Seasons South and North

Low Down Looking

If lying on one's back and gazing at clouds is good for the artistic imagination in us all, lying on one's tummy and gazing at tiny life forms is good for our inner scientific observer. Further to developing children's observation skills, plan a session of "low down looking".  

To prepare the children for the concept of observation, ask the children if they have ever seen a spider. One assumes they will all shout "Yes!"  Now, ask them if they have ever watched a spider build its entire web. I could be wrong here, but I would guess not. The point is that they need to begin to be aware of the difference between seeing and observing.

Low Down Looking Activity 

All you will need are:

• a guide to local insects and wildflowers from the library
• paper and pencil for each child 

Go outdoors together and have everyone lie on their tummies, paper and pencils ready for sketching what they see. (Be careful not to have the children lay on unpleasant plants such as nettles or poison oak!) Remind the children that this is a time of observation, so they are not to trap or disturb what they see. Encourage each child to draw an insect or plant as accurately as possible, trying to get the right number of eyes and legs.

As each drawing is finished, help the children to find their plant or insect in the guide. Some children will be better at using the guides; some will be better at drawing. They can help one another in striving for accuracy.

            

Have you no green place on which to lie? Is your play area concrete? Look around. There are probably plants that have pushed their way through some cracks. Have the children observe there and be amazed at life's perseverance.

Cannot find your bug? Do as I do and go to the Bug Forum on the website of the Natural History Museum

and ask an expert. (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/bug-forum/?q=gallery)

Repeat this activity in other locations, on class visits to city farms, orchards, zoos, etc. 

Send instructions home with the children asking their parents to do "low down looking" with their children and to send back to you the drawings the children do. 

At the end of the season, with the children, tally how many times each species was observed and make a display of the results : your local bug population.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

 

Technorati Profile

Spring Blossoms and Autumn Fruits

Now it is spring in the northern hemisphere and fruit trees are blossoming, as is this apple in France :

While in the southern hemisphere, apples are mature and ready to eat, as are these in Patagonia:

Thus, now is a wonderful time to point out to children where their fruit comes from (not a shop!) and how it grows.  Explain how blossoms bud and open in the spring and are pollinated by insects. Tell the children that when the petals fall off, the base that remains grows during the summer into a fruit.

Activity : Drawing and Matching Spring Blossoms to Autumn Fruit

Too often, we teach children only in the classroom and indoors. We show them nature only in books and not in reality. They grow up thinking that nature is as Disney presents it or is something remote and seen only in photographs. This is an injustice to them. It is imperative that they go out and experience nature. The following downloads, one for the southern hemisphere and one for the northern hemisphere, are not for the classroom. They are to be used in a park or a city farm or an orchard or wherever children can see real blossoms or real fruit.

Each download has three image and three blank squares. Where it is springtime, have the children draw the blossoms to match the fruits. Where it is autumn, have them draw the fruits to match the blossom. (All right, if you must, bring fruits and blossom branches into the classroom, but DO have the children draw from life.)

Download Autumn fruit (Draw blossoms)

Download Spring Blossoms (Draw Fruit)

Now, eat some fruit!

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

Technorati Profile

What Kind of People We Are....and Want to Be

Too often, I have met people who consider concern for nature to be something for children, old people and wimps. Serious contenders, they say, know that money makes the world go around and the market must be fed. The ability to make money from something, they say, overrules any and all other considerations for it. 

We too often exemplify that attitude to our children, even when we do not want to do so. We talk about healthy foods, but buy them sweets and sodas "for a treat", thus teaching them that our talk about health has no meaning, if we make a "treat" of what is bad for them. We risk communicating to them at the least that we are weak, at the most that, because we give them what we know to be bad for them, we do not care for them. In the same way, we talk about the need to reduce global warming, stop pollution and the destruction of forests yet, has anyone given up their car? Has anyone accepted that we will have to do with less? We will not be able to replace all of our polluting products with green alternatives. We will have to do without. We will have to change. A large part of the world's population is descended from people who emigrated to new and unknown lands. They were capable of enormous change, so we know it is possible for us to change when necessary. There is an expression that says if you want to know the truth about a person, you must "look at what a person does, not at what he or she says."  Our children copy our actions, not our words.

As they observe us cutting trees, burning forests, logging woods, brutalizing and killing animals, spraying fields, dumping our filth into the water we and all species need to drink, ripping up land with mining, all for the sake of the market, they learn that money is the only thing we care about. We teach greed and selfishness and a certain disgusting kind of slothfulness. Do we really want our children to inherit such characteristics? The resulting generation will be a greater thing to fear than a planet that has lost its last shred of green to concrete.

 I have often heard the argument against the protection of nature as that God gave Adam "the dominion over....every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." I believe that right would have been lost on the expulsion from Eden, but I will not discuss theology here.  I will discuss dominion, or ruling, however.  What kind of ruler slaughters all of his or her subjects? Nero, Stalin, Hitler, etc. Are they the definitive representatives of our god-given behaviour? Of our species?

A respect and a consideration for other species should come from more than our desire for survival, more than our desire to have beautiful places to visit and animals to observe. It should come from our desire to be better human beings. For some people, the market and its cruelties takes priority over all other needs, but most people feel that there is a limit, a barrier they will not cross. For most people, there are things that we will not do, no matter how much money we might get if we did. Those people have a sense of right and wrong, a sense of decency, and courage, and those are senses that we want to instill in our children. They will be better people for it and there will be a better future for us all.

William Blake put it most clearly:

A Robin Redbreast in a Cage

A robin redbreast in a cage

Puts all heaven in a rage;

A dog starved at his master's gate

Predicts a ruin of the State;

A game-cock clipped and armed for fight

Doth the rising sun affright;

A horse misused upon the road

Calls to heaven for human blood;

Each outcry of the hunted hare

A fiber from the brain doth tear;

A skylark wounded on the wing

Doth make a cherub cease to sing;

He who shall hurt the little wren

Shall never be belovèd by men;

The beggar's dog and widow's cat,

Feed them and thou shalt grow fat.

Discuss the meaning of this poem with children.

Go over it with them and explain that the poet is saying that a person who can inflict cruelty on an animal has cruelty as a part of his or her character. A person who is indifferent to suffering is selfish. Selfish and cruel people are not the society we want, for their selfishness and cruelty will extend to all aspects of their lives. And we don't want that.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

Technorati Profile

Animals With Mask Markings

Following on from the previous post about birds with bandit masks, we thought we might look at animals with mask markings, such as the three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegata) from Central and South America, the black and white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata) from Madagascar, and the North American raccoon (Procyon lotor) . 

       

Depending on where you are, you may have seen one of these animals in your garden or on a trip to the forest. At least, you and the children may have seen them at the local zoo. 

Masks on animals may have inspired the first primitive masks. If, in animals, they serve to frighten off predators, when humans donned them long ago, they were meant to give a certain power to the wearer. Now, but for occasional moments in theatre, they are just for fun.

                                    

Make masks

Really, there are so many good downloads for children's mask activities that we will not add another. Here are a few that we liked:

http://holidays.kaboose.com/craft-animalmask.html

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/animal_masks_to_print.htm

http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/learning/masks

http://www.countrysidefoundation.org.uk/resources/activities/activitiesindex.htm

http://www.theholidayspot.com/halloween/freemasks/index.htm

http://pbskids.org/africa/mask/index.html

Extend this subject

• Combine this mask activity with the bird masks and have one big mask day.

• In both cases, find on a map the continents (and island!) where these animals and birds are native. When the children have made and are wearing their masks, group them according to continent . Remind them of what the season is at the moment on that continent and have them demonstrate what they would be doing in that weather.

  
And have fun! 

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

Technorati Profile

Masked Birds

Learning about animal characteristics can help children to learn to observe. As you progress with the outdoor  observation activities, it will be possible to teach children to see more, and to begin to make comparisons. Here we present one example.

Many animals and birds have colouring that looks to us like eye masks. The Blue Dacnis (Dacnis cayana) in South America, the Masked Laughingthrush (Garrulax perspicillatus) in Asia, and some of the nuthatches ( Sitta europaea and Sitta canadensis) in Europe and North America all are examples of birds with a black band across their eyes:

   

    

Biologists do not really know why that type of colouring evolved. The strongest theory is that it makes the eyes (and thus the bird) seem larger and that predators will be scared off. That makes sense for masks that look like huge circles around the eyes, but we are not so sure about the type of mask that looks like a bandit's. Such a marking does not make the eyes seem bigger; it makes them seem to disappear. Perhaps that scares predators too. 

In a class discussion, we asked children (aged 6-7) why they thought birds would have such a mask across their faces. Here are some of the responses:

• Maybe it is some kind of a crook
• So the bugs could not see it eat them 
• It looks cool 

I rather like the idea of charitable colouring preventing insects from knowing what ate them. Even more, I like the idea that the colouring is just "cool" and that birds, at least potential mates, think so too, as if these were a group of Zorro species. 

Make bird masks

All you need is a roll of black crepe paper. Cut a strip for each child. Let them cut eye holes, and tie the strip around their heads. Ask them to choose which of the four masked birds above they want to be, and to draw a picture of it. 

To help them decide, if you have classroom computers and the internet, go to the Internet Bird Collection  http://ibc.lynxeds.com/

and look at some videos of them. Remember to type the Latin name into the search box to get straight to the correct bird.

Discussion

Ask them why they think these birds have such a masking. Get them discussing and exchanging ideas. Do send in their ideas, please! 

Extend the observation

The next time you go outdoors, ask the children to look for other similarities in colouring in nature .

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

Technorati Profile

A Tale of a Prince and a Rainforest

Once upon a time there was an Emperor who lived in a beautiful city by the sea. On the hills behind the city was a great forest full of monkeys and butterflies and birds. Through the forest passed rivers of clean water for the people in the city to drink. The air of the city was clean and cool; the summers were warm and pleasant.

When people needed wood for their houses and furniture or to pulp for their books and papers, they cut a few trees from the forest. When they wanted land for the farmers to grow coffee, they cut away some more trees of the forest. As the city grew bigger, the forest grew smaller.

Time went on and life changed. It rained more often and longer. The rainwater flooded down the hills where the forest used to be, washing mud into the river. The summers were hotter and hotter and lasted longer. The Emperor in his palace felt that his city was not so comfortable anymore.

The Emperor called together all of the wisest people from all across his vast realm. He gathered them in one room of the palace and ordered them to tell him why it rained so much more, why it was so much hotter, why the water was too muddy to drink, why his beautiful city was no longer a very pleasant place to be.

"I give you one day to study and discuss and find the answer," the Emperor told them.  He left the room and walked down the corridor. He was surprised to see their messenger coming after him. "What is this?" asked the Emperor, scowling a little.  "Do you think you will need more time to solve this difficult problem?"

"No, Your Highness. We have the solution and beg you please to return." The Emperor did so and stood before the wise people.

"Well? "

"You have cut down all of the forest," they said.

"So what?" said the Emperor. "My people needed wood for their many things, and land for coffee. That is not what made the clouds rain more and the sun shine hotter and the river muddy."

"We will explain," said the wise people. "Where there is a forest, the trees and plants take up the rain water and hold it in their roots and leaves, so the evaporation is slower and rain clouds are formed more slowly. This makes the rain come less often. Where there is a forest, the roots of all the trees hold the earth in place so it does not wash into the river to make it muddy. Where there is a forest, the trees give shade and filter the air, and that makes a cooler and cleaner air for the wind to blow over the city. Now that the forest is gone, there is nothing to hold the water and the earth and nothing to clean the air."

The Emperor sat down on his throne with a thump.

"Build things!" shouted his advisor, who was not a wise person. "Build big nets to filter the air! Build giant fans to cool the air! Build walls along the river to keep the mud out! Build giant umbrellas all over the city to keep the rain and sun off!"

Fortunately, the Emperor was wiser than that.

"No, I will bring back the forest." He gave orders for the coffee plants to be pulled up and all the hills around the city to be replanted with trees. Thousand and thousands of trees, the same kind as were there before, were planted.  It took some time, but the forest came back, and so did the monkeys and the birds and the butterflies. The city breathed better, the rains came less, the air was cooler, the river water was no longer muddy.

The Emperor wanted the forest protected and made it a park where people could stroll, but no plant or animal could be killed. That was a long time ago; the forest is still there and the people of the city are still grateful to the Emperor.

                 

The forest is called Tijuca Forest. It is the largest urban forest in the world. The Emperor's name was Dom Pedro II. The city is Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

If You Were an Emperor or Empress, What Would You Plant?

Ask the children to think of what trees or plants they know and like. Perhaps they have been to a forest and know what one is; perhaps they need to imagine so many trees together that they cannot see much of the sky. What kind of forest would they make? Could they draw a picture of the tree or forest they like?

Add a Geography Aspect

Find Brazil and  Rio de Janeiro on a map. Tijuca is part of the Atlantic Rainforest, not the Amazon rainforest. On the map, see how far the Amazon region is from Rio. Find pictures of the two kinds of forests and compare.

If you live in Great Britain, your own Prince Charles is taking a leaf from the book of Dom Pedro II for he has started an important project to help rainforests : http://www.princesrainforestsproject.org  .

Here is an interesting article about Tijuca:

Learning From Rio's Green Spaces

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

Technorati Profile

Autumn Leaves

It is autumn in the southern hemisphere. In the south of Chile and Argentina, the southern beech (Nothofagus) trees' leaves are turning colour and in New Zealand, the poplar leaves have all gone yellow. Creatures and plants are preparing for a cold and windy season to come.

There are numerous explanations of the seasons using the life cycle of a tree. We thought we would use a leaf this time....with a mouse. The following craft not only explains the changes a leaf goes through, but how it is a part of the larger world. The resulting drawing allows the child who made it to use it as a small storytelling prop.

The Leaf and Mouse Storytelling Prop

Download Half a leaf 

Download this sketch or make your own of the same shape.

Make enough copies for each child to have one.

Ask the children to:

Fold the paper along the base of the shape and cut out the shape.

Keeping it folded, draw a simple mouse:nose, whiskers, eye, ear.

Colour the mouse grey.

Turn the mouse over and on this side, draw the veins of a leaf.

Colour this half of a leaf brown.

Open the shape and draw the veins of a leaf on both sides.

Colour one side green and one side yellow.

To Tell the Story of a Leaf

Each child now can:

Hold up the green side and explain that when leaves bud and unfold, they are green.

Turn the shape and hold up the yellow side and say that leaves turn yellow in the autumn when the weather turns colder.

Open the shape and refold it to show the brown side and tell how the leaves die, turn brown and fall to the ground.

Turn the shape and show the mouse who needs a home.

Open the shape and show the mouse and the brown leaf together and tell how a mouse will use dead leaves to make a nest.

Fold the mouse and brown side together and say that now the mouse is warm in her nest of leaves.

THE END

Now the children can take home their project and explain the changes in leaves to their families.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

Technorati Profile