“The only right way to begin plant study with young children is through awakening their interest in and love for flowers.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 453
Outdoor Hour Challenge: Use the grids in the May newsletter to get started with your Garden Flowers and Crop Plants study this month. There are lots of simple ideas for observation that all ages can use to start this month’s focus on garden flowers and crop plants. If you have the newsletter, make sure to see the garden journal ideas on page 14. There is also a flower notebooking page included in the newsletter for you to use with any garden flower you study this month.
Special Activity: Using Your Senses in the Garden
Use your senses during your Grid Study this week and record your observations on this Garden Senses Notebook Page. Use you sense of touch, smell, sight, and even taste and hearing (be careful with the tasting!) to take your Outdoor Time to the next level. Garden Senses Notebooking Page
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #8.Just remember to take a magnifying lens with you during your outdoor time this week and encourage your children to look closely at some plants or flowers in your yard. Record you observations on the notebook page in the ebook.
If you already own the Garden Flower and Plants ebook, you could combine this week’s challenge with Garden Flowers Challenge #5 – Learning Leaf Parts. This challenge also encourages you to spend some quiet time in your garden using all your senses. Complete the accompanying notebook page in the ebook if you desire.
For the month of April we continued to work on our goal to be less wasteful with plastic. My husband packs a lunch everyday for work and he can be gone for 12+ hours a day so he takes a man-sized lunch with snacks. In the past this meant that we used lots of disposable sandwich sized Ziploc bags but once we made our pledge to use less plastic, we have switched to more reusable containers.
I am pleased that we have not used a single disposable baggie since we started the year.
Reusable Plastic Lunch Products
Here are a few products that we have used to reduce our plastic consumption.
Kids Conserve Kozy Wraps
This was really hard to get used to at first. It is basically a plastic circle that you fold and velcro shut. It will even fit a man-sized sandwich or bagel if needed. They are easy to wipe clean and are a great alternative to a plastic sandwich baggie.
Sistema – Salad to Go
My husband takes a green salad everyday in his lunch. I LOVE using the Salad to Go container because I can fit his salad in the bottom section and then in the top there is a small container for his dressing and two sections to put any other items he likes in his salad. It also has snap in fork and knife slots on the bottom of the top section. This is super easy to use and clean. My husband likes that his salad stays fresh.
I have also used this for yogurt and toppings and it stays neatly inside until you are ready to eat.
There are a couple of products that I have been waiting to order that I would like to try in his lunchbox as well. We are looking for something to replace his yogurt cups and these stainless steel containers look interesting. I have been trying to decide if it is less plastic to buy the big tubs of yogurt and dish it out into the stainless steel containers for his lunch. I think these little containers would be perfect for taking in my day pack with snacks. I will keep you posted on how we like these as alternatives to plastic baggies.
I am still working on finding an alternative to the plastic produce bags. I ordered some reusable ones from Amazon.com but there are highly unsatisfactory. Still on the hunt….
Please note these are affiliate links to Amazon.com. I purchased all the products in this entry and have not been compensated for this entry.
I have been eagerly anticipating this month’s focus on garden flowers and crops because I love planning my garden and spending time enjoying it. Using the flowers and plants in our yard, nature study is more personal and meaningful. I encourage you all to try to study one garden flower from the Handbook of Nature Study this month. If you are overwhelmed with the choices, pick a petunia for the up-coming brand new study that I will post later this month.
Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:
4 fabulous articles sharing different garden related activities for your family
May Study Grid – actually two grids this month!
Garden Flowers – printable notebook page
Nature Study Spotlight Family
Lots of extra links this month
Chart correlating the Outdoor Hour Challenge garden flowers and crop plant studies with the Handbook of Nature Study
I have attached the newsletter download link to the bottom of my blog feed so if you are a subscriber you will receive the link to the latest newsletter at the bottom of every post for the month of May. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter link in the next post that comes to your email box. You can subscribe to my blog by filling in your email address in the subscription box on my sidebar.
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If the link is not clickable, cut and paste the link to your browser, open, and then save your newsletter to your computer.
What a fantastic month of surprise reptiles and amphibians! I am always amazed at what comes our way to study and after reading the entries from all the participants I know you have the same sort of experience. We go out looking for reptiles and amphibians and there they are! If your family wants to save these challenges for later in the season, please feel free to share your entries with the carnival and I will put them in the Potpourri section.
Thanks for all your hard work and for sharing your experiences!
Our family’s reptile and amphibian entries from this month’s study (in case you missed one):
Angie from Petra School has written an awesome entry for you: Benefits of Observational Nature Study. She shares their on-going long-term nature study of frogs and their habitats. This is such a great example showing how just a few minutes a week over the long run will reap many rewards.
Barbara from The Schoolhouse on the Prairie captured their outdoor time in a lovely entry: But Not the Reptiles and Amphibians. She shows the many things they encountered and finally their skink.
Cristy from Cristy Nature Journal has submitted her OHC Reptiles entry for this edition of the carnival. She shares a very tiny turtle they found in their backyard. She also would like to share her entry: Plants that Eat Animals.
Alex from Life on a Canadian Island has written and submitted her entry: Dead Man’s Pond – Looking for Amphibians. She shares their excellent pre-study and then their pond adventure along with some additional resources for you.
Seasonal Pond Study
Shirley Ann from Under an English Sky has put together a fabulous entry with their pond study: Pond Life and a Tadpole Aquarium. I really enjoyed reading about their pond study and their nature journal pages are not to be missed.
Diana from Homeschool Review shares their Slate Nature Study with the carnival. She not only shares their abundant slate but also some moss and lichen too.
Sweetie from The Diary of an Owl has submitted their Orange Jelly Fungi entry for you to enjoy. I love seeing what our younger participants are learning as they spend time outdoors.
Don’t forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in May are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 5/30/13 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.
This month has flown by with Singing Bird Studios as the sponsor! I am wearing my butterfly necklace as I type this…always makes me feel pretty and happy. I want to thank Stephanie for her generous gift of necklace and keyring…they are very loved. So far this month, we have given away a beautiful Vintage Butterfly Necklace and a Vintage Bird Keyring.
Now I have something a little different to offer in a giveaway…a Scrabble tile necklace with a black and white design featuring a bird and flowers.
This necklace is so very pretty and I know you will love wearing it.
This month has been full of reptiles and amphibians! My husband sent me this image of a Sierra newt that he took on a hike with a friend. He sees newts a few times a year on this particular trail and I think he did a great job of capturing this colorful amphibian so I could share with all of you.
Taricha sierrae- Sierra Newt
Medium sized salamander
Subspecies of the California Newt
They breathe through lungs and not gills.
The Sierra newt spends most of his time on the land.
The Sierra newt has very few predators because they contain tetrodotoxin. The only real predator is the garter snake. The Sierra news bright orange color is a warning to other potential predators.
One source said they can live 12-15 years in the wild.
Their habitat is forested areas, migrating to breeds pools or rivers during breeding season.
This amphibian has been added to my list of reptiles and amphibians in my nature journal and recorded in a journal entry. My sons and I saw newts in a breeding pool a long time ago and I wrote about it in this entry: California Newts and Tree Frogs.
Outdoor Hour Challenge:
This week you will need to find a local pond to explore. I might suggest taking a look at the Turtles and Pondweed Challenge for a few ideas. This challenge also includes a free printable Pond Study which will expand your study beyond turtles and pondweed.
Printable Activity: Seasonal Pond Study Notebook Page
Use this notebook page to record your spring pond study observations and then revisist your pond in each season to compare plants, insects, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Printable Seasonal Pond Study Notebook Page
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #10. This week take an opportunity to get outside and enjoy a picnic lunch or snack. Use the ideas in this challenge to create a fun nature study experience for your family. Complete the accompanying notebook page for your nature journal while you are outdoors!
I challenged myself to hiking four new trails this year and we are excited to share the very first one with you because it was such an awesome hike! My husband and I had an afternoon to spend together last weekend and he picked the destination. We packed up a few snacks and filled up our water bottles, traveling light. The sun was hot and had the feel of late spring/early summer….I made sure to put on sunblock and secure my hat before setting off on the dusty trail. Northern California doesn’t stay green very long in the spring so I will share with you my green hills while I can.
Our new trail at a familiar spot..the Down and Up Trail at Cronan Ranch. The Bureau of Land Management has a huge section of this foothill property down to the river set aside for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. We opted to hike…I love the slow easy pace that we take and the ability to easily stop and take photos of all the amazing sights.
The rolling foothills give way to a river canyon about two miles from the parking lot. Now you can see why this particular trail is called the Down and Up Trail. The gentle ups and downs make it interesting and around each new corner and on top of each new hill there is another sight to take in as you go along. The soundtrack is birds in the distance, slight breeze blowing over the grasses, and the buzz of bees and other flying insects.
We usually hike the Long Valley Trail but this time we heading up hill and along the ridge. The Fiddlenecks are in full glory and I kept trying to pick just the right spot for a photo. This view is looking up from the trail to a hilltop oak….so very Sierra Nevada foothill in flavor. This IS my habitat.
There were many, many butterflies flying and landing on the wildflowers along the trail. Some places had so many that I thought they were going to fly into my face as I hiked. I don’t complain about dodging butterflies because I love them so much.
There are some magnificent oaks in this part of California and we could hear and see woodpeckers as well as swallows flying over and around the trees. I dream of having a home with a huge old oak on the property. I love the shape of them and the smell of the hot oak leaves in the sunshine is a wonderful fragrance…one you don’t forget.
I wondered about snakes as I climbed up on the rock for a better view and to take a few photos. I also stood on the top of this rock for a long time having some FaceTime with my daughter who is living in Bolivia…the reception was perfect up there on the rock and my daughter got to see some of the view that she has been missing.
Then we hiked down the trail and I saw unusual metallic bugs on some grasses and I stepped off the trail to investigate. As I stepped back onto the trail my husband starting yelling at me that there was a snake. A snake indeed! It was a huge rattlesnake and it was stretched out across the trail…I hopped over and out of the way and the rattler moved quickly up onto the hillside into the grass. A little way down the trail we saw a much smaller snake but he was a gopher snake…much to my relief. We think this rattler is a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake.
We made it down to the river at last and I took off my shoes to cool my toes. We had a cool drink and watched the whitewater rafters float by and on down the river. It was so refreshing! Two hikers came along as we rested and we told them about the snakes…showed them some photos and swapped snake stories. I love the camaraderie of hikers who share their passions and interests. One of the guys told us of his sighting of a rattlesnake on the trail to Half Dome in Yosemite and we tried to decide how high in elevation rattlesnakes are found. We decided to look it up when we got home. (We read in our field guide that there is a rattlesnake that is found up to 11,000 feet in elevation.)
The water was high and there was very little beach so we opted to sit on the granite rocks and enjoy the sound of the water rushing by. The sun was hot but the water was still freezing…melted snow.
Back on the trail again we found a large area of lupine blooming, this one was in the middle of the trail. The bees were buzzing and it reminds me how much I love the purple and green combination.
Here are some more lovely wildflowers that were clustered along the trail.
I learned about the Monkeyflower a few years ago and now can spot it in the moist parts of our area. These were growing along a little moist ditch with just a bit of water and a bit of shade.
One more snake…snake number three was another gopher snake and he was quickly moving across the trail in front of us as we hiked up the hill. You can read and see the difference between a Rattlesnake and Gopher Snake on the CaliforniaHerps website.
And here is one last look at the trails from the top….left to the Down and Up and right to the Long Valley Trail. This is one of our favorite local hiking spots and there is one last trail to try before we have tried them all. (Don’t you love the panorama setting on my iPhone?)
The East Ridge Trail is on the list of things to do in May before it gets too much hotter. I will be glad if we don’t see any more snakes but I am anxious to explore a brand new area of this park. My goal for the year 2013 is four new hikes…one is accomplished and three more adventures to go!
Last week’s Focus on Reptiles and Amphibians challenge was to start a focus study of reptiles and amphibians in our local area whether that was actually going out and finding a subject to investigate or to use this week’s challenge as a preparation for a future outing. We were fortunate enough to have two different snakes cross our trail (literally) last week and for my nature journal I used the printable reptile notebook page from the Reptile and Amphibian Grid Study entry earlier this month.
I pulled out our field guides and did some research into our two snakes and recorded the information and a couple of quick sketches for my journal. Snakes are not my favorite nature study subject but it is helpful to know a little bit about these two common snakes that live in our area.
I started a “reptile and amphibian” section in my nature notebook and I plan on adding to it as subjects arise. I have a short list of things to research and record as I have time over the next few weeks.
You can read more about how we organize our nature notebook pages in a binder in this entry: How to Organize Your Nature Notebook Pages. Have you seen any reptiles this month?
I have identified my first shrub of 2013- Chamise or Greasewood (Adenostoma fasciculatum). This is a shrub that is just about everywhere we go in our hiking and walking locally. It has such a sweet smell that many times it is overwhelming as you hike through a patch of it. The white clusters of flowers are so pretty in the early spring and in our area they are at their peak right now.
This is my favorite photo of chamise taken a few years ago on our walking trail.
Chamise (or Greasewood)
Rose Family
Shrub 2 to 10 feet tall.
The white flowers cluster at the ends of the stems.
Leaves are short and green.
Most common shrubs of the chaparral habitat.
Forms dense clusters of shrubs where small animals find protection.
Common name comes from the resinous foliage. This quality is what contributes to it being great fuel for brush fires.
We have had fun observing it and finding it in more and more places since we were aware of it…now it is safely tucked into our nature journals as well.
So how am I doing on my Nature Study Goals for 2013?
Learn about ten new birds, including nature journal entries and learning their calls. – 2 birds done
Learn about five new trees in my local area. – 1 in the works
Learn about five scrubs that I see along my walking trail or our favorite hiking trail. – 1 finished, 2 in the works
Take four new hikes. (These are tentatively planned in my planner along with maps.) – 1 completed
15 Rocks in the book: Rocks, Fossils, and Arrowheads – 2 down
I think I better get busy…now that the weather is warmer I may be able to tackle a few each month. I will of course share with you as I complete them.
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