CSI Phenology Phun

Stories

CSI Phenology Phun

Written by Matt Flower

Tuesday, 05 March 2013

A good CSI detective needs tools, clues and evidence to try and recreate a crime scene. In the case of phenology, you also need tools, clues and evidence to recreate an accurate picture of an ecosystem.

The tools of a naturalist are the usual suspects - camera, binoculars, hand lens, field guides, and time to "walk the beat". But, the best tools you have are your five senses! Humans are hard-wired for noticing and sensing changes in our environment and recognizing patterns.

Your clues can be summed up by the acronym TELS: Tracks, Eat, Live and Scat. Certain seasons are better than others for collecting your evidence. Our current season, winter, is naturalist gold! It is an especially good season for gathering evidence of animals that are active this time of year because of the snow.

Snow is like the dust that a CSI detective might use to collect an invisible fingerprint leading to a prime suspect. Hollowed out trees and inconspicuous holes can be seen as starting and ending points to animal highways that you can follow and map. These “animal highways” also help in "tracking" the behavior of an animal, because you'll be able to see where they live or sleep, where they eat and what they eat (ewwwww!).

Start your CSI adventure with our favorite "bandit" the Raccoon! Look for the TELS clues to find out more about the life of raccoons in our area. You can start by following the tracks below…

Tags:

Phenology

The Farmers Behind the Food: Paul Ehrhardt and Kay Jensen, JenEhr Family Farm The Farmers Behind the Food: Sandy Raduenz and David Kozlowski , Pinehold Gardens

Matt Flower

Matt Flower (he/him/his) has over 20 years of experience as an environmental educator. Currently, Matt is the Environmental Education and Early Childhood Specialist at the Urban Ecology Center and co-leads a unique and innovative NbEC education model for children 6 and under called the Preschool Environmental Education Program (PEEP). PEEP partners with childcare centers, preschools, special needs classrooms, and intergenerational facilities for in-school, near-space, and field trip opportunities. While teaching at the Urban Ecology Center he earned a Nature-based Early Childhood Education Graduate Certificate from Antioch University of New England in 2017. In 2019, Matt was presented with the WAEE Non-formal Educator of the Year Award. During his graduate studies, Matt completed a fellowship with David Sobel to provide innovative case studies for David’s most recent book, The Sky Above and the Mud Below, published in 2020. “Matt’s work to bring nature-based early childhood approaches to inner city Milwaukee children is on the cutting edge of this movement.” David Sobel, Author and AUNE Graduate School Senior Faculty. Matt is also currently teaching an online Urban Nature-based Early Childhood course at Alverno College in Milwaukee for graduate credit or badge certification.