HKU Bulletin October 2003 (Vol. 5 No. 1)

4 RESEARCH 5 W hen academics at the Department of Ecology and Biodiversity set up an Internet-based virtual school four years ago, they hardly expected it to result in something as old-fashioned and three- dimensional as a book. But the success of that venture has led to the publication of a full-colour series of field guides designed for secondary schools, undergraduates and the general public. Taking their cue from undergraduates, who were logging onto the Virtual School of Biodiversity, printing off pictures of species and using them on field trips, the authors decided to produce a more traditional teaching and learning tool. “These field guides are aimed at secondary school teachers and their students, as well as undergraduates and will help improve their knowledge of Hong Kong’s biodiversity,” Dr Gray Williams, one of the authors, said. “We find that many teachers need to show students how to identify local species during their fieldwork, but there are no appropriate colour guides to help them do this.” The department held workshops for teachers to learn more about their needs and curriculum demands and spent a year sourcing hundreds of photographs and illustrations. The f i rst two guides in the ser ies, Rocky Shores and Hillstreams , were published in July this year and Sandy Shores and Hillsides in September at $60 each. Each guide is bilingual and extensively illustrated, and has colour-coded tables on such information as the habitat, size, diet and abundance of each species of animal, insect and plant. Professor David Dudgeon said the guides contributed to the main mission of his department, that of nature conservation through biodiversity. “This is education with the larger game plan of conservation,” he said. “Biodiversity is inherently local. If you only educate people about the biodiversity of Africa and the Amazon, they will never protect the biodiversity they have in Hong Kong. Books like these field guides help people to learn about and appreciate what is he T re h . e ” fact that the books are bilingual was especially important because it made them accessible to a much larger audience, especially local secondary schools and interested naturalists, he added. The department is now working on a methodology book offering secondary school teachers a standard set of f ield methods to be used with the field guides. In addition, a field guide on urban species, called Cities , is on the drawing board. The first four books were published with funds from The University of Hong Kong Foundation and a University Grants Committee’s Interface Project Grant. Brought To Book Gray Williams (left) and postgraduate students on a field trip to Cape D’Aguilar. Rocky Shores. Gray A. Williams Hillstreams. David Dudgeon Sandy Shores. Benny K.K. Chan & Kevin J. Caley Hillsides. Billy C.H. Hau