There is another possibility: not the end of nature, but the rebirth of wonder and even joy.

Numerous studies document the benefits to students from school grounds that are ecologically diverse and include free play areas, habitats for wildlife, walking trails, and gardens.

What would our lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology?

Each of us-adult or child-must earn nature's gift by knowing nature directly, however difficult it may be to glean that knowledge in an urban environment.

It takes time--loose, unstructured dreamtime-- to experience nature in a meaningful way. Unless parents are vigilant, such time becomes a scarce resource, not because we intend it to shrink, but because time is consumed by multiple, invisible forces; because our culture currently places so little value on natural play.

The future will belong to the nature-smart...Th e more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.

The woods were my Ritalin. Nature calmed me, focused me, and yet excited my senses.