Oysters are Our Friends
By W. George Scarlett, Image via Internet Archive Book Images Oysters lying side by side,Keeping back the ocean’s tide.Slurping food from water’s yuckThen spitting back… Read More »Oysters are Our Friends
Articles
Salt Marsh Periwinkle Poem
By W. George Scarlett, Illustration by Angelina Lewis Salt marsh periwinkle safe when tide is out.But tide’s now rolling in with blue crabs all about.Up… Read More »Salt Marsh Periwinkle Poem
Make Your Own Periwinkle Snail Habitat
By Leah Harrigan, image via Carolina Wildscapes (Adobe Stock) Children can see and feel the magic of ecosystems by creating a “Periwinkle Snail Habitat” using… Read More »Make Your Own Periwinkle Snail Habitat
A Journey of Life with Snails and Slugs
By Fangfang Xiao, translated by Qin Shu One morning, after a rain, teachers Yue and Qi found a small mollusk, without a shell, climbing on… Read More »A Journey of Life with Snails and Slugs
When Pond Problems Call for Systems Thinking
By W. George Scarlett When there are pond problems, such as when fish are dying, it often takes systems thinking and high-level scientific investigation to… Read More »When Pond Problems Call for Systems Thinking
Sorting Out Pond Stuff
By W. George Scarlett Image ©dimedrol68 / Adobe Stock As featured elsewhere on TES (see Collecting for Connecting to the Natural World), late childhood can… Read More »Sorting Out Pond Stuff
Book Review: Over and Under the Pond
Review by Hailey Swett, book by Kate Messner with art by Christopher Silas Neal | Ponds: what lovely and lively ecosystems! What child doesn’t love exploring a pond, searching for critters big and small? In her picture book Over and Under the Pond, Kate Messner takes young readers on a journey of exploration through a pond, all from the comfort of their homes.
When Nature Seems ‘Cruel’
By W. George Scarlett | Bugs sucking the blood of other bugs, hawks grabbing and tearing apart squirrels, coyotes howling after a kill – if ever someone gets sentimental about nature and speaks only of nature’s wonders, that person has missed something central about nature, namely, that nature works on a different ethic than that of most humans.
Waterbug Poem
By W. George Scarlett | Waterbug, waterbug, always gliding / Never sinking, always sliding…
Moving with Pond Life
By Layla Sastry | The following is an exercise that can be used with younger and older children to help them connect to and know life in and around ponds.