Jeffrey Gerwing, Pamela Lockwood, and Christopher Uhl describe a rather unusual ecology laboratory/field exercise that utilizes abundant oak habitats of central Pennsylvania. For those readers not blessed with an abundant supply of oaks nearby, perhaps other species could be substituted. The exercise is unusual in two ways. It offers a new undergraduate ecology activity, and it offers opportunities for students to relate other disciplines to their science course.

In "the good old days" of higher education each discipline offered its menu of courses and expected students to make appropriate connections among the courses of their major, minor, and general education. In today's educational atmosphere of integrated curricula, linked courses, and cross-disciplinary programs, the following exercise may serve as an example of linking an ecology course with sociology, anthropology, English, and mathematics.