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Educator's E-newsletter
| March 23, 2012
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 A Look at the Season's Main Events Virginia Barlow Fourth Week of March The brown creeper's thin, sibilant song can now be heard in mixed woods throughout northern New England: see see see see.
Silver maples are flowering, well before red maples, which in turn flower well before sugar maples.
A litter of 2-4 baby northern flying squirrels is born. Southern flying squirrels will give birth a couple of weeks later.
First Week of April
Downy and hairy woodpeckers are excavating nest holes. It takes downies about 16 days to complete the job; 20 days for hairies.
Painted turtles are among the earliest turtles to come out of hibernation. They have even been seen swimming below ice.
Raccoons are up and about and trying to wreck birdfeeders at night.
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. |
A Low Snow Winter's Winners and Losers
Madeline Bodin
This past winter is on pace to have one of the lowest snowfall totals in 100 years - just as last year's snowfall total was one of the highest ever recorded. A winter with so little snow has its share of winners and losers. Skiers and snowmobilers lose. Hikers, and even golfers, win...
Full Article TextDownload the Article
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 Cultivating Self-Sufficiency
Sandra Murphy
A Man and a Team, by Jeffrey Lent
New Hampshire Homestead, by Malin Clyde
In his essay, Jeffrey Lent recalls a self-sufficient way of life uncommon today; David and C.C. White, described in Malin Clyde's article, are working to create such a way of life. The two articles offer tremendous opportunities for more extensive classroom learning.
A. Clyde's essay speaks of a level of self-sufficiency most of us can only imagine. Ask students to ponder their family's degree of self-sufficiency. What does their family produce to meet their needs for food, heat, clothing, energy, and entertainment? Ask them to come up with at least five things they can do to increase their self-sufficiency (grow a garden, tap a maple tree and make syrup, sew a quilt from fabric scraps, learn to play music, plant apple trees, and so on).
B. Lent's essay raises a critical issue: how do we measure efficiency? Our technological society is largely founded on the premise that machines increase efficiency and so are preferable to non-mechanized means of production. Ask students to consider Lent's description of his father's preference for horses over tractors. Which is more efficient and why? What metrics do students use to make their case? Encourage them to look at full cost accounting and factor in the usually externalized or subsidized costs associated with tractors (pollution, shipment of fossil fuels from around the world, and so on).
C. Give students a hypothetical 100-acre parcel of land, and have them design their own self-sufficient homestead. What would be its key elements? What needs must you meet and how would you meet them? Have them map their homestead and annotate each feature.
D. Have your students chart where their basic resources come from for one day (food, water, energy-transportation, heat, electricity). Then challenge them to prepare a "localvore" meal, with only foods raised within a 100-mile radius of their community.
E. How can you cultivate self-sufficiency in your school? Grow garden at school to supplement the school lunch program, erect a greenhouse to extend the growing season, encourage families to plant a section of their garden for the school. Have students brainstorm possibilities and choose one to act upon.
Download the Teacher's Guide
(This activity is on page 3)
Download the Articles:
A Man and a Team
New Hampshire Homestead
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!
These three trucks, featured in Northern Woodlands' new book, More Than a Woodlot, are all filled up and ready to go. Top to bottom, which is the load of pulp? Which is the load of sawlogs? Which is the load of firewood?
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, April 4, 2012. |
 Congratulations to our winner Susan Hayward of Lewiston, ME! Susan receives a copy of our book, The Outside Story.
Northern Woodlands' operations coordinator Emily Rowe, pictured here, is the Queen of our office, but that's no scepter in her hand. What is that tall item you see beside her?
NW Answer: Canada lily.
These tall stalks, topped with gorgeous oblongoid seed capsules, are the remains of last summer's Canada lilies (Lilium canadense). Within each of the two-inch capsules are several stacks of large, flattened seeds. In June, these wildflowers will blossom, displaying one to five flowerheads in orange, yellow, or red.
Visit our What In The Woods Is That? contest archive.
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Teachers Take to the WoodsThe Maine TREE Foundation is offering two four-day Teachers' Tours that combine math, science, technology, language arts, and social studies with current information about forest practices and technology. The tours are designed for educators of all backgrounds (formal and non-formal, PreK-12, college, scouts, home schoolers, etc.), and offer in-the-woods and at-the-mill learning for educators. The tours take place in July, and will be held at Maine's Rangeley Lakes and Western Mountains, and Leen's Lodge on West Grand Lake. Teachers will become certified as Project Learning Tree Teachers, and have the opportunity to earn 3.0 CEU's. For more information, click here or call (207) 621-9872. Position Announcement: Teatown Seeks Executive DirectorTeatown Lake Reservation, the largest private nature preserve and regional environmental education center in Westchester County, New York, seeks a dynamic Executive Director to provide vision and leadership. Located in the Lower Hudson Valley in the Towns of Yorktown, Cortlandt, and New Castle, Teatown Lake Reservation's mission is to conserve open space and educate and engage the regional community. Click here for the complete position description and to find out how to apply. Family Activities in the Upper ValleyJoin the Upper Valley Land Trust and Hulbert Outdoor Center for a free day of nature-themed fun and games for the whole family at the Lyme Hill Wetlands in Lyme, NH from 10 am - 2 pm on Sunday, April 1. Learn about the tricks local wildlife use to survive in their Upper Valley habitats through hands-on games and activities. The event is open from 10-2, and families can come and go as they please during that time. The event is geared for ages 4 and up, but younger children are welcome with a backpack or carrier (a stroller won't work on the varied terrain). So pack up the whole family, bring some snacks and your boots (it is mud season!) and come on out for some April Fool's Day fun. Heavy rain cancels, but not a little drizzle. Lyme Hill Wetlands is on Route 10 just south of the town of Lyme. Click here for more information!
Do you have news or an event you'd like to share? Let us know!
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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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