Saturday 9-1pm. This class will present an overview of the concepts behind the Intensive Field Studies course. We will also explore the participant’s weakness and strengths. A Classification of the Senses lesson will teach the participants how to observe, describe and compare. We will travel to various spots to observe, categorize and analyze different cover types and exercise observational skills.
Assignment: Spend two hours alone in
a forest, field or aquatic area without moving. Sit, stand or lie down but
don’t move. Watch-wait-listen-look. Allow your senses to become active.
Observe the area around you; notice the lay of the land, the groupings of
plants. Listen to the direction of the wind; notice the angle of the sun. Really
allow yourself to ‘see’ objects, both animate like the birds or insects and
the inanimate like the boulders and trees. This will be your “Nature Spot”,
where continued investigations will occur throughout the course.
Saturday 9-noon. This class will
start by the participants describing what they saw, felt, smelled or heard on
their two-hour vacation in nature. This will highlight the 5 senses and we will
explore each in turn. The 5 senses don’t apply just to us; they are present in
all the animals in nature and this discussion will apply to both!!
Sunday11-3pm. More fieldwork for the senses with a special introduction to Journaling skills with noted illustration instructor Annie Chappell. This segment will greatly expand your ability to observe structure, details, field signs and observations. Additionally, the introduction to illustration will offer you an invaluable tool in recording the information you see in the field.
Assignment: Go back to your area and
see what an animal sees for two hours. Start by being in the same place as
before, for 30-45 minutes, make observations about the lay of the land,
habitats, ecotones, etc. Then move to a different, distant, landform or field
marker you can see from your nature spot and make a new set of observations.
Continue to move to a new spot, and then another, each 30-40 mins., until time
is up. You may move in a straight line away from your nature spot or move in a
circular fashion. This is designed to alter your human perception of the area
and give you an animal’s eye view. Read chapters 3, Plants in the Winter
Environment and 4, Animals …Environment.
Saturday 9-1pm. Nothing but animals today! We’ll view a slide collection of the various New England mammals and receive a lecture/discussion of their life histories and habitat needs. We’ll meet at the Massachusetts Museum of Natural History (Amherst, MA) and have a private tour of their extensive mammal collection.
Sunday 9-4pm Things are getting more intense! Today we will be visiting various habitats to directly examine, the habitats of the New England mammals. Introduction to winter (leafless) tree identification in the field. Long day, bring your power bars and warm socks.
Assignment: Pick a favorite animal in
your Nature Spot and go find it! Go to its habitat, take pictures, remove sign,
and gather opinions regarding the quality of its habitat. Read Chapter 2, The
changing Snowpack and Chapter 5, Life Under Ice.
Saturday 9-1pm. Stream and Forest ecology introductions. We will visit the area along Moss Brook in Erving/Warwick and discuss both stream ecology and introductory forest ecology.
Sunday 9-3pm & Saturday 9-3pm Winter ecology and animal tracking. These two sessions will be an introduction into winter tracking and a deep look into how plants, insects and other animals cope with the season of winter.
Assignment: Prepare to introduce your
nature spot.
Sunday 9-3pm. We will tour “nature spots” today. This is your time to shine; (and get grilled) you will be the guest Naturalist at your “Nature Spot”. Tell us everything you have seen, felt, collected and learned about your spot.
Text:
Marchand,
Peter J. Life in the Cold. University Press of New England. Approximate cost
$25.