Week 5 Lab: Touching Grass 101

A Lab planning a field study outing well before Assignment 2 is due

Before the Lab#

Bring an outfit you’d actually wear outdoors — Activity 1 leaves the room, rain or shine.

In the Lab#

Introduction. Last week’s plan lived entirely indoors — a sleep schedule, an exercise plan, nothing that required leaving the building. This week’s item does: one outing, planned for real, with someone who has never sat through a lecture of this course.

Activity 1 (pairs, outdoors, 15 min): Field observation. Leave the room. Record three specific, non-screen observations: one thing seen, one thing heard, and one brief interaction with another person, however small.

Return, discussion: Share one observation each.

Activity 2 (groups of 4): Field guide. Groups compile the class’s observations into a short “field guide to outside” — three tips for someone who has never been outdoors before.

Plan your outing (pairs). Plan one outing beyond your usual 400-metre radius: a stated activity, a stated date and time, and at least two non-CS people invited to attend. Show the plan to your pair; they check the date, time, and activity are all specific, and that the invited people are named, not “some friends.” This Lab does not run the outing — it gives you a head start on one, a candidate you could use for Assignment 2’s field study, or swap out for something else entirely before week 8.

Wrap-up: Keep the plan as an option. Use it for Assignment 2, due week 8, or plan something else by then.

Afterwards#

Keep the plan as an option. Use it for Assignment 2, due week 8, or plan something else by then.