When I was a young student, I was originally given the impression that geography was about memorizing the map of Canada along with its provinces and territories. Towards the end of high school, I was told by family members who had studied geography at university that there was so much more to the discipline than I could have ever imagined.

Happy Geography Awareness Week! As an Education Consultant with EcoSpark, I deliver workshops to teachers and students about how to build sustainable communities. As a former teacher and someone who is passionate about protecting our environment, I really enjoy speaking about how we can build our communities to help protect green spaces, reduce climate change, and accommodate a growing population.

World Town Planning Day takes place annually on November 8th and is an international day celebrating the importance and great contributions of planners in their communities whether they are urban or rural. According to Statistics Canada, about 86% of the population lived in urban areas while 14% in rural communities in 2011.

A few days ago, I went with EcoSpark to a small stream in Unionville called Bruce Creek, which I hadn’t known was even there, to do stream assessments with people from my school - Milliken Mills High School.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency in the US, household waste rises more than 25 percent between Halloween and New Year’s Day. To celebrate Waste Reduction Week (October 16-22), EcoSpark has compiled a list of 10 ways to make this an eco-friendly holiday.

Outdoor Classroom Day is a global campaign that encourages the integration of outdoor learning and play. Every year, schools around the world take part in outdoor lessons and prioritizing outdoor play.

Climate change and the recent severe weather events that have come with it are a growing concern around the world. One way scientists see the impacts of climate change is through environmental monitoring.

In celebration of Science Literacy Week (#SciLit17), we’re organizing a Sparking Science Through Mentorship Conference on Thursday, September 21!

Happy World Water Monitoring Day! World Water Monitoring Day takes place each year on September 18. Every year, the World Water Monitoring Challenge, now known as the EarthEcho Water Challenge, seeks to build public awareness and encourage involvement in protecting water resources.

EcoSpark's work and impact spans the Greater Toronto Area and beyond. We are a far distance from any ocean, yet we feel the impact of its health. Despite the space between us and the sea, there are still things we can do to help!

Ontario is home to seven different species of turtle, all of which are species at risk. Click to find out what “species at risk” means!

Welcome back to our tenth and final edition of Bug Blogs, celebrating Science Odyssey by showcasing benthic macroinvertebrates (bugs!) that we often find during our local stream studies program, Changing Currents.

Snails or gastropods are the second most abundant group of species outmatched only by insects. Consisting of snails and slugs, there are over 60,000 different species of gastropods known to date, over 5000 of which are considered to be aquatic.

In this entry in our Bug Blog series we will be looking at the dragonfly. Dragonflies are easily distinguishable by their long thin bodies, long horizontally resting wings and large compound eyes on either side of its head.

In this installment of our Bug Blog series we will be exploring the crayfish. If you have ever spent time on the river’s edge you have probably spotted these lobster-looking critters. Compared to other benthos, the crayfish can grow to be quite large, anywhere between 4 to 16 centimeters!

Today is a day to motivate, celebrate (or even re-invigorate) outdoor education. When teaching and learning outside, there are so many opportunities to seize.

This next series will cover the aquatic beetle. Beetles are considered to be the most diverse type of insect in the entire animal kingdom with over 350,000 different species discovered to date with over 5000 living in North American waters.

Have you ever accidentally stepped on a worm but one half managed to get away alive? Even if you haven’t experienced this phenomenon, you have probably heard of it. As long as its major organs are not harmed, a worm that has lost part of its end portion can live. This is also the case for the subject of this installment of the Bug Blog, the flatworm!

In this installment of EcoSpark’s Bug Blogs, we will be examining scuds. Scuds are one of the easiest bottom dwelling bugs to identify in aquatic ecosystems due to their resemblance to shrimp.

Have you ever seen a daddy long-legs in your house or outside on a warm autumn day? If you said yes, then you’ve seen a crane fly! Crane flies are the topic of this installment of Bug Blog.