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At Your Service: Developing Models to Help Natural Resource Managers Make Better Decisions
The scientists in this study developed a process to help managers identify management priorities. As conditions change over time, the managers wanted to adapt their management priorities to fit the changing conditions.
At Your Service: Developing Models to Help Natural Resource Managers Make Better Decisions
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In this FACTivity, you will create an illustration model of your schoolyard’s ecosystem. The question you will answer in this FACTivity is: How is a schoolyard ecosystem model similar to...FACTivity – At Your Service
In this FACTivity, you will create an illustration model of your schoolyard’s ecosystem. The question you will answer in this FACTivity is: How is a schoolyard ecosystem model similar to... -
In this FACTivity, you will create a management objective for your schoolyard. Then you will create an adaptive management process. Materials: Paper PencilAlternate FACTivity – At Your Service
In this FACTivity, you will create a management objective for your schoolyard. Then you will create an adaptive management process. Materials: Paper Pencil
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Scientific modeling is used in medical, marine, space, and environmental science, among other fields. Scientific modeling helps scientists understand how things work now and how they might work in the...
Spotlight – Scientific Models in Adaptive Management
Scientific modeling is used in medical, marine, space, and environmental science, among other fields. Scientific modeling helps scientists understand how things work now and how they might work in the...
Glossary
View All Glossarycriteria
(krī tir ē ə): (singular: criterion) A standard on which a judgment or decision may be based.
database
(dā tə bās): A usually large collection of data organized especially for rapid search and retrieval (as by a computer).
degrade
(di grād): To make the quality of something worse.
dilemma
(də le mə): A usually undesirable or unpleasant choice; a problem involving a difficult choice.
economy
(i kä nǝ mē): A system relating to the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services in a country, area, or period.
ecosystem
(ē kō sis tǝm): A system made up of an ecological community of living things interacting with their environment especially under natural conditions.
erosion
(i rō zhǝn): The process of deteriorating or disappearing by wearing away.
hatchery
(ha chə rē ): A place for hatching eggs.
magnitude
(mag nə tüd): Size, quantity, number, or extent of something (such as the strength of an earthquake).
monitor
(mä nə tər): To watch, keep track of, or check usually for a special purpose.
priority
(prī or ə tē): Something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives.
variable
(ver ē ə bəl): (1) A factor, trait, or condition that can be changed or controlled; (2) a quantity that may assume any one of a set of values.
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Colin Beier
Ecologist
My favorite science experience was the first time I visited Chichagof Island in southeast Alaska. We left Juneau and flew across the islands and ocean channels in a four-seat floatplane,...View Profile -
Trista Patterson
Ecological Economist
My favorite science experience is kind of “the darkness before the dawn.” So many times I’ve been hashing over a difficult problem for weeks, months, years, and then one day...View Profile -
Terry Chapin
Ecologist
My favorite science experience has been talking with Alaskan Native hunters. Alaskan Native people depend on hunting and fishing for food and for their cultural connections to the land and...View Profile
Standards addressed in this Article:
Social Studies Standards
- Culture
- People, Places, and Environments
- Production, Distribution, and Consumption
- Science, Technology, and Society
- Time, Continuity, and Change
Note To Educators
The Forest Service's Mission
The Forest Service’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. For more than 100 years, our motto has been “caring for the land and serving people.” The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), recognizes its responsibility to be engaged in efforts to connect youth to nature and to promote the development of science-based conservation education programs and materials nationwide.
What Is the Natural Inquirer?
Natural Inquirer is a science education resource journal to be used by students in grade 6 and up. Natural Inquirer contains articles describing environmental and natural resource research conducted by Forest Service scientists and their cooperators. These scientific journal articles have been reformatted to meet the needs of middle school students. The articles are easy to understand, are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, contain glossaries, and include hands-on activities. The goal of Natural Inquirer is to stimulate critical reading and thinking about scientific inquiry and investigation while teaching about ecology, the natural environment, and natural resources.
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Meet the Scientists
Introduces students to the scientists who did the research. This section may be used in a discussion about careers in science.
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What Kinds of Scientist Did This Research?
Introduces students to the scientific disciplines of the scientists who conducted the research.
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Thinking About Science
Introduces something new about the scientific process, such as a scientific habit of mind or procedures used in scientific studies.
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Thinking About the Environment
Introduces the environmental topic being addressed in the research.
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Introduction
Introduces the problem or question that the research addresses.
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Method
Describes the method the scientists used to collect and analyze their data.
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Findings & Discussion
Describes the results of the analysis. Addresses the findings and places them into the context of the original problem or question.
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Reflection Section
Presents questions aimed at stimulating critical thinking about what has been read or predicting what might be presented in the next section. These questions are placed at the end of each of the main article sections.
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Number Crunches
Presents an easy math problem related to the research.
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Glossary
Defines potentially new scientific or other terms to students. The first occurrence of a glossary word is bold in the text.
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Citation
Gives the original article citation with an internet link to the original article.
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FACTivity
Presents a hands-on activity that emphasizes something presented in the article.
Science Education Standards
You will find a listing of education standards which are addressed by each article at the back of each publication and on our website.
We Welcome Feedback
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Contact
Jessica Nickelsen
Director, Natural Inquirer program -
Email
Lessons
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In this lesson, students will read and summarize four of the article’s sections. After the class reads the article and summarizes the sections, students should work in groups to create...Lesson Plan – Model Construction
In this lesson, students will read and summarize four of the article’s sections. After the class reads the article and summarizes the sections, students should work in groups to create...
Education Files
Project Learning Tree
If you are a trained Project Learning Tree educator, you may use “Forest Consequences” as an additional resource.
Related Resources from the Natural Inquirer
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Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides through natural processes. For example, plants provide clean air, natural fire helps cycle nutrients, and bats act as insect control. Ecosystem services...Ecosystem Services – Vol. 12 No. 1
Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides through natural processes. For example, plants provide clean air, natural fire helps cycle nutrients, and bats act as insect control. Ecosystem services...
Additional Resources
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Ecological Society of America: Ecosystem Services
Visit ResourceView PDF from the Ecological Society of America and learn more about ecosystems and ecosystem services.
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USDA Forest Service: Ecosystem Services
Visit WebsiteLearn more about ecosystem services and current research from the Forest Service.