Connie Doyle

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Bringing the Prairie to Life

• Connie Doyle
• Wichita State University

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The Motivation

• Yes, definitely visit the United States, but
  skip Kansas. Theres nothing to see here.
• Student online exchange, Fall 2003
• Wichita to Queensland, Australia

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• We will love only
• what we understand
• we will understand
• only what we are taught.

Baba Dioum Conservationist
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Understanding

• For young children
• Concrete experiences
• Connections with immediate world
• For young adults
• Connections with immediate world
• Preparation for citizenship

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What is a prairie?

• A treeless, grassy plain
• An extensive natural region of flat or rolling
  land dominated by grass
• A natural community
• A biome

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Experience Prairies

• Roadsides
• Plant it, and it will grow
• Read later

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Use Prairie as Context

• Native cedars
• Life cycle
• cellular level?

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What isnt a prairie?

• Fields of wheat or oats
• Dominated by grass
• Only one kind of grass
• Cultivated/farmed vs natural
• Pastures
• Dominated by grass
• Animals are different
• Animals graze differently

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Why is a prairie?

• Low rainfall
• Rocky Mountain rain shadow
• Water cycle
• Temperature extremes
• Wind
• Fire
• Natural
• Managed

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Three kinds of prairie

• Short-grass (pink)
• Dry, high
• Mixed-grass (blue)
• Lower elevation, less dry
• Tall-grass (green)
• More moisture
• Gives way to forests

Bell LIVE! On the Prairie
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Beyond the Basics

• Lesson 1 Dominated by GRASS
• Lesson 2 Theres Room for Forbs
• Lesson 3 Prairie Dogs and Community
• Lesson 4 Human Management

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Dominated by Grass

• Seeds come from flowers

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Dominated by Grass

• Seeds come from flowers
• Propagation by seeds AND

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Dominated by Grass

• Seeds come from flowers
• Propagation by seeds AND
• Sexual versus asexual reproduction
• Biomass

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Dominated by Grass

• Wheat is also grass
• Farming and cultivation
• Grain
• Food group
• Genetic engineering

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Context for Investigation
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Change of Season
River Bend Nature Center
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Room for Forbs

• Monocots versus dicots
• Seasonal variations
• Niche
• Adaptations
• What happens to a fall blooming individual that
  is short?

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Prairie Dogs and Community

• Behavior
• Interdependence
• 40 mammals
• 90 birds
• 80 plants
• 29 insects
• 15 reptiles
• 10 amphibians

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Human Management

• Science, Technology, and Society
• Restoration
• Water limitations
• Land use
• Fire
• Konza Prairie Long Term Ecological Research
• Wind farms
• Model Environmental Literacy Council