Today we got to sleep in a bit without the anticipation of a long hike ahead of us. Right at 9 am we were all ready to go back into the bush! Literally. This time though, we had a task: identify and describe in detail two different plants we encountered today from two different families (if possible). Since almost any forest ecosystem has more than one layer (canopy, sub-canopy, and underbrush), every student was split up into three groups – by height. Tall people took the trees, those of average/middle height took the shrubs, while the shorter folks took the ground. What a funny and easy way to allocate groups!
Getting to explore the different ecosystems of Tasmania, that we had gone over quickly the day before, in detail was fascinating! We were tested on our knowledge of the plant families that we learned on the hike, while learning more in depth of each plant we saw. With us were two great experts on Tasmanian plants, which added to the learning! Both were fun to talk to and learn from. Although I could have easily learned this in a classroom, learning about Tasmanian ecosystems in the field is much more fun and exciting. Can’t wait to see what the next excursion brings us!
