[NMScience] Sandia Mountain Natural History Center field research project

[Amelia White]

Want to participate in real ecology research at
the Sandia Mountain Natural History Centernext year?

This project can be used to meet Life Science and Scientific Thinking
and Practice standards for any grade level. The close observation and analysis
involved in this type of long-term study can really help students form a
meaningful connection to the land. The procedures are simple enough to be done
with elementary students, yet the data can be analyzed at any level from
elementary to high school. Your students will be doing real, hands-on,
place-based science, and having fun at the same time! 

We will be studying two 50x100 ft sites on our property in Cedar Crest. One is
located in a grassy meadow; the other is located in what is now a dense
pinon-juniper forest. The forest site will be thinned to reduce fire danger
this summer, so we also want to see how the area changes as it recovers from
the thinning. Our basic research questions are: What populations of
plants, insects and small mammals do we have at different times of year? What
are the differences between our meadow and piñon-juniper ecosystems? How will
the piñon-juniper forest change as it recovers from thinning? We will be
setting live traps for small mammals and pitfall traps for arthropods, taking
inventory of plants on transects, as well as keeping a record of weather data
that may correlate to these populations. We would like to have groups come out
a few times over the course of the school year to collect data and observe
what's going on in the ecosystem. How many times and what you study is up to you; just contact us to set up a program that works for you.

There are several different ways to approach this project. Your group could
focus on plants or arthropods and compare data from the two different sites. Or
you could look at both plants and arthropods to see how they relate to each
other in just one of the sites. Or... come up with your own question! The rich
data set we will collect can be used to answer many different questions.
Possible topics include: soil health, native vs. invasive plants (such as
cheatgrass, toadflax, sweet clover), or how the weather influences what
wildflowers we see each year. We have all the books and equipment you'll need
here for collecting and identifying, and our knowledgeable staff is available
to help.

The great news is that the State Parks outdoor classroom transportation grant may
be used to bring your class up to the SMNHC site! Look for the announcement on
this listserve, or the State Parks website. Teachers must apply for these
grants, but the form is very simple. If we need to, we can also apply as an
organization for a couple of other grants, so I'll be looking into those as
well.

Please forward this to any other teachers you think may be interested in
participating. Thanks!

Amy White
Sandia Mountain Natural History Center
(505)281-5259
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