John
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: Self <Single-user mode>
To: "Apodaca, Mary" <APODACA@woodrow.org>, "'es'" <es-planning@www.woodrow.org>
Subject: Re: Questions
Cc: fduarte@mail.lovett.pvt.k12.ga.us
Reply-to: jsnow@ou.edu
Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 12:48:37
Mary et al. I proposed this topic or one very like it. I have
annotated the msg below with a few thoughts on how a project on this
topic might be conducted.
John
> From: "Apodaca, Mary" <APODACA@woodrow.org>
> To: "'es'" <es-planning@www.woodrow.org>
> Subject: Questions
> Date: Tue, 13 May 97 12:30:00 PDT
>
> Someone besides me needs to answer these questions.
>
> Mary
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: fduarte [SMTP:fduarte@mail.lovett.pvt.k12.ga.us]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 1997 10:46 AM
> To: APODACA
> Cc: fduarte_
> Subject: Re: Re: WW Welcome
>
> Hi Mary, We are on the verge of choosing our project but have a few
> questions.
> We are for the most part inclined towards the one on the rainforests.
> Nutrient Cycles in a tropical Rainforest.
> We feel it is probably the broadest and applicable to both our future
> teachings.
> Does it have to be something immediately applicable to our
teachings? UNDERSTANDING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE TROPICAL RAINFOREST
IS AN ESSENTIAL STEP TO UNDERSTANDING MANY ELEMENTS OF THE EARTH SYSTEM,
SPECIFICALLY, THE FUNCTIONING OF THE GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES OF
ELEMENTS SUCH AS CARBON, NITROGEN, PHOSPHORUS, ETC... THESE CYCLES
IN TURN DETERMINE THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT. SOME OF THE BEST LEARNING
CAN BE OBTAINED BY CONTRASTING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE TROPICAL
RAINFOREST WITH THE FUNCTIONING OF THE POST-GLACIAL CLIMAX FOREST
THAT COVERED THE EAST US AT THE TIME NORTH AMERICA WAS COLONIZED (AND
WHICH REMAINS IN A FEW PATCHES AROUND THE US) AND WITH THE CONIFEROUS
FOREST THAT COVERS MUCH OF CANADA TODAY. CONSEQUENTLY, IF YOU ARE
GOING TO TEACH "ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE" FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE,
THEN EXPLORING THE FUNCTIONING OF A RAIN FOREST SHOULD BE GOOD
PREPARATION.
THERE ARE ALSO OTHER TRACKS THAT CAN BE TAKEN, SUCH AS INVESTIGATING
THE QUESTION "CAN A 'NATURAL' FOREST BE MAINTAINED THROUGH
'MANAGEMENT'?"
.
Or
> is the process of putting together a project like this our main
goal? Will modelling with STELLA be a part of this project (or of all projects
> for that manner) ? I VIEW THIS PRIMARIALY AS A MODELING EFFORT
USING STELLA, AND PERHAPS OTHER TOOLS SUCH AS SPREADSHEETS.
THE END RESULT COULD BE 1) A SERIES OF STELLA MODELS
THAT CAN BE USED TO ILLUSTRATE THE FLOW OF DIFFERENT NURIENTS THROUGH
FORESTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES, AND 2) ONE OR TWO COUPLED MODELS THAT ILLUSTRATE
SOME OF THE INTERCONNECTIONS THAT EXIST BETWEEN THE VARIOUS
BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES.
> How will data be gathered if there are no tropical rainforests in NJ?
THE HARDEST PART OF ANY MODELING EFFORT IS TO COLLECT THE
BACKGROUND DATA REQUIRED TO PROPERLY UNDERSTAND AND REPRESENT
BIOGEOPHYSICAL PROCESSES IN THE MODEL. THIS CAN ENTAIL A LITERATURE
SEARCH IN THE TRADITIONAL SENSE, EXPLORATION ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB,
AND LOCATING LOCAL HUMAN RESOUCES IN THE PRINCETON COMMUNITY.
> Will there be no field work? I AM NOT REALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE ENOUGH
TO COMMENT, BUT I SUSPECT THAT THERE SHOULD BE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY,
HANDS-ON, SOME ELEMENTS OF THE FLOW OF NUTRIENTS IN THE LOCAL NJ
FORESTS. THIS REQUIRES 1) INTEREST ON THE PART OF THE MEMBERS OF THE
PROJECT TEAM, AND 2) SOMEONE ON THE STAFF KNOWLEDGABLE ABOUT
THIS TOPIC. MAYBE THE GREEN FOLKS CAN HELP HERE.
> How will the project be structured ? THIS IS SOMEWHAT UP TO THE
PARTICIPANTS, THEIR INTERESTS, AND THEIR ABILITIES. I WOULD MEET
WITH THE INTERESTED PARTICIPANTS, VIRTUALLY AS HERE BEFORE THE
WORKSHOP AND THEN FACE-TO-FACE DURING THE FIRST WEEK TO ESTABLISH A
"PROJECT PLAN". FOR EXAMPLE, I WOULD SUGGEST LIMITING THE STUDY TO
THE ELEMENTS CARBON, NITROGEN, AND PHOSPHORUS, AS THOSE ARE EASIEST
ON WHICH TO FIND INFORMATION. WE MIGHT ALSO IDENTIFY SPECIFIC
REGIONS OF RAIN FOREST, MID-LATITUDE FOREST, AND HIGH LATITUDE FOREST
WHICH HAVE RECEIVED A LOT ATTENTION, AND FOR WHICH DATA ARE
AVAILABLE.
Can one of us concentrate on the
> water chemistry part - the other the modelling, etc....? SURE, BUT
THERE IS A NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT INTERCONNECTIONS ARE IMPORTANT.
THIS NEEDS TO BE A TEAM EFFORT, WITH THE MODELING AS A TOOL TO
UNDERSTANDING, NOT AN END IN ITSELF. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE HPS
FOLKS WILL CONTRIBUTE IS THE RATIONALE AND TECHNIQUES FOR EMBEDDING
THESE MODELS IN "LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS", SOMETHING I AM LOOKING
FORWARD TO LEARNING MORE ABOUT MYSELF.
> Thanks, FLO
>
Dr. John T. Snow
Dean, College of Geosciences
University of Oklahoma
Sarkeys Energy Center, Suite 710
100 East Boyd
Norman, Oklahoma 73019-0628
(405) 325-3101 (405) 325-3148 fax