KABT BioBlog

George Pisani and Bill Busby are looking for help.  You, your students and other interested parties can help expand the knowledge of two Eastern Kansas snakes:  Red-bellied and Smooth Earth Snakes.  Note that these are some of the earliest snakes to show up in the spring (March).  Spread the word to others in your community.  [...]

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A post just came through the KS-Bird list about an interesting Cornell Citizen science program:
The Rusty Blackbird Blitz
Rusty Blackbirds are in decline and Kansas is part of their winter range.  This “blitz”/survey is set up for the first two weeks of Feb.  Check out the link for protocols.  If you decide to get out and [...]

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Before the weekend, I received an e-mail from a colleague asking “Do you know of a good place I can go gather termites… anywhere woody?”
I responded with my suggestions, and because I was intrigued, I replied with a question of my own, “What do you plan to do with them?”
Well, after a making my own way through [...]

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Those of you who have followed this blog probably know of my long time fascination with antlions.  If you have a ready source of them, they make a great organism to inspire student generated research.  Today, I’ve run across two excellent photo resources on antlions.  Alex Wild’s Mymercos Blog has exceptional images of an antlion [...]

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Community Issues Forum
No Child Left Inside: How Can We Help Connect Children with Nature?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Central Resource Library

Is there such a thing as “nature-deficit disorder?” Do children have a biological need to be exposed to the natural world? Whose responsibility is it to make sure that kids get a chance [...]

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This year’s Spring field trip will be on Saturday, June 6, at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area.
From Fort Hays Univeristy Wetlands Education Center Website
We will be meeting at 10am at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center at the Bottoms.  We have reserved a classroom there, and are asking participants to bring any materials we can use to [...]

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Johnson County Community College is offering teachers Introductory and Advanced biotechnology classes. There is no charge for the classes and a stipend is available for attendees. See attachment for details.  educator_information1
Teachers looking for paid summer internships should complete the attached application. biotech-summer-internship-application-2009 Placement can be arranged for 2-4 weeks at a biotechnology company.
Contact  Megan Gray for more [...]

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eBird Home Page
Saturday morning, I got up early and headed over to a program presented by Chris Wood, sponsored by the Topeka Audobon folks and hosted by Janeen Walters at Washburn Rural Middle School.   Now I am a geek but the topic had to have a lot of promise for me to give up my [...]

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The Winter Bird Feeder Survey began in January 1988 as a cooperative effort between the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and the Kansas Ornithological Society, to census birds at feeders. Data is gathered by hundreds of volunteers who watch their feeders and count birds on two, of four designated days. The four day feeder [...]

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A pdf Resource for Teachers wishing to spread Awareness of Evolution by Natural Selection

www.nature.com/evolutiongems
In this celebratory year of the Birth of Charles Darwin and the publication of his On the Origin of Species, it is fitting that the January 1 issue of the journal Nature announces a document “for teachers and others wishing to spread awareness of evolution by [...]

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