Lecture 1 - Seattle Naturalists Intro Natural World Course - Mountaineers Seattle Program Center

Goodman A and B, 7-9pm.  We will have a short break in the middle of the evening.  Feel free to bring snacks and drinks.  

Required reading before the first class: 

• Ecoregions of the Pacific Northwest In this course we will focus on the Puget Lowlands, Cascades, and Eastern Cascade Slopes and Foothills.
• Washington's Ecosystems Focus on Alpine, Montane, and Ponderosa Ecosystems
• Pacific Northwest Conifers  Focus on the Big Three.  
• Pacific Northwest Ferns

Students may also complete the following reading in a recently published field guide:  Natural History of the Pacific Northwest Mountains by Daniel Matthews

• Landscape, pp. 17-31
• Conifers, pp. 46-97
• Ferns, pp 275-281
• Flowering trees and shrubs, pp. 98-152

We will not cover all of the conifers, ferns, and flowering shrubs and trees in the first lectures.  Instead we will focus on the species that we will see at the first field trip, so feel free to read very quickly and/or flip through these pages.  You'll have them bookmarked for when you want to  go back to them.  

Students should bring paper and writing utensil and/or tablet or laptop for taking notes.  Please also bring your smartphone or tablet for each class, as we will be using Apps throughout the course for identification.  Contact Danielle if you do not have access to a smartphone or tablet. Before the first class, download the following free apps:

• Washington Wildflower Search Scroll to the bottom and select your device under the WA heading.  
• Trees Pacific Northwest