More Nature Study Book 3 Spring Wildflowers – Poppies and Buttercups
Inside Preparation Work:
Read the Handbook of Nature Study pages 516-518 (Lesson 136) on the buttercup. Also, read pages 560-565 in the Handbook about the poppy and the California poppy (Lessons 154 and 155). Use the information to identify and then observe these flowers when you get the opportunity. If you don’t have these flowers in your area, use this challenge to find and view closely any flower in your spring world.
View this page for some amazing images of buttercups: Close-Up View of 3 Buttercups. Ebook users: View poppy images on page 29.
Use this challenge to introduce the parts of a flower with the proper names. You can find information online HERE. There is a diagram in the Handbook of Nature Study on page 456. You can also refer to Garden Challenge #2. I encourage you to start using the flower part names as you observe flowers.
Outdoor Hour Time:
This week you can spend some of your outdoor time looking for spring flowers or flowering weeds. Part of this challenge is to start using the correct flower part names and that can be done with any flower you find.
Collect one or two flowers to bring inside to draw in your nature journal.
Advanced students: Complete your nature journal in the field. List as many of the flowers you observed as you can (Free printable list notebook page HERE). Use your field guide to identify any flowers you don’t know. Pick one to research later in the week.
Follow-Up Activity:
Sketch or watercolor the flower you collected during your outdoor time. Make sure to add a date, flower name, and the location you collected the flower to your entry.
Advanced students: If you did not do so in the field, complete a nature journal entry for your flower, complete with flower parts labeled. Use a field guide or the internet to learn more about your flower.
Advanced students: Research more information on one of the flowers you observed during your outdoor time.
When we started our front yard remodel in 2010 I had no idea how much joy this space was going to bring to our lives. Each week it is a new palette of colors. The plants are really filling in this spring and new critters are moving in as well. Here are some glimpses into our garden and then a nature journal entry tutorial for you to give a try.
Butterfly bushes, Yarrow, and Lavender – April 2012
Lavender is the main blooming plant on display right now. The bees love it and so do we!
Along with the lavender is the forsythia, which contrasts so well with the lavender.
The poppies are just beginning to show signs of flower buds and they are just waiting to tip their “hats” and show their blazing orange colors.
This is something new this week….a critter is making a home under my big rock! They have pulled the landscape material back and exposed a little space to hide in right there alongside my front path. I wonder who it is?
I still really enjoy watching our butterfly “fly” around in the breeze. It adds a little bit of whimsy to our front yard.
Nature Journal Tutorial- Window Frame
This project may at first appear to be a little complicated but I encourage you to give it a try. The finished project is so fun to look at and remember your nature time.
Supplies:
Nature Journal
Pen
Watercolor pencils and brush
Begin by sketching a frame that includes both pages in your nature journal.
Sketch your subject. I chose this butterfly bush sample to sketch. Just for fun I made it extend outside the frame.
Now you can add water to your sketch, a title, and a little detail sketch if you wish. Add some fun lettering along the one side…add a date (which I did after taking this photo) and you are finished.
This week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge was to do a robin nature study…but where were the robins? Just a few weeks ago we counted six for our Project FeederWatch count. We saw forty-two during the Great Backyard Bird Count this year in February. This week….zero. We have been vigilant about looking but they are gone from our neighborhood now. So what to do?
We were out looking for any birds this morning and we were surprised to see that our neighbor’s trees were full of Cedar Waxwings! We have learned that they visit us on their way south and then again northwards. The interesting thing, according to our family’s records, we usually see the big flock come through during the GBCC in February. We did not see them this year at all until now. What does that mean? Not sure but it will be interesting to see what happens next year.
Would you like to see our Cedar Waxwings?
They filled three trees and were munching on the “nuts” from the pistache tree that have lasted all winter…just waiting for them to come and polish them off before the next growing season. What a wonderful provider they have!
Yes, we had very gray skies this morning but it wasn’t very cold. They sat resting and eating for quite some time and I was able to get up close to take a few colorful photos of them as they sat in the tree. Don’t you just love their yellow-tipped tails? I could really hear them making their very unique buzzing sound. Do you want to hear? Here is a link to AllAboutBirds and you can click over and hear what I heard…click the “high pitched hissy whistle” and that is exactly it.
Then in a blink of an eye, they were off again. I was amazed at just how fast they flew away in a flock. What a great experience we had this morning! I am forever grateful for the Outdoor Hour Challenges. I know that if I had not started this adventure with all of you that I would have missed out on so many deeply memorable times with my family.
It spurs me on to get outside and this month I have enjoyed joining in with Debi at Go Explore Nature and her #GetOutside project…a photo scavenger hunt. This simple project has already brought such joy to our family. It has encouraged us to think about how we can incorporate outdoor time each day in the month of April. I hope you will consider jumping in with us and take a few minutes to read more about the way it works on her blog. You can see all my entries in my Flickr Set: April GetOutside Project.
Another great week of nature study with my teenage sons.
Don’t forget to share your April Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.You can submit entries directly to me if needed: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
Lemon thyme, Oregano, Garlic chives, and Strawberry Blossoms
It is time for our early spring garden clean up where we start to tidy up the beds in anticipation of a new growing season. Mr. B and I spent a few hours in the garden trimming, weeding, raking, and enjoying the sights and smells of early spring.
Our front yard habitat is full of insects and flowers. The first of the season’s yarrow is blossoming and the plants look super healthy. We weren’t sure these would over-winter but they did beautifully…may add some more to fill in the spaces.
Hello little creature! These insects (some sort of beetle?) are showing their faces now that the rocks are warming up.
I love this image with my lavender and the bee! It seems like you are peering down into a whole different world. The lavender is alive with bees with their humming and buzzing. Go bees!
I know most of you real gardeners will shudder when I tell you that I keep part of my yard just for the dandelions. I love these happy yellow flowers and the bees agree with me too!
The bee balm is springing to life in the side yard and we pruned the neighboring bushes back to allow some more sunlight. I look forward to seeing the red blooms of this flower in the summer.
This is actually my neighbor’s flowering quince that is blooming. I am sharing it here because it has inspired me to plant a few of these in our yard for next spring’s color. Aren’t they gorgeous? I am actually wavering between this bush and the redbud….haven’t totally made up my mind yet.
So there is a little garden update from a sunny afternoon’s walk in the garden.
We still have plenty of tree buds to use in our nature study this week as part of the More Nature Study Book 3 study of Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms assignment. We went out after dinner last night to observe and gather some specimens for our study. Can I just say that we were intrigued with the variety we have right in our own backyard?
Mr. B and I both sketched buds into our nature journal. There has to be no better way to really see what a bud looks like than to try to sketch it in detail. Picking the correct color and seeing the different ways that buds are shaped lead to really truly *seeing* the subject.
Advanced Study Notebook Page from More Nature Study Book 3
Mr. B used the advanced notebook page from the ebook to try his hand at sketching an enlarged bud using the grid paper. He thought this was hard…..I think he just needs a little practice.
Sweet Gum Tree Bud
What a glorious bud he chose to sketch! This is the sweet gum tree bud…it looks like it is ready to burst open at any moment. We placed it in a glass of water to see if we could get it to open up in our window sill.
The vertical twig hanging down has our string on it…still no leaves.
We also observed the birch catkins we have on our backyard tree. This was the same tree we used in our twig study and we found the branch with the string marker. Not much of a change yet so we will continue to watch our twig as the season progresses.
New leaves on this twig of the birch tree and some catkins too.
Currently there are no tree blossoms in our yard. The plum is done and the pear and apple are not yet blossoming. We found a few more interesting things to gather and bring inside for our bud study.
Walnut Tree Twig with Buds
The most interesting thing from our study is the walnut tree twig with its unusual buds…both color and shape. We had never taken the time to really examine the walnut tree bud before so it was a surprise. It was a fun exercise to try to get the sketch right in my journal. It helps to know a little bit about twig anatomy so you notice all the important parts like the leaf scars and the lenticels.
Silver Maple Buds and Key
The maple tree buds are all burst open and you can see the keys in the image above. If you are interested in doing your own Spring Maple Tree Study, you can look back to a previous study we had here on this blog. You may wish to use the free printable: Spring Maple Tree Notebook Page
Birch Tree Catkin – April 2012
So this was another wonderful study with my teen. He did a little grumbling at first about doing the study this week since he thought there wasn’t much to learn but as you see above once we got started there were many things to be interested in. If all that he gleaned from this study was that all tree buds are unique and we can identify trees from twigs and buds, then I am a happy mama.
Supporting a Global Community in Their Nature Study
April 2012 Issue: Building a Backyard Habitat
This is the twelfth issue of the Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter – a complete year! I hope that this newsletter has helped your family to enjoy a richer nature study experience in your own backyard.
I would like to thank every contributor to the newsletter and acknowledge your part in its success. Your willingness to share your family’s experiences has made this a wonderful monthly gift to the nature study loving community.
The Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter is a companion to the Outdoor Hour Challenges that are posted here on the blog every Friday. In this issue there are three special printable activities, additional links and ideas, as well as articles and photos from a variety of OHC participants. I invite everyone to subscribe and get the newsletter each month in your inbox.
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 April. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter 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.
Make sure to click and save the newsletter link from the email for future reference.
If you have trouble getting the newsletter to download, try right clicking the link, save the link, and then open it. (The link is in the email and not in this blog post.) I am not going to be archiving the newsletters at this point. You will need to SAVE the FILE on your computer each month if you want to save back issues.
This is the March Newsletter edition of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival and it is packed with lots of early spring nature study goodness! As the weather warms and we return to our regular outdoor time, I am inspired by all of the families who participate and share their family nature study. What a wonderful community of people from all around the world!
As a special treat I would like to showcase Tricia’s entry here at the beginning of the carnival. She and her family have put together an inspiring post: The Gift of Nature Study. Their words and images truly show the power of everyday, over the long term benefits of nature study with the whole family involved. Thanks Tricia for sharing this glimpse into your family with readers of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.
Hodgepodge Family Pansy Study
No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.
Old English Proverb
Moon Names
Jen is joining the carnival with two entries done with her little ones: Nature Study- A Robin and Moon Shadow, Moon Shadow. Jen shows us how to gently get started with nature study as your children begin to show an interest. It is always nice to see new faces in the carnival. 🙂
Magnets/Compass
Angie from Petra School has written up the account of their Magnet/Compass Study…complete with friends along. I love to see how they make the learning meaningful and fun at the same time. Wish I could have been there! (Image included above.)
More magnet work was done by Zonnah (Zonnah’s Addictions) and her son. You can read and see their video: Magnets. Love the concentration her little guy is showing as he thinks about the properties of magnetism.
Cristy shares on her blog Crafty Cristy the account of their month long Outdoor Hour Challenge-Moon Study. She and her young children made many observations of their night sky and made some wonderful connections and memories. Excellent!
Spring Flowers and Pansy Study
Shirley Anne from Under an English Sky shares their Early Spring Flower entry featuring their crocus and nature journals. Beautiful! (You can see their journal pages above.)
Catherine from Grace to Abide (another UK Outdoor Hour Challenge participant) has written and contributed a two most colorful entries: Beginning Our Focus on Garden Flowers and Flower Parts. What a beautiful display of flowers and she outlines their up-coming garden plans as part of their nature study.
Angie from Petra School submits their Pansies in the Storm entry with carnival readers.This entry shows the many layers of nature study possible with families who have different ages of children. Excellent job on persevering until they saw the “face” in the pansy bloom.
Dorina from Out Side Blue writes about their Planting Pansies and Painting Crocuses for this edition of the carnival. She and her daughters enjoyed an almost-spring day of nature study in their New York City home. Beautiful!
Desiree from Our Homeschool Notebook put together their Nature Study: Pansies entry for us all to enjoy. This was a rich study starting with a neighborhood walk, studying pansies they purchased at the garden center, a close-up study of the pansy face, and then a nature journal. The images in this entry tell the story.
Jen from Snowfall Academy shares their pansy study from their French city apartment: How We Do Nature Study. What a delight to see their journal, poem, and early spring flowers. Thanks for joining the carnival!
Amy from Hope is the Word shares their Spring Flower Study and Art. What a wonderfully full study they had and I think their artwork is lovely. Thank you so much for sharing your pansy study.
Barbara from Schoolhouse on the Prairie wants to share their Dancing in the Daffodils post with carnival readers. They made an enjoyable study of daffodils as an alternative to the pansy study. Excellent choice!
Spring Splendor Walk
Tricia from Hodgepodge has put together a visual entry you are going to enjoy! Noticing Spring is a collection of their early spring images. (Image of the anole in the shoe is from their entry!)
Shirley Anne from Under An English Sky has shared their early spring walk: Spring Splendor. I love the way she started off with a plan but then followed her daughters’ interests…frogs!
Janet write about their Spring Woods on her blog Across the Page. Do not miss their beautiful images and all the interesting things they discovered on this early spring day. Amazing!
Desiree from Singing in the Rain shares their early Spring Splendor walk. They saw a snake too! You can view their wonderful spring images in this entry as well. Thanks for the glimpse into your neighborhood spring.
Dorina from Out Side Blue has shared their blustery Spring Splendor Walk. What beautiful blossoms!
Potpourri
Jennifer from The Mason Family has submitted their Outdoor Hour Challenge #2 for carnival readers. She has declared, “We would enjoy nature and not hurry. We would explore what interested us.” Amen to that. Jennifer also shares their Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 with the carnival this time. They are really enjoying their spring time weather. Thanks for sharing Jennifer.
Barb (Our Oklahoma Day) shares their Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 which includes a look into how they are beginning their nature journals with little ones. It is a joy to me to read how families are still joining the Outdoor Hour Challenge and gaining the confidence to make nature study a regular activity. Pure joy.
Makita from Academia Celestia writes about their Quartz – Nature Study for this edition of the carnival. They did some extra research to answer a question and followed up with some nature journal entries. (I agree…rocks are hard to draw!) Their family also did a follow-up study on a gall they had seen during a trip. You will be interested to see findings: Lime Nail Galls Nature Study.
Kris from On the 8th Day shares their Twiggy Update with carnival readers. She has learned to expect the unexpected.
Lacey from So Every Day has contributed the lovely account of the Outdoor Hour Challenge #10 – Picnic. She shares how they even included a little poetry writing as part of their nature journals this time. Inspiring.
Janet from Across the Page has submitted their Red-Tail Observation entry for the carnival. Their family has decided to build on the interest shown after watching the live webcam of a red-tail nesting at Cornell University. Wonderful entry showing their journals too!
Leslie from Two Cowgirls writes about their gorgeous spring day Tree Study. They took a walk as a family down by a creek and took time to gather some twigs and do some sketching.
Kristin from Broom and Crown shares their exciting Butterfly Watching entry.
Don’t forget to share your Spring Splendor blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in April are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 4/29/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.
More Nature Study Book #3 Spring Tree Study – Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms
This challenge is aimed at getting you outdoors and looking at trees early in the spring. What should you be looking for? Try looking for buds, catkins, or blossoms. The challenge is not specifically about willow trees but the willow is covered in-depth in the Handbook of Nature Study and contains information you can apply to other trees. Since everyone has varying conditions, adapt this study to your local trees and their current stage of growth.
In the winter we looked at twigs. If you have a twig you have been watching, make sure to wrap up your study this week with a journal entry and final drawing.
Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 651-654 of the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 179 on the Willow) and pages 648-650 (Lesson 178 on the Horse Chestnut). Read for information about the twigs, buds, and pussies.
View this page on catkins and note what to look for during your outdoor time. Explain that the “tassels” of the oak and “pussies” of the pussy willow are really flowers. Catkins appear before the leaves. There can be male and female catkins. Ebook users: Use the illustrations in the ebook to learn about the different ways buds can look and be arranged on the twig.
Go outside and look at the buds, catkins, or blossoms on trees in your yard or neighborhood. Ebook Users: See chart in the ebook for blooming times for common trees.
Gather some twigs with buds, catkins, and/or blossoms to bring inside for observation. Place each twig in a jar with water and label with the tree name if possible. Note: Catkins and blossoms contain pollen.
Advanced Study: Watercolor a spring blossom if you have one to observe in person.
Use your senses to observe your buds, catkins, and/or blossoms. (touch, sight, smell). Make a record in your nature journal including a sketch. Make sure to record the length of your bud and as many details as possible including color. Ebook Users: Optional coloring pages: Horse Chestnut and Pussy Willow.
Watch your buds over time and see what happens. Record how long it takes for the buds to open. Place a piece of white paper under the jars with catkins and observe what happens over the next few days. Record your observations in your nature journal or on a notebook page.
Extend your study to include information about the tree your bud came from using a field guide or the internet.
If you haven’t dissected a bud yet, use a bud you collected as part of this challenge. Each bud is different so take your time to remove the scales and layers as you go. View this image to see how you can record your work in your nature journal.
Sketch your catkin and research how the catkin functions as part of tree reproduction. Use this link to learn more about classifying buds: Buds. This one is an excellent visual guide: okPlantid.
Elizabeth shared this link with me and it is a perfect citizen science project to go along with this challenge.Project Budburst.Free printable journal pages you could use with this challenge too!
Friday came and we were planning a snowshoeing day, but recent rains had washed all the snow away. It isn’t much fun to snowshoe in one inch of snow. We regrouped and the boys decided that hiking was definitely their choice for the day so we packed up our lunches, camera, binoculars, and map to head to somewhere new for some springtime exploring.
Mt. Diablo is not the highest or most spectacular mountain in California but it is a landmark that many of us have grown up seeing even from a distance. On a clear day it is visible to many who live in Northern California and most definitely those that live in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge and perhaps see all the way back up to Sacramento as well. We were not disappointed.
What a treat to see so many early spring wildflowers as we climbed the winding mountain road up to the summit. We shared the road with bicyclists of all shapes and sizes. We visited the information center and observation spots at the summit before heading out to do our hiking.
We chose to hike the short interpretive trail first that circles the summit. This was a wonderful way to view the different habitats, geology, and plants of this interesting place. Hiking is such a great activity with teenage boys. They enjoyed spotting different landmarks from the trail and with the binoculars they viewed quite a few birds too.
Nature study takes the blinders off and makes you see so much more about the wonder we have right in our own part of the world. We enjoyed seeing the different rocks along the trail…this one especially was interesting. We read in the trail guide that it is called chert which was a new rock to us.
The spring wildflowers were so colorful. Mr. A captured this Western Wallflower along the summit trail on the sunny side of the mountain. Glorious.
The next trail we took was in the Rock City area of the state park. This is a place we are going to enjoy exploring in the future because we didn’t have nearly enough time to do all the hikes and climbs we would have liked to on this one afternoon.
There are caves and rocks to climb on….my boys loved it! What is it with boys and rocks? I am guessing the challenge and the adventure have something to do with the attraction. I was content to see them from the bottom and take some photos.
The boys also climbed Sentinel Rock while I took a rest on a warm sunny corner of the trail. There are steps and a chain rail to assist the climb and the boys spent some time at the top just enjoying the view. While I rested, I was treated to bird song and soft breezes.
We took one last hike out the Fossil Ridge Trail. We didn’t have a good enough idea of where we were going and what to expect when we got there so we ended up hiking to the top of the ridge and then turning around. Next time we will be better prepared and actually see the fossils.
We did observe some beautiful wildflowers and a spectacular view of the San Francisco Bay Area from the trail which made it worth the effort. The flower above is Baby Blue Eyes.
So ends our hiking trip this first week of Spring 2012. What a great way to get ourselves going with the new series of Outdoor Hour Challenges. I feel like making things new and fresh for teens is worth the effort and I want to keep it going in our family. This is the time of their life when they can find interests that will extend into their adult years.
So back to our part of the world… about a three hour drive across the Sacramento River Delta, across the San Joaquin Valley, and up into the Sierra Foothills.
You can still join the More Nature Study Book #3 challenges. We just got started with the very first one this week: Spring Splendor Walk. You can take your walk in your very own backyard if you would like or perhaps at a near-by park. I encourage everyone to get outside this week for just a few minutes with your children to start this season of nature study with some fun outdoor time.
I am linking up to a new to me monthly meme at The Homeschool Scientist. Click over and join in.
After all the rain we received in the last five days, it was nice to have a dry day today. It would be stretching it to say it was warm and sunny but it was pretty close. We were able to all get outside this afternoon to enjoy a look around the garden. The boys were on their scooters, the Kona dog was rolling in the grass, and I had my camera and nature journal.
The first things we noticed were the colors.
After that we noticed the delicate scent of the alyssum flowers which are starting to fill in all under the rose bushes.
Next when we sat still in the chairs for a few minutes it was the bird song and the bees buzzing in the dandelions. A spider swung by on a web…not sure where he came from but he was swinging down and floating in the breeze. The border bugs were skittering across the river rocks in the sun.
The trees are coming alive too….maple keys, buds bursting. The garden is full of sprouting, unfurling, and greenness.
So much to be thankful for on this first day of Spring 2012.
Today’s bird list on this first day of spring:
House finches -singing sweetly in the plum tree.
Nuttall’s woodpecker in the suet feeder (looking out at one right now as I type this entry)
Mourning doves scratching around under the feeder.
House sparrows
White-crowned sparrows
Western scrub jays – back to their bullying role at the feeder
Oak titmouses
Dark eyed juncos (a dozen of them)
Spotted towhees
California towhees
Anna’s hummingbirds (flew right by my ear when we were sitting outside)
White-breasted nuthatch
American robins
So what did you see? How is spring shaping up in your part of the world?
