2006 Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica Pre-Course Presentation Topic Outlines

Visit the Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica Course Syllabus

The extreme tidal flow (~1 meter/sec) at Pigeon Creek, San Salvador, was measured with a current meter in "Blow-Outs" in the main channel.

R. Hays Cummins |Interdisciplinary Studies | Miami University

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Tropical Ecosystem Field Course Syllabi
Interested in the course? Contact Hays Cummins
Course Syllabus 2006: Tropical Marine Ecology of the Florida Keys, Everglades and the Bahamas Course Syllabus 2006: Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica

The Ground Rules:

The Pre-Course Costa Rica written assignments consist of two requirements. First, (1) you'll post an Pre-Course Outline of your Discussion Topic (See Costa Rica Topic Outlines Below). This outline will serve as the foundation for your five page Presentation Topic Paper. (2) Then, you'll post your pre-course presentation paper prior to the beginning of the course. Please feel free to browse...

Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica Pre-Course Presentation Topic Outline and Paper ENTRY FORM

--Costa Rica Pre-Course Outlines and Responses

--Costa Rica Pre-Course Web Posting Papers Your completed Pre-Course Presentation Topic Papers can be viewed here.

The Presentation Topic Outlines are shown below.

Peer Review is a fundamental component of doing science.To help make your discussion projects more scientifically sound, you are being called upon to put forward your topics and ideas as well as provide needed feedback to your fellow students.

For students selecting a discussion topic for Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica, INPUT YOUR TOPIC Outline or Completed Presentation Paper, and then review feedback here. Topics have to be approved by Dr. Cummins or Dr. McCollum via this web feedback. Specific topics are first-come, first-served.

Posting Steps: Input Here

Post Pre-Course Discussion/Paper Topic Idea and Outline

Receive Feedback and Resubmit Revised Outline

Post Your complete Pre-Course Presentation Topic Paper

A Note from Your Fearless Leaders

Hello Costa Rica Ecology Folks!
We're looking forward to our course. As part of our course expectations, each student will present a twenty minute talk on a tropical ecosystem topic of your choice during the course. These presentations will be at lunch time or in the evenings. You may have as little as one day's notice!

To do a good job in your 15-20 minute presentation, you will need to hit the library and WWW well ahead of time. We will use the World Wide Web as our Discussion Feedback Central. You can see what other students are talking about and I would expect that you would submit suggestions on other peoples topics as well! In the selection of a topic, besides submitting a title, include a synopsis of your discussion topic. What do you plan on teaching the class? Why do you feel your topic is important? Include an outline of your talk and at least 5 references! I will provide feedback(everyone is welcome to contribute suggestions) via the web.

The time line for completion is:

-By Mar 15, 2006. Topic Selection, Paragraph, Outline, and Sources. First-Come, First-Served!

-April 15, 2006. Final Submission: Rewrite after having received feedback.

-May 15, 2006. Final Paper Posting. A five page paper on your discussion topic.

Topics can include, but are not restricted to, anything related to tropical ecology. Some topic ideas include land use, agriculture, climate change, climate in the tropics, conservation, plants (epiphytes, emergent trees, palms, understory plants); processes (predation in tropical rain forests, competition, nutrient cycling, mutualism), hydroelectric power, conservation, plate tectonics and volcanism in the Neotropics, indigenous peoples, coral reefs in Costa Rica, mangrove ecosystems, deforestation, species loss, or specfic species or family studies on reptiles, amphibians, birds, or other specific organisms (e.g., monkeys, bats, sloths, lizards, parrots, fresh water fish, mollusks, butterflies and moths) or other topics addressing biodiversity and sustainability (the national park system, economy and sustainability in Costa Rica, soil types, cattle ranching, the timber industry, environmentalism, medicinal plants). Let your interests lead the way. Do not be constrained by these suggestions! Look at what other students have talked about in previous years. To "prime" your discussion, you may wish to provide readings in advance to the class.

Let us know if we can help in any way. And, if you haven't done so yet, check out the Trop Ecosystems of Costa Rica Image Web Page. You'll get a taste of what's in store!

Hays and Chris

A Note from Your Fearless Leaders
Hello Costa Rica Ecology Folks! We're looking forward to our course. As part of our course expectations, each student will present a twenty minute talk on a tropical ecosystem topic of your choice during the course. These presentations will be at lunch time or in the evenings. You may have as little as one day's notice! To do a good job in your 15-20 minute presentation, you will need to hit the library and WWW well ahead of time. We will use the World Wide Web as our Discussion Feedback Central. You can see what other students are talking about and I would expect that you would submit suggestions on other peoples topics as well! In the selection of a topic, besides submitting a title, include a synopsis of your discussion topic. What do you plan on teaching the class? Why do you feel your topic is important? Include an outline of your talk and at least 5 references! I will provide feedback(everyone is welcome to contribute suggestions) via the web. The time line for completion is: -By Mar 15, 2006. Topic Selection, Paragraph, Outline, and Sources. First-Come, First-Served! -April 15, 2006. Final Submission: Rewrite after having received feedback. -May 15, 2006. Final Paper Posting. A five page paper on your discussion topic. Topics can include, but are not restricted to, anything related to tropical ecology. Some topic ideas include land use, agriculture, climate change, climate in the tropics, conservation, plants (epiphytes, emergent trees, palms, understory plants); processes (predation in tropical rain forests, competition, nutrient cycling, mutualism), hydroelectric power, conservation, plate tectonics and volcanism in the Neotropics, indigenous peoples, coral reefs in Costa Rica, mangrove ecosystems, deforestation, species loss, or specfic species or family studies on reptiles, amphibians, birds, or other specific organisms (e.g., monkeys, bats, sloths, lizards, parrots, fresh water fish, mollusks, butterflies and moths) or other topics addressing biodiversity and sustainability (the national park system, economy and sustainability in Costa Rica, soil types, cattle ranching, the timber industry, environmentalism, medicinal plants). Let your interests lead the way. Do not be constrained by these suggestions! Look at what other students have talked about in previous years. To "prime" your discussion, you may wish to provide readings in advance to the class. Let us know if we can help in any way. And, if you haven't done so yet, check out the Trop Ecosystems of Costa Rica Image Web Page. You'll get a taste of what's in store! Hays and Chris

Look at previous years' submissions:

Field Course Discussions/Presentations-2006, '05, '04, '03, '02, '01, '00, '99 and '98

DOWNLOAD the Paper Posting HTML Formating HELP SHEET!
We also have a GUIDE for depositing articles, images, data, etc in your research folders.

Discussion Topic Submissions:

Search for Topics Entered....

MARINE ECOLOGY 2006

--2006-Marine Ecology Outlines
--2006-Marine Ecology Papers

MARINE ECOLOGY 2005

--2005-Marine Ecology Outlines
--2005-Marine Ecology Papers

Marine Ecology 2004
Marine Ecology 2003
Marine Ecology 2002
Marine Ecology 2001
Marine Ecology 2000
Marine Ecology '99

Marine Ecology '98

COSTA RICA 2006

--2006-Costa Rica Paper Outlines
--2006-Costa Rica Papers

COSTA RICA 2005
--2005-Costa Rica Paper Outlines
--2005-Costa Rica Papers

Costa Rica 2004
Costa Rica 2003
Costa Rica 2002
Costa Rica 2001
Costa Rica 2000
Costa Rica '99

Costa Rica '98
since I last checked

in the last 3 days

in the last week

in the last month

in the last 2 months

**Field Course Discussions/Presentations-2006, '05, '04, '03, '02, '01, '00, '99 and '98**

DOWNLOAD the Paper Posting HTML Formating HELP SHEET!
We also have a GUIDE for depositing articles, images, data, etc in your research folders.
Discussion Topic Submissions:	Search for Topics Entered....
MARINE ECOLOGY 2006 --2006-Marine Ecology Outlines --2006-Marine Ecology Papers MARINE ECOLOGY 2005 --2005-Marine Ecology Outlines --2005-Marine Ecology Papers Marine Ecology 2004 Marine Ecology 2003 Marine Ecology 2002 Marine Ecology 2001 Marine Ecology 2000 Marine Ecology '99 Marine Ecology '98 COSTA RICA 2006 --2006-Costa Rica Paper Outlines --2006-Costa Rica Papers COSTA RICA 2005 --2005-Costa Rica Paper Outlines --2005-Costa Rica Papers Costa Rica 2004 Costa Rica 2003 Costa Rica 2002 Costa Rica 2001 Costa Rica 2000 Costa Rica '99 Costa Rica '98	since I last checked
in the last 3 days
in the last week
in the last month
in the last 2 months

2006 Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica Presentation Topic Outlines:

Return To the Main Discussion Page.

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Some Help in Your Research Efforts

Here are links to a large database, the Library of Congress, the Miami library, and WWW search engines.

The Try it, You'll Like It Web Database--Ecology, Global Change and Much More

There are two main sources of research information on this website: (1) The first is a password protected science article database while (2) the second is a non-password protected Within-Site Search of all of the web pages on this site.

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