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Hello *|MMERGE5|*,
Summer has come and gone, and it’s back to school already! How does it feel to be back to school, a grade higher? Did you do something adventurous and interesting this summer or did you relax, and feast on yummy mangoes?
As you know, World Environment Day was celebrated on 5th June, 2014. It was on this day in the year 1972 that the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was formed. First celebrated in 1973, World Environment Day is a way of tackling environmental challenges that include climate change, global warming, disasters and conflicts, harmful substances, environmental governance, ecosystem management, and resource efficiency. Each year, World Environment Day is hosted in a different city with a different theme for one week that kicks off on June fifth.
World Environment Day has received tremendous support from the public, non-profit organizations, and governments around the world. Various awareness campaigns like beach clean-ups, concerts, exhibitions, film festivals, community events and much more, are organized to spread the message. The message is to improve the quality of life of all living beings on this planet without harming nature. All the activities of World Environment Day are carried out to spread eco-awareness, and increase green footprint. So as responsible citizens, what activities did you engage in to celebrate this day? Do share your activities of that day with us by writing to sw@seasonwatch.in.
SeasonWatch is a way of celebrating the trees we love throughout the year! We visit our trees weekly, admire them, and note what they are doing. If you enjoy participating in SeasonWatch, please do encourage your friends to do so too!
Ashish Shah and the rest of Team SeasonWatch
Web: www.seasonwatch.in
Email: sw@seasonwatch.in
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Featured Tree of the Month
Mango Tree (Magnifera indica)
(Photo - Shahnoor Habib Munmun)
Since the season of feasting on yummy mangoes is just behind us, it’s only apt to give the tree some credit. Mangifera indica or the mango tree is an evergreen tree which can reach up to 15-30 meters (45-90 feet) in height. The largest mango tree, grown in the village of Burail in Chandigarh, covers an area of 2,260 square meters. These trees can live for hundreds of years and continue to produce fruit even at 300 years.
We are sure you’ve had your fair share of mangoes this summer. What benefits does this delicious fruit have to offer us? Well, here are a few of the many good things mangoes do for us, apart from being delicious, of course.
Ripe mango fruit is considered to be invigorating, refreshing and contain high levels of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. The juice is a restorative tonic and used to provide relief from heat strokes. The seeds are used in the treatment of asthma and as astringent. Fumes from burning mango leaves are inhaled for relief from hiccups and afflictions of the throat.
So, the next time you snack on a mango, you'll be feeding your body the nutrients it deserves.
Now that we've established that the mango is truly the king of fruits, let’s get into some details about the magnificent tree which produces this fruit. The leaves of the tree are simple, alternately arranged, long and narrow and leathery in texture. They are pinkish, amber, or pale green coloured when young and become dark green at maturity.
(Photo - Navendu Page)
Have you ever seen flowers on a mango tree? The flowers are small and white with five petals and have a mild, sweet odour. The tree produces these flowers to attract pollinators.
This allows the insects to carry pollen from tree to tree thus fertilising the tree and allowing for reproduction to occur.
So where do Mangoes grow? They are grown throughout the tropics, from India to Africa, South-East Asia, Australia, as well as the Caribbean. In India, the history of the fruit goes back over 6,000 years. As long ago as the 16th century, mangoes had been distributed
via cultivation throughout the Indian subcontinent, and eventually to all tropical regions of the world.
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Stories from the SeasonWatch team
To get to the Vivekananda School of Excellence from Bangalore, I had to take a train to Mysore, from there a bus to HD Kote where a car was waiting to bring me to the School. While not far from Bangalore, the journey seemed long. But, it truly was worth the trip!
The kids of the 7th and 8th standard were all ready and waiting for me. While talking to them about SeasonWatch, I was impressed by how much they already knew. They told me all about living on the farm; growing mangoes and peanuts and what not. Their questions were inspired by what they had observed on the farm.
We had the best time walking around the School’s gorgeous campus. We learnt how to monitor the trees. We looked for flowers of the Banyan (Ficus religiosa) tree and found only fruit! How’s that, we wondered. Then we looked into the fruit and found flowers. Flowers in hiding! What!?!
We were excited to find the Indian Coral tree (Erythrina variegate) in bloom.
All in all, a grand time was had.
Until soon!
Vani
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Stories From The SeasonWatch team
As somebody who is part of the Season Watch program, do you think that SeasonWatch requires some sort of physical activity? About 50 physical education teachers that are joining the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti family, wondered what physical education had to do with Season Watch. So it was time I visited the Institute and resolve the doubts in these teachers’ minds.
On my visit to the Institute on 17th of June, I explained how SeasonWatch was linked to various physical activities and how these teachers and their students can get involved with Citizen Science. Once the teachers made a connection, they started reminiscing about their personal experiences and shared their own stories about how trees around them were displaying strange flowering, leafing and fruiting patterns.
They promised that they will observe at least one tree on their campus. They also took up our offer to hold similar workshops on their campus for students and teachers, if they could invite few other schools also. If all goes well, our SeasonWatch family will increase soon!
In the beginning I spoke about the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti family. You’ll must be wondering what this is. Basically the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme is a scheme to establish schools specifically for rural children. Through this scheme teachers are continuously provided institutional support to increase their professional ability and to make them aware of the latest innovations in the fields of education, curricular reforms and information technology.
Regards,
Ashish
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Did you know that Trees ‘Talk’ to Each Other?
Did you know that certain types of trees warn each other when they are under attack by insects?
Researchers have found that trees infested with insects produce an excess of certain kinds of chemicals in their leaves. These chemicals not only reduce the nutritional value of the leaves for the insects, but also warn neighbouring trees. Following the warning, nearby trees will begin to produce the same chemicals, defending themselves from a similar attack.
Wow, Communicating without actually speaking, isn’t that cool?
News and Events
Are you up for a challenge? Here's your chance to put your nature quotient to the test. Saevus and YES Bank, supported by the Central Board of Secondary Education, presents the Nature Capital Olympiad.
The Olympiad is about science, geography, general knowledge, mental ability and a whole lot of green fun and challenge. If you are interested or know of anyone between class 3 to 10 and wish for them to participate in this olympiad, get them to register their school now! To find out more, visit www.naturalcapitalolympiad.com.
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Recap June & July, 2014
A hearty welcome to new SeasonWatchers from June and July!
New friends
Individual: Amrutha, Dinesh Kumar, Prapulla. K
School: GHS, Heggottara, JNV (Paschim), Medinipur, Golden Bead Montessori School, Rampally ZPHS. Pallimon GHSS
Most Reported Trees: Mango (Mangifera indica), Jamun (Syzygium cumini), Gulmohur (Delonix regia), Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), True Ashoka (Saraca asoca)
Total number of Observations in June & July: 963
Total trees observed in June & July: 187
Total observations in the SW database as of July: 51596
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