The volleyball picnic at Farmer Melanie’s Hens and Food Scraps house is just about over, now. Before they left, the last few visitors were helping to take down the volleyball net and clean up after the picnic. The tablecloths were washed, dried, folded, and taken into the house. Farmer Melanie had used “real,” reusable plates and silverware rather than paper and plastic that would end up in the landfill. Thus, someone was helping to wash dishes. Several people volunteered to walk the property picking up trash that had accidentally been left there, but thankfully, they found that not much had been left behind. The chickens and the pig had a feast that night as they “recycled” all the left-over food scraps.

Human Intervention

Journey

We humans are part of the world around us, the ecosystem in which we live, and everything we do will affect the world around us for the better or for the worse.

Family Farm Will we, via the laws we enact and the food we purchase, encourage small family farms where the farmers care about their land, or support agribusiness that’s only interested in making as much profit as possible?

Wildflowers Will we help to preserve woodland wildflowers or replace them with non-native grass lawns that are high maintenance and through the gasoline, fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, etc., that they require, contribute to air and water pollution?

Frodo and Gimli the Hens These hens were hatched in the biology lab. We used a digital thermometer to monitor the incubator temperature, not realizing it was calibrated 4° off. That caused them to hatch with crippled right feet. In the “egg industry,” they would be considered a waste of money, and would have been left to die. These girls were several months old in this picture, and are now several years old (and pampered). What is our responsibility with respect to the health of our domestic animals — should we kill them for our convenience or care for them (thereby, discovering how intelligent and loving they can be)?

Human Destruction Knowing that most of the oxygen we need to breath is produced by trees, will we work to save our natural areas or encourage the bulldozers?

Sea Oats at Dawn Sea Oats at dawn on the Gulf Coast. . . What can we do to help restore this habitat?

Saved Fern The choices we make and the things we do can make a difference, but like a game of volleyball, it’s a team effort.


Background Information

Links to Related Information on Our Web Server

The following Web pages contain information related to the influence of human activities on the ecology of the world around us.

Bio Lab Worm Bin Activity
Instructions for composting kitchen waste by setting up a worm bin in a 2-liter bottle
Ecology Human Interactions with the Environment
Information on the impact of human activities on the ecosystem
Dr. Fankhauser’s Fernald Web Page
Information on the hazards of nuclear waste
Dr. Fankhauser’s Genetic Engineering Web Page
Information on the possible dangers associated with genetic engineering

Your Assignment
A Scavenger Hunt

There will be one, combined assignment for the topics of Taxonomy, Evolution, Ecology, and Human Intervention. Thus, even though this will appear on each of those pages to remind you, you only need to do it once. You will need to go somewhere where there are lots of living organisms. Assuming you’re here in the Cincinnati area, you might go (with your family?) to the Cincinnati Zoo, Krohn Conservatory, the Newport Aquarium, one of the local parks, or someplace similar to that. If you’re not in the Cincinnati area, there are probably similar places to visit near wherever you are. However, if finances are tight and/or you’re short on time, your back yard would work, too! Then, you need to try to find organisms in as many taxonomic groups/categories as possible. You need to observe and take notes on each organism you find — you do not need to try to catch them or pick them up, but rather, observe their natural behavior — then go look up further information on each of those organisms. The grading criteria for this assignment are given below, and you should also refer to those as you work on the assignment. A total of 26 points is possible.

  1. Kingdoms: Finding organisms in Kingdoms Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia should be fairly easy. If you look in just the right place, you might also be able to see some of the larger organisms from Kingdom Protista. You probably will not be able to see any of the organisms in Kingdom Monera without a microscope.
  2. Phyla (Divisions): Figuring out to what phylum (botanists use the word “division” instead of “phylum”) organisms in Kingdoms Protista and Fungi belong would be difficult, but there are a number of Phyla/Divisions in Kingdoms Plantae and Animalia that are fairly easy to identify. These includethe following.
    Within Kingdom Plantae it should be fairly easy to find representatives of
    plus, if you are fortunate enough to be in just the right place, you may see representatives of Division Lycophyta or Division Sphenopytya.
    Within Kingdom Animalia, you can probably find representatives of
    plus, if you go to the Aquarium or the Zoo, you may also be able to find representatives of Phylums Porifera, Cnidaria/Coelenterata, and/or Echinodermata.
  3. Phylum Arthropoda: Finding members of the following classes is possible, but you probably will not find representatives of all of these groups at once unless you are able to go somewhere like the Insect World at the Zoo. These include
    plus, if you are able to go to the Zoo or the Aquarium, you might also be able to find members of Class Xiphosura.
  4. Phylum Chordata, Subphylum Vertebrata: If you’re using your back yard, several of these might be difficult to find if you live in an urban area, but in general, the possibilities include
    plus if you are able to go to the Zoo or Aquarium, you can probably also see members of Class Chondrichthyes.
  5. Note that because the taxonomic heirarchy is “nested,” a given organism may represent several taxa. For example, a cat would represent Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata–Subphylum Vertebrata, and Class Mammalia. Also, note that you will only get credit for organisms that are correctly placed — for example, credit would not be given for a domestic dog listed as a plant.
  6. For as many as possible of the organisms you find, look up and include their scientific names. The list of species seen on campus may be of help. Do not expect to find scientific names for everything you see. For example, there are so many kinds of flies that look so similar, it takes a PhD to identify them to species, but if you would see something like a Monarch butterfly, that species name is “easy” to find.
  7. For each organism, take notes on their characteristics: what do they look like, do they have any “unusual” body parts, what are they doing, how do they move, etc.
  8. Describe the habitat/environment in which each organism is found. If you’re at the Zoo, Aquarium, etc., these habitats may be very different, but if you’re in your back yard, it may seem, at first glance, like all the same habitat. Look more carefully, then — for example, the habitat in a flower bed would be different than the habitat in the middle of a lawn area. Notice (and take notes on) the amount of light (shady under trees and plant leaves vs bright sun in open lawn area), temperature/heat (cooler under trees, really cold in a penguin exhibit at the Zoo), humidity, soil conditions, etc. in the organism’s environment.
  9. Describe the organisms’ interactions with other organisms that share their habitats: what do they eat or how do they get food, who eats them, how do they defend themselves from predators (chemical defenses, camouflage, teeth and claws, or whatever). Do you see anything that looks like mating behavior? If they eat food, how do they eat their food (chew it up, suck it up, etc.)? How do they communicate with other members of their species and with other organisms? Are they solitary organisms or do they typically live in a social group such as a colony or pack? What is each organism’s “job” within its environment — what does it do there? Do you see any other interesting behavior patterns?
  10. Describe how human intervention, “good” or “bad,” has influenced each organism and its environment. For captive organisms, you may wish to consider both their normal, natural environment as well as the artificial or display environment in which they are currently living. Is there anything that we could/should be doing to improve and/or properly manage those environments?
  11. At this point, if you are a registered student, you should submit your work.

Grading Criteria

1.   Taxonomy:
2 — Representatives of 4(+) kingdoms were included
1 — Representatives of 2-3 kingdoms were included
0 — Representatives of only 1 kingdom were included
2 — Representatives of 4(+) plant divisions were included
1 — Representatives of 2-3 plant divisions were included
0 — Representatives of only 0-1 plant division were included
2 — Representatives of 4(+) animal phyla were included
1 — Representatives of 2-3 animal phyla were included
0 — Representatives of only 0-1 animal phylum were included
2 — Representatives of 4(+) arthropod classes were included
1 — Representatives of 2-3 arthropod classes were included
0 — Representatives of only 0-1 arthropod class were included
2 — Representatives of 4(+) vertebrate classes were included
1 — Representatives of 2-3 vertebrate classes were included
0 — Representatives of only 0-1 vertebrate class were included
2 — 11 or more total organisms were included
1 — 6-10 total organisms were included
0 — 5 or less total organisms were included
2 — 5(+) scientific names were included
1 — 2-4 scientific names were included
0 — 0-1 scientific names were included
2.   Ecology:
2 — Descriptions of the organisms’ traits/characteristics were thorough and showed that the student was extremely observant
1 — Descriptions of the organisms’ traits/characteristics were adequate and showed that the student was fairly observant
0 — Descriptions of the organisms’ traits/characteristics were too sketchy and showed that the student wasn’t very observant
2 — Descriptions of the organisms’ habitat and environmental conditions were thorough and showed that the student was extremely observant
1 — Descriptions of the organisms’ habitat and environmental conditions were adequate and showed that the student was fairly observant
0 — Descriptions of the organisms’ habitat and environmental conditions were too sketchy and showed that the student wasn’t very observant
2 — Descriptions of the organisms’ interactions and behaviors were thorough and showed that the student was extremely observant
1 — Descriptions of the organisms’ interactions and behaviors were adequate and showed that the student was fairly observant
0 — Descriptions of the organisms’ interactions and behaviors were too sketchy and showed that the student wasn’t very observant
2 — Descriptions of the human impact on these organisms’ environments were thorough and showed that the student was extremely observant and thoughtful
1 — Descriptions of the human impact on these organisms’ environments were adequate and showed that the student was fairly observant and thoughtful
0 — Descriptions of the human impact on these organisms’ environments were too sketchy and showed that the student wasn’t very observant and/or gave little evidence of putting much thought into it
3.   Overall:
2 — The student, obviously, went beyond the minimum requirements of the assignment
1 — The student adequately completed the assignment
0 — The student completed considerably less of the assignment than what was required
2 — It is evident that the student used much insight, thoughtfulness, and critical thinking when completing this assignment
1 — The student adequately thought about the assignment – there was, perhaps, a bit of “fuzzy thinking” in a couple places
0 — The assignment gives the appearance of being “slapped together” just to get it done, with little evidence of thoughtfulness
Total Possible:
26 — total points

Copyright © 2006 by J. Stein Carter. All rights reserved.
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