#332: Take a Nature Break

Biodiversity—the variety of all life on Earth—supports the health and wealth of our societies.

Take a 2 minute nature break with an animated video about how nature improves your health:🌍🌿

Via @nature_org pic.twitter.com/WjsiirNk77

— UN Biodiversity (@UNBiodiversity) June 25, 2024

The video is made by the Nature Conservancy. 

#127: Forests and Fungi

A very useful documentary.

There are some clips that would be worth using in the classroom.

A forest is a place where thousands of different organisms meet, creating the most complex network of connections that can exist in nature. A forest is a system in which each organism plays a role and has an assigned function. It is worth considering the importance of fungi for the functioning of the forest – the most mysterious group of organisms in this forest puzzle. 

Director: Michał Ogrodowczyk 

Script and commentary: Tomasz Leski, Marcin Pietras 

Year of production: 2020 

Producer: Forest Film Studio, Polish State Forests

#61: Valuing Nature from the RGS-IBG

A new resource from the RGS for July 2023.

Valuing Nature is a book about the pressing need for people to value the natural world.

We have made a narrated flick-book-summary for you and your students #geographyteacher

Take a look today, and see if it fits into any schemes of work https://t.co/4N2S6l2L70 pic.twitter.com/NaCgy5hoVk

— RGS-IBG Schools (@RGS_IBGschools) July 28, 2023

Description:

Valuing Nature promotes exactly that, a renewed awareness that we must value the natural world. The book, written by Dr Rob Fish, addresses the growing schism between humans and nature, and encourages us to remember we are one of many elements in ‘the web of life’. Illustrated by Holly McKelvey, the story begins on the fictitious campus of Ostrom University and – through the characters of Aisha, Michael, Sebastian, Chloe, Simone, and Joseph – touches upon the definition of nature and the different approaches we have to it.

The interaction between people and nature is dynamic. It is an ‘assemblage of human and non-human life forms’. Ultimately, it is important to understand that the natural systems of planet Earth make varied and valuable contributions to human wellbeing, and we must cherish and protect them. This is a sustainability concept known as ‘the Ecosystem Services Framework’.

#53: Natural History Reading List #2: A Natural History of Selborne

Updated November 15th 2023

"Gilbert White’s book, more than any other, has shaped our everyday view of the relations between humans and nature."

Richard Mabey, Naturalist & biographer of Gilbert White

Gilbert White's book is a landmark text which students of the GCSE in Natural History are likely to be introduced to in some way. It was a great inspiration for other writers who are at the heart of natural history as well, including Charles Darwin.

His house is open as a museum.

Gilbert White was the curate of the Parish of Selborne in Hampshire and lived there for 40 years. He started his work with his Garden Kalendar in 1751. He and his brother cut a path, called the Zigzag, into the hill behind the house where Gilbert lived, leading up onto the Common.

White is widely regarded as the father of ecology, and is a globally significant natural scientist. He was responsible for a number of major discoveries in the world of natural history

White is famous because of his method. 

In an age without cameras and tape recorders he correctly identified the willow wrens as separate species by their songs and by minute differences in their plumage. He did this through observation, what he called ‘observing narrowly’, and then carefully recording what he saw. 

Whereas other natural historians of the 18th century received information from all over the country, White closely observed nature in one patch of country, as modern natural historians do. He would receive specimens from local boys, or from his brother John, which he would examine. His scientific fame rests on his minute observation of all nature in his garden, on his walks and his rides in the countryside.

Some text amended from the museum website.

Simon Barnes, in The Times 1st June 2013 wrote: 

‘The book is about taking small things and understanding their place across the immensities of space and time. He was able to take a small localised matter and see its eternal significance. He saw his little chunk of Hampshire as a single living entity".

The book takes the form of a seriesof letters to Thomas Pennant and Daines Barrington, and was published in 1789 near the end of his life. 

Gilbert White also referred to the "rude magnificence" of nature.

Updated July 28th 2023

A nice piece in 'The Guardian' explored more of Gilbert White's legacy and how some the 'rude magnificence' has been restored.

It also gave me an idea to put together a GCSE Natural History Quiz as part of the resources that we will be creating around the specification.

One question would be to name Gilbert White's pet tortoise.

The article also goes into the skill of "watching narrowly" and the conservation work being carried out on the estate.

The book has never been out of print since publication.

The Linnean Society offered a session in November 2023, and a link to watch the YouTube recording was provided...