Coastal Ecology of the Sea of Cortez at Prescott College Field Station

March 4-11, 2006

Students will fly from Denver to Hermosillo, Mexico and then drive to the Prescott College Field Station near Kino Nuevo on the Eastern shore of the Sea of Cortez. Students will spend 5 days immersed in the coastal ecology of this rich and diverse coastal ecosystem under the apprenticeship of professors and graduate students from Prescott College. They will study estuaries from sea kayaks, wade through tide pools, snorkel in the shallows to identify fish and marine invertebrates, and spend a day on a panga studying marine mammals. The field station has laboratory facilities, a library, and computers, to enhance students’ study. Students will stay at the field station for the duration of the course and will be responsible for preparing their own meals. Cost: $1400

PROPOSED SCHEDULE FOR COASTAL ECOLOGY INTERIM
KINO BAY, MEXICO

MARCH 4th Saturday

• Meet at 5:00 pm in the Science building to do gear check, have dinner in here, then depart. We will stay at the sleep inn DIA.

MARCH 5th Sunday

• Fly to Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
• Take Taxi to Prescott College Field Station in Kino Nuevo, Sonora Mexico
• -Orientation: “Gaining a sense of place”
• Hike up Punta Ignacio
• Map exercise. Identifying coastal habitats from aerial view
• Introduction to Ocean Zonation and Ocean Topography
  

MARCH 6th Monday

• Geography and Geology of the Gulf of California
• Geology lesson
• Map drawing
• Building the Gulf of California in the Sand
• Conceptualizing trenches, islands, upwelling
• Introduction to Taxonomy, “Why do we categorize things?”
• Phyla presentations
• Desert Hike

MARCH 7th Tuesday

• Common Intertidal invertebrates characteristics
• Go Tide Pooling
• Invertabrate Zoo
  

March 8th Wednesday Boat Day

• Island Formation, Island Management, Island Conservation
• Marine Mammal Spotting and Identification.Identifying the resident and transient mammals of the Gulf of California.
• Snorkeling
• Fish Identification
• Rocky Intertidal Exploration
  

March 9th Thursday

• Estero Sant Cruz
• Bird Identification and resource patritioning
• Tidal Excercise
• Mangrove exploration
• Visit Cardone Forest
• Visit Fishing Beach
• Go out to dinner in Bahia Kino

March 10th Friday

• Panga exploration and data collection on area of choice

March 11th Saturday

• Take Taxi back to Hermosillo
• Fly Back to Denver ( last year we arrived in Denver at 6:00pm Make any travel plans for the evening if we are not bringing your student home.)
• Drive to CRMS ( Last year we arrived around 11:00pm)

Ecosystem characteristics and the adaptations of plants and animals to those ecosystems.

Objective: In this project, your team of two will research and give a PowerPoint presentation on the characteristics of one of the Gulf of California's ecosystems, the human impacts on that ecosystem, a major endangered species, and, if possible, a major invasive species of that Ecosystem. Your total presentation should be 5-7 minutes. Students will be responsible for the content of all other presentations and will be assessed following a standard rubrik.

A partial list of resources, largely web-based, is included to help you narrow your search. You do not need in text parenthetical citations but a bibliography is required as your last slide.

Ecosystems to include:

Sonoran Desert - Ross Mohsenin, Sebastian Ramierez-Brunner
Intertidal Zone - Peter Amadon, Cameron Crane
Estuaries - Andrew Nelson, Aaron Cappelli
Marine - Bryan holden, Megan Schumacher

Biome suggested information

What is the geographic/altitudinal range of the ecosystem?
What are the major (non-invasive) living organisms of the ecosystem?
What are the general climatic conditions of the ecosystem?
Are there other abiotic factors that shape the ecosystem?
What are the major human impacts on the ecosystem?

Endangered species suggested information

Select one major endangered species for the ecosystem.
What is background information for that species?
What unique characteristics of the ecology/biology of this species has predisposed it to becoming endangered?
Provide a map/description for the range of that species?
What are the major human-induced factors that have led to this species becoming endangered?
What efforts are there to help this species recover?

Invasive species suggested information

Description and picture of the invasive species
Impacted native species
What is the preferred habitat?
What is the history of the introduction and distribution?
What are the environmental impacts?
What is/are a major invasive species of this ecosystem?
Known predators or biological controls?

www.enviroliteracy.org
http://ei.cornell.edu/ecology/invspec/links.asp
www.invasivespecies.gov
www.issg.org/database/welcome
http://invasivespecies.nbii.gov
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/
www.blueplanetbiomes.org
http://www2.ups.edu/biology/museum/worldbiomes.html


Powerpoint Presentation Formatting

Be creative, but remember that your classmates are responsible for your presentation. If it looks too busy, or they are busy reading what’s on the slides, they will tune you out. Generally, people error on the side of putting way too many words on the slides so that their audience is busy reading the slides rather than listening to the presenter(s). Animation should not detract from or overpower the presentation. Any animations should enhance the delivery of information. Keep fancy fly-ins to a minimum. Don’t bring in text by the word or letter – bring in a whole line at once. Avoid music.

Delivery – Speak clearly and audibly and, if possible, with confidence and style. Use body language that gives the impression you are in control. Face the audience, consider where you stand, and be very conscious of filling dead space (like, you know, um, etc)

Please save your presentation to a CD and/or a flashdrive. If you feel comfortable bringing your computer to Mexico, we should bring one.

Font size:

Title: 44-54 point subtitles: 36-40 point subtext: no smaller than 28 point

Timeline of due dates:

Information:

Draft of presentation: