#unit study

[psychoscreen1]

Unleash a world of knowledge with this amazing Turtle and Tortoise Unit Study Montessori Kit! Designed for hands-on learning, this engaging educational kit offers a deep dive into the anatomy, species differences, and life cycles of turtles and tortoises. The kit is awash with captivating visual aids like cards, posters, and puzzles that not only aid in recognition but also provide a fun-filled learning experience. The printable resources in this kit make it a breeze to learn about these fascinating reptiles from the comfort of your home. Now learning about turtles and tortoises is as easy as print and play!

[asgardian--angels]

Planet's Fucked: What Can You Do To Help? (Long Post)

Since nobody is talking about the existential threat to the climate and the environment a second Trump term/Republican government control will cause, which to me supersedes literally every other issue, I wanted to just say my two cents, and some things you can do to help. I am a conservation biologist, whose field was hit substantially by the first Trump presidency. I study wild bees, birds, and plants.

In case anyone forgot what he did last time, he gagged scientists' ability to talk about climate change, he tried zeroing budgets for agencies like the NOAA, he attempted to gut protections in the Endangered Species Act (mainly by redefining 'take' in a way that would allow corporations to destroy habitat of imperiled species with no ramifications), he tried to do the same for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the law that offers official protection for native non-game birds), he sought to expand oil and coal extraction from federal protected lands, he shrunk the size of multiple national preserves, HE PULLED US OUT OF THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT, and more.

We are at a crucial tipping point in being able to slow the pace of climate change, where we decide what emissions scenario we will operate at, with existential consequences for both the environment and people. We are also in the middle of the Sixth Mass Extinction, with the rate of species extinctions far surpassing background rates due completely to human actions. What we do now will determine the fate of the environment for hundreds or thousands of years - from our ability to grow key food crops (goodbye corn belt! I hated you anyway but), to the pressure on coastal communities that will face the brunt of sea level rise and intensifying extreme weather events, to desertification, ocean acidification, wildfires, melting permafrost (yay, outbreaks of deadly frozen viruses!), and a breaking down of ecosystems and ecosystem services due to continued habitat loss and species declines, especially insect declines. The fact that the environment is clearly a low priority issue despite the very real existential threat to so many people, is beyond my ability to understand. I do partly blame the public education system for offering no mandatory environmental science curriculum or any at all in most places. What it means is that it will take the support of everyone who does care to make any amount of difference in this steeply uphill battle.

There are not enough environmental scientists to solve these issues, not if public support is not on our side and the majority of the general public is either uninformed or actively hostile towards climate science (or any conservation science).

So what can you, my fellow Americans, do to help mitigate and minimize the inevitable damage that lay ahead?

I'm not going to tell you to recycle more or take shorter showers. I'll be honest, that stuff is a drop in the bucket. What does matter on the individual level is restoring and protecting habitat, reducing threats to at-risk species, reducing pesticide use, improving agricultural practices, and pushing for policy changes. Restoring CONNECTIVITY to our landscape - corridors of contiguous habitat - will make all the difference for wildlife to be able to survive a changing climate and continued human population expansion.

**Caveat that I work in the northeast with pollinators and birds so I cannot provide specific organizations for some topics, including climate change focused NGOs. Scientists on tumblr who specialize in other fields, please add your own recommended resources. **

We need two things: FUNDING and MANPOWER.

You may surprised to find that an insane amount of conservation work is carried out by volunteers. We don't ever have the funds to pay most of the people who want to help. If you really really care, consider going into a conservation-related field as a career. It's rewarding, passionate work.

At the national level, please support:

The Nature Conservancy

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Cornell Lab of Ornithology (including eBird)

National Audubon Society

Federal Duck Stamps (you don't need to be a hunter to buy one!)

These first four work to acquire and restore critical habitat, change environmental policy, and educate the public. There is almost certainly a Nature Conservancy-owned property within driving distance of you. Xerces plays a very large role in pollinator conservation, including sustainable agriculture, native bee monitoring programs, and the Bee City/Bee Campus USA programs. The Lab of O is one of the world's leaders in bird research and conservation. Audubon focuses on bird conservation. You can get annual memberships to these organizations and receive cool swag and/or a subscription to their publications which are well worth it. You can also volunteer your time; we need thousands of volunteers to do everything from conducting wildlife surveys, invasive species removal, providing outreach programming, managing habitat/clearing trails, planting trees, you name it. Federal Duck Stamps are the major revenue for wetland conservation; hunters need to buy them to hunt waterfowl but anyone can get them to collect!

THERE ARE DEFINITELY MORE, but these are a start.

Additionally, any federal or local organizations that seek to provide support and relief to those affected by hurricanes, sea level rise, any form of coastal climate change...

At the regional level:

These are a list of topics that affect major regions of the United States. Since I do not work in most of these areas I don't feel confident recommending specific organizations, but please seek resources relating to these as they are likely major conservation issues near you.

PRAIRIE CONSERVATION & PRAIRIE POTHOLE WETLANDS

DRYING OF THE COLORADO RIVER (good overview video linked)

PROTECTION OF ESTUARIES AND SALTMARSH, ESPECIALLY IN THE DELAWARE BAY AND LONG ISLAND (and mangroves further south, everglades etc; this includes restoring LIVING SHORELINES instead of concrete storm walls; also check out the likely-soon extinction of saltmarsh sparrows)

UNDAMMING MAJOR RIVERS (not just the Colorado; restoring salmon runs, restoring historic floodplains)

NATIVE POLLINATOR DECLINES (NOT honeybees. for fuck's sake. honeybees are non-native domesticated animals. don't you DARE get honeybee hives to 'save the bees')

WILDLIFE ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER (support the Mission Butterfly Center!)

INVASIVE PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES (this is everywhere but the specifics will differ regionally, dear lord please help Hawaii)

LOSS OF WETLANDS NATIONWIDE (some states have lost over 90% of their wetlands, I'm looking at you California, Ohio, Illinois)

INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE, esp in the CORN BELT and CALIFORNIA - this is an issue much bigger than each of us, but we can work incrementally to promote sustainable practices and create habitat in farmland-dominated areas. Support small, local farms, especially those that use soil regenerative practices, no-till agriculture, no pesticides/Integrated Pest Management/no neonicotinoids/at least non-persistent pesticides. We need more farmers enrolling in NRCS programs to put farmland in temporary or permanent wetland easements, or to rent the land for a 30-year solar farm cycle. We've lost over 99% of our prairies to corn and soybeans. Let's not make it 100%.

INDIGENOUS LAND-BACK EFFORTS/INDIGENOUS LAND MANAGEMENT/TEK (adding this because there have been increasing efforts not just for reparations but to also allow indigenous communities to steward and manage lands either fully independently or alongside western science, and it would have great benefits for both people and the land; I know others on here could speak much more on this. Please platform indigenous voices)

HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS (get your neighbors to stop dumping fertilizers on their lawn next to lakes, reduce agricultural runoff)

OCEAN PLASTIC (it's not straws, it's mostly commercial fishing line/trawling equipment and microplastics)

A lot of these are interconnected. And of course not a complete list.

At the state and local level:

You probably have the most power to make change at the local level!

Support or volunteer at your local nature centers, local/state land conservancy non-profits (find out who owns&manages the preserves you like to hike at!), state fish & game dept/non-game program, local Audubon chapters (they do a LOT). Participate in a Christmas Bird Count!

Join local garden clubs, which install and maintain town plantings - encourage them to use NATIVE plants. Join a community garden!

Get your college campus or city/town certified in the Bee Campus USA/Bee City USA programs from the Xerces Society

Check out your state's official plant nursery, forest society, natural heritage program, anything that you could become a member of, get plants from, or volunteer at.

Volunteer to be part of your town's conservation commission, which makes decisions about land management and funding

Attend classes or volunteer with your land grant university's cooperative extension (including master gardener programs)

Literally any volunteer effort aimed at improving the local environment, whether that's picking up litter, pulling invasive plants, installing a local garden, planting trees in a city park, ANYTHING. make a positive change in your own sphere. learn the local issues affecting your nearby ecosystems. I guarantee some lake or river nearby is polluted

MAKE HABITAT IN YOUR COMMUNITY. Biggest thing you can do. Use plants native to your area in your yard or garden. Ditch your lawn. Don't use pesticides (including mosquito spraying, tick spraying, Roundup, etc). Don't use fertilizers that will run off into drinking water. Leave the leaves in your yard. Get your school/college to plant native gardens. Plant native trees (most trees planted in yards are not native). Remove invasive plants in your yard.

On this last point, HERE ARE EASY ONLINE RESOURCES TO FIND NATIVE PLANTS and LEARN ABOUT NATIVE GARDENING:

Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Resource Center

Pollinator Pathway

Audubon Native Plant Finder

Homegrown National Park (and Doug Tallamy's other books)

National Wildlife Federation Native Plant Finder (clunky but somewhat helpful)

Heather Holm (for prairie/midwest/northeast)

MonarchGard w/ Benjamin Vogt (for prairie/midwest)

Native Plant Trust (northeast & mid-atlantic)

Grow Native Massachusetts (northeast)

Habitat Gardening in Central New York (northeast)

There are many more - I'm not familiar with resources for western states. Print books are your biggest friend. Happy to provide a list of those.

Lastly, you can help scientists monitor species using citizen science. Contribute to iNaturalist, eBird, Bumblebee Watch, or any number of more geographically or taxonomically targeted programs (for instance, our state has a butterfly census carried out by citizen volunteers).

In short? Get curious, get educated, get involved. Notice your local nature, find out how it's threatened, and find out who's working to protect it that you can help with. The health of the planet, including our resilience to climate change, is determined by small local efforts to maintain and restore habitat. That is how we survive this. When government funding won't come, when we're beat back at every turn trying to get policy changed, it comes down to each individual person creating a safe refuge for nature.

Thanks for reading this far. Please feel free to add your own credible resources and organizations.

[hinamie]

long way home

[peacefulandcozy]

ig credit: fieldnotesbyfi

[reasonsforhope]

"Buried among Florida’s manicured golf courses and sprawling suburbs are the artifacts of its slave-holding past: the long-lost cemeteries of enslaved people, the statues of Confederate soldiers that still stand watch over town squares, the old plantations turned into modern subdivisions that bear the same name. But many students aren’t learning that kind of Black history in Florida classrooms.

In an old wooden bungalow in Delray Beach, Charlene Farrington and her staff gather groups of teenagers on Saturday mornings to teach them lessons she worries that public schools won’t provide. They talk about South Florida’s Caribbean roots, the state’s dark history of lynchings, how segregation still shapes the landscape and how grassroots activists mobilized the Civil Rights Movement to upend generations of oppression.

“You need to know how it happened before so you can decide how you want it to happen again,” she told her students as they sat as their desks, the morning light illuminating historic photographs on the walls.

Florida students are giving up their Saturday mornings to learn about African American history at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach and in similar programs at community centers across the state. Many are supported by Black churches, which for generations have helped forge the cultural and political identity of their parishioners.

Since Faith in Florida developed its own Black history toolkit last year, more than 400 congregations have pledged to teach the lessons, the advocacy group says.

Florida has required public schools to teach African American history for the past 30 years, but many families no longer trust the state’s education system to adequately address the subject.

By the state’s own metrics, just a dozen Florida school districts have demonstrated excellence at teaching Black history, by providing evidence that they are incorporating the content into lessons throughout the school year and getting buy-in from the school board and community partners.

School district officials across Florida told The Associated Press that they are still following the state mandate to teach about the experience of enslavement, abolition and the “vital contributions of African Americans to build and strengthen American society.”

But a common complaint from students and parents is that the instruction seems limited to heroic figures such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks and rarely extends beyond each February’s Black History Month.

When Sulaya Williams’ eldest child started school, she couldn’t find the comprehensive instruction she wanted for him in their area. So in 2016, she launched her own organization to teach Black history in community settings.

“We wanted to make sure that our children knew our stories, to be able to pass down to their children,” Williams said.

Williams now has a contract to teach Saturday school at a public library in Fort Lauderdale, and her 12-year-old daughter Addah Gordon invites her classmates to join her.

“It feels like I’m really learning my culture. Like I’m learning what my ancestors did,” Addah said. “And most people don’t know what they did.”"

-via AP News, December 23, 2024

[morganbritton132]

Firm believer that Eddie grew up around guns, knows how to shoot guns. He doesn’t go hunting (not after the first time) but him and Wayne sometimes go out into the woods to shoot pain cans.

Steve, on the other hand, saw a gun for the first time when Nancy shove one in his face.

[that1notetaker]

My mom cried during the mom movie.

[irenespring]

I will return to not stanning politicians tomorrow but watching Kamala Harris destroy Donald Trump is like a religious experience to me. She's leading him into traps to distract him into saying nonsense about crowd sizes, pointing out how he is an adjudicated rapist and convicted felon, and just nailing every question.

I am smiling So Much after a really shitty day.

Now I understand why some people start riots when they win at sports.

This is the woman who made Brett Kavanaugh cry and she is here to break Trump like he's a glass at a Jewish wedding.

[aitsukipi]

[revolutionsingingintherainnn]

i've seen a lot of people talk about lando fans needing to touch grass because we're mad about that picture, but you don't understand why we're mad. honestly, i have no reason to this, but i do need to get this off my chest.

a lot of lando fans (myself included) tried to ignore the way mclaren has been treating lando off track, as well as on track. we're not going to touch the subject of on track here. we're only talking about off track here. their instagram page has more oscar/oscar's car or joint pictures than that of just lando. they do post lando, but it's always in the second or the third slide. it's not the front of it, so it looks like they're posting oscar more.

now, the issue with that picture is that its fine that they clicked the picture. mistakes happen, oscar saw that he was covering lando, and he moved over for another picture where lando was visible as well. so, we, as fans, know that there are two versions of that picture that exists. what bothers us is that they not only posted it on their instagram with a heartfelt team related caption, but also made it their twitter header.

now, the instagram thing could have gone multiple different ways than the one mclaren chose to do it. they could have added a funny caption instead, or they couldn't done a little drawing of lando, just something cute, something funny, something that feels included. instead, they chose a picture where lando is completely covered. like, when i first saw the picture, i didn't even notice that lando was behind oscar. so, they chose that picture, they chose that caption, and on top of that, they chose to only tag one driver out of the two drivers they have.

and then, to go on and make that picture their twitter header? knowing full well that there is a version of that same moment where lando is, in fact, visible? that speaks volumes.

it took them over 2k comments on instagram before they changed their header picture on twitter, and before they tried to do damage control by posting lando more.

i'm not saying that the team should stop posting oscar or something. do not twist my words. i'm saying that there should be a balance of how much they post each driver, and if they're posting a team picture, it should include the entire team.

seeing that picture, as a lando fan, it is really disheartening. to us, it feels like the team have forgotten him, or put him on the back burner. to us, it feels like they have a bias and they're not being subtle about it. it kills us because we have seen lando hold his team higher than himself, work for the team instead of himself, count every win as the team's, and every loss as his own. we have seen lando do that for years, but mclaren seem to have completely left him in the trenches.

for every "mentally weak" comment regarding lando that comes up in the press, there are other drivers and other teams that are saying it's not true and are defending lando. his own team never say a word. for every mistake or bad quali/race position, lando blames himself and mclaren let him take the brunt of it from the media and the fans, and then a week later, come out with a small article somewhere about how it was actually the team's fault, not lando's.

people underestimate the power of social media sometimes. you think it's not a big deal that lando's being posted, just in the second or the third slide? sponsors only look at the face. the face on their instagram page is not lando. the way they're promoting both drivers differently is clear, and it's clear because that what we're seeing, what's being shown to us. mclaren are trying to be subtle about it, but their subtlety left the conversation a long time ago.

the narratives that they push about lando being weak, having reached his highest potential already, buckling under pressure, all of it could be debunked if the team spoke out about it and supported their driver. they're not, so these narratives are being shoved down people's throats. the hate comments on their own instagram posts are vile, and it doesn't take that long to put out a statement that those need to stop, that the fans don't know what's going on behind the scenes, and that the fans have no right to judge a driver on things they can't do. it's not that difficult, but it really seems like mclaren would rather burn to the ground than support their driver.

i don't expect everyone to understand this. i know there's going to be people who come at me and say that i'm being a conspiracy theorist or i'm overthinking this or whatever. but, if you haven't seen a person, or have been a person, who has given your all to someone or something, and get close to nothing in return, this is the type of behaviour that cannot be ignored.

[psychoscreen1]

Swing into science with this monkey-themed unit study! 🐵✨ Perfect for homeschoolers & educators — includes printable activities, fun facts, book pairings, crafts, and jungle-inspired learning.

[lottiestudying]

08.08.2024—moments of clarity & peace in a chaotic day. back in psychiatric care

[aetherograph]

Idk if this is a controversial take but I think you should be able to take a test to prove you have the relevant knowledge for a degree and if you pass the test, you get the degree. They do that for high school, why is college any different?

Like let's not kid ourselves, school is for credentials and literally everything that needs credentials that are entirely just 'do you have this core knowledge' can be dealt with this way. Anything that has practical elements can just have the practical elements as classes you can take piecemeal, like CPR training already is, and then you also have to pass a written test.

There's very little reason we need to stick people in a company town (university campus) and pay them in scrip (grades) and make them buy from the company store (tuition) other than to erect unnecessary and inhumane and unjust barriers to knowledge.

If four years of high school can be expressed in test form, then four years of university can too.

[mirrorofliterature]

when people go like

'oh, the jedi couldn't intervene in tatooine because it was outside of the republic's jurisdiction uwu'

I'm like: do you think that's a good reason?

imagine if doctors without borders was like that. like, jedi is supposedly a non-government organisation/religious order. the good of the galaxy should not be equated to the interests of the senate and the problem is that it was.

the jedi order became corrupt when they became attached to the republic as an ideal, the senate, rather than the republic, the people

obviously, the jedi storming into somewhere like tatooine and leading a revolution would be an absolute disaster, as social change (particularly something as drastic as a revolution) needs to be bottom-up to be successful. but they could have done something. get a few jedi in contact with the slave underground, be allies and coordinators.

the jedi order loses its way because they sacrifice their morals, again and again, for the supposed 'greater good'. it's utilitarianism writ large.

a good discrete example of the jedi order's flaws is when they negotiate with the hutts for hyperspace lane access.

they know the hutts are slavers and crime lords. that's not a secret.

but, they need the hyperspace lanes For the War

the jedi order keeps peace, yes. peace for who? peace for the billions of slaves? their idea of peace seems to be to maintain the status quo, even as the status quo became increasingly toxic.

the jedi order choosing to accept the clones, choosing to fight the war, it was the easy choice. it was the wrong choice. it was the path of least resistance.

but does that make it right?

no.

think back to the delegate of 2000 meeting:

“The moral authority of the Jedi, such as it is,” Bana Breemu said, “has been spent lavishly upon war; I fear they have none left for politics.”

anyway the jedi should decentralise and help the people, not the Senate

[reasonsforhope]

"In a historic move Friday [November 8, 2024], Sacramento State announced its new Native American College, a first of its kind in the California State university system. 

The college, a co-curricular institution housed at Sacramento State, will support Native-based education with a focus on leadership and career building. It will offer a diverse range of programs that integrate "tribal values, traditions and community engagement," according to a press release. 

This marks Sacramento State's second ethnic-based institution. The university launched the the nation's first Black Honors college earlier this year. 

The announcement was made at the California State Capitol by President Luke Wood and Dr. Annette Reed, an enrolled member and citizen of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, who will be the first dean of the Native American College. 

Reed said students will have access to faculty mentors, advisors, outreach coordinators and more who have the expertise to work closely with Native American students and can support them holistically. 

She hopes this historic initiative will address low enrollment of Native students pursuing higher education across the state and in the country. Native American students face significant barriers to enrolling in higher education, such as financial constraints, feelings of isolation, historical trauma and lack of culturally relevant curriculum. 

"And so I'm hoping this impacts the students where they go through as a cohort. They can create networks, they can be able to have more of a support system going through and beginning together and hopefully graduating at the end together," Reed said.

Reed recalled taking her first class on Native American studies in 1980. She would later on serve as the director of Native American studies at Sacramento State and chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies. For her, advocating for Native American education was a natural top priority. 

"People always ask me, 'What is Native American studies?' It is history. It is looking at culture. It's looking at teaching sovereignty, federal Indian law. It's teaching social work, art. It's teaching about Native cultural expression, it can be literature," Reed said. 

The Native American College will introduce two new courses, according to Reed, which will be focused on Native American leadership. 

"It means that maybe some of the ones that start in Fall 2025 will end up here at the Capitol. Maybe they'll end up being the future senators or assembly people or the future of people in business. They might be leading our nation as tribal chairs, they might be going into the medical field," Reed said. "But whatever field they go into, leadership is really key." 

Students who want to be in the Native American College can apply after being accepted into the university's general application process. All students will be required to minor in Native American Studies, with an emphasis on Native American leadership."

-via ABC 10, November 8, 2024

[lochlot]

this show sure loved its blue and green filters may it rest in peace