Virtual Field Trips: Notes and Instructions

Below are some suggestions and specific assignments dealing with both field trips. Read these before you embark on a trip; they may help you decide which one to try.

All assignments involve making observations, taking "field notes," compiling and analyzing field data, and presenting findings in a final report.

Note: these are remote sites and will not have links back to this page. Nor do I have any control over how they might be revised by their authors at any time. If you have trouble with any of my links or become aware of other types of significant changes made to the sites I have selected (so that you cannot complete the assignment as required), please let me know.

Susan Woodward

I. Indian Peaks, Colorado

This virtual field trip is designed as a module for the Virtual Geography Department by Dr. Michael Ritter, a physical geographer at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.

The field trip instructs students on both alpine glaciation and vegetation zonation in the Colorado Rockies. For our biogeography class, you need only concern yourself with stops that deal with vegetation (Stops 1-4). I suggest you approach the field trip in the following order:

  1. Read the Student Instructions. Follow these instructions to complete the assignment.
  2. Go to Background Information
  3. Check the color map. Scroll right to find stops 1-4. Note the elevational differences. (After you complete the trip, try to find this place on a map of Colorado in an atlas.)
  4. Go to Stop 1. Continue on to stops 2, 3, and 4 and be sure to take the little side trips at some of these stops. Take notes as set forth in the student instructions.
  5. Go to Wrap Up and follow instructions.
  6. You should turn in for a grade your field notes, the requested graph, and a brief evaluation of the virtual trip. The evaluation should include your assessment of the adequacy of the content (including illustrations); of how well the content fits the assignment (that is, the ability to take notes, draw sketches, etc.); and the ease with which you could navigate around the various stops. Add recommendations as to how this virtual field trip could be improved.

 

II. Point Reyes, California.

This is another Virtual Geography Department module. It was developed by Dr. Barbara Holzman, a plant geographer at San Francisco State University. The field trip explores a variety of ecosystems along the coast of California, including the intertidal zone.

Follow the instructions I provide below and ignore Dr. Holzman's exercises.

A. Read the introduction and look the through the table of contents to orient yourself. Choose four different ecosystems from the eight described and go to the field trip stops to observe them.

B. For each "stop" you have selected, take "field notes" on vegetation structure, species composition, and ecological conditions. Also take note of the geographic distribution pattern of the community and/or dominant species.

C. Prepare a field trip report by doing the following.

1 Prepare a brief summary of the characteristics of the region, vegetation, and abiotic conditions of the Point Reyes area.

2. For each of the our communities you visited and studied,

a. Draw a profile of the vegetation. Label major components. These may be both growthforms and species.

b. List the flora of the community, arranging your list according to its vertical or horizontal distribution within the community, as relevant in the community studied. (For example, in a forest community, vertical stratification is more meaningful than horizontal. In the intertidal community, horizontal arrangement of species is more important than vertical.)

c. Describe the environmental conditions that restrict the community to a particular part of the Point Reyes area.

d. Make a sketch map that illustrates the overall geographic distribution pattern of the community (or key species).

3. Summarize your observations and findings in way that compares the communities visited.

4. Finally, provide a thoughtful evaluation of the exercise. Consider both the virtual field trip and actual assignment as I have devised it.

5. Turn in your field notes and field sketches, a neat, typed field trip report, and the evaluation.

 

III. The Tropical Rainforest in Suriname by Marco Bleeker

This is a multimedia tour of botanical, zoological, and cultural aspects of the rainforest in which you can see the sights and hear the sounds of the South American country of Suriname. Especially recommended if you have audio set up on your computer.

For this exercise, concentrate on the flora and fauna; that is, Introduction, Rainforest, and Epiphytes sections.

Your field trip report should cover the following points:

  1. Where is Suriname?
  2. What is the zonation of vegetation or habitat types apparent as you move inland from the coast? Draw a sketch of the vegetation along an imaginary transect line from the coast to the interior.
  3. What do you see (and hear) in the forest that reinforces descriptions of vegetation structure, growthforms, adaptation, and disturbance in tropical rainforests that you learned in class? Provide some specific examples of each.
  4. Did you learn anything new about the forest or adaptations of living organisms to the rainforest environment?
  5. Briefly evaluate the contents (relative to this course) and the ease with which one can navigate through the site.
  6. Explore some of Bleeker's links. Recommend at least one other that should be of interest to students in this class. Give a brief summary of its contents and identify those aspects of the site which are most useful (as related to biogeography). Be sure to include the URL (the web address) of the site.

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Created by Susan Woodward, October 9, 1997. Last updated 07/08/99 by slw.