The goal of the revolution is the re-connection of young people with their own habitats and communities. The classroom is the ecology of the surrounding community, not the confining four walls of the traditional school (David Orr 2008).
NAMOS BC is in the process of developing age tailored learning curricula to involve public schools in outdoor education programs on amphibian ecology and monitoring. Our outdoor education programs are designed to teach about the experiences of nature plus the many benefits of amphibian conservation and management. If you are intersted in participating in any of the programs listed, please feel free to contact us (ecology@namos.ca). We are very interested in working with local home schooling programs, educators or teachers who would like to participate in and help develop outdoor learning projects about amphibian ecology.
Since 2004 the president of NAMOS BC has taught about amphibian ecology to UNBC students enrolled in courses at the John Prince Research Forest. In 2008 we expanded our outdoor education programs and hosted events for children of all ages through local schools, summer science camp, naturalist clubs, and daycare. Children rank animals high on their list of interests and we believe amphibians are a safe and informative way to engage in childrens interests. Education is an important goal in the NAMOS BC constitution because it helps to raise awareness about amphibian declines and the implications this has for our wetlands and forest ecosystems while also providing an excellent forum for learning. We support initiatives that bring children and nature together (e.g., Children and Nature Network). Through our citizen monitoring program we hope to map and then locate amphibian ecosystems that are near schoolyards or in accessible parks where families and children can visit and learn about the biology of amphibians. Many of us can relate to the excitement of catching a frog or salamanders as kids and it is important that this learning experience be passed onto future generations.
Members of our organization are teaching, hiring, and mentoring biology students at the University of Northern British Columbia about amphibian ecology and research methods. We are seeking collaborations with educators in our community who are interested in developing age-suited curricula about amphibian ecology. The hope is to design outdoor educational activities so that the ecosystems are visited and monitored. Outdoor learning is an important goal in ecoliteracy, because it reconnects urban life to the ecosystems that support these communities and people can see how they are affected by city streets, roads, and other construction. Amphibians contribute to the well being of our communities and local ecosystems.
The Pond Wetland Conservation Program of Canada offers a wonderful Wetland education pacakage and brochure for teachers. If you are a teacher, educator, or part of a group in Prince George who is interested in educating about ecoliteracy or amphibian ecology, please contact NAMOS BC to learn about our education modules and hosting of field trips to the Amphibians of the Central Interior. As part of our adult education programs we are designing information pamphlets and signs about amphibians that we can errect in city parks. In 2009 keep an eye for us at the Prince George Farmers Market where we plan to and host an information booths where people can read about amphibians and learn how to become citizen volunteers.
Other educational resources we have found useful, include the GoogleEarth Outreach KML: EDGE Amphibians geographical program about global amphibian declines. The National Biological Information Infrastructure has compiled a list of Amphibian Resources for Teachers.
Our pond-watch campaign is being modelled after the Toronto Zoo's Adapot-a-Pond program. Pond watching is a fun activity that can be done by a classroom to learn about amphibian ecology or as a family activity to monitor and learn about amphibians on your property. We are mapping out suitable amphibian ponds in Prince George and contacting teachers in the community to assist with this program.
Please let us know if you have an amphibian pond near your home and on your property and would like to turn it into an educational place where supervised children can visit and learn about its wonders. Keep posted as we will introducing our 'pond-watch', 'frog-watch', and 'salamander-watch' programs and pamphlets for kids and adults alike!
NAMOS BC encourages people interested in amphibians in their local area to participate in the Frog and Salamander watch programs. Please e-mail us (ecology@namos.ca) if you are interested in being trained to become a 2009 frog-watcher.
Become a citizen volunteer and monitor amphibians in your own backyard. NAMOS BC is here to assist any person or family who would like to monitor amphibians in the Central Interior of BC. Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions or would like to receive training to identify amphibians and to learn more about amphibian monitoring in your local area. Frog watching is a healthy and enjoyable activity for all ages.
NAMOS BC encourages people interested in amphibians in their local area to participate in the Frog and Salamander watch programs.
Salamanders are more cryptic than frogs, meaning they are harder to find. You can locate salamanders along trails in the woods by flipping over coarse woody debris. Be careful, however, not to do this too often as you might disturb their habitat. Salamander watching in the wild can be difficult work. However, salamander eggs or larvae are easy to find and we would very much like to hear from you if and where you have seen salamanders (ecology@namos.ca). A lesser known aspect to amphibians is that they can be fully terrestrial as adults and the local long-toed salamander in particular likes to wander through the woods and eat bugs under coarse woody debris. If you enjoy hiking in the woods and would be interested in learning how to locate, identify, and photograph salamanders, please let us know and you can help contribute to our regional database and to the natial amphibian atlas. Become a citizen volunteer and monitor amphibians in your own backyard. NAMOS BC is here to assist any person or family who would like to monitor amphibians in the Central Interior of BC. Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions or would like to receive training to identify amphibians and to learn more about amphibian monitoring in your local area.
The experience of nature plays an central role in our health, development, and learning process. The increasing loss of accessible nature and biodiversity in urban centers is a troubling realization. It is vitally important that children play, that families visit, and that the world of natural science return to and experience nature as a source of inspiration, a source of understanding, and as a source of well–being. Ecoliteracy is education about nature by reconnecting the learning experience to the local ecosystems that surround and sustain us.
The central resource on ecoliteracy is the The Center for Ecoliteracy website. NAMOS BC is actively involved and pursuing ecoliteracty projects by using amphibian ecosystems as a gateway into nature. Since 2004, the founding member and president of NAMOS BC has taught students enrolled in a UNBC course titled Field Applications in Resource Management. Students learn about amphibian ecology in relation to forestry management and operations. Other programs were initiated in 2008 to include people of all ages, from pre-schoolers to adult education. Participants visit wetlands and enter the forest to flip coarse woody debris and locate salamanders. Forestry students at UNBC learn techniques to manage for, sustain, and employ amphibians as a forestry resource.
NAMOS BC is dedicated to the education of children in recognition of the extinction of experience effect Snaddon et al. 2008), otherwise known as nature-deficit disorder. Modern community development projects are increasingly blocking our childrens access to nature. The process is trimming natural areas away from view and we are loosing a valuable resource that otherwise stimulates developing minds or fascinated artists and poets alike.
Children and society increasingly fear natural areas. This biophobia is on the rise as we blindly plough and pave our ecosystems away from our daily lives. Organizations such as the Children and Nature Network are working hard to reverse this trend. NAMOS BC is designing education modules to reverse the extinction of natural experience by engaging students to take in part of our local amphibian ecology monitoring programs. In a world of plugged in versus structured and indoor play, children are starved for outdoor green spaces where they can have free and unstructured play and learn about the wonders of nature through their own unique experience. Such play is essential to the well being of our children (Ginsberg, 2007)
Our adopt–a–pond, frog watch, and salamander watch programs are being developed as part of our ecoliteracy program. We hope to educate, assist and communicate with city planners and other members of our community on the means to develop our communities having amphibian populations nearer our backyards so that we can, once again, be engaged with nature and become more aware about the services that it provides.
In the past year, NAMOS BC has given education modules on amphibians to the following groups: