A student shouts— “This one! This one’s ours!” and runs back for a measuring tape. She and her partner have found their assigned maple tree on the school lawn, and are about to record seasonal observations for the first of many weeks this fall. The student, a 7th grader at Norwood-Norfolk Middle School, is participating in Monitor My Maple - one of several citizen science initiatives at Nature Up North.

Ever made fire by hand? Students in the Intro the Environment and Society class at Colton-Pierrepont High School met with Dr. Timothy Messner, Archaeology professor at SUNY Potsdam, this September to learn how to make fire by hand using just a simple tool and the energy in their hands and breath. Below, students Summer Scovil and Ariel Garvin provide an insight into the experience:

I attended the Nature Up North Summer Workshop to find new ways to incorporate nature and to enhance my Nuts About Nature after school program. After two days of information overload and field experience, I was able to map out an entire school year of nature programs and activities!  It was wonderful to not only hear about what Nature Up North is doing but to feel like it could be integrated into an enrichment program in a truly meaningful manner for our students.

Let the adventure begin! Once again the NUN crew delivered on their promise to provide relevant and engaging environmental education activities to our area teachers. This year's group of teachers included some veteran's of the NUN program and a couple of newcomers. Participants were engaged throughout the two day workshop in activities such as an Encounter walk at Heritage park, MOWing the Grasse River, Meeting Trees and Monitoring Maples.

Stumbling upon a group of grown-ups in the midst of a snowball fight is a seldom sight to see. As we get older, we so easily fall into this concept of “adulthood” where all of a sudden engaging in play is no longer commonplace. There is this idea that you can only play like a kid if in fact you are a child or are in the presence of one.

The Robotics Team at McKenney Middle School in Canton has been working on a problem solving assignment as part of the regional robotics competition.  Below is their information about porcupines.  The image above is the mock-up of the road sign they propose using to reduce the rate at which porcupines are hit by cars.

North American Porcupine

Erethizon dorsatum

Tips and facts.

For the past two days, I have had the amazing experience of absorbing all things Nature Up North through a teacher workshop on the St. Lawrence University campus. As a local science teacher, I spend a lot of my summer...yes enjoying a well deserved break from the daily grind...but also reflecting on the past school year. I am always brainstorming ways to make science content in the classroom more tangible and relevant to my students. Through this workshop I have been inspired as to how to achieve this goal.

Are you a St. Lawrence County teacher interested in incorporating more nature-based learning into your lessons? Do you want to increase opportunities for integrating outdoor learning with STEM content? Nature Up North is offering a workshop for local teachers on August 3rd and 4th during which we will discuss ways to improve STEM learning through hands-on and place-based teaching strategies that also encourage students to connect with the local environment.   

During the month of September, students from Colton-Pierrepont Central School participated in the Monitor My Maple Project through Nature Up North.  Through this citizen science project, students at different grade levels are asked to monitor the phenology of the maple trees around campus over the course of several weeks.