Ecological Concepts -- February 4, 2026

Ecological Concepts - Unit 5 in your textbook. Complete the optional quiz HERE.

Sam Kieschnick, Urban Wildlife Biologist, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

Read Sam's BIO 

• Understand the fundamental principles of ecology, including energy flow, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem dynamics.

• Analyze the interrelationships between organisms and their environments.

• Evaluate the impact of human activities on natural ecosystems and biodiversity, including urbanization, and urban sprawl, 

• Explain the ecological principles that apply to individual organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems

• Explain the balances that exist between ecosystems and the factors necessary to keep ecosystems in balance

• Explain how different ecosystems are determined largely by different environmental factors

• Describe the hydrologic cycle, the nitrogen cycle, and the carbon cycle

• Illustrate a food web and explain the importance of trophic relationships

• Define biodiversity and understand the importance of managing for biodiversity

• Identify ecological factors that are relevant to a threatened species

• Describe management, ecosystems, and ecosystem management

• Determine the levels of plant and animal diversity in urban areas when compared to natural ecosystems

• Understand the unique ecology of urban ecosystems in terms impacts on abiotic characteristics, nutrient cycles, and the water cycle; green and gray spaces; plants and animals

1. Watch three videos from our speaker, Sam Kieschnick and complete questions

The Importance of Master Naturalists (11:35)

Basics of Ecology Part 1 (11:15) See task #2 below.

Basics of Ecology Part 2 (10:37)

2. Complete the organism activity from Sam's "Basics of Ecology, Part 1" video. Print and complete this worksheet, or just follow the instructions in the video and complete the activity on a plain piece of paper. Bring the completed activity to class with you. We will discuss in small groups.

Optional Activities

Respect points will be awarded for exploring the Population Balance Activity This web-based modeling activity lets you explore how various factors impact the carrying capacity of an area. Activity instructions and optional data collection worksheet can be found here.

Optional videos:

Energy Flow (7:46)

Population Dynamics (4:34)

Species Interactions (4:08)

Are you caught up?

Please review previous weekly updates and make sure you are all caught up!

MEET & GREET

Sunday, February 1, at the Heard Museum's Science Resource Center, 2:00 -4:00 PM

Space is limited, so please plan to attend alone. Be sure to let your Guides know if you will not be able to be there.

The Science Resource Center (SRC) is located a 1/4 mile behind the museum building. 

website directions and parking details

Google Maps

Sign-Up Genius

Field Trips - as part of your initial certification, you are required to attend 3 field trips. Take a look at the list of dates, sign-up, and get the dates on your calendar.

Snacks - The first class has been arranged for you, but we need everyone to sign-up to bring snacks for the other classes. The snacks can be store-bought or something homemade. Details are outlined on the SUG.

Advanced Training (AT) Opportunities

• Tuesday, February 10: 12:00 noon (TMN Tuesdays) - 1 hour AT, see the registration link here.

• Tuesday, February 10: 7:00pm Monthly Chapter Meeting - 1 hour AT, see BPTMN home page  for info on the featured speaker

• Thursday, February 5: 2:00pm - The Great Backyard Bird Count Webinar, 1 hour AT, registration link

Volunteer (VH) Opportunities

• February 13-16: The Great Backyard Bird Count, see details here and an intro video here

"Green Fire" video about Aldo Leopold and the birth of ecology (56:46) PBS link or vimeo link

• Sam's Supplemental Feeding Flowchart

• Kiss the Ground- Full length documentary

• Four Categories of Mushrooms - Mushroom Insider website

• A Collection of Helpful Identification Guides

• Are YOU Nature's Best Hope? - Dr. Doug Tallamy - YouTube video

• Joe Santore's Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t (caution: use of expletives) - podcast episode

• Keep Texas Wild: Ecoregions (TPWD)- short video series

• Texas Landscape Ecology Program (TPWD)

• Texas Wildscape Program (TPWD)

• What kind of naturalist are you? - Dallas Parks brochure

• Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard (2020) a book by Doug Tallamy

• Bringing Nature Home-Updated & Expanded (2009) book by Doug Tallamy

WEEK ONE CLASS UPDATE

It’s official. Week One starts now! Please take a moment to read through all of the details shared below. There is a lot of information to take in.

Things you should have already completed by today:

Created an iNaturalist account and sent username to Lisa at lisat@bptmn.org.

Read Unit 4 in the textbook.

Accessed the class website at bptmnclass.net. More pages are visible this week, including important information for Week One.  If you have trouble accessing the site, make sure to check that you are logged into your Google account. If you are still unable to access the site, let me know.

Week One: Jan 29 - Feb 4

Pre-Work: 

Pre-work activities (videos, articles, readings) will be assigned each week. By getting this general content out of the way before class, we are able to go more in-depth and have time for interaction with the speaker during class. As part of your Member-in-Training application, you agreed to complete 1-2 hours of pre-work before each class. The amount of work will vary, with some light weeks and some heavy. 

Week One is a heavy week. I recommend you get started as soon as possible so you can spread it out over several days. Your Pre-work is posted on the class website’s Week 1: Ecological Concepts tab.

As part of the pre-work each week, there will be an optional quiz over the textbook reading and questions to answer with the videos. Please note: We DO NOT grade your answers or check for completion. They are just self-checks available to you.

Looking Back: 

You can go to the website's Countdown to Class tab to see the update emails from the previous weeks. Make sure that you are caught up!

Looking Forward: 

The Meet & Greet Orientation is Sunday, February 1st, 2-4pm. We look forward to seeing everyone in person. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• We will be in the SRC building located at the end of the museum drive, past the main building.

• You will be sitting with your pod. Take note of your pod # so you know where to sit. Here's the pod directory.

•  Don't forget to bring your 20-24 servings of individually packaged, non-perishable snack items.

• Space is limited so please plan to attend without extra guests (spouses, children, etc).

• If you are not able to attend, make sure to let your pod Guides know. 

Our first class is Wednesday, February 4th, 6-9pm. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Wear your nametag! (received at the Meet & Greet)

• We will start promptly at 6pm. Please arrive by 5:45pm to sign-in and get settled.

• Come prepared to write things down (pen, notebook, etc) You do NOT need to bring your textbook. That is for your reference at home.

• We will have a small selection of snacks, but you are welcome to bring your dinner with you to quietly eat during class. We will also have water and hot water for teas. Bring your favorite travel cup or mug.

Sign-Up Genius (SUG):

We use Sign-Up Genius to coordinate our field trips and class snack schedule.

Field Trips - as part of your initial certification, you are required to attend 3 field trips. Take a look at the list of dates, sign-up, and get the dates on your calendar.

Snacks - The first class has been arranged for you, but we need everyone to sign-up to bring snacks for the other classes. The snacks can be store-bought or something homemade. Details are outlined on the SUG.

Feedback Heads Up:

After each class and field trip, we will be collecting immediate feedback using very short Google forms. The 5 questions are multiple-choice, but you have space at the end for optional additional comments.  Your first survey link will be sent in your weekly update on February 5th. 

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

Nancy

Nancy Casillas, Training Director

Texas Master Naturalist, Blackland Prairie Chapter

nancyc@bptmn.org

214-725-2309