How does evolution affect us today?

  Proposal Summary

            The quality of a child's education should not be proportional to or dependant upon, the amount their parents have to invest in a private education for their children.  As a collaborative and altruistic society, we are dependant upon the perception and fidelity of our leader's decisions as they directly affect our lives, and we must make every attempt possible to directly influence those discretions to include as many perspectives as possible.  It is the job of the teacher to prepare each student in his/her classroom, to the best of his/her ability, to potentially fill this role.  I cannot honestly promise my students that they are receiving the best education I can provide, when the resources of privately funded schools allow those students who attend them a broader, more diverse and inspiring curriculum. We must not allow social stratification of wealth to lead to a corollary stratification in science. This is not to suggest that the problem can be solved overnight, with one grant, with one field experience.  However, where you start with one, the clever will make two, and the opportunity to exact something rich and direct upon the student's senses where before there had been only multiple choice questions and text diagrams, can lead to tiny imperceptible changes with monumental implications on a student's life.  The staple of the American Philosophy is that it is not birth which determines success, but focus and determination.  Allow me to do my job in equipping my students with these qualities, by providing them with a forum or anchor for direction, so that those who wish may do so.

Description

            A field trip to Inks Lake State Park will afford students the opportunity to work directly in a guided environment, with ecological systems previously known only as abstract concepts.  Situated on the pink granite outcroppings of the Llano Uplift, and rich in biotic diversity, Inks Lake State Park provides an idealized setting for incorporating the diverse concepts of evolution, species interdependence, and society's effect on the environment.  In addition to the convenience of several distinct ecological systems situated within the same state park, some of the abundant wildlife present for student identification, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, various lizards and snakes, ospreys, numerous song birds, and bald eagles, provide explicit, demonstrative illustrations of niche concepts, host/parasitism, and predator/prey concepts.  These observations will serve as a rich format for finalizing the crucial integration of experience and understanding, that is prerequisite for effective leadership in the world of tomorrow. 

            Students will arrive during the afternoon, setting up their tents and eating lunch.  Afterwards, a hike through some of the available trails in the park will afford students their first opportunity to directly examine local wildlife.  Field guides will be available to students for identification and for a brief life-history of the observed organisms.  The park trails cover over seven miles of wilderness, and are arranged in loop formations for easy navigation throughout the different regions of the park.  Afterwards, students will be taken to devil's water hole for an introduction to lakeshore ecology. This tour will be lead by local park staff, and afterwards students will return to the Devil's Sinkhole for a relaxing swim.  That evening, there will be a BBQ at the campsite.  The following morning, students will rise early for an early morning hike, followed by a return to Devil's Sinkhole for a guided canoe tour.  The tour, which will again be lead by park staff, will include an exploration of the surrounding Ink's  Lake whereupon students will be introduced to the various adaptations local plant and animal life make to survive in the wet environment.  Upon returning from the canoe trip, students will eat lunch, pack up their gear, and then head back to school.

Rationale

In today's society of technological streamlining, massive international business networks, and severe taxing of the earth's ecosystem as a result of resource mining, it is essential above all other concerns that we educate the coming generation.  They must have a clear and informed understanding of the world in which we exist in order to provide them with the advanced discretion necessary to make informed and crucial decisions in these rapidly changing times.  The best way to undertake this ambitious but necessary task is in a methodical and systematic approach starting from the ground up.  This means taking direct steps at the community level to provide students with a valuable and first-hand experience of the world in which they live.  This does not mean more textbook assignments and multiple choice tests.  This means students, out in the field, getting dirty, and experiencing nature in an enriching and guided exposition of the natural systems and processes which directly influence all of our lives.   Only through these sorts of experiences can we reasonably assure the presence of an intelligent and informed population to guide our planet into the coming centuries.

The idea for the project originated through recognition of a strong need to provide students with an outlet for their inveterate curiosity.  Countless research articles, symposiums, and lectures, have been given, encouraging teachers to present material in a context-dependant manner.  Students learn better when presented new material in the context of their prior experience with the world.  By nature, children are sheltered in this experience as a result of the society in which we exist.  We must take explicit and directed steps to expose students to varying aspects of the world. 

Budget

Expenses:

• Two vans for two days - $200
• Fuel - $150
• Entrance fees - $4 per person X 25 people - $100
• Food - $12.00 per day per person - $530
• Campsites Ð 3 campsites, $10 each - $30
• Firewood - $30
• Field Guides Ð Texas Bug Book:  The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, by Malcolm Beck Ð $13.97,  Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest:  A Practical Guide, by Delena Tull - $19.01, Lone Star Field Guide to Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of Texas by Delena Tull, George Oxford Miller - $16.07  TOTAL:  $49.05
• Total Expenses:  $1089.05

Ecology project Calendar.

Evolution	Video Timeline of universe project Introduction of debates.     Journal entries	Introduction to evolution as a process of selection   Present main characters   Journal entries	Present 11 points of Darwin's argument       Journal entries	Lesson: chaos and order, living on the edge.     Journal entries	Exam         Journal entries
	Blocks and screws day 1         Journal entries	Blocks and screws day 2         Journal entries	Natural selection Artificial selection Crops, pets, and livestock   Journal entries	Sexual selection                        Journal entries	Exam           Journal entries
Interdependence	Dna Synteny Genomic libraries Mutations   Journal entries	Food web Nutrient recycling predation   Journal entries	Energy transfer Nitrogen fixation   Journal entries	Habitat and niches     Journal entries   Leave for coast	Coast lessons Return tomorrow     Journal entries
Man's effect on environment	Mass wasting Deforestation	Oil spill and water quality lesson	Franchise lesson and habitat	Alternative energy source and tree hugging	Exam
	Introduce debate topics and assign parts	Debate research   Alternative to oil, mining resources, are humans effecting the rate of evolution	Debate research   Alternative to oil, mining resources, are humans effecting the rate of evolution	Debate and judging	Debate and judging

Potential impact

This will be a vehicle to get the students out doing science.  We will give students who don't normally have access to the field experiences an opportunity to investigate the world around them and how it works.  They will spend the weekend doing inquiry based investigations with the help of instructors familiar with the environment around Inks Lake State park.  For many, this may be the first time they will be in a setting where they look around and ask Óhow are the ecosystems I see, or have learned about, affected by the environment I am from (nature vs. civilization)?Ó.  What are the consequences of technology and convenience?  How do they affect habitats in nature?  How many other ecosystems are affected?

 

Evaluation plan

The method of evaluation will be both a group presentation, and individual journal entries.  The presentation will be on something the group was interested in, and it will focus on how the global situation effects the local environment.  The journal entry will be focused on the future of the environment and how to preserve the local habitats or prevent their destruction.  What are some ways we can preserve the habitats or species in central Texas highland lake chain at an individual level, school level, community level, state level, national level, international level?  How am I directly affected by the destruction of habitat?  At what point does the destruction of "insignificant species" habitat become a problem for me?