For morning session, Dr. Evans took us out to Greens Field to launch his lesson on Biodiversity on the Plateau. First, he had us play teacher and say a fact about the landscape as seen from the cliff. After relating our fact, we had to ask a question to prompt the next ‘teacher’ from the group. Then Dr. Evans took over. “There is no balance of nature. There is only change!” he announced as we overlooked the spectacular view from the cliff edge. Then, he marched in full field gear straight for a trail. The tour of biodiversity was on. He asked us to pay attention to distribution and abundance (“D ‘n’ A”), topography, substrate and disturbances in each location. As a group, we explored Old Growth Cove Forest, Plateau Forest, plateau streams, ephemeral ponds, sandstone outcrops, and stands of short leaf pine. To finish, Dr. Evans led us to Piney Point, a tiny sandstone cliff surrounded by pines.
That afternoon, we split into our groups. I’m in Group A so that’s all I’m qualified to comment on. Group A includes Kenzie, Audrey, Tiff, Angie, Lauren, Kate, me (Hannah), Doug, Kevin, Mark, Parker, Scott, Will Vaughan and John. Group A went with Dr. Willis to discover Landmarks in Time and Place. Basically, he took us on a tour of Sewanee’s natural history centering on the importance of water, sandstone and coal.
After dinner, Angela Galbreath lead us in a case study of Haiti focusing on the links between poverty and the environment. She challenged us to solve one of 7 problems (Clean Water, Education, Environmental Issues, Health, Hunger, Political Instability and Weak Economy) based on the situations in Haiti.
-Hannah
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