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Posted on August 13, 2010 by Barb — 5 Comments

OHC Summer Series #9: Evening Primrose

Outdoor Hour Challenge Evening Primrose @handbookofnaturestudy

Summer Series #9
Evening Primrose or Other Night Blooming Plant

Train Your Senses

Sight: Observe an evening primrose opening. Look for night flying insects on the primrose. Observe the difference between the leaves at the base and those at the top of the plant. Look for other night blooming plants.
Smell: In the evening, see if you can smell the sweet fragrance of a blooming evening primrose.
Taste: See this LINK for more information. See #6 of Lesson 127 in the Handbook of Nature Study (tasting the nectar).

Inside Preparation Work:

“Then some warm evening, usually about sunset, but varying from four o’clock in the afternoon to nine or ten in the evening, the petals begin to unfurl…..Three or four of these flowers may open on a plant the same evening and they, with their fellows on the neighboring plants, form constellations of starry bloom that invite attention, and night flying insects are often seen on them.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 488

Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 488-491 (Lesson 127). There are garden species of this plant available and many areas of the United States have the evening primrose as a wildflower. Other night blooming plants include 4 o’clocks, Moonflowers, and Night Blooming Cereus. Here is a link that has a list of night blooming flowers.

Outdoor Hour Time:
Spend fifteen minutes outdoors in the evening to observe an evening primrose. If you do not have an evening primrose, try to see if you can find any other night blooming flowers in your area. Use the suggestions from the Handbook of Nature Study to closely examine the parts of this flower, perhaps watching long enough to see the petals unfold. The Handbook of Nature Study also recommends observing a flower blossom indoors so you many wish to collect a specimen to have on hand for your follow-up activity.

Follow-Up Activities:
Make sure to discuss the reason for night blooming flowers during your follow-up activity. Have the child guess what sort of tongue the insect would need in order to gather nectar from the evening primrose. Make time for a nature journal entry using the notebook page from the Summer Series ebook or in your own blank nature journal.

Suggested Nature Journal Activities:

Wildflowers are wonderful subjects for a watercolor drawing. Try using watercolor colored pencils to sketch an evening primrose or any wildflower into your nature journal.
Using the notebook page and/or the coloring page included in the Summer Series ebook, record any observations your child has from their outdoor time.
Press a blossom for your nature journal. Simple instructions can be found HERE.

If you would like all the Summer Series Challenges in one place, I have an ebook gathered for you to purchase for your convenience. Here is a link to a complete description:
Summer Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Barb — 1 Comment

New to The Challenges: Help to Get Started

Question from reader:

Hi Barb! Your blog is amazing! Thanks for taking time in making our lives easier. I’m about to complete Challenge #1. And I have to say if it weren’t for you none of this would’ve happened. I just have a question: After reading the first 8 pages of the Handbook of Nature Study and going outdoors with my children they said that what they liked the most were the ants {3 1/2 yo son} and hiking and the breadfruits {8 yo son}. So, where do I go from here???

My response:
Welcome to the OHC! I am so glad to hear that you are getting outdoors with your children. They both picked interesting topics to learn about.

With an interest, first check the table of contents in the HNS. If it is listed there, you can turn and read to yourself the information shared there and then look at the lesson that goes along with it. There are questions listed to help you get started with a more in depth study. Since your children are still fairly young, I would pick a few interesting facts to share with them from your reading and them perhaps one question to investigate the next time you have your nature study.

I know ants are listed in detail in the HNS so that will be an easy one. Breadfruits are not listed but perhaps you could pick an aspect of the tree to investigate further. You could do a quick internet search for breadfruits and come up with a few interesting facts to share with your child if you would like to. Then you could look at the leaves, trunk, or branches of the tree and apply Lesson 172 (Tree Study) from the HNS to your breadfruit tree. You could dissect the breadfruit itself and make a sketch of what you find in your nature journal. You could make leaf rubbings in your journal. You could observe how the tree looks now and then look again in a few months to see if there are any changes.

Keep it simple and easy. I love that you are willing to follow your child’s lead.

Let me know if you need any more help.

Barb

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Barb — 3 Comments

Western Scrub Jay Nest

As part of our great front yard remodel, we cut down a tree.

My boys brought me this nest that they found among the branches. I knew there was an abandoned nest up there and it was exciting to see it close-up.

We were able to only see the stick part from underneath but now we see it is lined with soft grasses for the eggs and babies.

We know it is from a Western Scrub Jay because we watched the baby birds fly away this past spring. We know they have a new tree to nest in across the yard…it has better protection and we think they may even have another nest there too.

Posted on August 7, 2010 by Barb — 1 Comment

The End of Our Year-Long Cattail Study

Can it truly be the last season of our year-long cattail study? This year has really gone by fast. I can remember the autumn study we completed for our cattails and how we noted so many interesting new things about them for the first time. The advice in the Handbook of Nature Study to study plants and trees over an entire year, watching in each season is one that we have learned so much from in our family.

We have now spent a complete round the circle observation of a patch of cattails just around the corner from our house. We drive by several times a week and each time I notice the cattails and how they change with the season.

After looking back on our previous entries, our cattails in summer look pretty much the same as our cattails in autumn. The biggest changes were from winter to spring.

The habitat was definitely wetter in the spring and the other vegetation was tall, thick, and green. Now the surrounding area filled in with berries and thistles. We realized that there is a path that some sort of animal has made to get down to the little creek, probably a mule deer. There is a family of deer that live along this stretch of the road and we see them several times a week.

Fall Study

Winter Study

Spring Study

We used our senses but the thing that impressed us the most was how smooth and long the leaves were. We noticed upon looking closer at the arrangement of the leaves and how they are attached to the stalk. Somehow we missed that observation in the other seasons. We tried to remove a leaf from the stalk and we were not successful. Usually someone has a knife in their pocket (that is what happens when you have boys) but not this time. We had to go back another time to get a sample to observe closely.

There were birds all around the cattails but not directly on them. The boys think the birds were attracted to the thistles, berries, and water that were available in the area that the cattails grew in big clumps. In the spring we had heard all kinds of insects in this area and now it was silent. We were hoping to see some frogs too, or at least hear them on this outing but it was very quiet.

I love these year-long studies that give us time and incentive to watch a common plant more closely.

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Barb — 11 Comments

Yosemite Trip: Summer 2010: Bears, Wildflowers, and A Cool River

I have been trying all week to find time to post an entry sharing a little of our time in Yosemite last week. We had a great camping trip under the big trees and hiking was glorious. There were crowds of people in the valley but once you made a little effort to get on the trail, there were quiet and open spaces to enjoy with only a few other people to share the path.

Our camping was made exciting by the visit of a black bear. Two campsites away they left out some food and the bear was quick to find a tasty meal of peanuts and chips. We were up early and making our way to the restroom and back when I spotted what I thought was a bear in the campsite. I did not have my glasses on and it was still early and dark. My husband assured me it was a bear.

We made some noise and eventually grabbed some pots and pans to bang together to scare the bear away from the campsite. There is a meadow and wild space behind the campground and the bear eventually made its way off into the trees…not until after he tried to climb a tree. When he stood up he was taller than my 6′ tall husband. We never felt in danger but we know that once a bear gets accustomed to people food that they become a nuisance and the rangers have to take action. (Sorry for the blurry photos but it was really early morning and I just had my point and shoot.)

We had two great hikes during our visit. The first was to McGurks Meadow which is off Glacier Point Road. It is the perfect time of year to visit the meadow to view the wildflowers. I can’t keep up with my boys anymore. They take off ahead of me but our family has come up with a way to stay together…a family whistle. They need to be able to hear me whistle and whistle back or they are too far ahead.

The most abundant wildflower blooming was the Indian Paintbrush.

The corn lilies were starting to bloom as well. We saw loads of butterflies and when we stopped to sit on a log to rest, a tree frog jumped right up next to us.

Our second hike of the week was up to May Lake which is a High Sierra Camp. You can hike up there and spend the night in tent cabins or bring your own tent. We just went for the day. Believe it or not, there is a trail there across the granite.

Here is some more of what the terrain looks like as you hike up to the lake. The lake itself is at about 9,200 feet in elevation. I can feel it in my lungs as we hike up at that altitude. I hike a lot but in combination with the heat and the altitude, it slows me down.

On this particular day, there were two separate mule teams coming down from the High Sierra Camp. They bring the trash and stuff down the mountain and then after resupplying the packs, they head back up. They seem so sure of their footing even on the granite slabs.

The lake itself is not very big but so sparkling clear and cold…you just want to sit and enjoy the view for awhile before exploring around the edge. Here my son gives his dad a helping hand up after our time resting.

Here I am on the trip down the mountain. Not very glamorous but it keeps the sun off this freckle face.

The boys still have enough energy to do a little rock scrambling on the way down. They love this stuff and I think they need to do this sort of thing in order to grow up healthy and happy.

Our last day was spent in Yosemite Valley itself. We checked out the meadows with milkweed blooming and monarch butterflies fluttering.

I almost captured the monarch on the milkweed…see him peeking out?

The milkweed is just glorious right now…so many butterflies and other insects in the meadows. Coexisting, growing so pretty.

We spent the afternoon pedaling at bike speed around the whole valley. What a great way to slow down and really see a lot of ground in a short time. Guess where we are parked?

The Merced River. Talk about refreshing! Most people were drifting down on rafts but we decided to jump in and get wet. No kidding, it was perfect.

One last shot at sunset of this massive granite rock that we have come to love. Half Dome in all its splendor…until next time.

Hope you enjoyed seeing a few of our adventures.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Barb — 6 Comments

The Teacher’s Story: Hers and Mine

“All the facts available and pertinent concerning each topic have been assembled in the ‘Teacher’s Story’ to make her acquainted with the subject; this is followed by an outline for observation on the part of the pupils while studying the object. It would seem that with the teacher’s story before the eyes of the teacher, and the subject of the lesson before the eyes of the pupils with a number of questions leading them to see the essential characteristics of the object, there should result a wider knowledge of nature than is given in this or any other book. ”
Handbook of Nature Study, Preface. Written in 1911 by Anna Botsford-Comstock.

Anna Botsford-Comstock never meant for the Handbook of Nature Study to be the complete sum of information about any one topic. Her aim seems to have been to equip the teacher with information so she could ignite some questions in her students. The students armed with good questions would set out to complete a nature study that led to a wider knowledge of what was right in their own world.

The Handbook of Nature Study, if used wisely, can help parents become better nature study guides. This large volume gathers concise information and nature study starters into one book, giving more time to be outdoors with our children rather than preparing lessons from scratch.

I have found that using the Handbook of Nature Study has prepared us for the opportunities that arise….even months later. The photo above was taken on our recent trip to Yosemite. My son noticed this marshy meadow stream and he immediately started looking for tadpoles. There were none, but he did notice some damselflies and dragonflies which we had studied a year or so ago from the Handbook. He could tell me which ones were which by looking at their wings.

On this same hike we encountered our very first ever Yellow-bellied marmot. (He was busy eating flowers!) We only knew what it was because we had done a study of rodents with the Handbook of Nature Study. The Handbook does not cover Yellow-bellied marmots, but we applied what we already knew about other mammals like the woodchuck and squirrel. When we got back home we looked up the marmot and realized that it is a kind of ground squirrel so we were not far off in our observations. The point is that we were equipped with some basic knowledge and then were able to apply some questions from a previous study.

I think Anna Botsford-Comstock would be happy to know that her ideas and her Teacher’s Stories are as valid today as they were way back in 1911.

Posted on August 1, 2010 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival: Summer is Hot Edition

I think many of us have slowed down a bit with our formal nature study but don’t let that fool you into thinking there will not be much in the carnival. Take a few minutes to read what other families are doing this summer outdoors with their children.

Summer is hot so get outdoors early or spend some in the evenings to watch the sunset, see the bats fly, hear the mosquitoes buzz, the frogs croak, and perhaps even hear an owl. It is not too late to start the Summer Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges.

Summer Series #1: Mosquitoes
Alex and her family at Serendipity Home School share their experiences studying mosquitoes as part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge. She also has a great book to suggest to go along with your study.

Summer Series #2 Summer Tree Observations
Amy at Together for a Reason submitted their Summer Tree Observations. They picked their maple tree to observe.

Allison at Barefoot in Suburbia writes about their Summer Tree Observations. They took their study out into their neighborhood to pick a tree to study and then they went to a nature preserve to observe some more trees.

Angie at Petra School submitted their summer tree entry titled, Sniff a Tree Lately? This is a wonderful photo journal of their challenge and the results of their study.

Tricia, better known as Hodgepodge Mom, shares their family’s Summer Tree Observations. Don’t miss reading how she organizes her Outdoor Hour Challenge supplies and at the very bottom of the post a link to a pastel lesson for drawing trees.

Quinn from Inside the White Picket Fence has written about their crab apple tree Summer Tree Observations. I love the peaceful, easy study they had under their tree.

Summer Series #3 Summer Weather Observations
Angie at Petra School writes about their Summer Weather Observations: Advection Fog on the Oregon Coast. I learned some new things and I love the way this study shows how you can customize the challenge to fit your particular area. Angie submits a follow up post with some more Summer Weather Observations.

Tricia shares their Summer Weather Observations, including a great observation about the direction thesun rises and sets in their neighborhood during the summer. Don’t miss the pastel tutorial at the end of the post.

Summer Series #4 Bats and the Sense of Hearing
Makita at Academia Celestia shares their family’s bat study as part of this challenge. They took advantage of a camping trip to learn a little more about bats.

Angie at Petra School writes A Call of Joy and Dread which highlights their bat study. They were able to study a real bat up close…don’t miss the photos.

Tricia writes about the Bat Study saying, “From eewww to we love bats!” Their family learns how bats are a valuable member of their local ecosystem.

Summer Series #5 Summer Bird: Owls
Allison from Barefoot in Suburbia uses all her resources to observe some owls up close as part of their family’s Owl Study.

Angie and her boys completed their Owl Study and shared Screech the Owl Chickie with a completely thorough account of their owl pellet dissection.

Tricia shares an inspiring post about their Owl Study. Lots of great ideas and links in this post will get you anxious to study owls too.

Summer Series #6 Frogs
Angie lets us look into their frog study. Her entry will be sure to inspire you to look more closely into what kind of frogs you have in your particular area. Here is their entry: Frog Scavenger Hunt-In Three Walks.

Previous Challenges

Spring Series #10 Ants
Phyllis from All Things Beautiful writes about their study of ants and how it guided them to learn more about an interesting insect. Turns out that their ants were not ants….they were wasps. Great investigation.

Heidi from Home Grown Pumpkins shares their Ant Study for carnival readers. This is their very first Outdoor Hour Challenge so pop over and leave her an encouraging comment.

OHC #10 Picnic
Quinn and her family finished their first ten challenges with the picnic challenge. Wonderful photos here on her blog Inside the White Picket Fence.

OHC #16 Sunflowers
Tricia shares their Sunflower Study on her blog Homeschool Highlights. Nothing like a sunflower entry to brighten up the blog carnival.

Several entries came in that don’t fit a particular challenge but I thought you might like to read them anyway.

Alex at Serendipity Home School writes about a Tomato Hornworm with Parasites.
Makita from Academia Celestia shares Aquatic Critters and Summer Wildflowers.

Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Summer Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be August 31st, 2010 and all entries from August are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Barb — 6 Comments

OHC Summer Series #7 Summer Cattail Observations

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Summer #7 Summer Cattail Observations

Train Your Senses

Sight: Observe the cattail’s habitat. Look for birds, insects, and animals living or resting in or on the cattails. Look for nests. See if you can find the cattail flowers.
Smell: Sit or squat near your cattails and close your eyes. Breathe deeply and see if you smell anything.
Touch: Feel the leaves, edges, and spikes of the cattails.
Hearing: Take a minute to listen as you stand or sit near your cattails. Can you hear any birds or insects? Water running?

Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 500-502 in the Handbook of Nature Study if you have not done so before (starting on page 551 if you have the free download version) . It might also be beneficial to read it again this season and highlight the parts that contain information about the leaves of the cattail plant.

Outdoor Hour Time:
Enjoy your outdoor time this week at your cattail spot. If you have been participating in the year-long cattail study since last autumn, you will know just where to look for cattails. Use the suggestions from the Handbook of Nature Study to talk a little about the habitat where your cattails are growing.

Is your cattail still growing in water or has it dried up?
What does the “cattail” parts of the plant look like now?
What color and shape are the leaves?
Do you see the cattails seeds or balloons?
Can you pull some of the fuzz from the cattail and observe it more closely?
How do you think the seeds spread, by wind or water?
How crowded are the cattails growing together?

Please note: If you do not have any cattails to observe in your area, you may wish to choose another local plant to observe in each season throughout the next year.

Cattail Seasonal Nature Study notebook page

Follow-Up Activity:
Make sure to allow some time after your outdoor hour to discuss any subjects that your child finds interesting. Encourage the completion of a nature journal entry recording your observation of your cattails. You can use the notebook page and coloring page created for the Summer Series ebook, the notebook page from Autumn, a blank page, or any other general notebook page listed on the sidebar of my blog. You may wish to pull out your other cattail entries and compare the year-long changes in your cattails.
If you would like all the Summer Series Challenges in one place, I have an ebook gathered for you to purchase for your convenience. Here is a link to a complete description:
Summer Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Barb — 3 Comments

July Wildflowers and Another Nest

I was clearing my camera and decided to include a few photos from our explorations this month so far.

New yellow wildflower. I think this is Hooker’s Evening Primrose.

New purple wildflower. I am still working on identifying this one.

Crimson Columbine.

Large Tiger lily.

No kidding, it is as large as my palm.

Osprey nest on the top of this dead tree…see it up there made out of sticks?

Here is a link to the sound that was coming from this nest:
All About Birds: Osprey
As we were standing there, the mama or daddy osprey flew in and dropped a fish from the lake into the nest and then it flew away. All was quiet again.

Just a few photos to keep track of some of the things we have experienced while outdoors this month.

Hubby surprised me with this new field guide. I haven’t had a chance to really look into it deeply but it looks very, very good. I will post a review soon.

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Barb — 7 Comments

Garden Goodies-Full Disclosure

My husband read my last garden post and was a little disappointed that I did not share some more of the successes we have had from our yard.

So, here are some photos of the things we have enjoyed.

We had a few carrots hidden in the flower garden. I don’t remember planting them but there they were when I went to do my weeding. Bonus!

We have been having fresh bruschetta with tomatoes and basil from the garden. I love it with pita chips.

Our tomatoes are slow going this year but there have been a few to enjoy with the promise of more to come.

These have been good performers from the deck container garden. I really wish I liked cherry tomatoes more but my husband eats them like candy.

The blackberries are coming regularly now and every time I do the watering I eat a handful. I mixed these in with some peaches and made a blackberry/peach cobbler….talk about yum.

Okay now my husband will be happy. He also says to say that we have had figs by the bagful from our tree, so many we have had to share them with our neighbors. There are a few apples, loads of purple plums, seedless grapes, and a full crop of walnuts to come later in the season.

I also remembered that we already dried oregano and dill from the garden. We also have had quite a few onions and I am ready to pull up another round this week to dry and store in the pantry.

He is going to keep me completely honest…thanks honey.

Outdoor Hour Challenges for families since 2008!