winter wednesday series ebook Archives

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Barb — 3 Comments

Family Mammal Study – Unexpected Deer and Our Usual Squirrels

As part of preparing for our mammal study this week, I pulled our mammal field guide from our shelf to have for easy reference. I opened to the introductory pages and I would love to share a few thoughts from those pages with you in this post.

Most mammals are creatures of the darkness, only becoming active at night after dark and returning home again before dawn.
Most nocturnal mammals communicate by odor which humans cannot detect and with sounds which are frequently high pitched and low in volume.
Direct observation of most mammals is difficult except for a few species like chipmunks and squirrels.
The vocalizations of mammals have not been extensively explored and most make brief sounds called “call notes”.

We were walking along our usual trail having a great conversation when my son twirled me around to get me to look up on the hill. He had spotted a few young deer not too far from where we were. They were slowly moving along, not really paying too much attention to us.

California mule deer are very common in our area and we often see groups of 8-10 deer alongside the road or in grassy meadows. My husband actually hit a deer with his truck last month when he was coming home from work…minimal damage and the deer bounced back up and ran off into the woods. He was lucky. He once hit a deer and it totaled the vehicle.

We were planning on studying our backyard squirrels this week as part of our mammal study but we spent a little time reading up on the mule deer too. California mule deer are very graceful and agile mammals. They have lovely eyes but don’t let those innocent looking eyes fool you. They have been known to eat my garden down to the ground in one night.

There are three fox squirrels and one gray squirrel in our yard just about every day. They are in the bird feeders and up in the trees chattering at us and the dog pretty much all day long. I started off trying to keep them out of the feeders but it is an impossible task.

They are very acrobatic and can get to just about any of our feeders.

We spend time each day watching these very acrobatic mammals hop from limb to limb and then hang upside down to eat from the feeders.

Here is a coloring page for a Fox Squirrel. We found this website that has a recording of the sound the fox squirrel makes.

Again, I ended up including photos as part of my nature journal entry to show the differences between the Western gray squirrel and the Fox squirrel.

One of my sons told me that it used to be an “event” when the gray squirrel showed up in the yard but now we have so many squirrels that they are commonplace. We have started to think of them as rodent pests rather than welcome visitors.

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Barb — 7 Comments

2011 Winter Series OHC #9 and Winter Wednesday #9 – Mammals in Winter Nature Study

Our Resident Pair of Fox Squirrels in Our Backyard

This week you are going to spend some time focusing on mammals.

OHC Winter Series #9 Mammals

Winter Wednesday #9 Mammals

Link for you to check out: Hibernation
This pdf can be printed out and shared with your children.

Ideas for you to try:
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.
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.

Posted on February 25, 2011January 10, 2022 by Barb — 12 Comments

2011 Winter Series #8 One Small Square and Winter Wednesday #7 Winter Insects

***Winter Series #8 One Small Square-Winter
(You can also read my Squidoo Lens: Square Foot Nature Study.)

***Winter Wednesday #7 Winter Insect Study
A couple of extra links for winter insects:
Where Do Insects Go In Winter?
Where Have All The Bugs Gone?

If you are currently experiencing lots of snow (like we are), perhaps today is not the day to do this challenge. Pick one of the other challenges from the winter series: Filter snow, melt snow, look for animal tracks, observe some birds, or notice tree silhouettes.

There are plenty of challenges that you could try or do again this week if you can’t do the small square or get outside to look for insects. I look forward to reading about your family’s nature study this week. I am so enjoying glimpsing into your winter world and all of the bird study entries from last weekend.

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Did you enjoy this Outdoor Hour Challenge? Be sure to tag us on Instagram @outdoorhourchallenge and use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge so we can see and comment!

Posted on February 18, 2011January 14, 2022 by Barb — 8 Comments

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #7 and Winter Wednesday #8 Winter Birds

I thought we would line up these two challenges this week as many of us prepare to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. I realize that the Winter Wednesday challenge is out of order but it just seems to make sense.We will do winter insects next week.

Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #7 Winter Birds (including bird migration)
Winter Wednesday #8 Winter Birds (How do birds survive the winter?)

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Barb — 1 Comment

Winter Weeds Along Our Walking Trail

Our world is slowly turning green and it feels nice to walk along and see the plants starting to awake for spring. We had our eyes open for winter weeds and we found some new things and some familiar things to share.

The side of our walking trail is covered in this plant with the nicely shaped leaves. I am going to watch it as the season progresses to see exactly what it is.

The California poppies are starting to grow and I can hardly wait to see their happy orange little faces in a month or so. Isn’t it interesting how it can grow right there right on the rock? Not much soil here but there are plenty of poppies sprouting up for us to enjoy.

Here is what our mullein looks like right now….all brown and the tops are covered in lots of seeds.

The Handbook of Nature Study says, “Later the capsule divides partially in quarters, opening wide enough to shake out the tiny seeds with every wandering blast. The seed, when seen through a lens is very pretty; it looks like a section of a corncob, pitted and ribbed.” (page 538)

This is the most interesting of the dried weeds that we observed. I like the way the bottom of the stalk looks like it is the skirt of the plant.

I can’t remember what this looks like in the spring or the summer….Does it have flowers? What do they look like? Now is the best part of the nature study experience. We get to watch this spot as the seasons progress and then see if we can identify it with our field guide. There is always something to learn and I am glad our Creator made us to be curious and he filled the world with interesting things to occupy our minds productively. (If you are a Bible reader: Ecclesiastes 3:10-14.)

Here is what it looks like close-up.

The top looks like this with its thin branching arms.

Our Queen Anne’s Lace looks pretty much like it did in the autumn.We had planned to pull up a specimen to observe the roots but we have snow today! We will have to wait now until we can get outside to finish our study.

I couldn’t decide on what I wanted for a journal entry this week so started a bulleted list of weeds we observed. I will add a few more as the month goes on and we see some more. I had room so I made a list of random other subjects we have come across this past week…sometimes it is just nice to have a little reminder to look back on in the years to come.

One last thing to share with you. Phyllis had this link in their winter weeds study:
Weed Collection Board – awesome idea!

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Barb — 7 Comments

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #6 Salt Study and Winter Wednesday #6 Winter Weeds

Winter Weeds- Look for seeds, pods, or dried flowers.

This week’s combination of challenges will give you two very different subjects to consider.

Winter Series #6 Salt Study
Winter Wednesday #6 Winter Weeds

***The salt experiments are a fun way to learn about an everyday subject that all of us have in our homes. You might find the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study an interesting read as part of this challenge.

***Winter weeds are one of my favorite winter nature study subjects. If you would like to participate, here are a few suggestions from the challenge
1. Collect a variety of seeds from weeds in your local area and sketch them in your nature journal.
2. Gather a few varieties of weeds and display them in a vase.
3. Pick a weed you know you have and print out a coloring page for your nature journal.

My daughter has graciously made available her Salt Study Lapbook pdf to go along with this challenge. Please click over to her blog at Hearts and Trees to read more about it!

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Barb — 9 Comments

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #5 Pine Trees and Winter Wednesday #5 Evergreens


Evergreens and Aspens

Another week where the challenges match up for you!

Winter Series #5 Pine Trees in Winter
Winter Wednesday #5 Evergreens/Cones

Please feel free to complete one or both of the challenges as you have the opportunity. We would all enjoy seeing your entries and even if it is at a later date, please come back to this entry and add your link.

Evergreens on the Lake’s Edge

Don’t forget to check the Winter Wednesday Squidoo page for more information for #4 and #5 challenges to go along with this week’s study.

I forgot to mention last week with the winter weather challenge that my daughter has a Weather Lapbook Kit that you can purchase if you want to spend some extra time learning about your weather. Check it out on her blog Hearts and Trees.

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Barb — 3 Comments

Weather, Weather, Weather….Nature Study in the Day to Day

We all have weather…..no doubt about it. Our family seems to notice the weather everyday and we often talk about how cold or how dry or how windy it is in comparison to last year or to the previous season. Sort of related this week, two family members came to me at separate times to tell me that the days are definitely getting longer. I had actually noticed it in the mornings and this morning in particular I realized that I did not need to turn the back lights on when I took the dog outside. The sky was just tinged with blue and the only luminary that I saw was Venus…nice and bright!

Weather Chart from the Autumn Series Ebook

We started this week keeping a daily record of our temperatures, sometimes several times a day just to see the variation. We compared this to our autumn study record that we kept in November 2010. There is virtually no difference except for perhaps we had more rain in November. We are going to keep going with our chart and see when we have a change in our weather.

Our tree silhouette study goes pretty much all winter so I had to try to come up with a new aspect to offer to the boys this week. We decided to note tree buds and to bring in some twigs from the forsythia bush to see if we can force some blooms.

Our sweet gum tree is already making some changes…the buds look like this right now.

Our birch is looking pretty much the same, it is in a shadier and cooler part of the yard.

The forsythia twigs are all gathered in a vase, sitting in the front window. I will let you know when and if they blossom.

Hope you had a great week of winter nature study and are getting outdoors a little each week to discover some interesting things in your part of the world.

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Barb — 13 Comments

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #4 Winter Weather and Winter Wednesday #4 Tree Silhouettes

Fallen Leaf Lake Snowshoe Hike

Here are this week’s challenges:

Outdoor Hour Challenge #4 Winter Weather Study
Winter Wednesday #4 Tree Silhouettes -More ideas for this study can be found on Squidoo.

These two challenges can easily be combined into one outdoor excursion. Both challenges can also be done from the comfort of your own window if it is bitterly cold outdoors. Observations can be made and then recorded in your nature journal or if you have the ebooks you can record your findings on the accompanying notebook pages.

Snowshoe Tracks with Aspen Silhouettes

Even if you don’t do anything else this week, try to get outside for some fresh air and a good walk with your children.

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Barb — 3 Comments

Our Winter Sky Studies

Beautiful Pink and Lavender Sunset

We have been out a few nights in the past week to gaze at stars even if it was for just a minute or two. The moon was very bright and we even saw it early in the morning a couple of times, peeking out from between the pines on the horizon. I think the moon impressed us more than the stars. We have been focusing on stars all this school year so I just went with what the boys were interested in learning about. The next full moon is on February 18, 2011 and is know as the Full Snow Moon.

I ordered a new book for them because of their interest in learning more about the Apollo landings on the moon and the Apollo program in general. I know it doesn’t look like a very deep book but it gets builds their interest and helps them to know what they can research more on their own. It is another one of those books that I will keep on the coffee table for a few months and let them browse it at their leisure.

The other interesting subject that came our way was a bat! We were out at sunset and here was a bat flying and swooping around our backyard. We were surprised to see him but it was fun to watch as he flew around and around putting on an acrobatic show.

Purple Sunrise…Looking West

My son pointed out this purple sunrise sky…this is facing west so the sunrise is behind us. It is the same spot that the very top photo was taken at sunset. I had a hard time getting the color right and had to take about twenty images on different settings to get it to come out. It was really this purple.

If you are looking for a journal to use over long periods of time for star gazing (or moon gazing), we found a perfect one that my son has been using all year.

It is called Stargazing Journal and it has pre-printed pages for you to record each night time session you have. There is even a place on the page for a sketch of your observations. I like that it is hardbound and has an elastic closure.

I have really enjoyed reading other family’s star entries and I encourage you all to give it a try. It doesn’t even need to be a long session but just calling attention to the winter sky’s beauty is even enough if that is all you can fit in. Do a sunset or a sunrise study if you can manage that for this challenge. I guarantee if you put in the effort, you will be rewarded.

Have a great week and I will post up the next challenge tomorrow.

Don’t forget to submit your January Outdoor Hour Challenge and Winter Wednesday entries to the OHC Blog Carnival. The deadline is this coming Monday, January 31st.

Category: winter wednesday series ebook