|
A community of people who love to write |
Home | Submit Articles | Login (Note the .ORG in our domain name) |
| ALL Categories | HEALTH | EDUCATION | FINANCE | TECH | WOMEN | ENTERTAINMENT | TRAVEL |
Mundane Observation Creates Ongoing Nature AppreciationBY: Guest User | Category: Nature | Submitted: 2010-02-23 15:22:33
It's no secret that there are some assignments that you do for school that you just wish you could skip. The reasons for this feeling vary, but often these projects appear too difficult or just don't interest us at all. And sometimes, projects that we thought were going to be exciting and interesting end up as something completely different. As a student preparing for a career with exotic animals, I was enrolled in a class on animal behavior. This class talked about many different facets of why animals act the way they do, as well as how humans can impact that behavior (for good or for bad). One of the projects that we had to do was based on observational research. For this project, we had to complete thirty hours of observational research on certain animals in the zoo. It was literally just sitting in front of the enclosure waiting for the animals to do something so that I could write it down. Part-way through my observations, I decided that I couldn't watch two lemurs for thirty hours, so I changed my study to involve comparing two different kinds of primates: ring-tailed lemurs and lion-tailed macaques. By having two different species to observe, the time went by a lot faster. It was by no means fast, but at least it wasn't as slow at is had been. I began by watching the animals in short time increments; two hours here and three hours there. After a while, I realized that it would be a lot less painful if I just got it all over with at once, so with a few full Saturdays I finished up my observational hours. At the end of my time observing, though, I found myself gravitating towards those animals again whenever I spent time at the zoo. I would linger by 'Killer' the lemur and subconsciously count how many times she would groom herself. I began to wonder how their behavior was different from those lemurs that lived in the wild, and doubted the conclusions that I had come to in my original report. It speaks volumes to my own appreciation of the macaques and lemurs that long after I had completed that class, I was given a stuffed lemur as a gift from a friend. A friend of mine was molecular cell biology major in college. As part of one of her classes, she had to complete a similar study on animals. Her class would trap a few small rodents, remove a couple toes so that they could identify them (the professor ensured her that this was harmless), and then release the animals so that their behavior could be tracked. Though our two experiences were very different, the results were similar. Each study gave us knowledge about the animals that we wouldn't have otherwise obtained, and the experience itself stayed with us. Though the methods were different, we were able to take our experience with nature and bridge that experience with our ongoing education. Though I no longer work directly with exotic animals, I still look back on the thirty hours I spent with the lemurs (Killer and Yoda) and the macaques (Christina and Tubbs) as an opportunity to rest and enjoy something that I had little control over, while learning and strengthening my intellect at the same time. Article Source: http://www.writearticles.org/ About Author / Additional Info: - Jen Hurst Comments on this article: (0 comments so far)
Additional Articles: • Usefulful Programs For Children With Special Needs • Canon SD400- Getting an Excellent Digital Camera Without Spending Lots of Money • 21st Century's Best Online Grocery Deal • Luxury Safaris - Making the Most Out of Adventure Latest Articles in "Nature" category: • Happy World Envronment Day!! • Reconnecting With Nature to Get Spiritual and Emotional Satisfaction • Roses - A Beautiful Way to Keep in Touch With Nature! • Having Your Own Kitchen Garden and Herb Garden • The National Parks: Take Only Pictures, Leave Only Footprints • Outdoor Education Gives Students a Chance to Discover the World Around Them Important Disclaimer: All articles on this website are for general information only and is not a professional or experts advice. We do not own any responsibility for correctness or authenticity of the information presented in this article, or any loss or injury resulting from it. We do not endorse these articles, we are neither affiliated with the authors of these articles nor responsible for their content. Please see our disclaimer section for complete terms. 
Copyright © 2010 writearticles.org - Do not copy articles from this website. |
|||||||
| | Disclaimer | Xhtml | | |||||||
