The East End School
Tree Hugger Club
presents
Discovering
at East End School
Our explorations and writing about the plants, animals
and habitats found at our schoolyard.
By the students and teachers of East End School
of East End School
Hi teachers,
This PowerPoint booklet can be used in many ways. Be sure to play around
with the layout, add, subtract or alter whatever you see or read. Students can
simply go onto the internet and cut and past information about tree (be sure
they credit the source), write about their experiences then paste that in, take
photos or draw pictures , etc.
Also, please keep the following email address in mind:
[email protected]
Any questions about plants or animals seen or not identified,
send it over. Just take a photo of the mystery plant with any handy cameral
and send it over. If it’s blooming a flower, so much the better. I’ll get to work
on it and let you know what you’ve got there. Same goes for bird
identification by song or brief description, insects, trees, etc.
It was wonderful to work with all of you and your students.
Thank you,
Dave
Coming to our senses = awareness
Only by being aware can we know anything. And the more aware, the more we can
know. The first line for knowing our world is our senses. We often hear about trying to
motivate students to learn, but programmed into all life is the need to take in
information through site, smell, touch, sound, and a sense of our bodies called
proprioception. Engage students through their senses and watch the excitement come
into their faces.
As I walked along with a group, a mockingbird called out copying a bird song three times,
switching to another imitative bird song three times, and then onto the next. The
children stopped all talk and focused their attention on this fascinating song cycle.
A few times during our walk, students got overly excited. So we stopped, closed our eyes,
and became aware of the breath going in and out of our bodies. This is no trivial activity
as holding our breaths for a while alarmingly points out. Connections are also made
through the breath with the oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle between plants and us.
The process of just being aware of their breaths calmed them enough to engage on an
ever deeper level of awareness.
Learning about feathers, discovering the names of tree leaves by their shapes, making a
“Dandelion Lion”, using pokeweed berries for ink, blowing milkweed seeds to encourage
the plants growth for monarch butterflies . . . We engaged in many nature activities with
the students in only a 45 minute period. So much can be explored – once our senses are
open.
You just have to be
aware with your
senses to notice . . .
With your ears
(hearing)
With your eyes
(seeing)
With your ears
(hearing)
With your nose
(smelling)
With your mouth
(tasting)
And with your skin
(touching)
Being aware helps you to be
a part of nature.
It also helps you to enjoy it
even more.
Introduction
This pamphlet is a review of the walk around the school grounds that I gave at the beginning of
the 2012 – 13 school year. What I’ve done is condense all of the walks that I gave over the 3 day
period into one. I’ve included lots of extra information as well so that you can have a complete
guide to your school yard.
Our school yard is a growing forest:
Ecological Succession
All of the ecosystems, habitats, plants and animals found on our school grounds are pulled
together by the process of ecological succession. For our section of the country, succession
means the stages that go into making a forest, specifically, an Eastern Deciduous Forest.
Your students can easily understand the concept of ecological succession by relating the stages
of succession that develop into a forest to the stages of the growth that develop into an adult
human being.
The four stages of ecological succession as they relate to human growth are:
Early (baby)
Middle (child)
Late (teenager)
Mature (adult)
I’ll illustrate this concept from our walk on the next page, but here’s a nice diagram showing the
growth of a forest over a time frame of about a hundred years.
Our school grounds nature walk took us from the front of the
building and ended in a forest walk through a woods that bordered the school. What
we learned was that there was a very strong ecological link between the sidewalk
and the woods.
Sidewalk and lawn habitats
The sidewalks and lawns represents some of the most difficult habitats for life to grow. The
plants growing here need to be the heartiest, able to withstand trampling weights, little
nutrition, glaring sun, and unprotected downpours from the rain.
These are the pioneer species who are the first to colonize and make a home in the roughest
of places to live.
We drew comparisons to the pioneers of the old west who also faced difficult circumstances
with heartiness and character and the will to survive.
A sidewalk is a great place to explore from an ecological standpoint because here the basics of
what things need to grow can be explored in great detail. These basics, of course are food,
water, shelter, and adaptation to the environment.
Plants we saw on the sidewalk and lawn:
Various grasses, red and white clover, plantain, purslane, gill over-the-ground, garlic mustard,
nightshade, daisy fleabane and the plants listed and pictured on the next page.
Shown below moss, dandelions, crab grasses, and wood sorrel.
The lawn when left alone, grows to include bushes and
larger plants (not yet trees)
As we walked across the lawn and up the hill from the soccer field, we saw
plants growing that were larger flowers, vines, bushes, and some small trees.
Any lawn not mowed grows naturally into this stage. It is an important area
to leave as it represents not only a transition zone for becoming a forest, but
provides the edge shelter and protection for smaller animals like rabbits,
ground hogs, mice, and other animals that fall easy prey to hawks and other
preditors. These taller plants also provides the shade and growing conditions
for young tree. We were able to see a lot of black locust, ailanthus, some
cherry, and other trees beginning their way to widening the forest growing
beyond.
A highly recommended project that only requires
East End Schoolyard’s Wild Plants
1 Asiatic
Dayflower
2 Barberry
3 Bindweed
4 Blue Violet
5 Bull Thistle
6 Burdock
7 Catbrier
8 Chicory
9 Red Clover
10 Common
Violet
11 Crab Grass
12 Daisy Fleabane
13 Dandelion
14 Day Lily
15 English Ivy
16 Evening Primrose
17 Field Garlic
18 Foxtail
19 Phragmites
20 Redtop
21 Bottlebrush Grass
22 Whitewood Aster
23 Common
Nightshade
24 Garlic Mustard
25 Goldenrod
26 Ground Ivy
27 Honeysuckle
28 Japanese Knotweed
29 Jewelweed
30 Lady’s Thumb
31 Lamb’s Quarter
32 Milkweed
33 Mugwort
34 Mullein
35 Bittersweet
Nightshade
36 Onion Grass
37 Pepper Grass
38 Plantain, Common
39 Plantain, English
40Poison Ivy
41 Pokeweed
42 Purslane
43Queen Anne’s Lace
44 Ragweed
45 Sheppard’s Purse
46 White Clover
47 Wood Sorrel
48 Yarrow
49 Virginia Creeper
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ll of us love seeing gardens with beautiful flowers, luscious vegetables, or lawns
with green grass. But any plant not planted by us, we call a weed. So-called
weeds are wild plants, many with beautiful flowers rivaling those tended in
our gardens, with a nutritional value and medicinal properties far greater than any
domesti- cated plant we can raise ourselves.
Described on these pages are plants that can take the sting away from bee stings,
help clot and clean wounds, help us fight colds and cancer, provide us with a source of high
po- tency vitamins and minerals, make inks and rope, supply us with protein, and provide
many other valuable uses. These wild plants, all found in North Planfield, also hang onto
the soil to keep it from blowing away, and at the same time clean the air and provide the
very oxygen we breathe.
But just don’t appreciate these plants for their medicinal, food, and other practical
uses. Plants may look passive and mute, but they move around throughout the day, can protect themselves, use other creatures to help them propagate, and even communicate with
each other. Their movement is called tropism and is usually in response to the position of
the sun, but some plants, like the Venus fly trap, move to capture other living things for
food. Plants have also devised many ways of carrying their seeds, from the parachutes of
dandelions and milkweed, to the helicopter rotors on maple seeds, to the use of birds and
mammals who eat their fruit and deposit the ingested seed elsewhere. Plants also use the
color and shapes of their flowers to attract insects who then go on to fertilize other plants
with the pollen sticking to them.
Some plants can protect themselves in ingenious ways. Tomato plants whose
leaves are being eaten by caterpillars, for example, send out a chemical to make these
leaves harder to digest. The caterpillar stays longer on the leaf and can be plucked up and
eaten by a bird. Trees eaten by gypsy moths send out a chemical signal that warns other
trees nearby of the danger. These trees respond by producing a chemical that make their
leaves more difficult to eat. Such communication is considered a language by scientists.
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One of the most common and well known wild plants in the city is the dandelion.
Gardeners cringe when they see it in their flower beds or lawns. Most of us just know it
derogatorily as a weed. Yet this wild flower can teach us a lot about the value of all wild plants.
The leaves are higher in nutrition than any store bought vegetable. They are loaded with vitamins
B1, B2,B5, B6, B12, C, E, P and D, biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, and zinc. Its
medicinal uses are so extensive that its scientific, species specific name officinale translates from
the Latin as “used medicinally.” But its usefulness as an edi- ble and medicinal plant is not the only
thing we enjoy about dandelions. Their bright yellow flowers and fluffy round seed head that sends
seeds floating by the hundreds when you blow on it, makes this plant a wild flower to enjoy for its
beauty and fun.
Another plant with an interesting history in our country is the Pokeweed. Just like the
colonists, and the writers of the Declaration of Independence, East End students had fun using its
berries for ink and dyes. It has a wonderful deep purple color. After the vitamin-starved pioneers
learned how to avoid the poisonous parts of the plant from the Native Americans, they celebrated
its appearance each year. Pokeweed twigs were worn by followers of James Poke during his
candidacy for president.
Queen Anne’s Lace, has a beautiful flower-head that is actually composed of much smaller
flowers into an intricate pattern. Its leaves have a very feathery look. The center of the flower is
marked with a dark red color to attract insects. This plant is actually a wild carrot, and if you crush
the stems or the root, it has a delicate carrot smell. There are many tra- ditions regarding how this
plant got its name. One story explains that when the future Queen Anne arrived from Denmark to
become the queen of King James I of England, the wild car- rot was still a novelty in the royal
gardens and so the plant was named in honor of her.
We just couldn’t believe it: along the sidewalk, in large cracks on the sidewalk, even in the
street—the purslane plant grew. This plant is a favorite in its native India where seeds from
purslane have been found in excavations dating back thousands of years. It is a very nutritious
plant providing many vitamins and minerals. It is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which
prevent heart disease and nourish the immune system.
One more plant that we have to mention is jewelweed. The beautiful flowers of this plant
have a golden-orange color. Jewelweed contains an anti-inflammatory/fungicidal chemical (2methoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) which is able to wash away poison ivy toxins, takes away mosquito
bite itching and swelling, relieves bee and wasp stings, and is an effec- tive treatment for warts,
bruises, and fungal infections. But a fun use is to simply touch the flower in the fall. When you do,
the seeds will fly out as far as five feet. This is how the plant disperses its seed. It’s also how it
gets its other name: Touch-Me-Nots.
So the next time you see a wildflower growing between the cracks of a sidewalk or along
the edge of a parking lot, go over and take a look at the beauty, intelligence and use expressing
itself in so many shapes and infinite shades of yellow, white, orange blue, and violet. And there
it was right under your nose—and feet.
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The Insects of Our School Yard
1Ants, Pavement
2 Aphid
3 Bedbug
4Bumble Bee
5Cabbage
White 6
Carpenter Ant
7 Cicada
8 Cockroach
9 Dragonfly
10 Earwig
11 Field
Cricket
12 Firefly
13 Fruit Fly
14 Grasshopper
15 Gypsy moth
16 Honeybee
17 Horse fly
18 House centipede
19 House fly
20 Inch Worms
21 Japanese Beetle
22 Ladybug beetle
23 Monarch
butterfly
24 Mosquito
25Pill Bugs
26Praying Mantis
27Swallowtail
Butterfly 28 Termite
29 Water Beetle
30 Water Boatman
31 Water Strider
32 Viceroy
I
nsects make up the most successful group of animals. More than one
million insect species have been discovered, but scientists estimate the total
closer to five million—which is more than all other species combined! Not
everything you see crawling around is an insect. To be an insect, the animal must
have: three body parts—head, thorax, and abdomen; six jointed legs; two
antennae; an exo- skeleton. Although spiders look like insects, they’re not
because of their eight legs and division into two body parts. Centipedes and
millipedes—way too many legs to be an insect. By the way, although most insects
have wings, it’s not necessary to have wings to be classified an insect.
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Abdomen
Thorax
Head
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Those flashing lightning bugs you see on summer evenings are trying to
attract mates. If the female sees a flasher and she's ready to mate she responds by
flashing right after the male's last flash. A short flash dialogue takes place as the
male flies closer and closer, and then, if all goes well, they mate. So that a flasher
doesn't attract a firefly of a different species, each lightning bug species has its
own specific flash pattern. Flash patterns range from continuous glows to single
flashes, to series of multi-pulsed flashes. The flash is created through a process
known as bioluminescence which uses chemicals to create light without heat.
Some female species of lightning bugs imitate the male of another species to
attract him. When he flies over to her, she makes a meal of him!
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Can you tell the difference between the viceroy butterfly on the left
and the monarch butterfly above? The main difference are the black stripes
towards the bottom of the wings. Since many birds love to eat butterflies and
other insects, it would seem a little foolhardy to stand out so brightly from the
environment. But that is what monarchs want to do. Their eggs are laid on
mildly poisonous and foul tasting milkweed plants, which when eaten by the
caterpillar, makes them bad tasting and poisonous too. Birds learn and
somehow communicate this information to others not to eat the monarchs.
The viceroy however is not poisonous, but has copied the colors of the
monarch and is avoided by birds as well.
The insect immediately to the right is a dragonfly. Dragonflies were
around even before dinosaurs. Dragonflies are beautifully adapted for flight,
having powerful flight muscles and wings that move independently. They
are able to hover, fly forwards, backwards, sideways and to rapidly change
the di- rection and speed of flight.
One of the most commonly encountered insects, especially at picnics,
is the ant. The particular ant that you probably have seen is the pavement ant.
This ant is native to Europe, but came over to our country, like so many other
plants and invertebrates, in the soil ballast of ships. Ants are highly social
insects, with colonies of pavement ants numbering up to 30,000, each with
specialized jobs which include house keepers, food gatherers, queens for
breeding, and nurses for taking care of the young.
Honey bees like ants also live in colonies. Their jobs are also specialized, much like ants, with hive cleaners, builders, a queen, and food gatherers.
Bees finding plants with pollen will come back to the hive and communicate
the exact location and distance of the flowers to others through movement
some- times described as a dance.
Two very beneficial bugs are the ladybug beetle and praying mantis.
Lady bug beetles feast on insects like aphids that are destructive to crops,
gar- den flowers, and other plants. Their bright orange and black color, just
like the monarch butterfly, is used for the same reason: putting birds on
notice that they have a horribly noxious taste– so stay away. The praying
mantis is a skilled hunter, stalking slowly up to an insect in its green
camouflage, and quickly pouncing with its strong claws.
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Damsel Fly
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The Birds of Our School Yard
1 Barn Swallow
2 Blacked CapChickadee
3 Blue Jay
4 Canada Goose
5 Catbird
6 Common Grackle
7 Crow
8 Dark Eyed Junco
9 Downey Woodpecker
10European starling
11 Flicker
12 Goldfinch
13Green Back Heron
14 Harrier Hawk
15 Herring Gull
16 House Finch
17 House Sparrow
18 Laughing Gull
19Mallard
20 Mockingbird
21 Mourning Dove
22 Northern Cardinal
23 Nuthatch
24 Red Winged Blackbird
25 Red Tail Hawk
26 Robin
27 Rock Dove (Pigeon)
28 Song Sparrow
29 Snowy Egret
30 Tufted Tit-mouse
31 Wild Turkey
32 White Throated
Sparrow
33 Screech owl
34 Great horned owl
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ll the birds listed here-just like all the organisms named in this booklet-have
seen either during our workshops, or by someone in your school. Wild turkies
were seen by two teachers at East End School eating in the soccer field in the
morning. The variety of habitats near the school, such as the parks, streams,
buildings and backyards, provide the conditions for supporting a surprisingly
diverse population of birds. Old and rotting trees provide the insect life for
woodpeckers and nuthatches. The pond and nearby stream provides the habitat for
aquatic birds such as the ducks and herons. In parks and on lawns we find the finches,
starlings, and robins. Buildings provide excellent nesting sites for pigeons, who in turn
support the hawk populations.
Birds can sometimes be difficult to recognize by sight because they can be
skittish, or hidden in trees. It’s a lot of fun to know the birds through our ears by learning
their songs. Several websites are available that play the songs and sounds typical of each
species.
When you find a bird feather on the ground, it will usually be either a flight
feather (from its wing or tail), a contour feather (which cover the bird’s body to give it
shape), or a semiplume or down feather (for insulation). To help you identify them, they
are pictured below.
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Semiplume
Down
Contour
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2
Wing
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Starlings were first brought to North America in the 1890s. Eugene
Schieffelin decided that North America should contain all the birds mentioned in
William Shake- speare’s plays. Since starlings were mentioned in Henry IV,
Schieffelin introduced 60 of the birds in Central Park, NY. Today in North America,
they number over 200 million. They gather in large flocks during the late fall and
winter and take to the sky in the thousands. Individually, they are beautiful birds with
many large silver and gold speckles set off against a deep black background.
Hawks in the city? Between the squirrels, pigeons, there’s plenty of food.
Hawks are not the only ones to enjoy pigeon meals. Pigeons were originally brought
over by colonists for food. Pigeons are fascinating to watch. Their color pat- terns
are more varied than any other wild bird. They are very successful in cities because in their native habitat, they build nests on cliff edges (pigeons are also known
as rock doves) which resemble building and bridge ledges. Pigeons can fly up to 40
or 50 miles per hour and may fly as far as 600 miles a day. They seem to be able to
detect the Earth’s magnetic fields. This magnetic sensitivity, along with the ability
to tell direction by sun, is what helps pigeons do so well with their famous “homing”
behavior. Often you’ll see them frequently clap their wings together, then combine
the claps with an exaggerated gliding motion with wings held in a "V" and tails
spread. This is the male trying to impress the female.
The bird with the highest intelligence as well as greatest social skills and complexity of sounds and language is the crow. Crows also are good tool makers,
fashioning sticks into sharp barbs for spearing insects in tree holes for food. Both male
and female crows work in constructing the nest sometimes aided by one or more
“helpers,” gener- ally their offspring from previous years.
The Green Back Heron, a fisherman bird, was seen along the banks of the
stream near East End school. The way it finds food is by snatching up small bait fish,
then dropping the injured fish back down into the water and waiting. When a larger
fish comes by to eat, the heron uses its spear-like beak to lance the fish.
Like the heron example, a bird's beak and feet can tell us much about their
habi- tat and lifestyle. Web footed birds stay in water, while those with longer toes
perch on trees. Those with hooked beaks use it for catching and tearing prey. Short
beaked birds use them as efficient seed crackers to get at the meat inside. Watch what
a bird eats and see if it relates to the beak shape.
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Mammals of the Schoolyard
1 Cat
2 Chipmunk
3 Cottontail Rabbit
4 Dog
5 Fox
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6 House Mouse
7 Humans
8 Little Brown Bat
9 Muskrat
10 Norway Rat
11 Opossums
12 Raccoon
13 Skunk
14 Squirrel
ammals get their names because they are the only animals that
nurse their young using milk produced in mammary glands.
Every mammal also
o has fur (which we humans call hair), an
advanced brain with a neocortex (humans have the largest), and all can
produce their own heat from within their bodies (we’re all “warm
blooded”).
Perhaps the most amazing animal to see on this list is the red fox.
Studies of red fox show them living, and in some cases thriving, in urban
areas throughout North America and Europe. Several live right here in North
Plainfield. Fox do quite well in cities because they are even more quiet,
secretive, and stealthy than cats and enjoy the same food (garbage, rats,
mice, birds, etc.).
The eastern gray squirrel also does quite well in cities. In fact, their
numbers are greater here than in the forests because of the additional
availability of food eaten by these omnivores. Their city diets include
garbage can feedings, park feedings by humans, acorns, bird feeders,
flowers, and mush- rooms. Because of their acorn burying habits, squirrels
were mentioned by Thoreau in his journals as being responsible for the
widespread dispersion of oak trees. They will create more than a thousand
caches or food storage areas a season. It’s fun to watch a group of squirrels
running around trees and on the ground chasing each other. For mating
purposes, the adult females lead several males for extended chases to find
out who the stronger, more dominant males are.
One of the least favorite mammals are bats. Yet this animal never
bothers with people, spending its time in the air patrolling for and eating insects. The little brown bat can eat on the average one thousand insects an
hour. We believe it. At one East End teacher’s home, it was getting
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impossible to stay out of doors in the evening due to mosquitoes. Then
one evening the mosquitoes seem to have left, replaced by several bats
and their wonderful aerial antics. Bats “see” through their ears by using
high pitched squeaks which reflect off an insect giving its continuous,
precise location. Because of their service removing annoying insects and
gentle natures, bats deserve our appreciation rather than our fear.
Raccoons thrive in cities. The densest population of raccoons in
New York is in New York City. Our janitors have reported seeing
raccoons rummaging through the garbage pails outside the school. We
all know their masked face and ringed tails. They have five toes on both
their front and hind feet. Their long, dexterous fingers enable them to
open latches, untie knots, turn doorknobs, open jars and, most
importantly for their survival in the city, easily pry open garbage can
lids. In the wild, raccoons make their homes—which are called dens— in
hollow logs, trees, or take over the underground dens of other animals. In
the city they find sewer pipes, spaces in old buildings, abandoned lots,
drain pipes, and other city sites to be just like their natural wild homes.
They are very intelligent and adaptable animals.
The opossum is a marsupial which means it rears its young in a
pouch like its relative, the kangaroo. It is the only marsupial on our continent. The opossum forages for food at night eating fruits, berries, insects,
small rodents, and human garbage. Its tail and opposable thumb on its
hind feet help the opossum climb trees. If tormented by a predator, an
opossum will pretend to be dead by going limp. This behavior is where
we get the expression "playing possum." Once the torment has ended, the
opossum will regain consciousness and escape.
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Animal Tracks
Opossu
m
Spotted
Skunk
Raccoo
n
Mous
e
Gray
Squirrel
nytime you figure out what animal was in an area and what it was doing there without seeing the aniAmal,
you’re tracking. Something as simple as a knocked over garbage container can begin a
tracking adventure. Notice that garbage can’s cover pried open and an old cereal box nearby with small tear
and chew marks. Probably a raccoon. A bunch of feathers scattered about in a small circle: a cat or hawk pouncing on its
prey. How about those tiny balls of mud clumped together? Worms came to the surface that night after a rain.
Perhaps the most exciting animal signs to find are their tracks. All of the animal tracks shown above
can be found in the East End School. Snow shows off tracks so clearly that you can see impressions of individual hairs if
you look closely enough. Mud or soft ground also gives clear impressions.
Like anything else in nature, looking closely at a track can give you a lot of information. Things like
the time the animal was there, its size, how fast it was moving, even what direction it was looking can be determined if
you know how to look at the track. Don’t believe it? The speed an animal’s traveling, for example, can be de- termined
by the length of each track from the other. The wider the space, the faster the animal was moving (watch someone
walking, then running to see this in action).
How about head direction? Try this. Stand up and become aware of the bottoms of your feet. Now turn
your head right, then left. Notice how you lean and put more pressure on your right or left foot, which also swiv- els to
the side you’re looking? The impressions in the earth (tracks) record these as swivels.
Here’s one more, but the level of your awareness is going to be put to the test. To look at a track,
one can tell the day of the week, even the time of day the animal was there. How? If it rained the night before and
there are rain drop marks in the track, the animal came through before the rain. If the rain marks are not in the track, it
came through after the rain.
Henry David Thoreau saw tracks in the snow heading “across a frozen pond like words on
parchment.”
Tracks of the Dog and Cat Families
Compare the family resemblances of the tracks (on the right) of the
domes- tic and wild cats and dogs. Except for size, you would have
difficulty telling the difference between your family’s cat track and a
mountain lion’s. The same similarities exist between the tracks of your
dog and a wolf’s.
Dog and cat tracks are often confused. These two families have
similar tracks except for a couple of significant differences. Do you see it?
Cats do not show their claws in the track while dogs do. This is because
cats hunt with their claws, so they keep them protected between their toes
until the last second before grabbing their prey. The muscle that springs
claws can be triggered if you push on the center of your cat’s paw. But be
careful while doing that experiment!
Clockwise: domestic cat, bobcat,
wolf, and German shepherd.
Why don’t dogs need to protect their claws? Dogs hunt in packs and
run down their prey, so their claws are not as critical to making their
living.
Cats also walk very silently. They are very careful about their movements and are very alert. Their silent movement is assisted by soft pads
and fur on the bottom of their feet. These tools combined with lightning
reflexes and speed make them such great hunters that scientists think
some songbird populations have been put in jeopardy by house cats that
haven’t been de- clawed and have been allowed to roam outside.
Trail Patterns
The way an animal walks or runs is shown in its trail pattern. Some animals lumbar along bringing the front
and back legs from one side of its body forward, then the other side. Opossums and woodchucks move in
this way. Then there are those animals who walk along with front leg and opposite side back leg together at
the same time giving the trail pattern shown under the raccoon’s below. Cats and dogs show a trail pattern
that results from placing their rear foot into the track left by their front, giving the pattern shown below.
(Actually, a dog’s rear foot registers a little behind the front.) The hopping animals, like the squirrels and
rabbits shown below (frogs also), are in a groups of four pattern. Notice that the rabbit’s front feet aren’t
quite next to each other like the squirrel’s. To get to really know these trail patterns, try getting down on
your hands and knees and “walking” these trail patterns.
Opossum
Raccoon
Dog
Rabbit
Squirrel
Trees
1 Ailanthus
2 Ash
3 Beech
4 Birch
5 Catalpa
6 Dogwood
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7 Cherry
8 Crab Apple
9 Elm
10 Ginkgo
11 Horse Chestnut
12 Hawthorn
13 Hemlock
14 Linden
15 Locust
16 Maple
17 Mulberry
18 Oak
19 Pear
20 Sweet gum
21 Sycamore
22 White Pine
23 Willow
rees are woody plants with a single trunk at least three inches in diameter. Yet they are so much more.
Chief Seattle said in a famous speech, that, “All things are connected . . . in a web of life. We
are merely one strand in it.” In this web, trees represent many important strands. They provide homes and
food for many insects, birds and other animals. Their wood is used for building our homes, too. Leaves not
only clean the air and provide oxygen, but also nourish the soil with nutrients when they fall. Tree roots help
hold the soil and prevents erosion. The beauty of trees provides us with a sense of well being as well as
shade, and has even inspired poets and writers.
Trees can be identified many ways including bark and overall shape. But the easiest way is through
their leaves. Here are a few of the leaves from trees we found in the school yard. .
10
20
21
16
Bass
Blue
Fish
Carp
L
18
1
Catfish
Frogs
Garter Snake
Slider
Turtle Slug
Snapping
Turtle
Snail
isted here are just some of the amphibians, fish, invertebrates, and reptiles that can be found around town
especially by the streams and park’s lake. .
All of these animals are interesting to study, from the frog who begins life in the water as a gilled tadpole,
then develops lungs, to the snakes, to the wonderfully ancient turtles. Earthworms were especially appreciated
by Charles Darwin who wrote of their capacity to condition soil, "I doubt there are any other animals who
have played such an important part in the history of the world as these lowly organized creatures."
Resources
Here are some things to help you continue your exploration of nature in the city. The fact that you’ve read our booklet
and are more carefully noticing plants, insects and animals even in the cracks of sidewalks is a great beginning. The
Trailside Museum in the Watchung Reservation offers many nature programs as well. The resources that follow will
take you even further along in your journey. Have fun!
Books
Field guides help you to identify the plant or animal you’ve found while you’re in the field. There are field guides
specifically for spiders, insects, butterflies, wild plants, edible and medicinal plants, mammals, tracks, snakes, trees, and
even weather, clouds, and rocks and minerals. The best way to pick a field guide is to go to the bookstore and explore on
your own. Each guide has its own way of telling you about the life that you find and helping you identify it. The one to
pick is the one you find yourself getting most interested in.
Some specific books that we recommend are, Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants by Steve Brill,
A Field Guide to Your Own Back Yard by John Mitchell, Discover Nature Close to Home by Elizabeth Lawlor, and The
City Kid’s Field Guide by Ethan Herberman.
On line
The internet is a great way to explore nature. Any topic you can think of, any plant or insect you can find out- doors, is
waiting for you on the computer. Just put the general topic of interest or specific plant or animal into a search engine like
Google, and away you go.
Nature Journals
Keep a journal where you collect your drawings, quick
sketches, comments, information from books
or the internet regarding plants and animals that you see or
information you would like to remember. It doesn’t have to be
fancy. Your daily experiences are particularly valuable to write
down. At this moment, for example, looking out the window on
Friday after- noon, March 16th, snow is falling. The ground
is covered with fresh white snow. On a tree branch, very near
the house, a bird has landed. Its bright red body stands out
against the snow and branch as if it were a glowing fire with
wings. I look on the “birds” page of this booklet and find out it’s a cardinal.
A second cardinal lands on the branch next to it. This one’s not as large, is the same shape, but is
a light brown color. Since I’m on my computer, I google “cardinal” and find the Cornell’s website which
tells me that the light brown colored bird is a female. I can also play the bird’s song. One more fact, the
cardinal is the most popular state bird in seven states.