Field Journal Blog

We are going to take into account the beautiful weather and our environment for this blog. I want you to write two field journals in the next week.  Field journals are used by biologists to keep track of their observations. It is a type of research that is done without the aid of technology.

These should both go in the same blog post.

Complete the following steps twice:
First, you will choose a place where you can observe nature. The East 40 woods is a great spot on campus, so you can definitely go there. You can choose any place really, but it should be somewhere you have something to observe by sitting quietly.

Then spend 20 minutes observing. This can be any time of day or night. It is up to you when you do this.

Write a journal entry that contains the following information.
Date:

Day of the Week:

Location: Be specific. Where is the place and what are some nearby landmarks?

Time: This is important to note when observing nature. Scientists use 24 hour time, or military time.

Observers: Who is with you? Identify them by name.

Habitat: Paint a picture with words. Describe the things around you. Your reader should be able to close their eyes and accurately see the space.

Weather: use your best judgement--temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction

Remarks: What are your immediate observations? What are you thinking and feeling?

Comments: What did you learn? How has your thinking changed? What are you motivated to to do?

Personal Account: (date this section just in case it is written on a different day) After your field observations have been completed, you will want to provide a one page (250 word) diary-like entry that connects your field journal to yourself. You have your own life and your own history. Connect these things with your observations.

Blog: Your Home

For this blog post, you should think about your own concept of "home." The house or apartment you live in can feel like home, but also some other place can feel like home. Is home one place? Or multiple places? You can take this in any direction you think you should to answer the question of "what is your home?"

The house I grew up in, St. Augustine, FL.

Blog 2: Your Education

Thinking about what you know about education and literacy from our readings, compare your own educational experiences so far.  Include photos of your past schools if possible to illustrate what kind of schools they were. Please write about your own experience in the context of what we have been learning so far this semester.

Blog 1: Interview

Interviews

You will be interviewing a classmate for your first blog post. A good interview reveals something about the interviewee that we would not normally know. Make your questions in a way that will get your interviewee talking about something important to her.

The blog post will be well written in paragraph form, so you will be taking your answers and making them into a complete picture with your writing skills.

The blog post will also include photographs that your interviewee provides you. These photos should be a central part of your question and answers.

You will have time during the next week to work on perfecting your blog post before it is officially due. Please use your time wisely and proofread your work. Make it as professional and presentable as possible.