Post by Dave Spitzer, Board Member and Educator
Summer is done, but those kids should still be getting outside!
In fact, seasonal change provides one of the best backdrops for experiencing the range of nature’s cycles. Animal cycles, plant cycles; all driven by weather and climate cycles. Things change outside, especially at Wisconsin latitudes.
Observing and experiencing seasonal change actually has its own scientific term: Phenology. Phenology tunes us to nature’s timings and reminds us of the life cycles that continue to support the planet’s ecological webs.
If children and adults sense and identify the continuing phenological changes they can better appreciate nature’s amazing dynamics. Ideally, they will include themselves as members of the ecological web. Our children, especially, need that natural attachment; this membership. When kids are outside, they’ll see the migrating flocks, smell new apple blossoms, collect acorns and pick hitch-hiker seeds off their pants. It’s phenology!
Friends of the Madison School Forest 