I am an NSF IGERT PhD student at the Biology Dept. of Northern Arizona University and am partnering with the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, AZ on an educational, outreach program that will explore the concept of ecological communities using examples from the Colorado Plateau region.
The program will engage elementary students at the museum for an hour and a half through a series of activities. I am looking for material for one activity, which will introduce students to the cottonwood community through imagery and artwork. We are currently looking for inspiring, high quality images of cottonwoods and members of the community that we can include in a laminated “picture” notebook. The book is currently divided into 5 general “habitats’: tree canopy, leaf, bark/trunk, soil, and aquatic habitats. The following is a list of possible organisms: - Canopy – Birds nesting or hunting for resources, mites and galls, deer browsing, etc - Leaf community – endo- or ectomycorrhizae, bacteria, microinvertebrates - Bark - microinvertebrates, microbes, beaver - Soil community – springtails, nematodes, protozoa, worms, mites, beetles, isopods, fungi, bacteria, etc. - Aquatic community – leaf packs in water, decaying leaves, leaves with microinvertebrates, fish predating on insects, invertebrate larvae and adults Our preference is for field photography - organisms to be set against cottonwoods within their appropriate niche. However, we realize that this is difficult to capture some organisms, such as soil microbes – in the field. We are also open to good microscopic images or even SEM images of organisms. The notebook will be used in the museum only. No profits will be generated from construction of the book. Any images will be credited accordingly. You may respond to me privately via this e-mail address. Thanks, Amy Welty-Bernard PhD/graduate student Biology Department Northern Arizona University e-mail: [email protected]
