Lester B. Pearson Grade 7’s @ Blair

Posted May 9, 2016

Last week Ms. Kelly’s five grade 7 classes from LBP PS in Waterloo, visited the Blair Outdoor Centre to study stream ecology.  We did a stream study in the morning -Blair Creek is a Class 1 cold-water stream – and an ecology hike around the property in the afternoon as well as the use of […]

Another (or same) Blandings Turtle

Posted April 27, 2016

In 2013, I found a blandings turtle at Laurel Creek. You can read about that turtle day here: https://outdooredguys.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/blandings-turtle/ It was pretty exciting because blandings turtles are listed as “threatened” on the list of species at risk in Ontario. They are tricky to find. Last year, staff of the Grand River Conservation Authority found another, or […]

Opening Huron Natural Area for Spring programs

Posted April 24, 2016

I headed out to the Huron Natural Area this week with my co-teacher to prepare our classroom for our spring grade 2 and 3 programs.  We walked our nature trail circuit and observed several seasonal changes taking place. When we arrived we noticed that the city of Kitchener is organizing a family Earth Day event […]

Earth Day at Steckle Heritage Farm

Posted April 22, 2016

Each year on (or around) Earth Day, the outdoor education staff of the Waterloo Region District School Board organizes an event which brings together students from several different schools. This year we visited Steckle Heritage Farm where students learned about the ins and outs of food production. We weeded, composted, planted and cooked. For lunch […]

Clean out your bird houses

Posted April 20, 2016

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Monarch Migration – Good News, Bad News…

Posted March 31, 2016

Monarch Migration northwards from the wintering grounds in the mountains of central Mexico has begun.  We were heartened by the increase this year in the number of wintering butterflies… Good News from Mexico (From the Website Journey North) The number of monarchs overwintering in Mexico has increased dramatically from the record lows of the past […]

Maple Syrup Report

Posted March 31, 2016

The Laurel Creek Outdoor and Environmental Education Centre has been hosting grade 3’s for maple syrup programs the last few weeks. We were concerned that this spring was going to be a bust as far as syrup production goes, due to a string of above-seasonal temperatures. At one point in early March, the Weather Network had […]

Raven Mad

Posted March 4, 2016

Some of our local birds are starting to think about carving out breeding territories for themselves for the spring. This may involve harassing others of their own species until they command their own piece of turf. Today at Laurel Creek someone was banging on our window. When I went to see who it was, I […]

Biodiversity Trek

Posted February 19, 2016

Grade 6 students studying Biodiversity do a hike around the Blair property looking for evidence of winter wildlife.  We struck pay dirt yesterday with fresh deer tracks in the field, a shallow spot along the stream where a fox broke through thin ice (no worries, it was only centimeters deep) and this awesome scene of […]

Blue Monday

Posted February 8, 2016

January 18th of this year was known as Blue Monday. It is supposedly the dreariest day of the year, when the weather, holiday debt, and unmet New Year’s resolutions weigh on our spirits. On that day, Mrs. Carbone’s grade 4-5 class from Glencairn Public School came to Laurel Creek for an energy and structures program, and a cross-country […]

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