This is a topic that never gets boring…ants are everywhere and once your children start hunting they will find more to observe than you ever imagined. Use the options below to complete a nature notebook page for ants. If you don’t find ants, look for any insect of interest!
Printable Notebook Page:
There are two versions of the generic insect notebook page for you to download and use with any of the insect challenges.
Insect Study– record your field guide notes and a sketch Insect Notes – simple page with wider lines for younger students
For Members:
This challenge was originally published in the Spring Nature Study ebook. If you have this in your Ultimate Membership library, you may wish to print out the custom notebook page that goes along with the nature study ideas.
Here are some more detailed instructions for using the Outdoor Hour Challenge in your home for the up-coming school year. These are hopefully going to clear up any questions you have about how to proceed and what resources are needed and which ones are optional.
Specific Steps
Receive my monthly newsletter on the 1st of the month. The newsletter comes to email subscribers on the first of each month. You can subscribe HERE. When you subscribe in the middle of the month, you will receive the current newsletter link in your confirmation email.
In the newsletter, view the printable planner page for the four topics for the up-coming month. If the topic is from the archives, I provide the link to the challenge and the link to the ebook it is from if applicable. This way you can prepare for the challenges ahead of time if you wish.
Print out any activities you wish to complete with your family. Keep these handy!
To go more in depth, members will be using two ebooks for the autumn and winter seasons: More Nature Study Autumn and More Nature Study Winter. These two ebooks are included in the Ultimate Naturalist Librarymembership. Members can open those and print the coordinating notebook pages to use during the month. This is not required but would supplement the current month’s work.
You can use the free monthly newsletter along with the Handbook of Nature Study book for your nature study. Adding a membership gives you access to the Ultimate Naturalist Library’s ebooks and printables which provide members with even more in-depth studies each month.
Resources Needed:
1. Free Monthly Newsletter so you have the topic, the challenge ideas ahead of time, and the newsletter printables. Subscribe HERE.
2. Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock ISBN: 978-0801493843
3. Highly recommended: Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
4. Highly recommended: Nature journal or nature notebook.
Those four things are going to allow you a lot of opportunities for relaxed nature study in your own backyard with simple follow up activities if desired.
Use the discount code NATURE5 to receive $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership!
I am excited to share my latest nature study ebook with all of my readers and special visitors as part of the Back to School Gift Basket event! Make sure to enter the giveaway, look for the discount code, and subscribe to my free newsletter while you are here!
Along with the ebook, I am going to be including three bird resources that we have used and loved in our family!
Details of this Giveaway
Use the Rafflecopter gadget below to enter to win one gift basket that contains the following items. Please note that the ebook is a digital prize that will be emailed directly to you and the other three resources will ship from Amazon.com.
Peterson Field Guide – Your choice of either the Western Edition or the Eastern Edition of this amazing field guide.
Bird Log for Kids – This book is a perfect fit for young nature lovers to record their bird observations and it even includes a child’s first life list of birds observed.
Receive multiple entries by following the options in the Rafflecopter gadget below.
One Winner will be picked at random on 8/22/16. Please note winners must live in the United States and respond within 48 hours to claim their prize.
Special Discount for Everyone for the Ultimate Naturalist Library!
Use the discount code FORTHEBIRDSat check out to receive $10 off the Ultimate Naturalist Library – this includes every single ebook that has been published for the Outdoor Hour Challenge…18 in all! Discount code is good through 8/22/16.
Monthly Nature Study Newsletter
Subscribe to the Handbook of Nature Study blog and you will receive my free monthly newsletter on the first of every month:Subscription Entry!
Revisiting this awesome wildflower activity in a different season!
I am encouraging everyone to complete another wildflower grid study this month and then compare it to the one we did earlier this year. Wildflowers bloom in succession so it is a great way to teach your children about the passing of time and when to expect to see certain flowers each year.
You will find the wildflower grid study printable in this month’s newsletter (and the May 2016 one too). If you haven’t subscribed yet to the Handbook of Nature Study, you can do so now and receive the current newsletter in the follow up email. Members here on the Handbook of Nature Study have access to every newsletter in the archives.
New printables for members!
Invertebrates- This notebook page allows you to sketch an invertebrate you are studying and then write a bit about it on the lines provided.
My Wildflower Study- After you find a wildflower to observe up close, use this notebook page to record your experiences, including a large box for sketching. This page can be used with any wildflower and at any time of the year.
Click the graphic below to purchase your membership today!
I know many of you are starting your school year shortly and I thought it might be helpful to share my plans for the Outdoor Hour Challenge for the up-coming autumn and winter seasons. This is a period in my life when keeping things simple is my primary goal. In meditating on what to do for the autumn and winter seasons as far as nature study, I decided it would be interesting and fun to work back through some nature study topics found in the archives.
This will free my time up to pursue a new series of Outdoor Hour Challenges to be published next spring!
Newsletter
Just a note to those who have asked- I am going to continue the Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter again this year! I would love to have some help writing articles so if you haven’t already heard from me about contributing to the newsletter, please email me or leave me a comment here with your contact information and I will explain how to submit an article.
Autumn 2016 Plans
Use the More Nature Study – Autumn ebookfrom the archives. Work through all of the topics and share our experiences. You can access this ebook in the Ultimate Naturalist Library if you are a member. It is not absolutely necessary to have the ebook but it does have custom notebooking pages for both regular and advanced learners. Please click over and read the entry that lists all of the ebook’s contents.
Winter 2016 Plans
Use the More Nature Study – Winter Wonder ebookfrom the archives. This book is part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library for members. Again, it is not a requirement that you have the ebook but it is very convenient and helpful to have access to the challenges and the custom notebooking pages as we work through the series of nature study challenges.
Use the discount code NATURE5 to receive $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership!
Plus! I am reinstating the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival but instead of monthly it will be quarterly.
Here are the carnival dates:
November 1, 2016
February 1, 2017
May 1, 2017
August 1, 2017
All nature study type entries can be submitted, preferably entries that highlight the Outdoor Hour Challenge and Handbook of Nature Study newsletter activities. Deadline for entries for the first carnival will be 10/26/16. You can send in your entries to harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
You can grab one of the OHC Carnival buttons from this entry for your blog if you would like to share this event. A link back to this blog would be much appreciated. https://naturestudyhomeschool.com/
If you have any questions or comments about the plans, please feel free to email me or leave a comment here on the blog. harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
We found the perfect solution for charging our iphones when we are out on the trail. The Explorer Solar Power Bank has been a simple answer to our dead phone problems.
You can find it on Amazon by typing in this asin B00XVO5S2W.
Please note that I purchased this with my own money and am sharing my honest review of this product after using it many times. The links above are affiliate links to Amazon.com.
I use my phone a lot for photos and navigation when we are out hiking and I can easily drain my battery before we get back to the car. We did some research online and came up with the idea to purchase a solar charger to carry with us so we don’t end up with a dead phone.
We chose the Explorer Solar Power Bank because of its good ratings on Amazon, its price, and the size. For less than $20, we are delighted with the performance and ease of use that this charger provides.
We love having the Explorer Solar Power Bank for our hikes. It’s the green gadget on the left.
Pros:
It is lightweight and slips easily into our pack.
Easy to use once you figure out that you need to wall charge it first and then “top it off” with solar power when you are outside.
Recharges quickly.
Will charge anything that uses an USB port plug. The cord comes with both types of plugs for both an iPhone and an android.
Cons:
The instructions are not very clear and written in poor English.
The charging cord that came with it stopped working but we just use our own original charging cords now and it words fine.
I would recommend this for charging up your phone or ipad when you are away from a plug. I think I may get a second one so both my husband and I can carry one in our packs.
Please note that I received free seeds as part of a promotional privilege from Renee’s Garden Seeds. I am going to share my honest opinion of seeds we have used for many years.
What did we plant this year?
Blue Lake Heirloom Pole Beans – So far we have only lush looking plants and no beans to harvest. We planted these on 5/23 so we should have seen some beans forming. I’m not sure what is going on with these.
Classic Slenderette Bush Beans– This are a winner! We have been enjoying this easy to grow and pick variety for over a month now. They are tasty, tender, and I find them super easy to pick. The plants are compact and have given us an abundance of beans.
Pandorino Italian Grape Tomato– I planted these in the wrong spot and they are shaded by the zucchini. The plants are starting to look great so maybe there is still hope that they will produce some tomatoes soon.
Raven Dark Green Zucchini – Yum, yum! We are eating this zucchini every other day now that it is producing. The plants look great and the zucchini is easy to pick and tastes delicious!
Scarlett O’Hara Heirloom Morning Glory – This is such a pretty color flower and it is just getting started blooming. I am going to enjoy it for some time to come.
Mighty Lion – Butterfly Zinnia Amazing flowers! This is my favorite new zinnia ever. The flowers are so large and orange that you can’t help but be happy when you see them in the garden.
I am loving my garden this year…in the actual square foot garden boxes. The last few years with the drought we have been unable to plant a real garden so this is a delight.
If you are creating a garden journal or using your garden as your nature study subject this summer, I highly recommend the notebooking pages linked below. Please note these are my affiliate links.
Note these are affiliate links to products I love!
NotebookingPages.com is having two special events this week!
Back to School Giveaway- Today Only!
I just didn’t want you to miss it! I am a proud sponsor of NotebookingPages.com and my Getting Started ebookis one of the prizes the Grand Prize winner will receive. This is a great opportunity to get started with notebooking with the free pages you will receive when you enter the giveaway.
Back to School Sale – Starts Tomorrow!
PLUS starting tomorrow there will be a Back to School Sale with $25 off a lifetime membership. Please note I am an affiliate for NotebookingPages.com and highly recommend their products for all homeschooling families.
Entries about notebooking for your nature journal you may want to read:
SAVE $25 on Notebooking Pages LIFETIME Memberships
…LIFETIME Memberships on sale for just $72!!! (3-month installment plan will be available … $10, $31, $31)
LIFETIME Members receive all current & future notebooking products
PLUS our 2 bonuses: Bonus 1: 12 months free subscription to The Notebooking Publisher web-app Bonus 2: $100+ Homeschool e-book package
July is always a busy outdoor month in our family and this year is certainly no exception. Between the garden and hiking we are outside hours and hours each week. (Here is last year’s July entry.)
Since my children are all grown up and they live so very far away, I now have my trusty canine friend to accompany me on my outdoor adventures. She is always willing to take a walk or stay close by when I am gardening. We manage to fit in a bit of ball throwing to keep her smiling.
Here is a striking image of a wildflower from a hike we did this month. My husband says it makes him happy when I find a flower to photograph because he knows it is one of my favorite things to do. We have very little rain in our part of California during the summer months so most of the grasses turn brown, contrasting with the brilliantly colored wildflowers that manage to thrive in this dry hot environment. I am pretty sure this is some sort of penstemon.
Every now and then my husband will snap a photo of me on the trial…this one was on a new hike to Floating Island Lake up in the Desolation Wilderness. If you are familiar with the Lake Tahoe area of California, you will be interested to know this is right by Fallen Leaf Lake and on the same trail that leads to the top of Mt. Tallac. We both thought this was an amazing vista as you hiked along the ridge above Fallen Leaf. This is a perfect day hike!
On an evening hike to the river, I discovered a patch of narrow leaf milkweed...something new to me but I recognized the flower pattern as some sort of milkweed right away and that got me excited. Excited because I would love to have a little milkweed patch with these growing in my backyard. I did some research and discovered that since this is growing on BLM land, I am allowed to take some seeds when the time comes to use for my personal use. I am now going to be watching to see when I can harvest a few seeds to sow in my backyard wild space. [I found this printable from BLM in Nevada and I assume it is the same in California.]
Just trying to keep myself accountable…as part of my nature goals this year I am creating some bird nature journal pages. This one is for the California towhee which is a familiar and frequent visitor to my yard. Slow and steady and maybe I will achieve my goal this year!
You can read about my goals by clicking the button above.
We have been picking blackberries for a couple weeks now and they are still coming strong. Have you ever smelled warm blackberries in the sunshine? It is one of my favorite summer time smells! We will be picking some more but there will be plenty for birds and other visitors to our front yard habitat. We actually discovered another berry patch that has grown in thickly at our back property line and the fruit there is thick and yummy!
Did you know there is a strawberry nature study in the archives? Look on the garden tab and scroll down to the crop plant challenges. Click here to go there now: Strawberry Nature Study. I have also been spending time in my dad’s garden, mostly taking photos and keeping track of anything my dad needs. He is still out in his garden every day even though he is almost 87 years old. I think it is his therapy. This swallowtail was amazing to see as it fluttered among the lantana blossoms. My dad has a whole bank covered with lantana and if you stop and watch you can spot three or four different butterflies, lizards, and hummingbirds that visit often. So pretty!
One last image for you as part of my Outdoor Mom’s Journal this month. The collage below is one I made and shared with my children on the day we sold our ski boat last month. It was a great family boat and we have many, many happy memories aboard the boat …and behind it on skis, wakeboards, and tubes. It was a part of our family for the last 28 years and now it has gone to a new family to enjoy for many more years to come. We love the water but with our family being so spread out now, we rarely took the boat out at all. Instead, we are going to take some of the money to purchase a new tandem kayak for my husband and I. Stay tuned for some new water adventures…of a slower kind.
Outdoor Mom’s Journal
Whether your family spends a few minutes a week outside or hours at a time, share what is going on in your world.
How Do You Join?
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 week 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….
I added nature journal pages about….
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
A photo I would like to share…
Need help getting started with your nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study? Check out the fresh “Getting Started” page here on the website!
We had a wonderful trip to Devils Postpile National Monument last month. It wasn’t anything like we expected but it was even better. So much to do and so many trails to hike and explore…we must make a return trip some day soon. First of all, its location is a little off the beaten path for most people but it can easily be included along with a visit to Yosemite National Park. (Distance from Yosemite National Park’s Tioga Road entrance is approximately 70 miles or 1.5 hours driving.)
There are so many opportunities to hike and camp at this national monument and with Mammoth Mountain so nearby, you could easily spend a week here just exploring the eastern Sierra.
I will focus my post on our day hike in the park and share some tips for getting the most out of what you could possibly do on a quick visit.
Our Perfect Day Hike at Devils Postpile (with a hike to Rainbow Falls too!)
We parked at Mammoth Mountain Adventure Center to catch the shuttle into Devils Postpile. It is a requirement that you use the shuttle during certain hours of the day or if you don’t have very specific conditions that apply that allow you to drive your personal vehicle. (disabled plates or placard, boats to put on the lake, you have camping reservations, etc). I highly recommend that you check the website for more information. The shuttle allows you to get off and on as many times as you want throughout your stay.
The shuttle costs $7 per person to ride and we found the bus came around the circuit quite frequently so we never waited very long.
There is a small visitor center at shuttle stop number 6 which is where we hopped off to hike to the actual postpile. There are restrooms available there at that shuttle stop. We knew we wanted to make a day hike so the option to start at shuttle stop 6, hike to the postpile, continue on to Rainbow Falls, and then loop up to shuttle stop number 10 made sense for us. It was still about 3.8 miles in total with a few steep sections but mostly easy hiking.
We enjoyed the thought that we actually were hiking on a portion of the John Muir Trail. It was an easy hike of about a half mile to the Devils Postpile and there were quite a few people on the trail with us.
We didn’t realize that the early morning light was not conducive to a good photograph of the postpile. The sun is rising up over the rock formation so you get quite a bit of glare. We managed to take a few decent photos and opted out of hiking the trail up to the top to look down from the top of the postpile.
The trail is very exposed so make sure to bring a hat or sunblock. Also, although it wasn’t even a really hot day, we went through lots of water. Maybe it is the elevation of the hike but we were thirsty! Once we passed the postpile, the crowds disappeared and we only saw a few other hikers. Solitude!
I was surprised to see we would be entering into the Ansel Adams Wilderness and I felt it required a photo of me to document our great day. We sat on a log near here and ate our lunch as we contemplated the beauty of this place. What a treasure of a day!
This waterfall was our ultimate goal! Rainbow Falls lives up to its name and there were two rainbows in the mist at the base of the falls. The trail to the bottom of the falls was closed so we weren’t able to make the last leg down to the river level but we enjoyed sitting on a rock at the top and listening to the thundering water and feeling the mist as it drifted out over the rocks.
From the falls we hiked up to shuttle stop number 10 which is at Reds Meadow Resort. There is a small store and restaurant to purchase some snacks and drinks. We had a cold drink and sat with the hikers who were on their trek to cover the John Muir Trail to Mount Whitney. There were some hikers who had packed in from Yosemite Valley too. Oh how I wish I were able to make that hike!
Additional Information:
No entrance fee if you are on the shuttle bus (fee included in shuttle ticket).
Make sure to get a map at the visitor center (shuttle stop 6) before you head out on the trail.
Lodging available at Mammoth Lake.
You can read more of my national park entries by following these links:
