December 12 at KVLS fair building next to Extension Services

My Cell phone number is 407-908-4379.  Feel free to call me at night or weekends if you have questions.

Location: KVLS livestock building adjacent to the Extension Services Building.   

Osceola Heritage Park
1911 Kissimmee Valley Lane
Kissimmee, FL 34744

Our carpets are being cleaned so we will be next door. Park in grass lot next to building, or in paved lot in the front.

Class begins at 8:30 am with a review activity.   

Bring:

·         Completed post test from manual number 1.

·         Completed notes on the blue fill in the blank upland hardwood forest study sheet.

·         lunch, water, snacks

·         Remember your reusable water bottle and/ or coffee mug,

·         Wear a jacket for the classroom since we will likely be inside

 Tentative Agenda

Presentations:             Mammals                                                                            Kelly Wagner

            Hardwood Forests and Urban Green Spaces                       Eleanor Foerste

             

Interpretive Speaking Mini-Talks (about 5-8 minutes)

Final Group Projects (about 15 to 20 minutes plus discussion)

The day will be like speed dating!  Kelly will keep time to move the presentations along.  What a great day to learn from each other and see a variety of presentation styles.

Go to http://osceolauplands.blogspot.com/ if you have not got your group project posted yet!! I need abstract/summary (a brief paragraph) of your presentation).   It is ok to email it to me if you cannot get on the blogspot website. Remember we discussed the presentation should address a statement, not just a topic or theme. Do something:

                Creative, fun, interesting, attention getting, a key message, action oriented, thought provoking….

See you soon!

December 5 Class location and agenda

My Cell phone number is 407-908-4379.  Feel free to call me at night or weekends if you have questions.

Class begins at 8:30 am.   

Bring: lunch, water, snacks, binoculars if you have them, insect repellant (with DEET) to repel ticks and chiggers, camera

·         Remember your reusable water bottle and/ or coffee mug,

For the morning nature craft activity- bring a canvas tote bag, shirt, T-shirt, handkerchief, blank bandana, or we will use paper to do leaf prints.

Wear: closed toed shoes, long pants, dress appropriate for weather, sun screen, sunglasses, hat, jacket for the classroom

We will be out in the field for part of the day and in the classroom part of the day.

Class will be held at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC)  Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area (WMA) at the Prairie Lakes Unit office. 

http://myfwc.com/media/305186/HuntMap_ThreeLakes_PrairieLakes.pdf

The entrance is on Canoe Creek Road South of St. Cloud and North of HWY 60.  FWC has 3 entrances.  Use the Prairie Lakes Unit entrance.  Three Lakes WMA camping area is the first entrance to the north, (see campers and tents) continue to next entrance where the educational kiosk pay station is a short way down the road.  The next entrance south is Sunset Ranch, a nice 2 mile loop hike to the lake.

STOP at the Prairie Lakes entry kiosk and pick up a pay envelope from the honor box for your windshield.  Bring it in when you get to the office and I will pay by check for all vehicles.  Take a right when you leave the entry kiosk pay station and continue until you see the first service road to the left (FMNP  sign) that goes to the office complex.  We will meet in the FWC office classroom.

I prefer for folks to carpool since they don’t have a huge parking lot.  Please coordinate with each other to save fuel.  If you prefer to meet in St. Cloud, we have met in the St. Cloud Tractor Supply Parking area near 13^th street and gone from there.   Let me know if you want me to ride with me. 

Email me by Sunday night if you want to meet me:

Extension Services Office at 7:15 am. Google says it is a 1 hour drive from here.

Tractor Supply Parking at 7:30 am.

Tentative Agenda:

Morning

Presentations:                  Birds I and II                                        Emily Rushton, FWC

                Field Trip:                             Prairie Lakes Unit

Interpretive Speaking Practical Experience

Afternoon:

Presentations:             Mammals                                            Kelly Wagner

            Hardwood Forests and Urban Green Spaces       Eleanor

Field Trip-                            Double C Bar Ranch, Mr. Jimmy Chapman, Owner

               

Interpretive Speaking / Final Project Work Session

Go to http://osceolauplands.blogspot.com/ if you have not got your group project posted yet.

See you soon!

Favorite Books Related to Upland Ecosystem Topics

This is a place to list your favorite books. Please bring them to class labeled with your name in them so others can get some ideas.  Just type the title author and a brief description in the comment box so others can get your ideas.

Class Monday, November 28, 2011 at UF/IFAS Osceola County Extension Office

Directions to UF/IFAS Osceola County Extension Office

1921 Kissimmee Valley Lane, Kissimmee, FL 34744

Office phone is 321-697-3000 if you get lost.

8:30 am to 4:30 pm

http://directory.ifas.ufl.edu/Dir/searchdir?pageID=2&uid=A59&B1=Search

Class begins at 8:30 am.   Bring favorite environmental books (with your name on them) for show and tell with classmates.  I'll have coffee set up.

Tentative Agenda:

Morning

Presentations:             Invertebrates I and II                               Eleanor                               

Herptofauna (Amphibians and Reptiles)              Eleanor

Interpretive Speaking Practical Experience

Afternoon:

             Presentations:             Hardwood Forests and Urban Green Spaces  Eleanor

                                    Environmental Ethics                                     Eleanor

            Field Trip-                    Lake Runnymede, St. Cloud

Mapping, GPS units, topos, compass, walking tour, issues

               

Interpretive Speaking / Final Project Work Session

4:30 pm Dismiss

My Cell phone number is 407-908-4379.  Feel free to call me at night or weekends if you have questions.

Because we are inside much of the day and the meeting room can be cold, bring a jacket or sweater.  I have  planned a field trip to St. Cloud to Lake Runnymead later in the afternoon.

·         Wear closed toed shoes as we will be out in the woods for part of the afternoon.

·         Remember your reusable water bottle and/ or coffee mug,

·         Lunch and a drink (allows you to spend more time visiting with classmates and less time traveling) 

Go to http://osceolauplands.blogspot.com/ if you have not got your group project posted yet.

Welcome Uplands Master Naturalist Students

I am so happy to have you enrolled in our program.    It will be exciting and fun learning new things, going ne places and meeting people with similar interests.

Please comment to this post with information about yourself. Please answer these questions in your post:

1. Where are you from?

2. What do you want to learn more about?

3. Why do you want to be an Uplands Master Naturalist?

4. How did you learn about this class?

About Eleanor Foerste-

1. I am a native Floridian, born in Fort Myers, graduated from UF in 1977 and 1979, working in Extension in Osceola County since 1980!
2. I want to learn more about many different plants and animals that live in Florida
3. I want to teach others about the wonderful natural systems we live in. Hoping that when people learn more about them, they will love nature like I do, respect it and help others learn, too.
4. I helped develop this statewide program with Dr. Marty Main from University of Florida.

Now it is your turn to comment and tell us about you!   If you post as anonymous, you will tell us your name in the comment.

Mini-Talk Topic ( 5 minute) due by November 14, 2011

One of my goals is to give you a chance to share what you learn.  Together, we can help each other improve our skills in interpretation, public speaking and teaching.

Mini-talks are about 5 minutes on a topic of your choice.  Review your manuals after the first class and let me know before the second class what is the subject of your chosen topic.  You could do something simple like pick a slide on a plant or animal and talk about it.  Feel free to do additional research to build on your discussion.

Include  your topic/ section and slide number (if there is a related slide) in a comment to this "post".  Your classroom or field discussion should be about 5 minutes, a mini talk.

Example
Name    Mini-talk topic   slide number    divider tab  Do you prefer inside discussion on fieldtrip outside?

Where are some interesting places to visit in Florida?

Where are some special natural parks or upland areas you have been to visit?
Why did you enjoy the experience?

Ideas for Group Projects due November 21, week 3

This is a place to connect for ideas for topics. I would like them selected by Novmeber 21 so that gives you time to meet next week and discuss some ideas. No need to panic. 

I cannot get the embedded link to work either, so try to cut and past it into your browser for some ideas for projects.  http://www.masternaturalist.ifas.ufl.edu/students/final_projects/default.aspx


Feel free to comment here to recruit some folks to work on your idea!