Watching birds is a daily activity that all in our family enjoy. Mondays and Tuesdays are Project Feederwatch days so we tally birds and keep official lists on those days and then share our data online. It is a simple routine that we look forward to each week. Since we have been participating in Project Feederwatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count for many years now, there are rarely birds we can’t identify but we did not start off with that level of knowledge. One bird at a time, we added to our life list.
Now that we can tell a Purple finch from a House finch and a House sparrow from a White-Crowned sparrow, that counting goes much faster. We have our clipboard, binoculars, and field guide right in the front window where we can view our bird feeding station and bird bath.
This month’s Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter has several smaller grids for you to use while observing birds in your yard. Each of these grids will help train your eyes to see different aspects of the birds and keep a simple record of what you see. Being able to name the colors and to describe the various bird parts is a first step to learning to use that information to identify your backyard birds with a field guide. The two grids in the newsletter are perfect for beginners or younger children and the other tally boxes will give your older students something to use with their nature journals.
I encourage you to print this page out of the newsletter and keep it with your bird watching resources. There is also a notebook page for your nature journal to record your feeder bird activity.
I was inspired by The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden to include a poem and perhaps a sketch a bird’s egg in my nature journal. If you have the book, pull it out and add it to your nature table, open to one of the March pages which feature birds.
I am excited to share my recent Florida adventure with you. I was able to add quite a few birds to my life list while visiting Sanibel and Captiva Islands as well as visiting the Corkscrew Swamp Sactuary and Clam Pass Beach Park in Naples.
It was a trip of a lifetime and I thoroughly enjoyed my birding…wished I had taken my better camera but I still have quite a few interesting things to share. I hope to have the entry done by next week.
So have you gotten started with your bird grid studies?
Using less plastic is one of my long term goals this year and we started off January with a great gusto! If nothing else, focusing on where we use plastic and how it comes into our house everyday has made us aware that we need to make a conscious effort to eliminate the lazy ways we have developed in our family.
I decided I will keep a running list of all the ways we have either cutback or eliminated the use of plastic as we go through each month, sharing a few ideas each month. At the end of the year it will fun to see our improvement in this area of using less and reusing more.
#1 Organize our collection of reusable water containers.
By far the most wasteful use of plastic we have in our family is the use of plastic water bottles. The convenience of grabbing a plastic bottle as we go about our day was just too tempting. Of course we have reusable water containers and Mr. A pretty much always uses them for his water needs, the rest of us did not. That changed this month. I organized our collection of reusable water containers and put them in a convenient location in the kitchen instead of in the pantry. Now, we can grab a container at the beginning of each day and use it whether we are around the house, out hiking, or going to school or work. I decided I actually like the taste of the water from the stainless steel container better than from the plastic bottle and it keeps the water colder for a longer period of time.
#2 Use consistently our reusable shopping bags.
We have a nice collection of reusable shopping bags that go back and forth between the store, the house, and then back into the car. We have used these for a long time now but we not always as consistent as we could have been. I kept track this month and I only had to use six plastic bags this month – two from Target, two from the grocery, and two from Home Depot. I need to remember to bring in my bags to ALL stores. But, those six bags were recycled in various ways during the month so they were not wasted.
This month has been pretty exciting as our whole family has worked together to come up with ways to decrease our use of plastics. I know that we will never totally eliminate the plastic from our lives but that is not our aim. We are striving to be better at not being wasteful when there are alternatives that fit our lifestyle.
What is your best tip for our family in achieving our goal of using less plastic? Leave me a comment!
See the newsletter for a discount code on these two fantastic DVD’s. You can read my review of each of them and then click over to get your copy with the super discount available. Your Backyard: Birds Your Backyard: Monarch Butterflies
We are staring a month long focus on birds using the Handbook of Nature Study and other resources found here on my blog and in each Friday’s post. Make sure you have subscribed to this blog so you will receive the monthly newsletter download link for additional bird study encouragement and special discounts on ebooks and other products.
Outdoor Hour Challenge:
For our first bird related challenge, let’s all print out our Bird Study Grids from the newsletter. This month they are a little different than in previous months. I have given you two simple grids that you all can use wherever you live and at whatever time of year you want to study birds. There are also two smaller tally sheets you can print out for your nature journal to record bird colors and bird parts you observe. Print and cut any or all of the grids this month and have some fun while taking your Outdoor Hour Challenge time either outdoors looking for birds or from you window if you need to.
Printable Activity: Handbook of Nature Study Nature Table Ideas Birds
Use the suggestions on this free printable to build or add to your nature table. There are many suggestions that have hyperlinks so make sure to check those out for additional ideas and resources. Send me a photo of your nature table and it may be included in the next newsletter!
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, completeOutdoor Hour Challenge #4.Use your outdoor time to talk about your new focus for the month on birds and all the different ways you can learn about birds. Spend a few minutes listening for birds, looking for signs of birds, and then completing the accompanying notebook page in the ebook or an entry in your own nature journal.
I think we are all looking forward to this month’ bird nature study theme! Birds are such fun creatures to watch and to learn about and something we can all participate in no matter where we live or what the weather is like outside. I do quite a bit of birdwatching at this time of the year from my window with a pair of binoculars I keep handy. I hope this month‘s study rewards your family with some joy and discovery! To help you out, I have created a newsletter full of ideas and resources. Be inspired and give the grid study a try!
Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:
6 fabulous articles related to different aspects of bird study (5 from OHC participants)
February Study Grid – actually four grids this month!
My Birdfeeder Journal – printable notebook page
Show and Tell from OHC Participants
Special Discounts from both Crowe’s Nest Media and for my Spring Bundle
Recommended study links
Chart correlating the Outdoor Hour Challenge bird studies with the Handbook of Nature Study
I have attached the newsletter download link to the bottom of my blog feed so if you are a subscriber you will receive the link to the latest newsletter at the bottom of every post for the month of January. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter link in the next post that comes to your email box. You can subscribe to my blog by filling in your email address in the subscription box on my sidebar.
Note: You can download your newsletter from the link in two ways:
If your link is clickable, right click the link and then “save link as” to save the file on your computer.
If the link is not clickable, cut and paste the link to your browser, open, and then save your newsletter to your computer.
This month’s blog sponsor is Crowe’s Nest Media!
See the newsletter for a discount code on these two fantastic DVD’s. You can read my review of each of them and then click over to get your copy with the super discount available.
This month you all surprised me with the number and variety of entries submitted for the rock related challenges. Your families are out there doing some great nature study even in the middle of winter. Thank you for continuing to inspire me to be outside as well. We have had a really cold month here in our neck of the woods and I could just as easily slacked off going outside. Instead, I was out there like the rest of you looking at rocks and learning so much more than I thought I could.
Rock Grid Study
Desiree from Our Homeschool Notebook has a fantastic entry showing so many of their rock related activities from this month’s Rock Grid Study. I really enjoyed seeing how the incorporated so many of the grid study and newsletter suggestions.
Shirley Ann from Under An English Sky shares their unfolding rock-related nature study in her entry: Rock Study Grid. I think this is a great example of how you can find something interesting to learn about by just choosing a few of the grid suggestions and getting started. Thanks Shirley Ann!
Lisa from Pilgrims at Tinker Creek shares their two rock study entries in January Nature Walk and Rock Walk. They found lots of rocks very close to their home…love the striped one!She would love some help identifying some of their rocks if you are familiar with Virginia geology.
Robin from Academia shares their Geodes with the carnival. Looks like Tabbi got a great collection from this activity!
Angie from Petra School’s January Nature Study: Rocks entry is a delight! She shares not only her thoughts on rocks but nature study in general and I think you will find it very encouraging.
Diana from Homeschool Review shares their Nature Study #2 2013 entry with carnival readers. They were on the lookout for rocks but also share their mid-winter nature walk discoveries. Thanks for showing us you finds!
Tricia from Hodgepodge found a unique place to observe some local rocks – the State Capitol! Read all about it in Georgia Rocks Nature Study. Now that was resourceful!
Carla from Inside Outside Michiana shares their awesome Rock Grid Study entry with the carnival. Wow! You are going to love seeing all the great things they accomplished using the grid ideas. Check out their rock stacking!
Nadene has written a thoughtful post relating their Rocks and Stones Experience for the carnival. They took a more relaxed approach to their rock study and were delighted with the results.
Rock Collection
Angie from Petra School has submitted their Rocks-Collecting By Type entry for the carnival. Wow! You are going to love seeing how her more advanced students took the grid study to a new level. I am inspired!
Robin from Academia share Tabbi Rocks! with carnival readers. She writes about Tabbi’s collection and the ones they borrowed to look at as part of this month’s rock challenges. Excellent idea to share collections!
Carla joins the carnival with their Start a Rock Collection entryfrom her blog Inside Outside Michiana. Even her littlest guy was able to participate in this challenge with great success! Related to this entry, Carla shares some additional insights about The Power of Their Own Stuff.
Michelle from Following Footprints had a great rock month and she shares their activities in their entry: Outdoor Hour Challenge-Our Rock Collection. They made a rock sculpture in the middle of their dining room table each day…fantastic idea! Don’t miss their journals too!
Sarah from GranWood Explores writes about their Outdoor Hour Challenge-Rocks and Minerals activities for the carnival. They made an excellent display of their rock collections with labels.
Michelle’s kids are off on a rock walk with Dad – pockets and pretty purse ready for collecting 3 rocks!
Rock Up-Close
Angie from Petra School comes through with an awesome entry for Rocks Up Close! I invite you to click over and be inspired by her thoughts and images. Love her Oregon Coast geology!
Angie also submitted their Rock Observation Chart study…this one is going to show you just how to use that free printable from this month. Make sure to check out all the amazing colors of rocks!
Leslie from Mother Robin’s Notes from the Nest has written about their Rocks Up Close and Personal. What a wonderful entry showing the process they used in completing this rock related study. If you have trouble drawing rocks, you will appreciate this entry.
Nicole from Journey to Excellence seized the opportunity to complete their Rock Study – Perfect Indoor Sick Day Nature Study. She shares how they collected their rocks on one day and then observed them up close on another.
Sara from Garner Goings On submits her entry: Digging Into Rocks. They decided to focus on the rock cycle and to try to identify several rocks in their collection. She also recommends several rock themed books for you to check out.
Rock – Granite/Quartz
Leslie from Mother Robin’s Notes from the Nest wrote their entry It’s Gneiss to Meet You and she packed in a lot of interesting things about their local rocks…with a bit of humor. 🙂
Potpourri
Jennifer of Royal Little Lambs shares their Winter Nature Walk since all their rocks are under the snow. They found lots of great things to observe instead including some bright red rosehips! Make sure to see her new nature display box and nature notebook pages too.
Diane from Homeschool Review has written up their month’s study of mistletoe: Nature Walk 1-2013. I love seeing families follow their interest and learn about things they have in their own area. She also shares her son’s lovely images of snowflakes in Snow! Click over to see for yourself.
Don’t forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in February are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 2/27/13 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com or submit them at the blog carnival site (link on the sidebar of my blog).
To refresh your memory, I am going to try to collect all fifteen rocks discussed in the Rocks, Fossils and Arrowheads (Take-Along Guides).This month we spent lots of time out and about looking at rocks, collecting a few new ones, and enjoying our rock adventures. We did not actually complete any of the fifteen rocks from the book. I can see now that I need to be more purposeful if I am going to achieve this goal in the year 2013.
That is the beauty of goals…they keep you focused and on track.
We did however accomplish several rock-related activities.
We added a new rock to our front yard rock spot. We have yet to identify it but that is going on February’s list because I actually think it is some kind of shale or slate which would be one of our fifteen rocks from the book.
We collected a rock from the other side of the river canyon and comparing it to the rocks on our side of the canyon, realized it is different. This I think is going to be the value in labeling our rocks with where we collected them.
My son, my husband, and I enjoyed a warm mid-winter afternoon sitting on a big rock at the river. I collected a few rocks for a friend as a surprise.
This was a month we spent more time outdoors looking at rocks and talking about rocks and not much was recorded in our nature journals. I already have my rock grid in my nature journal so I just need to sit down with a pen and record this month’s thoughts and discoveries.
I am going to do my best to have one of my official fifteen rocks studied by the end of February.
Next week I will update you on my “using less plastic” goal for 2013…which I did a much better job with this month!
Outdoor Hour Challenge: This week try to find at least one specific rock to collect and observe. If you need to, pick a rock from your collection and use that as your subject. Use your outdoor time to slow down and really look for rocks or if you have snow on the ground, try to remember where there are rocks in your neighborhood and plan for a future rock hunt when the weather is more agreeable.
You may wish to complete the granite or the quartz challenge that were previously posted here on the Handbook of Nature Study: Granite Study Quartz Study
You may pick any rock to study that you have on hand. There are several other rocks listed in the Table of Contents for the Handbook of Nature Study that you may wish to use in your study.
Printable Activity: Rock Observation Chart: Use this printable chart to examine several of your rocks carefully. This is a little more advanced activity using vocabulary that may be unfamiliar to you. The activity is meant to be a simplified exercise in learning how to use deductive reasoning to identify your rock sample.
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #7.We are focusing on rocks this month so you can start your own rock field guide using the directions and notebook page in this challenge. You can record your observations from the printable activity above on your rock field guide card if you wish.
The Hoo-Rag is a seamless bandana that can be worn in a variety of ways by both men and women. I received several Hoo-Rag bandanas to review and share with you here on my blog.
Features: Lightweight and compact to add to your daypack
Versatile uses: Headband, beanie, neck wrap, balaclava, pirate-style cap
Variety of Choices: Fun styles and prints…even custom if you want
Fit: Stretchy but snug enough to stay in place. Comfortable one size fits all.
Where we used our Hoo-Rags: Snowboarding, mountain biking, construction, hiking, around the house
Value: $14.95
My men tested out their own Hoo-rag and found it functioned well as a balaclava for snowboarding because it is thin enough to fit under their helmets. They also used it as a neck wrap when they went mountain biking, keeping them warm but not hot.
I used mine as a beanie and as a headband…loved the feel of it on my head as it kept my hair up out of my face and my ears warm on the chilly days. The Hoo-Rag is just a fun item that is functional but stylish too. I threw it in with my regular laundry and hung it to dry which didn’t take too long. I imagine this summer I will be wetting it to wear on the hot dusty trail to keep my head cool and shaded from the sun. My Hoo-Rag is the Groovy-Hoo just in case you like the print.
I really liked the how-to video on the Hoo-Rag website since it showed me how to actually fold, twist, and manipulate the Hoo-Rag into the various accessories.Take a look and see just how to make those cool beanies and pirate rags.
Would you like a chance to win a Hoo-Rag? I have one of the Sunflower Power print Hoo-Rags to give to one lucky person. See the Rafflecopter widget below for ways to enter and giveaway details. Winner will be drawn at random and announced Monday, January 28, 2013.
Please note: You must leave a way for me to get in contact with you if you leave an anonymous comment. If I don’t have a way to contact you, I will have to choose another winner. a Rafflecopter giveaway
I love reading old nature study books on Google Books. They are so different than the nature books we read today and most of what I read is aimed at teachers so the slant is a little different as well. Here is a quote I just knew would make the blog at some point and today is the day.
“But true science work does not stop with mere seeing, hearing, or feeling; it not only furnishes a mental picture as a basis for reasoning, but it includes an interpretation of what has been received through the senses. A child and a goat may see the same thing, with the advantage of vision on the side of the goat; but the latter has no power to interpret what he sees, and is, therefore, essentially non-scientific.” Nature Study for the Common Schools, 1894
Here are the hints given in this book on how to make true observations happen in nature study (or really any science-related subject).
Nature Study and Direct Observation
1. Have a reason clearly in mind for giving every lesson: How does this lesson (or challenge or activity) relate to what the child already knows? Strive for relationships.
2. Have a reason clearly in mind for the way in which the lesson is presented: How does this lesson allow for personal learning styles? Can you present the lesson (or challenge) in a way that grabs the attention of the child and their way of thinking?
3. Plan only for such work as the pupils can do for themselves, or, at least, take the leading part in doing: Don’t lecture with many words, don’t do the narrating, let the child lead the challenge.
4. Place the child directly in contact with nature under normal conditions: This is the ideal way for children to learn about nature so seek to make opportunities for this to happen as much as possible.
5. Begin with something which is really a part of the pupil’s experience: Let them narrate back what they discover without telling them too much. Look back through past nature journal entries or photos to remind the child of what you have already learned.
6. Accept, as good, only such results as indicate honesty of purpose and growth of mind: Allow for the child to experience and then relate exactly what they learned from any activity. Do not require a “right” answer.
7. Be faithful, and bide your time: Sometimes children are not interested in the topic under study, but over time they may develop an interest if you allow for multiple exposures.
Outdoor Hour Challenge:
Now that we have all started our rock collections either by gathering rocks during our outdoor time or finding rocks we had already in the house, let’s take a closer look using a magnifying lens. This is where you are going to learn just how interesting rocks can be when you slow way down to take a careful look at them. Use the printable below to help you get started.
Rocks Up Close Printable Activity
Print the Rocks Up Close activity page and use it to guide a careful study of your rock. Sketch your rock carefully using colored pencils or markers.
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #8. This challenge is perfect to go along with the Up Close and Personal challenge using your magnifying lens and the notebook page from the ebook.Have fun and learn as much as you can by looking carefully at your rocks.
by Edith Holden to include a poem and perhaps a sketch a bird’s egg in my nature journal. If you have the book, pull it out and add it to your nature table, open to one of the March pages which feature birds.
.This month we spent lots of time out and about looking at rocks, collecting a few new ones, and enjoying our rock adventures. We did not actually complete any of the fifteen rocks from the book. I can see now that I need to be more purposeful if I am going to achieve
