grade required A
no plagerisim or AI
Trail Camera Assessment
- Due Saturday by 11:59pm
- Points 14
- Submitting a file upload
- File Types pdf, doc, and docx
- Available until May 25 at 11:59pm
For this assignment, you will be analyzing the footage from the trail cameras. You will be watching the videos to identify and count the animals found in each video. Later, you will analyze this data as part of your study of urban wildlife in the Pasadena area.
Assignment Requirements
Step 1 – Learn how to Identify the Animals
To identify which species are in the video, you will use the Urban Wildlife Information Network Wildlife ID Guide developed by the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy. You can access a website version of the Wildlife ID GuideLinks to an external site. or download a pdf version of the Wildlife ID GuideLinks to an external site. to use as a reference. It is recommended that you keep the wildlife guide open in another tab so that you can use it as a reference while analyzing the videos.
Step 2 – Create a Zooinverse Account
Go to the ZooniverseLinks to an external site. platform and create an account. Do this by clicking ‘Register’ in the top right corner of the Zooniverse page. You will need to create a username and enter an email (I recommend you use your go.pasadena.edu email.
Step 3 – Accessing the Videos
You can access all videos on Pasadena Urban Wildlife – ZooinverseLinks to an external site.. Once there you will see our projects trail camera videos one at a time.
Step 2 – Collecting the Data
Video metadata
The first data that you will collect about the video is the video metadata. Metadata can be defined as the information that describes and explains data. Metadata can be used to help interpret the data we collect about which species were observed in the video.
Metadata – to be collected from the videos:
- Date and time of the recording – you can find the date and time in the bottom right corner of the video frame
- Temperature – you can find the temperature in the bottom left of the video frame.
Species Identification
Now comes the fun part! After recording the metadata, you will analyze the video to determine what animal species are present. You may need to watch the video several times to find all of the animals that are in the video. Remember – some may be easily detected if they are close to the camera or moving around a lot, but others may be difficult to see if they are partially hidden from view, not moving a lot, or far from the camera. To identify which species are in the video, you will use the Urban Wildlife Information Network Wildlife ID Guide developed by the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy. You can access a website version of the Wildlife ID GuideLinks to an external site. or download a pdf version of the Wildlife ID GuideLinks to an external site. to use as a reference. It is recommended that you keep the wildlife guide open in another tab so that you can use it as a reference while analyzing the videos.
The form contains a list of mammal species and another of bird species.
- For each species, enter the number of individuals for that species that were observed in the video.
- If nothing is there- that is okay click the box at the bottom of the form that says ‘Nothing Here”.
- If you are unable to determine the species of an animal that you observe, please give it your best guess. Multiple people will view each video, so hopefully as a group, we can get an ID.
- Take screenshots of at least three of the animals for your final submission.
- Once you made selections, the “identify” box will turn blue. Click the box and you will be asked to review your data. Once you have done so, click ‘Done’ and the next video will appear.
- Then repeat for another video for this assignment you need to analyze 10 videos.
Submission Requirements
Include the following in a single file (Word doc or pdf):
Screenshots
- Screenshots of at least three animals from the trail camera videos
- In Zooinverse, go to your profile page and click on ‘My Stats’. The number in the top right corner of the ‘Pasadena Urban Wildlife’ project icon will indicate how many classifications you have completed for this project. Take a screenshot of your ‘My Stats’ page to submit.
Questions to Answer
Answer the following discussion questions:
- What were your biggest challenges in using the trail camera footage and identifying the species?
- What were the most common animals you identified?
- Did you see more animals at night or during the day? Were they typically alone? Or in groups?
- Did you see the same species repeatedly? Or was there a variety?
- Choose 1 species that you observed. Perform an internet search and use at least one reliable source (remember the CRAAP test) try and answer the following in 4-5 sentences: What makes this animal species successful in urban areas? Be sure to fully cite your source.
You will be submitting this assignment as a file upload.
Grading
To see how this assignment will be graded, scroll down to view the grading rubric. If no rubric is visible, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of this page, then click “Show Rubric”. If you’re reviewing this assignment using the Canvas mobile app, the rubric is included in the Grade tab.
Note: While I am not specifically grading you on your spelling or grammar, scientific communication is an important skill. Please proofread and spellcheck before submitting to ensure that your ideas come across clearly. Up to 10% may be deducted for excessive grammar and spelling errors that affect the readability of your work.
Helpful Resources
- How do I upload a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
- Download Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus for free (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.