Category: winter series of outdoor hour challenges

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Winter Cattails-Surprised Again!

We started our cattail study last fall with this entry: Cattails in Autumn.

We had two locations to visit for this study….one within walking distance and another up on our regular walking trail on the other side of town.

Here are the cattails near our house.
Cattail 12 09
Our cattails are starting to look a little ragged. The water that was there in the fall has now completely dried up. The stalks of the cattails are dry, stiff, and hard. The leaves are stiff as well.

Cattail winter 2
Here is our cattail area that is along our walking trail. I think that someone came and cut a lot of the actual cattails. Even thought they are still growing in water, the leaves and stems are all brown and stiff.

Cattail winter 1
There is still a little water in this area that flows down to a creek. We all noticed that the water was a little smelly this time of year….hmmmm. We enjoyed having a purpose to our walk today and it was nice to focus on something other than the cold air. 🙂

The other interesting thing that we noted on this walk was that there were lots of mushrooms growing. Here are three different kinds that we stopped and looked at.

Mushroom 4 Jan 10
There were lots of this kind pushing up through the leaves.

Mushroom 2 Jan 10
There were some that were really white.

Mushroom 1 Jan 10
Then we saw this cute little yellow mushroom.

We are off to another hike today but this time down to the river. We will keep our eyes out for anything interesting.

Hope you get a chance to look for your cattails.

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Outdoor Hour Challenge-Winter Series: Cattails in Winter


Outdoor Hour Challenge
Winter Series Ebook
Cattail Study-Winter

Inside Preparation Work:
Read the section on cattails in the Handbook of Nature Study on pages 500-503. Pay close attention to suggestion #7 on page 502. If you completed an autumn cattail study, you may wish to pull out your nature journal page and refresh your memory with how your cattail looked a few months ago.

Outdoor Hour Time:
Take your Outdoor Hour Time and visit your cattail location if possible. Many of us were surprised that we actually had cattails close to our homes and it will be fun to revisit the area now that winter is upon us. (If you do not have cattails in your neighborhood, see the alternate activity below.)

cattails in winter 12 09

You may wish to take along your nature journal or your camera to record how your cattails look during the winter. Use your best observation skills and observe as much about your cattail as possible.

You might include:

  • Is your cattail still growing in water or has it dried up?
  • What does the “cattail” parts of the plant look like now?
  • What color and shape are the leaves?
  • Do you see the cattails seeds or balloons?
  • Can you pull some of the fuzz from the cattail and observe it more closely?
  • How do you think the seeds spread, by wind or water?
  • How crowded are the cattails growing together?

Follow-Up Activity:
Follow up your outdoor time with a chance to draw the cattail in the nature journal. You can use the notebook page I created for the Winter Series (available only with the ebook or notebooking page purchase-see link below), the notebook page from Autumn, a blank page in your journal, or any other general notebook page listed on my sidebar of my blog.

Alternate Study:
If you don’t have a cattail study started or you do not have cattails in your area, you can choose another plant to observe over the course of a year if you would like. Just about any plant would make a great subject if you observe it closely. The idea is to start to see how the seasons and plants change around you.

 

Ultimate Ebook Library @handbookofnaturestudy

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Winter Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges-Ebook Now Available!

I am really excited to announce that I have finished writing a completely new ebook for the Winter Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges. This ebook is a unique product that includes not only ten nature study challenges but three months’ worth of art and music appreciation with a winter theme! This is the first time I have combined all three elements into a full length ebook and I am anxious to share it with all of my readers and their families.

I have worked hard to produce an exciting ebook to help you with simple winter nature study and give you some help and direction in providing art and music appreciation. This unique nature study book also includes everything you need to study art and music all winter long. I invite you to download the sample and see how you can get started with nature study, artist study, and composer study this winter!

Here is an overview!

  • 10 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenges: winter cattail, winter tree, winter sky, winter weather, pine tree study, salt study, winter bird, small square, winter mammal, and early spring flower study.
  • 13 custom notebook pages to complement those challenges
  • 3 different artists to study-one per month (Caspar David Friedrich, Gilbert Stuart, and Claude Monet)
  • 3 different composers to study-one per month (Vivaldi, Waldteufel, and Dvorak)
  • 11 custom notebook pages to use in following up your art and music study
  • 3 paintings included for you to print or view
  • Ideas for art projects to complete your art appreciation with common art supplies you probably have on hand
  • Resource list
  • Clickable links
  • View a sample: Winter Series Sample

In total, this new Winter Nature Study ebook is 56 pages long. You will have a complete plan at your fingertips for your winter nature study, art appreciation, and music study. All of the art prints are included in the ebook and there are links to viewing them online as well. All of the music planned is available to listen to online. You will need to have the Handbook of Nature Study in order to complete the nature study challenges. I have aimed to keep these challenges and studies as simple as possible with very few additional resources needed.

 

Please realize that the challenges are listed on the winter tab at the top of my blog but the ebook gathers the challenges all into one easy to use resource along with the custom notebook pages.

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