Docent Training Update - Tenth Class in the Bag!

Today's class was on Terrestrial Ecosystems, their plant life, and animal life.  We didn't have any animals to handle today and we didn't go behind the scenes at any exhibits.  Getting close to the end of our training, at the end of class today we signed up for our Docent Shirts to be ordered.  We only have about another 5 weeks.

Today we talked about the differing Ecosystems, Deserts, Grasslands, Rain forests, Tundras, etc., and the type of plant life and animals they support and why.

When talking about these systems we not only cover the plants and animals found there, but how they developed and how they are being destroyed and what that will mean.

I was unaware that Rain forest areas, when cleared, are very poor agricultural areas.  The dirt is very poor for farming.

It was very interesting to learn about the reasons behind animal behavior, the way certain animals hunt their prey dictated by the area in which they live.  Also, that each areas animals have their Night Animal (Nocturnal), Day Animals (Diurnal) and Dawn and Dusk Animals (Crepuscular), that allow animals to hunt in areas and not be in competition.

I had a grassland picture, but for some reason it didn't work out, but you know what a grassland looks like.  How these areas animals, the grass feeders, have grown large in size and developed systems to digest the grass.  Grass does not have much nutrition and therefore huge quantities of it must be eaten.

How the Cheetahs, Lions, and Leopards develop their hunting styles depending on their environment.  Either using speed, ambush, or hunting in groups.  How sometimes one small animal or plant removed from a system can mean a total collapse of the system, and why.  Example: The Desert Tortoise.  This burrowing animal provides burrows for many animals in the desert to escape the heat of the day and the cold temperatures of the night.  Without the burrows, many of these animals would not be able to survive.  So many things like this are discussed that I had no idea, or never thought about.

Anyway, I've found this class to be extremely interesting and I'm glad I signed up for it.  I have no idea how much volunteer work I'll do after I 'graduate', but just the training classes alone have been worth the time and money.