next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects --Apple-Mail-7154C61B-4C97-422F-8C32-59467CDD1402 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable 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. --Apple-Mail-7154C61B-4C97-422F-8C32-59467CDD1402 Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <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, = 12:16 PM, Mary Macaulay <<a href=3D"mailto:Marymacaulay@hotmail.com">Mary= macaulay@hotmail.com</a>> 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. 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