Introduction to the Natural World Course

The Introduction to the Natural World course is designed for anyone who wants to learn more about nature in the trails, parks and mountains they enjoy. From the lectures, field trips, homework, apps, charts, and guidebooks, you will learn some natural history, basic ecological concepts and geologic principles. You will also start to learn how to identify flowers, shrubs, trees, birds, tidal creatures, butterflies, fungi and other forms of life found in the Pacific Northwest. Instructors are volunteers, eager to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for nature.

The course is given online via Zoom and consists of a half hour introductory session and five classes every 2 weeks in the evening from 7 to 8:30 pm. All of the lectures will be recorded, for students who are not able to participate in the live Zoom sessions. The schedule is as follows:

• April 2, 2026 - INW Orientation and WA State EcoRegions self study module
• April 9, 2026 - Trees and Flowering Plants 1
• April 23, 2026 - Ferns and Flowering Plants 2
• May 7, 2026 - Birds and Fungi
• May 21, 2026 - Intertidal Creatures and Urban Mammals
• June 4, 2026 - Pollinators and WA State Geology self study module

Each class will include a different Ecology topic: abiotic gradients, life history tradeoffs, food webs, habitat diversity and pollination ecology.

Google Classroom will be the platform used for Course materials, recordings, assignments and quizzes. The link to it will be available for registered students and instructors after the INW Orientation session on April 2.  Viewing the Washington State EcoRegions video and taking the quiz prior to the field trips is highly recommended. A short quiz is assigned after each class to help review the lecture material and prepare you for the field trips. Completion of all quizzes and field trip attendance is required for graduation. The Leave no Trace badge (module found on Mountaineers web site) is also required. 

We will offer two local field trips. Field Trip 1 will take place on April 25, 26 and 29. Field Trip 2 will take place between May 9-17. Dates may be adjusted depending on weather.  Dates, times and locations will be found under the course listing and are open only to students. Sign ups for Field Trips 1 and 2 will be open as soon as you are registered for the course. These Field Trips are about 3-4 hours long, during the day or the evening, and attendance is required for graduation. Additional Naturalist Activities will be posted on the Mountaineer website throughout the spring and summer and are highly encouraged but not required. These may take place in local parks, tidal beaches, south Puget Sound, the Teanaway region, the shrub-steppe of central Washington and alpine trails. Naturalist trips offer a mix of terrains and distances to accommodate most fitness levels.

Each student will track progress on completing course assignments using Google Classroom…and we will show you how to do that. The naturalist group has also compiled multiple Resources and "Taking it Further" study guides for participants who wish to go beyond the basics and get more practice, and these will be available in Google Classroom.

The goals for the course are:

• Develop skills necessary to use various apps and resources on field trips to identify characteristics of plants, birds and more.
• Explore the natural world and observe components of habitats that influence what lives there.
• Plan to participate in further Naturalist activities and learn more about the natural world’s habitats and ecological regions of the PNW.
• Follow "Leave No Trace" principles.

The overarching goal is to have fun, meet some like-minded folks, and to learn!

This course is for adults only, please.