Bog map

I tried to find a map of the trails in Burns Bog online. I thought there had to be one somewhere! But I found nothing.

Then today, when I went into the bog and found this map posting ten feet high on a tree at the entrance of one of the trails. It's not very clear or readable, but it's what I was looking for. I also appreciated the drawing of the crane. I don't know how accurate the map is... But I did notice that the tractor is drawn on it. I wonder why there's a skull and cross bones near the tractor?? Maybe that's where they found the criminal who stole the tractor's mummified body?

Kids books

I went to the kids section of Chapters and looked around. There are some cool books out there! A lot of them use really fancy printing techniques that I don't have the budget for - like sparkly bits, pop up elements (although I could do that if I wanted to...), glow in the dark stuff, dye cuts, dolls, puzzles, etc. But some are lacking good storytelling, which I feel is very important. Especially as a bedtime story, it needs to have a great story not just fun little sparkly things to play with.

The books that I loved were the ones I remember from my childhood like Dr Seuss, Fairy tales (even the Disney ones are good), Shel Silverstein, Robert Munsch and Roald Dahl. I noticed that the illustrations for Dr Seuss and Shel Silverstein are very simple (lots of white space) but fanciful and fun. I think that's the direction I want to go in (with a little bit of the Gothic fantasy woven into it). I didn't notice any books about the environment, but I'll have to look a bit more to find it...

More research, etc

So I've finished the story and now I'm working out the illustrations, in pencil for now. Then I'm going to buy some heavy paper and do the final illustrations in ink and paint. First though, I felt like I needed a bit more visual research.

I found some pictures of voles, mushrooms, hawks and great sandhill cranes. I sketched them a bit and created the different scenes in the story. There were a few things missing, like detailed images of specific points in the bog. Since I want kids to actually go to the bog and experience the places in the book, it has to be specific.

So that's what I did today. I went back to the bog and took pictures of the tractor stuck out of the mud and other areas. As I was walking, I realized that instead of placing markers into the bog myself, I could use something that is already there - the benches that line the boardwalk throughout the trails. I'm still thinking it through, but why don't I use the benches as "benchmarks" (hah) for the story. In the map I want to create, I could show the places of all of the benches, colour code them, maybe paint the benches or a part of the benches and have kids stop at each one to observe something or do something.

I feel like my idea for kids to go to the bog and experience it is why my project is unique, but I can't forget to put time into the story and book, or else it will fall flat. That's why, although I'd love to start working on the map and the markers, etc. I feel the need to finish the book and illustrations first. I hope that that's ok at this stage. (The markers are there to support the book. The book isn't there to support the markers.)

Story explanation

My story is about Leon the vole and Rudge the mushroom. Leon is running from a hawk when we meet him. His home has been turned into a human landfill and he's all alone. He doesn't have a family. He reached Burns Bog and meets Rudge, who is a mushroom living in a small group of mushrooms just under the boardwalk. Rudge wants some adventure and he has knowledge of the bog that Leon doesn't have.

When the hawk attacks, Leon hides in the mushrooms, and Rudge gets uprooted. This gives him the excuse (after the hawk has given up) to go with Leon to the centre of the bog, (ahem) I mean to find the other voles and a new safe place for Leon to live. All of the bog animals are going to the centre of the bog (which is an otherworldly place. It's very unique.) to see the Great Sandhill Crane, who only nests there once a year. When he arrives, he grants one wish. Rudge really wants the ability to go anywhere he wants, so he wants "feet."

Rudge and Leon become friends, so Rudge tells him about the Great Sandhill Crane and Leon thinks he'll ask for a home or a family. What they will both find out is that they don't need wishes to get what they want.

The hawk will appear later on to attack them again. There is an urgency to the story about when the crane will arrive. And farther and farther they go, the more animals will appear to them, some helpful and some not. They will make it to the centre and the Great Sandhill Crane will appear.

With the story, there's the idea of safety and home vs adventure. Kids would understand this. Most children are protected by their parents and live in isolated neighbourhoods, but they appreciate adventure and fun in fantasy stories. I chose to do a story about animals and plants because 1. I want kids to learn more about these two things. 2. They personify humans very well, but they don't have the restrictions that humans do, like conventional lives with families, parents, school etc. I didn't want to write a story about a kid in the bog, all alone, making friends with birds and things because the thought of someone alone and lost in the bog is a bit too terrifying. 3. Different animals and plants have their own personalities that are easily identified.

The characters and story comes from other sources that are swirling in my head. A little bit of Narnia, Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, the Secret Garden, every Disney movie, Watership Down, etc. I don't want to be too cliche, but I know that good stories have similar topics and motifs. The idea of someone without a home, the outcast. The idea of friendship and family. The idea of making your dreams come true and getting the thing you want the most, whatever that is. Learning about survival. Learning about danger and the world around you.

And it all comes down to nature and how the world is full of interesting plants and animals that we need to appreciate and help. Also, that these things aren't far away. They are right in your back yard (Burns Bog is just one example).

First bit of story, unedited

What is this vole running from?
He seems scared.
Head for the trees buddy!
You'll be safe in Burns Bog, undercover
where it's very easy to get lost
but it's also easy to hide in.

In Burns Bog, the trees are thick
and there is plenty of cover
When you walk on the ground,
it's firm and squishy.
When you jump on it,
it jiggles like jello
but you have to pay close attention to see it.

All of the trees have needles
and get scraggly the farther into the bog you go
Some plants are smelly,
some are vine-like moss hanging from thin tree branches
Some plants you can make tea out of,
by boiling them in water and taking the leaves out.
Some plants you can eat while others are poisonous.

Most of the plants are unique to the bog,
and grow only in secret places.
To find them, you need to look very hard,
under and over things.

But the vole running into the bog doesn't care about plants.
He doesn't plan on making tea.
He's not thinking about food, poisonous or not,
because human beings have stolen his home.
They've built a landfill over it
without even asking him!

"They took my home.
I'm feeling so angry and sad
because I don't know where I will live now.
Where will I cook, sleep and play?
And now I'm also being chased by a hawk.
What else could go wrong?
At least I've reached the trees!
That will cover me and keep the hawk from finding me.

Up ahead, I see a group of mushrooms
that could hide me even better
than running on this wooden boardwalk."

The vole ran and hid in the mushrooms,
disturbing them from their sleep.
"Hey! Don't push us!" They yelled at the scared vole.
"This is our home!"
The vole apologized, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
but he didn't want to go out.
SCREECH
The hawk is close by.

One of the little mushrooms feels pity for the vole.
"It's okay, they're a little grumpy.
You can stay here until the hawk goes away, mouse,"
Said the little mushroom.
"I'm a vole and why are they grumpy?"
Whispered the vole who was calming down.
"They're stuck here just like I am
and they know that it they could just
get into the centre of the bog,
they could meet the Great Sandhill Crane,"
the mushroom said.
"Why would they want to do that?"
The vole asked.
"Don't tell him! Don't tell him" yelled the other mushrooms.
"I can't tell you," said the little mushroom.

SCREECH
The vole and mushrooms shrank into their hole,
because the hawk was closer than before
and obviously searching for the vole.
"My name is Rudge. What's yours, Mouse?"
whispered the mushroom.
"I'm a vole and my name is Leon."
"What's the difference?" asked the mushroom.
"A vole and a mouse are two different species of rodent,"
explained the vole quietly.
"Voles are unique. That's my problem. I can't find any other voles."
"So you're all alone?" The mushroom asked.

SCREECH
"I could't find other voles, so I lived alone.
And now that my home is full of garbage,
there's no going back now.
I want to find a safe place,
hopefully I'll find some more voles... a family,"
Leon whispered.
SCREECH

"Don't move, Leon," The mushroom warned.
"Why?"
"Because the hawk is right behind you!"
The vole froze.
"Run behind us!" the mushroom yelled.
The vole ran and hid in the farthest part of the hole as the hawk attacked.
It's beak landed in the dirt and uprooted the little mushroom.
It pecked around, but couldn't reach the vole
so after a few minutes, it flew away.

The vole came out of its hiding place,
worried about Rudge, the mushroom.
He found the mushroom lying on its side,
its roots in the air, helpless.
"Rudge!"
"Leon! I'm okay."
"I'm sorry I brought the hawk to your home!"
The other mushrooms were silent.
"It's alright. I don't like living here anyway.
I've always wanted to travel
and now I can!
You can take me to the centre of the bog!"
The mushroom said enthusiastically.
"What?" The vole asked confused.
"We can find a home for you with other voles
and I can see the world!" said Rudge.
"How? You're uprooted!" Leon exclaimed.
"Exactly! I'm not stuck to the ground anymore.
I'll just have to stay moist." Rudge explained.
"But it's dangerous!"
"Even in my home, It was dangerous," said Rudge.
Leon thought about it for a moment.
"You're right. Even my home wasn't safe from the human landfill.
Okay, let's go."

-

Carefully, Leon picked up Rudge by his long tail
and started to run along the boardwalk.
"We can't stay on the boardwalk," yelled Rudge as he bounced along.
"This is where the humans walk.
They'll step on us.
Besides, the path doesn't go to the centre of the bog.
We're going to have to go off the path."
"Why the centre?" Leon asked.
"Everyone is going there to meet the Great Sandhill Crane.
He only comes once a year.
The mushroom didn't want to tell you
because they didn't like to share with strangers,
but you're a friend now so I'll tell you.
...
The Great Sandhill Crane grants wishes.
One wish a year, exactly."
"Wow," Leon said.
"I'd wish for a family and a home,
what would you wish for, Rudge?"
"Feet," Rudge said.
"So I could go anywhere I wanted to."

-

The vole and the mushroom travelled for a day
through shrubs and over moss.
They became tired and hungry.
"I'm thirsty, Rudge."
"Me too. Stop. We can get water."
"How?"
"The ground is made of peat, a type of moss that is special.
The moss can hold water like a sponge,
and it filters bad things from it,
so if you grab some peat and squeeze,
fresh water will come out of it," Rudge explained.

Leon squeezed and drank.
"Wow, that's the freshest water I've ever tasted!"
Rudge bobbed its head,
"Have you noticed how fresh the air is?
The bog also filters pollution out of the air."
Leon breathed deeply.
He felt so mush more happier since he came to the bog.
The hawk did him a favour by chasing him here, he thought.

-

After a snack of bog cranberries and bog ---------
the vole and the mushroom noticed that the trees were thinning
There was space to run and jump,
but the vole was nervous
because there were less places to hide,
if the hawk came back.

What I got from the inspiration

So my inspiration seems a little scattered. If you don't understand where it comes from:

1. Illustration by Arthur Rakham. He was amazing! More specifically, he drew fantasy. Pen, ink and gouache. His scenes are spooky and creepy sometimes. The way that he draws trees, all spindly and curvy is really interesting. The colours he uses are earthy, because his images are of nature. He uses a lot of brown and black. He illustrated an edition of Alice of Wonderland and the animals are very detailed and playful.

2. "Gormenghast" by Mervyn Peake. A fantasy novel about a small kingdom enclosed in a castle where no one leaves the walls of the castle. Each person is born to a role, whether a kitchen boy or the future duke, and they stay in that role no matter what they want. The main character is Steerpike, a kitchen boy who is beaten and wants a better life so he schemes and flatters his way to power. He drives the current duke mad (the duke starts to believe he is an owl) and locks up two noblewomen after taking their power. Anyways, it's a gothic fantasy novel that was made into a Masterpeice theatre movie and has a lot of interesting gothic visuals, such as the wild girl, the castle itself, the room of cats...

3. Ruby Gloom is a kid's cartoon in the gothic style. It takes a housefull of odd characters, like "Poe" the raven, a ghost, a bat, a black cat, etc. and creates kid friendly stories about them. What I like is that it takes something scary and makes it friendly. There's an edge to it. It isn't the teletubbies.

4. Rudyard Kipling was an author and illustrator of "The Jungle Book." The way he drew animals were very decorative. (Black ink, mostly). It was sketchy. It was exotic. His short stories are really creative.

5. Tim Burton has an amazingly distinct style. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" entertains me as much now as it did when I was 7. It's attractive yet dark. It's heart warming but not sickeningly sweet.

6. Edward Gorey was an illustrator who also mixed cute and creepy. His images are bold. I really like the detail he put into his work.

7. "Alice in Wonderland". This story is messed up but it's entertaining. I want to design a story that also follows a journey into the unknown. (And you learn all about the bog at the same time).

What do they all have in common? They are fantasy and use gothic motifs.

I think kids can handle stories that are a little scary.

Why did I choose this aesthetic? I love anything gothic and fantasy, so it makes me more engaged in the project. I like it because it's emotional. It can give me the shivers. Fear is a powerful emotion. I'm not saying I'm going to frighten little kids because I still want them to want to go to the bog. I think a little suspense will make them more interested. I also think a happy ending contrasted with a harrowing story will create a greater impact. So my book is going to have illustrations that show the bog as being mysterious and unusual.

Inspiration

Bog research

The photos below of just some of the pictures I took in the bog yesterday. I wanted to collect details of small things, like mushrooms and ferns, and larger pictures of the entire landscape. I noticed a lot of variety in plants. Parts of the bog are just like a forest. Other parts are full of shrubs but no trees. Some parts are full of ferns and plants on the ground and other parts don't see enough sun so the ground is just dirt and pine needles.

The ground is surprisingly squishy when you walk on it. It would be a great terrain for jogging.

In the Delta Nature Reserve, the bog is similar to a forest, not a bog. The centre of the bog is different because large trees don't grow there and the ground is firm but like jelly when you jump. Unfortunately, the centre of the bog is off limits. I went there on a hike about ten years ago but now, it is virtually unaccessable. What was frowned upon is now impossible. I tried yesterday, but couldn't find the trails that used to exist. I think that that sucks because the centre of the bog is a really unusual place that would be exciting for kids to visit if they could.

Bog research

Concept development

What if I made a book that included a collection of 'specimens' (found objects) from the bog.

What if I created a book that included a story about the escape of a mouse from prison and a horrible life, to a secluded refuge in the bog (This was actually a dream I had about a year ago).

What if I connected Burns Bog to a hip and cool lifestyle (inspired by Michael's project), music etc. all geared for kids.

What is the bog's unique position? It is a special spot on the planet. It's a home for many animals and plants. It's personality is: mysterious, unusual, full of small natural wonders, freedom, fascinating little systems and activities, magical (it could be...). All I need to do in my project is create clues that will lead kids into thinking the same thing. Why do I think it? Because I learned about survival and about amazing things (like filtration and almost extinct animals) as a child in the bog, when I hiked there with my girl guide group for example.

Actually, when I was about 13 years old, I went for a walk with a friend into the bog. This wasn't unusual. What was unusual was when we got down to the train tracks (we weren't even in the bog at this point, just on the edge), I suddenly spotted something through the trees. There was something moving. It was making the strangest sound, like a monster in pain, high pitched yet quiet. I froze and grabbed my friend's arm. We both crept closer until we saw it - it was a great blue heron.

We just watched it with wide eyes for five minutes. It felt like a magical moment. It flew away and we tried to follow it, but the trees were too dense. So although it was in my imagination, I feel like the bog is a special place. Like it was good luck to see the great blue heron, even though I'm not superstitious.

Some facts about the bog, (taken from http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/historic/burns/reports/Vol18No03/burns):

purifies our air, produces oxygen, stores carbon and absorbs excess rainfall (which lessens flooding).

evidence of repeated fires. The most recent fire, which burned about 160 hectares, occurred in 1996.

the largest domed peat bog on the west coast of the Americas - an internationally unique ecosystem.

The Delta Nature Reserve covers 148 acres (less than 2 percent of Burns Bog) and is located in the northeastern corner of the bog. The reserve has boardwalk trails and gives visitors a chance to see some of the unique and wonderful plants and animals of Burns Bog.

the highest point of the dome (5.5 metres above sea level) is just south of the centre of the bog; water flows north and south from there.

the bog contains fish habitat, including an historically significant salmon stream, Cougar Creek.

sphagnum moss is the bog's main plant species and occupies the central portion of the bog; pine woodland occurs just south of the core; the bog is ringed with mixed deciduous and coniferous forest.

other interesting plants in the bog include sundew (a small insect-eating plant), cloudberry (a unique plant species), the rare bog rosemary and crowberry, labrador tea, bog laurel, bog blueberry, huckleberry, pond lily, mushrooms, fungi and lichen, including fragile reindeer lichen that can grow to two feet high.

24 species of mammals are known to use the bog. Bog animals include black bear, black-tailed deer, red fox, beaver, bobcat, coyote and spotted skunk.

20 species of waterfowl, 18 species of raptors, 9 species of gulls, 9 species of shorebirds and 87 species of passerines and other birds are known to use the bog. The greater sandhill crane, found in the bog, is threatened with extirpation from the Lower Mainland. Other vulnerable bird species include the bald eagle, barn owl, great blue heron, gyrfalcon and peregrine falcon.

Burns Bog is home to some rare and beautiful species of insects, including the blue darner dragonfly, mariposa copper butterfly and a rare beetle (Beller's ground beetle).

2,283 hectares (over one-half the bog) is owned by one private company, Delta Fraser Properties.

the City of Vancouver owns 627 hectares for use as a sanitary landfill (garbage dump).

the rest of the bog (about one-quarter) is owned by various public and private interests, including Delta School Board and the Fraser Harbour Commission.

the majority of the bog is zoned for agriculture and peat extraction.

148 hectares (less than 2 percent of the bog) is currently protected, as the Delta Nature Reserve.

Why else am I doing this project?

I want to learn about education because I'm thinking about becoming a teacher (some time in the far future).
I want to explore book making and writing and book design because I love it.
I want to become better at communicating a message and in-class discussions will help me.

That's a few things I want to learn.

Why did I choose to do this project?

I'm passionate about sustainability, about preserving human life on Earth and about educating kids because I see how people DON'T CARE. They live as consumers and act selfish and silly (Paris Hilton comes to mind). I believe that human values haven't changed but people are now disconnected from nature due to technology. The environment shouldn't be separate from humanity. So I want to protect life by protecting Burns Bog. It's the most important natural environment in my life/neighbourhood/childhood. To me, it represents the values that are missing in life - fundamental needs like food, water, health, harmony, piece of mind and connection.

Books

Some forms that my book can take:

Accordian style
Exterernally bound
Box book
Pop up
Foldouts
Weird shapes
Viewfinders
Cards
Transparencies

Include maps and info graphics
illustration

It could include a map of Burns Bog and a wayfinding system so that kids could go into the bog and find these clues that are in the book. It could guide a tour of the bog so that the class will observe, learn, it's local!, available and healthy.

It could be made of unusual materials (from the bog? From the landfill close by?)
like plastic, plants, cardboard, etc.

Next step

Some of the things I learned from the presentation:

Talk to kids and find out what they really like and value. What I'm worried about is that I'll spend a lot of time with kids and get bogged down in it (because it's time consuming and kids like to do things their way, not mine). Then I'll try to learn something insightful from the time I spent with them, but I won't find anything new. I'm not around kids, but I babysat some, I have a young cousin, and I was one (I think I still am one, actually). So how much time do I need to spend with kids (in a classroom, say)? I am interested in spending some time in a kid's book store. I've never heard of the bookstore mentioned in class, so I'm going to go there this weekend hopefully. It will give me a chance to see kids with books and also what kinds of books are out there. I checked out the kids books at my local library and it had a pitiful selection.

I'm going to make the project fun, not preachy. That was why I wanted to do it in the first place, so I'm glad that I can now, finally start figuring out the entertaining content. I'm going to go into the bog and take pictures today. I've gotta find I way into the centre of the bog... it's really hard to get to and might be blocked off. I'm going to ask someone at the Burns Bog society how far and where can I go in the bog? Inspired by Maggie's project, I'm going to take all the content I find interesting about the bog and make it cool.

I think I'll be successful in this project if I get kids to want to help the environment and save the bog. Also, to treat it respectfully and lessen the impact on it by living sustainable lives.

Next step

I haven't forgotten about my other project ideas. Right now, I'm looking forward to the class' feedback. I want to choose one of my ideas and actually start thinking about the visual language. I don't feel comfortable thinking about the content of an idea until I've picked one. I've gone through each one. I see how there are challenges with each of them and some interest me more than others. I find it hard to storyboard each idea using drawings, even though I used to draw a lot. I'm much more comfortable using words now. Since my ideas are based on storytelling, verbal role playing and decision making, they don't make very interesting drawings so my storyboard for the presentation is mostly step by step written explanation. But I did find it very helpful to clarify my ideas (maybe because I used a big colourful felt pen and a huge sketch book) and I saw a lot of the holes in my ideas. I know that tomorrow, the class will see even more holes which will help me decide the best way of proceeding.

Burns Bog information

I've got some more information from Manpreet Nigah, who is the education coordinater at the Burns Bog Conservation Society. She told me that they do displays at community events and festivals and that one is happening Oct.21 and 23. I think it would be really interesting to check this out.

Also, she told me that they have "Burns Bog: A comprehensive guide", a teacher's guide to Burns Bog (which is under review she said), and some activity booklets for kids which are based on the animal characters in the bog. I want to look at these and find out how the effective these tools are. Are they interesting? Are they informative? Clear? Organized? Fun?

Why Burns Bog?

This is the reason I want to create a kid friendly Burns Bog society. It should be fun and friendly so that kids will want to get involved. Right now, the website (and educational material) are very serious and elegant. It doesn't translate to a young audience.

Other Problems and Changes

The challenges with my role playing game book would be my age group. I know that an 8 year old boy already likes role playing, but a 6 year old might not be able to follow the story. Although 6 year olds do play role playing games when they play with dolls and action figures.

I would use Dungeons and Dragon as a guide to creating this game. They use stats. The stats for my game could be the needs of the animal or plant. For example, if the character was a bear, they would need 5/5 water, Health (could be effected by garbage and pollution), 5/5 salmon (which could be jeopardized), etc. And stats will change throughout the story. The parent or child could keep track of the stats, depending on the child's interest level and age.

Problems and changes

I saw that their are some challenges with these ideas.

With my observation logbook idea, it would make more sense to do this in a classroom instead of in a home, because kids don't focus on these kinds of activities unless they are forced to in school. At home, kids like to watch tv, play on the computer, play barbies, play dress up and be read storybooks. This is what I found while babysitting a 6 (girl) and 8 year old (boy).

So it would need to be in school, probably. I thought the kids could go on fieldtrips (to the bog perhaps) and observe a certain tree or plant throughout a school year. The school would have to be close to a forest or the bog. My elementary school was very close to the bog, but we never went their to learn about nature.

This project would be about understanding and appreciatig nature. It wouldn't actually change people's behaviours, just their attitudes a bit. Hopefully, they would be inspired to grow more things and to love nature. Maybe this would be a good activity to facilitate other environmental learning. Watching things grow is fun...

Validation!

I went through my top four ideas:
1. Creating a rebranding campaign for the Burns Bog society geared for kids, similar to how David Suzuki has one website for adults and one for kids. The website for kids is very friendly, colourful and animated. I'm thinking I could redesign the logo and create kid friendly educational tools (I could take one of the ideas below and use Burns Bog as a case study).

2. Create a game where a parent would become a storyteller/game master. That adult would read out the story and the child or children would become characters that would make decisions in the story. The book would be nonlinear and might include a board game, as the character moves through the story. The focus of the story would be explaining an environmental system such as the bog. Characters could be a plant or and animal or even an element (What's the role of water in the bog? It gets filtered... it feeds plants and animals... it gets polluted). Kids would start to understand how these tings work and they would have fun playing a role playing game. The story would be different every time.

3. Create a classroom activity book that can be used as a journal to record all of the observations a child has as a plant he/she planted grows. It could be an evergreen tree that they could replant outside or it could be a bean sprout that grows very quickly or it could be something edible that could become part of a meal. Seeds would be included. A recipe would be included if it was an edible plant. Kids could start to understand how things grow. They would feel responsible for the little plant.

4. This is the one project that couldn't be connected to Burns Bog (it stands alone.). Daily habits like turning lights off, using less water, and creating less garbage, are things that people don't feel motivated to change because they don't think about it. If a family had a communal board where each person (adults and children) write down their daily habits, like how many seconds of running the tap do they use in a day, how many pieces of garbage, how many appliances do they use, how many lights do they have on at one time... And then they could swap with someone else in the family and try to improve the amount of electricity, water and garbage that is used. So they would take the challenge of 5 pieces of garbage, 2 appliances, etc. and then they would beat it. It would become a bit of a competition. This could become a global swapping game if it was put onto a website. People could try to use the same amount of energy and water as people from around the world.

Next phase

I've contacted the Burns Bog society and plan on meeting them some time this week or next week (depending on how I can fit it into my schedule). I noticed on their website that they have research material about Burns Bog that is open to the public so I want to take a look at that and also talk to the education coordinator about their educational programs for elementary school children. She might have some insight into how to teach kids about the environment. I'm hoping she might also have examples of educational material like booklets, books and maybe activities that they do when they take people on nature walks.