The endless days of summer are upon us. The early sunrises and elongated sunsets are just the charge up we need after a long school year. In the Bow Valley, the young of the year Elk, Deer and Bison calves are starting to supplement their mother’s milk with tender shoots and leaves. The Owl, Loon, Robin and Woodpecker chicks have long since fledged the nest and are molting into their adult plumage.
Despite the pace of rapid growth and change in the natural world, we hope your summer is as relaxed as a meandering alpine creek; bubbly and refreshing with nothing to do and all day to do it.
Pictured above: Ella and Maya, Gr.8 students at NDM, share a laugh as they plant Bee Balm in the pollinator garden. More on this project below! Photo credit: Jungmin Ham, Rocky Mountain Outlook
Stories from the Field
June Field Trips
Future Leaders is proud to now offer Field Trips! Together with École Notre-dame des Monts, we piloted our first field trips to Iyamnathka (Mt. Yamnuska) for the Gr.7s and Gr.8/9s. The day-long program covered valuable learning about freshwater (Gr.8/9) and rock formations (Gr.7s).
During the Gr.8/9 pond study field day, they ‘discovered’ the elusive Predacious Diving Beetle and gawked at the explosion of life in a seemingly innocent pond. As our very own Executive Director, Gareth Thomson, explained to us during his guest appearance, the diving beetle injects a lethal solution through its mandibles into its prey, then slurps up the disintegrating goop like a smoothie. Yikes! The drama of the pond study was curtailed by a cute Hoary Marmot basking in the sun who greeted us at our final hiking destination before the group returned for wild foraged rose leaf and yarrow tea.
For the Gr.7 field trip, the students truly earned their stripes as outdoor learners. Monsoon June showed up in full force and the students suited up for a full day of hiking, running games and going deep on the topic of geological processes and rock formations. All this learning took place despite a constant onslaught of rain and 0C degree weather! Students learned about the McConnell thrust fault, created rock formations with clay to mimic slip faults, deposition, sedimentation, earth quakes, meteors and more. The students were lucky to learn from our Summer Intern, Marie Gadd, who is no stranger to rocks and will return shortly to her Geology studies in the US. They even created their own game of “Sediments vs Pressure”. Well done, Gr.7s!
Pollinator Garden // Jardin des pollinisateurs
Over 100 students and staff from both Our Lady of the Snows and École Notre-dame des Monts participated in learning about and planting native plant species. The list of plants that joined the garden include Yarrow, Prairie Smoke, Blue Beard Tongue, Bee Balm, Tall Sunflower, Shrubby Cinquefoil, Purple Cone Flower and more. Students learned about the intimate connection these flowers have to the pollinator species and the importance of biodiversity. The native plants were sourced from the dedicated team at ALCLA nursery and seed rescue in Carstairs. Going forward, students and staff are encouraged and will be supported in integrating plant and pollination processes into outdoor learning lessons.
Thank you, Merci - Jaynne and Cassandra, the Cultural Facilitators with FrancoSud, for providing your Indigenous insight into the plants and pollination process.
And a huge ‘thank you’ to our funders who helped make this project happen! Alberta Conservation Association, Bow Valley Naturalists, Canmore Rotary Club, Fortis Alberta and the Pauw Foundation.
EcoCanada - Gold Certificate
Congratulations! With support from the Biosphere Institute, the students and staff of École Notre-dame des Monts achieved Gold status for their commitment to environmental learning and climate action from EcoSchools Canada.
This national-level of recognition is awarded to NDM for their commitment to outdoor learning, the Ways of the Bison program, the Pollinator Garden and other initiatives. NDM is recognized alongside 2,000 other schools throughout Canada who are leading the way to a thriving future.
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Félicitations! Grâce à l'aide de l'institut Biosphère, les élèves et le personnel de l'école Notre-Dame des Monts ont obtenu le statut d'or de EcoSchools Canada! Cette récompense nationale est le résultat de votre grand engagement pour protéger la nature et la planète.
Votre école a reçu ce prix important pour plusieurs belles actions:
Vos cours à l'extérieur (l'apprentissage en plein air);
Le projet « Sur les traces du bison » (Ways of the Bison);
Votre jardin pour les insectes pollinisateurs;
Plein d'autres beaux projets pour l'environnement!
L'école Notre-Dame des Monts fait maintenant partie des 2,000 écoles au Canada qui montrent l'exemple pour construire un avenir meilleur. Bravo à tous pour vos efforts - vous pouvez être très fiers de vous!
Girls on the Fly
The inaugural fly fishing program, Girls on the Fly, kicked off this past month! We are delighted to pilot this program by inviting six Mentors and 10 young women participants between the ages of 14-18yrs to learn the fundamentals of trout food, casting, equipment, reading the water and all things conservation.
Lynda McLennan and her team helped us kick off the program earlier this month with an educational afternoon about everything from caddisfly nymphs to how to tie a fly and the basics of casting. Thank you to Nicole from Parks Canada for sharing about the Cascade Creek Remediation project and reintroduction of West Slope Cutthroat Trout!
Thanks to the Alberta Conservation Association, each participant received an Echo Lift 9ft 5wt fly rod and reel kit as well as a starter fly kit. If you (or your daughter) missed program registration but want to join for Lynda’s instruction on Aug18th, please email education@biosphereinstitute.org and we will try to find you a fly rod to borrow.
Follow us on Instagram @future.leaders.biosphere to watch videos about the recent fishing outings!