So You Don’t Know All the Answers
think about why it is okay to not know the answer to every question posed by the students. After you have thought for a moment read on.
Plan Ahead
Have you ever seen a hydrophone? Neither had I until I visited the Scripps Research Institute to learn about ocean studies. That’s the thing I’m holding in the picture at the top of this post. The researcher who gave us our tour studies whale audiology. If you’re looking for something to do, he needs help analyzing data from hours and hours of audio. Or something like that.
We toured Scripps the first morning we were in San Diego for the NAAEE (North American Association for Environmental Education) annual conference in San Diego in October 2015. Frankly, I was impressed! I didn’t think I’d ever heard of the organization and the conference looked really good.
I realized that I’ve used their materials for a long time. Most recently, NAAEE’s Excellence in Environmental Education provided guideposts for developing Teachers-Going-Green.com.
The focus of the conference was on diversity and inclusion in environmental education–subjects near and dear to my heart. So much to learn and think about. The workshop sessions were well attended, planful and informative. The NAAEE leadership is enthusiastic and positive. The last keynote, a panel of young leaders under 21 years old; their take on environmental stewardship was inspiring.
Shelly Johnson, Education Coordinator at Next Step Adventure, and I attended a variety of sessions. We were particularly interested in a monitoring project called CIMBY (Calumet Is My Back Yard) that the Field Museum in Chicago is doing with high schools in the Calumet region of south Chicago. Ideas percolated from the sessions and from visits with other educators from California, New Mexico and Michigan, to name a few.
Along with the beautiful campus at Scripps we visited the Birch Aquarium; I’ve always been a sucker for tide pools. We kayaked a fairly choppy Pacific Ocean off the La Jolla beach and caves. We got to visit the world class San Diego Zoo, and on our first afternoon we soaked in the California vibe in Balboa Park.
Balboa Park Conservatory
We came home looking forward to the 2016 conference. And guess what? It’s in Madison, Wisconsin, relatively close-to-home!! It would be a great thing to send a strong and long Iowa delegation there next October 18-22nd. What do you think? Sound like a good idea? Let’s get going!
Connect to Mother Earth
I walked into the kitchen and had to squint. The morning sun was shining brightly through the door. It’s been a challenging winter; judging by the number of people walking and running outside yesterday, we’re ready for it to end. The cardinals, goldfinch and house finches are emptying my bird feeders again.
I’m itching to get back into my garden—fantasizing about trimming my redbud tree, opening my pond and hanging a set of Japanese lanterns above the Old Pond Garden. It’s time to bring the compost bucket back into the kitchen and thaw the lid on the composting bin. These are all ways I connect with my mother, the earth.
John Muir, naturalist said, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” Earth is where we come from. One of the strongest connections we have, but we rarely think of it.
I’m taking my classes outside to collect materials for spring art projects. Their resistance reinforced my concern that many kids don’t have the love of the soil and all that grows from it. Richard Louv’s article is hopeful abut helping kids connect to the earth, and how it will help us create the solutions to our Mother Earth’s challenges.
In a speech at Drake University last fall, President Olafur Grimsson of Iceland highlighted the connections between ice, energy, and food. “As the Greenland glaciers and the Arctic sea ice continue to melt faster than ever and NASA issues extreme warnings, some of us ask, a bit bewildered: Why does the political and corporate leadership of most countries honour and respect the Space Agency because it landed a man on the Moon, and recently a robot on Mars, but ignore it altogether when it gives us alarming news about Mother Earth?”
Viewing the Earth as mother gives us a paradigm for our origination from Earth, living as part of Earth, our expected return to Earth, recycled just as all biomass is recycled. When we know at a deep level that we are the Earth, we listen to the warnings and look for the creative solutions.
There are several answers, none really easy. The big answer is, “Use less energy.” Considerably less. Until we have clean energy sources that don’t add to climate change, decreasing the use of fossil fuels really makes a difference.
For me, this involves combining trips in my car, walking or riding my bike when I can. What does it look like for you? Please join the conversation.
Find Your True Nature
Find your true nature. Then resist it. We’ve been exploring this concept in yoga lately, and often the question is why? Another is how? Here’s a story that answers both questions.
Back in 2004 (thanks Beth!) we built the Adventure Learning Center. We scheduled training with Junior from Wisconsin. I loved Junior. I probably owe him my life. I certainly owe him insight into my true nature.
I spent the first two days of training on the ground. This was possible since we started on the low course where elements are only twelve to eighteen inches high. To be honest, I was actually a little scared of those!
When we did play around on the highs, I carried ladders with my friend Jeff who was also determined to remain grounded. We learned to belay really well. Then at the end of Day Two Junior told us the last three days of training would be exclusively on the high course, 40-60 feet above the ground.
I lay awake Tuesday night, filled with fear. Some people dream of flying. I dream of falling. One thing you do with fear is look for ways to avoid doing the thing you’re afraid of.
I decided I’d “experience” the high elements, but not set them up. I could stay on belay and I wouldn’t have to set up the belay system that could mean life or death to a climber. Seemed reasonable to me.
Until that morning when we got to the ALC. Junior put us into four groups of three and told us our first task was to climb a pole, set up and take down its element. I could no longer see a reasonable way to avoid climbing and setting up.
I don’t ask others to do things I’m unwilling to do myself. So, climb I would. The tower held a cargo net and a giant ladder as well as the climbing wall. Setting up meant fastening the belay system to a cable running above my reach around the perimeter of the tower.
We set a ladder against the northeastern telephone pole and lashed it to the pole with bungee cords. I don’t know who went first, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t me. I believed my true nature was to stay on the ground. I had a visceral, palpable fear of heights. When we took our kids to the Rockies, I spent a good deal of time pulling the boys back from the edges of cliffs.
Making it to the top of the ladder wasn’t so bad, but then finding the giant staples sticking out of the pole, getting a purchase on them and figuring out where my left foot should go was another huge challenge. Especially since I was shaking.
Not only was the footwork challenging, but I was using lobster claws for the first time (I was also on belay thank god). By the time I got to the top and locked the carabiners on the cable I was shaking AND crying.
I had bruised and cut my legs and arms reaching for staples and navigating the railing, but there I was at the top with task accomplished. Cheers came up not only from Eric and Corinne but from the whole group. I had done what I never expected to do. I had resisted my nature.
Over the next two years I gained confidence in my ability to set up the belay system correctly, keep at least one lobster claw clipped to my harness and one to the pole. I learned to love being perched at the top of a gently swaying telephone pole, just a little closer to flying in the clouds.
Save the Earth
It’s not hard to be in the moment when you’re at the beach. This morning we saw a dolphin, a wild one, close enough to be amazed at its size. They are REALLY big! Much bigger than they look on TV. It moved away from us but we continued to see its fin as it swam through the Gulf waters.
It’s easy to be cynical about the damage we’re doing to the earth these days. We seem to forget what a tiny part of the system human kind represents. But it only takes a dandelion poking through a crack in the sidewalk to remind me how resilient nature is.
“Another world is not only possible, she’s on the way and, on a quiet day, if you listen very carefully you can hear her breathe, ” I find this quote from Arundhati Roy really encouraging. When I look at the world this way it’s easier to continue efforts at recycling, limiting travel and other small steps that lower my carbon footprint. Believe me, it’s still bigger than I’d like but it’s all about small steps.
I look to serve the cause of the earth, its flora and fauna. My mind goes right to my garden as I write this, to the creatures who drink from my stream and bird baths, the birds who eat at the feeder and the deer who occasionally nip the rosebuds from my bushes. The word serve is operative here.
Service comes from the spirit rather than the ego. When we serve, it is from a level playing field. We engage friends and neighbors as equals, listen to their ideas and needs and find creative ways to join those needs and ideas with our own.
The earth and Iowa in particular are rich with potential solutions to the crises we face today—clean water and local food in particular. However, the best way to address them is to start in our own homes and communities.
Often we forget the resiliency of the natural world, and take on too much responsibility for her survival. This perspective can lead to cynicism and hopelessness. To turn the trashing of the earth around, we must remain hopeful and courageous.
Grow Your Own
I got a taste of farm life in Kyla’s backyard the other day, even though it’s in the heart of Des Moines. The ducks waddling around remind me of my parents’ tenure on our family farm in Missouri in the late 1970s. Their ducks made great pets until the snapping turtles in the pond rendered them extinct.
Ducks are natural comedians. The way they walk. QUAck quackquackquack quACK. The way they make mudcakes and splash in their baby pool. Jefe (Boss) and Guapito (Little Handsome) stick out their chests and vie for dominance of the females and the yard. Jefe has an ongoing competition with the dog next door, and I wasn’t so sure my Tater cat could take him on.
Roosters can be really fierce too. After her sophomore year of college my daughter worked on an organic vegetable farm in Colorado. She cared for the chickens, and one night a rooster kept her captive in the barn for about 45 minutes. Though she professes not to like chickens, they’ve played prominent roles in several of Lucy’s jobs. At Scattergood Friends School her chore team took care of the poultry and egg operation. At her new position at Hershey Montessori School outside Cleveland, Ohio, she is developing a science unit about chickens to present next spring. That got me all excited about hatching chicks.
When I was about seven my Dad built an incubator for my oldest sister’s science fair project. I bugged Alice mercilessly as she dissected eggs at various stages and illustrated each stage of chicken development. A couple of the eggs hatched and grew into hens. Daddy insisted they were delicious, but none of us ate a bite.
Though she doesn’t plan to butcher her ducks or chickens, Kyla is an urban farmer. In addition to the four ducks, she has nine laying hens. The five older hens bully the four chicks she added to her flock earlier in the summer, so she has to separate them. This process takes place in a pen about the size of a small bedroom.
Farming in such a small space has added to the challenge of a difficult summer. When Kyla started digging up her front yard, the neighbors had a fit, but it was the only place in their yard sunny enough to grow much. Now it is a beautiful tapestry of strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, dill, blueberries, squash, beans and pumpkins. You can barely resist exploring more closely.
Kyla and I are hosting an Edible Urban Garden Tour to spread the word about the rewards you can reap in a small space in the city. Kyla’s garden will be one of five gardens we’ll visit on Saturday, September 29, 2012 between 11 am & 2 pm. We want to spark a conversation about growing your own tomatoes and herbs, or starting a backyard farm like Kyla’s. It’s a fundraiser for Des Moines Public Schools gardens, an we can handle a limited number of people, so sign up early!
Feed the Birds
I thought dinosaurs were extinct, but guess what! I just found out birds are avian dinosaurs. COOL! I’m not that surprised; their fierceness reminds me of dinosaurs sometimes! A few weeks ago, we thought our little black cat might be about to catch a cardinal that was ground feeding by the house. Turned out she wasn’t the only one watching him. He suddenly flew hard into the window, and before I could say “No Rosy!” a hawk swooped down, grabbed the cardinal and ate him for breakfast.
Still, the wonder outweighs the gross factor. A couple years ago I applied to the National Wildlife Federation to make my yard an official wildlife refuge. I have all the requirements–food, cover, and water, and I won the designation. But I haven’t posted the sign; I don’t want the deer to think I really WANT them back there!
It all began when we tore out the pool and deck, and could finally SEE the back yard. I set up a bird feeding station, where we feed suet, safflower, thistle, and a mix all year. In the spring I try like crazy to entice Baltimore Orioles with oranges, jelly and syrup, but so far they just flash through the woods. When they’re gone, I put out a couple hummingbird feeders. The Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds are fiercest of all.
It’s at least as important to provide water as food. I love watching birds splash around in my little stream in the warmer months, and I have a heated birdbath in front in winter.
One of the lessons in the 2nd Grade Clean and Green program I’m designing for Keep Iowa Beautiful is called “Celebrate Urban Birds.” Teachers use the activities to help kids understand how green spaces in neighborhoods affect birds, and use math skills of sorting, grouping, counting and adding. Another lesson is called “Birds of a Feather,” and teaches several concepts by having kids identify with eagles, robins, goldfinches or crows.
Classrooms can expand on the lesson by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count. This year it’s February 17-20, 2012. I’m going to use the video and other resources at this link to prepare for counting birds in my backyard, but you can count in a schoolyard, park or anywhere. Here’s another video that chronicles nature photography over the decades. It’s actually what got me started on this post when it showed up in my mailbox this morning.
Last winter, the Decorah eagles were an international hit. Over the last couple weeks, they’ve begun getting their nest ready for a family. It’s entertaining to watch the female carefully place a stick, only to have the male move it to the other side of the nest. Last year the eggs hatched around April first, and you can get in on the travels of one of last year’s hatchlings here. Feeding time may be difficult for the tenderhearted, but watching nature gives a perspective on reality you can’t get any other way.
Go Out and Play!
Watch my last “We’re Entrepreneurs, We Can Help” show recorded live on July 7, 2011. Ray Morley, Patti Petersen-Keys and I talk about our favorite things to do outdoors–how it feeds our inner kid, and why we want you to come out and play with us.
Patti is the Education Coordinator for Polk County Conservation. Her naturalists have developed programs that engage people from 3 to 93. They’ve developed a series of videos called “Get Outside” that give just enough information to make you actually want to try ice fishing. Or kayaking. Or horseback riding.
Ray has developed a trap shooting program in Ankeny that is expanding to six schools this fall. Listen to the discussion of the benefits of playing outdoors, a variety of opportunities to play outside, and then come out and play with us!
Plant a Garden
I’m gardening with the Earth Heroes from Carver Community School‘s Boys and Girls Club this season. When I first saw how little these mostly second graders are, I thought there’s no way they can farm the 20 raised beds at the Des Moines Botanical Center.
But Jose sums it up–“Miss Martha, when I’m special, I work really hard.” And the Earth Heroes ARE special. Really special.
Earth Heroes
The second day in the garden, Water Works dumps a big load of compost for us. I look at the kids and I look at the compost, and I think “No Way!” Well, that pile of compost disappears one shovel full. One trowel full. One wheelbarrow full at a time. Not only do they haul it to the beds, they clear weeds and debris from last year’s garden and rake the beds smooth. They plant seeds indoors and outdoors–peas, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, okra, onions, leeks, lettuce, broccoli, spinach and radishes.
This is the fourth year for the gardeners. So, they have mature beds of asparagus (YUM!) and strawberries. Heres’ what the kids are learning in the garden.
- Weeding.
Asparagus is Yummy!
- It’s fun to get your hands dirty.
- Asparagus tastes good.
- How a worm feels.
Then I read this article about gardening in Detroit, Michigan, and how it’s changing the city. The Earth Heroes’ garden at the Botanical Center is changing the relationship between the neighborhood and the Botanical Center. It’s connecting the school and the community. There’s no vandalism any more. People come down to get a share the produce.
This year, the kids will open a food stand between 4 & 6 pm on Thursday afternoons. So, stop by some Thursday afternoon, and watch a handful of kids changing Des Moines.
Clean and Green Your Second Grade Class
With this Clean and Green Second Grade Program Guide, the first phase of the Keep Iowa Beautiful service learning, litter-free schools, environmental education, character building program is officially ready for piloting! With help from the Waste Commission of Scott County, Character Counts! in Iowa, Davenport Public Schools, we are ready to send teachers and kids out to the playground and community to find ways to make them better while they are learning the essential concepts of the Common Core Second Grade State Standards for Mathematics, Life Science, Social Studies, Literacy and 21st Century Skills. The Second Grade Matrix of 20 activities is based on the Core and the Four Keys of Character Education-safe, challenging community, self study, other study and public performance-to assure that we help teachers incorporate best practice in their classrooms.
The guide is flexible; it has engaging activities for the classroom, afterschool and summer programs. Each of the activities can stand on its own, but it will be more powerful if used as a comprehensive unit. During this pilot year, we’ll collect feedback from as many of you as possible, and change the program guide in response to that feedback. Watch this Web Site for online surveys, send feedback to Martha McCormick, or add your comments to this post itself.