Ecology Blueprints

A winter field may look silent, but just beneath the snow lies the bustling subnivean world—a hidden network of tunnels where voles and mice stay warm, and where owls use extraordinary hearing and silent flight to hunt prey they can’t even see.

What if a polar bear woke up somewhere warm for winter? Explore what breaks first when an Arctic specialist faces the wrong season — and why it matters.

Not all animals sleep through winter! Explore what true hibernation is and why owls stay awake, hunting smart, and thriving in the snow. .

A winter look into how wolves travel, hunt, and communicate as family packs—turning December snow into a survival advantage and a story worth sharing.

As December and Christmas arrive, many North American bears are already tucked away in dens. Explore how black bears, grizzlies, and polar bears handle winter, what “hibernation” really means, and how to turn bear biology into cozy, high-impact classroom lessons.

As the days get shorter and the nights grow longer, owls step into the spotlight. Explore how owls survive winter, what species you might see (or hear!) in December, and simple Christmas-season activities to bring these nighttime neighbors into your classroom or home.

From pumpkin pie to mashed potatoes, Thanksgiving dinner starts in fields and barns that owls quietly patrol at night. Explore how classic American Thanksgiving recipes connect to owl habitats, how farm chemicals can affect them, and how to turn your holiday feast into a powerful nature and food-web lesson for students.

A playful, myth-busting look at what a black bear’s real “Thanksgiving feast” looks like, and why fall is the most critical season for survival in the wild.

An inside look at the black bear’s most critical season, when survival depends on nonstop feeding, expanding territories, and a delicate balance between forest ecosystems and human behavior.

Barn Owls offer their own silent version of Thanksgiving, gliding over harvested fields and keeping ecosystems in balance. This lesson in gratitude invites students to explore how every creature — seen and unseen — plays a vital role in the food web.

Explore how bats and owls support healthy ecosystems through pest control, pollination, and seed dispersal—plus the challenges they face and classroom activities to bring nighttime ecology to life.

Discover how Barn Owls build their homes in a changing landscape — and how human-made nest boxes restore the harmony between nature and farming.