The kids at Saltcoats School had a chance to learn about nature. As part of the Yellowhead Flyway Birding Trail Association’s Spring Symposium, Colin Laroque with the University of Saskatchewan and Lacey Weekes with Nature Saskatchewan came to give the kids interactive presentations.
Weekes spoke to kids about shore birds, and the different adaptations they make to survive, dressing up a student with the different adaptations to demonstrate what that means for how the bird looks, acts and gets their food.
“They may not think of those things when they look at birds, but hopefully now when they look at a bird they will notice the wings, notice the legs, the toes and the beaks. What kind of beak a bird has indicates what food they have been eating and what habitat they need to survive.”
Laroque talked to kids about the trees of the province, getting them up close to the wood itself.
“A tree is a tree, but there are actually quite a few different species out there, and they’re all doing different things in the environment and they all show us different things in the environment. Just having them understand there are different trees out there is a big step.”
Both presentations were highly interactive for the students, and that was by design, because it gives kids something that is not like their regular school day.
“Often they just haven’t seen these things before, it’s not your typical school material, so suddenly they’re excited by it, and when they’re excited about it you can get them really excited about what you’re doing.”
Part of the goal for the day is to reduce the disconnect between kids and nature, something which they believe will be more successful the younger they start.
“We have a better chance of getting them just as excited about a butterfly, a bird or a tree as they are about an iPad or an X-Box,” Laroque says.
“If kids feel a connection to nature and those animals, they are more likely to want to protect them and keep them around for future generations,” Weekes adds.
Reaching kids is also a good way to reach adults, Laroque believes, as education can go in both directions.
“Very often you can teach something to a child, like what’s the difference between a birch tree and a spruce tree, and they go home and teach mom and dad. Sometimes it’s surprising.”
The YFBTA sponsored the presentations to the school, and Weekes says that throughout Saskatchewan, local nature organizations like them are vital for nature in the province.
“It’s really important that smaller communities get together and have these local nature societies that play an active role in the community and get people excited about nature and conservation.”
