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Noticing Nature

with Sue Slotterback

Registration REQUIRED for EACH SESSION. This season's theme is Systems & Cycles.

UPDATE (posted 10/10/23): Sue Slotterback will be continuing the series, starting back up on October 24th. Please email her prior to attending.

All events are tentatively scheduled and may change. Please see the CMCL Events Calendar on our website, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our weekly eNewsletter for any and all updates.

Welcome to Noticing Nature! For the next nine weeks, we’ll be exploring some natural history topics at various locations around Cape May County. Our excursions out of doors will offer authentic nature experiences. 

Registration is REQUIRED for EACH SESSION - please select each date that you will be attending. 

Before attending, please email Sue at 2ndnature.connections@gmail.com to receive directions and other important info.

Each session will take place as follows:

Week 1 - September 12th

• Documenting the Cycles of Nature: Nature Journaling Introduction
• There is an endless amount of colors, tints, and hues found in Nature. Hapa Round and round again living systems are part of many continuous cycles in Nature. This season we ’ll be on the look out for swirling patterns with which we are all connected. No previous experience necessary. Come have fun!!
  Journal Connections: “I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of”; using words, pictures, numbers
  What to bring: light foldable chair; pen or pencil; cereal or cracker box
  Location: Belleplain State Forest

Week 2 - September 19th

• As the Seasons Turn
• From one day to the next there are subtle change all around us signaling our passage through the seasons and the turning of the year.
• Journal Connections: nature’s timeline
• Location: Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area

 Week 3 - September 26th

• Ups & Downs, Waxing & Waning: Tides & Solar/Lunar Cycling
• The position of the Sun, Moon, and Earth as they rotate and revolve have a huge impact on this planet and her wildlife.
• Journal connections: sit spot
• Location: Norbury’s Landing, Del Haven

Week 4 - October 3rd

• Mechanics of Migration
• There are many animals that migrate. It is an amazing phenomenon and there is more than one way for even birds to move from place to place. In this session we will discover the adaptations and strategies animals use to weather through the year, focusing on the migration of monarch butterflies and what we can do to help.
• Journal connections: adaptations; mapping migration routes
• Location: South Cape May Meadows

Week 5 - October 10th

• Great Growing Ground Stuff
• Rarely do we ever consider what is going on right beneath our feet. How does that under world work and how does it influence what we see way up here?? There’s lots of questions to explore. Let’s dig in!
• Journal connections: soil horizons & plant growth
• Location: Cedar Swamp/Tyler Road WMA

There is no meeting on October 17th.

***CLASS IS RESUMING HERE*** Week 6 - October 24th

• Life’s Cyclings
• Through “chains” and “webs” we’ll trace the lives of wildlife in this area as cycles of energy flow.
• Journal Connections: mapping the flow of energy
• Location: Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve

Week 7 - October 31st

• Water Evaporation & Precipitation: Only the Beginning
• Water is an important connector to all living things, but there’s more to the “cycle” we were taught in school. Let’s find out the real story and explore examples along the way.
• Journal connections: collecting evidence
• Location: The Wetlands Institute

Week 8 - November 7th

• Rock, Stone, Pebble, Rock
• It’s hard to imagine, but even the stone beneath our feet is slowly cycling through changes we can only imagine.
• Journal Connections: zoom in, zoom out;
• Location: Sunset Beach

Week 9 - November 14th

• Something in the Air
• Every time we breathe air is exchanged with the rest of the world in which we live and it’s all combined with other gases in our atmosphere.
• Journal Connections: reflection; connection
• Location: Jake’s Landing, Woodbine

Here is a list of what to bring and wear for all sessions:

• Dress… for the weather! And be
  prepared for the unexpected!
• Coat/jacket
• Hat, gloves, scarf
• Long, warm pants
• Sturdy shoes and warm socks
• Water bottle
• Snack - to keep your energy up! :)
• Journal pack (we’ll discuss this during our first session)
• We’ll be taking walks for sure, but keep a light, foldable chair in your car - there may not always be seating in some places

After every session we will discuss the upcoming session location and topic. Maps with directions and a list for anything needed to bring will be posted via email several days prior to the date. Looking forward to seeing you!

The Noticing Nature series is FREE and open to the public.

For over forty years, Sue Slotterback has been a professional naturalist and outdoor education specialist for the Ocean Discovery Aquarium, the Philadelphia Zoo, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the NJ Marine Sciences Consortium, NJ Audubon's Nature Center of Cape May, and was the Environmental Educator for The Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor. Recipient of the Alliance for NJ Environmental Education's "Outstanding Environmental Educator of the Year Award" in 2009, Sue has guided thousands of people, young and old, through her favorite haunts, turning them on to the wonders of their natural heritage.

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