by Marc Rivers, 4/3/97... from Queensland
The Koala! When I was growing up I was never a big fan of the Koala Bear.
Over break, I went with two other students to Magnetic Island (off
Townsville), south of Cairns. There was a hiking path that went through an area
in which the Koalas were in high abundance. When I first saw them it was like
love at first sight. They are so incredibly cute with their big furry ears and cute
little noses. I took many pictures of them to show and tell about them when I
get back to the States.
How much longer will you be in Australia? What will you be studying
for the rest of your time there? ...Phillip J., Austin, TX, USA
by Springer Fyrberg, 4/3/97... from Queensland
I will be at the Center for Rainforest Studies until May 6. For the next four
weeks, I will be working on my directed research project, studying birds in a
place called Toohey’s Creek. Every morning we wake up at 5:00 a.m. and
drive out to our study site, where we census bird populations. A bird census
measures how many different kinds of birds live in, or use, a certain habitat. We
write down in our field notebooks the names of every bird we see or hear in a
small measured area. We must be able to identify over fifty birds! Other days
we work all morning trapping birds in mist nets. These nets are strung out
through the trees, and are so fine that the birds can’t see them. As soon as a
bird is caught, we very carefully remove it from the net, identify it, weigh it, and
let it go. By the end of the project, we hope to learn what kind of birds use this
area, and how many of each kind there are. This information will be important
to other scientists and students who come to study the area in the future.
How much homework do you have to do everynight?
...Steven B., Sugarland, TX, USA
by Becky Curtis, 4/3/97... from Queensland
The work we do here is a lot more like college than grade school, so we do not
have much homework. In college there is a lot more learning that takes place
through major projects and a constant learning of new material in preparation
for exams. It is much the same here. During the different case studies that we
had we would often have readings that would prepare us for the lecture, to give
us some background. But, most of the work comes from the case study
projects and exams.
Basically, we learn a lot about a topic, one of them was reforestation, and then
go out into the field and collect data and then analyze the data we collect. This
involves learning how to do many different things in the field, measuring trees,
making plots (measuring out a specific area to be studied), and writing down all
the data in an organized manner, so that it can be studied later. Then, we have
to come back to the center, write up what we did, why we did it, what we
found, and then figure out what it all means.
Although we were studying reforestation, we had to use statistics and a lot of
logic to figure out what we needed to know. The other major aspect of the
work here is the exams. They are all essay questions asking us to put what we
have learned into use. It is not exactly like memorizing several things, but really
having to know them so that we can put them to use in many different
situations. So, there is no specific amount of homework we do every night, but
there is always plenty of work to be done.
