Week One
Well, I did it again. My schedule has once again changed, and this time it's just that I've dropped the Microbial Ecology course. I would have loved to take it, but with the other three I'm in that's definitely not about to happen and go over well. That leaves me with OCEAN 220 (field oceanography, hitherto referred to as "Oceanography"), BIOL 317 (jointly offered with 117, plant classification & identification, hitherto referred to as "Botany"), and BIOL 444 (natural history of birds, hitherto referred to as "Ornithology"). 15 credits. Least number of credits yet.
The thing is that Ornithology and Botany are going to be huge study time commitments. I have to learn to recognize all the local birds we see and a large number of local plants by sight (and also by sound in the case of only the birds). By large numbers, I mean that in the first Ornithology field trip we covered 48 species of birds that I'm now responsible for, and in the first week of Botany we went over 17 conifer species. Granted, the ornithology class will hit a lot of repeats and my list of to-know birds won't grow at this alarming rate, but still... it's fast-paced for me.
Now, the other component to Botany is the evolution of plants. Easy enough... I've taken the biology intro sequence and last quarter also took Evolution and Systematics. I spend my time taking notes that are full of diagrams that I later spend time perfecting and shading while the professor goes on talking about other things. When it's basic evolutionary concepts, I might as well. I also might as well as long as I'm convinced that I'll be taking notes for a student in the class with a disability, but now I've been notified that I no longer need to do that. Drat.
Ornithology, on the other hand, is a different story. In addition to this bird identification by sight or sound, I'm going to be held responsible for knowing bird evolution, anatomy (from the bones to the feathers), ecology, and behavior. Never mind that behavior is a part of ecology. People forget this. This quarter also involves 17 sets of about 6 scientific articles per set; again, I will be held responsible for this information at the end of the quarter. Add in a project plus wild monitoring of at least five bird species' nests every five days throughout the quarter, and you have well over five credits' worth of homework. As for field trips -- let's not go there. Just think of me at 6:30 tomorrow morning leaving the Burke Museum with 18 other completely insane birders to head off and see what we can in the Skagit. That's how insane this is going to be.
Should I drop it? No. I need to know my birds and my plants and my insects. But I'm going to need a lot of help and extra time to pull this course off this quarter. Be ready to read more about Cooper's Adventures in Ornithology. Maybe it'll be interesting.
I need to go feed fish, feed myself, and prepare my presentation of an article on eggshell thickness and interspecific brood parasitism by cowbirds. Wish me luck.
The thing is that Ornithology and Botany are going to be huge study time commitments. I have to learn to recognize all the local birds we see and a large number of local plants by sight (and also by sound in the case of only the birds). By large numbers, I mean that in the first Ornithology field trip we covered 48 species of birds that I'm now responsible for, and in the first week of Botany we went over 17 conifer species. Granted, the ornithology class will hit a lot of repeats and my list of to-know birds won't grow at this alarming rate, but still... it's fast-paced for me.
Now, the other component to Botany is the evolution of plants. Easy enough... I've taken the biology intro sequence and last quarter also took Evolution and Systematics. I spend my time taking notes that are full of diagrams that I later spend time perfecting and shading while the professor goes on talking about other things. When it's basic evolutionary concepts, I might as well. I also might as well as long as I'm convinced that I'll be taking notes for a student in the class with a disability, but now I've been notified that I no longer need to do that. Drat.
Ornithology, on the other hand, is a different story. In addition to this bird identification by sight or sound, I'm going to be held responsible for knowing bird evolution, anatomy (from the bones to the feathers), ecology, and behavior. Never mind that behavior is a part of ecology. People forget this. This quarter also involves 17 sets of about 6 scientific articles per set; again, I will be held responsible for this information at the end of the quarter. Add in a project plus wild monitoring of at least five bird species' nests every five days throughout the quarter, and you have well over five credits' worth of homework. As for field trips -- let's not go there. Just think of me at 6:30 tomorrow morning leaving the Burke Museum with 18 other completely insane birders to head off and see what we can in the Skagit. That's how insane this is going to be.
Should I drop it? No. I need to know my birds and my plants and my insects. But I'm going to need a lot of help and extra time to pull this course off this quarter. Be ready to read more about Cooper's Adventures in Ornithology. Maybe it'll be interesting.
I need to go feed fish, feed myself, and prepare my presentation of an article on eggshell thickness and interspecific brood parasitism by cowbirds. Wish me luck.