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The Story of Dr. MacKay ...  | Dr. Alexander Howard MacKay | Imagine it is around 1900 and you are a student in one of Nova Scotia's 1500 schools .... you are walking to your schoolhouse (for that is what they were called back then). When you get there, you are told by your teacher that Dr. Alexander Howard MacKay, who is the superintendent of all the schools in Nova Scotia, has had a wonderful idea that he wants you all to take part in! Now Dr. MacKay you all know for he is the man who introduced physical education into your school. Dr. MacKay also believes that you can learn much better by doing things rather than just sitting thinking about them.  | Heal All Plant | Dr. MacKay, being someone who has studied wild plants and Nova Scotia's forests in some detail, believes that the study of nature is a good thing. He believes it is important to know what is out there in the fields, the forests, the meadows, the streams etc. , what happens to these natural things, when they flower, where they live, how they live and all manner of things like this. So Dr. MacKay's great idea is this ... all the students in Nova Scotia schools are to become naturalists! That is, they are to help him keep track of what is happening in nature. To do this Dr. MacKay has made up a list of over 200 things that he wants the students all across the province to observe over the course of spring, summer and fall! Imagine the excitement!  | Ruby Throated Hummingbird | Students are to look for the first robins of spring, the day when the ice melted off the lakes, the blooming of the Mayflower, when the wild strawberries were fit to eat, and on and on ... When the students have discovered the answers to Dr. MacKay's 200+ questions, they are to hand these into their teacher who will make a list and send it Dr. MacKay. The race is on to be the one to find the first dandelion, to be the first to see Canada geese flying south, to be the first to feel the whirr of the hummingbird's wings ...  | An original MacKay ledger | All this actually happened! And for 23 years the students across Nova Scotia carefully observed and recorded their natural history findings. These records are contained in huge ledgers that Dr. MacKay kept and which have now been put into a computer database. These ledgers are very impressive, especially when you realise that there were no such things as computers, or even ball point pens in those days. People had to use long, thin pens which had wooden handles and metal nibs. These were dipped into a pot of ink which was kept in an inkwell. Maybe you have seen old school desks that had holes at the top? This is the inkwell. 
This unique school program has provided us and our scientists with a wealth of information about the natural world of Nova Scotia at the turn of the century. The Thousand Eyes project builds on  this work by inviting all Nova Scotians to take part in a similar exercise - only we won't ask you to collect over 200 observations! In fact, we are interested in 50 natural history events that happen commonly in Nova Scotia - and you don't have to observe all of these if you don't want to - just pick those that you are particularly interested in. By taking part in the Thousand Eyes you will be helping to recreate the spirit of the MacKay project and in the process learn about the natural world around you. And, importantly, help put together some of the pieces of the puzzle that is climate change. |
