Biodiversity Month

Species Found	Total
Amphibians	3
Reptiles	0
Birds	9
Fish	0
Mammals	4
Insects	28
Other Arthropods	0
Mollusks	0
Plants	40
Total	87

Dr. Laura Guertin reports:

I teach at a two-year campus of Penn State University (PSU Delaware County) located right outside of Philadelphia. This past semester, I've been teaching a course called "Biodiversity and Earth History," a class filled with sixty nonscience majors. Throughout the semester we've been discussing the past 4.6-billion years of Earth's past in terms of the geologic and biologic record. For the final exam, I thought it would be valuable and "fun" to bring everything the students have learned into the present. So, I organized a modified Backyard BioBlitz!

On the last day of classes, I went over the logistics with the students. I gave everyone a campus map with the campus broken up into sections. I pretty much shared with everyone the information on the Biodiversity Month website, about what to look for, make sure to put things back, etc. But what we did was not ID all the species on the entire campus, but see how many of each different type of organisms were in each section on campus. So the class was divided into groups of 2-4 students, and they were assigned to certain areas to, on the day of the final exam, identify how many different plants, insects, mammals, reptiles, birds, etc. were present in their section of campus. Since this was a geology course they just completed, I didn't feel they were qualified to identify to the genus and species level the different creatures they encountered. They were also told to read the articles online at the National Geographic News website and the Smithsonian Magazine website to learn more about BioBlitzes. I encouraged them to look further on the web for more information, hoping that the students would stumble on the Biodiversity Month website on their own.

The day of the final, students first reported to class and answered the first question for the exam (which part of campus do you think has the most biodiversity and why do you think so? What part of campus has the least amount and why?). Then they split into their groups and spent the next half hour doing their biodiversity assessment! I gave them copies of the Backyard BioBlitz Survey sheets from the website to use to record their data. Then, after the half hour was up, students came back to the room and tallied all the data on the front board. Then I gave them the rest of their exam. The questions had students assessing the biodiversity that exists in the different sections of campus, think about why the numbers showed what they did. I also proposed to them that the school will be building another building on campus soon (which really is going to happen in the next few years), and what area of campus should the building be built on and why. I asked them if there is any data they think we missed, and if they were going to organize a full BioBlitz on campus, how would they do it. And I also asked them to think about what the biodiversity might have been like in this area 40 years ago (before our campus was built), and what might happen in the future.

The exam was so much fun, for myself and the students! It really gave them a chance to take a close look at the environment around them and to think about what they've learned and how to apply that information. I've attached some photos of the students doing their assessment and our tally board. Considering that none of my students are science majors, it was great to see them get excited and involved in science! I'll probably modify the activity a little next year, but this is something I definitely want to do again. Until I have a few of these basic BioBlitzes under my belt, I want to keep the opportunity for my students so that I can make sure they get bitten by the science bug (and hopefully no other bugs!).

Pictures (click on thumbnail for larger image):

Report - Biodiversity at Penn State Delaware County