Nature

What is nature? One definition of nature is the character or personality of a person, place, or thing! It could be you, your parents, your friends, or even someone you do not know. It could be a place that is full of biodiversity of life- human and non-human. Prehuman nature on earth collectively includes flora (plants) and fauna (animals) and all the organisms and systems on land and water and in the air and the solar system that exist. Nature provides life with so many services! It gives us the gift of earth, a rare planet that supports life with air, water, and land ecosystems.
The Nature of a person place or thing is unique to each person and differs in different cultures and places on earth. Human nature refers to one’s temperament, disposition, aptitude, interests, etc. Are humans part of nature? YES! Nature evolved over 4.6 billions of years and humans in the last 7 million years! Today scientists study the interaction between our atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere, looking for the biodiversity of life as it exists in the air, on land, and in the waters and continues to evolve.

This journey is about the world that humans inherited and evolved from and the gifts that it offers to people to survive and thrive. How do YOU define Nature?

Draw a picture, write a poem. How do you define Nature?

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. William Shakespeare

You did not choose where and when you were born. But you arrived someplace at some time into a much older world than you. How much older, you might ask. Well, scientists suggest about 4.54 billion years give or take 50 million. Look at NATGEO Age of Earth. Our planet and its forms of life, and nonliving, are all made of the stuff of stars- all of Nature and us, too! Watch theEvolution of Life in 60 Seconds and see periods of activity and inactivity in the generation of Earth as you find it today. What is our oldest relative? Did plants or animals come first? What came before humans? When did people arrive? Use the NEXT.cc Evolution of Life Earth Clock Worksheet Set to see the different eras and to discover how new human beings are to this planet we live on. From elements exploding out of the stars to the creation of molecules, multi-cellular organisms, first in the water, then on the land, life forms evolve and exist. Through extinctions of species and changes in global climate, your presence today is nothing short of a miracle. Explore the Interactive World Map through the past millennium to learn about when different life forms appeared in the city you live in now! Treasure it as such!

And congratulations. You are here!

Nature gives us biodiversity of life- animals, plants, land life, ocean life, energy from sunrises, and star-filled night skies. From the chirping birds to the shooting stars, the white-capped waves, to the glowing light, there is magic in motion everywhere you look, you see and experience Nature. Johnny Appleseed was interested in trees. E.O. Wilson was fascinated by ants as a child. Jane Goodall lived with gorillas. Some of us like to collect shells. Others collect rocks. Some people want to look at clouds. Others like to watch birds. Some children are interested in horses; others are interested in flowers. What living thing interests you? Look at the Encyclopedia of Life to explore the amazing creatures that share this Earth with us. The gifts of sunlight, night and day, seasons, and ever-changing weather support our life on Earth. Connecting to non-human life expands our understanding and appreciation of the many interdependent relationships of our world. Open your eyes and ears to the natural world we inherited. You and I are responsible for caretaking and conserving this planet we call home.

Make a poster about things in Nature that are important to you.

Nature offers us processes and events that people do not design. For example, Nature created life cycles, or the process by which things produce, multiply, evolve, and adapt. The gifts of sunlight, night and day, seasons, and ever-changing weather support life on Earth. Nature’s cycles are complex processes created over millions of years of evolution and adaptation, during which elements and life forms move through different states and spheres of living and non-living materials on Earth, in oceans, and the atmosphere. Critical Cycles include the Water Cycle, the Slow Carbon Cycle, the Fast Carbon Cycle, the Nutrient Cycle (Phosphorous and Nitrogen), and the Rock Cycle. These cycles are interconnected ecosystems that connect the four spheres- Atmosphere (atmos means air), Geosphere (geo means ground), the Hydrosphere (hydro means water), and the Biosphere (Bio means life).

Look outside. Sketch the biome where you live including plants, insects, and animals. Label the four interactive spheres that provide life on Earth.

You might be surprised to learn that more of what supports your life on Earth is invisible to you. It is invisible. The human eye only sees 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum! Yet, as humans, we depend on our sight to navigate the world. The invention of the microscope opened our eyes and imaginations to things that we could not see or understand with our naked eyes. Yet there is even more that is not even visible via a microscope. Step outside. Look down at grass, plants, insects, animals, and the soil. Topsoil is full of life! You might find ants, earthworms, mites, bugs, springtails, and nematodes! Moles, shrews, field mice, chipmunks, rabbits, prairie dogs, and gophers might surprise you! In addition, if we look at the biodiversity of life on earth that humans have discovered, insects make up the largest percentage! Look at NEXT.cc’s Atoms, Microbes, Insects, and Soil, and expand your understanding of the importance of life in top soil.

Draw and label at least five things that Nature delivers to us that we cannot see with our eyes.

Step outside wherever you are. Look out! What do you see? You might see trees and houses. You might see a city neighborhood. You could look out at tall buildings downtown. Looking out, we see a horizon in the distance that shares the sky, the land, nature, and the human-built environment. Sometimes, we might look into natural wetlands, grasslands, prairies, or deserts. Can you squint and imagine nature before people? What life forms existed before people arrived? Can you imagine a landscape ecology that connects ecosystems of water, soil, plants, and animals in a regenerative society? Explore where you live and find a place that has a symbiosis (a mutually beneficial relationship between Nature and the built environment!.)

Draw a before and a today picture of where you live. Post it to the gallery!

Step outside and look up! What do you see? Is it a blue-sky day? Or are there clouds and blue skies or just cloud cover? Is it dawn, midday, or dusk? Is a storm approaching with dark grey thunderclouds bursting to unleash a downpour? Is the sun beating down without mercy, sending heat and humidity? Above you is the Earth’s atmosphere. It consists of 5 main layers. Where you are is the lowest layer; the Troposphere is 5- 9 miles high (8-15 Kilometers). It gives us air and moves the weather across the planet. You might see a few dragonflies, birds, hawks, and seagulls flying overhead. Higher-up (15-50 miles) is the Stratosphere, or ozone layer, which protects us from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. You might hear an approaching plane on the way to the airport or see jet streams crisscrossing the sky. Above these layers is the Mesosphere, in which gases are mixed up rather than stratified, and the Thermosphere, in which temperatures are getting cooler. Topping the atmosphere is the Exosphere, varying between 375-6200 miles above the surface of the earth; satellites orbit the earth, and atoms and molecules move outward into outer space.

Draw and label the atmospheres of the earth. Upload it to the gallery!

You might be surprised to learn that more of what supports your life on Earth is invisible! For example, the human eye only sees 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum! Yet, as humans, we depend on our sight to navigate the world. The invention of The microscope opened our eyes and imaginations to things that we could not see or understand with our naked eyes. One-half of one percent of organisms, such as microbes, bacteria, yeasts, algae, protozoa, nematodes, and fungi, process decaying matter into it into humus. More microbes are in one teaspoon of soil than in the total population of humans on Earth!!! Fungi have six times more species than all the plants on earth! Fungi are spore-producing organisms that feed on top of, in, and underground in soil on organic matter and decompose it, connecting to almost everything living on Earth! Fungi inject tiny spores into the Earth to grow their food to consume. Fungi are essential to our life on Earth.

Make a drawing of life in soil and label the many players!

We live on the Earth within Nature’s ecosystems- water, air, energy, and food. These systems produce, consume, and decompose to make way for new life. Nature offers a circular metabolism of birth and emergence, growth and service, and lifecycles through death to decomposition and renewed life. Today, most human production is not circular. It is linear. Watch the Story of Stuff to begin to see linear systems humans have created that are not sustainable.

Nature shrinks as capital grows. The growth of the market cannot solve the very crisis it creates. ― Vandana Shiva, Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis

What people produce, by and large, still needs to decompose collected waste in our landfills and our oceans. The process of extraction, production, and transportation of human-made goods, by and large, does not renew depleted materials; the methods disturb Nature’s circular metabolism and reduce the biodiversity of life into single purposes such as industrialized farming of one plant over large acreage or the building of highways that move our goods, but separate natural areas and bifurcate neighborhoods. It is vital for people to learn from the past and to improve how we create products, habitats, food, and energy. Watch WI Green Healthy Schools Wisconsin Design is our Nature!

Print out the Built Environment and Nature Bingo cards and draw what is around you from both the **Natural and the Built Environments.

• Earth is a rare planet that supports our life with:
  • air
  • water
  • ecosystems
  • all of the above
• Q2: scientists suggest that the Age of Earth is about:
  • 1.54 billion years
  • 4.54 billion years
  • 3.54 billion years
  • 2.54 billion years
• The sunlight, the cycle of day and night, the changing seasons, and the constantly shifting weather sustain life on Earth.
  • true
  • false
• Atmos (from Atmosphere), Geo (from Geosphere), Hydro (from Hydrosphere) Bio (from Biosphere). They mean respectively:
  • ground, water, air, life
  • air, ground, water, life
  • water, ground, air, life
  • air, ground, life, water
• The invention of the microscope enabled us to see everything else we can't see with our naked eye, and nothing more remains we can't see.
  • true
  • false
• Which city has cleaner air?
  • a city that has no trees or green spaces
  • a city that has trees and green spaces
• Earth's atmosphere has how many layers?
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
• Highways separate natural areas and neighborhoods, reducing biodiversity oflife.
  • true
  • false
• More microbes are in one teaspoon of soil than in the total population of all humans on Earth!
  • true
  • false