The living world is everywhere around us, even in the cities and suburbs where many of us reside. In this branch, we'll explore the biodiversity in our local environments that will help us learn about DNA, conservation efforts, and answer questions like “why does my dog look different than my neighbor’s dog?”

If you’d like to participate in a worm project, come to La Sierra for a Labs & Jams for training. If your school has lab facilities, you may be able to continue the project there. You can also sample for worms in your local environments (like school, church, or your own backyard) and add your findings to the dataset. Always be safe and get permission before sampling! 

Curious about how to directly sample from the environment to isolate some worms? Before starting, we recommend that you receive training and get protocols from the Discord server. But here are some of the basics.

• Have you ever wondered why a certain organism is that size and shape?
• Why do falcons, hummingbirds, and finches have such different beak shapes?
• Why do nematode worm species look extremely similar despite being distantly related?
• We’ll help you learn how selection acting over time creates massive differences in body size and shape…or keeps bodies looking alike in similar environments.

Studying dogs can tell us tons about morphology, because dogs have the greatest size range of any mammal. They range from tiny Chihuahuas, papillon, and Yorkshire terriers to massive great Danes and Irish wolfhounds. Dogs also vary in shape, from long-snouted greyhounds to brachycephalic pugs, or long-legged whippets to ground-hugging dachshunds. Many genes controlling size and shape have been identified in dogs and other species.

• Want to check where your pet dog fits in?
• When we visit your school, you can pick up a measurement kit. Or, send a text in the Discord server asking us to mail you one.

• Birding is a fun and easy hobby that can teach us a lot about the wildlife in our own backyards. 
• If you have a patio or yard where you live, set up a hummingbird feeder or bird feeder to see what types of birds are in your area. You don’t even need binoculars—just use your eyes and ears for observation. Then share your findings with your team members and ask questions like “am I seeing different birds at my house than they do at their apartment?”
• Want to use your voice to speak out for living creatures? Leaf members can mix and match branches, so join with a Storyteller team and advocate for conservation efforts through writing.
• Does your school campus have a birding list? Make one! We’ll help connect you with identification resources such as binoculars and books.
• Start a journal of vertebrate sightings and try to identify each to the species level, whether it’s a Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) or Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) in your backyard or a roadside coyote (Canis latrans).
• Over 220 species of birds have been recorded on La Sierra University’s campus. When you come for a Labs & Jams day, borrow some binocs and we’ll bird the campus.

La Sierra students have identified Acorn Woodpecker nests on our campus (magenta pins). These birds collect acorns from our 50+ oak trees (green and blue pins).

Our acorn woodpeckers have been on campus for 25 years and they're used to us. By watching them fly between trees (magenta lines) we can better understand their behavior and find the boundaries of their colony territories.