Step Outside had its origin in 2008 when staff from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Biodiversity Section began to chronicle interesting nature events in the form of short newsletters for the benefit of teachers and students. The newsletters were packaged as nature guides and circulated two or three times each month via email to interested teachers. Based on the very positive feedback from subscribers and a belief that promoting nature through local experience would be of value to a wider audience, LSF and MNR joined forces in an effort to publicize and distribute the Nature Guides more broadly.

Today this collection of newsletters highlighting interesting happenings in nature as they occur throughout the year is known as "Step Outside". Available on the R4R website, Step Outside draws attention to exciting opportunities to learn about the environment that exist in right in the school yards and communities that surround them.

Nature Guides will be made available two or three times each month and will often be linked to resources from the R4R database in an effort to support or extend the learning. These linked resources can be found in the Top R4R Picks box in the guides, and are labelled elementary, middle or secondary school. When the R4R resource is linked directly to one of the happenings discussed in the Nature Guide, an owl icon appears at the end of the paragraph, which will take you directly to the picked resource. Both guides and related resources can be immediately downloaded from the R4R website for use in the classroom.

With a shared belief in the importance of environmental education and a common understanding of the pedagogical practices most effective in its delivery, both LSF and MNR are pleased to provide Step Outside for the benefit of Ontario teachers and their students.

Disclaimer

Step Outside is largely written for the Kawarthas region, and as such the happenings the guides describe may not apply to your area, or may occur at different times. Regions further south can expect events to occur sooner in the spring and later in the fall, while northern regions are the opposite. Similarly, not all species may be present in your area. Check your local vegetation zone to determine how different your area may be from the Kawarthas, which are in Zone 4.

Acknowledgements

LSF would like to acknowledge the efforts of the staff of the Biodiversity Section at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources for creating the Step Outside Nature Guides. We would also like to acknowledge the work of Drew Monkman in his book, Nature's Year in the Kawarthas.  This book has provided much of the context and structure for our monthly calendars.  If you wish to go into the annual workings of nature in Southcentral Ontario in more depth than we can provide, we highly recommend Drew's book.