Forest in My Neighborhood: An Exercise Using Aerial Photos to Engage Students in Forest Ecology & Land Use History

Autor/inn/en	Matlack, Glenn R.; McEwan, Ryan W.
Titel	Forest in My Neighborhood: An Exercise Using Aerial Photos to Engage Students in Forest Ecology & Land Use History
Quelle	In: American Biology Teacher, 70 (2008) 3, S.13-17 (5 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0002-7685
Schlagwörter	Leitfaden; Unterricht; Lehrer; Neighborhoods; Land Use; Biodiversity; Photography; Conservation (Environment); Teaching Methods; Forestry; Ecology; Instructional Effectiveness; Childhood Attitudes; College Students; Hypothesis Testing; Science Instruction + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Lesson concept; Instruction; Unterrichtsentwurf; Unterrichtsprozess; Teacher; Teachers; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Neighbourhoods; Nachbarschaft; Bodennutzung; Biodiversität; Fotografie; Conservation; Environment; Konservierung; Bewahung; Umwelt; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Forstwissenschaft; Waldwirtschaft; Ökologie; Unterrichtserfolg; Collegestudent; Hypothesenprüfung; Hypothesentest; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht
Abstract	Human activity has profoundly altered the deciduous forest of the eastern United States. Modern forest is a patchwork of stands of varying ages, sizes, and shapes reflecting a complex history of land use. Much modern forest is nestled in and around human communities, and faces the threat of imminent clearance for residential and commercial development. Such forest experiences a variety of human impacts, including edge effects, invasion by nonnative plants and animals, overgrazing by white-tailed deer, firewood gathering, and foot traffic. Despite its highly disturbed character, modern suburban forest still preserves some of the biological diversity of the original forest ecosystem. If diversity is to be maintained in developed regions, people who live next to forest fragments must have an appreciation of their structure and dynamics. Unlike forests of less-populated regions, isolation alone cannot be depended on to protect the Eastern forest ecosystem. To intelligently manage neighborhood forests, local residents and decision makers must have an awareness of forest ecology. Thus, education is at the core of forest conservation in the eastern United States. In this article, the authors describe in detail an exercise based on aerial photos to give students an awareness of forest ecology at the rural/urban interface. The exercise can be described as a process of guided research in which impressions based on childhood experience are used as testable hypotheses. The authors also comment on its effectiveness as a teaching tool. (Contains 2 figures.) (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	National Association of Biology Teachers. 12030 Sunrise Valley Drive #110, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 800-406-0775; Tel: 703-264-9696; Fax: 703-264-7778; e-mail: publication@nabt.org; Web site: http://www.nabt.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10