With the inspiring assistance of Aaron Maxwell, a recent graduate of York University with a passion for astronomy, the YSTOP students spent two evenings viewing the night sky.

In the rural environment of the King Campus, they braved very cold weather to take turns looking through the telescope, and also used a sky chart to locate constellations. Following on their afternoon experience of learning to find their way with a compass, they were intrigued to find the north star that can help them find their way after dark. They also discussed the effect of light pollution on being able to view the sky.

In the urban environment of the York campus, they attended the Wednesday public viewing session at the York observatory, and were amazed to see the rings of Saturn, which one student pointed out that he’d only ever seen before on TV.

Mist nets were not new to the YSTOP students. They had helped Brian Hickey set them up at dusk at on their first night at the King Campus to try to catch bats, though despite their patience no bats flew in.  But this time, with the mist nets set up as part of a session with Dr. Bridget Stutchbury in the woods behind their York classroom, their patience was rewarded with the capture of a chickadee. The students were delighted to have a chance to hold the bird in their hand, before it was released. Urban and rural students marvelled at the tiny, resilient creature, with a growing respect for the complexity of the environment we share with them.

Bridget also shared information about the Birds in the City project, and explained the technologies that are used in tracking and identifying individual birds to understand their migratory and reproductive behaviours. It was another example for them of how field work is connected to laboratory studies.

On the final evening of the YSTOP program, students were asked to identify environmental issues they had learned about during the week, and then, in groups, to write about an issue of their choice. The following is what one group wrote about what they had learned about invasive species. They had learned was about invasive species in a session with York grad students Corinne Sperling and Margot Sloan, which included a scavenger hunt to locate invasive species on the York campus.

Ever wonder how dandelions started growing in our country? Well, a dandelion is an example of an invasive species, meaning Canada is not its native country. It could have been brought over by boat, car, plane, etc. There are many examples of invasive species in Canada, including Norway Maple, Norway Spruce, common teasel, Japanese knotweed, dog-strangling vine, white clover, white poplar, lilacs, ivy, common tansy and the garlic mustard plant. Oh, and that grass you see all over Canada?

The students in the YSTOP program spent a day exploring the urban environment, travelling from York University Keele Campus, where they were staying, to Kensington Market via TTC, then south on foot to Queen Street and then back on the subway with a stop at Yorkdale for a late lunch.  When we were at Kensington market we discussed the study done by the York Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry in conjunction with Streets are for People on the effect of pedestrian Sundays on air quality. Yorkdale was one of the first enclosed shopping centres in Toronto, and is interesting for the impact that such malls have on the environment, relying on air conditioning and travel by cars.

For some of the rural students the trip gave them their first ride on a subway, and for many, even those who live in the city, it was their first ride on a streetcar. Included in this post are some images and some writing that the students generated from their trip.