"Hello, Spring!" - last days for registration
Photo: Arne Ader
Translation: Liis
Snowdrops in snow.
Spring is approaching and the nature education project “Hello Spring!” starts soon. For the 15th year we invite children and their teachers and parents to go out into nature to look for spring, and to share their activities with others.
Schoolchildren in classes 1 – 9 and children in the older groups in kindergartens, together with their teachers, are invited to take part. The projects start on March 1, and continues until mid-May.
Teachers can enter groups for taking part in the project on the web site http://tere.kevad.edu.ee . Please make your registration on February 28 at the latest.
The aim of "Hello, Spring!" is to bring children nearer to nature and to show them (and their parents) how to see the changes in nature. In looking for spring, the children learn to know a great number of animals and plants: we will follow 35 common species of animals and plants in Estonia as they appear in nature in spring. As the heralds of spring we have chosen the earliest flowering plants (for instance hepatica, colt’s foot, wind anemone, lily of the valley), the first arriving bird migrants (such as skylark, starling, white stork, cuckoo, barn swallow), the first butterflies to wake up (tortoiseshell butterfly, brimstone butterfly) and amphibians (common frog), the first mushrooms (such as the false or beefsteak morel). The children note the date of their appearance – the song or sighting of birds, flowering of plants – and enter it in the project database by way of a simple form on the project homepage. The results – as well as how far spring has advanced in one place or another in Estonia for instance – can be followed through tables and animated charts by all participants as well as the public.
In addition to the spring finds, there are descriptions of all the observed plants and animal species on the project site, the results from earlier years and much more additional material.
Besides the direct observations of nature the project also contains a part for creative work, with the traditional spring theme drawings and writing of haikus (or other short poems). We will certainly continue the very popular quiz, in two age groups, where the children ask the questions as well as answer them. There will also be a spring photo competition with the children as photographers as well as judges. The project finishes with a spring camp for the best spring searchers.
Our search for spring takes place for the 15th year. Last year more than 6000 students from 217 schools and kindergartens discovered spring together. We look forward to many participants this year also. The project "Hello Spring!" 2010 is carried out by the SA Tartu Environmental Education Centre and MTÜ Studio Viridis Loodusharidus in co-operation with the Estonian Ornithological Society.
See you in Spring!
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