Notes from a Naturalist
March 16, 2020
Why Do Rivers Bend?
By Sam Nunes, Environmental Educator - March 2020
"Have you ever noticed the difference between a natural flowing river and a man-made canal? Canals move straight to their destination while rivers wind back and forth along the landscape. Humans make canals to travel the shortest amount of distance between two locations. If efficiency is so vital in ecosystems, why would nature increase the distance water has to travel to get to the ocean?"
-Read the full article here
February 10, 2020
Natural Hearts - Shapes in Nature
By Sam Nunes, Environmental Educator - February 2020
"Sight is one of the most important senses we rely on as humans. We are good at noticing colors, patterns, and shapes. In the month of February, people tend to have love on the mind, and a popular shape to represent this is the heart. Can you find heart shapes in nature? Here are some examples of hearts in nature and how they came to be..."
-Read the full article here
January 14, 2020
What the Size of a Snowflake can tell you
By Sam Nunes, Environmental Educator - January 2020
"In winter we can still find beautiful moments taking place around us. One of these beautiful moments is a snowflake! Its common knowledge that each snowflake is unique, but a single snowflake can tell us a lot about what is happening in the atmosphere around and above us. Why are some snowflakes smaller than others? Why does snow sometimes fall when it’s above freezing?"
-Read the full article here
December 19, 2019
Don't Feed the Deer
By Sam Nunes, Environmental Educator - December 2019
"You look out your window and see what looks like a lifeless landscape covered in white. But then you notice some white tailed deer wandering through the barren forest. If you have a tendency towards empathy, you may feel as though you would be doing the deer a service by providing them with food to help their survival through these winter months. But here’s why that is a bad idea..."
-Read the full article here
November 08, 2019
Furry Architects
By Sam Nunes, Environmental Educator - November 2019
"In November, the leaves have almost fully fallen and nature seems to have become quiet as it waits for the cold winter snow. Around this time you may notice a peculiar bundle of sticks and leaves revealed in the branches of the trees. It looks like a rather large bird nest, but the animal that created this home does not have wings..."
-Read the full article here