This week we kick off the autumn series of Outdoor Hour Challenges with a bird study! Use the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (Lesson 28) to learn more about these beautiful flyers.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
Now available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships:
1. First Day of Autumn Grid Study and Nature Journal Toppers printable: I think we are all ready for a little change in the season! Using these printables in your nature journal will help jump start your nature journaling year.
2. Full Moon Planner 2020 notebook page: I have so enjoyed gazing at the full moons this summer. But, I seem to lack enthusiasm as soon as the evenings turn chilly. I wanted a way to remind myself to get outside and look at the moon in all the seasons so I created the planner page to help encourage our family to take note of each of the full moons over the next year. Please join me and I hope the helps you create a record of your moon observations.
(See the end of this post for more information on how you can become a member.)
Full Corn Moon is September 2, 2020!
Print a complete list of printables available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships by clicking the button above.
Members also have access to the Nature Planner pages in their library.
Print out this month’s page and use it to stimulate your weekly nature study time.
As the new school year starts for many families, the Outdoor Hour Challenge is getting started too! Starting September 2, 2020, we’ll be working our way through the Autumn Nature Study (2015) ebook.
In September the topics are:
Swallows and Swifts
“The swallows are very graceful birds and are exceedingly swift fliers….The chimney swift is not a swallow; it is more nearly related to the hummingbird than to the swallow.”
Catbirds
“The catbird has a beautiful song as well as the harsh “miou”, and can imitate other birds, although not as well as the mockingbird.”
Cockroaches
“The American species live in fields and woods and under stones and sticks and only occasionally venture into dwellings.”
Field Horsetail
“The horsetail is a plant that develops spores instead of seeds, and has green stems instead of leaves.”
Here’s a sample nature study from this ebook that features the catbird:
Join us this year for a fantastic lineup of Outdoor Hour Challenges; many of them are brand new to the website. You can see the ebooks and topics by clicking over to the plan page. Members have access to all of the ebooks necessary for the complete year.
If you still need a membership, please click over and join us now as we start the new school year. It isn’t too late to get started!
Discount Code GETSTARTED for $10 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
Offer expires 9/19/2020.
The Outdoor Hour Challenge is proud to have been voted the top elementary science program by homeschoolers. I’m so appreciative to be able to help so many families get outdoors and enjoy the amazing things found right outside their own back doors….and beyond.
During the winter months many shrubs and trees have winter berries, providing a splash of color to an otherwise drab landscape. Winter berries also provide fruits that are visible food source for wildlife.
Bundle up for a winter hike and then paint, draw, or just observe any animals in the area feeding on these berries.
Different Types of Winter Berries
Many winter berries are red, orange, and yellow. There are several different types of Winter Berries, including: Beautyberry, Cotoneaster, Crabapple, Winterberry, Inkberry, Common Snowberry, Red Chokeberry, and American Cranberry bush.
This week is a great indoor nature study opportunity if you’re experiencing some winter weather like we are in Central Oregon. After reading the lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study, use the links in the original challenge to learn even more about mica.
If you don’t have mica to observe, you can do an alternate rock study for any rock you may have on hand. Use a field guide or a book from the library to learn more about your rock. Look in your Member’s library for an abundance of rock study alternative ideas like printables, notebook pages, and newsletters.
This challenge is found in the Autumn Nature Study Continues ebook found in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships here on the Handbook of Nature Study. You can print the notebooking pages and the coloring page included in the ebook to supplement your nature study this week.
If you don’t have a membership yet, you can click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 23 ebooks and so much more!
For this challenge, pick a clear evening to go out and look at the night sky. Bundle up and realize that it will probably be a quick look at the stars unless you have a very motivated student. Do the preparation work beforehand so you’ll have a particular constellation in mind. Keep it fun and aim to introduce the idea of nighttime nature study to your family.
Run back inside and have some hot cocoa and talk about what you saw during your Outdoor Hour time.
This challenge is part of the Autumn Nature Study Continues ebook, found in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships here on the Handbook of Nature Study. You can print the notebooking pages and the coloring page included in the ebook to supplement your nature study this week.
If you don’t have a membership yet, you can click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 23 ebooks and so much more!
Nothing could be easier than creating a field notebook list for your nature journal!
This week’s challenge will help you make a list of nature study topics you observed during your outdoor time but aren’t quite ready to study in depth. As you work through this activity, you’re training your family to be more alert and giving them skills that actual naturalists use to learn more about their own habitats.
Soon, the weather and conditions may keep you indoors and this list of topics will give you inspiration to keep nature study going indoors.
Nature Study When the Weather is Too Cold or Wet to be Outdoors – Pull Out Your Field Notebook List!
Skim down your field notebook list of topics, choose one to topic to study, and then get out your Handbook of Nature Study and/or a field guide. Do a little research on your chosen topic and then create a nature journal page showing what you learned.
Archive Outdoor Hour Challenge – Click the link above to see the original challenge. Make sure to read the introductory pages in the Handbook of Nature Study to freshen up your nature study attitude!
The Field Notebook List is a tool you can use in planning your future nature study lessons!
Additional Suggestion:
Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 13-15 (The Field Notebook). In this section Anna Botsford Comstock helps us with a detailed description of her idea of a field notebook or nature journal. She also states that if done properly “they represent what cannot be bought or sold, personal experience in the happy world of out-of-doors”. Make note of any suggestions you want to implement with your children.
You can print and use the field notebook page included in the free autumn notebook page download above.
Make sure to click the link below to read the entire Outdoor Hour Challenge with helpful links, nature study ideas, printable notebooking pages, and suggested follow-up activities.
This Outdoor Hour Challenge is part of the 2018-2019 Plan here on the Handbook of Nature Study. We’ll be using the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock to discover new things about the world around us. Join us each Friday for a different nature study topic. Make sure to subscribe to this blog to receive the weekly challenge right in your email box.
If you want to become a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you can click the Join Us button for more details. Benefits include those shown above including access to ebooks, notebooking pages, archived newsletters, and new ebooks and printables published during your membership.
Willows in our autumn landscape are a colorful accent, lining the river’s edge and adding a rich reddish orange as you look off into the distance. There are still a few leaves left on the willows and the limbs and branches are a yellow color.
As part of our autumn study, we picked a willow to use as our subject for a year-long willow study. We tied a piece of twine on a branch to help us remember which willow we are observing.
We have done this activity before with a birch tree. Having a piece of twine on a branch really helped us focus on watching for changes from season to season. I invite you to read this entry for the specific instructions for this kind of tree study: Twigs.
If you would like to start a yearlong study of willows, you’re welcome to click over to read the challenge from last week. It’s not too late to get outside looking for willows, learning about willows, and beginning a valuable nature study of willows.
Please note there is an Autumn Willow notebooking page in the Ultimate and Journey level membership libraries. You can print it and use it for your nature journal.
Welcome to the brand new nature study featuring the willow! I’m excited to look more closely at my own autumn willows as the season changes. This should be an easy study as you look at the color changes and the dropping of leaves in your willow.
Start Here: Willow Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 179 (pages 651-655)
The link above takes you to a summer study of the willow using the Handbook of Nature Study. Pay particular attention to suggestions #8 and #9 in Lesson 179 for specific autumn willow study ideas.
In Addition: Year Long Tree Study in the Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 172 (pages 623-624) My favorite suggestions are to watercolor the shape of a tree with its autumn foliage and to carefully compare leaves found on your tree for any variation.
Activity: Tie a string on a twig attached to your willow. Observe and record in your nature journal the twig’s changes for a few months. We’re going to be doing this on a willow behind our house along the river.
Both Ultimate and Journey level members here on the Handbook of Nature Study have access to a new autumn willow notebooking page for recording your autumn observations. Look for it in your printable library.
This Outdoor Hour Challenge is part of the 2018-2019 Plan here on the Handbook of Nature Study. We’ll be using the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock to discover new things about the world around us. Join us each Friday for a different nature study topic. Make sure to subscribe to this blog to receive the weekly challenge right in your email box.
If you want to become a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you can click the Join Us button for more details. Benefits include those shown above including access to ebooks, notebooking pages, archived newsletters, and new ebooks and printables published during your membership.
In our continuing effort to learn the bird migration patterns in our new habitat, our dining room chalkboard list of monthly birds is a valuable tool. It creates a simple record of birds that visit our feeders, our yard, and fly by our back windows. I copy the list into my nature journal at the end of the month so we’ll be able to see from year to year the birds that come and go throughout the seasons.
There was a new bird this month! The western meadowlark became my autumn bird study. I was really glad it appeared before I had my hip surgery so I could go outside and try to take a photo. Even though I wasn’t successful at getting an image, I did get a good look at the meadowlark and its behavior. I used AllAboutBirds.com to research this beautiful bird along with my Peterson field guide. These two sources gave me enough information to create a good nature journal entry. I hope to someday hear this songbird singing…perhaps this spring.
Nature journal page from 2017 Project Feederwatch
November 10, 2018 is the first day we can start counting birds that visit our feeders as part of the Project Feederwatch citizen science opportunity. Click over to read more about this important and simple activity for families: Project Feederwatch.
This is a perfect way to start or continue an autumn bird nature study with your family even if you don’t know the identity of all the birds that come to your yard. This project will help you learn as you go. Click the logo above for a video that explains how to participate.
How did your autumn bird study go this time around?
