By Dan Ziomek
It’s 2 AM somewhere in Hadley. The thermometer reads a balmy fourteen degrees as two souls step from the warmth of their vehicle and enter the darkness of cloudless night. A few moments later the winnowing call of the eastern screech owl can be heard coming from the speaker one of them has set up. They proceed without speaking to their positions 50 yards on either side of the speaker and wait silently. What are they waiting for you ask?
By Patty O’Donnell
The Hitchcock Center is pleased to announce we have been awarded a grant from the Northampton Education Foundation (NEF) Endowment Fund for the 2015-16 academic year to continue our Energy Literacy education program. The program, entitled Energize Northampton! will be offered to all 4th grade classrooms in the four Elementary Schools in the Northampton School District – Jackson Street School, RK Finn Ryan Road School, Leeds Elementary School, and Bridge Street School.
By Dan Zoimek
When you are young, every bird you see is a life bird (one you’ve never seen before). Learning bird songs is like learning a foreign language, but hearing them repeatedly allows you to remember them for the rest of your life.
by Elizabeth Farnsworth
We mostly think of plants as well-behaved, passive creatures, rooted in one place and hoping quietly that sun and soil will provide them what they need in life. But we’d be wrong! Plants actively shape their habitats, communicate with each other, conspire against predators, and sometimes become predators themselves.
By Diane Curtis and Romy Leuchs-Curtis
In order to understand how much I, as a parent, appreciate the Hitchcock Center, it’s important to know a little bit about my own childhood. Don’t worry – I’ll make this brief.
By Helen Ann Sephton
Peter Lamdin has come full circle. “It’s hard for me to believe, but it was 40 years ago this past summer that I first became connected to The Hitchcock Center. That summer of 1975 was the start of my journey as an educator.”
By Colleen Kelley and Jessica Schultz
Each year the education staff at the Hitchcock Center (HCE) attends the NEEEA (New England Environmental Education Alliance) conference to present and strengthen our practice as environmental educators as well as network and build partnerships across New England.
By Patty O’Donnell
Thanks to the generous support of Greening Greenfield – a local non-profit committed to building a more sustainable Greenfield – and the Greenfield Public Schools (GPS), Hitchcock Center educator Patty O’Donnell was able to participate in a collaborative watershed education initiative with all 5th grade classrooms in the district in September.
By Jennifer Unkles
The Hitchcock Center has invited families, girl scout groups, and school groups to participate in an annual citizen science ritual – Monarch Tagging. I, along with my son Thomas, have guided many hands through the placement of tiny tags on the colorful butterflies before their long flight – up to 3,000 miles – to overwintering sites in Mexico. Scores of children have run exuberantly through local fields to catch, tag, and release these beautiful butterflies in this annual event…when their population numbers are not in decline.
By Ted Watt
The second full year of our intensive natural history course is drawing to a close as we observe the coming of winter. What does it mean for naturalists to be learning about and documenting our local organisms’ lives and natural processes? We’ve considered this question from a variety of perspectives during these two years.
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Hitchcock Center for the Environment
at Hampshire College
845 West Street | Amherst MA 01002 | 413.256.6006 | 413.253.2809 fax