This week’s challenge is a continuation of an annual tree study for some of you but a new challenge for many.
Our family is going to be choosing a new tree to observe and get to know from our backyard. I prefer for my boys to pick a deciduous tree so there will be lots of changes to observe, but you are welcome to choose any tree that you and your children are interested in getting to know better.
Outdoor Challenge-Autumn Series
Seasonal Tree Observation-Autumn
See Also Challenge #36
You may also like: Four Seasons Tree Study Photo Project
Inside Preparation Work
Read the section in the Handbook of Nature Study discussing seasonal tree work. You will find it on pages 622-626. This week the challenge includes making a seasonal observation of a tree. Lesson 172 on page 623 includes five suggestions for studying your tree during autumn. If you are just joining the challenges, pick a tree from your yard, your street, or a near-by park to observe over the course of the next year. I would suggest printing out the Seasonal Tree Notebook Page and taking it with you so you have the option to complete it during your outdoor time.
Outdoor Time
Take your 10-15 minute outdoor time to choose a tree to observe over the next year. You can take photos of your tree to put in your nature journal or you can sketch the tree in your journal. You may also choose to complete the Seasonal Tree Notebook Page during your outdoor time.
Follow-Up Activity
Allow your child a few minutes to tell you about their outdoor experience. Talk about the tree you chose to observe for you seasonal tree study. Check in the Handbook of Nature Study to see if your tree is listed there and make sure to do the reading about that particular tree over the next few weeks. There should be some suggestions for observations that you can follow. File your page away so you can compare it during your next Seasonal Tree Study.
We are hoping to take some time to go walking and find a tree to study this week. The photo above was taken a couple of years ago and it reminds me of the warm autumn day we had hiking and taking in the fall color of the aspen trees.
This is what it really is all about for our family-building memories and experiences that shape who we are and how we feel about our Creator.
This is an affiliate link to a product I have used and highly recommend.
I’ll be playing catchup this weekend 🙂 You’ll be hearing from me! You have NO IDEA how helpful your blog will be to me and my homeschool!!
We are going to do this! We have 2 “baby” trees in our yard, a maple and a birch.
Thanks for creating this challenge.
Primal,
I am so glad to hear that you are finding my blog helpful. Please join in whenever possible because there is a great sense of community around here. I am encouraged when I read all of your entries and it inspires me to keep going.
Alex,
I would love to have a maple tree to use for our study. I think they are one of the most beautiful trees around. I also like aspens.
Thanks for the comments,
Barb
This challenge worked in perfectly for what we did on Thursday! The boys are looking forward to watching and seeing how our maple trees change 🙂
I linked up in two places this week because I was easily able to blend two challenges. We’re still playing catch up, so this week we were on Lesson 4: Choose a focus area. We chose trees! It’s the perfect time of year to begin a tree study and we had a wonderful time with ours yesterday.
Catching.up.
Love.that.last.photo!
~R
Hope ya don’t mind..but I’ve shared your study with our local Charlotte Mason friends group in Florida 🙂
Primal,
The more the merrier! Thanks for sharing the link. 🙂
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
We are definitely in on this one, I like the Autumn theme for the challenges. Thanks, Barb. 🙂
It was fun combining the challenges of the up close and the seasonal tree study. I knew I had these pics and forgot that it was a part of our magnifying glass day until I found them. Looking forward to the seasonal watching…these are our favorites!
Don’t know how I missed these, but I added our journal entries to our tree study for Fall…so if you want to take another peak, I think the girls did a wonderful job on their entries with the very helpful download of how to sketch trees that you gave us…thank you again Barb…what fun!
We had so much fun comparing our tree over this past year…what a blessing!