Besides cold weather (or a freezer), to create ice art you’ll need some bits of nature (leaves, berries, seeds, acorns, etc), a plastic plate, ice cube tray or other baking molds, and ribbon or string.
These would be so easy for anyone to do and so creative!
Love these effortlessly elegant mixed-media illustrations by The Sketching Backpacker!
USA National Phenology Network
Phenology - Knowledge of when recurring life stages occur,
The USA National Phenology Network brings together citizen scientists, government agencies, non-profit groups, educators and students of all ages to monitor the impacts of climate change on plants and animals in the United States. The network harnesses the power of people and the Internet to collect and share information, providing researchers with far more data than they could collect alone.
Curiosity and Care: the Core Necessity for Learning Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/curiosity-and-care-the-core-necessity-for-learning.html#ixzz1t9Ulah76
We humans love to learn. We are endlessly curious and eager gatherers of new knowledge. But we do need motivation to learn new things, and that motivation comes from our enlivening experiences and our ability to care. Most people have no reason to get excited or care about vernal pools and their ecology or conservation, because vernal pools mean nothing to them. Even if they stumbled upon a vernal pool in the woods, they would be as likely to find it mucky and gross as they would to find it amazing and compelling. There’s a positive feedback loop that occurs with curiosity. It is fed by care and some knowledge, which then inspires the desire to gain more knowledge and which makes us care even more.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/curiosity-and-care-the-core-necessity-for-learning.html#ixzz1t9V0ZGbk
by Zoe WeilApril 23, 2012 for Care2.
Greening School Facilities
A lot of ideas for greening schools.
Our students learn what they live. If they spend all their school days in sterile classrooms, prison-like buildings and lifeless playgrounds, they will not become creative and critical thinkers, and they will not learn that human beings are a part of the beautiful web of life. Why should schools, by their very design, be allowed to kill the wonderful spirit of our youngest citizens?
Greening school facilities means designing (and then building or renovating/retrofitting and decorating) school environments that help students stay connected with the rest of Nature, while helping them learn, both passively and actively, about energy efficiency and green building design.
Life lessons in open-air classrooms
The aim is to show school-aged children how easy it is to grow and harvest food, as well as teaching them how to recycle waste.
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The transformation is nothing short of amazing, with the once bare, sandy parcel of land now brimming with 13 herb and vegetable garden beds set up through the centre, an urban orchard comprising several fruit trees dotted around the garden border, a chicken coop, rainwater tank, four aquaponic systems, a compost bin and a worm farm.
Cooking facilities will also be constructed and are expected to become a communal hub for both the school and local community.
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“We are committed to seeing that become generational so that these children will grow up aware of the need to look after the planet and be sustainable in their practices.”
By VANESSA WILLIAMS, The West Australian
April 13, 2012, 1:17 pm
Playground builder keeping it natural
Adam Bienenstock takes child’s play very seriously.
He thinks younger generations are headed down a dark road of inactivity, obesity and isolation, thanks to too much time in front of TVs, computer screens and video game consoles and not enough time outside exploring nature.
Bienenstock, owner of Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds, has made it his mission to bring the fun of nature to parks, schools and community centres. He thinks of it as building outdoor classrooms, where kids are encouraged to explore and imagine.
“We have to connect kids to nature through play. I feel like something has gone terribly wrong and we have to get our asses in gear and fix it.”
By Meredith MacLeod Fri Mar 23 2012
For TheSpec.com
Hastings School Playground Design: An outdoor classroom
Outdoor classroom ideas…
Why Nobody Pets the Lion at the Zoo
BY JOHN CIARDI
The morning that the world began
The Lion growled a growl at Man.
And I suspect the Lion might
(If he’d been closer) have tried a bite.
I think that’s as it ought to be
And not as it was taught to me.
I think the Lion has a right
To growl a growl and bite a bite.
And if the Lion bothered Adam,
He should have growled right back at ’im.
The way to treat a Lion right
Is growl for growl and bite for bite.
True, the Lion is better fit
For biting than for being bit.
But if you look him in the eye
You’ll find the Lion’s rather shy.
He really wants someone to pet him.
The trouble is: his teeth won’t let him.
He has a heart of gold beneath
But the Lion just can’t trust his teeth.
(via clothedinsky)
THE SIRENS OF TECHNOLOGY: Seven Ways Our Gadgets Drive Us Nuts
By Richard Louv on April 6th, 2012
Understand, I recognize the benefits of technology, otherwise I wouldn’t be using the Internet or refrigerating my food. And the Internet has certainly been essential for building the children and nature movement.
But consider a few recent findings, reported here in the Twitter tradition of 140 characters, more or less:
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What to do? Match screen time with stream time. Research suggests that the best antidote to the downside of electronic immersion will be an increase in the amount of natural information we receive. And let’s go one step further: children and adults can develop “hybrid minds” by seeking the benefits of both virtual and natural realit
