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| Get Outside And Experience Your Winter World |
Here are the links to this week’s challenges:
Winter Series #2 Winter Tree Study
Winter Wednesday #2 World of Snow
Even if you don’t have snow…take a Winter Nature Walk. Click HERE for nature walk ideas to print out for your family. Please feel free to complete one or both of the challenges as you have the opportunity.
Don’t forget to check in with the additional webpages for these sets of challenges:
I don’t usually enjoy the fall season…it is a melancholy time for me. I love the barefoot days of summer and the hot afternoons working in the garden or swimming in the pool. I would much rather be hiking in the green, green hills with wildflowers blooming at my side in the springtime. The promise of spring and the activity of summer are much more likely to gain my vote for “favorite season”. Winter is the enduring time, the time for preparing for spring and summer.
Autumn days are soon filled with colored leaves, falling leaves, and raking leaves. It seems to creep up slowly but then you wake up one morning to find that the leaves are starting to turn colors…..oranges, reds, yellows, golds, purples.
Observing autumn trees and looking close though, you will see spring’s leaves preparing for the winter.
So here we are in the middle of our autumn challenges and making the best of what the season has to offer. We gathered a few leaves to compare and my son reminded me that we did an in-depth study of leaves and their parts as part of our biology study.
I went to the shelf and pulled out his biology notebook and his nature journal and we thumbed through to find our completed study.
So now what could we do to learn more about leaves?
First of all, I shared with my son the idea that I gleaned from Amy at The Teachable Heart and her family’s study of autumn leaves. She actually color copied the leaves for their nature journals and they looked wonderful. I thought maybe we could do the same for our tree and other fall leaves that we were comparing just for a change in our journals.
We had already decided to choose another tree to study for a year-long tree study, the birch tree in our backyard. We gathered a few leaves and took a closer look at the tree while we were out there.
Welcome to our new tree for the year! We are excited to see what we can learn by looking at and comparing this tree to our previous tree study subjects.
These catkins are such interesting things to look at and we looked up some more information in our tree guide after our outdoor time.
We brought some inside to look at with our loupes and to draw in detail in our nature journals.
While we were out we looked at several other kinds of leaves….the dandelion growing in my pot is such an interesting shape in comparison to our tree leaves.
How about these leaves on the broccoli? Amazing gray-green color.
Our coleus is still giving us blazing amounts of color in the container garden on the deck. It makes me happy just to look at these leaves.
It had to go in my nature journal.
Watercolor pencils are fun to work with in your nature journals and we always have a set sitting on or near our work area table. It is easy to sketch quickly and then come back later to add water and details.
I will end my entry here since this journal is getting quite long. We are enjoying the connections between our biology study and our nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenges.
Tulip Tree or Yellow Poplar Tree
We have been observing the tulip tree very closely and I shared the blossoms a few weeks ago when we had the complete tree covered in blooms. Now it is mostly big yellow-green leaves that provide abundant shade on the front of our house.
There is a mockingbird that frequents the tree early in the morning to sing us a song. It is a nice way to wake up, with the leaves silhouetted on the window blinds and the sound of bird song in the air.
My son noticed that the bark has some moss on it still even in the heat. There were ants on the trunk as well. There were no bees visible, but we know when the tree is blooming it is alive with bees.
Here are our nature journals which this time we decided to use photos instead of drawing. It makes a quick and easy journal that looks really nice.
I opted to add a photo to my nature journal from last month when the tree was blooming.
My son’s journal has a photo of the tree as well. He made a list of his observations and then added a photo to make a very easy nature journal entry.
This entry completes our full circle for the year:
It hardly seems possible that we have gone all through the seasons with our tree already. This is such a great way to learn more about what is right in our own yard. We have started to think about what tree we will observe next….oh the possibilities!
Spring Series-Apple Tree Study
Our new apple tree’s blossoms. Photo from 4/22/10 taken by my son Mr. A.
Our study took a turn when we had a huge rainstorm and an inch of snow a few days later. Our weather has been very unstable so we had to postpone our plans to observe our own newly planted apple tree and then drive up the road from our house where there are apple orchards by the acre.
We were finally able to do both parts of the study yesterday.
First our tree….this is the first year we are observing this tree. It had blossoms some time ago but now I am assuming these are the baby apples.
The leaves are a nice texture and we found quite a few bugs crawling on the branches. My husband used the garden hose to spray them off and today they were still not back.
This particular tree has had different kinds of apples grafted onto one trunk. Gravenstein, Fuji, Red Delicious, and a Rome.
It will be interesting to watch this tree mature.
Now for our drive to the apple orchard.
The sky was amazing with its white billowy clouds. My boys actually told me to stop and take a photo….as we stopped the car we realized that there was a field of sweet smelling lupine on the other side of the road.
What a delight and a surprise to see this sight right near-by our home.
The orchards are all green and no longer full of blossoms.
It seems as if you could walk down the rows and feel the apples growing on the trees. I love apples.
Typing up this entry and viewing these photos makes me think that spring really is here. I can see it in the photos. Hooray for spring!
Just another note: I have seriously been lacking in my posting on this blog this week because of the time I am devoting to writing the Summer Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges. There is just so much to research and to pull together so we will have a wonderful adventure this summer with the challenges. I am really looking forward to sharing my new ideas with you soon.
We were able to get out and enjoy our spring temperatures this afternoon, completing a tree study of our Tulip tree as part of our on-going year-long tree study for the Outdoor Hour Challenge.
We came back inside with one of the leaves and my son and I both sketched it into our nature journals.
His is very simple while I took a little more time and played with my watercolor pencils and my Prismacolor pens.
We found this interesting website on our tree: Yellow poplar or Tulip Tree. This tree is not native to California, but many choose it to grow as a shade tree. We like the shade as well as the leaf shape and the flowers later in the spring.
Here are our autumn and winter blog entries for this tree.
It is not too late to get outdoors and start observing a tree. You can even start this season and continue over the next year. The best way to observe your tree is to go outside and quietly sit and look at your tree. You may be surprised and see some visitors as you sit. I am anxious to see how your family’s tree has changed since the last time you reported in.
So now that we know that one of the trees in our row of sweet gums trees is actually a maple, we have a subject for this week’s maple tree challenge.
We found some information about maples online:
Maple tree identification video from About.com
How to Tap a Maple Tree
We are holding off on the exact identification until it totally leafs out. We think it may be a silver maple which is not native to our area, but we know that we did purchase it from a nursery over a decade ago. The whole situation with this tree makes me wonder if I will ever know my own backyard.
It humbles me.
We always enjoy the tree no matter what its exact species is anyway and my husband reminded me of how much I enjoy this particular tree with its beautifully shaped limbs and its pretty leaves. It also gives us much needed shade on the back of our house when summer comes.
I already shared a photo of the helicopter seeds but here is another one for this study. We did learn from our research that these are officially called samaras.
My son and I went out and really truly looked at this tree one afternoon this past week. We observed a few new things. First of all, it is ready to leaf out and the sweet gums are still in buds. Next, the samaras are not on every branch. We have looked in our field guide and then online, finding no information about why that is so.
We remember now that the leaf buds on this tree are bright red and the sweet gums are light green. My son also reminded me that this tree has a time of year that it drops sap lightly on the rocks below it. The leaves and the rocks below get all sparkly with a sticky substance.
After discussing it as a family, we decided that all these years we just thought we had two different varieties of sweet gum trees. It never occurred to us that it could be a totally different tree.
Okay, so now the really humiliating part of the entry. My son studied this maple for a whole year thinking it was a sweet gum tree.
Spring Tree Study
Fall Tree Study
Winter Tree Study
This should make all of you feel better knowing that I am just like you. I am learning every week as our family slows down to study and learn about all we have living in our backyard. The other lesson that we learned over the last week is that we actually learn more when we are wrong about something. It takes real determination to research and compare in order to dig down to the bottom of a mystery. We now know more about maples and sweet gum trees than ever before. I am positive there is still a lot more to learn on this topic.
What is the saying? The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. I think that is how it goes. It perfectly illustrates how I feel right now.
We have been trying to spend some time outdoors every day, but we are told to expect more snow tonight. It has been a crazy spring so far!
Outdoor Hour Challenge
Spring Series #1
Spring Tree Observation
“Like a friend is a tree, in that it needs to be known season after season and year after year in order to be truly appreciated. A person who has not had an intimate, friendly acquaintance with some special tree has missed something from life.”
Anna Botsford Comstock, A Study of a Tree
Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 625-626 in the Handbook of Nature Study: Spring Work. This part of Lesson 172 should give you lots of things to think about as you prepare for your spring tree study observations. If the tree you chose to study has a section in the Handbook of Nature Study (check the table of contents), you might want to read the lesson for your particular tree in preparation for your Outdoor Hour time as well.
The Handbook of Nature Study suggests measuring the height of your tree using a stick 3½ feet long and a measuring tape. See page 626 Lesson 172 #4 for details.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Now that spring has come, it is time to check on your tree from your Year-Long Tree Study. If you are just starting out with a tree study, pick a tree from your yard that you can watch through all four seasons. Spend 10-15 minutes of your outdoor time using the ideas from the Handbook of Nature Study to do some focused observations of your tree.
Simple Suggestions for Spring Tree Study:
Follow-Up Activity:
After your outdoor time, complete a nature journal entry using the notebook page I provided for the Spring Series, a general notebook page from my freebies page, the original notebook page, or your own blank journal. Photos of your tree are a good record in your nature journal as well.
If you would like to make some leaf prints with your spring leaves, please see my blog entry with instructions:
Making Leaf Prints
Drawing your tree can be easy if you follow the instructions found in this file:
Guide to Sketching Trees
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
“There is something majestic about the pines, which even the most unimpressionable feel.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 670
We have plenty of pine trees to study in our area and because they are so common we often don’t take the time to really look at them. This week as part of the Winter Series of Challenges, we tried to focus on two different kinds of pines that we have along our walking trail in two different spots.
The first is the Ponderosa pine and it is very common in our neighborhood. We also enjoy seeing them when we visit Yosemite.
These are really tall pines that spread out their limbs high up on the top.
Quite a few limbs had fallen down in the last storm we experienced, making observation of the limbs much easier. Here you can see how the bundles of needles are attached to the limb.
Ponderosa Pine trunks resemble puzzle pieces and have actually very pretty.
Here is another tree that has moss growing in between the bark pieces.
Now for the other kind of pine….
The needles on this pine are almost blue-gray in comparison to the Ponderosa Pine. This limb was down from the winter storm as well and we got to take a really good look at it up close.
This was interesting to see. I am assuming this is where the new cones will develop on the limb.
“The appearance of the unique unripe cone is another convincing evidence that mathematics is the basis of the beautiful. The pattern of the overlapping scales is intricate and yet regular-to appreciate it one needs to try to sketch it.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 672
Here are some cones. We are not sure and will have to go back and look at the tree itself to identify it but the boys are thinking that it is either a Jeffrey pine or a Gray pine.
I attempted last summer to sketch and paint some cones into my nature journal and it is very true that when you take the time to sketch something you notice all the patterns and details much more than you would normally. I encourage you to give it a try with your children.
We have studied the pines in our backyard before and you can read about that study HERE.
“At least one pine tree should be studied in the field. Any species will do, but the white pine is the most interesting.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 674
I think if you live in the West, the sugar pine is also very interesting, especially if you have a big cone to study.
Great week for nature study!
We completed our Winter Tree Study a few days ago before all the rains started. Last fall we chose our Tulip tree or Tulip Poplar to observe in every season for the next year. It is the tallest tree in our front yard. It lost quite a few branches during our December snowstorm so it has a little different shape than it did back in October.
There are virtually no leaves left on the tree at this point.
The boys noted that there are still a million helicopter type seeds left on the tree.
The ground under the tree is covered in seeds. The boys are going to sketch some of the seeds into their nature journals.
Mr. A wanted me to note that he had to spend the better part of an afternoon last week cleaning out the rain gutters and downspouts and the bulk of the mess was from this tree with its helicopter seeds. They are just thin enough to sift through the screens over the rain gutter.
Here is a small cluster of the seeds on the ground under the tree. We noted they look like wooden flowers.
The most interesting part of our winter tree study is the moss and lichen growing on the trunk. It is really noticeable now that the tree is bare. We took a few minutes to observe the moss. Words like soft, fluffy, bright green, and spongy were used to describe the moss. It is most definitely more prominent in the winter and far greener than the fall.
Here is a link to our Fall Tree Study so we can compare the two seasons. What a difference! Now we will wait until spring to make our official study of the changes in this great tree in our yard.
As a sidenote…
Here is something that made me smile. Look at those bulbs peeking out of the ground already! I know that underneath the ground there are dozens and dozens of bulbs just waiting to pop out in flowers before long now.
Hope you get to your Winter Tree Study soon.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Outdoor Hour Challenge
Winter Series Ebook
Winter Tree Study
Inside Preparation Work:
Now that winter is upon us, let’s take this week and observe the tree we chose last autumn to study during each of the four seasons. This week you will use the suggestions on pages 624-625 of the Handbook of Nature Study to make general winter observations of your tree. You may wish to read through the suggested ideas for studying your tree before heading outdoors so you will have those in mind. If you started a year-long tree study a few months ago during the Autumn Series of challenges, you may want to pull out your nature journal and refresh your memory about your particular tree. Hopefully when you go outdoors you will observe some big changes.
Also, if you have the Discover Nature in Winter book, turn to pages 76-81 for valuable information on branch patterns, tree silhouettes, twigs, and seed containers.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Take your 10-15 minute outdoor time to study your tree. If you are just starting out with a tree study, pick a tree from your yard that you can watch through all four seasons. Have your children make as many observations as possible, perhaps comparing the appearance to how it was during autumn. Another way to record your tree changes is to take photographs in every season. This makes for a very easy nature journal entry once you get back indoors. If your weather is too cold or snowy to go outdoors, you can pick a tree to observe from your window or you can bring in a twig or cone to study from your tree instead.
Simple Suggestions for Winter Tree Study:
1. Pick a tree in your yard or on your street and view its branch patterns and silhouette.
2. Find a tree that has lost its leaves and sketch its shape in your nature journal. This activity can be done from a window if your weather is too cold or snowy.
3. Collect some seeds from trees that may still be left over from last season. Look for sweet gum, locust, yellow poplar, ash, mimosa, or sycamore.
4. Collect twigs from different trees and compare them.
Follow-Up Activity:
After your outdoor time, complete a nature journal entry. If you purchased the Winter Nature Study ebook you will have a custom notebook page or there are several free alternatives by using a general notebook page from the sidebar of my blog, the original Seasonal Tree notebook page, or your own blank journal. You can take photos of your tree to put in your nature journal as well. The Handbook of Nature Study suggests sketching your tree to show its shape as it stands bare. File your nature journal page as a record of the season.
Additional Project:
Anna Botsford Comstock in the Handbook of Nature Study suggests on page 624 to take a twig from your tree in February and look at it carefully. She suggests placing the twig in a vase of water and then leaving it in a warm, light place and see what happens to the buds.
