Looking for some new ways to help your kids understand the importance of cooperation and sharing? In a world where models of these values can sometimes feel hard to find, take heart! Simply go on a neighborhood nature walk or explore your backyard. The natural world is filled with examples of how well things work when organisms cooperate with one another and share their living spaces and resources.

Virtually nothing alive on the planet survives without cooperating and sharing on some level with its neighbors, whether explicitly or in a more subtle manner. Here are just a few examples of some kid-friendly things to watch for as you look to nature for models of healthy living for your family.

Bees and Flowers: As summer blooms all around us, consider the partnership between bees and flowers. In this classic example of a mutually beneficial relationship, flowers provide bees with sweet nectar (from which bees make honey) and bees help flowers reproduce by spreading pollen from one plant to another.

Lichen: Check out that green stuff clinging to the branches of the big old tree in a nearby park. If it looks like deer antlers, seaweed, fish net, or an old man’s beard, it’s probably lichen. Most lichen is made up of two separate organisms, fungi and algae. The two work together directly to survive. Fungi provides the structure for the organism, and algae, through photosynthesis, provides the food. The two are inseparable.

Worms in the Dirt: As any good gardener or composter knows, worms are much more than just slimy fish bait! As worms burrow, they aerate and loosen the soil, which helps plants grow. And worm castings (a.k.a. worm poops) make great fertilizer! When plants die, they return the favor to their wriggly friends, by serving as tasty worm food.

Wildlife Hotels: A standing dead tree is much more than a hazard in the wind. It can be the shared home (and a restaurant too!) for a myriad of wild critters—owls, woodpeckers, raccoons, beetles, and ants, just to name a few. When you see a wildlife “bed and breakfast” tree, look for home-sized holes and hollows, beetle tracks carved under the bark, and ants parading up and down the trunk.

Shared Air: Take a big breath of warm summer air. Did you know that plants and animals actually help each other “breathe?” Through the process of photosynthesis, plants make oxygen, which all animals need to breathe IN to survive. When animals breathe OUT, they expel carbon dioxide, a gas which all green plants need to absorb for photosynthesis to work. Cool, eh?

Trees and Fungi: Did you know that tiny fungi in the ground attach to tree roots and help their tall neighbors get the nutrients and water they need to grow and thrive? In turn, trees share with fungi the sugars they make in their leaves through photosynthesis! Some people call this network of cooperation the “world-wide web”. Imagine the tall trees in your neighborhood “talking” to tiny fungi in the ground!

What other examples of plants and animals working together to be stronger and healthier can you and your family find in nature? Keep your eyes and ears open this summer as you adventure outside!

To get some help looking for these partnerships in nature, participate in a family nature adventure or send your kids to a summer camp at one of our local nature education organizations or city recreation departments – Nearby Nature, Whole Earth Nature School, Mount Pisgah Arboretum, WREN, the Eugene Science Center, the City of Eugene’s River House, Springfield’s Willamalane, Parker Learning Gardens, and many others have lots of fun programs to offer. Check out the camp directory in this publication and explore online!