Final Project Option

The most effective demonstration of knowledge is application – can you take what you have learned and apply it in a real world situation? If this were a biology class, having you design and perform an experiment would be appropriate. Since this is a class centered on wilderness, the best measure of what you have learned would be an application focused on wilderness. Multiple-choice tests, while convenient, are an inadequate measure of your acquired knowledge. With this in mind, I am offering your group another option – a project to complete, in lieu of your final exam and your final presentation (66 total points).

Your group will plan a week-long backpacking or canoe trip (your project will just be to plan the trip, whether you take the trip or not is up to you – although I hope you do). Your destination will be a designated wilderness (of your choice) within a National Park, a National Forest, a National Wildlife Refuge, or land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. (See wilderness.net for a complete listing of U.S. wilderness areas. From the menu, click “Find a Wilderness”)

Project Components:

1. Trip Plan:

Your plan will include the following:

·        Logistics – How will you get there? If you are doing an end-to-end hike, will you spot cars or hire an outfitter to drive you to/from a trailhead/put-in?  

·        Costs - How much will everything cost? (food, backpacks, canoes (if needed), etc)? What will you need as far as permits (if any) for your chosen destination? What will they cost? FYI - You have $500 per person, use it wisely.

·        Food - What will you take for food? How will you prepare it? Backpacking stove? Fire?

·        A gear list for each group member (including food and approx. total weight).

·        A (realistic) itinerary – A planned hiking route, including where you plan to camp each night. Keep in mind that a goal of 5-10 miles hiked per day is a strenuous goal for someone not used to backpacking.

2. Destination overview:

Your presentation should include background information on your chosen destination. How big is the wilderness? What will the weather be like at the time of year you plan to visit? What habitats will you pass through? (you do not need to include every habitat within the wilderness visited. Include the habitats you plan to pass through.) What flora and fauna are you likely to see?

3. Application of Knowledge:

Your group presentation should somehow make reference to or demonstrate an understanding of all of the following

·        Aldo Leopold and his work

·        John Muir’s role in Wilderness thought/preservation

·        Henry David Thoreau’s work and how it influenced wilderness thought

·        Biocentrism / Anthropocentrism / Ecocentrism

·        The importance of predators in natural systems

·        The Wilderness Act

·        Deep Ecology

·        Radical environmentalism

For example, to illustrate your understanding of biocentrism, you may make mention of how your particular wilderness requires a permit system - limiting the amount of human visitors in a specific time period – and how this is an example of wilderness management with a biocentric slant. To illustrate your knowledge about the importance of predators, you may discuss how the lack (or presence) of a predator species at your destination effects the ecosystem.

Criteria for completion

1. Like the Iroquois Indians, everyone needs to agree on one course of action:

Your entire group will need to agree to proceed with this option, and I will need something in writing from each member of your group, stating that you agree to complete this project instead of your final exam and final presentation. Due to time limitations, it is not possible to have some members of the group complete this presentation and have the rest complete a regular presentation.  

2. In order to ensure your knowledge base is broad, you will need to demonstrate a command of a large part of the information in your group’s presentation. In other words, however many sections your presentation is broken up into, you will need to be prepared to present any at least two of those sections. Your group will provide me with a list of your group's members and the sections they are prepared to present, and on the day of the presentation, I will choose which group member present each section.

Other items to consider:

·        Due to the scope of this project, your group will be allotted a longer time to present - fifteen to twenty minutes (and no more) - to deliver this presentation in class.

·        If you choose to do this, for God’s sake, be creative and have fun with it!