8.5 Local Environment

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Local Environment - Background Information	Investigating Populations
Flow of Energy and Matter in the Environment	Species Adaptations
Human Impact on Ecosystems	Zoning for Land Use

Background Information Sites

Virtual Field Trip - Kiama, NSW - prepared by UniServe Science as an example of a local area study including the importance of zoning for land use
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/virtexps/vftkiama/

A Local Ecosystem - a virtual field trip to a mangrove area, produced by Jane West
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~janewest000/Mangrove/home.htm

Preliminary course-Local environment - from Department of Education and Training
http://www.lmpc.edu.au/smallFrameset.php?KLA=Science&LEVEL=Stage%206%20Senior%20Science

ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION SUPPORT FOR YOUR SCHOOL - from NSW DET Environmental Education Team includes The Environmental Education and Zoo Education Centres and the Environmental Education Unit at Curriculum K-12. Environmental Education and Zoo Education Centres
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/policies/envired/assist/index.htm

Australian Alps Education Kit - from the Australian Alps Liaison Committee, as part of its program to increase awareness of the Alps, topics include Geology and Geomorphology, Soils, Vegetation and Fauna of the Australian Alps, also available in pdf
http://www.australianalps.deh.gov.au/publications/edukit/index.html

Landcare NSW
http://www.landcarensw.org/
also
http://www.landcareonline.com/

Threatened Species Brochures and fact Sheets - from Department of the Environment and Heritage
http://www.environment.gov.au/about/publications/index.html#threatened

NSW Resource Atlas - from Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, use Internet Explorer
http://www.nratlas.nsw.gov.au/wmc/custom/popups/aboutatlas.html

Working Together for the Environment - from The University of Sydney, downloadable files for fieldwork: including Data sheets and identification guides for student use
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/environet/sitemap.htm

Links: Environmental Education - from The Upper Parramatta River Catchment Trust
http://www.uprct.nsw.gov.au/all/links/enviro_ed.htm

Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support detailed outlines of course Units, with downloadable .pdf documents
http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/education/ecosystem_curriculum_units/index.html

National Land and Water Resources Audit - from the Australian Government, Natural Heritage Trust
http://www.nlwra.gov.au/

The GLOBE Program - from Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment
http://www.globe.gov/r?lang=en&nav=1

Using data loggers in Stage 6 Biology - from NSW Department of Education and Training
Support document in MS Word format

Using Data Loggers - presentation by Peter Roberson at Science Teachers Workshop, The University fo Sydney
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/curric/stage6/phys/stw2004/roberson.pdf

Simple field methods - from Dr Horst Vogel, mainly to do with soil studies, from Geosciences & Cooperation
http://www.stormloader.com/geocoop/share.htm

Community Biodiversity Survey Manual - from National Parks Service NSW
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/howyoucanhelp/01Introduction.pdf

Introduction to Global Change from the University of Michigan. Select 'Lectures' from the menu bar, topics include 'The Concept of an Ecosystem', 'The Flow of Energy: Primary Production' and 'The Flow of Energy: Higher Trophic Levels'.
Note: Instructors from other institutions are welcome to use the materials which are available from this site free of charge, but we request that you register with them and follow our usage guidelines.
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/

Population Dynamics

Population Dynamics - from the Environmental Literacy Council
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/subcategory.php/30.html

WebBeePop: A Honey Bee Population Dynamics Simulation Model - from United States Department of Agriculture
http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/beepop/

Methods

Working together for the Environment: Site Map - produced by The University of Sydney and the Environment Education Trust and hosted by UniServe Science
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/environet/sitemap.htm

Lecture 2. Estimation of population density and size - from Virginia Tech
http://www.ento.vt.edu/~sharov/PopEcol/lec2/sampling.html

Schoolyard Capture/Recapture Experiment- from St Clair School
http://web.stclair.k12.il.us/splashd/caprecap.htm

Assessing the human condition: capture-recapture techniques - from the University of Pittsburg
http://www.pitt.edu/~rlaporte/ref1.html

Offwell Wetland Survey: Line Transect Diagrams - from Offwell Woodland & Wildlife Trust
http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/wetland_survey/reslinks.htm

Racerocks.com - from Pearson College of the Pacific
http://www.racerocks.com/

Using quadrats to sample - from Monitoring Biodiversity, Eco-online Nova Scotia, a case study from Eco-0nline, Queensland Department of Education
http://www.eco-online.qld.edu.au/novascotia/resources/quadrats.html

Wetland education products - from Queensland EPA. The Queensland Wetlands Programme, in partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, has produced a range of interactive education and awareness-raising products dedicated to building community understanding of the importance of wetland catchments, particularly the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem.
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/wetlandinfo/site/spreadtheword/GBR.html

An On-line Rocky Intertidal Transect - from Connecticut State University, Center for Education and Research at Outer Island
http://www.biology.ccsu.edu/penniman/Intertidal/MAIN.HTM

Coasts and Marine Schools Project - from Marine Education Society of Australia
http://www.mesa.edu.au/cams/default.asp

Investigating Coastal and Marine Environments through Science - from Marine Education Society of Australia
http://www.mesa.edu.au/cams/module5/

Studying Sand Dune Succession - includes details of using a transect line, from Liverpool Hope Univerity College, UK
http://www.sandsoftime.hope.ac.uk/succession/studying.htm

Simulations

Capture-Tag-Recapture - from United States Department of Agriculture
http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/beepop/capture.html

Software

PWRC Software Archive - from Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/software.html

What is an Ecosystem? - fromSuite101.com
http://biology.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_an_ecosystem

Ecosystem - from Northern Arizona University
http://www2.nau.edu/~gaud/bio226/class/ecosyst/ecosyst.htm

Preliminary course — A local ecosystem - from Centre for Learning Innovation, Department of Education and Training, scroll down to Part3; Field Study Section
A local ecosystem

Environmental Biology - Ecosystems- from Marietta College
http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/102/ecosystem.html

Natural Cycles

Water Cycle Page - from US Geological Survey
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html

Carbon Cycle - from Kimball's Biology Pages
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/C/CarbonCycle.html

Carbon Cycle - page of useful links, from Kentucky Geological Survey
http://www.uky.edu/KGS/education/carbon_cycle.htm

Examination paper - from James Cook University
http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/Resources/Reserve/bz103092.pdf

Introduction to Food Chains and Food Webs - Secondary - how to draw a food web (examples from Chaparral) from Los Angeles Urban Education Partnership
http://www.lalc.k12.ca.us/uclasp/urban_science/food_chains/intro_chains.html

Biomass – the growing energy resource - from Nova, Australian Academy of Science
http://www.science.org.au/nova/039/039key.htm

Introduction to Biomes - from California State University, includes food webs and energy pyramids
http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/biomes/introbiomes.html

Producers, Consumers, Decomposers - from the Mangrove Virtual Field Trip produced by Jane West, OTEN
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~janewest000/Mangrove/producers.html

KESAB Watercare Website - from KESAB Patawalonga and Torrens Waterwatch
http://www.cwmb.sa.gov.au/kwc/main.htm

Food Webs Secondary Activities - from Gould League
http://www.gould.edu.au/foodwebs/foodwebs_s.htm

Upper Parramatta River Catchment Education Resource Kit, 2002 - useful page with suggested practical activities, from Upper Parramatta River Catchment
http://www.uprct.nsw.gov.au/HTML/Curriculum/Science/Stage%206%20Biology.htm

Cycling through the Food Web - virtual tour from Bigelow Laboratory empasis is on the role of bacteria
http://www.bigelow.org/bacteria/teach/index.html

Food Chains, Food Webs and the cybernetic ecosystem - from Bellarmine Univerity, natural ecosystems, cybernetic webs and serious maths
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/PDFs/Cybernetic%20PDF.pdf

The Food Web in Caves - an atypical food web, best viewed in Print Preview, from Jenolan Caves Guide
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~rawhyte/schools/foodweb.html

Creating a Visual Relationship of Organisms: Food Webs and Trophic Levels - from Access Excellence's Activities Exchange
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/ATG/data/released/0313-GreenspanBradley/"

ATLSS Across Trophic Level System Simulation - from University of Tennessee
http://atlss.org/

Life and Adaptations to Water - supports exhibition from South Australian Museum and includes a number of ecosystems (Desert, Desrt Refuges, Coastal Temperate, Tropical Rainforest, Coastal Monsoon and Southern Ocean)
http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/water/riteframe.htm

Australian Alps montane grasslands - from Encyclopedia of the Earth, Australian alpine plants display a number of adaptations to the cold climate, lengthy snow cover, and winter drought
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Australian_Alps_montane_grasslands

Coastal and Urban Sustainability - from the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales
http://www.nccnsw.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=28&Itemid=774

Environment Assessments - from Environment Australia
http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/assessments/index.html

Biodiversity Resources - from the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales
Biodiversity Resources

Global map of human impacts on oceans - from The Wilderness Society
http://www.wilderness.org.au/articles/global_map_human_impacts

Riverina Environmental Education Centre - from Department of Education and Training, includes Alpine, Cave, River red gum and Woodland ecosystems
http://www.reec.nsw.edu.au/

Find your Local Council
NSW Directory for Local City, Municipal and Shire Councils

in particular

Hornsby Shire Council - which contains useful information about zoning and land use planning in the shire, Green Living link
http://www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/

Kogarah Municipal Council - with downloadable .pdf files of their "State of the Environment Reports"
http://www.kogarah.nsw.gov.au/www/html/93-state-of-the-environment-.asp

Planning NSW - from Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources
http://www.duap.nsw.gov.au/

REIMBURSING THE FUTURE: An evaluation of motivational, voluntary, price-based, property-right, and regulatory incentives for the conservation of biodiversity - from Department of Environment and Heritage
http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/series/paper9/

Coastal Wetland Habitat Dynamics in Selected New South Wales Estuaries Ch 4 Digital Thesis from Australian Catholic University
http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp29.29082005/04chapter_4.pdf

Sydney Olympic Park
Home page

Sydney Olympic Park - covering topics such as Environmental Guidelines, an analysis of site remediation, restoration of urban ecosystems, bioremediation of contaminated sites, and documenting history and archaeology within the area
http://www.sydneyolympicpark.com.au/education_and_learning/environment

Environmental studies of benthic assemblages in wetlands in Homebush Bay - report prepared by the Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, The University of Sydney
http://www.eicc.bio.usyd.edu.au/scripts/database/view.pl?Choice=ViewRec&DB=pubs&id=143

Toxic Tip at Homebush - an article in Green Left Weekly newspaper
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/1997/268/268p2b.htm

Project Summaries - 2005 Restoration & Rehabilitation Government Grants - from Department Environment and Conservation NSW, includes links for 2006 and 2007
http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/grants/2005slsummary.htm#14

Northern Beaches Envirolink - locations where volunteers help to restore environment
http://www.ans.com.au/envirolink/restoration.html

Protecting Sydney's Threatened Wetlands - from University of Technology Sydney Archives
http://www.uts.edu.au/new/archives/2001/January/23.html

Caring for Australia's Wetlands - from Wetland Care Australia
http://www.wetlandcare.com.au/

Wetland Link Newsletter - from Wetland Care Australia
http://www.wetlandlink.com.au/content/newsletter-current

Environmental studies of benthic assemblages in wetland habitats in Careel Bay - report prepared by the Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, The University of Sydney
http://www.eicc.bio.usyd.edu.au/scripts/database/view.pl?Choice=ViewRec&DB=pubs&id=141

Nova Scotia - a case study from Eco-0nline, Queensland Department of Education
http://www.eco-online.eq.edu.au/novascotia/

Couran Cove - a case study from Eco-0nline, Queensland Department of Education
http://www.eco-online.eq.edu.au/html/

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