DISCOVERING NATURE
Originally uploaded by Helena S.
“Today, many children know that the rainforest is being destroyed. They can tell you that polar bears are being threatened by climate change. They may even be able to talk about their own carbon footprint. However, sadly, many may find it difficult to name five trees in their own neighborhood or point to definitive signs of spring in their own backyard.”
Richard Louv and David Sobel use to the terms “Nature Deficit Disorder” and “Ecophobia,” to describe this growing disassociation with the living world.
<See greenerloudoun’s Children and Nature page>
By Lee Welles Posted February 24th, 2008
…My mother taught me not to do spring planting until the oak leaves were as big as a squirrel’s ear. (Unless you want to tempt the fates of frost, that is!) I was blessed to grow up on a farm and be taught the signals of seasonal change. Early immersion in the cycles of nature underpins the values held by many of us “greenies.”
A fun way to open your child’s eyes to the signs of spring and help scientist track global climate change at the same time! Project Bud Burst collects information on the budding, leafing and flowering of native species and uses that information to track the signs and progression of spring. Select a plant or tree in your area (think backyard, bus stop or schoolyard) and observe the phenological stage that it is in and begin to watch it for the tell tale signs of spring. <Read Full Post>
More About Project BudBurst
Project BudBurst is a national field campaign for citizen scientists designed to engage the public in the collection of important climate change data based on the timing of leafing and flowering of trees and flowers. BudBurst participants take careful observations of the phenological events such as the first bud burst, first leafing, first flower, and seed or fruit dispersal of a diversity of tree and flower species, including weeds and ornamentals. The citizen science observations and records are reported into the BudBurst data base.
Thousands of citizen scientists participated in the inaugural pilot test of Project BudBurst in 2007 and as a result useful data was collected in a consistent way across the country. Scientists can use this data to learn about the responses of individual plant species to climatic variation locally, regionally, and nationally, and to detect longer-term impacts of climate change by comparing with historical data. The enthusiastic response and robust participation in the 2007 pilot effort made it clear that there was sufficient interest from the American public to expand Project BudBurst in 2008!
For more about how you can participate go <here>
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