Tree squirrels are some of the most entertaining critters to inhabit our neighborhoods. This Outdoor Hour Challenge will help you and your little squirrel hunters observe local squirrels more closely as you note their behavior and features. Squirrels are not shy so you should be able to spot them and make some observations with ease. Enjoy this Squirrel Nature Study by taking along a pair of binoculars to get a closer look!
Archive Outdoor Hour Challenge – Click the link above to take you to the original challenge.
“The squirrel’s legs are short because he is essentially a climber rather than a runner; the hips are very strong, which insures his power as a jumper, and his leaps are truly remarkable.”
“The squirrel has two pairs of gnawing teeth which are very long and strong, as in all rodents, and he needs to keep busy gnawing hard things with them, or they will grow so long that he cannot use them at all and will starve to death.”
“During the winter, the red squirrel does not remain at home except in the coldest weather, when he lies cozily with his tail wrapped around him like a fur neck-piece to keep him warm.”
Handbook of Nature Study, pages 234 and 235
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.
Squirrel Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson #57
Homeschool Nature Study Membership
It’s a great time to join Homeschool Nature Study! We offer a multitude of science activities, hands-on learning ideas, seasonal nature studies, crafts, free resources for all ages – join the #outdoorhourchallenge community and enhance your homeschool science lessons!
By Barb McCoy, founder of the Outdoor Hour Challenges with The Handbook of Nature Study. Updated and new resources added byStef Layton.
Enjoy these simple mouse homeschool nature studies learning about these small mammals. Includes mouse stories to read, studies to enjoy indoors, outdoor time and nature journaling suggestions.
Outdoor Hour Challenge hostess, Shirley Vels, shares, “These little creatures, love them or hate them, are entertaining to watch. Personally, I have a soft spot for mice probably borne of having my early childhood views molded by the likes of Brambly Hedge and Beatrix Potter tales.”
Remember: You are always successful in your homeschool nature studies with the Outdoor Hour Challenges if you take time to be outside with your children for a few minutes each week. You can use your outdoor time this week to sit on a blanket in the shade, read about mice, and then make a few notes in your nature journal. Snacks are always welcome during the Outdoor Hour Challenge as well.
Mouse Homeschool Nature Studiesfor Kids
Your Indoor Homeschool Nature Study Preparation
Read the Handbook of Nature Study pages 224-228 (Lesson 55). Additional information for more advanced students can be found at: Animal Diversity Web. Note: The Handbook of Nature Study includes quite a bit of information on trapping mice-this may not be appropriate in every family.
This is one of those challenges that is hard to plan ahead of time for direct observation of the topic. If you have access to a real mouse to observe, use the suggestions for the lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study.
If you don’t have access to a mouse, use your outdoor time to observe any mammal and compare it using information you know about a mouse: teeth, feet, tail, color, size, behavior, diet.
MouseFollow-Up Nature Study Activities:
Complete a nature journal entry with any information you learned from your mouse study. You can sketch any signs of mice that you observed in your yard like tracks, scat, or a mouse hole. You can also click this link, click and print the image of the house mouse to include in your notebook: Nature.CA—House Mouse or members can color the page for the Whitefooted Mouse in the summer course.
If you observed any other mammal and would like to follow-up with more nature study, you can check the list of previous mammal Outdoor Hour Challenges for more information using the Handbook of Nature Study. You may wish to use the free Mammal Notebook Page available on my blog.
Advanced Study: Research the Rodentia order and the Muridae family. Record your results in your nature journal.
MouseMammal Study with Owl Pellet Dissection
Additional Links:
Optional activity: You may wish to complete an Owl Pellet dissection as part of this study. Many times the owl pellets include mouse bones that your child can identify as part of this study. Please see my Outdoor Hour Challenge for Owls for more information. You can see our family’s owl dissection here with a good look at the mouse bones: Raptors of the Night.
All the summer challenges are included in the continuing summer course in Homeschool Nature Study membership. If you want to follow along with notebook pages and coloring pages, click over and learn more about membership.
Whether it is Groundhog Day or you are just wanting to learn more about these mammals, enjoy these homeschool nature study activities about woodchucks, groundhogs, prairie dogs and marmots!
10 Groundhog Homeschool Nature Study Activities
Have fun learning about these mammals! If you don’t have groundhogs near you, enjoy the alternate nature study activities for mammals.
Read About Groundhogs in The Handbook of Nature Study
1. Read pages 229-232 in the Handbook of Nature Study. As you read, highlight or underline some facts you can share with your children. There are observation ideas on page 231 and many of these suggestions are ones that you can continue to make over the next few seasons.
More Fun Learning About Groundhogs
Have you ever seen a marmot or a groundhog? Here is a cute video to introduce you to this mammal.
Read About The Groundhog in The Burgess Animal Book for Children
Enjoy this supplemental reading in The Burgess Animal Book for Children: Read Stories 7-8. After you read each story, pause and let your child narrate back some facts they learned from the reading.
This could be as simple as looking at the illustrations on pages 48 and 54 and having them tell you a few things about the woodchuck, the marmot, or the prairie dog.
Groundhog Outdoor Hour Nature Study
Spend 10-15 minutes outdoors on a nature walk. Look for signs of mammals as you walk. Look for tracks, burrows, holes, or scat. If you are able to observe one of this challenge’s featured mammals, be sure to use some of the observation ideas from page 231. Be alert for any opportunity to observe a mammal during your outdoor time. So far we have learned about rabbits and squirrels, but be on the look out for more common mammals like dogs, cats, or horses.
After your outdoor time, if you observed a mammal, you can look it up in the Handbook of Nature Study. For your nature journal you can sketch something you saw during your outdoor time. One additional idea is to compare two animals that we have already studied. You can compare a rabbit and a prairie dog or a squirrel and a prairie dog. Make sketches or make a list of the comparisons. You may also use any of the additional resources for your nature journal.
Additional Groundhog Resources for Your Homeschool
Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support
You will find a continuing series on mammals plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!
Bats are fascinating and wonderful creatures. They are important for pollination of plants, they eat mosquitoes and other pests and are beneficial in many more ways. Enjoy this bats homeschool nature study on mammals that fly and have echolocation!
You will enjoy a bat study if you are interested in learning about different kinds of flying creatures.
“Although the bat’s wings are very different from those of the bird, yet it is a rapid and agile flier. It flies in the dusk and catches great numbers of mosquitoes and other troublesome insects, upon which it feeds.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 243
If you ever get a chance to watch a bat fly, you will be amazed at their flying ability.
Try to take your fifteen minute nature walk at sunset or just when it turns dark. You can walk or sit quietly in a familiar place, using your senses to really get to know this time of day. After you go inside, make sure to help your child record a few words in their nature journal or use the notebook page that is provided in the ebook.
For further bat study, here is a general video about bats. Please preview the video because parts of it may make your children a little squeamish. There is also a reference to evolution.
Bats Homeschool Nature Study: Books To Read
1. Read pages 241-245 in theHandbook of Nature Study. Although the lesson for bats states that it should not be given unless you can directly observe bats in person, I think this interesting creature deserves his own Outdoor Hour Challenge. Make sure to watch the video about bats and then proceed with the lesson suggestions. If you need additional information, use the resources at the end of this challenge.
2. Supplemental reading inThe Burgess Animal Book for Children: Read Story 21. Use the illustration on page 128 to prompt a narration after reading the story about the Little Brown Bat.
Bats Study: Mammal Outdoor Hour Challenge
This week during your 10-15 minutes of outdoor time, look for any mammals in your neighborhood or in a near-by park. Many of us will not find any mammals to observe or signs of mammals like scat or tracks. This should not discourage us from taking the time to be outdoors with our children. More ideas in the Ultimate List of Mammals Study with the Outdoor Hour Challenges and Animal Tracks Nature Hunt.
Simple Tips for Your Homeschool Nature Study
Try some of the techniques that we have worked on in the past.
Stand or sit quietly and see what you can hear.
Take a magnifying lens and look at an object up close.
Make a small square with yarn and see what you can find in to look at within that small square.
Look at the sky and observe the clouds.
Use the methods that have worked in the past and see what you can come up with this week to share with your children.
4. After your walk, discuss any interesting things that you observed. Help your child to find words for their experience. Record their words on paper and have them sketch a simple drawing for their nature journal. Use some of the ideas that worked in the past like a rubbing of a leaf or feather. Take photos for your nature journals.
Research and record what you learned about the bat this week from reading in the Handbook of Nature Study. One idea would be to sketch and record how a bat’s wings are different from a bird’s wings. You could discuss why a bat is considered a mammal and how it differs from other mammals that we have studied. Keep it simple but make some connections this week.
Homeschool Nature Study Members EnjoyMore Studies
Members will find these resources in your Autumn course in Homeschool Nature Study membership:
Bats and The Sense of Hearing Outdoor Hour Challenge
Lessons Around Nature at Sundown
Bat coloring page
Advanced bat studies and more activities
Members also enjoy access to:
NEW, weekly Outdoor Hour Challenges to bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool!
the annual nature study plans
matching courses with materials and journaling pages
interactive calendar with daily nature study prompts
This goat homeschool nature study is packed with fun from fainting goats to advanced mammal studies! Bring the Handbook of Nature Study to Life in your homeschool! Here’s a peek at what you can expect to enjoy in this Outdoor Hour Challenge for Homeschool Nature Study members.
Goat Homeschool Nature Study
A funny video on fainting goats to catch your children’s attention
Handbook of Nature Study reference pages, Outdoor Hour time and follow up journal suggestions
Printables for your goat study in your Spring Outdoor Hour Challenge Curriculum
Burgess Book of Animals pages to read aloud.
Learn what is a mammal?
Online links to view goats
Advanced students: the history of goats, study on breeds of goats, the digestive system (Goats are ruminant animals – animals with four stomachs)
How to draw a goat
Virtual Field Trip to Learn About Goats
For a fun virtual field trip, be sure to follow all the goat adventures with Accidental Country Folk. Jodi shares more than goats – including a fancy chicken named Ms. Frizzle on Instagram too!
The Ultimate Guide to Mammals Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges
You can enjoy a simple mammals homeschool nature study with these resources we have gathered for you to use in your own backyard. It is such a delight to study and learn about these beautiful creatures! Go to The Ultimate Guide to Mammals Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges.
NOTE: All of the mammals homeschool nature study resources listed are available as an Outdoor Hour Challenge in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. If you have a membership, you will be able to pull up the Outdoor Hour Challenge curriculum and print any notebook pages, coloring pages, or other printables for your mammals nature study.
Visit our website to find an affordable membership option that suits you. Why not give membership a try for a month and go from there. We would love to have you along for the adventure!
Go on an animals tracks nature hunt for a great mammals homeschool study. Use these nature study lesson plans, suggestions, ideas and resources for identifying animal tracks!
Mammals in Winter
Many mammals are nocturnal and you will rarely spot them to observe up close. Some mammals hibernate in the winter and they are not easily observed either. Many more mammals are just plain shy and rarely show their faces. Reading about them and learning their behaviors will help you find and observe them in the wild if you are diligent. It may not be this week or this year but you will be ready if you do the study ahead of time.
Easy Mammals Homeschool Nature Study Lesson Plans
Any study of mammals can be done with what you have on hand. Do you have a pet dog, cat, mouse, or rat? Do you have a relative or neighbor that has a dog or cat they will let you observe? How about visiting a pet store? Be creative.
For this challenge, you can use the Handbook of Nature Study to pick a mammal to study this winter. You could also choose to use the Discover Nature in Winter book to read about mammals and then use the information there to look for animal tracks during your outdoor time. Either way will give your family a great study of a mammal.
Animal Tracks Nature Hunt Ideas for Your Homeschool
Inside Preparation Work using the Discover Nature in Winter book: Read chapter nine in Discover Nature in Winter. Mammals in general tend to be shy of humans. In the winter, it is even more difficult to observe mammals. The chapter suggests looking for signs of mammals instead like tracks and scat. Highlight ideas for your family to try this week while you are outdoors and looking for mammals.
Review the chart showing different animal tracks on page 182 and 183. Try sketching some of the tracks into your nature journal as a reference for future outdoor time. In our area, we often come across animal scat as we hike and we are going to familiarize ourselves with the various kinds of scat by studying the illustrations in this chapter.
Without the Discover Nature in Winter book: You can still look up some animal tracks online using this link: Animal Tracks at Beartracker
Your Homeschool Outdoor Hour Challenge Time
This week the challenge is to get outdoors and look for signs of animals. You can look for:
tracks
scat
holes
scratches
hair
other things that mammals leave behind
Remember to make your nature study time like an investigation or nature hunt.
Animal TracksFollow-Up Homeschool Activities:
1. Keep a record of animal tracks you have observed in the snow or mud. Record your findings in your nature journal along with a drawing, the date, the weather, the time of day, and the type of animal if you have identified it at this time. You can use your own blank journal. 2. Compare a dog’s and a cat’s footprints in the snow or mud. 3. Research an animal that hibernates and record what you learn in your nature notebook.
You can also sketch your animal and what its tracks look like.
Homeschool Nature Study Membership Resources For Your Animal Tracks Hunt
Be sure to take photos of your animal tracks nature hunt time and share them with us! Tag us on social media on Instagram or Facebook and use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge – we can’t wait to see!
You can enjoy a simple mammals homeschool nature study with these resources we have gathered for you to use in your own backyard. It is such a delight to study and learn about these beautiful creatures!
NOTE: All of the mammals homeschool nature study resources listed are available as an Outdoor Hour Challenge in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. If you have a membership, you will be able to pull up the Outdoor Hour Challenge curriculum and print any notebook pages, coloring pages, or other printables for your mammals nature study.
Additional Mammal Homeschool ActivitiesIncluded with Membership
Mammal Outdoor Hour Challenge Notebook Page
Mammal notebook page
Running List of Mammals printable notebook page
Looking for Signs and Tracks
Mammal nature study journal idea printable. Mammals at the zoo.
Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support
Can you believe all of these mammals resources you will find in membership? You will also find a continuing series on mammals plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!
I love it when I’m researching and learning about one topic and it leads me to another interesting topic. This often happens with nature study when an answer to a question just makes you curious about something else.
I’ve been reading about pocket gophers because we have many that live and are active in the habitat behind our house here in Central Oregon. Their holes are everywhere! (If you’re interested in learning about pocket gophers, there’s an Outdoor Hour Challenge in the High Desert ebook that will help you get started.) We’ve been wondering just what they eat and it turns out their diet includes “forbs”.
I had no idea what a “forb” was, so we decided to research the term.
Forb:
“A forb or phorb is an herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory.”
-From Wikipedia
Basically, most wildflowers are forbs. Grass is not a forb.
A pocket gopher’s diet consists mainly of forbs, eaten from the roots and pulled down into their tunnels. Most pocket gophers do not venture too far from their tunnel entrances to look for vegetation to eat.
So my dear readers, follow those “rabbit trails” when you are researching a topic. You never know what gem you will discover. I learned a new term to use in my nature study.
This week’s nature study topic is the muskrat. Muskrats get their common name from the musk or fragrance they emit to attract a mate and to mark a territory. This is just one of the interesting facts about this mammal that you can learn from your study of the muskrat. Use the links below to get started and learn alongside your child.
Research the muskrat in a field guide or a book you find at your local library. Here’s an online resource for this challenge: Common Muskrat. This one is also very informative: Common Muskrat.
Alternate study this week
You may choose to complete a related study learning more about:
See the Creepy things ebook for more muskrat nature study ideas, videos, and printables!
Please note that I will not be posting the complete challenge here on the blog. You’ll find the detailed challenge in the Creepy Things ebook that’s available both in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships. Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, and notebook pages.
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!
Topics in this ebook include:
Banana slug
Tarantula
Black widow
Scorpion
Leech
Muskrat
Sphinx moth
Cicada
Millipede
Poison oak
Use the discount code SUMMERNATURE for $10 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
Do you have some time on your hands these days for a little extra nature study?
Here’s a short of list of the newer Outdoor Hour Challenges you may want to complete that feature some totally awesome mammals. I’m personally working my way through the list in my own study and following up with nature journal pages for each one. I still have a few more to go!
You can click the link below to find all the mammal related nature study ideas here on the Handbook of Nature Study. I invite you to click on over and find something too!