Artifact #1- Ecology Lab

              My ecology lab involved walking around Stockton’s wilderness and keeping a log of the wildlife I observed. The very first lab of the semester I learned how to properly record the necessary information for a daily log. Before documenting observations I learned that you record the state, county, and specific place that you are located. It is most commonly accepted to underline this information. An example of this would be NJ Atlantic County Richard Stockton College.  Once I stated the location I recorded the time that I began my log and proceeded to describe the weather of the particular day. The log would then take a journal form in describing the things that I had observed. Descriptions of plants were very important. I would have to describe every important observation made. If a plant looked sick based off of the amount of galls on its branches, I would need to come up with an estimate of the amount of galls. Color, size, and location were the most common observations described.

                Keeping this detailed log throughout the semester was an awesome experience. Keeping the log helped me gain a new perspective on observing wildlife. I can truly say that I don’t look at the Pinelands the same anymore. I am always keeping my eye out for specific trees and trying to identify the different plants. Before taking this lab I didn’t have any sort of understanding for what plants were growing where and why they were found where they were. Not only did I have little understanding for this but I had very little interest. My interest was always with the animal species. But now I can make a lot of connections with the animals found in the Pinelands to the plants that inhabit the different habitats of the Pinelands.
Ecology Logs