Abstract: Understanding natural history and the environment are central components to ecological literacy. However, gaining these skills requires that individuals have time to learn and experience nature in a manner that may be unstructured. Because many students entering college come from urban backgrounds or have had fewer outdoor experiences, they often are missing a basic understanding of nature. Furthermore, many introductory college science courses are less focused on experiential learning such that when students take ecology based courses they are missing many basic pieces of understanding the natural world. In order to improve the ecological literacy of college students, I developed a semester long independent assignment that seeks to build knowledge of species, the environment, and their interactions. The goal of this assignment is for students to understand the natural history of species, the environment the species live in, how these change over time, and the effects of the experience on the students. To address this goal, I have integrated the elements of A Sand County Almanac and the Environmental Science merit badge from Scouts BSA to have students experience nature over the course of an academic semester. Specifically, students select a site such as a woodlot, park, field, etc., and spend one hour per week recording the species they see or hear, what the species are doing, environmental conditions (e.g., temperature), as well as their emotional state. Students are required to vary the time of day and day of the week they visit their site. Each week students record all their information in a journal and submit this for evaluation. At the end of the semester the students then write up a reflective essay on the experience. To evaluate the effectiveness of this independent lab, I surveyed students in Wildlife Ecology, Conservation, and Management using an IRB approved survey in spring of 2021. 88% of students found the exercise to be valuable and 95% of students found the course improved their knowledge of nature. Most students noted the exercise improved their understanding of foraging, movement, nutrition, wildlife-habitat relationships, and population dynamics. 81% of students would recommend the exercise to other students and the majority of students found the exercise to be more beneficial than other course’s exercises. Collectively, the exercise provided a means for students to understand seasonal change, phenology, and natural history. Finally, most students found the exercise improved their emotional wellbeing.
