try to do this first with your group, using the references available at the Miller Library in Merrill Hall at the Center for Urban Horticulture, or other libraries.  Do not spend a long time on this – give it a try, then please see Sarah.  Try to determine how many of the organisms are native to the Pacific Northwest and how many are non-native (references should tell you this).  Are there more non-natives at one site over another? Why do you think this is?

e. What other animals are there? Birds? Squirrels?

f. Where do you see animals (including insects)?  Do they live at the site, are they using a resource like fruit or water there, or are they just passing through? 

3. As you spend time at the sites, be sure to observe the fellow humans you see there. How are they using the sites? How do they seem to be reacting to the sites?

4.Be sure to include summaries of the above information for all three sites, contrasting the sites.

5.Be sure to refer back to class and studio discussion and incorporate and synthesis the material into your reports, as appropriate.

6.In the conclusion, discuss what you might do if you managed the site.

 

Other  You are expected to provide a scientific report of the physical, biological and social differences at the three sites.  However, we recognize that many of you have additional talents and we invite you to also include them. Write poems that express each site, draw pictures, either abstract or representational, or whatever you like. We strongly suggest that you take photos of each site for your presentation.

 

Format

As a group you will provide a brief report, up to five pages, that goes into as much depth you think is necessary to convince us you have analyzed the site.  Each person should take a portion of the report to have responsibility for and you should put your names on those sections.   Make sure you answer the questions above, preferably in an essay format!

You may organize it as you decide as a group. One person might take ownership of describing the soil at all three sites, another the plants, and another the animals. Or three people might take responsibility for describing the characteristics of the sites, but other people take on identifying plants and animals across the three sites. Decide among yourselves and follow through.

Include pictures or maps of the sites and answer the questions above that your group believes best distinguishes the sites from each other.  You do not need to address all the questions if the group agrees they are not relevant.  However, the differences at the sites could fill a book, so be careful about deciding something is not relevant; write a report that is succinct, complete, and makes good use of the five page limit.

You should be prepared to discuss your findings at the final lab session at 1:30 on Dec. 10.

 

Term Project Proposal (5% of class grade)

Your group must turn in a proposal describing the sites you intend to use.  The proposal should include a brief introduction and a brief cursory description and profile of each site.  If you use a site that is not listed above (you are encouraged to find your own site within the specifications above), please provide an address or description that is adequate for it to be found on a Google map.  List some of your expectations for each site (use the suggested questions above to help you form your expectations).  List all the team members on it.  This will be due 10/15 and should be about 1 page long.

 

Grading of the Project

You are assigned to a group in a way that attempts to mix, as much as is possible, majors, grade levels and personalities. Part of the reason for the group project is that such projects are common in both the public and private sectors, as well as here at the UW, and you need to get comfortable with them.

Some groups click and some don't. So that there is some way to compensate for different levels of participation and creativity in a group, a widely used evaluation form has been designed to allow group members to grade themselves and their colleagues.  However, if there is a real problem in your group, do come and talk to us about it at any time.

To clarify, you and each member of your team will receive a grade for the content of your Term Project. In addition, you and each member of your team will receive a grade for your individual contributions to the project, including content and group dynamics.

Here is how it works: A grade (0-100) is assigned (by us) to your group project. You grade yourself and your co-workers using the evaluation form. We calculate the average score for each individual in a group and the individual's score is compared to the group mean.  If you score higher than the group mean, your project grade is increased. If your score is lower than the group mean, your project grade is decreased.  These forms will be made available on the web page and should be turned in at the final poster session

The evaluation form gives you general guidance on how to evaluate aspects of group work. It should also give you insight into what is expected of you if you want your group project grade increased rather than decreased.