What's Your Nature?
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Just Our Nature - news, updates and insights
Nature Up North Teacher Workshop: A Community of Educators
By Conner Eldridge on
Blog: In the SchoolsIt has been a busy two days at the Nature Up North teacher workshop. Twelve educators from across the North Country convened to share our ideas for diverse learning experiences with an emphasis on local, natural features.
During the workshop, Nature Up North director Dr. Erika Barthelmess and project manager Jake Malcomb introduced us to Place-Based Learning. Their goal was to inspire us to take…
Touch-Me-Not: When a Weed is Not a Weed
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureBy definition, a weed is any plant growing where you don’t want it. To clarify, this holds true only in the garden beds or acreage under your cultivation. “Weeding” flowers in a park planter because they offend your sense of aesthetics is frowned upon.
To a plant, having “weed” embedded right in its name is probably akin to having a “Kick Me” sign on your back. Right out of the box there is…
Volcanoes in Northern New York?
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureWhen you think about it, trees in our landscape have it pretty rough. They don’t get to choose their neighborhood; good, bad or indifferent. Depending where they’re planted they may have to contend with “visits” from territorial dogs, “materials testing” by late-night fraternity mobs, entanglements with errant kites, and other issues.
Rooted in one spot day in and day out, year after year, they…
Six Nature Myths Busted
By Krista Sonia on
Blog: Just Our NatureHere at Nature Up North we hear a lot of great questions about wildlife and the outdoors. Do porcupines really shoot their quills? Will ticks fall on you from trees? What does it mean to be blind as a bat? Will a bird abandon its young if I touch them? To answer these questions, here are six common misconceptions about nature and the truth behind them! Which myths did you believe…
Lyme Disease Ecology Part Two: Is Biodiversity a Buffer?
By Jacob Malcomb on
Blog: Just Our Nature
You might be wondering – what does ecology have to do with my risk for catching Lyme disease, anyway? In our first post about Lyme disease, we introduced the blacklegged tick (also commonly called deer tick), the creepy crawly arachnid that transmits pathogens to unwitting hikers, hunters, and gardeners. As much as we’d like to blame ticks, and ticks alone, for getting us sick, it turns out…
Brambleberries: What's the Difference?
By Justin Dalaba on
It's about that time of year to begin harvesting fruits for jams and desserts. From July through September, bramble bushes across the North Country will be loaded with red raspberries, black raspberries and blackberries. You may have no trouble recognzing these berries as edible, but can you tell the difference?
Raspberries and blackberries go by many names, such as brambles, black caps,…
St. Lawrence River Field Day
By Justin Dalaba on
Blog: In the SchoolsOn June 10th 2015, Nature Up North hosted a St. Lawrence River field day for Jefferson Elementary 5th graders. Roughly 55 students came to Robert Moses Nature Center to learn about the watershed, pollution, macroinvertebrates and fishing. There were four total activities for kids to rotate through. The first activity was a nature walk discussing the interactions between water and land. The…
Powtoons from Colton-Pierrepont at Conservation Field Day
By Krista Sonia on
Blog: In the SchoolsOn June 4th 2015, Indian Creek Nature Center hosted Conservation Field Day! About 70 students from Colton-Pierrepont, Huevelton and Trinity schools came out to spend a day immersing themselves in the natural environment and becoming biologists for the day. At the event, Nature Up North held a nature scavenger hunt with digital cameras where students photographed their finds ranging from ferns and…
Pond Life Field Day at Indian Creek Nature Center
By Justin Dalaba on
Blog: In the SchoolsOn Thursday June 18th, more than 80 third graders from Norwood-Norfolk had the chance to learn about nature in many different ways at the Indian Creek Nature Center. The help of many environmental educators, each with their own station, made this field day possible. Students cycled through four stations, with themes including a forest hike, birdwatching lesson, and rocks and minerals.
Nature Up…
A Tale of Nine Lives
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
The two cats at my place have survived many life-threatening traumas such as falls, fights and even the compulsory “devotions” of small children. It’s amazing the hazards they can evade. I think if pets could drive, only dogs would get speeding tickets—cats would always find ways to wriggle out of a citation. Sadly, my contacts in the veterinary field continue to assert that cats have but a…
