Featured Blog Posts (304)

Blogger’s Note:  This entry was inspired by the preposterous, though serious notion we (as humans) had "evolved" ourselves away from needing a Plantaris Muscle.  The plantaris muscle is used by animals in gripping and manipulating objects with their feet –…

"Hook Is A Codfish" Trail Bring The Kiddo's And Swim Suit Day

This is a combination event of hiking, swimming, and picknicking.  Maybe even a BBQ Day will be in order.  This is either a great hike with a wonderful swim, or a fantastic swim with a sweet hike.  This hike will lead you to a beautiful 40 foot waterfall with lovely pools beneath smaller cascades.

This is an interpretive trail…

Are GPS devices making us overly dependent on technology at the expense of learning about and orienting within our surroundings? Studies say they are. They also may be partially responsible for Nature Disconnect around the developing world.

There are positive aspects to GPS…

This nesting season falcon fans have been worried about challenges to Boomer and SW for their nest.  Here is SW’s new mate, Boomer.

SW’s mate from last year, Ranger, was in rehabilitation for many months after suffering serious head injuries and was finally released after his recovery in…

Currently I am looking for information regarding the newly implemented Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program in Ontario and getting kids outside in nature.

I am developing my thesis and wondering what is happening in Canada.  Contacts have directed me toward many international resources but I am curious about Canada.

The TDSB TOES programs are in the early stages of developing kindergarten outdoor education programs and I have looked at Montessori and Equinox (previously…

As most of us are well aware, virtuality already deprives many children of time spent in the 3-dimensional, natural world.  But is there danger in 3D?

Does mediated, 3D exposure alter the area in a child's developing brain responsible for processing 3D images as well?

One major…

My heart is filled with joy as I watch my teenage daughter at one with nature. It is so natural, so pure.

Like most girls her age, she is discovering being a teenager can be stressful.

Time in nature allows her to reconnect with what is real, what is true.

Sharing that time with her is precious.

Our time spent together in nature not only calms us but brings us closer…

http://www.youroutdoorfamily.com

For all of 2010, on my blog, Seasons South and North, I posted a monthly observation guide comparing the nature of a place in the northern hemisphere - Britain - with a place in the southern hemisphere - the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil. I have gathered all of the posts together into one document and offer it here (as a link, I am afraid, as I could not manage to upload it here) to any who may find it useful:

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The 2011 peregrine falcon nesting season is underway at Boomer and SW's home sweet home located on the 12th floor ledge of a skyscraper called "Tower City" in downtown Cleveland, Ohio (look for red label showing nestbox location).…

Welcome to the 2011 "Falcon Watch" about the peregrine falcon - fastest creature on earth! We will study and watch one peregrine falcon family during nesting season, approximately late February into June. There has been a nestbox on the 12th floor of "Tower City" in Cleveland, Ohio since 1991.



SW is the resident mother falcon……  …

IditaNature is just around the corner - it starts Saturday, March 5, just like the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race! Challenge your kids, family, friends, or students to spend as many minutes outside as the Iditarod is long in miles...so 1,150 minutes or 17+ hours over two weeks. If they meet the challenge, the reward can be whatever you dream up. Prizes of outdoor gear or doing something fun together in nature: go out for ice cream,…

I am currently joining forces with Dr. Joe Baust of Murray State University to introduce his former Environmental Education students to the Children & Nature Network.  We are currently in the process of contacting his past EE students and encouraging them to become members of the Children & Nature Network.  We are hoping to expand this online community of people who share a passion for nature. 

I am very excited about the opportunity to be a part of the Children & Nature…

I recently got the chance to represent the Sierra Club Youth Delegation at the 2011 Good Jobs Green Jobs Conference in Washington D.C., February 7-10^th.  In preparation to speak on the panel entitled Sowing the Seeds for a Greener Future: Preparing Youth for a Green Economy, I started to reflect on what has given me the employment opportunities I’ve had so far in environmental-related…

I wanted to share this video titled Logos vs Leaves  from UNC-TV's Exploring North Carolina and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (via iTunes University). Middle school students, a North Carolina governor, a teacher and a camp director (Sandy…