Magazine For The Young Naturalists’ Club Of British Columbia Volume

NatureWILD Magazine for the Young Naturalists’ Club of British Columbia

Volume 10 Issue 2 2009

The Tree Nursery Vancouver Island

Marmot

Geothermal Energy

Turkey Vulture Photo by Crystal Reid

www.ync.ca

“Young Naturalists Observe and Conserve”

Inside... 3 Cetacean Cryptogram 4



6

GeoThermal Energy

Vancouver Island Marmot

8 The Chipmunk 9 Recycling 10 Tree Nursery Turkey 12 Vulture 14 Ask Al 15 NatureWILD News 16 wEATHER-wORD ISSN: 1492-7241

NatureWILD is printed by Benwell Atkins an RR Donnelley Company, Vancouver, on recycled paper.



Dear YNC members: You will be surprised to receive this issue of NatureWILD digitally instead of through the mail as usual. Why have we done this? Because non-profit organizations are also having a tough time during this difficult economic period. We have to cut back our expenses and with an electronic version of NatureWILD we save on printing and mailing costs. We are working hard so that we will be in a position to go back to printing NatureWILD as soon as possible. If you would like to help YNC with a donation you can do so via the website www.ync.ca which now has a ‘DONATE’ button on it or you can mail a cheque to the YNC office, 1620 Mt. Seymour Road, North Vancouver, BC V7G 2R9. Please email us with your thoughts about the way you would like to receive NatureWILD. Daphne Solecki President, Young Naturalists’ Club of British Columbia. YNC Clubs in BC

YNC Management

Lower Mainland YNC Vancouver YNC Home Learners (Lower Mainland) YNC Burke Mountain YNC Nicomekl YNC Central Valley YNC Chilliwack YNC Sunshine Coast YNC North Shore YNC Stanley Park

YNC BC Coordinator Jennifer Swanston

Vancouver Island YNC Victoria YNC Homelearners (Victoria) YNC Cowichan Valley YNC Nanaimo YNC Oceanside (Parksville/Qualicum) YNC Comox Valley YNC North Vancouver Island Gulf Islands YNC Pender Island YNC Denman Island Kootenays YNC Nelson YNC Kimberley YNC Rocky Mountain (Cranbrook) YNC Elk Valley (Fernie) Thompson/Okanagan YNC Lillooet YNC Kamloops YNC North Okanagan YNC Kelowna YNC South Okanagan YNC Salmon Arm North YNC Williams Lake YNC Prince George

YNC Nature Clubs in Schools Coordinator Kristine Webber-Lampa YNC President and NatureWILD Content Editor Daphne Solecki NatureWILD Production Editor Monica Belko YNC Board of Directors George Bangham, Rob Butler, Peter Davidson, Ruth Foster, Anne Murray, Eva Nagy, Daphne Solecki Contributors - Al Grass

YNC of BC is supported by: BC Ministry of Environment Imperial Oil Foundation Promoscience (Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada) We acknowledge the financial support of the Province of BC through the BC Gaming Commission

Cetacean-Cryptogram

A cetacean (pronounced sit-TAY-shun) is sea creature such as a whale or dolphin, which belongs to a family of fish-shaped mammals and breathes through a blowhole.

Decoder

abcdefg

Discover a few cetaceans found in BC waters by using the decoder to write in the letters (on the lines provided) that match the symbols below:

sei

_ _ _

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

hijklmnopqr H I J K L M N O P Q R stuvwxyz S T U V W X Y Z

whale

blue

_ _ _ _

whale

minke

_ _ _ _ _

whale

humpback

_ _ _ _ _

_

_ _

whale

harbour

_

_

_ _ _ _ _

porpoise Answers on page 15

pacific

_ _ NATURE VANCOUVER

(VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY)

_ _ _ _ _ white-sided _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _

dolphin



Geothermal Energy

pollution – no greenhouse gases like carbon, no water contamination, and no air contamination – and it uses very little land since all that is needed to reach it is small drill holes and some turbines and generators. Geothermal energy is everywhere on earth, but only some places have big pools of hot water close to the surface, where it is easier to reach. It requires very expensive and difficult exploration to find these more accessible areas where it can be produced at a cost that people can afford.

Geo (from the Greek word gaia meaning Earth)

+

Thermal (from the Greek word therme meaning heat) By Ross Beaty

= Earth heat

Hot Stuff! Have you ever seen an active volcano spewing out hot lava, or a geyser like Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park? Can you guess what causes the heat? Can you imagine such heat producing the electricity you use in your home or school? Well, the heat is produced from what’s called geothermal energy and it is a fast-growing new form of electricity generation. It’s not exactly new either – in fact, geothermal heat has been used to generate electricity in northern Italy for more than 100 years! Today, Old Faithful geyser spews out thousands of litres of boiling water over 30 metres high for 1.5-5 minutes! it powers homes, Photo by Monica Belko. businesses and schools in more than 28 countries including the USA, Mexico, Philippines, Indonesia and Kenya, and even in small Iceland where geothermal heat is used to generate more than 25 A volcanic fissure and lava channel. percent of the  country’s electricity needs.

Geothermal energy comes from deep in the earth where super-hot rocks exist, sometimes so hot that they melt to form liquid rock called magma. If water in the ground comes into contact with that superhot rock, the water itself gets heated superhot, sometimes to temperatures over 300 degrees centigrade. If we drill deep into the earth, to depths of one to three kilometres, sometimes the drill holes run into that super-hot water and the water rises through the drill holes to the surface. As soon as the water hits the surface, it expands rapidly and turns to steam, just like in a kettle that boils water. The steam can be used to turn a propeller called a turbine and – presto – electricity is generated! The electricity can then be sent anywhere we need it. The best thing about geothermal energy is that it is the cleanest form of energy! It creates almost no

A steaming Castle geyser at Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Monica Belko.

For example, active volcanoes obviously have really hot rocks, since they are made from once-liquid rock. Hot springs are also an obviously good indicator of hot water! Luckily, all around the earth there is something called the Ring of Fire where active volcanoes result from earth plates colliding or spreading apart. Up and down the western regions of North and South America are great places to look for geothermal energy and, in those areas, millions of homes are today powered by geothermal energy! So far, Canada has no geothermal-produced electricity but British Columbia has lots of potential and some day we will see Canada become a geothermal energy-producing country.

The geothermal water cycle.

The Soda Lake Geothermal Power Plant in Nevada, USA. Photo by Ross Beaty.

Geothermal energy is called “Earth’s Most Sustainable Energy” for good reason: it lasts forever, it produces constantly and it’s as ‘green-clean’ as it gets. It is a wonderful form of energy and will become more and more important in the future as our existing ‘dirty’ forms of energy like coal, oil and gas become burned up. It is one permanent (though not complete) solution to our existing energy crisis. Its only drawback is that it is not available everywhere at an affordable price. But, as time goes and other, nonrenewable, forms of energy disappear, geothermal energy will be a larger source of power for electricity needs all over the world. So remember, next time you see an active volcano, or lie soaking in a hot spring somewhere, you might be right on top of a future source of electricity for your home or school! Hot stuff!!

Ross Beaty is a Vancouver geologist who has worked extensively in the mineral exploration and mining industry. Currently he is President and CEO of Magma Energy Corp., a geothermal energy company with an operating plant in Nevada and a large portfolio of geothermal development projects in the USA, Nicaragua, Chile, Peru and Argentina. www.magmaenergycorp.com For many years Ross was Geology Section leader for Nature Vancouver (Vancouver Natural History Society). Recently, he initiated the new Beaty Biodiversity Centre and the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC, due to open in late 2009. On display will be the skeleton of a Blue Whale. More than 2 million specimens of plants, insects, fish, vertebrates, fungi, and fossils will showcase BC’s stunning natural history. You can find more at www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca and a video on Youtube. Definitely something to put on your family’s ‘to-do’ list!



The Olympics are coming! Let’s hear it for Mukmuk, the Vancouver Island Marmot.

VaNCOUVER

Island

Marmot

By Crystal Reid, True Olympian makes Marmot Shepherd

amazing come-back! Excitement abounds as the 2010 Winter Olympics approach. Young British Columbians and children around the world wonder if a Vancouver Island Marmot, named Mukmuk, will attend the festivities. Right now, the only Olympic mascots are Quatchi (representing Sasquatch), Sumi (who flies with Thunderbird wings) and Miga (part sea-bear, part whale). Mukmuk, the only character based on a live British Columbia animal, is designated as a sidekick, not an official mascot.

are looking up - from fewer than 30 in 2003, there are now between 140 and 160 Vancouver Island marmots in the wild.

I came to know the Vancouver Island Marmot when I was hired as a ‘marmot shepherd’ for Vancouver Island marmots in 2004. It’s a hard job, but so As Canada’s most endangered mammal, much fun! the Vancouver Island Marmot deserves celebration. It is endemic to Vancouver It might surprise you to know that Island and does not occur anywhere marmots can engage in a variety of else in the world. There are only five Olympic sports. They can swim; they land mammal species endemic to can stand on their hind legs and box Canada, making the Vancouver Island each other; they can quickly climb nearmarmot very special indeed. vertical rocks; and with their noses, they can push boulders the size of This marmot was first discovered in their own bodies. They can also travel 1910. Its numbers have declined greatly fast over long distances. Swimming, due to landscape changes and altered climbing, boxing, long distance hikers predator-prey relationships. But things – these marmots are true Olympians!

Crystal with telemetry equipment - which can be used to find the marmots. Photo by David Reid.

Marmot bodies are amazing. From midSeptember to mid-April, they do not eat. Imagine not eating at all during the coldest months of the year! Though they sleep for most of the winter in their burrows under the snow, they sometimes get up to urinate and may disturb family and friends sleeping with them. During hibernation their heart rate is as low as 3 to 4 beats per minute but it goes up to 110 when they awake and then to over 200 in the summer!

How did Vancouver Island Marmots make a comeback? For one thing, they fly! Well, they don’t fly like Sumi but like real Olympians, in airplanes. Vancouver Island Marmots are raised in the Toronto Zoo, Calgary Zoo and the Mountain View Conservation and Breeding Centre in BC. These breeding centres help Vancouver Island Marmots raise healthy families and when the young marmots are big enough they are flown home toVancouver Island. While athletes train for the Olympics at Mount Washington Alpine resort, Vancouver Island Marmots coming from breeding centres also train at Mount Washington. To prepare for independent living, marmots must acclimatize to local weather and elevation for at least a year before being released into

the wild. Just like the year, WWF-Canada and Olympians, the marmots Environment Canada love the ski hills! paid for tracking devices for the marmots. This acclimatization is all part of the Vancouver It is so important that Island Marmot National this support continues. Recovery Plan, started in The marmots really 1994. Happily, the Plan is need us. With help from on target - reproduction, everyone, we can build hibernation survival, on current numbers and appropriate habitat use, reach the goal of 400weight gain over the 600 marmots in the wild summer, social behaviour which should be a selfand recognizing predators sustaining population. - all are developing well. Quatchi, Sumi and Miga Many years and many are based on animals resources have gone of fantasy. Let’s hope towards this project. that the Vancouver The main supporters Island marmot remains, have been the BC by contrast, a reality. Government (including If Mukmuk was a true the BC Conservation mascot, every Olympics Corps), Timberwest, visitor would know Island Timberlands, BC about Vancouver Island Hydro Bridge Coastal Marmots and they would Fish and Wildlife say “The world cannot let Restoration Program, such a beautiful creature Mount Washington disappear!” Alpine and Ski Resort, BC Wildlife Federation and people like you. Last

A marmot whistling - a sound that can be used to warn other marmots of danger. Photo by Crystal Reid..

Photo by Crystal Reid..



The beautiful marmot reserve. Photo by David Reid.

Crystal Reid, B.Sc. has been captivated by animals from a child. She started volunteering at an early age to help animals. Since then she has worked with animals in the United States and Canada, including cougars, wolves, caribou, various fish species and two species of marmots - Olympic Marmots (Marmota olympus) and Vancouver Island Marmots (Marmota vancouverensis). She has an Honours status in her Post-Baccalaureate/Diploma Certificate in Fish and Wildlife Technology.



HAVE YOU WONDERED WHAT HAPPENS TO THE THINGS YOU PUT OUT FOR RECYCLING? PLASTIC As you know, all recyclable plastic items have a number on them. Depending on that number, plastic can be recycled into: •

Auto parts, paintbrushes, industrial paints.

•

Garbage cans, recycling bins, garden furniture, patio deck; detergent and engine oil bottles;.

•

Fleece for clothing – this is pretty amazing. Plastic is chopped up into flakes, cleaned, dried and melted. The melted plastic is squeezed out into long strands of fibre to be spun into yarn and woven to make fleece material. Twentyfive two-litre drink bottles make one jacket.

•

This fibre can also be used to make felt, carpets, mattresses, blankets, hammocks and insulation for sleeping bags.

Chances are, you’ve worn them, sat on them, eaten from them, or walked on them without even realizing it!

GLASS Glass is 100% recyclable – some uses are: •

Fibreglass for insulation in attics

•

Outdoors: tiles, paving stones, planters.

•

Indoors: dinnerware, pull knobs for drawers, kitchen counter tops.

MAGAZINES AND PAPER •

All kinds of writing paper and envelopes, paper for computers and copiers, loose-leaf filler paper, padded mailers and even handbags!

•

A special board used for door panels and furniture - it has a core of paper covered with a veneer of wood. This material is why some furniture is so light.

NEWSPAPER •

Newsprint, wrapping paper, sheet rock facing.

•

Moulded packaging (egg cartons, take-out food containers).

POP CANS (Aluminum) JUICE BOXES (Tetra-paks) •



Source: Hunter, Tom, Wildlife Review, 1976.Vol. 7, No. 9.BC Dept. of Recreation and Conservation.

The paperboard part of the juice box is used to make paper towels and toilet tissue. The plastic part is used for plastic building materials and broom handles.

Recycling does not damage the metal’s structure so it can be recycled indefinitely and still be used for any product for which new aluminum could be used. • Pop cans aluminum foil wrap, car and boat bodies.



The Tree Nursery Text and Photos by Victoria Rowbottom I’m a member of YNC Salmon Arm and this is the story of a fascinating Explorer Day outing to nearby Skimikin Tree Nursery. Mr. Kusisto, owner of the tree nursery, greets us and leads us through the warm dark interior of a huge building on the property. Passing some machinery, we make our way to the back where big bales of peat moss are stacked. “This is where our trees are started. We grow spruce, Lodgepole Pine, and many others for our clients - different forestry companies and the Ministry of Forests.” Mr. Kusisto explains that when trees are ordered, seeds for those trees must be bought from the area where they are to grow since trees vary in different regions. Pointing to an enormous machine with a belt in the middle along which plant containers move slowly, he says, “This is where everything happens.The whole sequence of planting takes place on this machine. As the containers move along, soil is put into them, and then seeds are planted individually. Further along the line, they move through another planter, are watered slightly so they survive storage, and finally through a machine which adds ‘grit’ to the top to secure the plants inside their cavities and protect against moss.” We meet Nicko, working where the ‘grit’ is added to containers. Smiling, he says, “I see I have an audience!”

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“What happens once the seeds are planted?” someone asks. Waving to the stack of containers Nicko says, “After planting, the containers are stacked in this pile. Every year we check with the BC Tree Seed Centre for the survival rate. If the survival rate is low we plant two or three extra seeds in the containers. If extra seeds need to be added, this is where employees hand-plant them.” Behind us we see stacks upon stacks of white containers where the newly planted seeds await transportation to the greenhouses to germinate. Someone ventures “Tell us about the market for seeds.” Nicko quickly fetches numerous bags of seeds. “There is actually a shortage of seeds due to the Pine Beetle outbreak. Seeds of the Lodgepole Pine, which have been most heavily hit by the beetle, are about $6,500 a kilogram!” Next, we head for the ‘coolers’, on the way talking to other employees, one of whom is carefully sifting dirt out of the seeds. Glad of our jackets, we step into the -2ºC degree interior of the cooler.We see boxes stacked to the roof with different names written on them. “This is where the small trees are kept before transportation. There are 4,000 boxes in here with about 315 trees in each.” Mr. Kusisto says: “Why store them in a cooler? Mostly it is to prevent storage mould. Once stored for a number of months a mould grows on them because of the dampness. This way we do not have to spray the trees to prevent this problem.” “How

long are they kept and how long can they stay without damage?” a Young Naturalist asks. “The trees are stored for five months; they can last for eight, but after such a long time they don’t grow as well.” Tearing open a box Mr. Kusisto reaches in and produces a green, frozen-looking tree about a foot tall. “Here you see the size of a spruce tree,” he says. “Most are much smaller; when we produce one this large we are doing well.”

for these little seedlings, but it is worth it since they will grow large enough to be stored in the cooler until planting season. Trees are a renewable resource. Tree nurseries like these are relied upon by the planters who plant these trees in logged areas up in the mountains; the loggers who go through and log them 50 to 80 years later when the trees are fully mature; the mills which process the logs into lumber; and ultimately the builders who purchase the logs for construction. Many homes are made of wood and we would not have these houses if it were not for tree nurseries which help start the whole process. There is a cycle in everything and this is one. This trip was a wonderful experience for us Young Naturalists; we learned how we all rely on each other and if one works smoothly, another will benefit.

Arriving back in the main building we see that all employees are busily working. At the end of the “grit” machine a lady is bending over the container stacks. Asked “What are you doing?” she looks up and answers “We discovered that we have enough extras so I am planting three extras in each of these cavities.” We remember what Nicko told us of the survival rate and we smile knowingly. “Now for the greenhouses!” says Mr. Kusisto with his faithful ‘nursery dog’, Mia, at heel – as he leads us towards the enormous greenhouses and rolls open the door of one. Inside are rows and rows of tiny plants which make up a seemingly endless carpet of green. “We have 36 greenhouses growing up to 200,000 trees”, he states. “As you can see, above the plants are big machines - these are for misting the plants.” Question: “How do they grow so well?” “They are misted with water containing fertilizer,” says Mr. Kusisto. He adds that the heating is quite expensive

Victoria Rowbottom has been an avid member of the YNC for three years. She says “The YNC outings have all been a learning experience for me and this last one was very informative. I have a passion for writing and photography and I was delighted for the opportunity to write the following article and include several of my photographs.” Victoria thanks all her fellow naturalists for allowing her to photograph them, and especially YNC leaders Monica and Ed Dahl for providing the information she needed.

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Turkey Vulture Another member of nature’s clean-up crew... By Daphne Solecki

So – Turkey Vultures to the rescue! The Latin name Cathartes aura - tells the story. Cathartes means ‘purifier’ or ‘cleanser’.

The recycling and breaking down of once-living material is a very important In southern British Columbia in summer, Turkey Vultures can be seen piece of our living world. riding the wind, their two-toned wings Imagine - if every bird, animal or insect held up in a shallow ‘V’-shape, soaring that died in the wild or every dead leaf gracefully for hours and hours without that fell from a tree just stayed on the flapping their wings.As they fly, they are questing for the aroma ground - we should not be of an animal able to move! that has been dead for a day or two.

A Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura). Photo by Samuel Blanc.

A Turkey Vulture feeding on roadside carrion (dead animal). Photo by Kevin Cole.

When animals die and start to decompose a gas escapes and this is what the Turkey Vulture will pick up. Their sense of smell is so keen they can smell a dead mouse under leaves from 60 metres up in the air (about eight times the height of a house). Turkey Vultures are not birds of prey; in fact they eat some plants but mostly they feed on carrion – birds and other animals that have died from starvation, from being hit by cars and other accidents, and from old age. They also eat washed-up dead fish. Instead of those rotting carcasses lying about, the Turkey Vulture just leaves nice, clean bones. Carcasses, especially large ones like a dead coyote or deer, do tend to be very messy, which is why the Turkey Vulture has no feathers on its head. It often needs to stick its head inside the carcass to get the meat. Feathers would get all stuck up with gooey muck, but the little bits that are left on a bald head will get baked off when the vulture rests in the sun after its meal. At night, Turkey Vultures roost in large community groups, separating as the day warms up to go off and look for food on their own. They usually make their nests on the ground and in caves, but for the past 100 years they have also nested in abandoned farm buildings such as pig sties and barns.

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Turkey Vultures are gentle, nonaggressive birds and have few natural predators. However, if for instance - some creature were to raid its nest, it has a powerful defense – it vomits! The coughedup lump of half-digested meat smells absolutely disgusting and is enough to put off any raider. The vomit also stings if the raider gets some on its face or eyes. After the raider has gone, the Turkey Vulture wastes nothing – it eats up the spit-out food.

Turkey Vultures in flight. Photos by Wing-Chi (above) and Tracey Enright, US Geological Survey (below).

The Turkey Vulture has another very unusual behaviour. It urinates thick white urine on its legs! This serves two important purposes: •

A vulture cannot sweat so wetting the legs helps to cool it off, and;

•

The urine has some powerful acids that kill off any bacteria that may be on the legs after the Turkey Vulture has been stepping in its food.

When September comes the Turkey Vultures get set to go back south for the winter. On the mainland, they can just head on down, but on Vancouver Island they have to go across the Strait. So they wait, sometimes for weeks, until the winds are right for crossing. Here you may see many hundreds of Turkey Vultures in the air at once, soaring in flocks called ‘kettles’, trying to gain enough height to carry them as far across as possible without having to flap their wings. We wave them goodbye with thanks for another summer cleaning up BC.

Turkey Vultures grooming their feathers. Photos by Sally King, US National Parks Service.

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It does seem strange that a woodpecker like the flicker would peck at metal rather than wood - after all it’s not a ‘metalpecker’! And many people know that the hammering sound travels very long distances indeed, and can be very loud. This is especially true if the woodpecker is doing it on the roof top above your bedroom at four in the morning! But why do they do it? Think about the time of year when this happens. It’s spring (the breeding season). This is an excellent way of declaring your territory and of attracting a mate. Of course woodpeckers use other surfaces to drum as well, including trees that make good sounding boards, metal mail boxes and the flashing around chimney and roof tops.

Books say that fireflies live all over the world.They were common in Julie’s urban childhood in Montreal. We have never seen any in Vancouver. Why? -Julie and Malka (age 7) Entomologists tell us that the Firefly Family is very large with more than 2,000 known in species world-wide. Fireflies, or ‘lightening bugs’ are neither flies nor bugs, but are in the Beetle Order. They are famous for their ability to produce light by a process called bioluminescence.

The good news is that you Fireflies from the Genus can find fireflies in southern Ellychnia don’t produce light BC. Around Vancouver, the and are are active during the commonly seen firefly is day. Photos by Anthea Farr. black with red or orange ‘C-shaped’ marks behind the head (pronotum). It has been called the Pacific Northwest Firefly (Ellychnia sp.) or Black Lampyrid. The sad news is that neither the adult nor larvae glows - (Peter Haggard and Judy ature If you have a n Haggard Insects of the Pacific Northwest, or question, email page 71). write to Al at: ail.com yncnaturewild@hotm On a recent r Road 1620 Mount Seymou V7G 2R9 Nicomekl YNC field North Vancouver, BC trip in May to Derby Reach Regional Park (near Fort Langley in Woodpeckers the Fraser Valley), a number like this of these fireflies were Northern discovered in the forest leaf Flicker love to peck at metal litter.

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poles If you see one, listen for the drumming sound. Photo by Jude Grass.

From my search of the internet and insect field there is much to be learned about our local fireflies.

Great Bear Rainforest

Brian Fisher was a member of the Young Naturalists’ Club of Northern Vancouver Island and, although he moved to Penticton, he has very much kept the ocean near to his heart. He is sharing what he learned about chemicals ending up in the ocean as far and wide as he can, always with the message of “what you can do to make a difference”.

Pond Poke

For two years he has entered local science fairs to share what he knows about bioaccumulation in British Columbia’s killer whales. This year his purpose was: “To create awareness about how the use of daily household products are directly affecting our oceans and all of its inhabitants, specifically the population of the Southern Resident Orca.” He won the Silver Medal for the Grade 7/8 level in the Central Okanagan Regional Science Fair as well as cash prizes from the local BC Nature Club and Chevron Canada.

CetaceanCryptogram

Why do woodpeckers peck on street lamps? Recently we’ve seen many working very hard on top of the lamps of Point Grey (in Vancouver). Why do they waste their effort on metal? -Julie and Malka (age 7)

Next issue...

W r e I D u t a N NEWS

sei blue minke humpback harbour pacific white-sided

ASK AL

Al Grass has worked as a career park naturalist and ranger throughout BC. Now he is a well-known nature tour leader and photographer. Al especially likes birds, insects and spiders.

L

Have a Nature Question?

Photo by Robyn Fisher.

Have any comments or questions? Email the YNC at [email protected]

Congratulations Brian!

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Weather-word Weather in summer isn’t all just sunny days! Find out more about summer weather by completing this wordsearch: BREEZE CLOUDS DEW DRIZZLE DROUGHT FROST HAIL HAZE HEAT HUMIDITY LIGHTNING MICROBURST RAIN RAINBOW SMOG SUNSHINE THUNDER WIND

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