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Educator's E-newsletter
| November 18, 2011
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 A Look at the Season's Main Events Virginia Barlow Third Week of November Frail, light tan Bruce spanworm moths, also called Hunter's moths, may be abundant in sugar maple stands on sunny days from mid October through November.
The white midribs of the leaves and the bright red berries of partridgeberry both contribute to the good cheer spread by this ground-hugging plant.
Snow geese may still be passing through.
Fourth Week of November
Healthy bear cubs now weigh at least 75 pounds and will soon follow their mothers into winter dens.
In cold weather, carpenter ants cluster together in the center of their nest and are helplessly sluggish. Luna moth cocoons, wrapped in leaves, have fallen to the ground. 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. |
Understanding Deer Sex Ratios
Kip Adams
Rifle season opens this week in Vermont and New Hampshire, and doe:buck ratios will be a hot topic of conversation around the cribbage board at deer camp. For those who aren't up on their deer-herd lingo, the ratio of does to bucks in the woods is one indicator of how well the deer herd is being managed. The more balanced the sex ratio (the same number of does and bucks), the better...
Full Article TextDownload the Article
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 Biomass and the Northern Forest
Sandra Murphy
The Burning Question: Is Biomass Right for the Northeast? By Chuck Wooster
Wooster's article will introduce students to one of the hottest debates currently under way in the Northern Forest. The article raises the central issues in the biomass debate-to what extent does burning biomass raise atmospheric carbon levels and contribute to climate change? How much biomass can the Northern Forest yield while maintaining optimal health? What are the benefits and liabilities of our increasing utilization of this local, renewable source of energy? Have your students explore the issue by role-playing a community forum on utilizing biomass for fuel and energy. First, students will need to identify the stakeholders in this issue-loggers, truckers, schools burning biomass for heat, forest ecologists, and many more. Encourage students to include non-human stakeholders-trees, soil, atmosphere, etc. Each student should choose a role and research the impacts of biomass burning on the stakeholder they chose. Encourage them to move beyond black-and-white side-choosing and look at both the positive and negative impacts that exist for each stakeholder. Allow each student two to three minutes to present their case, then open the forum to discussion, with students maintaining their role-playing identities. The article draws from several primary sources of information that your students can use in researching, available on-line at the websites listed below. Websites: Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy Study, by the Manomet Center for Conservation Studies. You'll find the study as well as follow-up statements responding to issues raised in the press after the study was released. Download the Teacher's Guide (This activity is on page 2) Download the Article: The Burning Question: Is Biomass Right for the Northeast? 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!
With late November's trees free of leaves, things once hidden have been revealed. Laury Saligman shared this photo of clumps of leaves and twigs in a cluster of trees. What are they?
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 30, 2011. |
 Congratulations to our winner Deb Grabber of Millinocket, ME! Deb receives a copy of our book, The Outside Story.
Nope, this is not another early snowfall. But what is this fluffy, white stuff on the ground?
NW Answer: This is stream foam - sometimes called scum - washed up onto land due to recent flooding and left behind once the waters receded. While you may have grown up hearing that the foamy white bubbles were frog spit, in fact, they're created when organic compounds from decomposing plants or animals mix with air. When such compounds dissolve, they release cellular matter into the water, which reduces the water's surface tension. Wind comes along causing waves, agitating the surface and forming the bubbles. Visit our What In The Woods Is That? contest archive.
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Professional Development Opportunity in
New Hampshire
All midde and high school educators in New Hampshire are encouraged to check out A Forest For Every Classroom (FFEC), a year-long professional development series that gives educators the skills necessary to bring place-based education into their classrooms. Teachers develop their own curriculum that increases student literacy skills and fosters an understanding of and appreciation for the forested landscapes in their communities. The program is comprised of eleven days of professional development over the course of four seasons and a five day residential summer session. Most sessions are held in central New Hampshire at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. For more information about the next session of FFEC, click here.
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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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