FYSP 116-01 Fall 2006
Field-Based Writing: Ecology of the Vermilion River Watershed
Groups of students have been visiting the point where Chance Creek joins the Vermilion River
since before 1921,when this picture was taken. Photo credit: Oberlin College Archives, obtained
from “Neighbors help manage some college assets” by Carol Ganzel, Observer, 11 May 1995
(http://www.oberlin.edu/observer/observer16.17/neighbors.html)
COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructors:
Mary Garvin
Associate Professor of Biology
Office: Science Center A139
Phone: 775-6402
Email: Mary.Garvin@oberlin.edu
Jan Cooper
John C. Reid Associate Professor of
Rhetoric and Composition
Office: King 141-D
Phone: 775-8613
Email: Jan.Cooper@oberlin.ed
Writing Associate: Kate Zipp
Office Location: Science Library Sundays 1-4pm
Phone: x.62976
Email: Katherine.Zipp@oberlin.edu
Course Description
This is a course about observing the natural world around us by using the tools of ecology, the
study of the interactions between organisms and their environment. Through field studies on the
Vermilion River and Chance Creek, we will have the opportunity to watch an ecosystem near
Oberlin progress through autumn. We will also explore a variety of ways to communicate our
observations, from field notes to lab reports to science writing for general audiences. In the
process, you will gain information literacy skills and work toward earning certification for the
Writing Proficiency Requirement through weekly writing assignments. Students' writing will be
discussed in class and with the instructors and tutor in individual appointments.
Objectives
This course will increase your:
1. observational skills and your awareness of the importance of these skills as the basis of both
good writing and the scientific process.
2. awareness of the dynamics of ecology, the interactions between organisms and their
environment.
3. ability to read general and professional texts critically.
4. awareness of your personal composing processes and your ability to use your writing skills
with a minimum of frustration or at least increased tolerance for frustrating or difficult stages
of writing. In particular you should gain an increased awareness of the skills of revision.
5. information literacy—i.e. the ability to use a variety of sources (print, online, interpersonal)
to identify interesting questions and research them, with the ability to discriminate between
reliable and unreliable sources of information.
6. awareness of the different forms of knowing—e.g. visual, verbal, kinetic—and how different
forms of knowing can be employed in a college education or any writing project.
Class meeting times
Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:35-10:50 in A-155 in the Science Center
Lab meeting times
Wednesdays, 1:30-4:30 in A-142 (Field Biology Laboratory) in the Science Center or as
announced
Class and Lab Formats
Course meetings will consist of two 75-minute classes and one 3-hour lab per week. Classes will
be devoted to discussion of readings, writing assignments, visits to libraries, and occasional guest
speakers. The weekly labs will provide time for exploration of the Vermilion River watershed,
laboratory examination of organisms related to the watershed, other field trips, and film viewing.
In both classes and labs there will be frequent workshopping of student writing. You will also
discuss your work in individual appointments with the instructors and the Rhetoric and
Composition writing assistants in Mudd on a regular basis.
Grading Policies
This course is graded Pass/No Pass. Your work in assignments and class discussion, and all the
lab, reading, research, and writing work that support them, will be the basis of your final grade.
We will give you feedback on the quality of your work in our individual appointments, which
will usually occur about once every two weeks. If at any time you have questions concerning the
progress you're making, please make an appointment to discuss your work with one of the
instructors.
Because the writing assignments in this course emphasize revision, we also do not letter grade
single pieces of writing or other assignments. Instead we will give you written or oral comments
on your work to help you determine how to improve it. At midterm, however, one of the
instructors will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the work in your portfolio and field
journal with you in an individual appointment.
Required Texts
All of the following texts are required for this course:
Hinchman, Hannah. 1997. A trail through leaves: the journal as a path to place. New
York and London: Norton.
Marchand, Peter J. 2000. Autumn: a season of change. Hanover and London: University
Press of New England.
Sherman, Thomas Fairchild. 1997. A place on the glacial till: time, land, and nature
within an American town. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The books by Hinchman and Marchand are available in the Oberlin Bookstore downtown, and
you will buy Sherman's book from Twila Conley in Science Center K123.
Other texts we will read will be available in the Weekly Schedules posted in the Syllabus section
of our Blackboard course website or loaned in class.
Other Supplies Needed
• some form of notebook for a field journal (required) –available at numerous stores in
town, including Ginko Gallery*, Oberlin Bookstore, Mindfair (in the Ben Franklin store)
• some sort of color media--colored or water color pencils, pastels, etc to take into the field
for sketching (required)—available in several stores, such as Ginko Gallery*, Mindfair
• a folder to keep all work in, for preparation of the midterm and final portfolio (required)
• if you are allergic to insect stings, you are required to bring your medication for that on
every outdoor lab (required)
• shoes and clothes suitable for walking through woods and shallow water and rain
protection (recommended)
*Liz Burgess, the owner of Ginko Gallery, has kindly given us coupons for 20% off art supplies
for this class; if you would like to shop there, ask the instructors for one.
Expectations for Student Participation
A seminar is a course designed to become an intellectual community. Everyone enrolled works
on his/her own and together with others to learn and evaluate information, explore ideas and
viewpoints, and develop knowledge. In contrast to a lecture course or course alternating between
lecture and discussion, seminars are discussion-based. Everyone's commitment, engagement, and
ability to take part in the give-and-take of focused discussion are essential to the success of the
seminar. That everyone does the reading or other preparation for class is axiomatic. The
instructors will facilitate discussion and may occasionally introduce or make remarks about a
particular topic, but this is your class, and the consistency and caliber of your participation are
what will make it work for you and your classmates.
Because college instructors rarely publicly chastise students for coming late to class or drifting in
and out to use the bathroom or for other reasons, it may appear that such bad habits are okay.
However, they are disruptive and break the flow of the class activities for your classmates.
Please get to class on time and make sure you've taken care of all needs before class begins.
We will expect you to bring a copy of whatever text we're discussing to class (if you're
concerned about wasting paper, you're welcome to share print outs of the online documents with
a class mate or use a laptop to read the texts). Be sure to check the weekly schedules in the
Blackboard course website to find out what you're expected to prepare for every class. Email one
of the instructors if you have any questions about what or how to prepare.
Attendance Policies
In order for a seminar to work, everyone must be present to contribute. Therefore more than 2
absences from class and/or 1 absence from a lab will be grounds for receiving a failing grade in
this course. If you must be absent more than that for catastrophic reasons, you will need to
supply documentation from a doctor or your class dean[mg1] (Shozo Kawaguchi). Tardiness to
class or lab will count as an absence. It is your responsibility to contact one of the instructors to
explain any absence and to find out what you missed or to turn in anything that was due. You
will be expected to be prepared for discussion or to turn in any assignment due at the next class.
If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations,
please let one of the instructors know as soon as possible so that your needs can be appropriately
met. You will need to provide documentation of your disability to Jane Boomer, the Coordinator
of Services for Students with Disabilities in Peters G-27. Jane and her staff can also provide
excellent advice about acquiring accommodations in other courses and adjusting to the demands
of Oberlin College in general.*
Assignments
There will be 6 different kinds of assignments in this course (all are mandatory):
1. Field Journal—You will keep a journal of notes and sketches that you make outdoors at
least twice a week, using assigned chapters of Hannah Hinchman’s A Trail Through
Leaves as a guide for new techniques to try. The instructors will review your journal
about once every two weeks. The field journal is meant to provide you with a place to
stockpile the ideas, explore understandings, and increase the observational skills so
necessary to a thorough understanding of place, good writing, and the scientific process.
We expect that everything in your field journal will be your own personal work, unless
you acknowledge someone else’s contribution (for example quoting from a reading).
Please write out and sign a “blanket” Honor Code at the beginning of the journal to cover
everything you will put in it.
2. Species list—You will use labs and other journal observations to develop a list of flora
and fauna that you learn to identify in the Vermilion River watershed. Being able to name
flowers, ferns, insects, birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, etc. that you see in the watershed
will give you a sense of knowing it intimately, and will teach you to use field guides and
other identification manuals available in the Science Library or online. Asking anyone
other than the instructors for help in this assignment without the permission of one of the
instructors is a violation of the Honor Code. Please set aside a place in your journal to
*
We would like to acknowledge our colleague Sandy Zagarell's original formulation of the description of seminars
used in this and the previous section and Jane Boomer’s advice in the statement about accommodations for
disabilities.
create these lists. The instructors will check these lists whenever they review your
journal.
3. Lab Assignments—You will record the observations that you make during the weekly lab
sessions in various formats. These will include scientific laboratory reports, journal
entries, and digital imagery. The goal of lab assignments is to increase your
understanding of the Vermilion River watershed while improving both your observation
skills and your ability to record and communicate your observations to others. Outdoor
labs will be somewhat dependent on weather conditions and availability of speakers, as
well as the needs of the class in a particular week. The instructors will announce in class
on Tuesday where a lab will meet in any given week. You will work on some of these
assignments in pairs or small groups, and individually on others. Everyone who has
worked on a lab assignment is required to sign the Honor Code, which should be included
on every lab assignment turned in.
4. Writing Assignments—These more formal papers are intended to provide you with an
opportunity to thoroughly work out your ideas about a chosen subject and to take your
ideas through a revision process that polishes them for other readers. Submissions of
early and intermediate drafts are required; you will submit at least 1 draft per week.
Papers should be submitted as a Word file to the assigned Group area on the course
Blackboard website by 8pm of the due date. (More extensive descriptions of each
assignment will be posted on the course Blackboard website and discussed in class
throughout the semester.) Some of these assignments may also be collaborative, while
others you will work on individually. In either case, you may solicit advice for the
assignments from classmates, instructors, Writing Center tutors, or any other Oberlin
College readers you trust, unless we stipulate otherwise on the assignment. Everyone who
has worked on a writing assignment is required to sign the Honor Code, which should be
included on every assignment turned in.
5. Information Skills Worksheets— It’s time to go beyond plain “Googling.” These short
assignments will guide you through using resources for research discussed in our library
visits throughout the course. They are intended to expand your “information literacy,” in
other words your ability to find and judge the quality of various outside sources of
information in both print and electronic form. Some information skills worksheets may
also be done in pairs or small groups, and it is expected that you will use the advice of
your classmates, instructors or library staff to complete all of them. Be sure to explicitly
acknowledge any help you receive in the completed worksheets and to write the Honor
Code on them, signed by yourself and your partner(s) on the assignment, if any.
6. Portfolios—at midterm and the end of the semester you will collect all the work that you
have done thus far for the course, then read through it and write a 2-4 page synthesizing
reflection on what you have learned to be submitted for midterm or final grade
evaluation. Both the collected material and the written reflection will be handed in via a
folder, or "portfolio." You should work on the synthesizing reflection primarily by
yourself, but you may ask for advice on it from your classmates or the Writing Center
writing assistants or any other reader you trust at Oberlin College. In most cases the
instructors prefer not to read the synthesizing reflection before the portfolio is submitted
for grading. Be sure to also include the Honor Code on the synthesizing reflection paper
and your signature under it.
See the Assignments section of the Blackboard course website for more specific descriptions of
the writing assignments for this course as they come up in the schedule. See the Labs section for
the lab assignments. See the Weekly Schedules folder in the Syllabus section on Blackboard for
the most recent updates on scheduling and advice about field journals.
A Cautionary Word about the College and Conservatory Writing Requirements
For College of Arts & Sciences students: The Rhetoric and Composition Department intends for
the first year seminars that it sponsors to give students writing instruction that will enable them
to achieve certification in other Writing Intensive (WRi) or Writing Certification (WR) courses.
It is possible that you might demonstrate sufficient skill in academic writing to earn certification
in this course, but passing this course does not automatically entitle you to it.
For Conservatory of Music students: Earning a “Pass” grade in this course satisfies the
Conservatory Writing Requirement.
If you have any questions about writing requirements or any particularly strong reasons for
wanting to earn writing requirement credit through this course, please talk to one of the
instructors about them early in the course.
The Honor Code
Oberlin College’s student-created, student-enacted Honor Code is vital to the integrity of the
work that all of us do in the institution. Acknowledging the influence of others and
understanding the academic customs of showing one’s sources are highly valued skills of liberal
arts learning. We expect you to read the Oberlin College Honor Code carefully, and we will
discuss how it applies to each assignment. You can find the code online at
http://www.oberlin.edu/students/links-life/rulesregs_pdf/Rules+Regs06_HonorCode .
One requirement of the code is that you must write the following statement on every assignment:
"I affirm that I have adhered to the Honor Code in this assignment." You must also sign your
name to that statement. If you don't include the code and your signature, we will not be able to
respond to the assignment until you have included it. Typing your full name after the Honor
Code will serve as a signature if you submit an assignment electronically via Blackboard or
email.
Animal Use
The procedures using vertebrates in this course have been reviewed and approved by Oberlin’s
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Inquiries related to the use of animals
at Oberlin College can be directed to Mary Garvin and/or to the chair of IACUC, Patty
DeWinstanley, Patty.DeWinstanley@oberlin.edu.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the suggestions we've received on this syllabus and in our plans for this course from the following
colleagues: Jane Boomer, Julia Doctoroff, Erik Inglis, David Kamitsuka, Alison Ricker, Sandra Zagarell.
FYSP 116 Overview Schedule—Fall 2006
NOTE: The instructors will change these plans somewhat as the course proceeds. See the Weekly
Schedules
in the Syllabus section of our Blackboard course website for the most up-to-date information.
H= Hinchman, H. 1997. A trail through leaves: the journal as a path to place. New York and London:
Norton.
S= Sherman, T. 1997. A place on the glacial till: time, land, and nature within an American town. New
York and Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
M= Marchand, PJ. 2000. Autumn: a season of change. Hanover and London: University Press of New
England.
All other readings are available in the weekly schedules on the course Blackboard website.
Item highlighted in yellow to be finalized in weekly schedule on Blackboard.
Topic
Sept. 5
Overview; Intro to ecology and
Vermilion River; Day 1 writing
……….
Sept. 7
…………………………………….
Feedback for Paper 1, using
Blackboard, introduction to
environmental writing, field journaling
between labs
Sept. 12
Watersheds - the dynamics of rivers;
the scientific method and primary
literature; discussion skills
Readings
For lab:
H, Ch. 1 “Going to the source”
H, Ch. 2 “Wet, dry, rough….”
AMNH Webpage
Remsen 1977
…………………………………
For Thurs.:
S, Ch. 5 “Flora”
[plant primary lit. article TBA]
(required)
Dove, “The Buckeye”
For Tues.:
S, Ch. 2, “Water and Ice” (both
required)
Heithaus and Grame 1997
(required)
Cox 2002 (optional-reference)
For lab:
H, Ch. 6 “Seeing order…chaos”
(required)
H, Ch. 5 “The flow of attention”
(optional)
………..
Sept. 14
……………………………………….
Visit Science Library to learn to use
tertiary sources (handout for groups
keyed to Labs 2 & 3), identify inverts
For Thurs.:
Wilson 1987
Terborgh 1988
Sept. 18
The role of Lake Erie in the
watershed. visit Science Library to
learn to use secondary and primary
sources (handout for pairs, keyed to
Paper 3)
…………………………
For Tues.:
S, Introduction and Ch. 2 “Water
and Ice” (required)
For Lab:
H Ch. 3 “Feeling it in your
bones”
………..
Lab
Tour Watershed
Headwaters
Interpretive walk at
Fowler Woods, field
journaling;
Tour middle of
watershed: Invertebrate
Survey
Geology; sample inverts
at Hostile Valley as
indicators of water
quality; field journaling
Tour end of watershed
Visit the river mouth at
Vermilion, collect sand
for class discussion, field
journaling
Writing Assignments
(usually due in assigned
Group on Blackboard o
Sunday nights unless
otherwise noted)
Paper 1 due on Wed., Sep
by noon--send through
email to Mary and Jan
…………………………
Paper 2 due on Sun., Sep
Paper 2 revision due on S
Sept. 17
Paper 3 due on Sun., Sep
Sept. 20
Writing field lab reports, discussion of
collaborative writing skills, especially
as they work in the sciences;
Workshop Paper 2s, discussion of
workshopping technique
H Ch. 4 “The power of
ordinary”
For Thurs.:
Student papers for workshopping
Sept. 25
Communities: predator/prey,
discussion of S ch. 6; workshop papers
………..
Sept. 27
………………………………………
Further discuss Field Reports, how to
use CBE citation form, workshop
drafts of Paper 3
Chance Creek:
Mark/observe water
striders if available OR
interpretive walk and
invertebrate survey;
Field journaling
Oct. 3
Populations: migration (field trip to
Carlisle Metro Park)
………..
Oct. 5
………………………………………
More on how to use Science Citation
Index (Information Skills Worksheet
3); revision & seeing how chosen
articles are used by others
For Tues.:
S, Ch. 6"Fauna” (required)
For lab:
Garvin 2001 (required)
Mans 2004 (required)
McClean 1990 (optional)
For Thurs.
Gopen and Swan 2001
(required)
For Tues.:
M “ Improbable flight of
insects” (required)
Holland et al 2006 (required)
For Lab:
M “Down the long wind”
(required)
H Ch. 7 “Unmeasurable phen.”
(optional)
For Thurs.:
Orr “Verbicide” 2002 (required)
possibly student writing for
workshopping
Oct. 10
Workshop Paper 3 revisions
For Tues.:
Revisions of Paper 3
For Lab:
student writing for
workshopping (required)
Introduction to topics to
be used for Papers 4, 5,
and 6, further
workshopping of
Vermilion River Journal
of Ecology
……….
Oct. 13
…………………………………
Field journal workshopping and
reflective entry
Oct. 17,
18, 19
Oct. 24
FALL BREAK
Nutrient Cycling - Life of
trees/importance of fungi
……………………………………….
Rhetorical analysis discussion of
Jordan Valley Voices and
supplementary materials, brainstorm
possible topics for Paper 4;
Introduction to Academic Search
Premier & LexisNexis to get
information, format ideas for Paper 6
For Tues.:
M “Turning” (required), “The
fall of the leaf” (required)
For Thurs.:
Jordan Valley Voices book
(required)
OEPA grant proposal (required)
Oct. 31
Populations: Seed dispersal, migration
………
………………………………………
For Tues.: M “Finding new
ground” (required);
M “Harvesting the future”
(required)
For Lab:
[reading tba/dixion] (required)
H Ch. 8, “World as events”
(required)
………..
Oct. 26
Paper 3 Revision due on
Oct. 1
Chance Creek:
Interpretive walk, field
journaling
Paper 3 further revision d
Sun., Oct. 8
Midterm portfolio due
(no new journal entries th
week, but journal should
turned in with folder) on
Oct. 15
Paper 4 due Sun., Oct.. 2
Midterm grade
appointments will
replace this week’s lab
Bacon Woods:
Interpretive walk
observing fungi and
other fall processes;Field
journaling—event
mapping; journal gallery
on bridge
Paper 5 due on Sun., Nov
Nov. 2
Annotated bibliographies as research
reports at Oberlin
For Thurs.:
Cornell University Library's
website "How to Prepare an
Annotated Bibliography"
Nov. 7
Geology - bedrock and soil, humans
and the land
………..
Nov. 9
……………………………………….
Discussion with writer Pat Leimbach
For Tues.:
S Ch. 1 “Rock” (required)
For Lab:
Shane 1967 (required)
For Thurs.:
[Leimbach reading TBA]
(required)
Leimbach site:
Earliest inhabitants of the
Vermilion River
watershed; using digital
photography
Nov. 14
Human impact--early people
………..
Nov. 16
……………………………………
Workshop Community Project ideas
For Tues.:
S Ch. 3 “People” (required), Ch.
4 “Western Reserve” (required)
For Thurs.:
Student papers for workshopping
Cleveland Museum of
Natural History
(note early departure
time—NOON—ask Jan
or Mary to speak to other
instructors if affected)
Nov. 21
Human impact--later European
settlers; discuss presentation skills
Film “Not to be Modern”
………..
Nov. 23
……………………………………….
THANKSGIVING—no class
For Tues.:
Carson “ Realms of the soil”
1962 (required)
[reading tba/deadzones]
(required)
For Lab:
Kline “Community” 1997
(required)
Orr “Speed” 2002 (optional)
Nov. 28
Student presentations
Visit Jones Farm
Revision of Paper 6 due S
Dec. 3
……….
Nov. 30
…………………………….
Student presentations
For Lab:
M “Reflections on the Pond”
(required)
Toubman “Farming in Lorain
County” 2000 (required)
Bush “The Beach Ridges of
Lorain County” 2000 (required)
Dec. 5
Climate and weather: surviving cold
temperatures
Workshop P6s
Journals with final reflec
writing due in class on T
Dec. 5
……….
Dec. 7
……………………………………….
Student presentations
For Tues.:
M “Keepers of time,” “A touch
of frost,” “A dangerous chill,”
“Seasons of the vole” (all
required)
For Lab:
H Ch. 9 “Turning the year’s
pages”
Dec. 12
Student presentations
………..
Dec. 14
………………………………………
Use as needed—classes end
Paper 6 due on Mon., No
Use as needed
Final portfolio due Sunda
December 17
Readings:
Bush D. 2000. Farming on the edge: the shape of agriculture in Lorain county. In: Explorations of a Watershed. Ed.
Brad Masi. p 87-11.
Carson R. 1987. Realms of the soil. In: Silent spring. 25th anniv. ed. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. p
52-61. Originally published in 1962.
Carson R. 1987. Rivers of death. In: Silent spring: 25th anniv. ed. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. p 129152. Originally published in 1962.
Cox GW. 2002. General Ecology Laboratory Manual. 8th. McGraw Hill, Boston.
Dove RM. 1989. “The Buckeye.” In: Grace notes: poems. New York and London: Norton. p 9-10.
Garvin MC. 2001. Mosquitoes and the changing landscape of northern Ohio. In: Changing Visions of the North
American Landscape. Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin. 52(2):35-41.
Gopen GD and Swan JA. 2001. The science of scientific writing. In: Sherman PW and Alcock J. Exploring Animal
Behavior: Readings from American Scientist. 3rd. 2001. Sinauer Assoc.Sunderland, MA. p 21-29.
Heithaus MR and Grame C. 1997. Fish communities of the Vermilion River watershed: comparison of the main
channel and tributaries. Ohio J. Sci. 97 (5): 98-102.
Hinchman H. 1997. A trail through leaves: the journal as a path to place. New York and London: Norton. 192 p.
Holland RA, Wikelski M and Wilcove DS. 2006. Perspective: How and Why Do Insects Migrate? Science, 313 (11
Aug. 2006): 794-796.
Kline D. 1997. Community. Scratching the woodchuck: nature on an Amish farm. Athens and London: University
of Georgia Press:193-205.
Mans NZ. 2004. West Nile Virus in Mosquitoes of Northern Ohio, 2001-2002. Am. J. Trop. Hyg. 70(5):562-565.
Marchand PJ. 2000. Autumn: a season of change. Hanover and London: University Press of New England. 151 p.
McLean EB. 1990. Sexual dimorphism and predaceous feeding habits of the waterstrider Gerris remigis Say
(Heteroptera:Gerridae).Can J Zool 68(12):2688-2691.
Newcomb L. 1989. Newcomb’s wildflower guide. Boston: Little, Brown. 490 p.
Orr D. 2002. Speed. In:The nature of design: ecology, culture, and human intention. New York: Oxford University
Press. p 43-52.
Orr D 2002. Verbicide. In:The nature of design: ecology, culture, and human intention. New York: Oxford
University Press. p. 53-60.
Remsen JV 1977. On taking field notes: reasons you may have never considered, for keeping good field notes, and
how to do it. Amer. Birds. 31(5): 946-953.
Shane OC. 1967. The Leimbach site: an early woodland village in Lorain County, Ohio. In Studies in Ohio
archaelogy. Prufer OH, McKenzie DH, eds. p 98-120.
Sherman TF. 1997. A place on the glacial till: time, land, and nature within an American town. New York and
Oxford: Oxford University Press. 213 p.
Terborgh J. 1998. The big things that run the world--a sequel to E. O. Wilson. Conserv Biol 2(4):128-129.
Toubman J . 2000.The Beach Ridges of Lorain county. In: Explorations of a Watershed. Ed. Brad Masi. p 211-222
.
Explorations of a watershed. Brad Masi.
Wilson EO. 1987. The little things that run the world (the importance and conservation of invertebrates). Conserv
Biol 1 (4): 130-132.
JC/27 Aug 2006