MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTEMS FIELD COURSE B

ENV3ME

2020

Credit points: 15

Subject outline

This subject is based around a six-day field trip in late February (prior to the start of Semester 1) at Falls Creek, Victoria. The field work will explore alpine and sub-alpine ecosystems in detail during daytime excursions, team based research work in the Alpine National Park, and through evening discussions and lectures. Pre-trip materials including background reading and assessments will be provided online one month prior to the field trip. Your knowledge of the concepts and details will be assessed before the residency at Falls Creek. Post field trip commitments will involve completion of a report based on the project work you have conducted. Aspects of alpine geology, hydrology, soils, and aquatic and terrestrial plant and animal communities will be considered in detail. Potential and real threats to alpine ecosystems will be addressed. This subject is an introduction to field research and will be suitable for aspiring park rangers, ecologists and anyone interested in a career working in science and the environment.

School: Life Sciences (Pre 2022)

Credit points: 15

Subject Co-ordinator: Ewen Silvester

Available to Study Abroad/Exchange Students: Yes

Subject year level: Year Level 3 - UG

Exchange Students: No

Available as Elective: No

Learning Activities: N/A

Capstone subject: No

Subject particulars

Subject rules

Prerequisites: Students must have completed 45 credit points of second year science subjects

Co-requisites: N/A

Incompatible subjects: ENV2ME

Equivalent subjects: N/A

Quota Management Strategy: Merit based quota management

Quota-conditions or rules: Students selected from provisionally enrolled list, based on previous results.

Special conditions: Students MUST check details of field trip dates, costs and reimbursement cut-off dates with the Subject Coordinator / SHE AW Admin. This field subject incurs additional costs. The field trip start point is from Wodonga campus and students are expected to make their own way there or travel independently to Falls Creek directly - both of these options are at the students own cost.

Minimum credit point requirement: N/A

Assumed knowledge: N/A

Learning resources

Australian Alps: Kosciuszko

Resource Type: Book

Resource Requirement: Recommended

Author: Alpine and Namadgi National Parks

Year: 2016

Edition/Volume: N/A

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

ISBN: N/A

Chapter/article title: N/A

Chapter/issue: N/A

URL: N/A

Other description: N/A

Source location: N/A

Career Ready

Career-focused: No

Work-based learning: No

Self sourced or Uni sourced: N/A

Entire subject or partial subject: N/A

Total hours/days required: N/A

Location of WBL activity (region): N/A

WBL addtional requirements: N/A

Graduate capabilities & intended learning outcomes

Graduate Capabilities

Intended Learning Outcomes

01. Identify legal, cultural, biological and ethical considerations that constrain research activity in an environment and undertake appropriate steps to safeguard the environment.

02. Apply principles of effective teamwork and group formation to perform collaboratively in a team to collect and analyse field data then critically evaluate their own and whole group behaviour.

03. Write a scientific report related to a field based project in accordance with professional and ethical standards.

04. Demonstrate knowledge of the extent of alpine environments in Australia and identify abiotic and biotic characteristics of these habitats

Melbourne (Bundoora), 2020, Week 04-12, Blended

Overview

Online enrolment: No

Maximum enrolment size: 40

Enrolment information: N/A

Subject Instance Co-ordinator: Ewen Silvester

Class requirements

Field TripWeek: 4 - 12
One 7.00 days field trip per study period on any day including weekend during the day from week 4 to week 12 and delivered via face-to-face.
The subject is based at the alpine resort of Falls Creek, Victoria, approximately 130 km from the A-W campus. It will be conducted onsite at Falls Creek in the third week of February.

Unscheduled Online ClassWeek: 4 - 12
One 15.00 hours unscheduled online class per study period from week 4 to week 12 and delivered via online.
Online components for preparation and assessment will be conducted from early January until mid-March.

Assessments

Assessment element	Comments	Category	Contribution	Hurdle	%	ILO*
Field work report (2500-words due four weeks after field trip)Hurdle Requirement: Students must achieve a minimum of 50% in this assessment in order to pass the subject.The on-line components and group activities allow students to pass the subject without passing the major report. The hurdle requirement for this assessment item allows students who initially fail the report to re-submit a new report at an acceptable standard, using the feedback provided.	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes	50	SILO1, SILO3, SILO4
Pre-trip assessment-1 (Species description; 300-words equivalent)Students provide description of attributes and distribution of an allocated alpine animal or plant species	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	10	SILO4
Pre-trip assessment-2 (Climate Change; 300-words equivalent)Students provide a synopsis of four (4) documents dealing with evidence for climate change in the Alps	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	10	SILO4
Teamwork (250-words equivalent groups of 4-5 students)Student performance and engagement in small project groups assessed by academic staff	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	10	SILO2
Oral presentation (750-words equivalent)Oral presentations summarizing their projects/results are prepared in groups and delivered in groups on the penultimate day of the field trip.	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	20	SILO2, SILO4