Response to our coronavirus quarantine-sparked photo and poetry contests -- developed to encourage families to go outside and reconnect with nature while practicing safe social distancing -- has been extremely positive.

With the extended stay-at-home order and the unexpected early start of trout season, people have been asking for more time to submit their images. Our new deadline for submissions is April 30, with prize-winners to be named by May 8. Get all the details here.

Using just a cardboard egg carton, water, food coloring and some common household black pepper, we can study how pollution can affect an entire watershed -- even if it is only introduced in one remote spot of the region.

​​Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide stay-at-home proclamation on Wednesday cast more questions on an already uncertain start to Pennsylvania’s 2020 trout season.

However, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat spokesperson Mike Parker shared some clarity during a phone interview a day after Wolf’s edict.

With the state’s 2020 trout opener still slated for April 18 – for now – Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission spokesperson Mike Parker admits there will be changes to how we fish, but it can still be an enjoyable distraction to the coronavirus concerns, as long as proper precautions are maintained.

“We all know things are a little different right now, but there is no reason why we can not adapt to make opening day a success under these unprecedented circumstances,” he said. ​

Soil erosion is a big issue along the network of tributaries that feed into the Susquehanna River. Here is an experiment you can do at home to demonstrate how to fight soil erosion and a real-life example of people putting those practices to use.

​Few early school-year memories are more powerful for me than of that of Miss Wilson and her tearful exit decades ago from my fifth-grade music class – and the teaching profession altogether.

Our regular music teacher needed an unexpected amount of time off for a medical issue, and the school principal told our class a few days in advance that we would be getting a new substitute teacher.

Our previous water cycle experiment, which uses glass bowls and hot water, may be a little too intense for small children. Here is a water cycle they can create and observe using just a Ziploc bag, markers, cool water, food coloring, tape and a window!