EXPLORING NATURE in the
SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS
Jennifer Bauer

One of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on our planet can be found in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Plants and animals that range from common to extremely rare can be found in varied habitats between the elevations of 1,000 to over 6,000 feet. People from all walks of life and with an array of interests visit, explore, and study the many unique aspects of this remarkable environment.
Exploring Nature in the Southern Appalachians has been written with all audiences in mind. For over 20 years, Jennifer Bauer has been working in the Tennessee State Park system as a Park Interpretive Specialist and has developed an incredible selection of activities that will make studying nature fun and informative. Readers will find activities that awaken the senses, crafts, games, explorations, and experiments; there are projects that are planned for groups, individuals, and all ages. Insects, flowers, water, frogs, salamanders, and snowflakes are just a small selection of the many subjects covered in this book. There are ideas on journalizing and activities that can be conducted indoors and out, depending on the location and weather!
Not only can one choose from a large variety of projects and subjects, Exploring Nature is also packed full of stories and tales that bring the activities to life! It is here that not only will explorers learn the name of the life forms of interest, but also discover what life is all about!

Jennifer Bauer, a Ranger Naturalist at Roan Mountain State Park since 1980, graduated from East Tennessee State University with a BS in Biology and Art, an MS in Science Education, and an MAT in Teaching. She has conducted a multitude of park programs during this time for folks of all ages, while sharing her interest and enthusiasm for nature study, Roan Mountain’s fragile ecology, Appalachian folkways, and Roan’s intriguing history. In 2001, she transferred to Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area as a Park Interpretive Specialist, continuing the programming and interpretive effort at one of Tennessee's most important historic sites. In November of 2003, she was promoted to Park Manager of Sycamore Shoals. She is the author of A Naturalist’s Teaching Manual, Roan Mountain: A Passage of Time, and is a frequent contributor to The Tennessee Conservationist magazine. She lives in Elizabethton, Tennessee, with her husband and two children