List of Global Natural Science Programs

You may attend one of my fifteen 90-minute slide shows on global natural science, presented occasionally at the Morro Bay State Park Natural History Museum. I also have temporary poster displays at the Museum or at Cal Poly at times. I will talk to other local groups on request. I also have developed evolution walks on the bluff in Montana de Oro State Park, at Pismo State Beach, in the Elfin Forest, and in the museum. These are described at the end of the list.

My programs are aimed to challenge a general audience interested in natural history. I always include ideas to challenge high school and college students and educators. To learn more about my slide shows and displays, send me an e-mail at my calpoly email address. To learn more about my science interests, go to my home page: Physics Page for RField

Traveling Poster Exhibit

Ocean Science Quest Display Eight fictitious "Daily Sea Star" and "Natural Enquirer" tabloid newspapers collectively explore the theme that the diversity and abundance of life depend on interactions of energy and matter in the oceans, atmosphere, solid Earth, and Sun. The story begins with sea otters in a kelp forest and explores a series of global themes emphasizing sunlight, gravity, and heat transfer. Half of my double size posters are on display in Fisher Hall at Cal Poly.

Talks

Celebrate the Seasons Seasonal variations in sunlight and moisture drive the growth and reproductive cycles of plants and animals. Some animals migrate or hibernate as adaptations to global and seasonal variations in sunlight and temperature. Ancient civilizations watched the sky closely for agricultural purposes and built monuments aligned to solstices and equinoxes.

All About Tides Mankind has been fascinated by the daily, weekly, and seasonal variations in the tides for many millennia. The tides vary dramatically between different places. We will discuss the global, lunar, and solar factors that influence the patterns of the tides. We will also talk about the effects of tides on our planet and on the abundance and diversity of life on Earth.

A Bird's Eye View The lives of birds depend on what they see and how they are seen. The behavior of predators and prey are affected by characteristics of their vision and visibility. Plants and animals often display colors and patterns to attract, repel, or hide from birds. How did vision evolve and how did it influence the evolution of colors and patterns of plants and animals?

Iridescent Shells and Feathers Many bright and colorful sights in the state parks result from an optical phenomenon called iridescence. Unlike the colors reflected by pigments, iridescent colors reveal the presence of extraordinary submicroscopic structures. How did pigments and structural colors evolve in plants and animals?

Moonlight and Shadows When and where can you see a gibbous or crescent moon? Why does the moon's daily transit vary seasonally? What is the ash gray light of the moon? Why are eclipses rare? How bright is the moon? What is the lunar surface like? How long is a lunar day? What is the moon illusion?

Rainbows and Raindrops Where do you find rainbows? What are secondary rainbows and supernumeraries? Why is the world upside down inside a water drop? Learn about the refraction of light by water drops.

Sunsets and Twilight Arches Why is the sky blue? Why are sunsets red? How far is the horizon? What is the green flash? Where is the twilight zone? Learn about the nature of sunlight and its transformations in the sky.

Sunlight and Sea Life Life began in the sea. How do sunlight and nutrients affect the abundance, diversity, and distribution of life in the sea? How have marine organisms changed the composition of the sea and the atmosphere? What are the optical properties of the sea and its life forms? What are the global and solar factors that influence survival adaptations, migration, and evolution?

Global Climate Change Life on Earth depends on the availability of sunlight during the day and on the transfer of heat from the Earth. Learn about global warming on Earth and its neighbors. How important are the composition of the atmosphere, the absorption and scatter of its molecules, aerosols, and cloud, and the optical and thermal properties of the land and the sea?

The Violent Birth of Mother Earth Energy from the radioactive decay of uranium melts rocks, moves continents, makes the Earth's core almost as hot as the surface of the Sun, feeds alien forms of life on the seafloor and deep inside rocks, and maintains life on Earth. What the heck is going on down under and how does it affect the life of the planet?

Father Sun's Fusion Factory The web of life depends on photosynthesis to store sunlight in molecules. Since thermonuclear fusion in the core of the Sun generates deadly gamma rays, where does sunlight come from? How does the Sun trap heat in its core? Does gravity, the weakest force in nature, trigger the most violent nuclear reactions?

The Origin of Life Once upon a time, long, long ago, a self replicating molecule inevitably and spontaneously formed in a rich prebiotic soup of naturally occurring organic molecules. “From so simple a beginning”, natural selection produced the first primitive living cells, among whose descendents was the Last Universal Common Ancestor, the mother of all life on Earth. The rest is history – natural history!

The Diversity of Life Bacteria were the most diverse organisms on Earth for billions of years until algae, fungi, plants, and animals “suddenly” transformed the world in ways that bacteria never could. What was their secret? Prokaryotes are champions at cellular metabolic diversification, but eukaryotes are world champions at multicellularity and cellular differentiation. This should help you answer the question, how does the sea otter resemble the giant kelp?

The Summer of Change The speaker has proposed to develop a county wide informal science education project in 2009 called the “Summer of Change” in order to promote docent-led walks and talks in local state parks. The project features the “Natural History of the California Coast” with an artistic photography exhibition in the Hearst Castle National Geographic Theater lobby, a “Natural History of Planet Earth” poster exhibit in the museum, and new docent-led living natural history programs.

The Natural History of Planet Earth TBD is the product of nearly five billion years of global evolutionary processes that followed the first nine billion years of cosmic evolution. Complexity grows when energy flows in natural systems because simple building blocks evolve into complex materials and processes. The structure and evolution of the OASES (oceans, atmosphere, solid Earth, and Sun) and the biosphere (molecules, cells, organisms, and ecosystems) depend on interactions of energy and matter. The origin, evolution, diversity, abundance, and distribution of life are emergent properties of increasing environmental complexity.

Organisms and Ecosystems CoEvolve TBD The kelp forest, the coral reefs, the tropical and temperate forests, tide pools, deserts, and other ecosystems have many similarities and differences. The web of life depends on photosynthesis to store sunlight in molecules. How do the organisms within an ecosystem influence each other and transform the ecosystem over time?

Walks

Evolution of the Montana de Oro Bluff on physical and biological evolution. The rugged beauty of the evolving coast reveals the powers of the sea, sky, land, and life itself. Seasonal change and tides may be discussed. Rain cancels. Meet at Bluff Trailhead, 200 yards south of Visitor Center at Montana de Oro State Park. 3 miles 3 hours

Exploring Evolution at Pismo State Beach The rugged beauty of the evolving coast reveals the powers of the sea, sky, land, and life itself. We will walk along the lagoon to the gardens, dunes, and beach. Seasonal change and tides may be discussed. We may visit the Nature Center at the end to examine specimens of local birds, mammals, and aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates. Rain cancels. Meet at Nature Center in Oceano Campground. 2 miles in 2 hours

Exploring Evolution in the Museum Explore five kingdoms of life and five billion years of natural history in a one hour guided tour of the museum exhibits and vistas. We will discuss tides and seasonal changes in four habitats: estuary, rocky shore, dunes, and woodlands. As an option after the one hour tour, we can visit White’s Point for a half hour outdoor adventure near the museum. Meet in the rotunda of the Morro Bay State Park Museum of Natural History. one hour

Exploring Evolution in the Elfin Forest The rugged beauty of the evolving coast reveals the powers of the sea, sky, land, and life itself. We will walk through the Elfin Forest and look for signs of five kingdoms of life and five billion years of global natural history. The topic is the physical and biological evolution of everything you can see around the Elfin Forest. The theme is that everything you see from the Elfin Forest has a natural history; that is, everything changes over time. Seasonal change and tides may be discussed. one mile 90 minutes - start at 15th St.

Elfin Forest Solstice Walk The diversity, abundance, and distribution of life depend on seasonal changes in the interactions of sunlight and water. We will discuss the influence of the oceans on everything you can see in the Elfin Forest and we will describe a variety of plant adaptations to seasonal change. one mile 90 minutes - start at 15th St.