2025 outdoor snapshots 0131 by

Big Ice Sheet | Azadeh

2025-01-22 18:28:55 UTC

I loved this giant ice strip in my neighborhood because it was so large and stretched so far. I'd never seen such a large area covered in such thick ice before in our neighborhood. It also had really neat areas that looked translucent and others that were opaque/white and I wondered what cause those opaque areas. It would be interesting to think about these big ice sheets in terms of the conditions necessary for them to exist and connect this to the ice in the arctic.

Beautiful Ice Crystals/Window Frost at sunrise (Anna)

2025-01-22 22:28:58 UTC

Life below zero

2025-01-23 18:19:30 UTC

I took this photo while while walking in my community and I thought it was a beautiful illustration of living things and these plants capacity to survive during below zero freezing temperatures. It speaks to the resiliency that can often be found in nature- both in plants and in animal species as well. I also was drawn to the juxtaposition of the rich green plant life existing alongside the more brown toned plant life. This provides an illustration of how different living things can coexist closely alongside each other despite their differences in appearance, and how diversity in plant life can create beauty. Thinking about people and the world around us in a similar manner can stir up interesting conversation.

Lake Ontario

2025-01-23 20:46:31 UTC

I took this photo around Rouge Hill on the GO Train. I took this photo because I thought a child would ask questions like, “Why is the ground frozen but the water isn’t?”. Further inquiry could be (1) investigating the necessary conditions for water to freeze, (2) how density of the water affects the possibility of freezing, and (3) why only the surface freezes over.

Water Frozen In Time -Cassandra C

2025-01-24 01:49:08 UTC

As I was pulling into my driveway, I noticed this piece of ice hanging from the gutter on the side of my house that appears as if it is water frozen in time. I was intrigued by this because it reminded me of the optical illusion when water flows so steady and smoothly that it appears to be frozen when it is not (otherwise known as "laminar flow"). In my case, the water was actually frozen, yet appeared to be flowing. As a result, some questions that came to mind were "what is the science behind how laminar flow occurs?" as well as "does movement impact the freezing temperature of water, and if so, how?" I think this image would spark lots of inquiry-based discussions amongst students regarding how something can change from a liquid state to a solid, and how changes in temperature can freeze things almost instantaneously.

Tree Bark Around Metal Fence - Jenna

2025-01-26 16:31:57 UTC

I took this picture the other day of tree bark growing up a metal fence. It immediately caught my eye and would likely catch a young child's attention because it is not something you often see. This picture raises questions such as: how can a tree grow around a human-made structure? Where are the branches and leaves? These questions could lead to further inquiry, such as investigating how trees adapt to their environments and change over time, as well as the human impact on nature.

Nature's Frosty Art | Stephanie

2025-01-26 16:49:23 UTC

Tree anatomy - Isabel Boucher

2025-01-26 16:50:33 UTC

Ice Tracks - Erica F.

2025-01-26 20:16:47 UTC

I took this photo at Vermont Square Park on my way home after class last week. There's something about tracks--even if they're only human--frozen in the ice that always captures the imagination! Who or what made them? How did they become frozen in the ice? If ice was once water, how did they keep their shape? What kinds of travellers make their way through this park and what evidence do they leave behind them? There are so many mysteries to solve here. I think this photo would be a great prompt for an inquiry about the states of water in relation to temperature, but also habitats and ecosystems. It is also the sort of image that kids could relate to very easily and tell their own stories about.

Hollow Tree - Sydney B

2025-01-26 21:54:02 UTC

I took this photo of a tree while I was on a walk through my local park. This one caught my attention due to its hollow appearance. It was uncommon for me to see an opening this large in the trunk of a tree, and I was curious about what could have led to this appearance. I predict a child may pose the same question, as they may be used to seeing tree trunks appear in a certain way. After inquiring about the potential cause of this appearance, the students could further explore potential uses of this tree. For instance, what animals could live in this tree? Students could also predict what they believe would happen to this tree as time progresses.

Tree Heights - Brooke

2025-01-26 23:35:00 UTC

Pancake ICE!!!! - Daniel

2025-01-27 01:01:49 UTC

Squirrels!! (Jordan Lie)

2025-01-27 02:05:58 UTC

Standing tall - Charles

2025-01-27 03:29:38 UTC

I took this photo because it was the only tree of its kind that I saw when walking around my neighbourhood. All the other evergreens were pines but this was a kind of willow tree and I thought it looked lovely. I initially wondered why it grew slightly bent, and then questioned what the difference was between this type of conifer and other ones. I've only ever seen willow trees that shed their leaves so I didn't realize that this variety existed as well. I also wondered how long it has stood here much more it could grow. Would the bent trunk affect it in any way? Can conifers grow in tropical regions as well?

Pawprints in the snow (Eman Kashif)

2025-01-27 04:58:50 UTC

I took this picture of a pawprint on the playground of my school. I pointed it out to my kindergarten children and they all got really excited over seeing tracks in the snow. The children then started walking around the field to see if they could find any other tracks, tracks that were bigger or smaller, tracks from (potentially) different animals, and different footprints from people. This would be a great inquiry activity for young children as an introduction to animal life and pawprints. What was even cooler is the next day the pawprints turned into ice, so the children (especially those who were into dinosaurs) thought of the pawprints as fossils!

Hanging on!!

2025-01-27 12:44:32 UTC

I walked past this bush and found it interesting the way the leaves appeared dead but are still green and hanging on. It makes me wonder about different plants reactions to surviving the cold - we normally talk about the cycle of leafs changing colour and falling off trees but this bush did not follow the same cycle. How do they survive the -20 weather while still being green? Do they fall off eventually or come back to life?

Niagara Fall on Jan 26/ Fatemeh

2025-01-27 18:13:49 UTC

I had the chance to go to Niagara Falls this weekend, which was a surprise for me. Despite the frozen branches and surface on the top layer of the river, the flowing water of the fall remained mainly unfrozen. And because of the sunny weather, a rainbow appeared, making it super eye-catching.

Green All Around

2025-01-27 18:28:11 UTC

2025-01-27 18:35:29 UTC

This is a hole in a decaying brick wall in Spain. It is in the middle of a beautiful park full of nature. When I was walking by, I had to take a photo because the hole evokes so much curiosity. I imagine a whole world within the wall filled with all sorts of lifeforms. If you stop and wonder, your imagination can take you on amazing adventures.

Marvelous Clouds - Trevor B.

2025-01-27 18:42:04 UTC

We saw this cloud formation while driving and couldn't stop talking about them. It looked like a painting! I realized that while I've heard certain cloud names like "stratus", "nimbus", and "cumulus", I can't recognize most by sight. What kind of clouds are these? What causes them? Are they rare, or do we just not notice them? How many different types of clouds are there?

Icicles ! - Nada

2025-01-27 19:23:29 UTC

I took this photo of icicles on the edge of a lake up north. I chose to share this because I found it so fascinating that these huge icicle were falling but only around one corner of the lake. I found the physics behind this so interesting, the way that the shapes of the icicles differ, how some of them connect to the ground, the colour differences. I also was fascinated with this because of the way that the seasons completely change the way an environment looks. I was up there only a few months ago and none of this was around, only a lake, rocks, and trees. It is a picture that I feel would intrigue children a lot and would stimulate many different questions and curiosities.

Hawk!!!! — Elsa

2025-02-01 17:13:38 UTC

Upon my daily walk through, a busy road, I thought about how infrequently I observe my surroundings of houses, buildings, and ravines. I stopped at one of the ravines, and from the sidewalk observed the trees, the water, and the surrounding houses. All of a sudden about 20 feet away from me I see a hawk sitting in a tree, staring directly at me and immediately pulled snapped a photo. This picture is so fascinating to me because of the juxtaposition between nature and urban life. As I stood there and watched the hawk as he observed the dozens of cars and buses speeding up and down the street, I thought about how children might inquire about why the hawk is in the tree, where does he live? Does the hawk have a family? These are just some ways children might inquire about the animal itself, but further inquire about why which used to live in such a busy area. Despite the hawk sitting on a tree in a small Etobicoke creek, there are hundreds of homes condensed in the surrounding area, along with a high traffic road directly nearby. Children might question if the Hawk knows that we are looking at it or does he know that we live in this neighbourhood too? Even further, why is the hawk still living in Canada when it’s cold? Why doesn’t the hawk migrate to a warmer place with the geese?

Outdoor Snapshot

2025-02-03 15:34:36 UTC

I spotted this ea

Prettiest pigeon on the playground - Mimo

2025-02-10 23:45:01 UTC

Snow!

2025-02-16 23:14:08 UTC

Was getting ready for work the other day after the snow storm and saw all the snow outside. I will admit that the huge banks of snow on the road didn’t make me curious in the rush of getting to work- but as I started shovelling the snow to get out, I was forced to slow down my narrow “vision”, I started looking around at the snow and its fluffy texture, white all around me. I noticing a silence in the street and every shovel made a crisp noise, made me wonder if the snow had anything to do with it (maybe it doesn’t) Something I’ll be looking into! (Sabrina)

2025-02-17 01:26:23 UTC

I took this photo on a nature walk with my family of a tide that had froze while flowing in over a rocky shore. We were all so curious about what caused the star shaped icicles around the edges of some of the rocks, we had never seem anything like it. We spent such a long time starting at these ice patterns, and noticed in the middle these interesting ridges/waves that can be seen on the right middle of the photo. We predict that these ridges were formed from different waves/ levels of tides pooling in over the last layer of ice, and then quickly freezing as well above it. We were unsure if the ridges would have been formed from incoming our outgoing waves, but were pondering this question as well. I think the questions we still had about the start like icicles around the rocks would pose a wonderful inquiry subject - and would also leave room for more teaching and learning about how other natural ice formations are created, like the vertical icicles that are more commonly seen.

Tree looks like growing out of a rock! (Helena)

2025-02-17 15:56:38 UTC

I took this photo as I was walking to my placement and I thought it was so interesting. It looks as if the tree is connected to, or growing from a large rock. I think exploring this would be a great inquiry activity for children, as I think it would interest them as well.