|
|
Biological Sciences Department • Santa Barbara City College Larry Jon Friesen • Website Design Alexa Birk • Artist |
|
WELCOME TO INTERNET NATURAL HISTORY This page describes Internet Natural History. At the bottom of this page is a forward arrow that will take you on a tour of sample pages and give you a "feel" for the presentation of the course. Course Description: Survey of the natural environment through studies of Earth's ecosystems: emphasis on the plant and animal inhabitants and the influences of cosmic, geological and meteorological phenomena. Satisfies SBCC General Education requirement in Natural Sciences. 4 units. Lecture and laboratory/field. Skills Advisory: Eligibility for English 110—Composition and Reading. |
| Internet Natural History is offered as a lecture series on the Internet and with self-guided field trips to local areas of the Santa Barbara region as outlined in the field manual, "Natural History of Santa Barbara". You must enroll in both lecture and lab/field.
For additional information, please e-mail nature@sbcc.edu or phone the Biological Sciences Division Aide at (805) 965-0581 Extension 2393. Click the button above for information on registration, a listing of course contents, requirements, materials, projects and assignments. |
| Transfer Articulation: Biology 120 (Natural History) is listed on the IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum) for transfer to CSU and UC as an Area 5 course (Physical and Biological Sciences) in the Biological Sciences Category and it satisfies the laboratory science requirement. There is a UC limit stating that there is no credit for Biology 120 if it is taken after Environmental Studies 110-111 (formerly Biology 114-115). You can check with a counselor if you are following a transfer plan other than the IGETC.
General: All students must have access to the Internet. Students enrolled in Internet Natural History can use certain computer laboratories on the SBCC campus. Natural History is offered every fall semester in a traditional format with three lecture hours per week and a three-hour laboratory/field trip per week. During summer 1997 we started formatting this course for presentation over the Internet. Spring 1998 was the first semester that we offered Natural History online. Lecture material is presented via the Internet and there are fourteen self-guided field trips. A required field guide and textbook are available from the SBCC Campus Bookstore or by mail. After you have completed a certain number of lessons over the Internet, you will be prepared to take the associated field trips. Internet Natural History is equivalent in content and activities to the traditional course. It requires the dedication of independent learning with the reward of the freedom from imposed class schedules. Do I have to live in Santa Barbara? No. HOWEVER, for this version of Natural History, all field trips and laboratories require that you visit the Santa Barbara surroundings. We imagine that students or vacationers who regularly travel to Santa Barbara will sign-up for this course. Because each field trip requires approximately three hours, two field trips can be completed in one day — four in one weekend. There are fourteen required field trips. Registration: Students must register for this course in the same way as with any other SBCC course. Once registered students must send an eMail to the instructor at nature@sbcc.edu. There is an eMail form below. Registered students will be contacted with more specific course information and sent an Excursion and Field Trip Waiver form when they have eMailed the instructor at nature@sbcc.edu. Registered students will receive a password that will allow access to the Natural History course Web site the first day of the semester only after a completed Excursion and Field Trip Waiver form is received by the instructor. Study Time, Assignments and Exams: You should plan to spend about six hours per week (16 hours per week in summer) with your Internet lessons and field trips — exactly the same as the traditional course except that you can do it on your own schedule. Like any other class, additional time will be needed for studying, reading in the text, exams, projects and term papers. The course will be divided into thirds. Each third will have a specific number of Internet lessons and field trips to be completed. During each field trip you will take field notes and complete an assignment. At the end of each third there will be a proctored examination. Several days will be available for each exam, including one evening time. Field Trips: Directions for the field trips and field trip assignments will be available as a field manual for purchase at the SBCC bookstore. Most field trips will need to be completed during daylight hours, but students can plan their field excursions on weekends or any daylight hours that are convenient for them. You will be required to submit your field notes and assignments periodically during the semester. Your final field assignments and the full set of field notes from the entire semster must be submitted at the end of the course. We encourage students to take the Internet class with a friend so that field trips can be completed with another student. Most field trips can be completed in three hours, including driving time from Santa Barbara. Field trips include visits to our rich local habitats: Santa Ynez Mountains, Lake Los Carneros, chaparral, sand dunes, streams, salt marsh and mud flat, sandy beach, and tidepools, as well as the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. We hope that this answers some of your questions. Please don't hesitate to eMail or call us with more specific questions. Once registered, be sure that you keep in touch with us if you have any changes in eMail address, phone number, or mailing address — it is your responsibility to let us know if you need something. We are here to help you and will be keeping regular eMail ( nature@sbcc.edu ) and telephone office hours (805.965.0581 Extension 2328) to help our students be successful. |
|
Genny Anderson, Instructor Santa Barbara City College |
Larry Jon Friesen, Web Design
Santa Barbara City College |
Alexa Birk, Artist University of Edinburgh, Scotland |
 |  |