Handbook of Nature Study Archives

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Barb — 3 Comments

Our Spring Fern Nature Study

Taken May 3, 2012

We actually started our fern nature study way back in January during our Silent Nature Winter Walk.

This week we walked the same trail to view our ferns. We tried to remember how many ferns there were back in January and there seems to be more ferns now and they are larger. Comparing photos I think we are correct.

Magnificent ferns on our hiking trail.

I was interested in the Western sword fern but Mr. B was interested in the California Maidenhair fern. Both are plants that we have looked at closely before. The Maidenhair fern is interesting because it has a black stem and looks like lace…sometimes you have to look twice because you think the green parts are floating in air but really they are attached with delicate black stems.

More Nature Study Book #3 Fern Study Notebook Page

We had a field guide to consult and to glean a few new facts from. Mr. B did a nature journal page for the California Maidenhair fern from our hiking trail. He thought the stalk was a purple/black…I will have to look closer the next time we hike down the trail.

California Maidenhair Fern – March 2010 (Best photo I have that shows the stalk.)

Now do you want to see some of our California wildflowers from further up the trail? We were busy this time stopping and noting all the colorful flowers there are right now.

This is a colorful time of year in our part of the world.

I am keeping a running list of wildflowers seen on this particular trail for the whole year of 2012.

Keeping a list…nothing fancy about this page in my journal.

I just add to my list in my nature journal when we get back from our hike. It is interesting to see the patterns and successions of blooms.

Making fern prints with ink. See link below.

We will be revisiting ferns again this summer as we visit several spots in California that have ferns. I think it will be fun to add to our collection of fern prints that we started back in January.

It is not too late to join in with your own fern nature study….. If you own the More Nature Study Book #3 for spring, there are plenty of simple ideas to glean more information about your local ferns or prepare for the future when you may encounter ferns during your travels.

I am linking up to a new to me monthly meme at The Homeschool Scientist. Click over and join in.

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Barb — 2 Comments

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 – Ferns

More Nature Study Book 3
Fern Study

Inside Preparation Work:

Read pages 693-706 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lessons 192-195)). Highlight information on ferns that you would like to share with your children. After reading through the information, pick one aspect of the fern to focus on during your outdoor time (unfolding, fruiting, learning parts of the fern).
View this animation: The Life Cycle of the Fern. This one is also interesting: YouTube: Time Lapse Fern Unfurling.
Advanced preparation: YouTube: Fern Life Cycle (Give this one a chance. It starts off a little rough but covers the information very well for this challenge.) Fern Cycle—Animated (For Fun). For students who have a background with high school biology: Fern Life Cycle.

Outdoor Hour Time:
Note:Take a hand lens and a way to carry a fern frond with you during your outdoor time.

Ferns are in the section of the Handbook of Nature Study that covers Flowerless Plants. Use your outdoor time this week to go on a fern hunt or as an alternative, look for moss which is in the same section in the Handbook (Lesson 197). Make observations using a hand lens if you have one. Take photos of the location of your ferns or other subjects.
Collect one frond of your fern (if appropriate).

Follow-Up Activities:

Allow time for a nature journal (notebook page provided in the ebook). If you would like to make this study into a year-long project, record your spring fern observations and mark your calendar to return in summer, autumn, and winter to view your fern’s changes.
Use careful observation to view the sori on the back of your fern.
Make ink prints of your fern frond in your nature journal. Step by step instructions are on my blog: Making Leaf Prints With Ink.
Advanced study: Record the story of the fern in your nature journal. Ebook users: Optional: Fern coloring page.

Additional Links:
Guide to Ferns (for Georgia but information that can apply anywhere)

Printable Parts of a Fern

Fern vocabulary

Backyard Ferns

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Barb — 3 Comments

Our Beloved Dogwood Tree – Blooming Right on Schedule for Our Nature Study

Our Dogwood Study with the Handbook of Nature Study
(It is not too late to join us if you still have a dogwood blooming in your neighborhood.)

Funny how we all have had our favorite spring Outdoor Hour Challenges. For me? This dogwood study has been about two years in the making. I have always wanted to have a dogwood tree in our front yard but it wasn’t until we did our massive front yard remodel that I was able to find a dedicated spot for the dogwood tree. We choose one with white blossoms…my favorite.

You can see our front yard transformation here in this post: Removing the Lawn.

We waited last year for it to flower but we only had leaves. This year….ta da! A dozen or so creamy white blossoms to enjoy and now study.

We read in the Handbook of Nature Study about how the flowers have been waiting inside the bracts all winter long, protected and sheltered until conditions were right. I have spent the last month or so going out almost daily to check the branches for any signs of opening. What a gift once we saw the bracts changing!

See the notched bract? This is another thing discussed in the Handbook of Nature Study that I would have never noticed if it wasn’t pointed out to me.

I had to convince Mr. B that the true flowers are the ones at the center and not the big white bracts. We counted the flowers and found there were 25+, some open and some closed.

Notebook Page for More Nature Study Book #3

The Handbook of Nature Study said that this was a perfect lesson to use a hand lens for so we brought ours out and took a deeper look. Amazing! If you haven’t yet done your dogwood study, I highly recommend this activity. You might note it in your ebook to do for next year as well if your dogwoods are no longer blooming.

How fun is this? Don’t the leaves look like a bird? I was busy standing on top of my retaining wall to take photos of the dogwood and looking down on the leaves….it truly looked like a bird!

Now for a few fun images from our evening study. Here is a colorful view of our front yard right now….hubby brought me home a new garden flag for the front stairs. I love it! We did have a swallowtail in the yard a few days ago so it won’t be long now until butterfly time! The Kona dog is taking a rest from helping us weed and water.

I don’t think I shared my new addition to the rock garden. We took a new hike up into the mountains and into an area where you can collect rocks, a true rockhounds paradise. We brought home this big piece of serpentine which is the California State Rock. Isn’t an amazing shade of green? Our rock garden has become its own little micro-habitat with insects and critters living around and under the rocks. In the evenings there is a very loud cricket chorus in our yard. It is a comforting sound and I stand on the deck and listen in the dark and imagine where they all are as they sing.

What a wonderful study! It all started back when we decided to remodel the front yard a few years ago and we put on paper our list of plants and trees we hoped to include. The dogwood came two years ago and this past week we added a California redbud. I am looking forward to seeing it grow and mature…maybe next year it will bloom for us.

I invite you to take a closer look at your dogwood using the Handbook of Nature Study!

Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Barb — 5 Comments

Spring Wildflowers- California Poppy Nature Study

“One of the most interesting performances to watch that I know is the way this poppy takes off its cap before it bows to the world. Like magic the cap loosens around the base; it is then pushed off by the swelling, expanding petals until completely loosened, and finally drops off.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 563

Way back when I was planning the challenges for the More Nature Study Book #3, I had no way of knowing what perfect timing I would have with this particular Poppies and Buttercups Challenge. We were treated to two events this week in connection with our poppy study.

1. We took a day trip to Yosemite National Park and even though parts of the park still have quite a bit of snow, when we left the park through the southern El Portal entrance and out Hwy 140 there were millions of poppies blooming along the hills that run alongside the Merced River. It was breathtaking! I have lived in California all my life and I have never seen such a display of poppies…miles and miles of poppies in bloom.

2. The California Poppies in our front yard garden decided to start blooming on Monday. I am serious….Monday, right on cue! We took some time to closely observe the way the caps tip to reveal the petals (see the top photo in this entry). We marveled at the light shining through the bright orange petals. We peered into the inside flower parts and remembered Anna Botsford Comstock’s remarks about sleeping inside a poppy. We observed the lacy leaves and decided to do some sketches and rubbings of the leaves in our nature journals. You can view a previous more thorough study of poppies in this blog entry: CA Poppies-Using the Handbook of Nature Study.

“The insects in California take advantage of the closing petals and often get a night’s lodging within them, where they are cozily housed with plenty of pollen for supper and breakfast..”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 564

As part of the advanced study suggestions for this challenge, we are keeping a spring list of wildflowers in our nature journals.

Advanced Study Notebook Page – More Nature Study Book #3 Spring

Mr. B also completed an additional notebook page for the Hound’s Tongue wildflower that we saw blooming this week on our hiking trail. This is one of the early wildflowers that we see in our local area. It’s distinctive leaves make it an easy flower to identify. The flowers are almost blue which is unusual and beautiful.

I enjoyed the lupine on the way home from our Yosemite trip. We had a wonderful week of focusing on wildflowers, increasing our desire for spring to really come and stay in our part of the world.

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Barb — 1 Comment

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 – Spring Wildflowers: Poppies and Buttercups

More Nature Study Book 3
Spring Wildflowers – Poppies and Buttercups

Inside Preparation Work:

Read the Handbook of Nature Study pages 516-518 (Lesson 136) on the buttercup. Also, read pages 560-565 in the Handbook about the poppy and the California poppy (Lessons 154 and 155). Use the information to identify and then observe these flowers when you get the opportunity. If you don’t have these flowers in your area, use this challenge to find and view closely any flower in your spring world.
View this page for some amazing images of buttercups: Close-Up View of 3 Buttercups. Ebook users: View poppy images on page 29.
Use this challenge to introduce the parts of a flower with the proper names. You can find information online HERE. There is a diagram in the Handbook of Nature Study on page 456. You can also refer to Garden Challenge #2. I encourage you to start using the flower part names as you observe flowers.

Outdoor Hour Time:

This week you can spend some of your outdoor time looking for spring flowers or flowering weeds. Part of this challenge is to start using the correct flower part names and that can be done with any flower you find.
Collect one or two flowers to bring inside to draw in your nature journal.
Advanced students: Complete your nature journal in the field. List as many of the flowers you observed as you can (Free printable list notebook page HERE). Use your field guide to identify any flowers you don’t know. Pick one to research later in the week.

Follow-Up Activity:

Sketch or watercolor the flower you collected during your outdoor time. Make sure to add a date, flower name, and the location you collected the flower to your entry.
Press your flower. You can refer to the Garden Flowers Challenge #3 for more information (which includes my YouTube video with instructions for a making a press: How to Make a Flower Press.
Advanced students: If you did not do so in the field, complete a nature journal entry for your flower, complete with flower parts labeled. Use a field guide or the internet to learn more about your flower.
Advanced students: Research more information on one of the flowers you observed during your outdoor time.

Additional Links:
Slideshow for poppies (child friendly)

You can see our Spring Wildflower Study by clicking over to my follow-up blog entry:
Spring Wildflowers – CA Poppy Nature Study (and an additional wildflower too).

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Barb — Leave a comment

More Nature Study Book 3 -Spring Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms

More Nature Study Book #3
Spring Tree Study – Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms

This challenge is aimed at getting you outdoors and looking at trees early in the spring. What should you be looking for? Try looking for buds, catkins, or blossoms. The challenge is not specifically about willow trees but the willow is covered in-depth in the Handbook of Nature Study and contains information you can apply to other trees. Since everyone has varying conditions, adapt this study to your local trees and their current stage of growth.

In the winter we looked at twigs. If you have a twig you have been watching, make sure to wrap up your study this week with a journal entry and final drawing.

Inside Preparation Work:

Read pages 651-654 of the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 179 on the Willow) and pages 648-650 (Lesson 178 on the Horse Chestnut). Read for information about the twigs, buds, and pussies.
View this page on catkins and note what to look for during your outdoor time. Explain that the “tassels” of the oak and “pussies” of the pussy willow are really flowers. Catkins appear before the leaves. There can be male and female catkins. Ebook users: Use the illustrations in the ebook to learn about the different ways buds can look and be arranged on the twig.
Interest arousing YouTube videos: Horse-Chestnut Bud and Birch Buds. Fascinating.

Outdoor Hour Time:

Go outside and look at the buds, catkins, or blossoms on trees in your yard or neighborhood. Ebook Users: See chart in the ebook for blooming times for common trees.
Gather some twigs with buds, catkins, and/or blossoms to bring inside for observation. Place each twig in a jar with water and label with the tree name if possible. Note: Catkins and blossoms contain pollen.
Advanced Study: Watercolor a spring blossom if you have one to observe in person.
View this video on YouTube which shows birds feeding on willows.

Follow-Up Activity:

Use your senses to observe your buds, catkins, and/or blossoms. (touch, sight, smell). Make a record in your nature journal including a sketch. Make sure to record the length of your bud and as many details as possible including color. Ebook Users: Optional coloring pages: Horse Chestnut and Pussy Willow.
Watch your buds over time and see what happens. Record how long it takes for the buds to open. Place a piece of white paper under the jars with catkins and observe what happens over the next few days. Record your observations in your nature journal or on a notebook page.
Examine your bud to determine what type it is using a hand lens.

Advanced study:

Extend your study to include information about the tree your bud came from using a field guide or the internet.
If you haven’t dissected a bud yet, use a bud you collected as part of this challenge. Each bud is different so take your time to remove the scales and layers as you go. View this image to see how you can record your work in your nature journal.
Sketch your catkin and research how the catkin functions as part of tree reproduction. Use this link to learn more about classifying buds: Buds. This one is an excellent visual guide: okPlantid.
You may be interested in previous spring tree studies: Year-Long Tree and Spring Tree.

Elizabeth shared this link with me and it is a perfect citizen science project to go along with this challenge. Project Budburst. Free printable journal pages you could use with this challenge too!

You can read about our Spring Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms study:
Buds and Catkins – Our Spring Nature Study

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Barb — 5 Comments

Early Spring Flowers – Nature Study and Art Project

Our Pansy Study and Early Spring Flowers Challenge

What a splendid time to be out in the garden! Our neighborhood is coming alive with spring blossoms and the birds are flocking to our feeders in record numbers. We have an abundance of house finches this year and they vary in color from light pink to purple to almost orange. Amazing display of creation!

The early spring bulbs are all up and many are blooming. The daffodils and the grape hyacinth are blazing with color. The forsythia is starting to blossom and the lavender has new flowers for our bees to buzz in. The tulips and iris are all up but just showing lots of green leaves so far.

We arranged dozens of flowers in the house and our kitchen table is so cheerful and happy. I got out all my vases and dusted them off for the season. I seem to collect pretty vases and I love it even more when they don’t match exactly. Even my hubby had a smile on his face when he spied the colorful flowers on the table.

So our pansy study consisted mostly of admiring them and recreating them in artwork since we have studied them closely in the past. Mr. B and I had pansy art time on a rainy afternoon. There really is no better way to make yourself examine a subject better than to apply your attention to an art project. Slowing down to discover the shapes, form, and patterns makes a big impression.

Mr. B always chooses to work with markers if given the choice but I am still working on feeling comfortable with acrylics. I think these pansy creations are going to be framed and hung in my bathroom vanity area. I have a small collection of floral artwork done by children there already so it will be a perfect fit.

I played around with the acrylics and a small canvas panel I had from Michaels. I tried not to take myself too seriously and just have fun. Art therapy….even for moms.

So now we are officially finished with the More Nature Study Book 2 – Winter 2012 challenges and we will be going over a few of the suggested Charlotte Mason Exam Questions that are included in the ebook. The thing about Charlotte Mason style questions is that they ask the child to tell back in some way what they know about a topic and never to find out what they don’t know. I do not grade these assignments and look at them as a way for Mr. B to review what we learned and enjoy a little more time together discussing things that are fresh in our minds. I recommend you give it a try if you have the More Nature Study ebook and see how it goes.

Don’t forget to send me your Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival entries directly since the carnival website is not working.
harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com

As a reminder, we will be starting the new More Nature Study Book 3 – Spring Splendor series on March 23, 2012. Just in time for the first days of spring! I look forward to another season of nature study with all of you.

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Barb — Leave a comment

OHC More Nature Study Book 2 – Pansy

More Nature Study Book #2
Flower Study – Pansy

Inside Preparation Work:

Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 555-558 (Lesson 152). Pansies are a flower children love and once you point out the “face” in the flower they will never forget this lesson. Highlight information as you read the narrative so that you can acquaint your child with the details of this pretty flower.
See if you can find some pansies at your local garden center to purchase and bring home for observations this week as part of your nature study time.
Watch these videos for good information on growing pansies: Learning About Pansies. Planting Pansies.
Advanced preparation: Read the Wikipedia article on pansies.

Outdoor Hour Time:

If you were able to purchase some pansies, use your outdoor time to plant them in your garden or in a container. Follow the directions that come with your pansy for proper placement in the garden.
Observe your pansy using the suggestions in Lesson 152. For younger students you should complete suggestion #1. For older students you can add as many of the other ideas as you have time.
If you do not have a pansy to observe, spend your outdoor time looking at any spring flowers you have available. See this past challenge for observation ideas: Early Spring Flowers: Tulips, Daffodils, and Crocus.

Follow-Up Activity:

The pansy is a wonderful flower to watercolor in your nature journal. Get out the paints and let your children give it a try. You can use watercolor paper cut to the right size to fit in your journal or notebook if you don’t want to watercolor directly onto the journal paper.
Sketch your pansy, write a description of your pansy just like a scientist would do in a journal, and then use your words to make a pansy poem. You can copy your poem to fresh paper and decorate it for your nature journal. Ebook users: Complete the notebook page included in the ebook and/or the coloring page.
Advanced follow-up: Use the questions from Lesson 152 to summarize your pansy observations (Ebook users: notebook page provided).

Make sure to sketch your flower and label its parts. You may find these two pages helpful: Pansy Flowers and Standard Flower. You can also press a pansy and then include it in your nature journal. You can see my short video tutorial: How To Make a Flower Press for ideas.

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Barb — 4 Comments

Magnets, Compass, and Moon Nature Study in our Neighborhood

I am going to combine two of the Outdoor Hour Challenge nature studies from the More Nature Study Book 2 series since we have been working on them over the last few weeks a little at a time. The topics have provided plenty to talk about during our walks and rambles around the neighborhood.

Moon Names and Magnets and Compass

The compass directions were easy to determine in our yard after years of observation of sunrises and sunsets. We decided to test our sense of direction as we walked our regular trails and found a map of our local area to use as a starting point.

I will readily admit that I have a terrible sense of direction and live in a family of men who seem to never lose their way. This was a good exercise for me in particular. We would walk to a certain point and then try to determine north and south. We had the small map of the area in our pocket and we would check the actual direction after we made our guesses. I am happy to report that I have gained some skill in determining direction. 🙂

The moon has also been a subject of discussion and observation since it has been visible in the afternoons as well as in the evenings. Tonight it is HUGE in the twilight sky and we even saw Jupiter and Venus while we out there looking (opposite parts of the sky). You can read about them here: This Week’s Sky at a Glance.

Mr. B and I decided on our choice of names for the March full moon (instead of the official Full Worm Moon).

Radiant Moon (Mr. B’s choice)
Manzanita Moon (my choice)

The manzanita trees are bursting out in bloom over the last week so I picked that as the full moon name. The blossoms are so delicate and pick and almost look like ornaments that someone has strung on the branches.

Here is a photo from a previous year with a close-up of the delicate pink blossoms.

Do you want to know something? Even though it pains me sometimes to have a challenge to complete each week….keeping myself accountable on the blog…..I realize that if we didn’t have a focus of some sort we would miss out on some really wonderful and insightful discussions and time outdoors together. Even when we just complete the preparation and then the outdoor time with no real follow-up we are gaining something extra from our Outdoor Hour. If nothing else, it gives me an activity to enjoy alongside my teenage son.

We have one more challenge to go in the More Nature Study Book 2 series – Pansies! I am really looking forward to this last study of the season and I am planning on a watercolor project for me and hopefully Mr. B will join me.

I almost forgot to mention that we acquired some rare earth magnets for a project my husband is working on in the shop. We highly recommend these for advanced magnet work and for some awesome fun too. The men are trying to make a magnetic motor…a motor that runs continuously on magnetic power. It keeps them out of trouble. 🙂

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Barb — 5 Comments

Quartz Study – Rock Collecting Gone Crazy

Our quartz study has stretched on for weeks. We have had numerous rock collecting hikes and each time we come home we develop new questions to be answered. The supply of quartz in our area is seemingly endless. Once your eye starts to look for it…you see it everywhere.

Our family lives in the gold country of California. The gold rush started practically in our backyard. We drive by the American River every day…as the crow flies it is about 3 miles from our house. This area is full of old gold mines and many people still today make a living by mining and panning for gold (or using a sluice box). Where there is gold, there is quartz.

We collected milky quartz for the most part at the river, along with a variety of other “pretty” rocks. I have a special place for pretty rocks in my heart. It may be the hunting for them or the spotting of a particularly nice rock that keeps me coming back for more.

Mr. A shares my love of rocks and we enjoyed an afternoon this week at the river with the Kona dog. Kona likes sticks more than rocks so we occupied her with fetching sticks while we looked for something interesting along the rocky shore.

The sound of rushing water always seems to welcome a good thoughtful sit..even on an uncomfortable rock. This day we sat and enjoyed the warmth of the sun after a freezing morning. Our jackets were slipped off on the hike back to the car which was nice.

At home we started off with a magnifying lens, looking carefully at the surface of each rock. This can quite addictive once you get started and there really is a lot to see.

We noticed a colorful collection of sand on the surface of one rock and we had the bright idea to place it on a slide and look at it under the microscope.

We are still not sure if the shiny gold is actually gold or pyrite….probably pyrite flakes.

We placed a little sand on a microscope slide…our rocks all had small amounts clinging to the nooks and crannies.

Now this is where the study becomes even more interesting! We spent the next hour or so taking turns finding things on the slides to share with each other. It was like discovering a new dimension.

We now have a larger collection of quartz and pretty rocks, a growing understanding of what “sand” is after looking at it under the microscope, and an appreciation that we don’t know everything about everything. 🙂

Amazing world down there…who would have thought?

It is not too late to do your own study of quartz using the Outdoor Hour Challenge. You may be as amazed as we were.

Category: Handbook of Nature Study

Our Spring Fern Nature Study

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 – Ferns

Our Beloved Dogwood Tree – Blooming Right on Schedule for Our Nature Study

Spring Wildflowers- California Poppy Nature Study

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 – Spring Wildflowers: Poppies and Buttercups

More Nature Study Book 3 -Spring Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms

Early Spring Flowers – Nature Study and Art Project

OHC More Nature Study Book 2 – Pansy

Magnets, Compass, and Moon Nature Study in our Neighborhood

Quartz Study – Rock Collecting Gone Crazy

Outdoor Hour Challenges for families since 2008!