Listening to C-SPAN radio on the way to work today, they were re-airing a Congressional hearing from last week.  I’m not sure if I ever heard the specific purpose of the hearing, but they were definitely interested in the relationship between the government’s desire to sell or lease drilling and exploration rights in the Arctic with the current and future plight of polar bears.  It’s a complicated subject with competing points of view regarding the politicization of the Endangered Species Act, energy independence, global warming, and a beautiful creature whose life depends on the availability of unspoiled ice floes for its daily survival.

As I was listening I couldn’t help wondering if President Bush was going to step in at some point to “save the polar bear” as part of his legacy, and I couldn’t help thinking of the famous story regarding another president, Teddy Roosevelt, and another bear (this one was black) thousands of miles away and over 100 years ago in Mississippi.

The Story of Teddy’s Bear (from the NPS website)

In November of 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt, a noted hunting enthusiast, had been invited to join a bear hunt near the town of Smedes, Mississippi. When the President had initially proven unsuccessful on this hunt, guide Holt Collier determined to find a suitable quarry for Roosevelt. Tracking a 235-pound bear to a watering hole, Collier stunned the unfortunate bear by clubbing it over the head, and tied it securely to a nearby tree. A messenger was sent to summon the President, but when Roosevelt arrived he was unimpressed by the spectacle of a bound, dazed and bleeding bear. He had been dismayed by this unfamiliar method of hunting, using packs of dogs to track, flush out and wear down the prey while the hunter need only lie in wait for the animal to be driven to him. This was far from the strenuous physical challenge Roosevelt was accustomed to and fond of. He not only refused to claim the bear himself, but forbade anyone else from doing so as well. Regrettably, the rarely repeated resolution to the story does not include a happy ending for the bear. Seeing the condition of the injured bear, which had been badly mauled by the dogs, Roosevelt asked that it be put out of its misery and it was killed with a hunting knife.

Reporters with the hunting party soon spread news of Roosevelt’s fair play nationwide. Among those inspired by the story was Washington Post political cartoonist Clifford Berryman, who produced a wildly popular cartoon of the incident. New York City storeowners Morris and Rose Michtom were further inspired by the cartoon, and Mrs. Michtom produced two stuffed bears for sale in their shop. The Michtom family even claimed to have written to Roosevelt and received permission to attach his name to the toy. “Teddy’s bear” swiftly became a nation-wide fad, and later an enduring pop-culture symbol that has long outlasted its inspiration and namesake.

The Story of George’s Bear

So where today’s story ends is anybody’s guess. Will President Bush do something significant enough to have a line of bear toys named after him (Georgie Bears?) or will he fade into history along with a rapidly disappearing species?  Only he and his cabinet appointees are in a position to decide the official fate of polar bears, but it’s up to the rest of us to decide if we’re ready to modify our lifestyle to accommodate other species on our shared planet.  Are you prepared to do your part?  Get ready, because if the government decides polar bears are worth saving, it’ll then be up to us to follow through. Do we really want a planet where the only animals larger than us are domesticated?  How boring would that be!?

Parke Diem!
— Jon

How can I possibly know what’s going on at almost 400 National Park Service units across the country?  One of my reliable sources for homeschooling and field trip ideas is a page on the NPS site called “Parktips“.

Parktips is a monthly compilation of newsworthy items and story ideas from the National Park Service. A new edition is posted on the first week of each month on the NPS website at http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/pressrm.htm — Click on the Story Leads link to access Parktips. You can view past issues of Parktips. You can also receive a personal copy of Parktips, via e-mail or fax, by registering at the website.

…In spite of the difficulties of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama…will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls…I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight…

…From every mountainside, let freedom ring. When we let freedom ring,…we will be able to speed up that day when all God’s children…will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we’re free at last!”

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Amen.  What else could I possibly add? 

Parke Diem!
— Jon

Wow.  I just had one of those days where I communicated with so many people in so many places, it’s mind-boggling.

This morning I got up at 5am and carted my daughter off to a local kids’ museum where she was on the news during the opening of a new exhibit.  So while my daughter’s electrons are being beamed through the air and over the internet and around the world, I’m busy snapping pictures (we homeschoolers photograph everything, right?). Then it’s off to work where I communicate with some military folks in Iraq, England, Alaska, and Texas as part of my job, then it’s home again where I sent my digital pictures out to people in Maryland, California, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Italy.  A package arrives in the snail-mail and I then e-mail a paleontologist in Connecticut (who we’ll meet this summer in North Dakota to dig up 67 million year old bones) so I can get his home address so I can send him a t-shirt I had designed on the internet only a few days ago that was printed in Virginia and mailed across the Potomac to me.  Meanwhile the usual barrage of e-mails from various homeschool groups come streaming in every 15 minutes or so from all 50 states and during dinner my wife reads to us the story of our friends’ first few days in Italy as they recently moved to a military base there.  This evening I sent some more e-mails back and forth with California about ancestry.com research, found some more information on our family tree that led back to a branch originally from Germany in the early 1700s (which is now part of the Netherlands).

Whew! I feel like my brainwaves have been scattered to the four corners of the globe and back hundreds and perhaps millions of years — all just today.  And isn’t it amazing that we all have this ability to communicate and research and discover just about anything we want in no time at all.  We could easily use all that power to just sit in front of the computer all day and all night and continually absorb… absorb… absorb.  The challenge as parents is for us to use that power to inspire our kids to get out there and see it and do it for themselves.  It’s wonderful and terrifying at the same time, isn’t it?

Parke Diem!
— Jon

From a Florissant Fossil Beds Nat’l Monument press release…

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is introducing a winter series of programs called “Huts, Hikes, and Hot Chocolate.” These 2 hour ranger-led programs will take place throughout the winter at the Florissant Fossil Beds. The programs will begin in the Monument’s yurt (hut) by the wood stove with hot chocolate and coffee. The ranger will introduce the program and then take participants on a guided hike which will last up to 2 hours and may cover up to 2 miles.

The first program will take place on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 12 noon. Ranger Shawn will be guiding a hike to experience winter at the Monument. Reservations are required, and space is limited. Please call (719) 748-3253.

These guided hikes may be on foot, snowshoe, or skis, depending on the levels of snow. You must provide all of your own equipment and warm clothing. You must also be able to assess your ability and needs, or that of your family, to hike, ski, or snowshoe up to 2 miles. Small children are not recommended.

There is no charge for the program beyond the normal entrance fee which is $3.00 for anyone 16 or over. Anyone 15 or under is free. To reach the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, travel 35 miles west of Colorado Springs on Highway 24. At the town of Florissant, turn left onto Teller County #1 and travel 2 miles south to the Visitor Center.

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Resources:

• Planning A Field Trip
• Professional Development 

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Curriculum Materials:

• Paleontologist’s Path: Grades 1 – 3 | Grades 4 – 6  | Grades 7 – 12
• Paleontology for High School
• VIEWS: Virtual Tour and Curriculum for Middle and High School
• Teaching with Historic Places: Hornbek Homestead and the Homestead Act

It’s the dead of winter and all I can think about is our family vacations for later this year.  Included (if the budget holds up) are a Father-Son trip to North Dakota to dig up dinosaur and turtle fossils, a Daddy-Daughter trip to Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado National Parks, and a family trip somewhere else — perhaps Boston or the Outer Banks (somewhere within a half-day’s driving distance).

So now the hunt begins on things to do when we get there.  I scour the various Park Service web pages for ideas, looking for common themes since these trips are also school field trips, of course.  Google and Yahoo! searches help me look for things to do outside the NPS units.  Often we need to find campgrounds to use near the NPS areas that don’t offer camping, and that usually means a nearby state park, national forest, private campground, or cheap motel/b&b.  Most of our money is spent getting there and getting around, so visiting parks (low or no cost) and eating on the cheap are key components to a successful trip.

As I was brainstorming ideas and trying to come up with a rough agenda of what days we’ll be where, I stumbled onto this design-it-yourself t-shirt site.  What better way to pull all the pieces together into a wearable theme for our trips?  Here’s what I came up with so far — all combining images of my own with clip-art images from the website.

So you can be sure we’ll be wearing our t-shirts during our trips.  The family trip will have some silly slogan like “Lost in Boston 2008” or “The Soak in Okracoke (No Joke) 2008”  Got a big family trip planned for this year?  Memorialize it on some matching t-shirts!

Parke Diem!
— Jon

Annual Whale Watch Weekend and Intertidal Life Festival

From an NPS press release…

Barnacles and Blowholes! Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego, California will host the 21st Annual Whale Watch Weekend and Intertidal Life Festival on January 19 and 20 from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to explore tide pools and observe inhabitants such as sea anemones, sea hares and hermit crabs. Visitors can also witness the return migration of the magnificent Pacific gray whale en route from Alaskan feeding waters to the Baja California, Mexico breeding lagoons. Authors, researchers, educators, puppet shows, and movies will highlight aspects of Pacific gray whales and intertidal life.

NPS Contact: Kathy Kupper, (202)208-6843.

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If you’d like to plan a field trip some other time, the Cabrillo Nat’l Monument’s website offers up a whale of a list of resources for you to consider, including:

• Teacher Packets
• Fee Waivers
• Tidepool Permits
• Making a Reservation
• Teacher-Led Visits
• Film and Slide Program Offerings
• Program Evaluation
• Guidelines For Your Visit
• Suggested Reading
• Ranger-Led Visits
• Scavenger Hunt
• Zero-Waste Lunch Program

From the National Wildlife Federation website…

Frogwatch USA is a frog and toad monitoring program that gives YOU the opportunity to help scientists conserve amphibians! With as little as 20 minutes a week you can collect essential information to protect frogs and toads.

This long-term amphibian study, managed by the National Wildlife Federation in partnership with the United States Geological Survey, will increase awareness of amphibian decline and will give you the opportunity to be directly involved in gathering information that can ultimately lead to practical and workable ways to help stop the decline of these important species.

Anyone can volunteer! You do not have to be a frog or toad expert to make a contribution; all you need is an interest in frogs and toads.

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I highly recommend this to anyone who lives within hopping distance of a creek, marsh, river, lake, tree, or anywhere else you might find frogs and toads in your area.  This is a great way to schedule a short outing with the kids once per week.

My son and I participated in FrogWatch USA a few years ago when we lived really close to a great pond with plenty of surrounding wetlands.  It’s really easy to do even for some of the younger kids (6 and up), because all you need to do is listen and record your observances.  After each count, we’d then head out with our flashlights to see if we could spot them sing, croak, belch, or chirp (hey, they all sounded a little different). 

I gotta tell you — if you’ve never watched a frog sing close up, seeing their throats bulge out was an amazing sight, and the amount of sound that one of those tiny critters can crank out is simply incredible! If you decide to participate — a little advice.  Be sure to choose an area away from road noise if possible. Our pond was full of frogs and toads but the constant traffic made them difficult to hear.

The spring peepers will be out before you know it!  Check out the FrogWatch USA website and plan to be a part of the team for 2008.

Parke Diem!
— Jon

Resources:

• Frogs in Your State
• Frogwatching Tips
• Teacher Planet: Frogs!

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

With Groundhog Day soon approaching, I thought it would be interesting to see which National Park Service areas actually celebrated the presence of groundhogs within their borders.  The answer I got was pretty depressing.  Only at Antietam National Battlefield here in Maryland could I find mention of our early-February prognosticators, and they weren’t exactly mentioned in a fond way.

Groundhogs (or woodchucks) are considered to be pests by most people who own land and especially by those who farm.  Planting crops and expecting the groundhogs to stay away is like tossing birdseed on the sidewalk and expecting the birds to ignore it.  But in our National Parks, defenders of wildlife and all things natural, the last thing you’d expect to hear about is a “groundhog problem” at a National Park.  But sure enough, Antietam has such a “problem” that they seem to spend considerable time dealing with.  In fact, standing at the observation room atop the Visitor Center, groundhog mounds are clearly visible across the field of view.

While my internet search turned up a web page on the NPS Antietam site relating to their perennial battle with these large rodents, the link was broken so I was unable to find out much detail about the measures they’ve employed to deal with the critters. I did see a reference to a lack of “farm dogs” on the battlefield which someone thought was an effective nemesis of the groundhog but lacking at Antietam.

So here’s the $64,000 question — are groundhogs at places like Antietam really pests, or are we visitors to THEIR homes?  Or has the creation of the park and preservation of the battlefield artificially created this population boom?  And if that’s true, is the National Park Service obligated to actually do something about it?  Or does it depend? 

If the groundhogs are destructive to the point where they’re undermining paved trails (a hypothetical situation – I’ve seen no evidence that they are in fact doing this), then perhaps a relocation program is warranted.  But they’ll probably be back! Or should we just have to deal with whatever damage they might cause and turn the other cheek?  Another question that comes to mind — were groundhog holes an obstacle to the thousands of soldiers who stomped these grounds in September 1862?  Surely with the sheer number of soldiers who descended upon these farms, fields, and forests, there must be some historical account of the “woodchuck factor.”

If you and your kids have an opinion on this, why not write to the park management and let them know what you think or simply ask questions about what their stance is?  This would be a great exercise for your kids to take on as a writing assignment and tie-in to the upcoming Groundhog Day event.  Sure, you could easily send along an e-mail with minimal effort, but how about a letter that’s actually printed out, folded into an envelope, stamped, and addressed to the park superintendent?  When’s the last time your kids have done something like that?  Or how about we parents, for that matter?

Antietam National Battlefield
Office of the Superintendent
P.O. Box 158
Sharpsburg, MD 21782

Parke Diem!
— Jon

One thing I love about our National Parks is that there are so many of them — practically a lifetime of travel and learning opportunities!  I was busy poking around the NPS website, trying to determine whether I had actually included all 50 states in the various posts I’ve made since last July. 

Naturally, I turned my attention to little Rhode Island which only has one NPS site.  Oh wait…there’s another park on the RI state map now!  Why is it that I’ve never seen THAT before?

Google Search time.  Touro Synagogue [Search].  Wow, it’s an active synagogue and the oldest one in the United States.

Back to Google.  2008 Jewish Calendar [Search].  Next date on the Jewish holiday calendar is Tu Bishvat.  Not being well-versed in the Jewish faith, it’s back to Google for me.

Tu Bishvat [Search].  חמישה-עשר בשבט  Wow, it’s like the Jewish version of Arbor Day, Earth Day, and New Years Day all rolled into one!  Sounds like a reason to celebrate for me — and what better tie-in to the National Parks could I ask for?

From Wikipedia.com:  In modern times Tu Bishvat has become popular with many Jews, and is celebrated with much enthusiasm in Jewish schools, synagogues, and communities. There are two general interpretations of the holiday which are echoed in most of these celebrations. The first is reclaiming of the land of Israel through tree-planting. This is the main activity in Israel, and in this aspect the holiday quite resembles Arbor Day as celebrated in other parts of the world. The second is the celebration of the earth, in essence a Jewish Earth Day, often accompanied by reflections on ecological or environmental issues.

On leap years, it’s celebrated on the 3rd full moon before Passover, so that’s Tuesday, the 22nd of January.  If you live anywhere nearby, you owe it to yourself to get out there and celebrate at the National Historic Site that week.  Of course, be sensitive to the active congregation’s activities and call ahead to see what’s going on.  The Touro Synagogue Foundation’s website is a good place to start.  If you can’t visit the synagogue, plant a tree, eat some fruit, and by all means celebrate with your own congregation.

Through April 30th, tours are available on Fridays at 1:00pm and every half hour on Sundays from 11:00am to 3:00pm (last tour starts at 2:30).  Additional hours are offered on Monday, January 21 (11:00-3:00), Monday, February 18 (11:00-3:00), and April 22, 23, 24 (1:00-3:00).  After May 1st they’ll be back to offering more frequent tours of the site.  The NPS website’s info doesn’t exactly match up with the Foundation’s info regarding tour times, so be sure to call or e-mail them so you don’t miss out.

There is a $5.00 adult admission charge and the NPS website says that the National Parks pass or America the Beautful Pass is honored. Group tours for 10 or more people can be scheduled by calling 401-847-4794 extension 23. Group Tour fees are $55 per group for tours conducted during regularly scheduled hours and $110 per group for other times.

If you want to introduce your young kids to the Tu Bishvat holiday, either from a Jewish faith or cultural awareness perspective, check out this link to TorahTots.  The music alone will make you want to get up and dance!

May all the sparks scattered by our hands, or by the hands of our ancestors, or by the sin of the first human against the fruit of the tree, be returned and included in the majestic might of the Tree of Life.

Parke Diem!
— Jon