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Nature Rangers Prairie Pathways Winter Edition

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Prairie

Pathways

Outdoor Activities

to Learn in Nature!

Winter Edition • 2025

Observe the Wild

World Around You!

Learn about Animals,

Birds, Plants, & More!

Adventures &

Exploration!


Sunrise & Sunset

Have you ever watched the sun rise or set? If you have, how did your senses react?

Did you notice:

• The color and light in the sky change as the day progressed?

• The scent of the air change throughout the day?

• Changes in bird and animal activity throughout the day?

• The direction flowers face change?

• Shadows shrink and lengthen?

Sun rises in the east..

..and sets in the west.

Sunrise

Sunset

Consider journaling about

your nature observations

throughout the day or

even through the seasons.

Another fun activity is shadow tracing.

Visit the PBS LearningMedia website for a

1-minute video of shadow tracing ideas.

2


Q&A with a Naturalist

Lisa R.

Kane County Certified Naturalist Program Member

1.) Name a bird you find fascinating.

Crows! They are very intelligent birds and can use tools to

get food.

2.) Name a tree that you find attractive.

Ginkgo trees - Their leaves look like tiny fans and in

autumn their golden-yellow color is spectacular. Ginkgo

trees are one of the oldest tree species and survivors of the

last ice age!

3.) Name an insect you think is cool.

I like all types of insects but praying mantises are super

cool! They’re so interesting looking with their long legs,

powerful forearms, and large eyes. You can see when they

turn their head to look at you!

4.) What season do you most enjoy.

Summer is my favorite season. I love the fact that so many

things are in bloom. Plus, there’s an abundance of wildlife

to observe and photograph.

5.) Tell us something interesting about an animal.

Bats are the only mammals that fly!

6.) Can you recommend a book?

Why Do Owls and Other Birds Have Feathers?

By Holly Beaumont

Click me

GAILBORDEN.INFO/NATURERANGERS

3


Star Gazing

Did you know that your eyes have night vision?

It takes about 10 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark, but

at least 30 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust to night vision.

Bright light affects your night vision and causes your eyes

to adjust to the darkness again. Should you stroll outside at

night to star gaze, bring a red light with you to see where

you’re going. Red light does not affect your night vision.

Here’s how you can make a red light to help protect

your night vision. It can even be used indoors!

1. First, ask for your parents help.

2. You will need a flashlight.

3. Secure red plastic wrap or cellophane over the end of the

flashlight and secure it with a rubber band.

You can also use a red balloon, or red tape.

4. Add more layers of red covering until the flashlight shines

more red light than white.

Visit the Instructables website with your parents for more

tips on creating a red light, complete with illustrations.

Learn how to find four stars

and the constellation Orion in

the book Stikky Night Skies.

Click on the book to check it

out from our collection!

4


Moon Phases

New

Moon

Waxing

Crescent

First

Quarter

Moon

Waxing

Gibbous

Full

Moon

Waxing

Gibbous

Last

Quarter

Moon

Waning

Crescent

Did you know that the sun illuminates the moon?

This is why it appears to shine brightly in the sky. What we see is

sunlight reflected off the moon’s surface.

As the moon travels around (orbits) Earth, different parts of it are lit by the sun.

This changes the way the moon appears in the sky over the course of its 27-day

orbit. These are called phases, and each of the eight moon phases have a name.

For more information about

astronomy clubs and dark sky

locations, visit the following

websites:

Dark Skies IL

Fox Valley Astronomical Society

Illinois Astronomy Clubs

Look at the moon each night throughout a 30-day period and observe the phases with

your own eyes. Also, challenge yourself to find the constellation Orion in the sky.

5

GAILBORDEN.INFO/NATURERANGERS


Fresh

Air

Friday

Spending time outdoors is great for your

physical and mental health! Plus, there are

so many fun things to do outdoors!

Go for a walk with your family at one of the

local forest preserves each Friday and make

Fresh Air Friday part of your week.

Tyler Creek Forest Preserve is this issue’s featured Forest Preserve. It

offers bike and nature trails, picnic areas, and two shelters. You can

view the preserve map at the link above.

A fun fact about Tyler Creek Preserve is that it is one of the four

original preserves in the Forest Preserve District of Kane County!

Bring a camera with you and take pictures of the

wildlife you see. Once back at home, see if you can

identify what you spotted.

There are several Midwest and Illinois field guides

in our collection to help you. Here are links to just

a few – click on the book covers below.

Pick-up a Rangers Create-a-Star starter kit at

the Rakow Branch. Use it with materials that you

find outdoors to create a 5-point star.

Ask for one at the Rakow Help Desk.

Email a picture of your star to

naturerangers@gailborden.info

to be entered in our grand prize giveaway.

Remember to include your name

and telephone number, too.

6


Check out a Nature Rangers

Exploration Backpack to

take on your next outing!

Available at the Rakow Branch,

Exploration Backpack themes include:

Tree Exploration

Insect Discovery

Birds of Illinois

Dig Into Soil!

The Exploration Backpacks include books, guides, and

other fun things like binoculars, magnifying lenses, and

shovels to explore the wild world around you!

What backpack theme would

you like to see?

Share your ideas with staff at

the Rakow Branch!

Look for new backpacks

coming to the Nature

Rangers collection soon!

GAILBORDEN.INFO/NATURERANGERS

7


Snowflakes

Did you know that snowflakes are made of ice crystals that form

on tiny particles of ash, dirt, or salt in the air? It’s true!

That tiny particle becomes the center of a snowflake!

As more ice crystals form around that particle, the heavier

the forming snowflake gets, so it begins to fall toward Earth.

Before you know it, it’s

snowing!

Each year, at least 1 septillion

snowflakes fall from the sky! That’s

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

When it snows, try to catch snowflakes so you can

take a closer look at them.

1.) Set a piece of foam core outside so that it gets cold, but make

sure it remains dry. It needs to be cold so that snowflakes won’t melt

when they land on it.

2.) After 10-minutes, hold the foam core out and catch a few

snowflakes on it.

3.) Use a magnifying lens to look at them. You may see crystals as

well as snowflakes. Count how many different shapes you see.

8


Gail Borden Public Library offers a range of programming for all ages.

Visit our Events & Classes webpage for more information.

The Forest Preserve District of Kane County is celebrating 100 years!

Visit their website to discover all the forest preserves in Kane

County, as well as public nature programs they offer for all ages.

Link index:

PBS LearningMedia: https://illinois.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/buac18-k2-sci-ess-shadowtracing/shadow-tracing/

Instructables: https://www.instructables.com/Astronomy-Hacking-a-Redlight/

Illinois Dark Sky Places: https://www.go-astronomy.com/dark-sky-parks-stargazing-state.php?State=IL

Fox Valley Astonomical Society: https://fvasil.org/

Illinois Astronomy Clubs: https://www.go-astronomy.com/astro-clubs-state.php?State=IL

Tyler Creek Forest Preserve: https://kaneforest.com/location/tyler-creek

Nature Rangers: https://gailborden.info/naturerangers

Gail Borden Public Library: https://gailborden.info/ | Library Events & Classes: https://attend.gailborden.info/events

Forest Preserve District of Kane County: https://kaneforest.com/

Public Nature Programs: https://kaneforest.com/public-nature-programs

Main Library

270 N. Grove Ave.

Elgin, IL 60120

847-742-2411

Rakow Branch

2751 W. Bowes Rd.

Elgin, IL 60124

847-531-7271

South Elgin Branch

127 S. McLean Blvd.

South Elgin, IL 60177

847-931-2090

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