Kids and Native Plants

More school projects in Michigan

2010-04-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

There are several school projects around Michigan that I'd like to know more about.

In the Grand Rapids area, there's a prairie project at Goodwillie School.

In Macomb, Atwood Elementary School (part of L’Anse Creuse Public Schools) has a native plant garden with a water quality focus. (They also have a vegetable garden that supplies a local soup kitchen.)

In the Plymouth-Canton-Northville area, there's another. Unfortunatly, I've mislaid the note.

More later.

pollinators in gardens simply more interesting

2010-03-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a great quote on gardening with pollinators in mind:

“It is the gardeners of the world who can open their gardens to the pollinator refugees, who can provide temporary or permanent shelter until humans refine our outlook on the natural world.

By actively sheltering pollinators, we gardeners remind ourselves that we have the power to positively overcome some of the humankind's more destructive tendencies.

Additionally, our gardens provide a teaching laboratory for young children to connect with an ever-vanishing natural environment.

Our gardens might provide a network of urban and suburban biological corridors that link more protected sites and allow pollinators to move freely from one natural area via our gardens to other natural areas.

And finally, all lofty, Earth-saving notions aside, you might wish to encourage pollinators in your gardens simply because they are more interesting than any television show you can imagine.”

Eric Grissell, author of Insects and Gardens

Thanks to Janet Allen for sharing this quote.

College students

2009-12-30T19:14:00.000-08:00

Back in the late 1990s, David Warners was a great friend of the Childrens' Wet Peadow Project at Ann Arbor's Buhr Park.

Now a biology prof in Grand Rapids, his students have been planting trees and creating woodland habitat on campus.

See photos and text on the Calvin College web site here.

Youth in India work to preserve trees for the future

2009-12-29T07:55:00.000-08:00

While this blog is mostly focused on youth projects in Michigan, USA, here's an exception.

It's exciting to see that young people around the world are taking action to preserve trees.

Here's the write-up (I discovered it by chance.)

http://ringsofsilverpv.blogspot.com/2009/11/siemens-nizhal-go-green-initiative.html

Monroe, Mich. students planting natives on local TV

2009-11-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

Science teacher Russ Columbus continues his great work at the Knabusch Mathematics and Science Center, part of Monroe (Mich.) Public Schools. In November, students planted seeds collected over the past few years to create a prairie on our campus that will be used by future students. They did the planting on school days from 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM during the second week of November, 2009.

Toledo TV WTOL came and did a live story one of the mornings. The video is on their website. Go to WTOL.com and search for "Monroe students learn about planting".

This project has received awards from Wild Ones and the Wildflower Association of Michigan.

Michigan teen researches prescribed fire

2009-11-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

A teen from southwest Michigan has won an award for her research project on using prescribed fire to maintain prairies.

See

http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/2009/AH.html

Kids in Lowell Plant 1000 Trees

2009-10-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Elementary school students in Lowell, Michigan, planted 1,000 trees in October 2009. They planted oaks and maples of local genotype at the Wege Natural Area. Photos are available in the newsletter of the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, page 10. Funding was provided by Dell Computer.

http://www.naturenearby.org/Data/Resources/File/Newsletters/LCWM%20Winter%2009-10%20Newsletter.pdf

Joseph Cornell is coming to Ann Arbor in October

2009-08-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

Anyone who is interested in kids and nature is probably familiar with the books by Joseph Cornell.

He wrote Sharing Nature with Children and other books. His work and workshops are known worldwide. His work focuses on connecting with nature and his techniques can be used by teachers, naturalists, group leaders – and of course parents.

Joseph Cornell will give a free public lecture Friday October 16 starting at 4pm in room 1040 of the Dana Building on U-M’s Central Campus in Ann Arbor

On Saturday October 17 and repeated Sunday October 18, Joseph Cornell will lead his workshop on Sharing Nature with Children.

This workshop leads participants through his flow learning techniques. Through learning games and active engagement workshop participants will learn activities and ideas used in his books, that really do work with kids. (I have used them for years!) The workshop is for adults that work with kids or want to engage kids in nature and deepening their connection to nature.

Each workshop is 6 hours with an hour for lunch. The same workshop offered Saturday, is repeated on Sunday.

Pre-Registration is essential as space in each workshop is limited.

Wings and Seeds - Zaagki Project in Marquette, Mich.

2009-07-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

The folks at the Wings and Seeds - Zaagki Project in Marquette, Mich. have some great photos of teens making homes for butterflies and bees. They also show kids planting native plants in a greenhouse for later use in habitat restotation projects.

See their page at
http://www.cedartreeinstitute.org/zaagkii.html

I'm looking forward to updates from 2009.

Buzzing the Hive - Introducing Kids to Honeybees

2009-05-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

Buzzing the Hive
2:00 PM Sunday May 31, 2009
at the Eddy Discovery Center

Children and adults will enjoy this fascinating look into the lives of honeybees with educator and beekeeper Jane Levy. Observe an actual hive, and learn how the bees build the hive and work together to make honey.

Parts of this experience will include an 8 minute movie showing the capture of a swarm of bees in front of the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum (Once Upon a Swarm), a PowerPoint presentation about bees and beekeeping, and a chance to make a model of a bee to take away with you. Participants will learn about the importance of honey bees as pollinators for much of our food. They can try on a full beekeepers protective suit and taste the sweet honey from a local hive.

The Eddy Discovery Center is located at 17030 Bush Road 48118, between Pierce and McClure roads in Chelsea, Michigan. Take I-94 to exit 157 (Pierce Road) and go north to Bush Road. Take Bush Road west to the center.

This event is sponsored by the Waterloo Natural History Assn. For more information, phone (734) 475-3170.

Photo by Jane Levy.

Detroit School wins grant for pollinator garden

2009-05-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

The Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School in Detroit has won a grant for Fly, Baby, Fly!:

This project will create a safe haven for butterflies to return to an urban area, bringing excitement, pollination, and enjoyment by students and community members alike.

Designed and maintained by students, it will become part of an outdoor learning environment for all children in this neighborhood school.

The grant was awarded by Monarch Live.

This school is featured in the PBS documentary, Where to the Children Play.

Photo by Connie Bank, The Garden Tutor.

Kids can do science with sunflowers and insects

2009-04-27T04:37:00.000-07:00

There's an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the Great Sunflower project.

Highly recommended.

Also, starting this year, participants can make observations on native plants, including bee balm (Monarda), tickseed (Coreopsis) and goldenrod (Solidago.)

Join the project and contribute your observations. It's easy and fun.

Tribal and city kids help Monarchs and pollinators

2009-04-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

In Michigan's Upper Penninsula, teens from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and urban youth from Marquette are helping Monarchs and other pollinators. In 2008 they built butterfly homes and raised native plants that they will plant in 2009.

Their project is called the Zaagkii Project

See the write-up here for details.

Kids and monarchs - Journey North

2009-03-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

Most kids I know are eager for signs of Spring, especially when the weather is gray and chilly.

For a detailed view that yes, Spring is coming, check out the Monarch migration information at Journey North. Kids, parents and teachers across North America enter their observations. Everyone can see the patterns of the annual migration, along with photos, maps and first-hand reports.

Monarch Migration on PBS

2009-01-17T11:50:00.000-08:00

1) The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies: Tuesday, January 27
A TV show not to be missed - The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies--can be seen on PBS this coming Tuesday, Jan. 27th at 8:00 p.m. EST. Follow the 2,000 mile migration of Monarch butterflies to a sanctuary in the Highlands of Mexico. Monarchs face many challenges in both the United States and Mexico, and their annual migration is becoming an endangered phenomenon. "You will be awestruck to see what these little flying jewels go through to complete their brief life cycle," says Dr. Lincoln Brower who is featured in the program. "Each one of us can make a difference in increasing the Monarch population."

Read Chip Taylor's blog posting at http://monarchwatch.org/blog/

2) Journey North Begins! Thursday, February 5
Journey North begins in February when the monarchs are at their winter refuge deep in central Mexico. The monarch's unique winter habitat is found on only 12 mountaintops on the planet, and the monarch's story is one of nature's most incredible examples of adaptation and survival. In a unique partnership, you can join students and scientists across North America this spring to track the monarch butterfly's migration from Mexico. Sign up for email updates.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/index.html

Scouts build a wetland walkway

2009-01-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

Troop 4 and Eagle Scout candidate Rob I. built a walkway in November 2008. Located in Ann Arbor's Mary Beth Doyle Park, the walkway protects native wetland plants in the former channel of Mallett's Creek.

See Rob's photos on his page here.

2009 - the year to honor connections

2009-01-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

2009 is the year to honor connections among the plants and wildlife in our schoolyards and our parks. Each place is threaded by relationships - butterflies feast on the nectar of wildflowers, birds eat seeds and spread them, and other organisms turn waste back into soil and nutrients.

Among the humans who enjoy plants, birds, and insects, there are connections as well.

For example, Audubon has a downloadable poster (11x17) of a schoolyard alive with birds.

The National Wildlife federation has a schoolyard habitat program with many useful resources. Their book Schoolyard Habitats: A How-to Guide for K-12 School Communities is essential reading.

Several projects at large and small schools have been supported by the Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education program. Read their success stories here.

schools and Monarch Waystations

2008-12-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

Numerous Michigan schools have registered their butterfly gardens as Monarch Waystations.

As their website says "...we need to create, conserve, and protect milkweed/monarch habitats. We need you to help us and help monarchs by creating "Monarch Waystations" (monarch habitats) in home gardens, at schools, businesses, parks, zoos, nature centers, along roadsides, and on other unused plots of land. ... By creating and maintaining a Monarch Waystation you are contributing to monarch conservation, an effort that will help assure the preservation of the species and the continuation of the spectacular monarch migration phenomenon."

Some include:

Evergreen Elementary Butterfly Garden

Allendale

49401

Way Elementary School

Bloomfield Hills

48302

West Shore-Torrey Hill Elementary

Fenton

48430

Gilbey Elementary School

Kalamazoo

49009

St. Joseph School

Lake Orion

48362

Hugger Elementary Outdoor Classroom

Rochester

48306

Presbyterian Camps Butterfly Garden

Saugutuck

49453

Lakeshore High School

Stevensville

49127

Fischer Elementary School

Taylor

48180

Let me know if your school, camp or other youth project is not listed.

Great teachers - Burt Barnes

2008-11-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

Burt Barnes is truly a 'teacher of teachers.'

These photos are from October 2006. Thanks to Toni H. for the photos.

Great teacher - Dorothy Blanchard

2008-11-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

Dorothy Blanchard of Ypsilanti has introduced thousands of kids to frogs, snakes, and other creatures of our Michigan woods and waters.

These photos are from a workshop in April, 2005.

Morenci High School club boosts water quality

2008-11-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

On Earth Day, 2008, the Green Earth Club of Morenci High School (GECKOs) cleaned up a local stream and a park. They are part of Bean/Tiffin Watershed Coalition and live near Morenci, Michigan, on a tributary of the Maumee River.

See their photos at

http://www.beancreekwatershed.org/cleanup08.htm

Some of these young people have been helping the creek since 2004. See their poetry and more photos at

http://www.beancreekwatershed.org/morenci.htm

from Florida - a Middle School garden on YouTube

2008-11-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

I've made an exception to our usual Michigan focus, to highlight a video of a butterfly garden at Lyons Creek Middle School, Coconut Creek (Broward County) Florida.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CTjQRQ8TKQ

butterfly garden at Burns Park Elementary School

2008-10-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

Parents and kids in the 'Penguin Club' have planted a butterfly garden next to the school building, in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA.

They planted about 250 plugs in October 2008.

See their photos at http://groups.google.com/group/burns-park-penguins-care-club/web/native-plant-gardening?hl=en

Kids gazebo at Mary McCann Park

2008-10-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

Along with nature trails and native plants, this park includes a gazebo-style Teaching Station where kids can listen and learn.

It's located at Mary McCann Park, in York Township between Ann Arbor and Milan, MI.

link here

Here is a photo of the Teaching Station, sans roof and bench boards. The octagonal base is roughly 21 feet across. Three ranks of tri-fold benches will face the open area. The two curving, 5' x 30' beds lie downslope to right and left at a distance of about 30 feet from the teaching station's perimeter

.

STEPS for Kids at Pine Lake Village Co-op

2008-07-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

Steps For Kids is a small nonprofit organization whose goals are grade school educational support and environmental education. It is based in Ann Arbor on the grounds of Pine Lake Village Co-op, but all activities are open to friends and neighbors. We are all volunteers; we have no paid staff.

These are pictures from late May, at which about 25 adults and children volunteered to pick up trash, plant native plants, and pull weeds around a freshwater pond. Everyone had a great time on a beautiful day with the rare opportunity to be inside the fence. Fishing for trash with little nets was the favorite activity of many kids. We've since had two more volunteer work days, and mid-summer pictures follow soon.

Please visit www.stepsforkids.org to see more of our activities, and to see how you can help us by donating gardening tools and supplies, your own time and skills, or much needed financial assistance.

(photos and write-up from Steps for Kids volunteers.)

Scout projects at Webster Church

2008-07-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

Scouts from Troop 422 have built a shelter, raised beds and other amenities at Webster Church, near Dexter, Michigan.

(Photos by C.B.)

Wildflower Prairie at Ann Arbor Learning Community

2008-07-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Kids, teachers and parents at the Ann Arbor Learning Community have started a wildflower prairie with plants they grew from seed. They're hoping to attract butterflies and songbirds.

They started early in the season to remove turfgrass from their site. (I think this was in 2007)

(photo from K.K)

By July 2008, the prairie was looking terrific. (More photos coming soon.)

AALC is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, near State St. and Ellsworth Rd.

Kazoo School

2008-06-30T16:09:00.000-07:00

Kazoo School includes in its beliefs "We believe in furthering the development of an environmental ethic in all students by means of our educational program."

The students at Kazoo School participated enthusiastically in planting a prairie garden on the school grounds in June 2008. They planted a wide variety of prairie species, plus some wetland species in an area that gets a lot of storm water runoff.

The school adjoins the historic Kleinstuck Preserve in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This is southwest of Oakland Drive and Howard St.

native plants at Ralph Bunch Elementary School

2008-06-22T17:52:00.000-07:00

Children, parents and community volunteers have created an urban oasis with native plants at with Ralph Bunche Elementary School in Detroit Michigan.

The Phytoremediation and Wildflower Garden was designed and initiated in Spring 2002.

We run annual workshops in the native ecosystem, phytoremediation and identifying native plants with the children in science classes or in the after school program.

In the spring and over the summer we have volunteer possibilities for anyone interested in maintaining the garden. Through this hands-on experience you can learn about the native plants and ecology. In the fall we have a Saturday in October dedicated for seed collection and distribution for the general public.

(photos and text by V. S.)

Collecting Seeds of Native Plants

2008-06-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

Collecting seeds can be fun and is a good way to learn about native plants.

More information is coming soon on this school-based program in southeast Michigan.

Curriculum materials on pollinators

2008-06-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Teachers or other adults who want to help kids learn about pollination have a great resource available.

Nature's Partners is an inquiry learning-based curriculum for young people in the 3rd through
the 6th grade.

http://www.nappc.org/curriculum/index.php

Introduction

2008-05-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

Across North America, kids are helping the environment with butterfly gardens, rain gardens, tree-planting, prairies and beyond.

Sometimes these projects are connected to schools, Scouts, or other organizations. Others are simply kids' response to what they see and hear around tem.

The goal of this blog is to propagate ideas and inspiration.

Check it out, and feel free to offer infor about your projects.

Suggestions of related information are also welcome.