Simple definition: The movement of leaves or petals in response to light; the closing of flowers at night. This may help to protect the pollen from dew.
I love learning about amazing things that happen right under my nose. Many of us have observed the way our dandelions are closed up tight in the morning and then the bloom opens up in the sunshine each day. But, have we taken the time to really understand how that happens and why it happens? Just recently I did a little research to find the answer to that question. Now when I take note of my sleepy little flowers, I can appreciate the mechanism for this phenomenon: nyctinasty.
Examples of flowers that open and close:
Tulip
Crocus
Dandelion
Poppy
Daisy
Fun fact – The leaves of some plants, like those of certain legumes, open and close as well.
Try This! Something to Observe
Find a patch of daisies or dandelions in your yard. Observe the flower at different times of the day. When are they opened up? When are they closed?
Advanced study: For an additional experiment, try covering a dandelion with a box to shut out the light. What do you think you will find when you take the box off the next day?
Taking time to notice these changes will help your child make a more intimate connection with the world around them. I guarantee you will look at dandelions differently after observing them up close!
If you’re an Ultimate or Journey level member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you have a custom notebook page for creating a nature journal entry for nyctinasty in your download library.
If you would like to purchase a membership to have access to all 21 of the ebooks here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you can click the button below to view the titles. In addition, members receive access to all 76 archived issues of the monthly nature study newsletter, and new monthly printables.
The birds in this week’s challenge are some of the more common birds most of us see during our daily activities. The challenge is to take a few minutes this week to observe and learn about one of the birds listed above. Currently, we have starlings and red winged blackbirds in our birdfeeders so we might do a compare and contrast of these two black birds.
The secondary part of this nature study challenge is to focus on looking at a bird’s eye color. Many times eye color is a field mark in identifying a particular bird. For example, some of the blackbirds in our feeders have a gold eye. This helped us to determine that we have brewer’s blackbirds and red winged blackbirds.
Note: There is a fantastic crow video in the archive link above so don’t miss it!
This black bird challenge is from the Learning About Birds ebook here on the Handbook of Nature Study. It’s found in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships for you to download and use with your family. If you would like to gain access to this ebook, you can purchase a membership now and have instant access.
Use the discount code BIRDLOVER5 for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership.
Spring Wildflowers with the Outdoor Hour Challenge
Don’t miss the giveaway below!
Here in Central Oregon we haven’t experienced many wildflowers yet but I know they are coming! I’m trying to support the Charlotte Mason homeschoolers who are following the Ambleside Online’s nature study schedule so I’ll compile some ideas for studying wildflowers. As you observe the wildflowers in your neighborhood, check with the Handbook of Nature Study (the book and my website) for information and inspiration.
Here are some of the main wildflower links for you to use here on the website.
Gardens Tab at the top of the website. This page lists all of the wildflowers we’ve studied here with the Outdoor Hour Challenge in the past. You will find them listed by ebook and then at the bottom of the page in alphabetical order. These links are available to everyone.
I hope these links help you locate the wildflower study that your family is interested in completing this season. There are so many to choose from so don’t be overwhelmed. I decided when I first started out identifying wildflowers with my children that we would take each flower one at a time. We aimed to learn a new flower each time we took a walk and that strategy helped us not be overwhelmed. Take it one flower at a time and use the Outdoor Hour Challenges to help you dig deeper and then follow up with a nature journal entry of some sort.
Is it important to know each flower’s name?
I recently took a hike with a friend and she was hoping I could teach her the names of the wildflowers we saw as we walked. I told her that once you know a flower’s name, you think of it as a friend, the kind of friend you look forward to seeing. She laughed at first but later realized that it does change your view of a wildflower once you know its name.
My Best Hint: Take lots of pictures for future reference!
It’s much easier to identify a wildflower with a field guide if you have an image of the flower, its leaf, and its stem.
Some Links to My Past Wildflower Studies You May Want to View for Inspiration:
California Poppies: We have spent many hours observing the poppy and its many interesting features.
Hike to the River – Spring Wildflowers: When we lived in California, we had our favorite trail to the river and at this time of year it was full of wildflowers. Be inspired to take your own walk!
Spring Wildflowers: Here is another one that is full of our California wildflowers.
I’m giving away 5 copies of each of my wildflower ebooks. I will randomly draw 5 winners to receive Set #1 and Set #2 of the new wildflower ebooks here on the Handbook of Nature Study.
Use the Rafflecopter gadget below to enter.
I’ll be picking the winners on 4/14/18 so enter today.
“Anyone who attempts to recognize birds by sight alone misses much of the pleasure that comes to those who have taken the time and pains to learn bird songs and use them as a means of bird recognition. It is true that not all people have a talent for music; but everyone interested in birds can learn to identify the songs and most of the call notes of common birds.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 42
Use the ideas and resources in the challenge linked above to learn more about the birds in this week’s challenge. In addition, make sure to listen to the birds singing in your neighborhood. The mourning dove is a particularly easy bird to identify by its cooing sound. Listen here: mourning dove song.See if your children can imitate this common backyard bird.
This brown bird challenge is from the Learning About Birds ebook here on the Handbook of Nature Study. It’s found in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships for you to download and use with your family. If you would like to gain access to this ebook, you can purchase a membership now and have instant access.
Use the discount code BIRDLOVER5 for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership.
1. Begin to use the Nature Observer journal every day to keep track of my nature experiences. Use the journal prompts included in the book to inspire my outdoor time. Don’t expect each page to be perfect but create a personalized record of my outdoor observations and adventures in 2018. I’ve been faithfully entering my experiences each day in the journal. At first, I thought this would be too much for me but it has proven to be a huge inspiration for me to get outside nearly every single day. I highly recommend this journal so put it on your wish list for next year!
2. Find two books to help me learn about the local habitat. I’m happy to say that I found one book that has been added to my library that has loads of helpful information about my local habitat.
(This is my affiliate link and I will be writing a review of this book soon!)
3. Take one new local hike with my family. We hiked the Chimney Rock trail at Lower Crooked Wild and Scenic River. It was a super warm day and we enjoyed the new hike with its awesome views of the river and surrounding mountains. We’ll be back to this special area!
4. Visit the High Desert Museum and possibly buy a family pass. Look at the gift shop for books. We visited in January and purchased a membership! The highlight of our first visit was the river otter exhibit. What amazing animals! The docent was very knowledgeable about the otters and her enthusiasm made us eager to visit again. We have another visit scheduled this week to see the raptors.
5. Visit the nature center at Sunriver. Ask about volunteering. We visited the observatory but not the nature center at Sunriver. We’ll be adding it to our 2nd quarter goals.
6. Continue to participate in Project Feederwatch. We’ve continued to participate for the whole first quarter, observing over twenty different birds during that time.
7. Participate in the Outdoor Hour Challenge by completing the reading in the Handbook of Nature Study, taking the walk, and doing a follow up journal page (or something else appropriate). If needed, I will also look up the topic in my local field guide to see if there is additional information. This is an ongoing goal that I really need to focus on better. I do all the preparation work and take the walks every week. The follow up journal page is not always completed. I take note of my thoughts and observations in the Nature Observer journal.
I’m ready to make my new quarterly goals!
Nature Study Goals 2018
2nd Quarter – Get Outside and Experience Spring
Continue to use the Nature Observer journal to keep a record of my nature study experiences. Focus more on sketching!
Keep a record of the wildflowers that grow in my local habitat. Note the day they start to bloom and where we see them for future reference.
Visit the High Desert Museum each month, each time focusing on a different exhibit.
Visit the Sunriver Nature Center and ask about volunteering. In addition, make note of their garden and the native plants they have growing there as a reference in planning our backyard garden.
Take 3 new hikes. This may be ambitious but the weather should be warming up and this will give us an added incentive to hit the trail.
Get the kayaks out in a new place locally.
I’m truly looking forward to real spring here in Central Oregon. Creating nature study goals and working at achieving those goals helps me get outside and inspired to do more.
I’ve created the April planning page to motivate some spring nature study in your family! Download and print your page as a reminder of the Outdoor Hour Challenges featured this month as well as some additional nature study ideas.
The new printables in the membership library will also stimulate some spring nature study this month. I hope you get a chance to learn about nyctinasty (blog post coming soon) and a little more about bird’s nests too.
Happy spring nature study!
Please note there are additional nature study ideas listed on the planning page for you to use if you have access to the newsletter library. (Right now use the discount code OHC10 for $5 off any membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study.)
New printables are now posted in the Member’s library!
Members have access to several brand new printable notebook pages.
1. Nyctinasty: Use this notebook page to record your research notes about this amazing phenomenon that explains why some flowers close up at night. I find this information fascinating!
2. My Nest Study: Every bird creates a nest of some kind and this month I encourage you to pick a local bird and learn about its nest’s shape, materials, and placement.
3. Bird Study: This more advanced bird study notebook page will help you record some information and sketches. In particular, it helps you look at the bird, the nest, and the egg.
Print a complete list of printables available to Members for easy reference:Printables for Members
We’re still in the midst of winter weather…no spring yet! But, that hasn’t kept us from getting outside and enjoying the amazing clouds, birds, and weather that greets us each day. I had a friend ask me this week if I’m suffering from the loss of spring green and early wildflowers that she has in California and I could honestly say that it hasn’t been a big deal to me. We moved here to experience something different and that is exactly what we’re feeling here in the middle of March. I created a sign on my chalkboard to remind me of an important fact…
Spring will come and I will be just as excited about it in May as I would’ve been in March.
We’re busy planning the landscaping in our backyard right now. Doing the research on plants and trees and shrubs that thrive here in our harsh climate has made my heart happy in anticipation. We want to get it right so it’s taking a lot of research to decide which plants will give some color and depth to our very flat piece of land. We don’t want to obstruct our view of the mountains so everything needs to be viewed in light of how it will affect the sight lines from our back windows and from the future patio. More on that project in an upcoming post!
Here are my weekly entries from March!
I had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Great Backyard Bird Count since it’s our first here in Oregon. We had some surprise bird visitors just in time to be officially counted for the event.
I wanted to record our March nature events as they unfolded so this two page spread will allow me to add to the journal throughout the month. I should have called it “not really spring yet” instead of “almost spring”.
I’m still going strong with the Nature Observer journal that I began in January. The premade pages encourage me to record things I wouldn’t otherwise think about including in my journal. The pages shown here are both to record the winter bird visitors we observe during this season on one page and then another page to record migratory birds we’ll see in future seasons that are not here now. These pages required some research on my part but I love that kind of work. It impressed on me more deeply the rhythm and cycles of bird migration here in Central Oregon. It’s a way we can anticipate the changing seasons and view a bird’s comings and goings as a natural sign of the time of year.
Bonus! Plus here is a page from my archives that you can create in your journal using the March 2014 newsletter printables.
This is from my 2014 nature journal where I was using a little bit larger page (Mixed Media Side Wire 7 x 10). I was able to use the printable list and nature journal topper from the March 2014 newsletter to create a page using a photo and some journaling. I’m anticipating using this size journal again after I finish my current smaller one (Mixed Media Side Wire 8.5 x 5.5).
Have you taken a look at my updated nature journal page? Here’s a link to see some ideas to inspire you in your journaling efforts.
Don’t forget that I’m sharing a nature journal page each week on my Instagram account if you want to see the pages as they unfold. Follow me here:Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge.And, if you want to create a page and share it on your Instagram for me to see, use the hashtag #OHCnaturejournal.
I’m excited to participate again this month with the Nature Book Club group! I love trees and this month’s book selection is one that we have used in our family over the years. I still like to page through it and learn little tidbits about each of the trees.
This is an opportunity for you to join in with the club your own tree book entries by using the linky tool below to share your own tree related links this month too!
My Favorite Tree-Terrific Trees of North Americaby Diane Iverson is one of my all time favorite tree picture books for children of all ages. (Note this book is only available used on Amazon and this is my affiliate link) This book features trees native to Canada, Mexico, and the United States (including Hawaii). This is not a comprehensive field guide sort of book but it introduces a variety of trees from around North America along with interesting facts and much more.
¨ Tree Traits-excellent concise information on habitat, height, bark, leaves, flowers and seeds.
¨ Wild Companions-features a bird, mammal, or insect that makes use of the tree
¨ It’s a Fact-beyond the basic facts, this section shares fascinating historical and practical facts
¨ Hall of Fame-Location of the tallest or biggest specimen, state tree information and other “champion” information.
This is a book that would be a terrific addition to your nature study library if you live in North America.
I have created a printable chart that coordinates the trees in the My Favorite Tree book with the Handbook of Nature Study lessons and then the corresponding Outdoor Hour Challenge. You can use this information to help you provide a more thorough tree study for many of the trees covered in the My Favorite Tree book.
There is also a custom designed notebooking page to use with each tree you learn about from the My Favorite Tree book. You can print this out as many times as you need to create a lovely record of your tree studies.
Additional Tree Study Idea
You may wish to start a year-long tree study, viewing a tree in all four seasons. Click over and read this blog entry for some simple ideas to get you started: For the Love of Trees.
Make sure to subscribe to my blog to follow along with all of the nature study ideas offered every week.
Link Up Guidelines
Choose an engaging nature book, do a craft or activity, and add your post to our monthly link up.
The link up party goes live at 9:00 a.m. EST on the 20th of each month and stays open until the last day of the month. Hurry to add your links!
You can link up to 3 posts. Please do not link up advertising posts, advertise other link up parties, your store, or non-related blog posts. They will be removed.
By linking up with us, you agree for us to share your images and give you credit of course if we feature posts.
See all the great posts from The Nature Book Club’s co-hosts in March:
Use the links above to find out more information for the birds included in this Outdoor Hour Challenge. You’ll find links to listen to each of these bird’s beautiful songs and I highly recommend that you listen to each one carefully for future reference. Also, there’s a link to a free bird coloring book that many families have found helpful in their bird nature study as a follow up to viewing each bird.
In our area, we have several kinds of finches to observe as the season warms up, so we’ll be learning about finches in preparation of their arrival at our feeders.
Do you have American goldfinches, Lesser goldfinches or both in your feeders?
This yellow bird challenge is from the Learning About Birds ebook here on the Handbook of Nature Study. It’s found in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships for you to download and use with your family. If you would like to gain access to this ebook, you can purchase a membership now and have instant access.
Use the discount code BIRDLOVER5 for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership.
The Outdoor Hour Challenge tied for second place in the Elementary Science category in the Practical Homeschooling Reader Awards!
So much has happened in a month! We’ve been focusing on bird counting as part of both Project Feederwatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count. Because this was the first year counting birds in my new Central Oregon home, I was hoping that we would see a variety that represented what my Feederwatch results have been over the past month or two.
Sure enough, we had all our usual visitors and a few surprise guests too!
Great Backyard Bird Count 2018
Mourning dove-6
Eurasian collared dove-3
Northern flicker-1
Varied thrush-1
California scrub jay-5
Mountain chickadee-4
Red-breasted nuthatch-1
Pygmy nuthatch-10
Dark eyed junco-14
Hairy woodpecker-1
House finch-5
Pine siskin-2
Canada goose-37
Mallard duck-9
European starling-3
Western bluebird-50
Common raven-2
Red-winged blackbird-4
A huge flock of Western bluebirds swarmed our backyard feeders one morning during the count period. It was an amazing sight. Many of them stuck around for a few days and they would sit all over the feeders and on our fence, glistening blue and red in the sunshine.
We were also surprised during the count to see the return of the red-winged blackbird to our yard and feeders. It seems so early and we’ve had quite a bit of snow since their arrival. I did some research online and read that the sturdiest birds return first and they should be able to make it through until we have a real spring.
The return of the elk to our neighborhood has been a delight to watch. The best time to spot them is early in the morning as the sun is rising. We’ve seen them in small groups right behind our fence and in large herds in several areas around town. I never tire of seeing them as they graze and move on.
We took a trip to the San Diego area for a week to have a little beach and ocean time with our daughter. She flew out from New York to meet up with us for a week of camping and adventuring. There was a lot of outdoor time!
Bike riding along the coast at Crystal Cove State Park was gorgeous! The views of the ocean and the clouds on this particular day made it look like a postcard. We rode our bikes to a spot where we could go down to the shore for some tide pool observations.
We found lots of interesting things to watch and photograph in the tide pool area. We planned our visit to be there at the negative tide, so there were lots of things exposed for us to see that are normally under water. The most prevalent living creatures were sea anemones, mussels, hermit crabs, snails, and sea slugs!
We couldn’t get over the size of this slug! There were quite a few in spots we could watch closely and they moved amazingly fast.
We had a memorable day at the tide pools!
One last thing I want to tell you about is our visit to the NAT at Balboa Park in San Diego. If you ever get a chance to visit this area, make sure to plan some time here checking out the Coast to Cactus in Southern California exhibit. I found it to be top notch! The displays and the interactive elements make this habitat come alive. I could have explored this area for hours.
But, by far, my favorite exhibit they have on display currently is Unshelved: Cool Stuff from Storage. It has collections of things that are normally in storage, out for you to see. It’s an eclectic group of things from tiny bugs to big bones. My favorite things on display were the collections of butterflies. So astonishing to see how beautiful these insects are up close!
This last image shows my happy face on a happy day with my family at the ocean. The ocean just seems to wash away my troubles and refreshes me in a way that keeps me coming back time after time. I forget how much just the sound of the waves and the scent of the salt air can bring relief from the busy life I lead. This photo will remind me that an ocean visit may be just what the doctor orders when I start to feel anxious and overwhelmed.
Do you have a place that refreshes you when you are facing trials?
Follow me here:Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge.If you would like me to take a look at one of your images on Instagram, use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge.
Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?
Answer all or just one of the prompts in a blog entry on your own blog or right here on my blog in a comment. If you answer on your blog, make sure to leave me a link in a comment so that I can pop over and read your responses.
During our outdoor time this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
