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Have you ever thought of exploring our planet with ‘different eyes’ – a new world just on your doorstep? Astronauts looking back at our Earth from space have spoken about how it completely changes their view of our planet - blown away by its beauty and its fragility. John Glenn was one of the first people to see our planet from space and said one of the most powerful qualities in an astronaut is … curiosity. This holiday you are challenged to head out into the park or your garden and explore a tiny patch of nature, somewhere you’ve walked past a thousand times before, and see it with different eyes … where will your curiosity take you???
The warm, lichened panels of your garden fence? The crumbling bark and outstretched roots of a tree? A sunny patch of lawn? The cracks in a paving stone? Or maybe what lurks beneath an old stone or lump of deadwood? Use all your senses. What can you see? How many different textures can you find – bumpy, mossy, slimy, smooth? Close your eyes – what does it smell like? What sounds can you hear? Maybe you could take some photographs through ‘different eyes’ – an ant’s-eye view? A bird’s-eye view? How many insects or plants can you identify? Click here for a WWF activity sheet for some other ideas to spark your curiosity.
Looking at our planet ‘Earth’ from space – can sometimes be really helpful. Would you like to become a ‘walrus detective’? WWF is asking for ordinary people – like you and I – to look with different eyes at our planet from space. Take part in this ‘public science’ project and spend as little as 30 minutes searching for walrus in thousands of satellite images taken from space. Walrus live in the Arctic and are under threat from climate change. Being part of this survey can help scientists to understand how walrus are changing their behaviours, and how we can support them.
Looking with ‘different eyes’ via images collected from satellite sensors, is increasingly being used to help us in our mission to protect nature. For the first time in the UK, recent research based on satellite imagery has been used to show the remarkable impact of rewilding efforts and subsequent ecosystem recovery. This video gives a short introduction to this inspiring Knepp rewilding project.
How does looking at our natural world from space compare to your ant’s eye view? When you have explored your tiny patch of nature using all your senses, don’t forget to HIT THE RED BUTTON!
