November 9, 2021 – As we enter the month of November, actively transporting yourself to school or work may seem like more of a challenge. The weather is cooler and wetter — and snow is on its way!
But now is still a great time to bike or walk to school. With the days getting shorter and the mornings darker, it becomes harder to find time to get outdoors. Making your journey to school active can give you 30 minutes or more of fresh air, daylight, and that daily physical activity we all need!
Of course, we’ll need to make some changes to suit the season. Follow these tips to stay comfortable and safe on your journeys:
- Dress warmly: add layers, hats, and gloves to keep you cozy. Don’t forget, though, that as you move you will get warmer!
- If it’s dark when you leave the house or school, consider wearing reflective clothing: wrist bands or reflective vests are easy to find in the store.
- Biking? Add lights to your bike and check that your reflectors are clean and facing the right direction. If you’re going to continue riding when it’s really cold, you can deflate your tires a little to allow you to grip the road better in the cold temperatures. But watch out for ice! It may be better to walk or take the bus if it’s really slippery.
- Walk or ride with a buddy! If there’s more than one of you, drivers will see you more easily.
Making a few simple changes like these will allow you to keep your journeys active — we’re adapting, just as the animals around us do as the seasons change.
Speaking of animals, this is another great reason to spend time outside in the cooler months: fall is a busy season for wildlife, and there’s lots to see.
You might, for example, see a squirrel on your way to school. What is it up to? Probably busy gathering and caching (or hiding) as much food as it can, so that when the snow is on the ground it has a store of nuts and seeds to keep it from getting hungry.
And what about the birds? Many of them will have left, migrating to a warmer place where they can still find food. Birds that eat bugs, for example, can’t stay in Canada during the winter, so they need to fly south to survive.
Others, like chickadees and blue jays, will stay with us here all winter, and so have to get busy now eating as much as they can to build up their body fat for later on, when food will be harder to find.
Some animals will change their coats or feathers to keep them safer in the winter. (No reflective clothing for them!) A weasel’s fur, for example, will change from brown to white so that it can stay camouflaged in the snow — it’s a hunter, so this allows it to hide and pounce on unsuspecting prey.
Goldfinches don’t migrate, but they do change dramatically, losing their bright yellow feathers to become mostly brown. This allows them to hide in the trees and stay safe from predators.
What wildlife can you spot on your way to school? If you like, you can track your observations using the SEEK app!