Category: Autumn Series

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OHC: Field Notebook in Your Nature Study

 

You can do this!

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.

Field Notebook Landscape autumn series

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.

OHC Autumn Field Notebook List @handbookofnaturestudy

Autumn Field Notebook Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study pages 1-8

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.

Autumn 2009 cover graphic

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.

Autumn Field Notebook Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study pages 1-8

 

OHC Plan 18 to 19 Join Us

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.

Benefits by Level Updated size 500

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.

 

 

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Autumn Mushroom Nature Study

Our family loves going on a good mushroom hunt! This week you can read in the Handbook of Nature Study about this fascinating nature study topic and then set off on your own hunt. Remember to create a sense of adventure as you set out to look for mushrooms, building anticipation for finding even just one mushroom to observe.

autumn mushroom

If you don’t have any mushrooms to study at this time, I invite you to view my Flickr gallery of fungi photos for some fun inspiration. The variety of shapes, colors, and sizes will amaze you! Here is the link: Barb’s Fungi Photos on Flickr.

Tip for Finding Mushrooms

My original mushroom challenge suggested that you let your friends and family know that you are looking for mushrooms and they can let you know if they come across any in their travels. Some of our best mushroom studies came from tips I got from my dad who found several interesting species of mushrooms on his property.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Mushroom Nature Study

Autumn Mushroom Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 198, pages 714-719

Archive Outdoor Hour Challenge – Click the link above to see the mushroom study suggestions in the original challenge.

“Fungi, as a whole, are a great boon to the world. Without them our forests would be choked out with dead wood. Decay is simply the process by which fungi and other organisms break down dead material, so that the major part of it returns to the air in gaseous form, and the remainder, now mostly humus, mingles with the soil.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 715

 

Autumn 2009 cover graphic

You can print and use the mushroom 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.

Autumn Mushroom Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 198, pages 714-719

Mushroom+Cap+Sketch+Notebook+Page.jpg

Mushroom Cap Printable: Click over to read some additional information, find valuable links, and a free printable notebook page to use in your follow-up study of mushrooms.

 

Optional Art Activity: Watercolor Mushrooms

“Since mushrooms are especially good subjects for watercolor and pencil studies, it would add much to the interest of the work if each pupil, or the school as a whole, should make a portfolio of sketches of all the species found. With each drawing there should be made on a supplementary sheet a spore print of the species.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 718

OHC Plan 18 to 19 Join Us

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.

Benefits by Level Updated size 500

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.

Here are a few of my personal favorites for your mushroom study. Please note I am an Amazon.com affiliate and these are affiliate links to books I own and love.


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Beginning a Year Long Willow Study

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.

Autumn willows along the river

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.

autumn willow with twine on limb

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.

 birch tree twig study with twine

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.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Willow Nature Study

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.

Autumn Willow Tree notebook page

 

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New Study: Autumn Willow Nature Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Willow Nature Study

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.

year+long+tree+study+button.jpgIn 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.

Watercolor Landscape Nature Journal

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.

Autumn Willow Tree notebook page

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.

OHC Plan 18 to 19 Join Us

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.

Benefits by Level Updated size 500

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.

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Our Family Autumn Bird Study

 

October 2018 chalkboard bird list
Excited to have so many birds in October!

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.

meadowlark nature journal page

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.

 

Project Feederwatch Nature Journal
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.

You can read our November 2017 entry here: Project Feederwatch November 2017.

 Project Feederwatch button

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?

 Autumn Bird Study @handbookofnaturestudy

 

It’s not too late to do your own Autumn Bird Study!

 Outdoor Hour Challenge Bird Nature Study Index of Challenges @handbookofnaturestudy

Are you interested in seeing my picks for bird related books and field guides? Click over to my bird tab on the website.

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Autumn Weeds: Milkweed, Thistle, Teasel, Burdock, Queen Anne’s Lace

 

Autumn Weed Study Outdoor Hour ChallengeThis week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge allows you to pick from a list of the autumn weed studies already in the archives here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Pick one of the weeds and then mark your planner to revisit this weed in all four seasons to experience its full life cycle. Make sure to read the lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study as noted below for specific weed observation suggestions.

Autumn Weeds – Handbook of Nature Study

Autumn Milkweed – Lesson 148

Autumn Thistle – Lesson 141

Autumn Teasel – Lesson 147

Autumn Burdock – Lesson 142

Autumn Queen Anne’s Lace – Lesson 128

Make sure to click the links above to read the entire Outdoor Hour Challenge with helpful links, nature study ideas, printable notebooking pages, and suggested follow-up activities.

Milkweed+Seasonal+Notebook+Page.jpg

Additional Links

Queen Anne’s Lace Autumn Study: Here is a link to one of our autumn weed studies.

Autumn Nature Journal Examples: Take a look at some of my autumn nature journal pages, including an autumn thistle page.

 

 

queen annes lace autumn

 

 

Autumn Nature Study Ebooks graphic 

If you’re a member of the Ultimate Naturalist Library, you have access to the following ebooks with notebooking pages for each of the autumn weed studies listed below.

Autumn Milkweed – More Nature Study Autumn

Autumn Thistle – More Nature Study Autumn

Autumn Teasel – Autumn Nature Study Continues

Autumn Burdock – Autumn Nature Study Continues

Autumn Queen Anne’s Lace – Autumn 2010

OHC Plan 18 to 19 Join Us

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.

Benefits by Level Updated size 500

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.

 

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New Member’s Printables – Autumn Fun

Now available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships:

Under the Fallen Leaves and Autumn Willow notebooking pages!

I created a few more autumn themed notebooking pages for you to use with your family.
Autumn Willow Tree notebook pageUnder the Fallen Leaves Notebook Page

Under the Fallen Leaves notebooking page: Take a few minutes to look under the leaves in your yard or a near-by park. What do you see there? Create a sketch and describe what you saw, felt, and smelled during your outdoor time.

Autumn Willow Tree notebooking page: Use this page to record your autumn willow observations. This can be the start of a year long/four seasons study of willows for your family. I will be reminding you each season to make some notes about your willow tree.

Note: If you have any subjects you would like me to create nature notebook pages for, please let me know in a comment here on the blog or in an email: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com

Printables for Members Button

Print a complete list of printables available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships by clicking the button above.

FYI: There will no longer be a monthly printable planning page. Please note that members have access to the complete year’s plan in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships. Non-members can follow along by subscribing to this blog and each Friday the Outdoor Hour Challenge will come into your email inbox.

Handbook of Nature Study Subscribe Now 2

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Autumn Bird and Woodpecker Nature Study

 

The Outdoor Hour Challenge this week is to go outside and observe a bird. If you want to learn about a specific bird, the lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study referenced below is for the woodpecker. Take some time to follow the links in the archived challenge to view a variety of woodpeckers and determine which ones live in your neighborhood.

Autumn Bird Study @handbookofnaturestudy

After your outdoor time, no matter what bird you found to study, follow up with the Autumn Bird notebook page found in the  free notebook page bundle available here and on the Autumn tab of the website.

Autumn Bird and Woodpecker Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 15 (pages 70-74)

Archive Outdoor Hour Challenge – Click the link above to take you to the original challenge.

Downy woodpecker

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.

Autumn Bird and Woodpecker Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 15 (pages 70-74)

 Bird+Feet+Grid+and+Sketch+Notebook+Page.jpg

Printable Bird Feet Grid and Advanced Study Notebook Pages

A suggested activity in this Outdoor Hour Challenge is to look at birds’ feet and make some comparisons. This part of the study can be done with any two birds you can observe in person. Use the notebook pages linked above to record your research and observations.

Additional Ideas

 

 Learning About Birds 3D cover

Don’t forget that the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships have a Learning About Birds ebook for you to use in your bird nature study. This ebook helps you study many common birds using the Handbook of Nature Study.

OHC Plan 18 to 19 Join Us

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.

Benefits by Level Updated size 500

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.

The links below are my affiliate links on Amazon.com. I personally have used all of these books in our homeschool nature study of woodpeckers.


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Oaks and Acorns – California Visit

Oaks have a fragrance when the leaves are warm that conjures up memories of all the summers spent living in California. It’s an earthy smell that reminds me of hiking along trails beneath the oak forest canopy.

 

Dave Moore walking under the oaks
Walking with my son – 2012

 

Oaks can create a wonderful protective archway and I love to stand underneath and peek up through the leaves to the sky. Along a familiar trail, the oaks create an arching leafy roof that filters the sunlight and I remember watching my boys run ahead of me on this trail, blond heads disappearing around the corner.

 

Oak Tree california

This week we camped under the oaks at a friend’s house in California. I relished the time to wander the property to see his magnificent oak trees.

 

The crunching of dried oak leaves was a familiar trail sound as we walk along looking for acorns, none to be found this day. Perhaps it’s early in the season or maybe this year won’t be a “good” year for an acorn crop. Hint: If you dig around in the leaf litter under the tree, you may find a few of last year’s acorns not gathered by the squirrels or scrub jays.

 

oak leaf nature journal

 

We compared two different oaks growing at our campsite, the California black oak and the interior live oak. The leaves are very different in size and shape. The California black oak is a large tree with fairly good size leaves. The interior live oak has small, sharply toothed leaves.

 

This entry includes Amazon affiliate links to products I own and love!

 

I used the Peterson field guide to trees to figure out what kind of oak trees created each type of leaf. This guide is one of my favorites because of the detailed illustrations of not only the leaf, but also the bud and acorn. This makes it easier to distinguish which oak we are studying. Look for it on Amazon and note there is an eastern and western version for trees.

 

Lichen in CaliforniaThis day I was reminded that when you study oaks there are many other related studies you could work on at the same time: lichen, moss, mistletoe, woodpeckers, squirrels, and even lizards. Try to take it all in and see your tree as a living world.

My+Tree+is+a+Living+World.jpg

See this entry for a free printable: My Tree is a Living World.

 

Oak+Tree+Study+Autumn+Colors+and+Acorns+@handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com.jpg

Make sure to read the original Oak Tree Outdoor Hour Challenge with a free notebook page: OHC Oaks and Acorns.

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Immersing Ourselves in Autumn Trees

Immersing Ourselves in Autumn Trees

The change of the season from summer to autumn is noticed by the changing of the air and the bursting forth of colors in the deciduous trees. You can’t help but revel in the oranges, burgundies, and yellows of autumn leaves!

aspen collage 2018

Did you get outside and take note of your neighborhood trees?

Our road is lined by mostly evergreens but a few of us are lucky enough to have aspens on our property to enjoy. We’ve been watching our trees, anticipating a change in color as the nights have turned colder, hoping the cold snap will give us a colorful display.

Aspen Sign

Our aspens haven’t disappointed us and they make me think of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Autumn Serenade. Glorious!


aspen tree trunks

Aside from the leaves, I really love the bark on the trunks of the aspens. But, for autumn we will focus on the leaves and then take a look at the trunks in the winter.

 Four Season Autumn NB Page

Are you starting a yearlong tree study?

Link to the printable and the Four Seasons tree study.

 

Autumn Tree Study @handbookofnaturestudy

See the original Autumn Tree Study  from the archives of the Outdoor Hour Challenges: Autumn Tree Study.

 

 

Amazon.com links to tree books I own and love!

A Walk in the Boreal Forest (includes a discussion of aspen trees)

My Favorite Tree- Click over to see my entry for this awesome book that also includes a free printable!