Project 3 Research – Reilly Babcock

Part 1: Choose a Topic

I have decided to focus this project around community ecology.

Part 2: Consider and clarify your topic

• For this project, I am looking to address the complexities of community ecology through the lens of one species.
• I chose this topic because it is currently what I have been studying in my biology course that discusses ecology and evolution.  I was inspired by the labs and activities that we have been doing for this class.  In particular, we visited a marsh where we saw a decapitated swan, who is the muse of this project.
• Community ecology is the study of how interactions between species affect community structure and organization. From the way I plan to apply this concept, think of one species and how the biotic aspects of the ecosystem they live in interact.
• I want to create a crime scene and investigation of who killed the swan.
• People/places/things: swan, hunter, bullet, raccoon, tracks, fox, snake, snapping turtle, parasite, maggots, red-tail hawk, bones and.

Part 3: Borrow a strategy

I intend to borrow the strategy of unconventional materials.  Ford has chosen to use materials that look like their normal form but conform to this new shape to communicate a different message. You can tell it is a moose, but the materials are an intriguing choice because they are not supposed to make a moose.

Part 4: Sketches