Biodiversity: It’s in Your Backyard!

Science Literacy Week

September 21- 27, 2020 is Science Literacy Week in Canada. Science Literacy Week highlights diversity in Canadian science. The purpose of Science Literacy Week is to show everyone’s unique relationship with science and how they live with it.

This year, we are celebrating the biodiversity of our beautiful country! Biodiversity refers to the variety of living species that live on Earth. This includes plants, animals, and bodies of water. Canada is lucky to be home to a wide range of biodiversity that spans from coast to coast.

Biodiversity in Canada

Biodiversity in Canada includes:

  • Lakes
  • Oceans
  • The Canadian Prairies
  • Boreal Forests
  • Marshland
  • The Canadian Tundra

Biodiversity in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is a province rich in biodiversity. We are fortunate to live in a province abundant with forests, lakes, rivers, marshes, plants, and ocean beaches. One of the best things about living in Nova Scotia is that you never have to travel far to see different species of plants and animals—in fact, they are often in our own neighbourhoods.

Some other features of Nova Scotia biodiversity include:

  • Atlantic Salmon
  • Lobster
  • Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers
  • Blue Jays
  • Bald Eagles
  • Moose
  • Chipmunks
  • Soft-shelled Clams
  • Rockweed
  • Piping Plover
  • Red Spruce Trees
  • Yellow Birch Trees
  • Cranberries
  • Mayflower
  • Sand Dunes
  • White-Pine and Red-Oak Forests
  • Bogs and Swamps
  • Caves
  • Cliffs
  • Saltmarshes
  • Diverse variations of raspberries and blackberries

and more! (Drysdale, Jones, Mockford, Boates, 2010, p 4)

Show us some biodiversity

Send us a photo!

To kick off Science Literacy Week, we are inviting you to share photos of flora (plants) and fauna (animals and insects) from your backyard or neighbourhood park! Let’s celebrate the rich biodiversity of our province and the beauty we can find close by.

We'll create and share a gallery of the photos we receive, here.

What should you take a photo of?

You can take photos of plants, animals, fungi, natural scenery etc. You can showcase your balcony garden, or maybe the crow that hangs out at your local park.

How to submit

Via email as attachments to librarymarketing@halifax.ca or via social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) with #HfxSciLitWeek and by tagging @hfxpublib.

Consent

By submitting your photo, you give Halifax Public Libraries and its partners non-exclusive permission to use content of and/or made by the participant for digital or print publications. You understand that this may include, but is not limited to, social media posts, websites, newsletters, advertisements, posters and pamphlets. You also understand that on occasion, Library photos, video, audio, or publications may be shared with media outlets and community partners for use in promotions of Library events, initiatives, and stories. You certify that no other person's permission is needed to authorize the use of said images or content. You agree that Halifax Public Libraries cannot be held liable for images or content used with my consent.

Works cited

(2010, February). Biodiversity [Review of Biodiversity]. NovaScotia.Ca; Nova Scotia. https://novascotia.ca/natr/strategy/pdf/phase2-reports/Biodiversity.pdf