Guide 4B Identification
Resources
Additional activities, a behind-the-scenes gallery, recommended books, and more.
About this Guide
Evidence & Experience
New experiences can be overwhelming: unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells. The brain is searching for familiar patterns and may miss new ones. Focusing on evidence, like running your finger along a ribbon of bark beetle damage, or smelling the petrichor (first rain after a dry spell) makes it possible to immerse in an experience. Collect photo, video, sketch, written, or specimen evidence and purposely look for elements you may have never experienced before.
Lesley
More Animal Evidence
Another perspective on animal tracks, this time using craft stamping.
In case you didn’t get enough scat footage…
Additional Activities
Rodents Rule
In gardens and parks, the focus is typically on building songbird habitat with water, feeders, and houses. With the exception of squirrels, most rodents are labeled as pests. Research the rodents in your region. Are there any rodents worth habitat consideration?
Photo Safari
Minimize impact and maximize evidence by photographing what you find and filing your digital work on a hard drive. Early naturalists collected specimens, but they also made incredible sketches in their field journals of structures and behaviors that would never survive the preservation process. Photography has limits, but it is an inexpensive way to build a library of information.
Behind-the-Scenes
Close Inspection
We shoot a lot of our course video at home, and can count on Tanji checking out the materials in advance. We kid that he is our “safety inspector.”
Eager Subjects
We were worried the ground squirrels wouldn’t show up, but they came right up to us in the National Forest parking lots. We suspect they’ve been snacking on the refuse.
Living Anatomy
Some species of fish like this “Glass Catfish” (Kryptopterus vitreolus) have transparency that allows viewing of internal organs, including the bones. We’re locating species that could teach aspects of anatomy without dissection.
Bonding
If you saw the rat introduction videos, you know this little brown agouti hooded rat is not shy. His name is Binx and he is leading the way to get held and carried around.
Recommended Books
Know what is going on aound you in the natural world.
Laminated flip guides are light to carry and pack a lot on information in a small space.
Delve a bit deeper into the similarities and differences in tracks and scat.
Build a Library
Whether its digital or print, collect resources that assist in exploring, describing, and explaining the natural world.
Identification Product Page
Complete this module’s products before advancing on to the next module
Previous Guide
4A: Classification
This Guide
4B: Identification