Raccoon

• This year, organizers of Earth Day are calling for widespread climate education as a critical step in the fight against climate change.
• A new report, released in time for global attention for Earth Day on April 22, highlights the impact of climate education on promoting behaviour change in the next generation.

How knowledge becomes ingrained

• Teachers have become increasingly concerned about best practices for supporting their charges as young people express anxiety about environmental futures.
• Similarly, Finnish researchers use biking as an analogy to describe the process by which knowledge becomes ingrained in people’s memory.
• The bike model advocates ways of learning that consider knowledge, identity, emotions and world views.
• More than half of the survey respondents were from Ontario (25 per cent) and Québec (29 per cent).

Challenges with climate education

• However, inclusion of climate education in formal school curricula has come with its own set of challenges.
• Educators in Ontario reported a lack of classroom resources as a barrier when integrating climate change education within the curriculum.
• The United Nations has declared climate education “a critical agent in addressing the issue of climate change” as climate education increases across different settings and for various age groups.

Educators finding ways

• More and more educators are taking steps to find ways to teach climate education in schools.
• As an instructor for several undergraduate-level courses, Olsen focuses on equipping budding educators with the skills and knowledge to incorporate climate education in their classrooms.

All aspects of curricula

• Embedding climate education into all aspects of curricula can take a variety of approaches in and outside of the classroom.
• Environmental education has been packaged in different forms, including broadening school curricula with inclusion in science, but also subjects including English, math and art.

Preety Sharma is a public health and development consultant. As a freelance journalist, she covers climate change, public health and nutrition. Ayeshah Haque is a Clinical Content Specialist at the Association for Ontario Midwives.

• LAKE WORTH, Fla., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pink Flamingo Stables in Lake Worth, FL, is thrilled to announce the expansion of their offerings with dressage-based lessons and trail riding.
• In addition to dressage lessons, Pink Flamingo Stables is delighted to offer guided trail riding experiences through nearby picturesque farms and tree farms.
• Whether individuals are interested in dressage lessons or trail riding, Pink Flamingo Stables offers a safe and supportive environment where riders can pursue their passion for horses.
• For more information about Pink Flamingo Stables and their expanded offerings, please visit https://www.pinkflamingostables.com/ .

• That’s why signs reminding pet owners to “curb your dog” and scoop their poop have been joined in some places by posted warnings that pet waste can spread disease.
• As a small-animal primary care veterinarian, I deal with the diseases of dog and cat poop on a daily basis.
• While human diseases caused by soil-transmitted parasites are considered uncommon in the U.S., they infect as many as an estimated billion people worldwide.

Abandoned poop’s impact on people

• Their microscopic larvae can get into your body through small scratches in your skin after contact with contaminated soil or via accidental oral ingestion.
• Once in the human body, both hookworm and roundworm larvae can mature and migrate through the bloodstream into the lungs.
• Hookworms can create a severely itchy condition called cutaneous larva migrans as the larval worm moves just under the skin of its host.

Once the parasite’s life cycle is complete, it may exit the host’s body as an intact adult worm, which looks like a small piece of cooked spaghetti.

The impact on other animals

• In addition to risks of hookworms and roundworms, pets are also vulnerable to whipworm, giardia and coccidia.
• Beyond parasites, unattended poop may also be contaminated with canine or feline viruses, such as parvovirus, distemper virus and canine coronavirus, that can create life-threatening disease in other dogs and cats, especially in adult animals that are unvaccinated and puppies and kittens.
• Coyotes, wolves, foxes, raccoons, minks and bobcats are at risk of contracting parvovirus, coronavirus and distemper.

Responsible pet poop management

• It’s safest to use a shovel to place the poop directly into a plastic bag, or put a baggie over your hand to grab the poop and then pull the plastic bag over it.
• While it’s tempting to leave the “soft-serve” or watery poops behind, these are often the more likely culprits for spreading diseases.
• Other potential sources of poop – and parasite – exposure are the sandbox, beaches and park sand found under and around playgrounds.

Julia Wuerz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• It’s a new year, but the same pests are here for winter.
• As temperatures drop, pests like spiders , rodents and insects seek refuge indoors within the cozy confines of our homes, putting property and health at risk.
• Thus, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) urges homeowners to take preventative measures to stay protected against the threats posed by winter pests.
• Clean up leaves and other debris around the foundation of buildings to discourage pests from congregating close to the building.