A Summary of the Practice, in Informal Photos

At the moment while I am uploading the photographs shown here to the site, the bus with the vast majority of students is leaving the biological station. Well, it is already possible to sum up some results. Doing this in a balanced way will not be easy - different assessments can be too sharply polarized. On one of the first days of practice I accidentally overheard a phone conversation of one of the first-year students: "Three days of torture are already over; there are twenty-something left until release." After both credits had been awarded, some second-year girls cried - they were sorry that the practice was over and did not want to leave. So, I will look at which of my photographs reflect the course of the practice itself and risk adding to them a number of photographs by Veronika Dushkevych (many thanks!). Have a look. Yes, besides this page, attempts to summarize the practice were made elsewhere too. The formal results are presented here, the UIRS topics are described here, the photo contest is discussed here, and the attempt at reflection (sadly, a gloomy one) is here. In addition, this site contains more collections of photographs taken during practice. Observations of the life of bank swallows are here, dragonflies here. Collections of amphibian photographs are here, and birds here. Finally, this place contains photographs that did not fit on any other page. The weather this year was not bad. There was little rain, and the heat pressed down only for short periods. Thanks for that too. [IMG_1] The main thing in practice is working with animals and plants in natural ecosystems. That is why excursions were an important part of the practice. [IMG_2] [IMG_3] [IMG_4] [IMG_5] The groups were large, so it was usually impossible to explain things on the move. Sometimes we would stop in the shade to talk (the next photo is by Veronika Dushkevych). [IMG_6] Some of the excursions were nocturnal. [IMG_7] Night-time frog catching is an astonishingly exciting activity. [IMG_8] [IMG_9] This year, for the first time, I twice allowed students to catch from a boat on their own (but both times in enclosed floodplain water bodies, where they could not drown and could only end up covered in mud from head to toe). [IMG_10] Some things are probably pleasant to remember: the mulberry tree... [IMG_11] ...and the river. [IMG_12] [IMG_13] Would this photograph work as a symbol of the practice? After the photo session, the strange bold perch swam off about its business. [IMG_14] Some of the study objects turned out to be truly attractive. The next four photographs were taken with a smooth snake caught near the entomology laboratory. This graceful snake took being caught completely calmly; after an ample photo session we released it at the same place. [IMG_15] [IMG_16] [IMG_17] [IMG_18] In my view, the most important thing in practice is processing the collected material. The next two photographs belong to Veronika Dushkevych. [IMG_19] [IMG_20] Work on the UIRS projects - the students' research projects. In zoology practice, this is the main component of the grade. [IMG_21] [IMG_22] Every evening we summed up the results at roll call. No democracy: the instructors up top on the benches, [IMG_23] ...the students in front of them (both photos by Veronika Dushkevych). [IMG_24] Both halves of the second-year practice (zoological and botanical) ended with conferences defending the UIRS projects. For the fourth year in a row we have held them jointly, alternating botanical and zoological papers. Among other things, the program of both conferences included talks by colleagues from other institutions - Yuri Vladimirovich Bengus from the pedagogical university and Iryna Vladimirovna Druleva from the botanical garden. The hall was attended by, and actively worked with questions and discussion, not only students and staff but also guests. [IMG_25] The papers were evaluated by instructors: botanical papers by botanists, zoological papers by zoologists (the next photo is by Veronika Dushkevych). [IMG_26] [IMG_27] [IMG_28] The first conference was visited by schoolchildren from the underwater photography club of the Palace of Pioneers (they were camping not far from the biological station). [IMG_29] Not all the talks were understandable to them... [IMG_30] The presentations were truly serious, and they were judged by completely "adult" criteria. [IMG_31] [IMG_32] At the final conference, botanical and zoological talks alternate. We came to the unanimous conclusion that this is the right arrangement. [IMG_33] At the very end of practice we realized that standardized frog photographs could be obtained in a simpler way as well. How? Students who will be on practice in 2013 will find out. [IMG_34] [IMG_35] [IMG_36] [IMG_37] After the presentations, the speakers answered questions - sometimes difficult ones that sparked disputes (the author of the next two photographs is Veronika Dushkevych). [IMG_38] Sometimes, after the talks, the instructors had to sum up the discussion and clarify disputed issues. [IMG_39] Some of the projects used rather difficult methods, such as this one (photographs of metaphase plates of young frogs were taken at the biological station during the completion of the UIRS projects). [IMG_40] One project tried to use simulation modeling. It looks good with a modernist pointer, doesn't it? [IMG_41] Some of the work required almost heroic effort... Do not worry: safety regulations were observed. [IMG_42] That is all. The practice is over. I hope it was useful. [IMG_43] [IMG_44]