Monthly Archives: October 2012

No Comment? Yes, Comment!

The second essential skill of blogging is commenting.*  It makes blogging a dialogue, not just one way communication.

It requires careful thought, attention to detail, and a compassionate heart. Commenting is the glue that connects bloggers to each other. I asked Huzzahnians to work in teams to show what they know about commenting. They organized their thinking then created visual messages though SlideRocket. They had to consider their essential messages as they had only five slides (as well as title and credit slides) to work with. Here are two of the finished presentations–more to come after final edits.
(Image credits appear on each slide–mouse over the image to see the credit.)

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*And here is a news flash: READING, not writing, is the first skill of blogging. Read blogs. Read read read. 

So readers, fellow bloggers, what would you add to our list of commenting guidelines, suggestions, and tips?

Learning Among the Trees

Regal Douglas firs towering overhead, sword ferns blanketing the under-story, and slanting sun rays illuminating our path: what a spectacular place to learn. Our class was fortunate to spend a morning with Natasha Taylor, environmental educator, in Courtenay’s Millard Nature Park. Our experiences are documented below.

Huzzahnians, what do you remember about our trip? Did one of the activities especially help you learn about forest ecosystems? In your comments below, please tell us what you learned during our morning in the park. Natasha sent some questions along for you to consider. Answer one or contribute facts of your own in your comment.

  • What is a symbiotic relationship? Give an example.
  • What is the difference between a conifer (evergreen) tree and a deciduous tree?
  • A habitat is comprised of three elements. What are they?
  • Why do you think it is important to have dead wood (standing dead trees, fallen dead trees, tree stumps) in a forest ecosystem?
  • What important job do fungi perform in the forest ecosystem?

Finally, what is the most interesting thing that you learned, saw, or experienced in Millard Nature Park? Would you recommend your friends and family visit the park?

Blog visitors, do you have a favourite nature park or wilderness near you? What is the ecosystem like? Let us know why you value wild spaces.