The Populations and Ecosystems Teacher Guide is just that—a guide. It is designed to be an information and planning tool to help you understand and enjoy your introduction to ecology, much like an interpretive brochure might guide your visit to historic Williamsburg. A good guide will suggest the best path to follow, and will enrich your visit with history, facts, and lore as you proceed. Like any good guide it will also point out places to rest, where to stop for refreshments. You should feel comfortable and confident that you know what you are doing as you go along.

Like a good guide it may be pressed into service less as you become more and more familiar with the territory. On your third visit to Williamsburg you might head straight for the main street, passing by some of the introductory exhibits, and you might visit your favorite spots in a slightly different order than you did before. You might even leave the trail here and there to drink in some of the historical ambiance in a way quite different from that intended by the preparer of the guide brochure.

The first time you visit the FOSS Populations and Ecosystems Course, we hope you will follow our suggested sequence to get the lay of the land. The guide is filled with information to help you have an excellent first use of the course. It may seem overwhelming at first, but in a short time you will discover how to use it effectively. Here’s what we suggest.

Look at the Table of Contents to see how the teacher guide is assembled. You’ll notice that the guide is subdivided into 19 chapters. Turn each tab to see how much information there is in each section.

Next read the Overview chapter completely. This describes the scope of the course content and discusses issues of instruction, assessment, management, and safety.

Now turn all the pages in the guide, pausing to read the Goal and Objectives of each investigation carefully. In this way you will be able to get a very good sense of the curriculum.

Finally digest Investigation 1, Milkweed Bugs, thoroughly. Read the science background carefully and study the at-a-glance chart to see how the investigation is subdivided. The chart also provides a dissected overview of the several days of classroom actions, including the use of media (CD-ROM, video, and readings) and the assessments. Project the actions you read about into your classroom. Visualize students grappling with the issues and working with materials in small groups. If you have the kit at hand, bring out the materials as you read, and do the investigations. Discover where you are in the ecosystem. Then read Investigation 2 carefully, then 3, 4, 5, and so forth. Keep the Populations and Ecosystems Teacher Guide close at hand (even in hand) during your first excursion into this topic to ensure a safe and productive adventure.