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Learning and sharing knowledge is part of the experience of nature.
I was just talking to a friend, a new CM1 teacher, who was telling a question from one of her students: “Why are we asking all these questions if you are not going to give us the answer? “ he said, reacting to their question mark. She thought “This is the starting point. “ Naturally and scientifically trained, asking questions is the essential catalyst for learning. I can’t wait to see what she does in class.
When you are in the woods and you see a plant that you do not recognize, no one is there to answer your questions: what is it? What is it related to? Where is he from? Can I eat it? Is it medicated? Is it native? All these questions are unanswered, recorded in a nature journal, perhaps, accompanied by a sketch and a pressed sheet; or maybe a quick snapshot on the phone’s camera roll. Questions that will be answered later, with research. Questions that can lead to other questions. Perhaps questions that will never be answered.
The learning journey takes so many shapes. Try and fail. Read and do. Watch and try. Think it over, make a plan, execute it and succeed or try again. Learning happens all the time, if the mind is willing and the environment is right. It’s not always the case. Sometimes our brain just can’t handle it. Sometimes the situation makes it impossible to learn. But the opportunity is there, and it will happen often.
The natural world is a great place to learn everything from the structure of plants to life cycles to how water flows. Playing in mud puddles and sandboxes teaches water flow, erosion, current and the durability of materials. This activity in childhood could inform the future hydrologist, engineer or ecologist. Even when building a new road or a new house, these skills learned in childhood come into play … how water moves, what it carries, how to slow it down, calm it down, so that ‘she does not take the side the rain is unleashed towards the stream.
The strength of the different types, thicknesses and ages of tree branches is one of the most painful and quickest lessons to be learned. You only catch a lean, dead member once. You only stand once on a living branch that is too thin. You only swing once on the vine before testing its grip on the canopy.
These childhood lessons teach the hardness of angles, the relationship between diameter and strength of wood, and leverage, when the limb you step on bends as you move away. This nourishes the spirit of the young builder, carpenter, forester, cabinetmaker and gives the knowledge necessary to create.
Acorns picked up and filling pockets, piled up in mountains, or buried like treasures are also lessons. The old ones creak, do not grow after being worn smooth with fingertips in a pocket all winter. Acorn mountains attract animals that feast on the bounty, although some are left behind – how do animals know which weevils have in them? The Buried Treasure sends a mass of shoots a few seasons later, all reaching the sky, the sunlight, in a race to see who will be the next producer of precious acorns. This collecting, playing and observing helps to nourish the gardener, the forester, the orchard, the breeder, the future savior of the ash, the American chestnut, the eastern hemlock, the American beech.
It all starts with play and exploration. It is followed by an observation which prompts a question. Why did the water infiltrate it? Why is this tree branch supporting my weight but not this one? Why are these acorns always eaten before the ones over there? And then ask yourself… and then ask more questions, test, try an idea and be wrong. Learning, however, still. Try again and answer the question, but get new ones instead.
It’s good for the brain, you know. To ask questions. Tough ones. The ones you don’t have the answers to. Share your questions with a friend. They may have knowledge that helps, or they may have even more questions that deepen the mystery. Together you might understand. Or maybe not. But you will learn by trying to find the answer. And in this request, this questioning, this sharing and this learning, you have created a friendship, knowledge and a beautiful story. There are others who might ask similar questions. Join them and you have created a community, where together you can protect forests, teach the next generation, find a new source of energy, take a species from the brink of extinction, or give voice to something that does not. has none. . All of this, from an acorn. From a plant that you didn’t recognize. To ask a question that the teacher has not answered.
Nature is a good teacher. Find a friend and go for a walk (without Google). Audubon’s trails are open from dawn to dusk and get more beautiful day by day as fall sets in. To ask questions. Be impressed with what you don’t know. And then look for answers. You will enjoy the trip.
Audubon Community Nature Center makes and nurtures connections between people and nature. ACNC is located just east of Route 62 between Warren and Jamestown. The trails are open from dawn to dusk as is Liberty, the bald eagle. The Center de la nature is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day except Sunday when it opens at 1 p.m.
Sarah Hatfield is ACNC Education Coordinator.
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