Camdenton, Missouri is home to Ha Ha Tonka State Park which is located 180 miles west of St Louis. Five hundred native plants are in the park. It's natural beauty is...

Bush honeysuckle is an invasive shrub. It is a problem because it forms a dense understory and limits sunlight for native plants. It adds little benefit to the environment. It is very aggressive and ...

The main cause of fire and fire injuries are cooking and heating. Tips for cooking safety:  1. Be alert and avoid alcohol while cooking. 2.Stay in the...

Deforestation is intentionally clearing forests. Reasons for this include to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing and building. Wood provides...

The St Louis County library is a great resource to learn about science and the environment. They have Disney's Bill Nye the Science Guy presenting material on scientific topics ranging from reptiles, water cycle and forests. It offers a wide  range of subjects and they are entertaining.  Almost every environmental book in the library is a teen level book. Covered topics include environmental, careers, recycling and endangered species.

Erosion is the steady wearing away of the earth's surface. This is done with rain, wind and sand. An example of chemical erosion is water running on rock with iron in it. The iron turns into iron oxide.  Ice erodes rock by melting and running in between cracks. It then refreezes and the rock breaks...

There are more types of birds in nature than mammals. Birds are warm blooded. All birds have ...

The beginning of a food chain begins with the sun. Photosynthesis is the process that plants use to turn the sun's energy into food - sugar. An example of a food chain is rabbits eating grass and foxes eating rabbits. Food chains are complex and ...

Minerals are abundant in nature. Five traits must be true to be a mineral.  It must be solid and occur on earth naturally. A mineral can't be derived from a living thing. The chemical formula can't ...

Natural Cleaners protect the environment. One of them is baking soda.  Use it on all the fictures in the bathroom- sink, tub, toilet, tile.  Other uses include silver polish, coffee pot and dentrue cleaning. Vinegar can be used to clean windows an dmirrors.  Cut grease on stove tops and oven walls. Keep the dishwasher clean by ...

Nature has provided every animal protection against predators. The  following are examples: Zebra's stripes help hide the animal in the tall grasses of Africa. They also help them recognize each...

A Prayer for All of Us Holy, beloved Father, Your son Jesus taught us That there is great rejoicing in heaven Whenever someone ...

How do we welcome Jesus, Mary and Joseph into our neighborhood? “It is not easy to enter into another culture, to put oneself in the shoes of people so different from us, to understand their thoughts and their experiences.  As a result, we often refuse to encounter the other and raise barriers to defend...

Jesus, Mary and Joseph were migrants too.  “Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ, who identified with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every age (Mt 25:35, 43).  And for the stranger, the migrant , the refugee, the asylum seeker and the displaced person, every door in a new land is also an opportunity to encounter Jesus.”  Pope Francis, Message for this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees.  For...

Our deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better then we found it.  We love this magnificent planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its...

A Prayer for Civility Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.  Where uncivil words prevail, show me how to model love.  Help me remember the God-given dignity of all and invite others to do the same.  Show me how to build bridges and not walls and see first what unites us rather than ....

Food For Thought From the Mission Father Pete offered us SO MUCH wonderful Food for Thought at our mission.  The first night he gave us homework to look in the mirror and say “ I am very good because I was made in the image and likeness of God”  Was that hard for ...

Black Catholics to Know Last week in this column we asked if you know or know about any Black Catholics and their contributions. Now we’d like to offer you a short list of names to consider. Some famous, some not.  Some ancient, some...

November was designated as Black Catholic History Month by the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC) in 1990. For an event that has been around over 30 years, it is relatively unknown.  To intro the month, here are a ....

“The Church is not a fortress, a stronghold, a lofty castle, self-sufficient and looking upon the world below. How great is the beauty of a humble church, a church that does not stand aloof from the world, viewing life with a detached gaze, but lives her life within the world. Living within the...