Class Materials

Photo by: Marcus Heerdt

Readings, resources, and journal activities will be posted at least  one week before the scheduled class.

The South Dakota Master Naturalist Handbook

2023 Master Naturalist Padlet Link 

3/7/23 Week 1: Class Overview and Introductions  

Host and Instructors: 

The Executive Committee

Andrea Fountain, Black Hills Parks & Forests

Anne Lewis, SD Discovery Center

Amanda Bachmann, SDSU Extension

Kayla Miller, Dakota Wesleyan University 

Jen Stahl, SD Game, Fish, and Parks

Journal Activity: 

No journal activity is required for 3/7. Please have a journal for Week 2 3/14/23

Pre-Class Readings:

No readings for week 1

Class Agenda:

         a. Vision, Mission, Values

a. Overview of course content

b. Template Agenda


a. Attendance

b. Track It Forward

c. Journal Entries

c. Field Trips 

d. Payment

d. Credit options

 Further Exploration:

The South Dakota Master Naturalist Handbook 

The Nature Journal Connection, Episode 2: I notice, I wonder, It reminds me of

Making Observations, An Overview for Program Leaders

Padlet Signup & Posting Instructions 

Join the Master Naturalist Padlet!

1st Class Slide Deck 


3/14/23 Week 2: Know Your State, Physical Geography & Watersheds 

Reminder: PAYMENT IS DUE TODAY. Pay here.

Host and Instructors: 

Host: Jen Stahl

Instructor: Carrie Gray-Wood, Instructor of Geography, Black Hills State University 

Journal Activity: 

There are many ways to define regions within SD to better understand the state as a whole.  In preparation for the coming lecture, journal about the following questions:


Remember to upload your journal to Track It Forward  

and join the Master Naturalist Padlet Link! 

Pre-Class Readings: 

None 

Class Agenda:

a. Regional climates

b. Overview of regional geology

c. Review some of the ways indigenous behaviors affected the geography of the state

d. Review some of the ways European behaviors affect the geography of the state

e. Understand South Dakota’s physical features are a compilation of human and environmental interactions.

f. Questions for instructor 

Further Exploration:

History of SD Chapter 1

Slides

Book List:

"The Great Race" by Paul Goble: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Great-Race/Paul-Goble/9780689714528 


"Beaver, Bison, Horse - The Traditional Knowledge and Ecology of the Northern Great Plains" by R. Grace Morgan: https://nyupress.org/9780889777880/beaver-bison-horse/ 


"Ecology of Dakota Landscapes Past, Present, and Future" by W. Carter Johnson & Dennis H. Knight: https://prairieedge.com/all-products/ecology-of-dakota-landscapes-past-present-and-future-book/


"WAITING FOR COYOTE'S CALL - AN ECO-MEMOIR FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER BLUFF" by Jerry Wilson: https://www.sdhspress.com/books/waiting-for-coyotes-call-an-eco-memoir-from-the-missouri-river-bluff


"HEARTLAND RIVER: A CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE BIG SIOUX RIVER VALLEY" by Edited by Jon K. Lauck: https://www.augie.edu/heartland-river-cultural-and-environmental-history-big-sioux-river-valley 



Not a book, but part of the discussion: https://www.startribune.com/could-the-mississippi-river-actually-begin-in-south-dakota/387864512/ 






3/21/23 Week 3: Indigenous Perspectives 

Host and Instructors: 

Host: Anne Lewis

Instructor: Tony Ten Fingers

Journal Activity: 

Pick a spot about a meter square outdoors. Reflect in your journal on the following:

Pre-Class Assignments:

Class Agenda:

Further Exploration:

Land Ethic by Aldo Leopold

Braiding Sweetgrass by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer 

Square Meter Photography Project by Chris Helzer

Getting Started with Nature Journaling (video) John (Jack) Muir Laws

3/28/23 Week 4: Climate and Phenology of South Dakota

Host and Instructors:

Host: Amanda Bachmann 

Instructor: Laura Edwards

Journal Activity: 

Daily weather and phenology observations 


Good luck and have a great week watching the skies in your backyard!


Pre-Class Readings:

 

Class Agenda:

Further Exploration:



4/4/23 Week 5: Biomes and Ecosystems

Host and Instructors:

Host: Andrea Fountain

Instructor: Dr. Kayla Miller 

Journal Activity:

Next week we’ll be talking about ecosystems, which is the study of how organisms interact with their environment and other organisms. Spend some time in an environment and consider all the components and how they may be interacting. Don’t limit yourself to only things you can see!

Make sure to consider nutrients, oxygen/carbon dioxide, microorganisms, etc. – anything that may impact the functioning of your environment.

Specifically, consider…

How do different nutrients travel through the ecosystem from birth/germination to death (feel free to draw a “map”!)

How does climate (temperature and precipitation) affect these interactions?


Pre-Class Assignments:

Background on Ecosystems:

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/ecology/intro-to-ecosystems/a/what-is-an-

ecosystem

Background on Biomes:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/what-makes-biome/12th-grade/

Class Agenda:

Further Exploration:

college-environmental-science/x0b0e430a38ebd23f:the-living-world-ecosystems-and-biodiversity#x0b0e430a38ebd23f:ecosystems-and-biomes



4/11/23 Week 6: Ornithology 

Host and Instructors:

Host: Amanda Bachmann 

Instructor: Dr. Jen Fowler & Julie Brazell 

Journal Activity: 

Gather your bird books, find your binocs, go out and identify three birds you find in your area. In your journal, write down any three characteristics you notice about that bird. Record any other observations you have about the bird and/or the habitat it was found in. What other questions do you have about those birds?

Pre-Class Readings:

Class Agenda:


Recommended Resources & Links

Further Exploration:



4/18/23 Week 7: Mammalogy 

Host and Instructors: 

Host: Andrea Fountain

Instructor: Carrie Hughes, Interpretive Ranger, Wind Cave National Park 

Journal Activity: 

Spring is a fun time to observe animal tracks! Head outside and find 2-3 wild animal tracks and sketch them in your journal. Be sure to record when and where you saw them. If you have a tape measure, measure the length, width, and stride. What story do the tracks tell? Follow them (if it is safe!) and note any patterns. Besides tracks do you see any other signs of animals? (Examples: scat, fur, bones) If you can not identify tracks that's okay, this is practice for observation skills.

Good places to look for tracks are near waterways (muddy river banks, sandy shorelines, etc), in snow, and on hiking trails. 

Pre-Class Readings:


Class Agenda:

Further Exploration:

Ranger Carrie's Presentation Notes

Videos/Webinars

Books

Podcasts


4/25/23 Week 8: Herpetology 

Host and Instructors: 

Host: Anne Lewis

Instructor: Dr. Drew Davis, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 

Journal Activity: 

Option 1: With the arrival of spring, South Dakota’s frogs will begin to emerge and start calling. At dusk, head down to your favorite neighborhood pond, stock tank, ditch, or still-water habitat (not a river, but river oxbows work) and try to listen for calling frogs. Do you hear any frogs calling? Can you try to describe the call? Is there another sound the frog call sounds like? How many “species” of frogs can you identify based on their calls? What aspects of their habitat do you think are most important for them to choose to reproduce there? If possible, try to do this on a warmer night or following rain.

OR

Option 2: On a sunny day, preferably midday when the sun is high, take your binoculars and visit a local pond to look for turtles. If you see any, watch them through your binoculars and describe what they are doing? Sketch them, record identifying features, and try to identify them. Where were these turtles a few months ago?

OR

Option 3: As you can imagine, life for reptiles and amphibians on the prairie can be remarkably difficult, especially during harsh winters. This week’s journal entry is about putting yourself in their place as winter is falling on the South Dakota landscape. Pick a reptile or amphibian, and in their “voice” imagine what process you might go through to prepare to survive sub-zero temperatures, thick snow cover, and frozen waterways. This can be a poetic reflection or a factual geek session.


Special Assignment Due Monday April 24:

Pre-Class Readings:

 What species have you seen at your home? What species have you seen elsewhere in SD?

 

 

Class Agenda:


Further Exploration:

 

 

 

 



Class iNaturalist project - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/south-dakota-master-naturalists 

5/2/23 Week 9: Botany

Host and Instructors: 

Host: Kayla Miller

Instructor: Maribeth Latvis

Journal Activity: 

Spring is here, and soon we will be surrounded by green vegetation! Please take a walk in a natural area and make 3 observations of plants in your area and sketch them in your journal. Things to notice: is the plant woody (i.e. a shrub or tree) or “herbaceous” (non-woody)? Do you notice any emerging buds at the tips of the branches? Do you notice any scars on the twigs where the leaves attached—and if so, notice their position on the twig.

Pre-Class Readings:


This provides a very quick introduction to the most important characteristics to approach plant identification.


Class Agenda:



Further Exploration:

https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/agexperimentsta_bulletins/764/

(289 pgs, scanned pdf with pictures, identification guide to SD plants)


Presentation Slides




5/9/23 Week 10: Entomology 

Host and Instructors: 

Host: Kayla Miller

Instructor: Dr. Amanda Bachmann

Journal Activity: 

Journal about an experience you had with a bug (some sort of arthropod – it needs to have had an

exoskeleton and jointed appendages). You are welcome to go outside and spend some time observing

the insects and arthropods that are active now, but you may also work with a memory.


Questions to prompt your journaling: What happened? Where were you? How did the people around you react? How

did that experience impact your view of arthropods today. Feel free to use words, numbers, and

pictures in your journal entry.


Pre-Class Readings:


Bonus activity: Now that you have an iNaturalist account set up, take a picture of an arthropod in your yard/neighborhood. If you’d like to upload it as an observation ahead of time, you can, and we’ll see what people are finding across the state during class. 


Class Agenda:

1.         Welcome/announcements by Kayla

2.       Nature Journal Breakout 

3.        Entomology with Amanda Bachmann, PhD

4.       Questions

5.       What’s on iNaturalist?

6.       Wrap up and prep for next week

7.       Porch Time!

Further Exploration:

There are loads of great insect resources on the internet or in print and these are some of my favorites


Slide Deck



5/16/23 Week 11: Aquatic Organisms and Ichthyology 

Host and Instructors: 

Host: Anne Lewis 

Instructor: Liz Renner

Journal Activity: 

2 options- pick your favorite prompt or do both!


https://apps.sd.gov/GF56FisheriesReports/?_ga=2.169987367.622567719.1683811368-114931706.1657812153   


What role do these fish play in that habitat, or what kinds of adaptations do they have to live in that body of water (e.g. what does it eat; how does it swim, reproduce, obtain oxygen and respire, etc.)? Draw the fish and describe any behaviors or physiological adaptations that help them thrive. Is this species native or introduced to South Dakota waters? Is it typically sought after by anglers?


2.Visit a local site with a water body (pond, lake, stream, river). We are going to revisit looking at connections from Week 3/journal entry 2. Reflect on how the water is connected to the land and sky and how that "shows up" in the water as a habitat and ecosystem. Diagram these connections from the general (Sun/Earth system) to the specific (critters and plants in your water body)  and then from the specific to the general (a specific organism such as algae or plant through a fish or macroinvertebrate back to the Earth system). 

 

Pre-Class Readings:

Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

Read these three articles: (Note: Although written for the Southwest, the general information is applicable to the Great Plains)

Ichthyology 

https://gfp.sd.gov/userdocs/docs/guidetothecommonfishes_new_full.pdf


http://digital.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1367698-fish-id-flip-singles-for-web/0?_gl=1%2A1uutlrs%2A_ga%2AMTczMDY4Njg0Ny4xNjgzODIxMTA4%2A_ga_MFGSGX9CRV%2AMTY4MzgyMTEwOC4xLjEuMTY4MzgyMTMzOS4wLjAuMA..



Class Agenda:


Further Exploration:


5/23/23 Week 12: Conservation and Human Impacts

Host and Instructors: 

Host: Jen Stahl

Instructor: Emmett Keyser, Regional Supervisor, SD Game, Fish, and Parks

Journal Activity: 

Write a short paragraph or poem about a natural place in South Dakota and why it’s special to you 

Pre-Class Readings:


Further Exploration:


5/30/23 Makeup Week:  Topic TBD


The scheduled advance training on Tuesday 5/30 will count as a make-up class to help participants meet the virtual class requirements. There will be no journal assignment this week.