Practical activity

Read the following sections before accessing the application.

In the Virtual field trip, you will be able to explore different habitats, observe some of the plants and animals that are found there and record information about them. There are two activities:

Activity 1: You will explore an environment, make observations of the habitat and some plants and animals, and record information through field sketching, taking notes and using the field guide.

Activity 2: Using quadrats, you will record the plant species present in two locations, calculate the percentage frequency and species richness and construct graphs of the data.

Task 1: Exploring the virtual field trip

You will now explore the virtual field trip to make observations and record information

When you access the Virtual field trip application homepage, first watch the introductory video which explains how to find your way around the virtual field trip, what sorts of things you can observe and how to find different types of information.

Once you have watched the video, make the following notes in your notebook about what you are going to do:

1. Enter the virtual field trip, choose a location to explore and take some drone flights over the area and look at the panoramas.
2. Choose one panorama to study in detail. In your notebook, write notes about the location; for example, name of the location, where it is and the name and location of the panorama, what you observe about the area.
3. Make a field sketch of the panorama you have chosen. Note that each panorama is a 360-degree view of the environment. You should not try to sketch the whole panorama but choose a view that you find interesting and with enough photographs or videos in it so that you can make interesting notes about your observations.
4. Add labels to your field sketch to record the information you have found out, for example, location, habitat type, plant and animal species, evidence of human activity.
5. Find two different organisms in the location you have chosen and collect taxonomic information about them from the field guide. Make notes about each organism; for example, where you observed it, what it looks like, what it eats. Copy the table below into your notebook, making sure you leave a big enough space for making notes. You will use this to record your observations.

Taxa	Organism 1	Organism 2
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Notes:

You are now ready to attempt Task 1 – exploring the virtual field trip.

Virtual field trip

Click on the icon below to access the Virtual field trip application homepage in the OpenSTEM Africa Virtual Laboratory. Watch the introductory video before entering the experiment.

Task 2: Vegetation sampling

You will now go to the quadrat areas of the virtual field trip to make observations and record information about the plant species present in these areas. There are instructions in the virtual field trip, but here is a list of the steps you are going to take:

1. Enter the virtual field trip, go to the Legon Botanical Gardens and select the Quadrats.
2. Choose Quadrat Area 1 or Quadrat Area 2. In your notebook, write notes about the location.
3. Select the quadrat you are going to study.
4. Record the scientific names of the plant species present in this quadrat. You will be given help to identify the plant species.
5. Move on to the next quadrat that you are going to study and record the plant species present in this quadrat.
6. When you have finished, you can download the whole dataset for Quadrat Areas 1 and 2.
7. Draw a graph of average species richness for Quadrat Areas 1 and 2.

You could copy the tables below into your notebook and use them to record your data. Note that you will need to extend the bottom table to record all the quadrats and species that you observe.

Virtual Field Trip Quadrat Data Collection Form

Date (dd/mm/yy):
Location:
Team member names:
Quadrat size:
Notes:

Quadrat number	Scientific name	Common name	Present?	Notes

You are now ready to attempt Activity 2 – Vegetation sampling using the Virtual field trip application.

Once you have completed your investigation, write your answers to the following questions in your notebook.

1. Using the whole dataset, what is the average species richness of Quadrat Area 1 and Quadrat Area 2
2. What is the frequency of Commelina diffusa in Quadrat Area 1 and Quadrat Area 2?
3. Which species have the highest frequency in Quadrat Area 1 and Quadrat Area 2?

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