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Earth Matters : Metamorphosis

By John Sinton

Early in life, I fell in love with metamorphosis when I collected caterpillars and placed them in jars with their preferred leafy food, then watched them transform into pupae and finally into butterflies. In high school biology I discovered that their magic shape-shifting lay deep in their evolutionary development, which allowed the immature and mature stages to occupy different ecological niches dining on different foods. This allowed one form of the insect to gorge on abundant, ephemeral food, fattening up before that next stage of its life began. In those same years, I also discovered the singularity of the Latin language when, in Mr. Hatch’s Latin class, we struggled to make sense of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.”

Published on October 13, 2022.

Earth Matters : What does it mean for a species to be rare?

By Lawrence J. Winship For the Gazette March 4, 2022 Yellow lady slipper orchids along Highway 6 on the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. CONTRIBUTED/Lawrence J. Winship Several summers ago, my […]

Published on March 4, 2022.

Field Trip Programs at Hitchcock Center or Off-site : Mountains and Valleys: The Geology of the Pioneer Valley

Students will learn how fascinating geology can be and how the everyday landscape provides intriguing clues to the past.

Published on August 17, 2018.

Field Trip Programs at Hitchcock Center or Off-site : The Forest Ecosystem

Through a variety of activities, students will learn about plant life cycles, and the energy transfer through the food web from producers to consumers to decomposers.

Published on August 17, 2018.

Field Trip Programs at Hitchcock Center or Off-site : Life of a Tree

Students will have the opportunity to sharpen their observation skills as they explore life in and around a tree.

Published on August 17, 2018.

Field Trip Programs at Hitchcock Center or Off-site : Habitat Studies

Just as each neighborhood has its own needs and inhabitants, each habitat has its own animals, plants, and interactions.

Published on August 17, 2018.

Field Trip Programs at Hitchcock Center or Off-site : Insect Investigations

Students will learn about the science of entomology through a live insect lab, and will collect insects, and their non-insect relatives, in various habitats on our trails.

Published on August 17, 2018.

Field Trip Programs at Hitchcock Center or Off-site : Pond Ecosystems

Students will collect and observe a diversity of fascinating animals and plants whose adaptations to living in water are truly astonishing.

Published on August 17, 2018.

Field Trip Programs at Hitchcock Center or Off-site : Life in a Pond

At the pond, we will collect and observe several varieties of invertebrates that depend on this habitat.

Published on August 17, 2018.

Field Trip Programs at Hitchcock Center or Off-site : Animals in Winter

We will explore animal homes, food, signs and various adaptations that animals use for surviving in the cold, snowy months.

Published on August 17, 2018.
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Hitchcock Center for the Environment