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Posted on July 28, 2009 by Barb — 14 Comments

Great Sunflower Project

Today we did some observations as part of the Great Sunflower Project. We signed up earlier in the year to participate and they sent us some seeds to plant in our garden. Our job was to observe the sunflowers once they bloom and count how many bees visited our flowers. You are asked to observe until you see five bees or for thirty minutes.

We did not have to wait even a minute before we saw our first bee! We had five bees observed in less than five minutes.

Here is one sunflower that is just unfolding its bloom. I love the way it looks.

I love the patterns in this sunflower. You can really see how it is a composite flower with its rays and florets.

This bee couldn’t wait for the sunflower to open…he had to push his way into the inside to reach the pollen.

Have you ever seen so much pollen on a bee before? I couldn’t stop watching this guy and his overloaded pollen sacs. Wow! He is one busy bee.

This is my favorite sunflower in the whole garden. We grew it from a seed saved from last year and it is a Mammoth Sunflower. It is really tall and the bloom is huge.

This is my son who is six feet tall….he is dwarfed by this sunflower. Look at how large the leaves are!

This is what the finches are doing to the leaves. They sit and nibble every afternoon. I guess there is enough to share.

This is a really fun and easy project. Check out the Great Sunflower Project for your family next year.

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Barb — 2 Comments

New Outdoor Hour Challenge Ebook! Garden Flowers

This ebook contains the Garden Flower Challenges as well as the Sunflower Challenges for a total of ten challenges! (Challenges 12-19 and 29-30)

Here is an excerpt from the introduction to the Garden Flower and Plant Challenges ebook:

“The Outdoor Hour Challenges are different from any other nature study program. These challenges are written for the parent, encouraging them to involve the whole family in nature study.

All ages will benefit from working through these garden challenges.Gardening, especially with flowers, introduces children to a whole world to explore. Within the garden realm lies not only beauty in shapes and colors but also a complex web of life. From seed back to seed again, the flower’s growing cycle will continue and our children will begin to understand the role of seeds, flowers, and plants in nature. This truly is nature study that can be done right outside your own back door. “

What is Included in the Outdoor Hour Challenge Garden Flower and Plant Ebook

Ten Garden Flower and Plant Challenges
One suggested field trip
Two art projects
Four garden projects
Ten custom notebook pages
Lots of photos and examples from our nature journals
Additional materials and resources
Links to various types of nature study information that will help you complete the challenges
Tips and ideas from the Handbook of Nature Study blog
Links to my YouTube videos
Larger photos and nature journal examples
Sample: Gardens Ebook Sample

I listened to the families that reviewed the first Outdoor Hour Challenge eBook and included even more photos…larger than before. I have kept the same simple format with lots of suggestions and examples. I have made even more connections between the challenges and the notebook pages and I hope these pages help you get started with your nature journals in a painless way.

This ebook is appropriate for families with children of all ages and you can adapt any of the challenges to your particular locality. You can complete the challenges in any order and they are written so that you can have the flexibility to have a focus on garden flowers but still enjoy and learn about whatever kind of nature captures your child’s interest.

This is a book that will appeal to families that are just starting out with gardening as well as veteran gardeners. I am hoping that this ebook will arouse a passion for nature by observing the plants and flowers right in your backyard or neighborhood.

You can use this book at any time of the year with any flowers you have in your local area. You do not have to plant the flowers from seeds, but you can visit your local nursery and purchase a flower in a pot if you prefer. You can also use flowers in your local park or neighborhood to observe and study using the Handbook of Nature Study.

My sincere hope is that this new Outdoor Hour Challenge ebook will be an inspiration and a guide to many families in the coming months.

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Posted on July 27, 2009 by Barb — 9 Comments

Yosemite Amazes Me

We had a great camping/hiking trip to Yosemite National Park…it was a little bit hot in the valley so we tried to stay cool by hiking up in the high country, swimming in the river, and generally keeping to early morning hikes and activities.

Here are a bunch of photos in random sort of order just because I don’t feel like moving them around now that I uploaded them to Blogger. (Some might call that lazy…)

The meadows were filled with wildflowers and it was a feast for the eyes as you hiked along. This lovely bunch of flowers was at McGurk Meadow. This place is along Glacier Point Road and is about a three mile round trip hike from the road. The insects are thick but if you keep moving they pretty much leave you alone. The Indian Paintbrush was the predominant flower on this day.

The California Coneflowers were in full bloom at Crane Flat and this one was as big as my hand. It almost looks like a flat sunflower it was so big.

One of the many nature journal entries that we worked on back at camp. The Locoweed was thick at Crane Flat and it was fun to sketch and paint.

How about this wildflower? Elephant’s Head was blooming alongside Lukens Lake.

Here is Lukens Lake on a summer morning. The hike from Tioga Pass Road to the lake is about 1.5 miles and it is worth the effort. It has a beautiful meadow that you could hike across until last year when they closed it for restoration. You now walk alongside the lake the whole way and can only see the meadow from a distance.

Nothing like a swimming hole in the high country on a hot summer day. We were hiking along the John Muir Trail when we stopped to listen to the water falling down the rocks into the pool. Some fellow hikers tried to convince us to jump in but I knew the water was ice cold. We did end up taking our boots and socks off and sitting with our feet dangling in. It is amazing how fast your feet go numb in the icy waters. This is the Tuolumne River just outside Tuolumne Meadows hiking towards Rafferty Creek.

Here is another high country lake with crystal blue waters. We ate lunch one hot afternoon here and there really were quite a number of other folks around…some kayaking, some swimming, some wading in and cooling off, and some like us just enjoying the view.

This is actually just behind our campsite at Crane Flat. The meadow is in full bloom right now and it is tempting to walk out there and take photos. I did obey the sign and we stayed off the meadow. We did see a bear coming out of the meadow a short way from here but it was busy trotting off somewhere and didn’t even notice us.

Now this flower I knew! Mariposa Lily and there were quite a few growing in a bunch alongside the trail at McGurk Meadow. It is just so perfect. Sigh.

Here is another photo of the meadow as we hiked along. The meadow was damp and it made it sort of steamy in the sun. Hiking in the shade wasn’t so bad but out in the bright sunshine we got a bit hot….okay, we got sweaty. It was a good thing we had packed lots of water and Gatorade to drink.

These blue butterflies were landing on the damp ground. I learned from Casey’s blog that they call this puddling. They were definitely landing in the moist earth of the meadow and staying there awhile. It made a great chance for me to snap a few photos.

The star wildflower on this trip was the Indian Paintbrush. We all agreed it was our favorite flower in the meadow.

This trip was a boys trip and my dear husband decided to teach the boys to whittle. He had purchased each of them their own knives and presented them to each one once we set up camp. It must be a guy thing. 🙂

Here is dad giving them a lesson on safety and how to use the knife to whittle. They whittled the afternoon away and I finished reading two good books.

It was a great July vacation and we already have plans to go back next year. The boys have plans to hike to the top of Half Dome. I told them that they could go and I would stay behind and have dinner ready when they got down. 🙂

I am not really all that great with heights and since they are both teens now, they are eager to test their strength on a long, strenuous hike. Their dad is undecided about whether he wants to try it or not….we have some time to think about it.

Hope you enjoyed some scenes from our trip….grab the chance to go to Yosemite if you ever come this way.
I recently added a Squidoo Lens on Yosemite books: Yosemite for Families

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Barb — 7 Comments

Beans! Outdoor Hour Crop Plant Study

We grow beans every year in our summer garden. There is nothing like freshly picked beans to complement a summer dinner. It is one vegetable that everyone in our family loves.

My dad is a big time gardener and he has a *ton* of green beans this year. He picks them every day and has a full basket. This is a photo of a part of his garden. In the foreground are his pumpkins, then zucchini, and in the way back…green beans and tomatoes. On the right side he has okra, chard, and eggplant.

You cannot see it in this photo but he has an electric fence around the garden to keep out the deer. He still had trouble with gophers so he had to dig up all his garden beds this last winter and put mesh in the bottom of every single box. The gophers still dig in the garden but they can’t get up into the veggies.

The variety of beans that we are growing, in the photo above, has a pretty little flower and the bean itself has a purple/blue tint to it. They don’t get as long as the beans we usually grow but they are tender and sweet

Speaking of a pretty flower…how about this eggplant blossom? My dad is growing a row of Japanese eggplant. I hope he shares.

He was willing to share this zucchini that became a monster. 🙂 I regularly get zucchini and green beans from him since his plants are producing earlier and with more vigor than those in my garden for some reason.

Our garden is a blaze with colors and it is such a joy to sit outside and enjoy all the growing things and blooming things. The gladiolas are not blooming yet…they are something new this year so I am anxious to see how they do.

We did not sow any bean seeds this week as part of the challenge but we did soak some and then cut them open and look at the parts. This was the subject of our nature journal.

Did you eat green beans this week? We did!

I wasn’t so sure when we started these Crop Plant Outdoor Hour Challenges that I was going to enjoy them, but now that we are into the study I think my whole family is learning more than we thought we would….focus, it is all about focus. 🙂

Crop Plants Notebook Pages – Companion to the Crop Plants Challenges

Custom made notebook pages for each crop plant challenge. I have designed simple to use pages that will complement each challenge and will be an easy way to start a nature journal. Each of the eight notebook pages is in full color, but they are just as great in black and white. These notebook pages can be purchased for $2.50. View a SAMPLE

Posted on July 19, 2009 by Barb — 9 Comments

Nature Notebooks-Like a Travel Journal

“Nature notebooks, which started with our P.U.S. (Parents Union Schools) have become like travel records and journals for students. They keep notes about all their finds: birds, flowers, fungus, mosses are described and sketched every season in the same way that Gilbert White did. A nature notebook can be kept by anyone anywhere. It can be used to record stars on their course in the heavens, or a fossil of an anemone on the beach at Whitby. These notebooks help to make science come alive and relate to the common man. Science should not be taught merely as a utilitarian means of preparing students for a career!”
Charlotte Mason, volume 6, page 223

I was reading through volume six of Charlotte Mason’s books this week and found this gem of a quote about nature journals. I am in total agreement with her about the nature journal becoming a travel journal for our children as well as for ourselves.

We have traveled with our journals for many years and it is enjoyable to look back at the entries from places far from home with fond memories.

Here are some examples:

Trip to Makaha, Hawaii….homeschooled while we were there for two weeks. Awesome experience for the boys.

Another journal drawing from the Makaha trip.

Yellowstone National Park and a day at the river that we all remember with our journal entries. I can’t explain how taking the time to journal a day is so powerful. It seems to blaze it into your memory so that years later….many years later in this case, we can all remember exactly what we did on that hot summer afternoon. This entry is from my oldest son’s journal.

This journal was done on a trip to Arizona. We had visited the Sonoran Desert Museum outside of Tucson and we saw three different owls that my son recorded in his journal.

Closer to home, this journal entry was done on a family hike to Eagle Lake. I remember that even my husband journaled on this day and it was great to see his experiences. This is my pen and watercolor sketch of the event.

This one I shared this entry not too long ago but it is another great way to document a trip in a nature journal. My son and I journaled on the same page and it is one of my favorite entries in my current journal. I know I will always look back on this page and remember the afternoon that we spent at Curry Village sketching and having a snack. Thanks Mr. B.

One last one from a trip we took a few years ago to the redwoods. It was our first time visiting Redwoods National Park and we made time for several entries while we were there. This particular entry reminds me that these were the falls that the boys climbed up and found their very first banana slug. They made me climb up the waterfall to take a photo of it for them. 🙂

Take your journals with you when you travel. Take time to sketch!

Posted on July 18, 2009 by Barb — 2 Comments

Out on the Bike Trail Again

It was a hot summer day at our house and we were trying to think of ways to escape the heat. We decided to head up the mountain where it was about twenty degrees cooler and take a bike ride and have a picnic. (Another very crooked horizon in this photo….I had my little camera and the viewing screen is nothing but glare sometimes in the bright sun so I have no idea if what I am shooting is crooked or not.)

The trail was fairly crowded with others that shared our idea to cool off. We pedaled about eight miles round trip but since the temperatures were so much cooler, it was very enjoyable.

We mostly stayed in the forest but at one point we veered over to the lake and sat in the shade and had a drink.

Along the trail there were patches of Indian Paintbrush blooming like orange pokers tucked in and around the green grasses.

This pretty pink flower was blooming as well.

This was the first time I noticed this particular sign on a tree near where we stopped to picnic. I thought the graphic was rather clever.

It just so happened that this guy was trying to find a meal as well. He checked out under our table but then decided to dig little holes to see what he could munch on.

I actually was able to get rather close to take this photo since he was occupied with something tasty. He is a Golden-mantled ground squirrel….which looks like a chipmunk but with no stripes on his head.

We had a very refreshing day on the bike trail and there were plenty of interesting things to keep us entertained.

Posted on July 17, 2009 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Crop Plants #2 Beans

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Crop Plants #2
Beans/Seed Germination

For this week’s challenge we will be straying from the Handbook of Nature Study just a little. I wanted to give the opportunity for our children to observe the seed germination process first hand as we work our way through these challenges. The Germinator project we did last year as part of Challenge #19, but it is so much fun that I am going to include it with the bean challenge.

I am going to give you a link to a Google book that explains the vocabulary in seed germination.
Practical Nature Study and Elementary Agriculture, by John M. Coulter, written in 1909.
(http://books.google.com/books?id=ZJtJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover)

Scroll down to page 249, read the first two paragraphs. I love the simplicity of this explanation and I think we will sketch this out in our nature journals with labels.

Inside Preparation Work
1. Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 458-459-Seed Germination. You can germinate your own beans to observe by choosing one of the following activities. I consider both of these projects to be “beginners” projects so don’t hesitate to give them both a try!

A. The Germinator
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/germinator.html
(This project was a part of Outdoor Hour Challenge #19.)
This is an easy project that can be accomplished with just a little effort. Children of all ages delight in watching their very own baby bean plants emerge from seeds.

B. Egg Shell Seed Starters
http://www.instructables.com/id/Eggshell_Seed_Starters/
(This project is illustrated in the Handbook of Nature Study on page 459.)

Outdoor Time

3. For this challenge, spend 10-15 minutes outdoors in your own backyard. If you have some green bean seeds, plant some in your garden or in a big pot. You may wish to soak your beans overnight before you plant them.

Plant your beans according to the package instructions. If you have already planted some beans, make sure to observe their growth. My seed packet says that it takes 52 days until harvest so you may still even have time to reap some beans from your plant this season. If not, this is still a great way to learn about seed germination and you can plan on getting some beans in the ground next spring. You will be ready with your seeds and your additional knowledge.

Follow-Up Activity

4. Allow time for discussion and a nature journal entry after your outdoor time. Sketching your beans or any other seeds before you plant them and then as they progress and grow can be an on-going project in your nature journal. (If you have the Crop Plants notebook pages, you will find a page to record your seed germination.)

5. You can use the questions on page 459 to help your child narrate what happens with your seeds as they germinate.

Here are a few questions to get you started:

Which comes out of the seed first, the root or the shoot and leaves?
Which way does the root grow up or down?
How do the seed leaves get out of the seed coat, or shell?

Optional Activity:
This week you can purchase some fresh green beans to observe and to taste as a family. Have your children help you wash and prepare the beans for a delicious treat.

New for this series of challenges are custom made notebook pages for each crop plant we will study. I have designed simple to use pages that will complement each challenge and will be an easy way to start a nature journal. Each of the eight notebook pages is in full color, but they are just as great in black and white.

SAMPLE

Posted on July 15, 2009 by Barb — 3 Comments

Clover…In Our Grass: Our Outdoor Hour Challenge

We have so much clover in our grass right now that this challenge was very easy! We also identified a new plant that we thought was a kind of clover, later determining that it was not clover but a kind of verbena. We definitely have white clover in our grass and the bees love it.

We didn’t have to wait long for the bees to show up when we were observing our clover plants.

The other plant that we found growing in our grass is Self-heal. (Thanks Diana for the correct identification on this plant.) The purple flowers are spiraled around the top of the plant. It is growing right alongside the clover and grass.

We tried to observe the nodules on the clover root, but we were not very successful. I think we need to find a place where the ground is softer and we can really dig up the entire plant. Perhaps we can pull out the magnifying glass as well and look closer.

We dug up a self-heal plant as well and compared the roots, stem, and flower to that of the white clover.

The boys started the suggested clover study from page 598 (number 5) in the Handbook of Nature Study and recorded the first day on theirCrop Plants Notebook Page.

“The clover head is made up of many little flowers; each one has a tubular calyx with five delicate points and a little stalk to hold it up into the world. In shape, the corolla is much like that of the sweet pea, and each secretes nectar at its base. The outside blossoms open first; and as soon as they are open, the honey bees, which eagerly visit white clover wherever it is growing, begin at once their work of gathering nectar and carrying pollen…” Handbook of Nature Study, page 597

We have seen other kinds of clover over the last few months and once you can distinguish its appearance, you start to see clover all over the place.

Crop Plants Notebook Pages – Companion to the Crop Plants Challenges

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Barb — Leave a comment

Blackberry Time of Year

We are now into the blackberry season in our corner of the world.

You will frequently find me with blue fingers and big smile.

I couldn’t find the blackberry in the Handbook of Nature Study, but I did read about the wild strawberry last week. I love this quote and I think it applies equally to the blackberry as it does to the strawberry.

“Of all the blossoms that cloth our open fields, one of the prettiest is that of the wild strawberry. And yet so influenced is man by his stomach that he seldom heeds this flower except as a promise of a crop of strawberries. It is comforting to know that the flowers of the field ‘do not care a rap’ whether man notices them or not; insect attentions are what they need, and they are surely as indifferent to our indifference as we are to theirs.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 608

We are partaking of both blackberries and strawberries right now as well as figs. The figs are huge this year and very juicy.

In the evening, after dinner last night, we were sitting outside and enjoying the cool air and I notice a Scrub jay sitting and having his meal of figs. There are so many figs this year that I don’t mind that they take the ones from the top of the tree that I can’t reach to pick. Sharing the fruits of the garden is all a part of the fun of it.

I hope everyone is enjoying the season and finding joy in the fruits of their gardens.

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Barb — 2 Comments

Garden Nature Study – Crop Plants Notebook Pages

Crop Plants Notebook Pages – Companion to the Crop Plants Challenges

List of Crop Plant Challenge in the Ebook:
Crop Plants – Clover
Crop Plants – Beans
Crop Plants – Corn
Crop Plants – Cotton
Crop Plants – Strawberries
Crop Plants – Pumpkins
Crop Plants – Tomatoes

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Outdoor Hour Challenge Crop Plants #2 Beans/Seed Germination

<img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://naturestudyhomeschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/bean_16386_sm.gif" border="0" /> Outdoor Time

Follow-Up Activity

Outdoor Hour Challenges for families since 2008!

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Crop Plants #2
Beans/Seed Germination

Outdoor Time