Joseph Cornell - Sharing Nature®: Nature Awareness Activities for All Ages

Joseph Cornell is an internationally renowned author and founder of Sharing Nature Worldwide, one of the planets most widely respected nature awareness programs. His first book, Sharing Nature with Children, sparked a worldwide revolution in nature education and has been published in twenty languages and sold half a million copies. He is the honorary president of Sharing Nature Association of Japan, which has 10,000 members and 35,000 trained leaders.

He the author of the Sharing Nature Book Series, used by millions of parents, educators, naturalists, and youth and religious leaders all over the world. Mr. Cornells books, Listening to Nature and The Sky and Earth Touched Me, have inspired thousands of adults to deepen their relationship with nature.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service selected Mr. Cornells Sharing Nature with Children as one of the fifteen most influential books published since 1890 for connecting children and families to nature. His highly effective outdoor learning strategy, Flow Learning, was featured by the U.S. National Park Service as one of five recommended learning theories, along with the works of Maria Montessori, Howard Gardner, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget.

Mr. Cornell has received many international awards for his Sharing Nature books and work. He received the prestigious Countess Sonja-Bernadotte Prize in Germany for his vast influence on environmental education in Central Europe. In 2011 Cornell was selected as one of the worlds 100 most influential opinion leaders committed to the Environment by the French organization, Les Anges Gardiens de la Plante.

Known for his warmth and joyful enthusiasm, Cornell has a genius for finding the essence of a subject, explaining it in clear and compelling ways, and then giving the reader creative exercises to gain an actual experience.

Joseph and his wife, Anandi, are senior ministers and residents of Ananda Village, in Northern California.

For more information about Joseph Cornells books and activities visit: www.jcornell.org

I am grateful to Richard Louv, co-founder of the Children & Nature Network, for his outstanding work in promoting children in nature and for his thoughtful foreword and support. Thanks also to my friend of many years, Cheryl Charles, past president and co-founder of C&NN. Their efforts to connect children and families with nature have inspired and impacted countless lives in North America and abroad.

I would like to offer heartfelt thanks and deep appreciation to Anandi, my wife, who, since we met, has played an instrumental role in every book Ive written. Anandis clarity, editorial skill, and understanding of my work have been a Godsend.

Both Anandi and my colleague, Greg Traymar, read the manuscript numerous times and made many valuable suggestions. I so appreciate the creativity, deep understanding, and initiative Greg brings to the Sharing Nature work. Thanks to Alan Heubert and Susan Sanford for their helpful suggestions, and to Nicole Smith, who wrote the Animal Clues in Appendix D.

I would like also to express heartfelt appreciation to Jim Van Cleave, and Richard Salva of Crystal Clarity Publishers, for their editorial expertise and devotion to this project, and to Skip Barrett, my publisher and friend, for his vision and support.

Animal Clue Game

Animal Clue Relay

Animal Parts

Animals, Animals!

Back Home

Bat and Moth

Bird Calling

The Birds of the Air

Blind Trail

Blind Walk

Build a Tree

Camera

Camouflage Trail

Caterpillar Walk

Colors

Duplication

Folding Poem

Getting Acquainted

Guess and Run!

Guided Imagery

How Close?

I Am Curious About

I Can See

Interview with Nature

Journey to the Heartof Nature

A Letter to Myself

Meet a Tree

Micro-Hike

Mystery Animal

Natural Processes

Nature Reflections

Noahs Ark

Noses

Observe Nature likeJohn Muir

Owl and Crows

Predator-Prey

Pyramid of Life

Recipe for a Forest

Silent Sharing Walk

Sled Dogs

Sleeping Miser

Sound Map

Sounds

Special Moments

Storytelling to ShareInspiration

Sunset Watch

Tree Imagery

Vertical Poem

Watcher of the Road

Wild Animal Scramble

With Beauty Before Me

Noses Wild Animal Scramble Animal Parts Guess and Run! Version II Sounds Colors Sound Map Camouflage Trail Micro-Hike Duplication Interview with Nature Camera Bird Calling Mystery Animal Meet a Tree The Birds of the Air

Noses Wild Animal Scramble Build a Tree Natural Processes Owl and Crows Bat and Moth Predator-Prey Pyramid of Life Animal Clue Game Mystery Animal Sunset Watch Tree Imagery

Getting Acquainted Noses Wild Animal Scramble Build a Tree Natural Processes Bat and Moth Predator-Prey Pyramid of Life Sled Dogs Animal Parts Animal Clue Game Noahs Ark Animals, Animals! Mystery Animal Vertical Poem Tree Imagery Special Moments Folding Poem Recipe for a Forest A Letter to Myself Storytelling to Share Inspiration The Birds of the Air

Getting Acquainted Sled Dogs I Am Curious About How Close? Tree Imagery Nature Reflections Folding Poem With Beauty before Me A Letter to Myself

THE BIRDS OF THE AIR words by Joseph Cornell music by Michael Starner-Simpson

I prefer to eat insects but also eat sap, fruit, nuts, and berries.

Unlike most of my kind, I dont sing.

My average body temperature is 105F.

I have four toes: the first and fourth face backward and the second and third face forward.

I have two long feathers, which provide balance when I fly or perch.

I can peck up to 20 times a second.

I use my strong bill to chisel wood. My long sticky tongue allows me to get my food deep inside the hole Ive made in a tree.

I am a true omnivore. I eat rodents, rabbits, insects, fruit, and eggs.

Males, females, and older offspring of my kind care for the young. Typically we live in a small family group.

A surprising number of my kind live in cities.

I dig a den for use during the winter. This den may be used over a number of generations.

I am cunning.

Our females are called vixens.

I have a very bushy tail, which can be red. I am a member of the dog family.

I have a heart, lungs, and kidneys just like you.

I dont have a bladderso, when I have to go, I have to go right now!