What's Your Nature?
Become a Nature Up North explorer to share your encounters with wild things and wild places in New York's North Country. Post your wildlife sightings, landscape shots, photos from your outings, and even your organization's events!
In the Schools - Nature Up North in North Country Classrooms
Making Fire by Hand
By Emlyn Crocker on
Ever made fire by hand? Students in the Intro the Environment and Society class at Colton-Pierrepont High School met with Dr. Timothy Messner, Archaeology professor at SUNY Potsdam, this September to learn how to make fire by hand using just a simple tool and the energy in their hands and breath. Below, students Summer Scovil and Ariel Garvin provide an insight into the experience:
Friday the…
Nature Up North made me Nuts About Nature!
By Nancy LaFaver on
I attended the Nature Up North Summer Workshop to find new ways to incorporate nature and to enhance my Nuts About Nature after school program. After two days of information overload and field experience, I was able to map out an entire school year of nature programs and activities! It was wonderful to not only hear about what Nature Up North is doing but to feel like it could be integrated into…
Nature Up North Teaches the Teachers!
By Susan Dodds on
Let the adventure begin! Once again the NUN crew delivered on their promise to provide relevant and engaging environmental education activities to our area teachers. This year's group of teachers included some veteran's of the NUN program and a couple of newcomers. Participants were engaged throughout the two day workshop in activities such as an Encounter walk at Heritage park, MOWing the Grasse…
Colton-Pierrepont Earth Week 2017
By Emlyn Crocker on
It's late spring in the North Country, and the hills are alive with the sounds of birds and bees doing that important job - pollination. Last week Nature Up North joined Colton-Pierreont Central School's Earth Week Celebration, where pollination is the theme of this year's festivities. We challenged 1st-6th grade students to act out the story of pollination through a hands-on relay game, and…
Get Outside!
By Jenna Levandowski on
Stumbling upon a group of grown-ups in the midst of a snowball fight is a seldom sight to see. As we get older, we so easily fall into this concept of “adulthood” where all of a sudden engaging in play is no longer commonplace. There is this idea that you can only play like a kid if in fact you are a child or are in the presence of one.
Earlier this year I was able to visit the Little River…
Bringing Community back to the Classroom
By Rebecca Munn on
For the past two days, I have had the amazing experience of absorbing all things Nature Up North through a teacher workshop on the St. Lawrence University campus. As a local science teacher, I spend a lot of my summer...yes enjoying a well deserved break from the daily grind...but also reflecting on the past school year. I am always brainstorming ways to make science content in the classroom more…
Registration Open for the Nature Up North Teacher Workshop, August 3-4
By Jacob Malcomb on
Are you a St. Lawrence County teacher interested in incorporating more nature-based learning into your lessons? Do you want to increase opportunities for integrating outdoor learning with STEM content? Nature Up North is offering a workshop for local teachers on August 3rd and 4th during which we will discuss ways to improve STEM learning through hands-on and place-based teaching strategies that…
Maple Monitoring at Colton-Pierrepont
By Jennifer Morrill on
During the month of September, students from Colton-Pierrepont Central School participated in the Monitor My Maple Project through Nature Up North. Through this citizen science project, students at different grade levels are asked to monitor the phenology of the maple trees around campus over the course of several weeks.
Students in the sixth grade participated in the Monitor My Maple project…
Nature Up North Teacher Workshop: A Community of Educators
By Conner Eldridge on
It has been a busy two days at the Nature Up North teacher workshop. Twelve educators from across the North Country convened to share our ideas for diverse learning experiences with an emphasis on local, natural features.
During the workshop, Nature Up North director Dr. Erika Barthelmess and project manager Jake Malcomb introduced us to Place-Based Learning. Their goal was to inspire us to take…
St. Lawrence River Field Day
By Justin Dalaba on
On June 10th 2015, Nature Up North hosted a St. Lawrence River field day for Jefferson Elementary 5th graders. Roughly 55 students came to Robert Moses Nature Center to learn about the watershed, pollution, macroinvertebrates and fishing. There were four total activities for kids to rotate through. The first activity was a nature walk discussing the interactions between water and land. The…
