Questions into action
Missions · Online and Field collaboration
The Mission
Find something out. Define the work that will answer it.
A Mission brings people together around a defined question: why it matters, what is already known and the evidence or work needed to answer it. It connects contributions, observations and review to a shared purpose.
Pocket Ecologist is the principal Online investigation and play environment. Field is the physical participation capability. The intended model connects requests and knowledge in both directions; that shared request and review service is not available here. The exercises below let you practise on this device. Some questions can be answered entirely Online.
01
Question / knowledge gap
Begin in PE or with a Field observation or problem.
02
Mission / required work
Define the question, context and evidence needed; choose Online, Field or both.
03
Contributions / review
Connect sources, media and attributed observations. Assess what they establish.
04
Knowledge / next question
Return reviewed understanding to PE and Field, retaining uncertainty and unresolved questions.
Online → Field
What observation would answer this?
A gap found in PE becomes a Mission with a clear request for Field observation or material. A Field participant supplies what they can safely observe, with source and context. Review determines what can return to PE knowledge, or what remains unanswered.
A request does not grant land access or direct an intervention. Online players identify the need; Field participants supply in-field material.
See the Field contribution contextField → Online
What does this observation mean?
A Field participant brings an identification, sign, change or problem to a Mission. Online contributors investigate sources, compare explanations and offer context. Appropriate review returns useful knowledge to the Field question and shared ecology; further observations may still be needed.
Practise a source response in the research exampleMission mode · Hunt
Find the thing, sign, evidence or occurrence.
A Hunt is directed search within a Mission. Find a species, sign, occurrence, evidence or an answer in a source. The Mission explains what needs finding out and why. Observations and media found through a Hunt need review before they support a conclusion.
Explore Hunt-mode investigationsOnline-only investigation
What can the sources establish?
Research, interpretation and comparison can answer a Mission without a Field visit. Connect the response to its sources, limitations and review. Reviewed knowledge can strengthen PE understanding without pretending that an Online exercise has created ecological impact.
Practise comparing an assertion with sourcesExplore a Mission brief. Try the work.
The exercises below use published reference material or clearly labelled fictional training. Progress and responses stay on this device. They do not send requests to Field participants, upload media or deliver contributions for review. The journeys above explain how the work connects.
Published reference discovery · Online · Hunt
Reconstruct the two events in this introduction record and explain why both are needed to understand how possums became established in New Zealand.
Find the answer in the supplied sources and connect it to the question.
Read the Mission and beginPublished reference discovery · Online · Hunt
Assemble the combination of physical characteristics that belongs to a common brushtail possum.
Find the answer in the supplied sources and connect it to the question.
Read the Mission and beginPublished reference discovery · Online · Hunt
Connect possum feeding and behaviour to the ecological consequences that follow.
Find the answer in the supplied sources and connect it to the question.
Read the Mission and beginFictional training · Online · Hunt
Which marker identifies the observation point in the example log?
Find the answer in the supplied sources and connect it to the question.
Read the Mission and beginFictional training · Online · Research
What evidence would establish the extent of the example observation area?
Find out what the sources can establish and identify what still needs evidence.
Read the Mission and beginFictional training · Online · Verification
Is the example marker still present?
Examine what supports or challenges an assertion, with its dates, context and uncertainty.
Read the Mission and beginFictional training · Field · Field observation
Record ecological observation or intervention in the field.
Define the observation and context needed to help answer an ecological question.
Read the Mission and begin