Magazines through the Toronto Public Library

There are a variety of magazines about science and nature - Canadian Wildlife, Science News, Scientific American, ON Nature, Canadian Geographic, National Geographic to name some.

These may be available to you for free at your public library, which subscribes to a wide range of resources.  At the Toronto Public Library (TPL), print titles of magazines are available at select branches (you would have to check the library catalogue to see the branch(es) where they're located), and digital issues of these titles are offered through online magazine services.  All you need is a library card!

Celebrating Science and Nature in Doodles

Google has a fun way to celebrate holidays, events, anniversaries, and the lives of people who have made an impact in our world.  They do this through their doodles.

Google Doodles has celebrated many science and nature related anniversaries over the years, including: Rachel Carson (Silent Spring), Jan Ingenhousz (photosynthesis), Gregor Mendel (genetics), Earth Day, Julius Petri (petri dish), Charles Darwin (evolution through natural selection), Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (microbiology and bacteria), John James Audubon (Birds of America), and the overwintering place of the monarch butterfly.

Each day I check out Google's home page for any newly created designs.  It’s a delight to see the creations they come up with, and learn about significant dates.

You can search or browse through their archives to see what they have done, as well as submit ideas to the Doodle team for suggestions for future doodles.

Have A Holly Jolly Eco-friendly Christmas!

Christmas is just around the corner.  I enjoy this time of year - I get to spend time with family and friends, watch holiday movies, eat, and bake cookies.  However, during this time of year, the environment takes a big hit with the increase in consumerism and household waste.

When I was younger, after opening gifts, I would always try to salvage gift wrapping paper and bows for reuse.  Over the years I have incorporated other things - purchasing Christmas cards and wrapping paper made from recycled paper, shopping from local artisans, using soy-based candles, and donating to environmental organizations.

There's still a lot that I can do for sure.  I try to do my part in lowering my impact on the environment, so that there will be more Christmases for future generations to enjoy.

For more ideas, check out these resources:

• Five Tips for an Eco-friendly Holiday Season (Environmental Defence Canada)
• 5 Ways to be Green this Holiday Season (WWF Canada)
• Your Guide to Green Holidays (David Suzuki Foundation)
• Go Green This Holiday Season (The Nature Conservancy)
• Go Green for the Holidays (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• 9 Green Gift Ideas for the Holiday Season (The Huffington Post)
• A-Z of Tips for a Green Christmas (The Guardian)

Canada's Culture and Heritage Through Film: The National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is Canada's public film producer and distributor.  They collaborate with filmmakers and diverse communities across Canada, and partners from around the world to produce films that showcase Canada's culture and heritage.  You can access their collection of documentaries, animations, experimental films, fiction, and interactive works, on their website, streamed for free, or downloaded for a fee.  Their films cover a wide range of subjects that matter to Canadians, including the environment.

Have a look at their films, for a uniquely Canadian experience.

The Feat of the Flying V!

It's quite a sight to see every fall - the V-shaped formation of geese flying overhead as they migrate south for the winter.  I get awestruck every time.

I have been fascinated by this phenomenon, and I am even more amazed by why they do this.  So why do geese fly in a V?

Researchers have determined from theoretical models and field studies, that flying in this formation help each individual bird in the flock conserve energy.  By taking advantage of the updraft produced by the bird in front, each bird behind expends less energy flying than if they were to fly alone.  The birds take turns flying in the front; when the lead bird is tired, it will fall back as another takes the lead.  By working together, the whole flock benefits.

The significance of this phenomenon has been noticed.  It made its way into the workplace, with the flying V being used as an analogy for teamwork.  It has also made its way into the big screen, with the flying V as a maneuver used by a peewee hockey team in The Mighty Ducks movie.

The flying V truly is incredible.

For more on the flying V:

• Birds That Fly in a V Formation Use An Amazing Trick
• Why Birds Fly in a V Formation
• Fly Like a Bird: The V Formation Finally Explained
• Upwash Exploitation and Downwash Avoidance by Flap Phasing in Ibis Formation Flight

"Ride on the Magic School Bus!"... Again!

September, back to school!  This time of year conjures up thoughts of school supplies, new classes, new teachers, and yellow school buses.  When I think of school buses, I think of The Magic School Bus.

The Magic School Bus is a fictional book series, turned animated TV series, that teaches children about science.  The characters include Ms. Frizzle or "The Friz", her students, and "the old school bus".  Each book/episode focuses on a subject, where you can tell what the subject is just by looking at Ms. Frizzle's dress.

The adventure begins when they all hop into the school bus, and then... who knows what can happen.  They are taken on an extraordinary field trip, because this bus is no ordinary bus.  The bus can shrink into microscopic size and enter into a human body (as they did when they learned about digestion), the bus can evaporate and fly into the air (as they did when they learned about the water cycle), the bus can transform into an insect (as they did when they learned about seeds), the bus can transform into a machine and dig into the ground (as they did when they learned about the earth).

You never know what's going to happen, or what you'll learn.  Whether you're reading the books, or watching the episodes, the only thing you know is that you'll have a fun time learning about science.

If you can't get enough of The Magic School Bus, you can continue learning along in a brand new update of the original show, The Magic School Bus Rides Again, which premieres September 29 on Netflix.

In the Field and Recording Biodiversity with the iNaturalist app

If you have a smartphone and love snapping photos of nature, why not add it to iNaturalist?  iNaturalist is an online community of nature enthusiasts whose recorded observations contribute to a global mapping of biodiversity.  

iNaturalist started in 2008 as a UC Berkeley's School of Information Master's final project, that developed into a social networking tool for mapping and sharing observations using mobile technology.

As a data crowdsourcing tool, it encourages participation from a wide range of nature enthusiasts.  This application has been used to record nature in many collaborative projects, such as BioBlitzes.  This year, the United Nations teamed up with iNaturalist for World Environment Day to help get people out to explore their local environments and take snapshots of biodiversity.

To learn more about how to use iNaturalist:

• Posting observations
• Video tutorials