weather Archives

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Barb — 10 Comments

Autumn 2010 OHC #10 November World-Familiar Spot

Outdoor Hour Challenge November World Observations

Autumn Series #10
November World

“Yet, with all my familiarity with this brook, I did not know it in the winter. Its pathway up into the winter woods was as unexplored as the arctic regions. Somehow, it was not a brook in the winter time. It was merely a dreary waste, as cold and as forbidding as death. The winter was only a season of waiting, and spring was always late.”
The Nature Study Idea, L.H. Bailey, contemporary of Anna Botsford Comstock.

Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 1-2 of the Handbook of Nature Study as a refresher. Mark and highlights points that you want to keep in mind before you embark on this last of the Autumn Series Challenges. How have these challenges awakened a love of nature study in your heart? What changes have you seen in your children as they have participated in a regular course of nature study? What practical and useful knowledge has your family gleaned from the “comprehension of the individual life of the bird, insect, or plant that is nearest at hand”?

Outdoor Hour Time:
Sometimes it is fun and interesting to revisit a familiar place in a different season. Perhaps you have a certain park you go to in the summer but you have not explored there in the autumn or winter months. There may be a trail or creek you explored as part of a previous Outdoor Hour Challenge and it might be interesting to go there now that the seasons have changed. If you are just starting out with the challenges, choose a place to visit this week that you can go back to in a future season.

Spend 15 minutes outdoors in your chosen spot and enjoy the November world. Use all your senses and let your children find something to show you. Remember not to talk too much or lead them but rather try to see what your children see. Sometimes it is nice to just to let something interesting come your way without a particular focus.

“The author can think of nothing she would so gladly do as to spend days and months with the birds, bees, and flowers with no obligation to tell what she should see. There is more than mere information in hours thus spent.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 7

So this challenge is really for the parents. Let the nature study unfold and then enjoy the time with your children. Be refreshed.

Follow-Up Activity:
For this challenge, leave the nature journal or notebook page as an option. If you child is inclined to complete a follow-up entry, make an opportunity for one but if they are content with just having spent time outdoors, there is no obligation to complete an entry. There is a printable notebook page in this entry: November World. You might like to use my free Signs of Autumn notebook page.

As always see if they have any questions about their nature study time. Follow their lead by looking up the answers in the Handbook of Nature Study. Skim down the table of contents to see if there is a lesson covering what you child found interesting. If not, check your local library for a book to use as a resource. Last year we made a list of things to research during the winter. You can find a notebook page on which to list your things in this set of free notebook pages that I put together last month: Autumn Series 2009 Notebook Pages.

Note: This nature study challenge can be found in the Autumn 2010 ebook.

If you would like to own this ebook, it is part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library for members. You can find more details on how to get your own membership here: Join Us!

Ultimate Ebook Library @handbookofnaturestudy

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Barb — 2 Comments

Our Seasonal Weather Observations: Autumn Series #8

Weather Comparisons – OHC

Our typical November weather is very unpredictable. We can have warm sunny days filled with outdoor activities or we can have cold, wet day where you stand at the window and wonder when it will end. Both were experienced this week as part of our official seasonal weather observations.

Using the chart provided in the ebook, we all worked together to keep track of morning and afternoon temperatures and other factors like wind, rain, clouds, etc. Our outdoor thermometer is broken so we had to take a portable one outdoors to make our measurements each time.

Comparing our morning and afternoon temperatures was interesting because of the large span of numbers on a few of the days. We had one day with a 24 degree change in temperature within a few hours and from day to day it was widely varied as well. I am the official record keeper for this challenge since they like the observation part but not the actual writing it down in a journal part.

Unofficial time spent outdoors found us raking leaves for the compost bin, noticing how beautifully the leaves fell in a pile around the base of this tree.

Observing clouds was fun this week since we had a variety to enjoy.

The changing color in most all the deciduous plants in the yard like this grape vine is happening before our very eyes.

More raking after the rain came through…these are the walnut tree leaves which have a particular odor that is imprinted in your brain once you smell it.

We also took a drive over the Sierra on Thursday and saw the mountains with a fresh blanket of snow that will more than likely stay there until late next spring.

We stopped to take in the snow at the summit and it was cold! This is about an hour’s drive from our house and very near to where the Donner Party was stranded if you have read about them in your history study. I highly recommend Patty Reed’s Doll if you are interested in reading a children’s version of their survival during the winter of 1846.

Our weather study will be on-going as we keep adding to our weather chart and it will give us some great data to use to compare to our winter observations.

Thanks for coming along with our study.

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Barb — 4 Comments

November Sunny Afternoon

We had a glorious day yesterday in our part of the world. I heard it was in the 70’s! We took advantage of the weather and spent time working on our frontyard remodel project. Our sweet gums are starting to become a riot of color, turning red and orange overnight.

We are getting very close to being finished. I know I keep promising a post sharing what we have done but I want to wait until the project is completed before tackling that post. We put down weed block because we were already getting some grass sprouting with our last rains. The rocks are a work in progress….we keep rearranging them as we finish the planting.

I think this is the last of the hardscape going in which is a path up to my faucet and around to the backyard. I will be planting bulbs around the edges of the blocks as soon as they arrive in the mail.

The leaves are falling gently and this one landed on the step…..love the yellow contrast with the blue/green tiles.

The birds were loving the idea that they are getting a new feeding station. The red/orange bush on the left is our new smoke tree and Mr. A is planting rosemary around the base of the pole.

Here is one bird that I was able to catch in mid-song the other day in the backyard.

They enjoy the sunshine as much as we do I think.

This morning we woke up to rain….pouring rain. I am sitting inside with my cup of coffee and shopping for seeds. I know that nothing perks me up more than thinking and planning for the next summer’s garden. We are hoping to finish the front yard and turn our attention to a whole new garden project in the backyard. I am going to be concentrating on flowers and colors so my garden will be filled with lots of things to draw and paint.

Where is my favorite online source for flower seeds? Renee’s Garden of course! I dare you to pop over there and not feel better even just looking at her front page. What is on my shopping list? Zinnias, sunflowers, dahlias, hollyhocks, and California poppies. I want color!

Oh, I want to share something else I have been meaning to write about on this blog. I have recently started reading and receiving the Herbal Roots Zine.

If you haven’t seen Kristine’s web page or seen any of her monthly zines, I highly recommend them as a great way to incorporate nature study into your month. This month she is featuring sage which happens to be something new we planted in our front yard…two different kinds. I now know a lot more about this very interesting plant. I will write a review of one of the issues soon so stay tuned for that.

That is the news from my world. Hope you are having a great autumn weekend and are doing some weather observations for this week’s challenge.

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Barb — 5 Comments

Autumn 2010 OHC #8 Seasonal Weather-Autumn Observations

Autumn Series #8
Seasonal Weather: Autumn Observations

Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 780-783 in the Handbook of Nature Study (beginning pages of the section on Climate and Weather ending at The Atmosphere).

Make a weather chart like the one on page 807 (last page in the weather and climate section) or use the one provided in the autumn ebook. You may wish to purchase an outdoor thermometer and a rain gauge to enhance your study of the weather during the autumn and then into the winter.

Compare The Weather on Two Different Days

Compare a sunny day and a rainy day. Compare temperature, clouds, and wind direction and speed. Don’t forget to use all your senses: smell, touch, hearing, etc.
Compare weather on the same day in the morning and then again in the evening.
Compare how your landscape looks today to what you remember about the summer or winter.

Outdoor Hour Time:

Spend fifteen minutes outdoors observing your autumn weather. Note the direction of the wind, the direction the clouds are moving, and where the sun is rising and setting. The main aim for this challenge is to make weather observations and comparisons. Enjoy the season’s delights and have fun with your children.
In addition, as part of the comparison activity, use your senses to make observations about the weather on two different days (perhaps choosing a sunny day and a rainy day to compare). Record your results on a Venn Diagram. If you would like an example of a Venn Diagram, HERE is a link.
Start and maintain a Weather Record Chart as many days as you can.

Follow-Up Activity:
After your outdoor time, talk about all of your observations. Pull out any previous weather challenge journals to compare with today’s observations. Complete the notebook page in the ebook, the weather notebook page from previous challenges (HERE), or make an entry in your own blank journal.You could also complete a Signs of Autumn notebook page.
Extra Resource:
National Weather Service –Look up your state for weather warnings.

Note: This nature study challenge can be found in the Autumn 2010 ebook.

If you would like to own this ebook, it is part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library for members. You can find more details on how to get your own membership here: Join Us!

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Barb — Leave a comment

September Landscape: Forecast Dry

The region of California that I live in gets very dry and hot in the summer. We rarely have rain between early June and late October…it is our “drought” season. Pretty much by now all the wildflowers and grasses are brown and very dry.

This is a typical landscape along our walking trail.

But with willing eyes, you can find beauty even within this dry landscape.

These are such pretty white dried-up flowers and they are everywhere right now.

Oh, see those clouds in the top photo? Not a drop of rain that day….just lots of ominous looking clouds. I was hoping we would get a shower to water the garden but I had to go out and hand water as usual.

Looking forward to another week that promises to be a little cooler.

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Barb — 3 Comments

Summer Weather-OHC #3 Sunrise/Sunset Observations

We have been working on this challenge for a couple of weeks. What an amazing way to learn more about the summer season! We have never taken the time to actually note where the sun sets at different times of the year. We are now more keenly aware of the direction and the making of a landmark to keep track from week to week.

We are not able to see the horizon in any direction from our house. We live on a hill, there are too many trees, and even though it is not a crowded neighborhood, we do have near-by houses that obstruct the view. We decided we could still pick a spot on the front deck to observe the sunrises and a different spot on the back deck to observe the sunsets.

This challenge made us more aware of the everyday event that happens outside our door…far too early at this time of the year. The sunrise is much more north than I thought it should be. We have all watched the spot and agree that it is not where we expected it to be. We had to get up rather early a few times to discover the landmark but now we have it fixed. This morning there were beautiful clouds that made the day a little cooler to start off with. There were actually a few light sprinkles of rain early in the morning. By noon though, it was hot and humid, granted not a Texas humid but a California humid.

The sunsets are so wonderful from our deck now that we have a few trees missing. Although we can not see the horizon from where we are located, we noted from a particular spot on the deck where the sun goes down. It sets just to the left of our back shop’s peak.

The other weather related “project” we have been working on this summer is to note the build up of thunderheads over the Sierra in the afternoons. Many times we can look out about noon and see the beginnings of a cloud bank and then by mid afternoon we notice the spectacular clouds in the distance. Most of the time we don’t experience anything from the clouds because they are so far away. We did have a little sheet lightning the other evening which is always interesting to watch.

I took this photo last night when we were out for a sunset drive. This is facing east so the pink sunset is reflecting in the thunderheads. Sure wish all those utility lines were not in the photo.

One last observation to share:
Sunrise: 64 degrees and 47% humidity.
Noon: 96 degrees and 46% humidity.
Sunset: 83 degrees and 38% humidity.

Posted on April 11, 2010 by Barb — 2 Comments

Our Spring Weather Observations

We had a chance to enjoy another perfect spring afternoon hiking on our favorite trail. We were amazed that in the last week so many wildflowers have burst out in bloom.

As part of the Spring Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges, we completed our Spring Weather Challenge. It was warm at 69 degrees (per our car thermometer). There were some breezes moving but not much.

Sunrise 6:34 AM
Sunset 7:35 PM
13 hours and 1 minute of daylight
Official high temperature: 68.8 degrees F
Official low temperature: 40.8 degrees F
Breezes coming from the South.

Our weather forecast is for rain the next two days and then back up into the 50’s the rest of the week.

The chamise is blooming all up and down the foothills right now and with its sweet fragrance it fills the spring sunshine. The clouds were whispy and moving very fast.

More cirrus clouds were to be found around the bend. My son has been studying the weather for his aviation course so he is teaching me lots of things about clouds and weather predicting.

This is a new flower to us and we came home to look it up in our field guide. We think it is Blue eyed grass.

Our state flower, the California poppy, is blooming all around town. This is on the hillside next to our walking trail.

Here is our winter weather entry if you want to compare our differences: Winter Weather.

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Barb — 8 Comments

OHC Spring Series #2 Weather Observations

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Spring Series #2
Spring Weather Observation

Inside Preparation Work:

Read pages 851-854 in the Handbook of Nature Study. This section is not exactly about weather, but it ties in nicely with some springtime observations of the sun and its path. You might like to construct the Shadow Stick (page 852 #13) and make observations over the next few weeks and months with your children. At the very least, look up your sunrise and sunset times to calculate how much daylight you have now that it is spring in your area.
If you have the older edition of the Handbook of Nature Study, you need to look in the section “The Relations of the Sun to the Earth” for this week’s reading.

Bodie State Park

Outdoor Hour Time:

Your Outdoor Hour time this week can be spent making observations about the weather. Enjoy whatever spring weather you are currently experiencing and spend 15 minutes outside looking at the sky, clouds, wind in the trees, dew on the grass, mud puddles after a rain, or whatever else you can experience in your part of the world.

Suggested Observations

Have your children describe any clouds they see in the sky.
Notice how hard the wind is blowing by how things are moving: leaves rustling, trees bending, etc.
Notice the wind’s direction. Where is it coming from?
Describe the temperature of the air and/or look it up on a thermometer.
Notice any precipitation that you may have this week: sprinkles, rain, mist, sleet, snow, fog, hail.

If you made a Shadow Stick, make sure you spend one day marking the board every half hour from 9 AM to 3 PM. This experiment will need to be repeated again in June, September, and December if possible. (see page 852 #13)

Follow-Up Activity:
Be sure to complete your Seasonal Weather notebook page from the Misc Tab or from the Spring Series ebook. If you completed previous weather notebook pages, pull those out and compare the scenes you recorded in Autumn and/or Winter. Note that your days should be getting longer and any other differences you can find between the observations made in the past and now.

Mono Lake Sand Tufa with Wonderful Clouds

Extra Information on Clouds
If you observed any clouds, you might like to download this lesson plan and cloud identifier activity for your children: CloudKey.pdf. This is a handy tool to use in our cloud identification.

Weather Videos on YouTube:
Water Cycle
Our World: What is Weather? (NASA)
If you would like all the Spring Series Challenges in one book, I have an ebook gathered for you to purchase for your convenience. The ebook also contains art and music appreciation plans for the winter months as well. Please see this entry for more details:

Spring Nature Study with Art and Music Appreciation

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Barb — 1 Comment

Winter Series #4 Seasonal Weather

Weather Statistics for February 4, 2010

Sunrise: 7:06 AM
Sunset: 5:28 PM
10 hrs and 22 min of daylight-tomorrow will be 2 minutes and 8 seconds longer
High temperature: 50.8 degrees F
Low temperature: 38 degrees F
Winds: 7 mph S
Rain is predicted to start anytime this evening and rain through Saturday.
No snow…snow level is going to be at around 4500 feet in elevation and we live at around 2300 feet.

Here is a photo from our walk today. The weather was actually pretty overcast and a little chilly. The grasses are turning green though and that is encouraging.

Here are a couple of weather related photos from the last few weeks.

We took this photo a few weeks ago as part of our weather nature study. My son was trying to gauge how much rain we were having and then it started to drop in temperature and to snow. His water in the gauge froze. He noticed there was a thick layer on top and a slushy layer underneath. We had a lot of rain.

I thought this was a funny photo. There was a big frozen ice cube on top of my leftover broccoli in my container on the deck.

This week though we have had signs of early spring popping up in our backyard.

Violets….mmmmmm. They smell so delicious.

Daffodils in big bunches all around the yard. I can hardly wait!

We are hoping for some good rain and then perhaps some snow next week so the boys can go snowboarding. I will pack up my snowshoes as well in hopes that I can take a romp in the snow.

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Barb — 5 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Winter Series #4 Winter Weather

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Winter Series Ebook
Winter Weather

Winter weather is usually pretty interesting to children. Observing snow, ice, rain, fog, hail, or just feeling the cooler air is enough to get them interested in going outdoors for this week’s nature study challenge.

I have a vivid memory from my childhood of taking a walk in a raging downpour. I challenge you to experience your weather outdoors at least for a few minutes this week. Properly dressed, your children might just make a fond memory of their own.

“There is no reason why the child’s winter walk should not be as fertile in observations as the poet’s; indeed, in one way, it is possible to see the more in winter, because the things to be seen do not crowd each other out.”
Charlotte Mason, Volume 1, page 86

Inside Preparation Work:
You can read the section in the Handbook of Nature Study on water forms to arm yourself with some basic weather information. Pages 808 to 814 have lots of fun ideas for learning about different aspects of our winter weather.

Optional Inside Preparation Work:
More ideas for winter weather study are found in chapter two of Discover Nature in Winter. There are so many great ideas for studying snow in this chapter that you will find at least two or three that you would like to try with your family. Use your highlighter or sticky notes to mark the places that you find with interesting information or ideas for including in your winter nature study.

Check out the Winter Wednesday entry from last year to glean some ideas for your Winter Weather study: Winter Snow.

Outdoor Hour Time:
This week you can use your time to enjoy the winter weather in your backyard. If you have chosen some weather related activities to complete outdoors, make sure you bring any items you need for your study. You may wish to bring along your weather notebook page or your nature journal with pencils to take a few minutes of your outdoor time to record the weather conditions. If your children are enjoying their time outdoors, you probably want to wait until you go back inside to talk about the weather.

Follow-Up Activity:
Be sure to complete your Seasonal Weather notebook page. You could talk about the differences between what you observed in autumn and those things you recorded this time.

How is the scene you drew this week different from the autumn scene?
How are the temperatures different?
Is there a difference in the number of hours of daylight?

Category: weather