Starry Nights and Meteor Showers

 

Every year around December 13th and 14th, one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year reigns over the night skies. First noted in 1860, the Geminids are named such because they appear to be emanating from the constellation Gemini. Every decade since 1860, when they made their sudden appearance, the intensity of the Geminids has been increasing. Starting as early as December 6th, Geminid meteors can be seen at a rate of about 1 per hour. On the peak nights of the 13th and 14th, they rain in at around 50-80 per hour.

Learn more about the event here. 

 

When looking east in the night sky, meteors will be radiating out from Gemini:

 

Source: http://meteorshowersonline.com/geminids.html



 

The Museum of Natural Science will be taking a trip to see the Geminids. For more information and to sign up, click here.

If you want to go it on your own, check out this guide.

 

In other starry news, Moorehead Planetarium's Holiday Concert Series starts tonight. Check out the series of events in Chapel Hill's Fulldome theater. Starts, constellations, and other celestial objects are projected onto the dome during the musical performances. They also have sky watching events at Jordan Lake and education series on the winter skies. See the holiday concert series here and other events here.

N.C. Receives "A" for Children's Environmental Health:

What Does this Mean?

Source: http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/clinical-zones/asthma/child-asthma-pumps-questioned/5007101.article

 

 

Not to downplay improvements and positive news, but before we put any concerns to rest on children's environmental health, it is important to dig a little deeper and understand the full scope of this report.

 

The North Carolina Institute of Medicine and Action for Children released their annual Child Health Report Card on Monday. The report shows improvement in some areas for North Carolina's 2.3  million children and a downward trend in others. It analyzes 15 areas of child health including heath insurance coverage, children in poverty, childhood mortality, tobacco and substance abuse and others. The lowest ratings were in percentage of children in poverty, childhood obesity, and alcohol and substance abuse that all received D's. In better news, North Carolina received an A rating for environmental health of children and the trend is shown to be improving in that area. After seeing this report in the news, it warranted further inspection as to what exactly is environmental health.

 

The report measured environmental health on two fronts, lead levels in blood testing and percent of children diagnosed with asthma. While it is worth celebrating that less than 0.4% of children have elevated levels of lead in their blood, this is the national trend given that it has been phased out of gasoline since 1995 and banned in household paint since 1978. On the asthma front, the report shows that 17.5% of children have ever been diagnosed and the number of hospitalizations due to asthma is on the decline. Asthma has been very directly linked to air pollution, especially particulates due to the burning of fossil fuels and household mold due to poor air circulation. This makes asthma a good indicator of environmental health. The report does not describe how the grade marking is determined for each category of health. It is worth noting that 17% is nearly one in every five children and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as well as a study issued by the National Institute of Health state that North Carolina is in the midst of an asthma epidemic.

 

While the North Carolina report used two indicators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designates four areas for environmental health measures in children. The four areas are asthma, lead, childhood cancer, and developmental disabilities, many of which are linked to environmental health. In the case of cancer, it is hard to measure in children because many of the effects of exposure to hazardous substances don't show up until later in life. The EPA identifies the following environmental hazards to children's health: arsenic, asbestos, asthma triggers, benzine, carbon monoxide, diesel, dioxins, drinking water contaminants, endocrine disruptors, formaldehyde, household chemicals, lead, mercury, molds, nitrogen oxides, ozone, particulate matter, pesticides, plastics, PBDEs, PCBs, radon, second hand smoke, sulfur dioxide, UV radiation and volatile organic compounds. Out of this long list of hazards, only a few of them are linked to the two environmental health indicators that were measured in the N.C. Child Health Report Card. Information on all of these hazards and measures you can take to protect your children can be found here.

 

Developmental disabilities are also hard to directly link to environmental health, but there is a growing body of research. For instance, a report that just came out from researchers at the University of Southern California showed that children living in homes with high levels of air pollution from car exhaust fumes were three times more likely to develop autism. Socioeconomic factors and other variables were taken into account in the analysis of data. This study and others like it suggest the need to develop a fuller understanding of how pollution affects the developing fetus. Source:  http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-autism-traffic-pollution-20121126,0,970458.story

 

The issue of environmental health and developmental disabilities is further highlighted in pregnancy guidelines from the Mayo Clinic, National Institute of Health, and others, that recommend limits on seafood consumption due to mercury exposure and the danger to fetuses.

 

While it is great that we received an A on environmental health for children and improvements are being made, it is important to realize that this doesn't necessarily tell the full story. For more information on children's environmental health and a more comprehensive look at environmental hazards, visit the EPA's web page http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm

 

The full Child Health Report Card can be found here: http://riversdeveloper.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/2012_CHRC-112812.pdf

 

 

Are you stuffed out? EcoSmart Holiday Ideas

 

Source: http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/1688784/

 

It may be hard to resist the latest and greatest toys on the market, especially when it has been advertised for the last couple months and your child is chomping at the bit to get one. Some of these toys have been engineered according to the latest research on childhood development and others have just been cleverly advertised. Not that it is wrong to participate in the market of goods, as this helps drive our economy, but we do have to ask ourselves, are our kids really better off with more stuff? The most fun I have ever seen a group of 5 year olds have was when their teacher gave them a bunch of cardboard boxes and set them loose on the playground. Within a matter of seconds they were organizing themselves into playgroups; one group played house, another morphed their boxes into a train while others declared theirs a car. The second most fun I have ever seen a 5 year old have is playing with shaving cream spread out on a table. Unfortunately I only have anecdotal evidence to back this up at the time, but I have just seen so many toy graveyards in homes with young children.

 

In case you are looking for a change, running out of room in your house, or just don't have the money to spend this holiday, here are some alternative ideas to buying more stuff. They also happen to be more ecofriendly because buying new manufactured goods uses more resources in the making and delivery and chances are, will end up in a landfill. Many of these ideas are adapted from http://voices.yahoo.com/top-eco-friendly-christmas-presents-kids-4832026.html?cat=57.

 

1. Instead of goods, give services. You can sign your kids up for classes or lessons that they would be interested in or make a coupon book of fun activities. For example, you could give them a coupon for a movie they have been begging to see, a trip to the zoo, a stay up late night, a have a sleepover night, chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, etc!

 

Source: http://www.resumebucketblog.com/humor/top-5-gift-ideas-for-the-unemployed/

2. Rummage through your toy graveyard and host a holiday toy exchange. This is a good way to build community with your neighbors, friends, or even your office place. Unless something is broken, chances are it won't make any difference to your child, especially if they are under 5.

 

Source: http://bmeadow4p.wordpress.com/category/rainforest-topic/

3. Give the gift of giving. Find an organization in which you can adopt an animal or part of a rainforest, or provide for a family and set up a pen pal relationship for your child. Search for something that you can actively involve your child in so they can take ownership and get excited about it. Also,consider buying gifts from companies that give proceeds to charities.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Buy goods from eco friendly stores that offer recycled products and less resource intensive products.

 

 5. Wrap your gifts in recycled wrap. Use newspaper, brown paper bags, used computer paper, old pillow cases etc. and spruce it up with magazine photo cut outs or old photos from around the house. It can be just as beautiful and more meaningful! 

 

 

Gift wrap photo sources: http://www.enviromom.com/2008/12/alternative-gift-wrap.html

 

 



Free Winter Preschool Nature Series in Fayetteville

 

Tuesday, December 4 1-2pm "Insects"

Wednesday, January 23 1-2pm "Mammals"

Wednesday, February 6 1-2pm "Plants"

 

Source: http://www.skinnymoose.com/moosedroppings/category/archives/small-game/page/2/

 

If you live in the Fayetteville area, check out these free nature series for preschool aged children. These programs are specially geared for younger audiences and will feature hands-on, kid-friendly activities that teach about wintertime nature. Classes will be held at the John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center next door to Lake Rim Park. Space is limited. Call to register by day before the program. Ages 3-6 with an adult; 1-2 pm; Free. Event Phone (910) 424-6134 or (910) 433-1018

 

The John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center is the only education center of it's kind in North Carolina. Center instructors teach a variety of aquatic programs to learners of all ages and also offer fishing clinics. 

 

For more events check out our calendar.

For Environmental Education Centers near you, check out our directory.



Craft Smart

 

With your kids out of school, hopefully you find yourself with some extra family time this week. Earlier posts have given some ideas of things to do outside, but in case the weather doesn't cooperate, here are some ideas for indoor fun. I complied some of my favorite ideas for crafting with recycled materials from other parent blogs.  Click on the links below the photos for detailed instructions.

 

1. This is for ages 2-6+ and includes all sorts of learning opportunities such as hand eye coordination, gravity, angles, problem solving, etc. 

http://www.learnwithplayathome.com/2012/09/cardboard-tube-marble-run.html

 

 

 

 

2. Fun with leaves! Ages 2+ What a great way to include a nature walk and a craft experience. The author talks about collecting the leaves and having the child describe what they look like, i.e. an umbrella, a heart, etc., what they feel like, what they smell like, etc. This is a great way to evoke the senses, develop vocabulary, and make connections. 

 

http://www.mylittlebookcase.com.au/activities/activity-fun-with-leaves/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Invitation to paint, using recycled materials! Ages 2-6+ Instead of giving your kids direction on how to paint, give them materials to work with, a surface they can get paint all over, and let them go to town.

 

 

http://www.learnwithplayathome.com/2012/10/invitation-to-paint-with-recycled.html


 

 

 

 

4. Make your own game out of recycled milk bottles. Ages 5+ and you may want to wield the scissors. This will keep the kids entertained for hours while improving hand-eye coordination.

 

 

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/milk-bottle-rackets.html

 



 

 

 

5. Get started on those handmade presents! Use recycled glass jars and turn them into beautiful vases with swirled paint! Ages 3+

 

 

http://www.mylittlebookcase.com.au/activities/handmade-gifts-swirled-glass-vases/

 

 6. Recycled shoebox diorama! Have kids talk about their favorite places or a scene that sticks out in their mind; it may even be your own backyard! Challenge them to make a diorama out of recycled materials to represent their world.

http://www.planetpals.com/craft_recycle_shoebox.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Outdoor Happenings over the Holiday

Source: http://niagarastreet.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/bday-1024x532.jpg

Here are some ideas for getting outdoors over the Thanksgiving holiday and working off some of that stuffing!

 

1. Visit a state park. North Carolina State Parks are open all week, including Thursday!  Lake James State Park, near Morganton, has family events on Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday at 10am, join ranger Nora Coffey for crafts and story time all about the Wild Turkey.  On Thursday, at 9am join ranger Jaime Cameron for a nature hike on the Fox Den Loop Trail.  Take a look at plants, animals, and other natural features along the hike. Complete Details and Registration

 

For more state park events and to find a state park near you, visit: http://ncparks.gov/Education/events.php

 

2. Nature photography.  On Saturday, the 24th, the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education is having a nature photography course for kids from 3pm-4pm.  Complete Details and Registration.

 

Source: http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/PhotoZone/

If you don't live near the Outer Banks, you can still explore the outdoors with your kids through the lens of a camera.  Early morning and late afternoon before sunset, are the best times to capture good outdoor photos.  When the sun is low on the horizon, your pictures will pop! But if it is a cloudy day, these are the best days for taking photos and you can go out anytime. National Geographic has some nature photo tips for kids here.

 

3. Create a backyard habitat. As the temperature drops and many plants go dormant, wildlife has less options for food, especially in areas where much of the natural habitat has been replaced by houses and manicured lawns. Reduce your home's footprint by providing acceptable habitat for wildlife in your own yard! On Sunday the 25th, from 3pm-4pm, Lake James State Park is having a class on Landscaping for Wildlife. Emphasis will be on planting native vegetation that provides habitat for wildlife to rest, refuel, and raise their young.

 

If you can't make it to the class or want to start earlier in the week, the National Wildlife Federation has great tips on their website for how to create a wildlife friendly garden here.

 

4. Visit an EE Center near you. The North Carolina Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs, keeps a directory of Environmental Education Centers across the state.  They are searchable by map, zip code, and alphabetically.  Find a center near you and then visit their website to learn about their hours and what they have to offer. Visit the directory here.

 

Eco-Smart Thanksgiving: It's not gobbledygook!

 

The Thanksgiving Skinny!
This is not going to be a history lesson.  In short, Thanksgiving emerged out of a celebration of fall harvest.  It nicely lends itself to a more eco-friendly meal because the common foods associated with it, also happen to be appropriately seasonal.  Meaning many of them can be bought locally, especially in North Carolina.  Here are some tips for a more eco-friendly Thanksgiving:

Source: http://www.thedailygreen.com/

1. Try and buy as many of your ingredients at a local farmer's market.  Common this time of year are, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie pumpkins, garlic, green beans, collards, chicken or turkey, homemade jams and relishes, etc.

2. Don't use disposable dinnerware.  I know it's tempting, but instead think about delegating the clean up work.  Make a game out of it with your kids.  You could have a chain of duites, with one person clearing, another washing, one drying, and a fourth putting them up.

3. Don't overeat, and don't throw away your leftovers!  It's a common trait among mothers in my family to try and push leftovers.  "Someone's got to finish this last bite of mashed potatoes so it doesn't go to waste!" Eating more food than your body needs is just as wasteful as throwing it away, and it's unhealthy!  Save your leftovers and compost the scraps.



Source: http://www.treehugger.com/
 

4. Use your leftover turkey or chicken bones to make a delicious soup stock for a winter's day or nourishment if one of your children gets a cold.

5.  Spend the extra time with your kids taking a nature walk or going to visit a local nature center.  Collect interesting things along the way and then have a show and tell when you return home. What did your children find?  Why was it interesting to them? What did they notice about it? What is its place in the ecosystem?  Is it habitat, food, nutrients for soil, etc.? 

6. And finally...

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, right? Thank you microbes!
It is easy to get wrapped up in our lives going from home to car to work to grocery store and back to home again, and forget that we are all so intimately tied to the earth. In my family, before we dive in to our feast on Thanksgiving day, we go around the table and each name one thing that we are thankful for. This year I might say "microbes!" Without beneficial microbes in soil, and this includes fungi, protazoa, and yes, the ever feared bacteria, we literally would not be enjoying a Thanksgiving meal, or any meal for that matter. In one teaspoon of healthy soil, there are more microbes than there are people on earth! Simply put, without microorganisms in soil, plants would not have sufficient nutrients to grow. Microbes take decaying organic matter and recycle it into nutrients that can be used by new plants. Specialized microbes fix nitrogen gas from the atmosphere, a form that is useless to plants, and convert it into a form that can be absorbed by root tissues of plants. And this all feeds into the web of life. Most of us will have a form of meat on our table, one that says "gobble, gobble" perhaps. Being omnivores, not only do fowl rely on plants for their nutrients, but they also eat critters that reside in the soil. Have you ever seen a chicken on the hunt and peck? Chickens and wild turkeys will eat insects such as fire ants, ticks, grasshoppers, fleas, and more, making them great for pest control. Another reason to be thankful! So consider taking some time this Thanksgiving to discuss the web of life with your family and appreciate all the creatures that have made it possible for your meal.



Source: http://enviroinnovators.com/html/soil_microbes.html

Speaking of America Recycles Day...

Check out this event in Wake County on Saturday, November 17th:



Box used to cover up a methane well at the Durham County landfill, which extracts methane from the decomposing rubbish. South Wake Landfill has future plans for this process.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/21/1871558/
south-wake-landfill-waste-to-be.html

We still have room available for our Wake County Solid Waste Landfill Tours this Saturday, November 17. Come get a behind-the-scenes look at where your household trash goes and see the recycling collection areas the county offers to its citizens. Tours are free and last 1-hour. County transportation is provided and all are welcome! (Children age 5 and up only please).  
The tours will be held at the South Wake Landfill at 6300 Old Smithfield Rd in Apex near Hwy-55 and US-1. Kids will play a landfill BINGO game and get prizes. (Adults will get some goodies too!)

Tour times available:
11:30am - 12:30pm
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Please email or call ahead of time to reserve your seat (vans have a 14-passenger maximum).
Contact Becky Dunstan at the number below or sign up online at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LFToursFY12

Becky Dunstan
Feed the Bin Program Coordinator
N.C. Certified Environmental Educator
Wake County Environmental Services
Office: (919)856-2602
Fax:     (919)856-7407
http://www.wakegov.com/recycling/schools

Gather up the kids and your recyclables and check out America Recycles Day!

 

Thursday, November 15th

 

Recycled computer motherboards and monitors make up this

installation by Susan Stockwell

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/16/world/environmental-green-art/index.html

 

Recycling not only reduces waste going to the landfill, but also reduces the pressure on our natural resources.  November 15th has been deemed America Recycles Day to raise awareness and encourage events in the name of recycling.  This is a very organized movement with multiple events happening all across the state and country.  Not only are these events educational, but many of them are practical and helpful and involve recycling your less than common household items.

 

On the main page, you can enter in your zip code and find all the events near you.  A search near Raleigh, showed a dozen events from paper shredding to electronics disposal.  Some people are holding creative events such as swap shops.  Reuse is even more environmentally friendly than recycling!  Visit the site and find an event near you: http://americarecyclesday.org/ 

 

For many, we already have the knack for recycling glass, plastic, and everyday household items.  But what do we do with old paint, electronics, and other hazardous waste?  There are regulations against throwing these things in the landfill.  The website for America Recycles Day has an excellent search tool in which you can enter your zip code and choose your household item that you need to dispose of, and it will send you links to places where you can take these items near your home!  Visit that site here: http://americarecyclesday.org/find-recycling

 

 



"Declare your Interdependence"

It's Geography Awareness Week!!

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."

-John Muir, 1911

 

Photo: Yann-Arthus Bertrand, "The Earth from Above"

 

 

Hosted by National Geographic, Geography Awareness Week takes place every third week in November.  This years theme, Declare your Interdependence, is to raise awareness about our interconnectedness to the rest of the world through everyday decisions that we make such as what to buy and what to eat.

 

Among the activities that you can do with your family is the Global Closet Calculator.  It is a virtual interactive game in which you look at some of the items in your closet and learn how you are interconnected to other areas of the world through these items.  The program generates your own personal global footprint map. 

 

In the second part of the game, geared more towards middle school age and up, you learn about how simple objects affect a lot of people in many different ways and are asked to use critical thinking skills to make decisions about the products.

 

This year's poster breaks down the manufacturing of a pencil.  It shows a map of the globe with a key showing the areas of the world where all the different parts of a pencil come from.  It also includes a list of ideas for further engaging kids and students.  Here are just some of the ideas plus some of our own:

 

1. Put up a map of the world in your kitchen and have your kids mark the location of where all the ingredients came from to cook tonight's dinner.

Extension/Challenge: Do this over the week and try and bring the points closer to home with each meal.  For your last meal, try and only use ingredients from a 200 mile radius, or 100, or 50 if you're really good!  It's harder than you think, i.e. salt.  This website has some helpful tips and foods in season for each state: http://www.simplesteps.org/eat-local

Source: http://www.thesecondlunch.com/2009/08/eating-seasonally-and-locally/

 

2. Who depends on you? Make a poster of all the plants, animals, and people that depend on you to be fed, watered, or just loved!

Extension: Make a poster of all the plants, animals, and people that you depend on!  Do this at the beginning of the week and then again at the end of the week after you have explored the Global Closet Calculator and have expanded your perception of who you depend on.  Compare the two posters.

 

3. "Explore your own backyard! Take pictures of different interactions between organisms.  For example: a predator-prey relationship, a producer-consumer relationship, a mutualistic relationship, a decomposer, and a commensal relationship. If you don't know what these are, read about them at   

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/activity/ecological-relationships"

 

4. Explore your river basin.  All life depends on water. Discover where your water comes from and where it goes, and how our daily choices impact water quality. 

http://www.eenorthcarolina.org/riverbasins.html

 

 

 

 

Engaging your Kids through Citizen Science

Source: http://chickencoopstakeout.wordpress.com/

Citizen science projects offer a fun way to engage your family in real live science! Some research projects are just too large in scope to be completed by a few field researchers.  So scientists have capitalized on communication and other technologies to involve citizens in their collection of data. The benefits are two-fold, the researchers have a much larger body of data to draw from that will help further validate their results, and citizens develop a stronger understanding and appreciation for science.  An understanding of the methodology and science skills used in actual research is lacking in the science education our kids receive in school.  A misconception often carried by students is that science takes place in a lab and is only valid in a very controlled setting.  Citizen science offers a different perspective on how science is conducted in the real world, with Earth as the laboratory.  Children are more likely to learn from an experience in which they are personally invested and engaged.  Most citizen science projects publicly post their data and analysis so people can see the direct impact of their participation. 

 

The Nature Research Center (NRC), the new wing of the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh, hosts ongoing citizen science projects from time to time.  In a recent study called The Great Chicken Coop Stakeout, NRC scientists partnered with the Wildlife Program of North Carolina State University and sought to survey the carnivores of urban areas and determine which ones were most attracted to backyard chicken coops.  Citizens installed motion sensing cameras near their chicken coops, called camera traps, and researchers reviewed this data to map out rarer species findings and to determine what predators were attracted to the coops.  A collection of photos and videos and more about the project can be found on their blog, here.  

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk

How you can participate:

The chicken coop study turned over an interesting finding that has led to another request for citizen data.  Chipmunks are generally very common in urban areas, however, the cameras captured very few of these creatures in the Raleigh area.  Scientists at the museum are interested in knowing exactly where chipmunks are spotted in the Triangle area in hopes of gaining a better hold on their distribution.  If you live in the triangle area and spot a chipmunk, please visit the blog and report your finding.  The full address is http://chickencoopstakeout.wordpress.com/.

To view other citizen science projects taking place through the museum, visit http://naturalsciences.org/research-collections/citizen-science

 

 

Source: http://www.rodale.com/bird-friendly-yard

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is hosting an ongoing study called Project Feeder Watch.  Citizens all across North America are asked to survey birds on their backyard feeders through the winter months of November through early April and turn their results in to the project.  Participants can join at any time before February.  To learn more about the project and begin collecting data with your children, visit http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Overview/over_index.html.

 

 

 

 

Balsam woolly adelgid damage on Mount Mitchell
Photo by Robert F. Billings, courtesy of forestryimages.org.

Scientists at NCSU are conducting the Tiny Terrors Project, collecting citizen data on the woolly adelgid's impact on hemlocks and Fraser firs.  The adelgid pest has been terrorizing these trees in North Carolina and other states, causing massive die offs that have scientists concerned over the ability of the hemlock and fir species to survive.  Most trees that become infected are weakened and become susceptible to other diseases that ultimately lead to their demise.  Miraculously, some trees are completely infested by the adelgid but remain healthier than ever.  These trees have become the target for research, leading to the question of how these particular trees have managed to defend themselves.  Researchers are asking citizens to report healthy trees of these species that are also heavily infected by the adelgid.  For information on how to participate, visit http://www.threatenedforests.com/tinyterrors/  

DIY: Family Nature Clubs

 

Source: http://childrenandnature.ning.com/group/appalachianmountainclub

 

While North Carolina has numerous nature centers, zoos, and museums with family programming and events that will get children outside, exploring nature, some families may want to take it a step further and start their own nature club.  Likened to book clubs or community watch programs, nature clubs can be a way to build community and nurture relationships with others and the environment.  Nature clubs can be uniquely tailored to fit the needs of the group.  They can meet weekly or monthly.  They can involve extensive outdoor field trips to wilderness areas, or a weekly meeting at a nearby park.  But they all serve the same goal, to connect children, friends, and members of the community through outdoor experiences.  Club members can divide up responsibilities such as logistics, planning an education component, outreach to the members, etc.  Or each family or member can take turns planning a meet up.  Family Nature Clubs can offer several benefits such as providing a motivating factor to follow through with plans and ideas as well as multiple sources of new ideas on how to engage children outdoors.  How does the quote go, "It takes a village..."

 

Children & Nature Network (C&NN) is an initiative to connect children, families, and community to nature and has assembled a toolkit for starting your own Nature Club for Families.  The toolkit includes templates for coming up with a plan, checking out site locations, reaching out to your neighborhood or community, checklists for outings, and recording information about your participants and events.  The toolkit also includes a lot of helpful links for getting more ideas for your club. 

You can see the toolkit here.

Agape Hike-A-Thon This Weekend!

Please join us for our 9th annual Hike-a-Thon & Basket Raffle on Saturday, November 10th.  Hikers of all ages are invited to join us for a day of hiking and exploring in Agapé's beautiful natural setting.  The fall foliage in November is spectacular!  So gather your group, family, and friends and join us for a day of fellowship and fun.   

The Hike-a-Thon & Basket Raffle will help fund the Agapé environmental education program, ACE Education, as well as expand a vision for more programs that meet the needs of our guests.  Annually we serve over 5,000 area children in ACE Education field trips. 

All hikers with a minimum of $25 in pledges will receive a FREE T-shirt.  To make certain we have enough T-shirts available, we need your registration and pledge information by October 27th.  We will still take registrations up to the day of the Hike-a-Thon, but we can't be certain there will be enough T-shirts after this date.

For further questions about the event contact:  Camp Agapé (919) 552-9421, ACEed@agapekurebeach.org.

Complete details and registration forms

Explore the Outdoors and Marine Mammal Day

Weekend events in North Carolina and a bonus on whale intelligence!

 

Source: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/beluga-whales-pass-our-dangerous-chemicals-on-to-their-babies

Explore the Outdoors at the EnergyExplorium

Source: Photolibrary.com via National Wildlife Federation

This Saturday, Nov 3, from 10-2, organizations such as the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve, Lincoln County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the NC Wildlife Federation will be at the EnergyExplorium introducing children to the wonders of exploring the outdoors.  Hands-on activities will include fishing, rock climbing, wildlife encounters as well as interactive educational exhibits focusing on outdoor safety, the environment, conservation, and more.  This event is free!

 

For more information, click here.

 

The EnergyExplorium

13339 Hagers Ferry Road
Huntersville, NC 28078

 

Marine Mammal Day

Source: Google Images

Also this Saturday, Nov 3, from 9-5, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science is having Marine Mammal Day!  Spend the day learning about marine mammals, the ocean, and climate change.  There will be talks all day at the Daily Planet in the Nature Research Center and exhibits throughout the museum on topics such as, Antarctic Wildlife Adventure: Studying Marine Mammals along the Western Antarctic Peninsula, Beaufort’s Dolphins- Getting to Know Them, The Life of Plastic, Whale Diversity, Polar Bears: Arctic Icons, Fun with Oysters — The Ecological Importance of Oyster Reefs and much more.  This event is also free!

 

For more information, click here.

 

 

Bill of Rights for whales?

 

Years of research showing a high level of intelligence in cetaceans has led some marine scientists to argue that whales and dolphins deserve to be protected under an international bill of rights.  The move to support a Declaration of Rights for Dolphins was made at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's biggest science conference. Sparking a philosophical debate on what constitutes an individual, years worth of research shows the complexity of dolphin and whale brains and that the organisms show a human-like level of self-awareness.  An article in the BBC News cites several examples of dolphin intelligence such as this: "A number of captive dolphins were rewarded with fish in return for tidying up their tank. One of them ripped up a large paper bag, hid away the pieces, and presented them one at a time to get multiple rewards.Antarctic Wildlife Adventure: Studying Marine Mammals along the Western Antarctic Peninsula."

 

Such a Declaration of Rights would make it illegal to kill or hold captive dolphins and whales.  You can read the entire BBC article here.