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Educator's E-newsletter
| November 4, 2011
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 A Look at the Season's Main Events Virginia Barlow First Week of November A cattail flowerhead has tiny seeds and is mostly fluff. Now used by mice for insulation, in spring it will be used to line bird nests.
Ash and birch seeds stay on the trees well into winter, providing food for finches.
When beechnuts and acorns are scarce, bears will search for food over a wide area.
Second Week of November
Rattlesnake plantain (really an orchid) stays green all winter. The leaves are covered with a net of white veins and grow in a small rosette.
Great blue herons are often seen this late in the year, but these stragglers will soon be gone. Aspen buds are a favorite food of ruffed grouse. These listing are based on observations and reports in our home territory at about 1,000 feet in elevation in central Vermont and are approximate. Events may occur earlier or later, depending on your latitude, elevation - and the weather. |
The Early Forecast Calls For Snow
Chuck Wooster
If you're a fan of a good, old-fashioned New England winter, with snow piling up under the eaves, you'll be pleased to know that we're going to have a La Niņa this year. If you can't tell a La Niņa from an El Niņo, and also can't recall old-fashioned New Englanders speaking Spanish when talking about the weather, read on...
Full Article TextDownload the Article
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"My Dream for Education"
Click here to read the notes from Coleen O'Connell's inspirational keynote speech "My Dream for Education" at the New England Environmental Education Alliance's 45th annual conference on October 22nd in Charlton, MA. O'Connell, a professor at Lesley University, weaves sustainability, systems thinking, deep ecology, intentional communities, and traditional indigenous knowledge into her teaching practice. Click here to learn more about O'Connell, here to see pictures from the conference, or here to learn more about NEEEA.
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 Connecting With Wildlife
Sandra Murphy
As Still as a Stump: How to Have a Close Encounter of the Wild Kind, by David C. Brown
In this article, David Brown describes his up-close experiences with wildlife. He notes that one of the best ways to see wildlife is to sit and wait. Some of your students may be hunters and so have experience with this, but for others, sitting quietly outdoors and watching wildlife may be a new experience. Give students "do-nothing" homework - have them find a comfortable spot in the woods to sit quietly and motionless for a half-hour at a time, preferably at dawn or dusk, and record any wildlife they see or hear. If the school has a bird feeding station, you can place a chair nearby and have students sit quietly there.
Have students write a poem or essay about their experiences involving encounters with wildlife.
Stalking wild animals to see them up close can disturb wildlife and endanger the viewer. Discuss wildlife viewing ethics. What are appropriate and inappropriate ways to interact with wildlife and why? Why is it OK to feed some animals (songbirds at the birdfeeder), but not others? Discuss helpful tools for seeing animals up close without getting too close (binoculars, spotting scope, camera with telephoto lens). Younger students can choose an ethic to illustrate in a poster. Older students can research and report on a particular ethic or on wildlife viewing ethics as a whole, drawing from scientific studies on wildlife behavior and from the many news stories about people who have paid the price for viewing wildlife from too close a distance. You'll find links to useful viewing ethics websites below. Websites: A few of the many useful sites that discuss wildlife viewing ethics: New Hampshire Fish and Game Department & Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Download the Teacher's Guide (This activity is on page 2) Download the Article: As Still as a Stump: How to Have a Close Encounter of the Wild Kind Click here for the complete Teacher's Guide archive!
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WHAT IN THE WOODS IS THAT?
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 Our Biweekly Guessing Game!
Nope, this is not another early snowfall. But what is this fluffy, white stuff on the ground?
Every other week we run a photo of something unusual found in the woods. Guess what it is and you'll be eligible to win a copy of The Outside Story, a paperback collection of our Outside Story newspaper columns. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner's name, will appear in next week's column.
This week's contest deadline is 8:00 AM, Wednesday, November 16, 2011. |
 Congratulations to our winner Hank Golet of Old Lyme, CT! Hank receives a copy of our book, The Outside Story.
Kyle Jones took this close-up shot of a tree's root wad with a small hole at its center. What do you suppose made this hole?
NW Answer: A winter wren's nest.Wrens are cavity nesters, and this particular wren took it upon himself to make use of an overturned tree's dense root wad to tunnel out a home for him and his family. While winter wrens living in the northern tier of our readership area have migrated south by now, you cannot miss their intricate song in the summer forest. These tiny birds have powerful voices - ounce for ounce, it's 10 times more powerful than a rooster's crow! Visit our What In The Woods Is That? contest archive.
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Planet Connect Get Green Video Contest
Planet Connect invites students aged 14-19 to demonstrate an idea using STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) that can help green their city in a 30-120 second video. The videos should capture an innovative idea using two or more of the elements of STEM to make a town or city greener, more sustainable, and a model of 21st century living. Prizes include a Samsung Galaxy Tab, a Netbook, an HD camcorder, and the opportunity for their videos to be broadcast on Eco Company TV, a nationally televised program. The deadline to enter is 3 PM EST on December 8, 2011. Click here to find out how your students can participate!
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If you are an educator who finds Northern Woodlands magazine useful in your classroom, you are eligible for a complimentary subscription. Simply e-mail your completed registration form to the NWGTS coordinator Emily Rowe.
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We Welcome Your Questions and Comments
Postal Address:
Northern Woodlands
1776 Center Road
P.O. Box 471
Corinth, VT 05039
Toll-Free: (800) 290-5232
Phone: (802) 439-6292
Fax: (802) 439-6296
Email: emily@northernwoodlands.org
General inquiries form
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The mission of the Center for Northern Woodlands Education is to advance a culture of forest stewardship in the Northeast and to increase understanding of and appreciation for the natural wonders, economic productivity and ecological integrity of the region's forests. Our programs give people the information they need to help build a sustainable future for our region. Through Northern Woodlands magazine, the Northern Woodlands Goes to School program, and special publications, we make a difference in how people care for their land.
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