Mary Lugg

Place-based Ecology 2, winter ecology: Dr. Mark Wolfenden

Portfolio Reflection

Winter is a difficult time for most animals and plants. I was orignally apprehensive

about learning, teaching, and living in the harsh winter environment of central Idaho. This

course helped to prepare to teach k-12 students by training me to be able to live in the

winter environment. Before I ever started teaching curriculum, we had several training

days where we were introduced to heat transfer, layering systems, and snow pits. Heat

transfer and layering systems were important for my safety but also a good jumping off

point for discussing plant and animal adaptations. Snow pits let me understand that snow is

water and there are very unique characteristics of water in cold temperatures. A

overarching phenology project was associated with this class. The phenology project ended

in a project that combined science and art to communicate changes during the winter and

early spring season.

I created a hand drawn natural journal for my phenology project. I printed the journal

and gifted it to my professors and classmates. The medium I used for illustrations and

writing in the journal was micron pen. The journal records the natural world as I saw it

from February 20 to May 3, 2017. Every Monday and Wednesday over those months I

would choose a subject outside or around my cabin to study and draw. I also recorded date,

time, temperature, light availablity, and snow depth at the beginning of each drawing. I

used a Vernier Labquest with associated probes to collect temperature and light availability

readings. I used snow depth readings recorded by snotel sites at nearby Bear Basin. I

created a graph of the readings for an additional visual representation of my phenological

observations, which I placed as the last page of my nature journal.

The phenology project forced me to slow down and pay attention to the natural world

around me. By spending time studying my drawing subjects, I gained a deeper

understanding of the state of nature and how it changed over time. I was also able to use

scientific instruments in a creative way. Overall, this project allowed me to combine my

creative side with my logical side becoming a more well-rounded person. This project also

helped me rediscover my love for drawing, which I hope to continue throughout my life.

I enjoyed the uniqueness of this course. The course had a very unique format that

helped me expand my knowledge of winter ecology. This course had a interdisciplinary

approach by combining learning, teaching, and student-centered projects. In many ways

this class represents what kind of teacher I hope to be to my students. Teaching is a

combination of science and art. I hope to be able to use the content I gained and the

creative instructional strategies in the future.