Greetings from Napa RCD, and welcome to the third edition of our weekly activity digests!
As always, don't forget to share the things you're finding and doing on social media, tagging @NapaRCD and #WILDnapa. We can't wait to see what you're up to!
And lastly, please reach out if you would like custom education support, resources, activities, or Zoom presentations for your group or virtual classroom. Contact
education@NapaRCD.org
and we can hook you up!
Many thanks to the following education and outreach activity sponsors for their support: NOAA, County of Napa, City of Napa, the Watershed Information and Conservation Council, and Friends of the Napa River.
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Online & Inside Activities
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How has your neighborhood changed?
What did Napa County look like when dinosaurs roamed the Earth? Or when the first plants appeared on land? Using this
Ancient Earth visualization tool
, you can observe the earth as it was up to 750 million years ago!
Find California, and take a screenshot at regular intervals to make an album or time-lapse video. Or, draw your home continent at different points in time in your nature journal, then draw the types of organisms that were living at the time!
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Online & Outside Activities
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Phenology. What a word!
Phenology is the study of seasonal changes, and it's something we all do, whether on purpose or unconsciously. We can tell it's spring because the flowers are blooming and the hills are green; we know it's fall when the oak trees start dropping acorns and the hills are golden.
Spring is a great time to observe the unfolding of nature.
Nature's Notebook
is a project of the
National Phenology Network
, and offers great resources and tutorials to help you see, track, and report seasonal changes to plants. Tracking this information during a single year and across many years helps us better understand seasonal cycles and how those cycles are changing within our changing climate. Check out Nature's Notebook as a tool to observe things like when you start seeing dogwood flowers in your neighborhood, or when you see that emerging black oak leaf in the park (hot pink!). Let us know about your experience!
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"A journal is not about the picture. It is about paying deeper attention."
-John Muir Laws
This statement hints at the often-overlooked core of nature journaling: deep observation. Using words, pictures, and numbers can help nature journalists achieve this.
Since we’ve worked with writing prompts, let’s try some nature journal sketching and practice visual thinking. Before you find your outdoor, comfy spot, take a look at these videos:
When you're ready, just remember: it's not about perfection, but about looking more deeply and differently at something. It might even inspire you to learn something new about something you see every day!
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Painting with Plants
Making watercolors from nature is easy. All you need to do is collect a few stems, leaves, flowers, bark, charcoal, or even some soil. Make sure it is okay to collect, do not take more than you need, and make sure you aren't collecting things like poison oak! Mash up the leaves or flowers in a durable bucket or dish with some water. Allow the mashed up parts to soak for 10 minutes, and maybe mash 'em up some more. Dip your brush in, and let your creative juices flow on your driveway (make sure your colors won't stain the concrete first!) or paper. And of course, show us your creations by tagging us with @NapaRCD on
Facebook
and
Instagram
! You can also email your creations to
Education@NapaRCD.org
.
Eric created a beautiful light purple by smashing up some verbena flowers from his yard. He found it best to use just the flower's petals, and really mash 'em up good. Good luck, and have fun!
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Almost all of us are going out for walks in our neighborhoods and parks, and we want to see YOU safely enjoying our open spaces! Share a photo of you enjoying spring in Napa County- tag @NapaRCD and #WILDnapa on social media or
email
it to us.
Tell us where your photo is from, and give us a sentence or two about your experience. It can be anywhere! Here is Eric checking out the last few magnolia blossoms on a tree in downtown Napa.
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This week's featured flower was found at Skyline Park and is called the California Golden Violet, or
Viola pedunculata.
You can learn more about these happy spots of yellow on
CalFlora
or
iNaturalist
.
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Help support RCD Programs -
Donate
Today!
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Napa County Resource Conservation District | 707-252-4189 |
NapaRCD.org
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