[NatureNS] Miner's Marsh offleash park...

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From: Annabelle Thiebaux <hamst@xplornet.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 13:41:22 -0300
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I think that this joins up with the SMU expansion Mary.

Sent from my iPad
> On Jun 24, 2014,  12:16 PM, Mary Macaulay <Marymacaulay@hotmail.com> wrote=
:
>=20
> We need to push for every school to have onsite outdoor "natural classroom=
s" which include a little wetland and native flora.  The initiative should i=
nclude changes to the curriculum which involve biology/ecology classes being=
 regularly held outdoors.
>=20
> With kindest regards
> Mary (Macaulay)
> marymacaulay@hotmail.com
> @maryemacaulay
>=20
> "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of lit=
tle consequence. The only consequence is what we do."
> -- John Ruskin
>=20
>> On Jun 24, 2014, at 12:00 PM, bev wigney <bkwigney@gmail.com> wrote:
>>=20
>>> On 2014-06-24, at 10:23 AM, Fred Schueler <bckcdb@istar.ca> wrote:
>>>=20
>>> * it's hard to see this as bullshit - it's one of the fundamental proble=
ms facing naturalists and nature in these latter days. Both kids and society=
 suffer from Nature Appreciation Deficit Disorder, and from the consequences=
 the grotesque exploitation of the Earth by those afflicted with NADD. It's a=
 big part of the job of naturalists to reverse this, and temporarily holding=
 Turtles in captivity is one of the classic ways of communing with nature an=
d getting started with science=20
>>>=20
>>> fred.
>>=20
>> * I would like to echo what Fred Schueler has just commented.  While I'm d=
efinitely not advocating that parents should capture painted turtles for spo=
ilt children, etc..., I do wonder if there is a natural history education pr=
ogram available at that site (and others as well).  Being close enough to ob=
serve small creatures is one way of inspiring interest and empathy for the n=
atural world.  Some will say, "But there are interpretive signs!" To which I=
 will reply, "Those are not enough."
>>=20
>> For several years, I conducted volunteer stream surveys in the Ottawa are=
a.  A science teacher at one of that city's high schools asked if she could b=
ring her Grade 10 biology class out to spend a full day with my survey partn=
er and I once each season.  I believe we did four of these annual class outi=
ng surveys.  I soon learned that, almost without exception, no child had eve=
r held a frog, crayfish, turtle, fish, butterfly, or dragonfly.  In fact, ma=
ny of these kids were quite afraid and sometimes even terrified of touching,=
 being touched by, or even looking closely at these creatures.  A couple of t=
imes I had to have talks with kids who screamed and immediately crushed fish=
ing or wolf spiders on sight.  However, by the end of a day of survey work, m=
ost of the kids were quite comfortable about picking up crayfish, netting an=
d releasing minnows, carefully holding a dragonfly, or having a frog sit on t=
heir hands.  I hope that, out of that hundred or so biology students, at lea=
st one or two will have chosen to pursue some line of work in the field of n=
atural history, environmental studies, or conservation management.  I hope t=
hat a further few may have become teachers who will  find a way to  transfer=
 their experience that day in some way to another generation of students.  I=
 hope that a goodly number of those students, should they ever have children=
 of their own, will remember that day spent on a river counting and  measuri=
ng crayfish or learning something about identifying frog species.
>>=20
>> Unfortunately, the opportunities for nature encounters are becoming incre=
asingly few.  As it was, during the four years of our class stream surveys, w=
e went from fairly simple arrangements for an outing, to increasingly more d=
ifficult arrangements where the school wanted to know if my partner and I ha=
d life guard training, rescue gear, etc... We were volunteers with one of th=
e region's conservation authorities, so acting as life guards was not part o=
f our schtick.  We were working in quiet, mid-calf-deep streams, so you can s=
ee where all of this was going.  As well, even locating a suitable study are=
a - clean water with excellent biodiversity - became increasingly difficult a=
s several of the best reaches of river were basically ruined by subdivision d=
evelopment just within that small period of time I am describing.   A lot of=
 this makes me feel sad and sick.  I wonder how, and where, and from whom, c=
hildren will learn about nature. =20
>>=20
>> bev wigney
>> Round Hill, NS - in summer.

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<html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" content=3D"text/html; charset=3D=
utf-8"></head><body dir=3D"auto"><div>I think that this joins up with the SM=
U expansion Mary.<br><br>Sent from my iPad</div><div>On Jun 24, 2014, &nbsp;=
12:16 PM, Mary Macaulay &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:Marymacaulay@hotmail.com">Mary=
macaulay@hotmail.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type=3D"cite"><=
div><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"=
><div>We need to push for every school to have onsite outdoor "natural class=
rooms" which include a little wetland and native flora. &nbsp;The initiative=
 should include changes to the curriculum which involve biology/ecology clas=
ses being regularly held outdoors.<br><br>With kindest regards<div>Mary (Mac=
aulay)</div><div><a href=3D"mailto:marymacaulay@hotmail.com">marymacaulay@ho=
tmail.com</a></div><div>@maryemacaulay</div><div><br></div><div><div style=3D=
"font-weight: bold;"><span style=3D"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0)=
;">"What we think, or what we know, or what we belie