The Forest Ecosystem

The Forest Ecosystem   Related Brandwein Outdoor Learning Activities All forests tell stories. A snapshot of organisms that live there can reveal a great deal about the events that led to the current ecosystem dynamics. This activity, “An Interview with a Forest,” is designed to give you skills to assess the past history of the forest while looking at its … Read More

Stone Walls

Stone Walls (Stone Walls Tell Stories)   Related Brandwein Outdoor Learning Activities Human activity frequently impacts natural communities, accelerating change. The Brandwein Nature Learning Preserve offers evidence about human intervention in its recent past. As organisms grow, they change their own habitat including the abiotic factors around them. As they do so, they may change the conditions which favor various … Read More

Wetlands

Wetlands   Related Brandwein Outdoor Learning Activities Certain plans grown only in wetlands and thus identify a wetland area. It would be useful to positively identify these plants by photographing them with a digital camera.  Recording your discoveries digitally will focus attention to small details that are otherwise easy to overlook. The digital record can also be used as a … Read More

Ecological Change and Adaptation

Ecological Change and Adaptation (The Changing Landscape) Related Brandwein Outdoor Learning Activities All natural communities change over time. But human activity frequently impacts natural communities in disproportionate ways, accelerating change. For example, whenever humans farm or ranch, changes to the natural community are likely to occur. Even many years after the human activities have ceased, careful scientific observations can lead … Read More

Flood Plains

Flood Plains   Related Brandwein Outdoor Learning Activities You might want to record the level of the creek and the extent of the flood plain on your first visit and then return during another season to see how the water has changed over time.  Recording your discoveries digitally will focus attention to small details that are otherwise easy to overlook. … Read More

Ecological Succession

Ecological Succession (The Forest before the Trees) Related Brandwein Outdoor Learning Activities All natural communities change over time. But human activity frequently impacts natural communities in disproportionate ways, accelerating change. For example, whenever humans farm or ranch, changes to the natural community are likely to occur. Even many years after the human activities have ceased, careful scientific observations can lead … Read More

Rodger Bybee

The Paul F-Brandwein Lecture Series The 2003 Paul F-Brandwein Lecture Rodger W. Bybee Executive Director BSCS 29 March 2003 National Science Teachers Association Philadelphia, Pennsylvania THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE: CONTENT, COHERENCE, AND CONGRUENCE Rodger W. Bybee To the Directors of the Paul F-Brandwein Institute, my colleagues, and especially my friend for more than 30 years, John Padalino, thank you for … Read More

Brandwein Lecture: Lynne Cherry

Children’s book author and illustrator Lynne Cherry  presented the Brandwein Lecture at the NSTA National Conference on Science Education in Philadelphia, March 20, 2010. Young Voices on Climate Change: Inspired and Empowered Youth Tackle Climate Science and Solutions It’s a great honor to speak to you today and follow in the footsteps of so many eminent Brandwein Fellows who I … Read More

Herbarium

Local Programs and Field Studies: Herbarium At Rutgers Creek Rare Plant Found At The Rutgers Creek Wildlife Conservancy Greenville, NY An herbarium collection is underway at the Rutgers Creek Wildlife Conservancy in Greenville, New York. Field Botanist, Bill Olson, has made over 350 vascular plant collections from the diverse habitats of the Conservancy, as of October, 1998. Of the plants … Read More