"The Wonders of the Living World" series continues

Saturday Science classes continue with some additional classes added to "The Wonders of the Living World". This time we will be exploring the wonders of the plant kingdom. Topics will include:

November 7^th - WONDERS OF PLANTS -Discover how these living things feed, breathe and grow.

November 14^th - WONDERS OF FLOWERS -Discover the purpose of color and smell in flowers and why plants have them.

November 21^st – WONDERS OF FRUITS-Discover why plants produce these amazing structures, what is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable, and why do we eat them?

December 5^th – WONDERS OF SEEDS- Explore the unique structures of seeds and the purpose as well as how they get into our diet,

December 12^th -WONDERS OF PLANT MOVEMENT- Find out how plants get around.

Don’t Miss out on the fun and learning as you explore the WONDERS OF THE LIVING WORLD!

Birding and Wildlife Festival a Big Success

Finally, some good weather! The Birding and Wildlife Festival this year was outstanding. Friday night started out with food, drink and entertainment by Valerie Wisecracker a great Florida folksinger who entertained the crowd. Followed by the keynote speakers, Dick Fortune and Sarah Lopez, wildlife photographers extraordinaire! Their photography of birds is truly outstanding and they even shared their tips with everyone on how to take really great photographs.

Saturday was the Environmental Fair and each organization did an outstanding job of presenting information that visitors wanted to hear. An unofficial report tallied over 4oo visitors to the Fair.
The Stanley Switlik chorus was charming and started out the festivities. The environmental fair was held once again at Curry Hammock State Park, a wonderful site right on the beautiful Atlantic Ocean.

Located offsite at Crane Point were field presentations by Dick Fortune and Sarah Lopez, Roger Hammer, and Roland Fisch. Later presentations by John Ogden on Urban Oasis for birds and Birding Jewels from the Marathon Bird Rescue Center was well attended.

Both offshore excursions were sold out this year. The festival offered a pelagic boat trip out of Marathon and a Dry Tortugas Boat trip from Key West. Both of these were guided by noted birder, Larry Manfredi.

Well, a big thank you to all who attended and those organizations that participated. Without you the event could not have happened. Now we look forward to next year!

Libby

11th Annual Florida Keys Birding and Wildlife Festival

The Florida Keys Birding and Wildlife Festival is ongoing from now through Sunday. Don't miss the event on Friday night, 6-8pm, at the Garden Club featuring Dick Fortune and Sarah Lopez-2 excellent nature photographers, and Valerie Wisecrackers local entertaining style . Check out the youtube video.

On Saturday morning, join us at Curry Hammock State Park for a free day of family fun with environmental organizations, presentations on wildlife, singing and kids activities.

This event is in its eleventh year as the only festival in the Florida Keys that promotes our native AND visiting feathered and furry friends. Check out the website for more details on field trips and presentations and how you can be a part of this adventure at www.keysbirdingfest.org

Galileoscopes

Hello to all of those who received the Galileoscopes courtesy of the Astrosociety of the Pacific, International Year of Astronomy and Sea Science. The instructions that come with the telescope are good but the pictorial assembly is even better. Have fun assembling the telescope and if you have any questions, just contact me. Click on the Galileoscopes assembly below to access pictorial instructions.


Libby

Welcome to Master Naturalists

Hello to all,
Welcome to my blogsite. This will give you an idea of how our Master Naturalist blogsite will look. You will be able to post your comments on what's happening with you as your appreciation and awareness of our Coastal natural resources unfold during class. I will be asking for the entire group to come up with a name that I will use to set up the blog site for next week- so think of something that will benefit the purpose of FMNP.
This is also a great way to practice your interpretation skills within our group-writing is interpretation, too.
Posting a great picture of nature can also be done on this site and I hope you will be adding to our photo gallery.
So, think of the blogsite as yours and your classmates and share anything that you may like to express (this is viewed by a large audience so keep it clean and do not list anything you would not like the internet world to know).
I wish you the best during our time together working to become Florida Master Naturalists.

Sincerely,
Libby

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Happy New Year!

Scientific knowledge is being celebrated during 2009. This year marks the International Year of Astronomy and the International Polar Year. Each of these events will be covered by the posts and links to the latest news, activities, videos and related scientific information on this site. Look for the links in the sidebar for each of these very special events. I will be adding more fun educational activities as the year progresses.

Elizabeth