Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Could spending more time in nature help kids with attention-deficit hyperactive disorder?

The research so far suggests that there’s a relationship between contact with nature or playing in green space and improvements in attentional functioning.

Dr. Andrea Faber Taylor researches child environment and behavior at the University of Illinois, http://www.lhhl.uiuc.edu/about.htm. In a recent study, she had children with ADHD take guided, 20-minute walks in a downtown area, a neighborhood, and a city park; then afterward, tested their ability to concentrate.

What we found was that after the children walked in the park they generally scored higher on the measure of attention. And surprisingly, the neighborhood and the downtown area were not significantly different in scores. That said to us, there’s something about the park- either the greenness of it, the amount of trees and plants that it has or the lack of buildings, or both- that makes it perhaps, more restorative, than the other two settings.

These findings match other research as well, which suggest that it’s the setting, not just the activity, that is important.

Based on our work and the work of others, we feel very confident that children benefit from contact with nature or even just what we call green space, a small pocket of trees and grass. Certainly, we’re not suggesting that it’s going to cure a child from ADHD, but it appears to, at least, temporarily reduce their symptoms.

Learn more about this research at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Sarah Loden…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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News Release:
A Potential Natural Treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Evidence From a National Study: http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/94/9/1580

Nature and Child Development, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

We have something in common with early Texans.

Christmas, and the month of December—in large part—was the time when Texans gathered.

Cynthia Brandimarte is program director for Texas historic sites. Unlike today when a short trip by car or plane gets us to our holiday destinations, travel was difficult for early Texans.

And so when you traveled, you tended to stay. People had time at Christmas to do that—to travel and spend weeks.

Which makes the few days that most of us get off at Christmas seem like a rip off. Early Texans made good use of this block of time.

It was then that they celebrated not only Christmas, but other special events, and planned weddings for the month of December.

Since Texas was mostly rural in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, and there wasn’t a lot of farming that could happen in December…

It almost gave 19th Century and early 20th Century rural Texans an excuse not to work. And thus to play a bit more, and socialize a bit more, than they had time to do during many other months of the year.

How will you spend your Holiday? Tell us at passporttotexas.org.

From all of us at Passport to Texas, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Texas Traditions: Time off at Holidays Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The custom of decorating trees for Christmas took root in German villages during the sixteenth century.

A lot of Germans, as you know, settled Texas. And they brought a tradition with them of the tabletop Christmas tree.

Cynthia Brandimarte is program director for Texas historic sites.

When you look at interior photographs of Texas houses, you see many tabletop Christmas trees ornamented for the season, particularly in German households in the late nineteenth century Texas.

Ornaments were handmade then, and small gifts often dangled from branches. Eventually, the tabletop conifer gave way to larger trees that became “floor models,” and the decorations sometimes mirrored the day’s events.

You saw more and more seven or eight feet trees that were placed on the floor. And because we had just ended the Spanish American war in victory, there was a fashion in the early part of the twentieth century to decorate trees with a few American flags here and there. We have photographic evidence for that.

What kinds of ornaments will hang from your tree this year? Tell us about them at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… we record our series at the Production Block studios in Austin, Texas, and For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Brief History of Christmas Tree in Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Crawfish, crayfish, or crawdad to you…Procambarus clarki is actually just one of its kind.

If I say, “How many crawfish species from Texas can you name?” Most of the people only know one; and that’s the eating kind.

Despite its popularity at the boil, very little research on crawfish has existed…until now…Nathan Johnson is the enthusiast, activist, and coauthor behind a new field guide to Texas crawdads.

There’s about 40 species of crayfish in our state. Prairie Crawfish have never been described in literature outside of Collin County, TX. and wasn’t even discovered until, uh, the 90s when it was trapped in snake traps. They were doing a study of reptiles out in the prairie and these crawfish showed up, and they were like, “amazing!”

Raising awareness about the various species living in Texas, such as the Prairie Crawfish, and the unique niche they fill in our ecosystems; Johnson hopes that people will take more care to conserve them.

If you don’t know it exists, how do you know to be concerned? This book is a resource towards understanding crayfish, what habitats we might want to be concerned about, and which species we need to pay attention to because they’re so specialized or restricted in their range.

Learn more about Texas crawdads at passporttotexas.org

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Sarah Loden… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Texas Crawdads
http://www.texascrawdads.com

Crawfish: Beyond Jambalaya Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Always an Expo favorite, The Birds of Prey show brings in live eagles, owls, hawks, and other raptors for a spectacle of sight and sound.

[owl call] There was a variety of sounds like the way the owls call during the mating season, and sometimes there are two birds. I think my favorite, of course, is the hawks. The hawks are the most beautiful.

[hawk screech]

Laurie Petty is a sign language interpreter for Parks and Wildlife. Those with hearing impairments rely on her use of ASL gestures [American Sign Language] and finger flutterings to relate to the distinctive vocalizations the birds make.

Some of it is finger spelling, like the hoot owl. You just do the “hoot.” And then, of course, the screech owl, it sounds like an, “Eeee!” you know. So you actually make that “Eee” sound or scream sound, with a way a person would scream. And so that’s how you’re able to do it.

Of course, sound is an experience that cannot be directly expressed or translated into words, but her physical movements offer viewers a semblance of the sound that can be understood visually.

It is a very difficult thing to sign sounds that are coming from a bird. But I try to move my fingers the best I can to where people can get a visual on what is happening at that moment, and on what is being heard; so they know there is a noise coming from the animal.

More about birds of prey and their calls is on our website: passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Sarah Loden… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Cornell Lab of Ornithology [learn about birds and listen to their calls]
http://birds.cornell.edu/

Learn American Sign Language:
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm,

Interpreting Bird Calls for the Hearing Impaired Play Now | Play in Popup | Download