But what if spring was silent? Rachel Carson first posed this question when the use of DDT threatened our environment. She bravely sounded the alarm against the indiscriminate use of toxic pesticides.

Rachel Carson’s concern grew out of her love for all living things. As we teach our children to love the natural environment, they will  want to care for it too.

Inside: Make It Yourself

Rachel Carson began writing nature stories as a young girl, assembling them into small books.

Making books gives young children a creative way to learn subject matter while practicing basic skills, such as fine motor control and following sequential directions.

Use these step-by-step directions to help your students make their own books using readily available materials.

Outside: Make Sound Maps

In this outdoor activity, children listen to natural sounds and record them on a map of their own making. Joseph Cornell, the creator of Sound Map says, “Children love this activity—they become completely absorbed and sit surprisingly still while making their sound maps.” Get complete directions and teacher tips for Sound Maps.

More Facts and Fun about Rachel Carson and Spring Sounds

Read Noisy Bug Sing-a Long and learn who is making what sound, and why. Then have children imitate the sounds to create your own classroom chorus.

Find out more about Rachel Carson in Dawn Publication’s books Girls Who Looked Under Rocks and Earth Heroes: Champions of Wild Animals.

Rachel said, “I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel.”

Teachers: get inspiration for awakening a love of nature in your children from Rachel’s book, The Sense of Wonder.

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In general, the new standards go beyond science as simply a list of facts and ideas students are expected to memorize. Instead, they emphasize teaching “how” scientists actually investigate and gather their information. Teachers will be expected to focus more on concepts, giving students a deeper understanding of a topic.

One of the topics that students will gain a deeper understanding about is climate change—a concept that can’t be neglected from the curriculum any longer. The new standards recognize that climate change is a critical and timely topic of deep concern.

Inside: Glaciers and Greenhouses

How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate (by Lynne Cherry and Gary Brasch) and my companion Teacher’s Guide are the perfect books to use with your older elementary and middle school students.

In an easy-to-understand format, students can read about and actually see the evidence scientists have gathered from flowers, butterflies, birds, frogs, trees, glaciers, and much more.

Use  two of the lesson plans from the Teacher’s Guide with your students: Disappearing Glaciers and Life in the Greenhouse.

Outside: Young Scientists

How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate  includes the important role “citizen-scientists” play in gathering data.

For example, until 1975, butterfly scientists did not know where monarchs went on their fall migration south. People had seen them in Texas and along the Gulf Coast, but nobody knew where they went next.

Canadian scientist Dr. Fred Urquhart was the first to mark the butterflies with tiny tags to track them across the continent.

Thousands of citizen scientists helped him gather the data.  Monarch Watch is one of the many citizen science projects your students participate in. You can find dozens more citizen science projects for the classroom in the Teacher’s Guide.

More Facts and Fun about Climate Change

Climate Change.org provides K-12 teachers with the BEST interdisciplinary resources.

Young Voices for the Planet DVD, by author Lynne Cherry, presents inspiring and  replicable youth success stories showing kids “taking the reins.” They’ll encourage both children and adults  to embrace the seriousness of climate change and to take action.

Especially for Elementary Teachers: Explore the “Big Questions” about Climate Change at NASA’s Climate Kids website.

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I always find it interesting to know how authors get their book ideas. Fran’s book grew out of a lifetime of love for wild creatures. She says that her mother taught her “how to watch and how to really see the squirrels, jays, sparrows, bugs, and worms….” One of her earliest memories was watching a garden spider build a web in her tire swing. She says, “I seem to remember staying put for hours just to see what would happen as the spider worked.”

When Fran became a mother, she shared her love of “watching and seeing” animals with her daughter, Rosie. “Rosie inspired the book through her questions about nature and animals,” Fran says. If You Were My Baby is the result of three generations of women nature lovers!

Which animals are the ”best” and “worst” mothers? National Geographic features three short videos of their choices.

Inside: Creative Non-Fiction

Fran calls her writing “creative non-fiction because the facts are there but they don’t hit you over the head.” Have your students choose an animal and write their own creative non-fiction short story. Begin with the facts and then have them add their imaginations to present the facts in an interesting way. Good sources for animal facts include Creature Features on the National Geographic site and Ranger Rick (magazine or for iPad).

Outside: Schoolyard Homes

Have student pairs search the schoolyard for nests, spider webs, piles of rocks, holes in trees, and other places animals make their homes. They can use this Animal Homes print out from National Wildlife Federation to check off the homes they find. Ask them to draw any additional homes they find on the back of the page, along with drawings of animals or other interesting observations.

More Facts and Fun about Animals

• Watch interesting wild animal behavior via the San Diego Zoo’s Animal Cams and Videos.
• Read what animal kids might say to their wonderful mothers at “Thanks Mom.”
• Kids will have fun acting like an animal when they play the Animal Imitation Game from National Wildlife Federation.
• Read the book Do Animals Have Feelings, Too? by David Rice. Then  discuss the animal behaviors that demonstrate various feelings.

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A hummingbird zips up to a bright red flower and hovers there. The tiny bird darts its bill inside the flower, quickly sipping up sweet nectar at a rate of 10 licks per second.

Zoom! Flapping at over 50 times a second, the bird’s wings are a blur as it zooms to another blossom. Traveling from flower to flower a hummingbird carries pollen on its chest, throat, and the top of its head. Some of this pollen will trigger the growth of seeds, which is why the hummingbird an important pollinator.

Source: Audubon Adventures, an excellent classroom resource available from the National Audubon Society.

Inside: Flower Power

Pollinators are attracted to flowers by their color and shape, and sometimes by their scent.

• Hummingbirds are especially attracted to red, orange, purple, and pink flowers that have a tubular shape.
• Bees tend to be attracted by sweet-scented flowers that are yellow, white, blue or purple. The flower also needs to provide a bee-sized “landing platform.”
• Butterflies like sweet smelling flowers that are red, orange, yellow, pink, blue, or white. The best shapes are flat and wide or tubular.

Write the above information on the board. Give each student a 3×5 card and ask them to use their imaginations to draw a flower that would appeal to one of these pollinators. When they finish their drawings, have them write the name of their flower on the tip of the card and the name of the pollinator on the back. Then have them exchange their flower pictures to guess the pollinator that would be attracted to it. They can checking for accuracy by turning the card over.

Outside: Zip in for a Sip

Give your students an opportunity to get an up-close look at hummingbirds by making and putting up a feeder. (Don’t worry, a feeder won’t prevent hummingbirds from visiting and pollinating the plants in your area, but it will supplement their energy needs.) Choose one of the easy-t0-make feeders from the sources below:

• The simplest feeder is from How to Enjoy Hummingbirds.
• The Outdoor Classroom gives explicit directions for a simple feeder.
• National Wildlife Federation’s feeder is easy to make and uses recycled materials.
• Fill your feeder with the correct mix of water and sugar.

Be sure to hang your feeder in a spot outside where you can easily watch hummers  zip in for sip.

More Facts and Fun about Hummingbirds

Anna’s Hummingbird

Become a citizen scientist with Audubon’s newest project: Hummingbirds at Home.

Did you know that 30% of a hummingbird’s weight is its flight muscles? Get more interesting hummingbird facts.

There are 17 hummingbird species in North America. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is one of the most common in the eastern half of the U.S. and the Anna’s Hummingbird is common in the west and southwest.

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Earth Day began on April 22, 1970, in San Francisco. Now over 100 countries celebrate Earth Day, making it the largest environmental event worldwide. It’s a special day to appreciate nature and learn ways to protect our environment. Find Earth Day activities for your students at the EPA website, and read about kids protecting a rainforest in Forever Forest: How Kids Saved a Tropical Treasure.

John Muir was born on April 21, 1838. His passion for nature took him on a range of adventures, including a 1000-mile walk from Indiana to Florida. Thanks to him, large areas of wilderness were protected that all of us can enjoy today, including Yosemite Valley in California. Learn more about his fascinating life in Earth Heroes: Champions of the Wilderness. He reminds us to “keep close to nature’s heart.”

John James Audubon was born April 26, 1785. Through his lively and realistic paintings he inspired people to appreciate the beauty of birds. Introduce your students to the amazing world of birds through The BLUES Go Birding book series, illustrated by artist Louise Schroeder.

Inside and Outside: B-earth-day Party

This week I’ve chosen a variety of games and activities you can use for an Earth Day Birthday Party.

Front if By Land, Back if by Sea (inside or outside)

Arrange children in a circle facing outward. Call out words that either relate to earth or water, telling them to step forward for “earth” words, and backward for “sea.” Whoever steps in the wrong direction is out. Play until one person is left. Earth words might include: land, mountain, desert, dirt, hill, ground. Sea words could include: water, rain, ocean, river, pond, or stream.

Recycling Relay (inside or outside)

Line up children in two teams. Have each team face two empty bins (one for paper and one for plastic). Give each team an equal pile of recyclables such as empty plastic bottles, cereal boxes, etc. Tell each child as they step to the front of their line to toss an item into the appropriate bin for paper or plastic. The team that finishes with the most items making it into the correct bin wins.

Recycling Construction (inside)

After the relays are over, divide the children into teams. Give each team a large roll of packing tape and half of the recyclables used in the relay. Challenge each team to build the most creative structure they can using their materials. If they need ideas, you can suggest towers, buildings, tunnels, arches, cars, etc.

Earth Day Paper Quilt (inside)

Use the directions to make a paper quilt using images related to Earth Day. Be sure to discuss each piece that the children color, such at wind power, solar energy, and recycling.

Read Nature’s Patchwork Quilt: Understanding Habitats and do any of the activities suggested by the author on the Dawn Publications Downloadable Activities page (scroll down to the book title).

Sunny Party Food (inside)

Every party needs food. Follow these directions at to grow sunflower spouts in just a few days.

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Although bees are the best-known pollinators (see last week’s blog), other insects also contribute to pollination—especially butterflies. Master Gardener, Candace Hawkinson states, “Though butterflies may not be as efficient as bees in pollinating plants and crops, butterflies certainly do their fair share in bringing about seed and fruit production—and definitely are more pleasing to watch.”

Many native plants are exclusively pollinated by butterflies rather than bees. And unlike bees, which are generally restricted to a local area, many butterflies migrate over a wide area, cross-pollinating as they go. This improves the genetic mix in the plant community.

Inside: On One Flower

A single flower hosts butterflies and a whole lot more. In On One Flower: Butterflies, Ticks, and Few More Icks by Anthony Fredericks, children not only learn about a butterfly, but about an entire “community” of plant and animal life that live on a single flower.

Use this Picture Perfect activity (pdf) to help students make observations, ask questions, and discover facts as they create their own stories.

Outside: Plant a Butterfly Garden

If there was a beauty contest for insects, butterflies would win by a landslide! Plant a garden to attract these beauties of the insect world using common flower varieties, such as asters, daisies, butterfly bush, butterfly weed, lantana, marigolds, purple coneflowers, and zinnias.

For more information about butterflies and how to use native plants in your garden, go to NASA’s Climate Kids website.

More Facts and Fun with Butterflies

(1) Noisy Bug Sing-a-long by John Himmelman celebrates a joyful chorus of bug noises. Listen to some of the sounds at the Dawn Publications website. The Clouded Sulpher Butterfly offers a contrast to the many other bugs. Its page reads, “A Butterfly flutters by in complete silence.”

(2) Have your students connect with classrooms in Mexico and across the U.S. as they become “citizen scientists.” They can track the Monarch butterfly migration each fall and spring with Journey North.

(3)Kids are entranced as they watch a butterfly emerge from a chrysalis as a mature butterfly. You can order a butterfly kit to get a first-hand experience of this transformation from many online sources, such as the Nature Gifts Store.

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This week—BEES! According to a recent U.N. report, there are 100 crops that provide 90% of the world’s food. Over 70 of these crops are pollinated by bees. Another way to think of it is that “bees are such important pollinators that every third bite of food you take is either directly or indirectly the result of pollinating bees.”

Bees are also important indicators for the health of the environment. When something is wrong with bees, something is wrong in the environment.

Inside: In the Trees, Honeybees!

You can find a great introduction to bees in the book In the Trees, Honeybees! by Lori Mortensen. Her rhyming verse will engage a young child, while sidebars with fascinating information satisfy the somewhat older child. In the back of the book, Lori shares information about how bees make honey and how beekeepers harvest it.

Did you know field bees have to collect nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey? Use this lesson plan, Sweet Treat, to make honey butter with your class.

Outside: Bee Dance

Scout bees locate places rich with flowers. When they find a good flower patch, they return to the hive and perform a “waggle dance” to tell others where to find them. Use this lesson plan to have your students make up their own bee dance.

This is a great activity to do outside, but you can also do it inside the classroom.

More Facts and Fun About Bees

• Author Lori Mortensen and illustrator Chris Arbo have created eight more lesson plans about bees—they’re available for free as a download on the Dawn Publications website.
•  Why do bees buzz? Find out the answer to this question and lots of other cool information about bees at the Buzz About Bees website.
• Discover more about pollination at the Kids Growing Strong website.

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Studies show that kids are more than twice as likely to eat fruits and vegetables if they grow them. This past month I’ve featured three of Dawn Publications’ picture books that support gardening with children.

• Jo MacDonald Had a Garden
• What’s in the Garden?
• Molly’s Organic Farm

The underlying message in each book is, “It’s fun to grow your own food—and it’s delicious.” Did you know that Dawn’s website has downloadable lesson plans on their website for these and other books?

Inside: Have a Plant Part-y

Introduce your students to the six parts of a plant (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds) and make a yummy salad together using one of these lessons from Molly’s Organic Farm or What’s in the Garden?

Outside: Let’s Move

Michelle Obama’s suggestions for raising healthy children include not only eating healthy food, but also doing getting more exercise. Read more about kids and exercise, and get your kids (and yourself) moving with these suggestions from the President’s Challenge.

More Facts and Fun with Food and Exercise

• Fruit or Vegetable—Does it feel like spring or winter where you are? No matter…now is a good time to begin thinking about planting a garden. What will you grow in your garden…a fruit or vegetable? Do your students know the difference? Explore the difference with these two lesson plans from Molly’s Organic Farm and What’s in the Garden?
• Smart Moves—Another way to support healthy eating and physical activity comes from NASA’s Train Like an Astronaut program. These science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities are correlated to the National Education Standards.

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One of Jane’s favorite species is the Sandhill Crane. Every year she goes to Nebraska to watch the cranes gather along the Platte River during their annual spring migration. With over half a million congregating at one time in mid-March, this is the largest gathering of Sandhill Cranes in the world (80% of the world population). Jane calls it one of greatest natural wonders in the world.

This year I joined her, along with a dozen other people, as part of the Jane Goodall Institute’s Crane Viewing Tour. It was truly awe-inspiring to watch hundreds of thousands of cranes fill the sky at dawn and dusk. As their rattling trumpet-like calls echoed over snow-covered fields, it was easy to imagine that this prehistoric bird species has been taking this migration route for 2.5 million years.

Inside: Chimps and Cranes

Although Jane Goodall’s work began with chimpanzees, she sees similarities between cranes and chimps. They’re both highly social animals, form tight family units, have suffered habitat loss, and rely on human intervention for protection.

Have your students find the similarities between two different species of animals, including their behaviors and habitats.

Outside: Do It For Yourself

Jane Goodall travels over 300 days a year, speaking to large groups and sharing her message of hope, peace, and conservation. Her yearly trip to Nebraska to watch the crane migration is a time for her to “recharge her batteries.” She told me that her spirit is renewed as she listens to the sounds of the cranes returning to the river each evening. As teachers and parents, we need to find ways to renew and recharge ourselves, too, so we have the energy to share our inspiration with children. This week, renew yourself in nature doing an activity that recharges you.

More Facts and Fun with Jane and the Cranes

• Jane Goodall’s youth organization is called Roots & Shoots. Find out how you can organize a group at your school.
• According to Japanese legend, anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes will be granted one wish. Children of all ages enjoy making origami cranes. Follow the directions provided by the International Crane Foundation.
• Read stories about Jane Goodall’s life in Earth Heroes: Champions of Wild Animals.

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The TRUE  Story of Molly—by Trina Hunner

On a cool spring day in 2005, a little orange cat showed up at a small organic farm in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas in northern California. She was an unusually small cat, most probably because she didn’t get proper nourishment when she was a kitten. But despite her wild start, she loved to be around people and instantly bonded with the owners of Mountain Bounty Farm. They named her Molly.

As the weather warmed, more and more farmers arrived to work in the fields. Each and every one of them fell in love with her. Molly spent her days frolicking in the chard, zooming through the broccoli, and chasing after all the many farm creatures. In the evenings, she’d curl up on one of the farmer’s laps, purring contentedly.

I stopped by Mountain Bounty Farm—one of our local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms—every week during the growing season to pick up a box of organic vegetables, and with each visit I got a special greeting from Molly. I was as excited to see her friendly face as I was to receive my produce.

The summer days passed, fall came, and the farmers began to prepare for winter. Fields were planted with cover crops and tools were packed away. The farmers headed off to other places. But what was to become of Molly? I could almost see the concern on her face as she watched her good friends leave.

My husband and I lived in a small cabin right next to the farm, and we were asked if Molly could spend the winter with us. We jumped at the chance. That first winter was really special. Molly went on long walks with us—even in the snow! In the evening, she spent hours curled up by the fire or snuggled in our laps. And when the first spring crops began to sprout, Molly headed back to the farm.

So it was for four seasons—Molly socializing at the farm in spring and summer, then spending a quiet fall and winter with us. This book is written in loving memory of Molly, a homeless cat that found not one but two homes.

Inside: Sampling the Seasons

Wednesday is the Vernal Equinox, marking the first day of spring! This activity (downloadable pdf) from Molly’s Organic Farm, by Carol Malnor and Trina Hunner, reinforces concepts about the seasons by having students make watercolor sketches of seasonal vegetables.

Outside: A Speck of Soil

As Molly discovered on the farm: Healthy soil grows healthy plants for healthy food! What’s in soil? Children use observation and several scientific tools to examine garden soil in this activity (download pdf) from Jo MacDonald Had a Garden by Mary Quattlebaum.

Trina Hunner (right) at an Earth Day book signing in 2012.

Trina loves to eat organic fruits and vegetables, especially kale. For several years she lived adjacent to an organic community farm near Nevada City, California. That’s where she met Molly, the star of her book, Mollys Organic Farm. She and her husband Nikos began to “mark our lives around the cycles and rituals of the farm.” She even spent a few spring days planting with the farmers and developed an immense respect for them and the hard work farming takes. The quality of the food itself convinced her that healthy, fresh food has transformative powers and made her passionate about eating and promoting local, organic foods. She can often be found riding her bike to the elementary school where she teaches, skiing in the mountains near her home, or cuddling her cat Charlotte.

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