Outdoor Hour Challenge – Jewelweed

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Jewelweed

Inside Preparation Work:

• Read pages 508-511 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson #134). As you read, mark things to look for when you are on a jewelweed hunt.
• Youtube video: Edible and Medicinal Jewelweed. Also this one shows the seed pods: Jewelweed or Touch Me Nots. (Note-I do not promote the eating of any plants.) Here is a video of the seed pods exploding: Jewelweed Pods.
• Look to see if you have jewelweed in your area: USDA Jewelweed.

Outdoor Hour Time:

• Look for jewelweed in the shade and in damp places. Study the plant where you find it growing.
• Here are a few things to look for: flowers, pods, galls on the leaves, leaf-miners.
• As you walk outdoors, take note of other wildflowers and weeds that have gone to seed. Try to determine the means of seed dispersal and compare it to the jewelweeds explosive pods.
• Look for any autumn blooming wildflowers to observe. Use a field guide or the internet to identify them.

Follow-Up Study:

• Create a nature journal entry for the jewelweed or any other autumn blooming wildflower you observed during your outdoor time.  Make sure to use the questions in the lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study to make careful observations of the jewelweed.
• Draw a detailed sketch of the jewelweed pod and explain its means of seed dispersal.
• Advanced study: Create a nature journal entry that includes a description of the medicinal use of jewelweed.

If you want to purchase the Autumn Nature Study 2015 ebook so you can follow along with all the notebooking pages, coloring pages, and subject images, you can join the Ultimate or Journey Membership Levels. See the Join Us page for complete information. Also, you can view the Autumn Nature Study 2015 announcement page for more details.