Your enthusiasm for nature will be noticed by children A love of nature begins in childhood; every boy and girl is a budding naturalist. This should come as no surprise. Up until the agricultural revolution and, later, the emigration into villages and cities, humans grew up and lived in intimate Read more…
Take a moment to envision the most meaningful place of your childhood. There’s a good chance that it was somewhere outdoors. Ours, however, may be the last generation to remember what it’s like to deeply connect with nature. Why? Because children around the world today spend as much as 90% Read more…
One of the greatest gifts you can give a child is a sense of wonder in the natural world and how everything in nature can be explained by science and critical thinking. And nowhere is there a better example of the power of critical thinking than when it comes to Read more…
Kids make great amateur scientists. They love to ask “why” questions. “Why is the monarch butterfly so colourful? Why does it start life as a caterpillar? Why does it migrate? Thanks to Charles Darwin, we now understand that questions such as these are entitled to an evidence-based answer – and Read more…
“Take one child. Place outdoors in nearby green spaces. Leave for several hours at a time. Repeat daily. Sprinkle in a dash of adventure. Fold in a generous portion of exploration and discovery. Top with wonder and awe. Let rise…” Not long ago, my friend Jacob and I took a Read more…
Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in how to make people more aware of evolution and how it manifests itself in even the most common backyard species. The evolutionary “story” of the Monarch is every bit as compelling as that of the whale. Understanding how the pressures Read more…
“From dewy lanes at morning The grapes’ sweet odors rise; At noon the roads all flutter With yellow butterflies By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer’s best of weather, And autumn’s best of cheer” – Helen Hunt Jackson This week, I would like to propose some Read more…
Note: In the original version of this article, as published in the Examiner on Nov. 7, several large blocks of text were accidentally omitted. The article is to be reprinted in the next day or two. “Jackson Park…Amazing, Fun…Listening, Discovering, Watching… Bike Rides, Water Falls…Running, Sitting, Staring…Peaceful, Colourful…Nature” Catherine Read more…