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 by Heather Montgomery, Fandangle Magazine, April 2007
Have you ever watched a dragonfly swoop down to catch a mosquito on the wing? Like a dragon, it is speedy, ferocious and powerful. But it is in water that dragonflies have a magic all their own.
You won’t find an adult dragonfly in water. But if you watch closely, you may see a female swoop over a pond to lay her eggs. A young dragonfly is born from one of those eggs. It becomes a nymph, a teenage dragonfly, and looks like a tiny monster lurking at the bottom of the pond.
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 From a publication by Adam Downing
Everyone knows that trees clean the air. But do you know how they do it? Here is a fun and easy way to remember how trees affect our air. Just remember: T-R-E-E.
"T" is for Temperature.
Who hasn't sought the cool air under a shade tree or enjoyed the coolness of a walk in the woods? Transpiration from trees (that is the process of moisture evaporating, primarily from leaves) and the canopies themselves work together to reduce mid-day air temperature.
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By Janice Barrett, Wild South Outreach Coordinator
What do flowers, honey, and stuffy noses have in common? Well…they all involve pollen.
What is pollen? Have you ever noticed the yellow “dust” that covers our houses, our cars, or lakes and ponds in the spring? That yellow “dust” is pollen and this time of year we see it everywhere.
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By Janice Barrett, Wild South Outreach Coordinator
You may have noticed that we have had a lot of very cold weather this winter, even here in the sunny south. You have probably worn your coat most days this winter when you go outside. Maybe even your long underwear and gloves and a hat. We dress according to the weather.
If you poke your head out the door on a clear, hot July morning you’ll know that shorts and a t-shirt will do the stylin’ trick for the day. If you look out the window and rain is pouring down on a chilly fall morning, you’ll need a raincoat for the dash to the school bus. If the snow between you and the woodpile is five feet deep, you will definitely need to strap on those snowshoes.
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 Why Leaves Change Color in the Fall
We all enjoy the beautiful show of colors as leaves change each autumn. With over 130 different kinds of trees in the Southern Appalachians there are an endless numbers of color combinations to be seen. Did you ever wonder how and why this happens? To answer that question, we first have to understand what leaves are and what they do.
Leaves are nature’s food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis. That means “putting together with light.” A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.
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Nature Rangers
