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Does Homeschool Nature Study Count As Science?

I am often asked if homeschool nature study can substitute for a more formal science program for homeschooling families.

I can’t make a blanket answer in response to everyone but I can perhaps share some quotes, links, and my own reflections on this topic.

I am often asked if homeschool nature study can substitute for a more formal science program for homeschooling families.

Homeschool Nature Study or Science?

“Mrs. Comstock believed that the student found in such a study a fresh, spontaneous interest which was lacking in formal textbook science, and the phenomenal success of her work seems to prove that she was right. Moreover, nature-study as Mrs. Comstock conceived it was an aesthetic experience as well as a discipline. It was an opening of the eyes to the individuality, the ingenuity, the personality of each of the unnoticed lifeforms about us. It meant a broadening of intellectual outlook, an expansion of sympathy, a fuller life.”
Handbook of Nature Study Publisher’s Foreword 1939

I believe in the younger grades that our responsibility as parents is to open the eyes of our children to the world around them, exposing them to real things and real places. I have long said here on this blog that it makes no sense to me to teach our children about the rainforest if they haven’t even learned about the trees and animals in their local habitat. The younger years are the time to get outside and take walks and look at real things up close and form memories and impressions. There is a time for books and textbooks (in limited amounts) but that can come later.

In the younger years, we should be more concerned with creating that direct contact with nature and not the memorizing of facts about things we haven’t encountered in real life. Nature study should include those objects most often seen and encountered during your outdoor time. The flowers, trees, birds, insects, and rocks that are found in your own yard or neighborhood are the perfect start to your nature study experiences. The best way to teach nature study is not by setting out a rigid course of study but to be aware of topics that are all around you and one by one to make observations and to learn as a family.

nature study in the younger years

Homeschool Nature Study in the Younger Years

For instance, you could read about a monarch in a book, noting the illustrations and the scientific facts about this beautiful butterfly. This may soon be forgotten. But, if you are out in your garden or on a nature walk and come across a monarch butterfly that maybe has a tattered wing, your child might just want to know about where it came from and why it has a few ragged edges on its wings. They care about the real butterfly. Their personal experience with this insect will now give the reading about it in a book more meaning. This butterfly now has a story and your child might be more inclined to tell that story in their own words either orally or on paper. The correlation between what they saw in the garden and what they have learned about the monarch may even spur them to act in behalf of that monarch by planting a butterfly garden with milkweed or participate in a citizen science project where they tag monarchs.

“…when he (the teacher) is concerned chiefly with the effects of the lesson upon the development of the child he is probably teaching Nature Study.”

This is so different than teaching science that emphasizes the taking in of a preset number of facts and topics each year. Textbooks were created to conveniently teach the same set of information to a large number of students. This is usually followed by some sort of quiz or test that supposedly measures the learning of these facts and topics. In my homeschooling experience, textbooks actually got in the way of any actual learning. The meaningful learning in science (and nature study) occurred when we formed our own relationships with the material and sought out experiences and books that would feed our interest. There was no need for a test and most of the important things we learned were skills in observation and in building an appreciation for the creation in our world.

spring homeschool nature study

“Nature Study is the creating and the increasing of a loving acquaintance with nature.” Bigelow

“To put the pupil in a sympathetic attitude toward nature for the purpose of increasing the joy of living.” L.H. Bailey

“The educational value of Nature Study lies in its power to add to our capacity of appreciation-our love and enjoyment of all open air objects.” John Burroughs

It would be ideal if all nature study could be spontaneous but that hardly seems practical in our busy homeschooling lives. For ease of scheduling, there must be some provision for getting outside each week (or in a perfect world it would be every day). Aim for three things in your nature study: to really see what you are looking at with direct and accurate observation, understand why the thing is so and what it means, and then to pique an interest in knowing more about the object.

The Educational Value of Nature Study

“Nature Study- It is the intellectual, physical, and moral development by and through purposeful action and reaction upon environment, guided so far as need by, by the teacher.” John Dearness, 1905

Here is an example from this same Google Book:

“Children hunting a lost ball in a meadow adjoining the play-yard discover a ground bird’s nest with four blotched eggs. Their interest is aroused. They describe the nest to the teacher and inquire to what kind of bird it belongs. Unfortunate for them if he is a scientist enough and unpedagogical enough to say at once: It is a bob-o-link’s nest. Better were he a good teacher and no ornithologist, for then he would use their interest to lead to some educational activity which would be far more useful to them that the mere information they seek. But best of all if the teacher knows well both children and birds. In that case he can guide them to discover the answer to their question in an educative way, and in doing so excite them to ask and answer by research many other related questions. He engages their interest at the favorable moment to train them to observe, think, investigate and enjoy. This is Nature Study.”

the Handbook of Nature Study for homeschool

The Handbook of Nature Study is not a textbook. It is not a field guide. It isn’t the sort of book you will start reading from the front and read straight through until the end.

Rather, the Handbook of Nature Study is a reference guide for the parent to use in familiarizing themselves with particular nature study topics. It gives a short narrative for each item and then a “lesson” of sorts that is actually just a great list of ideas for direct observation when you happen upon the object in real life. I have found that the more I read it ahead of time (as in preparing for a particular Outdoor Hour Challenge), the more prepared I am when we finally see a subject during our outdoor time, either in our yard, neighborhood, or on a hike. I can be like the good teacher in the quote above that leads the child to make their own inquiries and connections to discover more about something they found of interest on their nature walk.

What About Nature Study as Environmental Science?

“…environmental science is the field of science that studies the interactions of the physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment and also the relationships and effects of these components with the organisms in the environment.

Definition on Study.com

You can definitely use your homeschool nature study as part of your homeschooling high school plans, incorporating aspects of environmental science. Here are some examples of how we did this in our own homeschool:

I feel as if I just scratched the surface of this topic in this blog entry. I will leave you with one last important thought from a Nature Study Review pamphlet I found on Google Books (written in the early part of the 20th century):

“So long as the sun shines and the fields are green, we shall need to go to nature for our inspiration and our respite; and our need is the greater with every increasing complexity of our lives.”

 More Entries On this Topic From My Archives

I am often asked if homeschool nature study can substitute for a more formal science program for homeschooling families.

First published November 2016 by Barb and updated by Tricia February 2022.

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The Ultimate Mammals Homeschool Nature Study Using Outdoor Hour Challenges

You can enjoy a simple mammals homeschool nature study with these resources we have gathered for you to use in your own backyard. It is such a delight to study and learn about these beautiful creatures!

NOTE: All of the mammals homeschool nature study resources listed are available as an Outdoor Hour Challenge in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. If you have a membership, you will be able to pull up the Outdoor Hour Challenge curriculum and print any notebook pages, coloring pages, or other printables for your mammals nature study.

Wondering how to start? Grab our FREE Getting Started with Homeschool Nature Study Guide!

Mammals Homeschool Nature Study Using Outdoor Hour Challenges (in Nature Study Membership)

  • Animal Tracks Hunt – Mammals Outdoor Hour Challenge
  • Bats – Summer course
  • Bear – Forest Fun course
  • Beavers
  • Cats – Spring course
  • Cattle and Deer – Winter Continues course
  • Chipmunks – Autumn course (An example of a chipmunks and squirrel study with Homeschool Nature Study here)
  • Coyote – High Desert course
  • Elk – High Desert ebook
  • Goats – More Spring Nature Course
  • Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel – High Desert course
  • Horses – Autumn course
  • Moose – Forest Fun course
  • Mountain Lion – High Desert course
  • Mouse – More Summer course
  • Muskrat – Creepy Things course
You can enjoy a simple mammals homeschool nature study with these resources we have gathered for you to use in your own backyard.
  • Pig – Autumn Continues course
  • Pocket Gopher – High Desert course
  • Porcupine – Forest Fun course
  • Rabbits
  • Raccoons – Summer course
  • Rats
  • River Otter – High Desert course
  • Sheep – More Winter course
  • Skunks – Summer course
  • Skunks and Badgers
  • Squirrels and Squirrels with Rodent Notebooking Page
  • Winter Mammals from Winter Wednesday course
  • Winter Mammals Hiberation – Winter Wednesday course
  • Winter Mammal Tracks – Winter course
  • Wolf, Fox, and Dog
  • Woodchuck, Groundhog, Prairie Dog, and Marmot
We’re starting with a favorite topic, black bears! Enjoy a bear nature study in your homeschool with this Outdoor Hour Challenge and bring the Handbook of Nature Study to Life in your homeschool.

Additional Mammal Homeschool Activities Included with Membership

  • Mammal Outdoor Hour Challenge Notebook Page
  • Mammal notebook page
  • Running List of Mammals printable notebook page
  • Looking for Signs and Tracks
  • Mammal nature study journal idea printable. Mammals at the zoo.
homeschool nature study membership for families

Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

Can you believe all of these mammals resources you will find in membership? You will also find a continuing series on mammals plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

first published 2011 by Barb and updated by Tricia 2022

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Homeschool Nature Study: Field Trips and Day Hikes Near Home

Here are some simple tips for homeschool nature study field trips. You will find that building the habit of taking your nature study on the road is a great way to build memories together as a family.

Our family has always enjoyed being outside together, hitting the hiking trail and doing a little exploring. But often the biggest obstacle to taking that hike was figuring out where to go. We may have had the desire and the time to get outside but wrestled with the question of where to go. Often we thought too big.

I realized over time that we didn’t need to travel far to find places to go on short notice or even for a half day’s hike. I loved being able to roll out of bed, decide to go on a hike, and be out the door in a short period of time. So, how did I overcome the dilemma of finding places to hike near our home?

Here are some simple tips for homeschool nature study field trips. You will find that building the habit of taking your nature study on the road is a great way to build memories together as a family.

Homeschool Nature Study Field Trips and Day Hikes Near Home

Here’s the homeschool nature study field trip idea we landed on and have since adapted to our home.

“We found a long time ago that we can explore so many different places by using a simple idea. Take a map and place a big dot on your hometown. Now determine an hour’s distance from your home and draw a circle around your home at that distance. Make a list of all the places you can go that are within that hour’s distance and then start one by one giving them a try. We have been following this concept for over a decade and it always amazes us what we can find to do that is within that short distance range.”

-Barb McCoy, 2010

I wrote that blog entry when I still lived in California, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. We were blessed with many trails within a short distance of our home, even some that were accessible in the winter. We of course had our favorites that we visited many times but over the years we tried to include new places each season. We were never without a few wish list places to look forward to trying.

When we made the big move to Central Oregon four years ago, we did the same exercise with an Oregon map. We drew a 50-mile radius around our hometown and then did research to find trails to explore in our new habitat. It’s surprising how many interesting places you’ll find if you give this a try. Everyone has a unique place to explore and it just takes a little preparation to get you going on some new and fresh trails.

Here are some simple tips for homeschool nature study field trips. You will find that building the habit of taking your nature study on the road is a great way to build memories together as a family.

How To Find Homeschool Nature Study Field Trips and Day Hike Resources

I did some research on Amazon and found that if you type in some particular words you can find some great ideas for books for your family just about anywhere you live. You can purchase the book from Amazon or look up the title at your public library instead.

Type in the search box on Amazon.com:

Easy Day Hikes _______ (with your state instead of the blank)
Best Day Hikes ________ (with your state instead of the blank)
Day Hike ____________(with your closest National Park instead of the blank)
Fodor’s __________(with your state or region of the US like Southwest or Northwest)
Moon Handbooks ____________(with your state, region, or national park instead of the blank)
Hiking ___________(with your state, region, or national park…this one will get you a lot more choices and can be overwhelming)

Another tip that I will pass on is to go to Barnes and Noble and look for their travel guide section. Browse and pick out a guide book to your own state and/or local area. Be like a tourist and read the guide book to discover more about your own locality. I keep one of the hiking guide books and a local map in the pocket of the door in my car. I refer to it when we are looking for local attractions for day trips.

Of course, you can just look things up on the internet, although when I am out and about it is reassuring to have a map and some directions in my pack as a backup. I do lots of research online, but I feel better having a book describing the hikes when we head out the door. At the very least, we carry a map of the area where we are hiking. I could write a whole post about bad maps and books and trail markers but I will save that for another time. 🙂

Family day hikes ideas for homeschool nature study

Nature Study When You Travel

Maybe you would like to incorporate a little nature study when you take a vacation or longer trip. I think this is a fantastic idea and we’ve done it in our family for decades. It brings an added layer to your vacation experience, introducing you to things you might otherwise miss if you weren’t thinking about nature while traveling.

The difference between a good outdoor experience and a great outdoor experience with an opportunity for nature study is sometimes just a matter of preparation.

homeschool nature study when you travel

Preparation for Homeschool Nature Study When Traveling

1. Do a little research ahead of time for the habitat you’ll be visiting.
Determine what you’ll encounter on your trip that might make for interesting
nature study. For example, if you’re going to be visiting an ocean beach, learn what
plants, birds, and animals make their home there. You can also use the Handbook of
Nature Study to read about things you think you might encounter during your travels.

2. Find resources such as field guides or other nature related books to read or bring along with you. I suggest starting with a few field guides with common nature study topics: birds, wildflowers, and trees. Check your library for books you can borrow and take with you. To prepare, you should page through the field guides before you leave on your trip to be familiar with the layout of the book and perhaps to glean a few things ahead of time to be looking for as you go outdoors.

3. Bring along your nature journal or some pre-printed notebook pages. During down time it is nice to have supplies on hand to make a nature journal entry to record your nature study as you travel. Basic art supplies like markers or colored pencils are easy to pack. I also like watercolor pencils for nature journal entries. Keep it simple and light.

4. I also like to look up nature centers or nature trails in the areas we visit. A good nature center visit can take an hour or two and can provide a spark to capture the interest of everyone in the family. The staff is usually knowledgeable about the local habitat, giving you advice on where to go and what to see. They also can help identify anything you have observed but can’t put a name to as you try to make your journal entries. Most nature centers have bookstores that can provide additional resources to follow-up your nature study time.

Start With Our Getting Started With Nature Study Guide

Getting Started Guide: In preparing for your nature study field trips, you could also look up a few of the Outdoor Hour Challenges before you travel, the first five challenges can be applied to any habitat. If you have the Getting Started Challenges 1-10 Guide, you can have that loaded on your laptop and reference it as you travel.

Homeschool Nature Study Members

If you’re not a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study yet, please consider joining to gain the benefit of having a nature study curriculum library at your fingertips. There are numerous resources available for you to help create the habit of nature study within your family.

Printables:

  • Nature Center Notebook Page
  • Habitat notebook pages – see the various habitats available
  • Any of the specific printables for topics you may encounter on your travels

Take time to go through your Membership library to see what’s available to help you in your quest to make difficult subjects easier for you. My intent in writing the Outdoor Hour Challenges was to make your life easier when it comes to pulling together an interesting and rich nature study for your family.

Here are some simple tips for homeschool nature study field trips and how to find day hikes near home. Make memories with your family!
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Homeschool Nature Walks: The Benefits of Nature Study

The idea of taking a nature walk is nothing new. However, the need for nature walks has never been more evident in our increasingly indoor, sedentary lives. Childhood used to be times of exploring outdoors for hours at a time, but in today’s world few children have the circumstances or incentive to get outside on their own. This is where involved parents can be of such value.

“Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).”

― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
Consider nature walks and nature study an adventure! Keep your eyes wide open for opportunities to discover new things that come into your everyday life.
Photo by Amy Law

Building the Nature Walk Habit In your Homeschool

Taking a nature walk can bring refreshment to your whole family. Maybe you are having a tough day and the children are a little restless or perhaps the weather is just too nice to stay inside all day…these are perfect opportunities to drop everything else and take a walk in your own neighborhood or a park close by.

I’ve observed that families that take nature walks on a consistent basis, as part of their weekly routine, benefit greatly from the efforts they spend in making them happen. They feel more relaxed in nature, they see their children get excited about things they discover, and they feel a closer bond as a family because of shared nature experiences.

Whether you use the Outdoor Hour Challenges as part of your nature studies or not, the fundamental idea of taking a short walk outside with your child is the basis of building a happier childhood.

“Nature is often overlooked as a healing balm for the emotional hardships in a child’s life.”

― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
The idea of taking a nature walk is nothing new. The need for nature walks has never been more evident in our increasingly indoor, sedentary lives. Childhood used to be times of exploring outdoors for hours at a time, but in today’s world few children have the circumstances or incentive to get outside on their own. This is where involved parents can be of such value.
Photo by Amy Law

Getting the Habit of Walks Started with The Outdoor Hour Challenge

Talking nature walks can be as simple as putting on your shoes and jacket and heading out the door, letting nature inspire what you do and what you study. Or, you can have a few ideas in mind before you head out the door.

Sometimes it’s nice to head out the door and see what comes your way, no assignments. Start with nothing more than pointing out the beauty in the flowers, trees, animals, and birds that you encounter during your everyday life. Speak to the heart at first by just enjoying the amazing living things in front of you and then eventually you will be able to focus on naming your subjects and knowing a few facts.

Parents do not need to be worried that they don’t know everything about their nature study subjects.  You can become learners right alongside your children. Remember that there are many things about nature that nobody knows the answers to so when our children ask us questions that are deep and thought-provoking, acknowledge the question and look for the answer together. We are all students of God’s creation, and we will never know everything there is to know.

Consider nature study an adventure, a lifelong achievement. Keep your eyes wide open for opportunities to discover new things that come into your everyday life.

It doesn’t have to be an elaborate affair or take very much time for you to see a difference in your attitude and that of your children.

“It is a mistake to think that a half day is necessary for a field lesson (nature walk), since a very efficient field trip may be made during the ten or fifteen minutes at recess, if it is well planned.”

Handbook of Nature Study
“It is a mistake to think that a half day is necessary for a field lesson (nature walk), since a very efficient field trip may be made during the ten or fifteen minutes at recess, if it is well planned.”  Handbook of Nature Study

Creative Nature Walks: Pick a Focus For Your Study

Pick a theme for your walk such as insects, birds, trees, flowers, etc. Then have everyone make observations within that theme.

In my experience, having a focus during a walk makes it much more enjoyable for everyone. Each person can use their eyes and senses to look for items within the theme and then share them with the group. One person can be the designated photographer and take photos of things of interest. Or take along your nature journal and make a record of your sightings as you go along.

If you have older children, this is where you could use the Outdoor Hour Challenge and the Handbook of Nature Study to pick a focus for your walk. Pick a topic for the many challenges available and be on the lookout for the subject of interest.

“Time in nature is not leisure time; it's an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).”
― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

How Long Should Outdoor Time Be and How Frequently?

Short regular walks are much better than the occasional walk. The trick is to find a balance that works in your family. When my boys were homeschooling, we aimed for a once a week walk or hike with a little follow up once we got home. In high school, our walks became less frequent, but we aimed to take a “nature day” once a month where we would take the time to get outside together and explore as part of our more formal nature study program.

Homeschool Nature Study membership

Help Getting Started with the Nature Walk Habit in Homeschool Nature Study Membership

Below you will find links and resources for Homeschool Nature Study members to use as part of your nature walk time and usually a follow up idea for your nature journal. Please pick those ideas that get you excited to give regular nature walks a place in your family’s weekly routines.

Homeschool Nature Study Members:

  • Read “The Field Excursion” on page 14 of the Handbook of Nature Study.
  • Getting Started Guide – Outdoor Hour Challenge #1
  • Autumn course – Fall Color Walk Challenge
  • Spring course – Spring Splendor Walk

Printable Journal pages

  • My Nature Walk – Senses Notebook Page
  • Silent Autumn Nature Walk
  • Spring Nature Hunt
  • Spring Walk
  • 1st Day of Winter Nature Walk printable
  • 3 Questions Hike
  • My Summer Nature Hike
  • 5 Senses Walk at Sunset Notebook Page
  • Walk in the Forest Notebook Page

Nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenge aims to introduce you to your own backyard and neighborhood, seeking out the things that interest your children. I invite you to get to know your child’s special area of interest and to build from there a foundation of knowledge and experience outdoors. Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges, my own family has been enriched with a love of nature, a bond with each other, and lots of wonderful memories of seasons past. 

If you’re not a member here on Homeschool Nature Study yet, please consider joining to gain the benefit of having a nature study library at your fingertips. There are numerous resources available for you to help create the habit of nature study within your family.

Consider nature walks and nature study an adventure! Keep your eyes wide open for opportunities to discover new things that come into your everyday life.

 

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Homeschool Ocean Nature Study and Marine Biology Resources

Looking for some help in starting a homeschool ocean nature study or marine biology with your children? Wanting to learn more about tide pools? Looking for help with homeschool lesson plans? Not sure what to do or where to get started?

A homeschool ocean nature study is a fun and exciting family activity. With resources for a marine biology, exploring tidal pools and more!

Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them.

Psalm 69:34

Ocean Nature Study, Ocean Life, Tide Pools, and Aquariums: A Great Marine Biology Unit Study

I’m going to pull together the ocean nature study resources and materials that I found planning our study of marine biology. My boys used these ideas while homeschooling high school but much of the information is absolutely appropriate for younger students. I invite you to read more about how families can learn about marine life together. Tricia has a resource on Homeschool Marine Biology for Multiple Ages.

With a little effort, you can make a homeschool ocean study a fun and exciting family activity.

I am a huge fan of interest driven learning for life. My boys have had an interest in the ocean since they were very little. Not only were they curious about the typical things like sharks and dolphins, but they also wanted to know more about the things that are often hidden from sight deep under the ocean’s surface. As a homeschooling family, we were able to create opportunities to follow their interests, to feed the curiosity that they had about ocean life.

In high school, we made a more formal study of marine biology. All of their previous experiences with ocean creatures in real life were connected together as we worked through this curriculum. They had memories of so many of the topics from personal and up close observations. There could have been no better way to learn these things.

“One is completely stunned by the incredible resourcefulness of the Creator.”

~Carolus Linnaeus, creator of the modern biology classification system

I love when we can combine our personal interests into our homeschooling plans. Our family thoroughly enjoyed our year focusing on an ocean nature study and marine biology because we made it fit our learning styles. It gave us a legitimate excuse to take trips to the ocean, combining school subjects and pleasure. Sometimes it felt like we were having too much fun to call it “school” but that is the freedom that homeschooling gives us.

A homeschool ocean nature study is a fun and exciting family activity. With resources for a marine biology, exploring tidal pools and more!

Homeschool Marine Biology Lesson Plan

Our family used a textbook as the spine for our ocean nature study and marine biology study. In addition, we used some more specific resources that fit the learning styles of our children including a scientific coloring book, field guides, and an additional activity book.

The books and resources we used are listed below. Please note these are Amazon affiliate links to products I have used, owned, and loved.

We used Exploring Creation with Marine Biology (Tricia’s review) as our basic textbook with our high school age boys. This text is a perfect fit for our family and we enjoyed the topics, the information, and the sequence of learning. Each week we learned something new and interesting that we could draw from on our field trips.

Note: If your children are younger, you could use Apologia’s Exploring Creation: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. (Tricia’s review)

As a supplement we used the Marine Biology Coloring Book for our notebooks. I have one visual spatial learner who learned so much from using this coloring book. It’s so much more than just a coloring book and has high school level information that supplements the text above. I highly recommend using it alongside any marine biology text you choose.

These Outdoor Hour Challenges are a nice complement to your Homeschool Ocean Nature Study:

Tide Pool Life Nature Journal Page Set

Tide pooling is a great family activity for your ocean nature study and can be incorporated into field trips and vacations!

Tide Pool Life Notebook Page Set is included with Homeschool Nature Study membership. This is a larger set (14 new pages) of notebooking pages for you to use to learn more about tide pool life. These pages will fit in nicely with lessons and research of note only tide pools, but also marine biology, invertebrates, the beach, and swimming things.

Handbook of Nature Study Seashore course

Seashore Homeschool Nature Study for Tidal Pools

There are pages for:

  • Barnacle
  • Chiton
  • Clam
  • Crab
  • Hermit Crab
  • Kelp
  • Limpet
  • Mussel
  • Sand Dollar
  • Sea Anemone
  • Sea Cucumber
  • Sea Slug
  • Sea Snail
  • and Sea Urchin

With a little preparation, exploring tide pools can be a great hook for additional ocean nature study. Once we observed something in its natural setting, our boys were eager to identify it and learn more.

Listed below are some of our many family tide pooling adventures.

Additional Homeschool Marine Biology Resources

I kept these resources on our nature shelf during our ocean nature study of marine biology. They were used often as we created nature journal pages after our beach and tide pool experiences.

Golden Guide Seashore Life

Seaside Naturalist

Seashore – Northern and Central California

101 Questions About the Seashore

marine biology aquarium field trips

Homeschool Nature Study Ocean Field Trips: Aquariums and Snorkeling

  • Oregon Coast Aquarium – We visited this museum just a few weeks ago and it was fantastic! The aquarium displays are gorgeous…a mixture of art and natural beauty. I printed out the field trip packet and we all completed the pages as we visited the aquarium.
  • Monterey Bay Aquarium – This is the premier aquarium on the California coast. We love the setting and the layout of this aquarium. The “backstage” programs are well worth the effort of planning ahead.
  • Then we introduced the boys to snorkeling while on a trip to Hawaii. This added a new dimension to their personal experience with fish of the coral reef. It was exciting for them to swim with the fishes! Read about it here: Hawaiian Fish in My Nature Journal.

Hands On Homeschool Lessons for the Seashore

Our sister website, You ARE an ARTiST, has many ocean and seashore art lessons that go well with any marine biology study, including a whole section of sharks!

  • Starfish
  • Sand Castle
  • Sea Turtle
  • Crab
  • Clown Fish
  • Sand Bucket
  • Jellyfish
  • Night Shark
  • Undersea World

Our Homeschool Nature Study members enjoy a sand castle art lesson in their Seashore course!

More Homeschool Nature Study Outdoor Hour Challenges for the Whole Family

You will find hundreds of homeschool nature studies plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

Take advantage of the opportunity, especially in high school, to feed your child’s passions. We never regretted our decision to include a formal study of marine biology into our sons’ teen years.

You never know where your study will take you!

If you have any resources you have used in your study of marine biology, feel free to leave me a comment sharing the titles or ideas.

A homeschool ocean nature study is a fun and exciting family activity. With resources for a marine biology, exploring tidal pools and more!
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Rock Cycle Activities For Middle And High School Homeschool Nature Study

An introduction to geology with rock cycle activities for middle and high school. This is a great homeschool nature study and a simple way to explore rocks as a nature study in your own backyard!

An introduction to geology with rock cycle activities for middle and high school. A great way to explore rocks as a backyard homeschool nature study!

Rock Study of Granite and Other Igneous Rocks

Note To the Parent: There is a lot of great information in this study, far more than can be covered in a week. Use this study as an introduction to geology as it relates to nature study in your own backyard or neighborhood. Read the information in the Handbook of Nature Study and share any facts or ideas with your child that make sense to you. Keep it simple.

Rock Cycle Activities, Nature Study Lesson Plans and Inside Prep Work For Your Homeschool:

  • Read the Handbook of Nature Study pages 743-750 (Introduction to Rocks and Minerals and Lessons 209—210).
  • For this challenge, concentrate on Lesson 209– Granite. You can also observe other igneous rocks: basalt, obsidian, and pumice.
  • View the images and the videos in the Additional Links section below.
  • Advanced study: Interactive Rock Cycle—This is a great overview of the rock cycle and identifying rocks.
Hunt for rocks during your homeschool nature study outdoor hour challenge time.

Outdoor Hour Time:

  • Go exploring for rocks. Bring along a collecting box or bag and see if you can find some rocks, particularly granite or other igneous rocks. Remember what you read in the Handbook of Nature Study and the images you viewed in your preparation.
  • Collect some samples to bring inside to look at closely. Make sure to take a photo for your Rock Photo Scavenger Hunt notebook page.
An introduction to geology with rock cycle activities for middle and high school. A great way to explore rocks as a backyard homeschool nature study!

Follow-Up Rock Cycle Activities For Your Homeschool:

  • Choose one of the rocks you collected outdoors and look at it closely using a hand lens. If you collected some granite, can you distinguish the various components? Record your observations in your nature journal.
  • Advanced study: Diagram and describe the rock cycle in your nature journal.
  • Advanced study: Use your observation skills and record your information in your nature journal. Use a rock identification key to identify your igneous rock.
Homeschool nature study rocks - with handbook of nature study outdoor hour challenge curriculum

Rock Nature Study in Homeschool Nature Study Membership

Find rock cycle activities and rock homeschool nature study resources in Homeschool Nature Study Membership! Included in membership:

  • Rocks Big Grid – filled with nature study prompts for weeks of rock study!
  • Rocks notebooking pages for: pyrite, obsidian, coal, chalk, hematite, pumice, zinc, talc, geode, amethyst, flint, coral and sponge.
  • Rock Photo Hunt prompts and notebooking page
  • Under a Rock notebooking page
  • Plus 25+ courses and an interactive monthly calendar filled with nature study prompts and new nature study lessons.
An introduction to geology with rock cycle activities for middle and high school. A great way to explore rocks as a backyard homeschool nature study!
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How to Make Your Backyard a Natural Habitat for Wildlife

Here are some simple ways you can make your backyard a natural habitat for wildlife. You will love having the opportunity to have nature come to you in your very own backyard. Involve your whole family in the project and spend some time outdoors!

When we first moved into our house over twenty years ago, the backyard was fairly generic. It had a big weedy lawn, a pine tree, a few fruit trees, blackberries along the fence, and some bushes in the back. The front yard had a magnolia tree and some lawn. Not really very inviting to either humans or animals. It was not a very big yard either and we did not have a lot of money to do big landscape projects at that time.

We didn’t set out to create a natural habitat for wildlife in our yard, but it has turned out that way with some simple ideas in mind. Working on one small area at a time we managed to eventually build up what we have now.

How to Get Started Making Your Backyard a Natural Habitat for Wildlife

Animals and Birds need some basic things in order to consider your backyard an attractive habitat.

  • Food
  • Water
  • Shelter
  • Somewhere to have their young
Here are some simple ways you can make your backyard a natural habitat for wildlife. You will love having nature come to you in your very own backyard.

Food Sources for Your Backyard

Here are some ideas for food sources for wildlife:

  • Wild sources of food in your backyard like blackberries and grasses that produce seeds.
  • You can plant a variety of things to help provide food as well.
  • We have a fig tree, a walnut tree, sunflowers every summer, and flowers whose nectar is attractive to birds and insects like trumpet vine and butterfly bush.
  • A trumpet vine is a favorite of the hummingbirds when it is in bloom. There will three or four all sipping nectar on various sides of the trellis and they are amazing to watch. We also have several types of bird feeders in our yard at varying levels.
  • Platform feeders, hopper feeders, hummingbird feeders, and special finch feeders are filled all year round. We have a suet feeder that we add in the winter.
  • We also have a butterfly/hummingbird garden established with quite a few plants that are attractive to various kinds of butterflies.
  • We have seen Tiger swallowtails already this year and we are hoping to start attracting some Monarchs with the milkweed that we have started in a patch near the back of the garden.
  • We also know that a variety of mammals eat the seed under the feeders. We have seen skunks, voles, and moles. We have seen evidence of other rodents but can’t be sure exactly what else is out there at night.
a water source for your backyard habitat. Here are some simple ways you can make your backyard a natural habitat for wildlife. You will love having nature come to you in your very own backyard.

Water Sources for Your Backyard Nature Study

A water source is essential in attracting wildlife to your backyard natural habitat.

  • We have two bird baths that are available for the birds year round. We also have noticed the birds perched on the potted plants getting water from the base. The birds also enjoy the rainbird sprinklers when they are on and we frequently see blackbirds shaking around in the spray.
  • We have seen little raccoon footprints around the bird bath as well. We know we have at least one raccoon because we have seen him up on our deck at night looking in the back window. Too cute.
watering the garden. Homeschool nature study

Shelter for Wildlife

Here are some ideas for shelter for wildlife in your backyard natural habitat:

  • We have not been successful with having birds nest in our birdhouse, but we have had several birds over the years make nests in our magnolia and sequoia trees.
  • There are also birds that nest in the eave of our neighbors garage right along the fence line. They fly in and out and use our feeders. Believe it or not, the birds fly into the space under the beam. If you click the photo you can see where they go in and out.
  • We have three large areas where we have shrubs for the birds to hide in. These photinia bushes behind the garden provide a great spot for the finches and little birds to perch as they wait their turn at the feeders.
  • These areas are near the feeders and the bird baths and the birds seem to like having the option to fly into the shrub and then check the feeder out before perching to eat a meal. The bushes come alive in the winter when the weather is wet because so many birds take shelter there out of the weather.
  • The back oak tree has bats from time to time and if we come out at night we can see them flying around the backyard eating insects midair.
  • We have a section of our yard that has big river rocks and this is where you will find a variety of insects living underneath and also a shelter for the reptiles in our yard. Yes, we have a couple types of lizards and other reptiles in our yard and the boys love it.
  • The grape vines which we planted last year are providing another spot for the birds to perch plus the added bonus of some seedless grapes for us at the end of the season.
  • Another great place that we know we have provided shelter is within our compost pile. This really could go under the category of food as well since we know that birds and other small creatures forage in the compost for meals.
bird nest - Here are some simple ways you can make your backyard a natural habitat for wildlife. You will love having nature come to you in your very own backyard.

Natural Habitat: Provide a Place to Raise Young

The trees in our yard are a great place for birds to raise their babies. We just had “flying school” for the Scrub jays in our yard for the babies. They have all flown out on their own now and it was fun to watch. The hummingbirds are all up in a pine tree and a cedar tree that borders the back of our property and although we have never seen them, we know they nest and raise babies there.

We do have our limits thought….the six foot fence all the way around was in response to the mule deer that would come in and devastate a whole vegetable garden in one night. We knew we would be forcing them to go elsewhere for a meal but we live fairly close to a riparian habitat that they can graze and get water from. They still make themselves at home in our unfenced front yard and I hear them on hot summer nights snacking on my roses. I guess they must be hungry. The photo above shows where on the side of the house outside the fenced in area, the deer are still taking shelter here and sleeping. You can see where the grasses and plants are all flattened down from where they lay down and rest.

Last year we had a family of skunks move in under the back deck. I had the boys fill up the crevice with rocks as soon as they moved out. As much as I love wildlife, having a skunk family that near to our house was not pleasant…you can only imagine.

So there are some ideas to get you started with your backyard natural habitat. Take it one section and one idea at a time and soon you will have your own nature study laboratory right outside your back door. It has taken us over twenty years to build up the different aspects but it has been a labor of love. We are continually adding little things to help make the backyard beautiful and also attractive to birds and other animals.

You might be interested in what the National Wildlife Federation says about building a backyard natural habitat.
Create A Wildlife Habitat

You will also like these ideas for Creating Your Backyard Homeschool Nature Study Laboratory.

You will find hundreds of homeschool nature studies plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

You will find hundreds of homeschool nature studies plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

written by Barb June 2009, updated by Tricia February 2022

Here are some simple ways you can make your backyard a natural habitat for wildlife. You will love having nature come to you in your very own backyard.
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Your Backyard Homeschool Nature Study Laboratory

Your backyard truly is homeschool nature study laboratory! We will show you how you already have what you need for building the habit of getting outside with your children.

We are challenging you to begin homeschool nature study with the intention of creating the habit of getting outside with our children every week. There is something exciting about starting nature study with all the possibilities in front of us. Take the opportunity to join us for what could be the start of a grand adventure.

How do you create the habit of getting outside with your children?

Baby steps. We are here to help you with some methods that have been shared over the last decade, guiding hundreds of families to successfully navigate nature study close to home. When establishing a new habit, we have always found it helpful to start small and work on consistency.

Your backyard is a homeschool nature study laboratory! You already have what you need to build the habit of getting outside with your children.

Your Backyard is a Homeschool Nature Study Laboratory

A new habit can be encouraged simply by seeing the benefits of an easy change. Think of your backyard and neighborhood as a nature study laboratory. Change your view of what is right outside your own door. Look for the extraordinary in the ordinary. Starting with the things closest to home, you’ll soon see how the habit of getting outside each week comes more easily.

What is there to observe in our backyard Homeschool Nature Study Laboratory?

Here are just a few things you have easy access to for backyard homeschool nature study

  • Trees: leaves, bark, twigs, roots, flowers, cones, needles, seeds, pods, nests, birds
  • Patch of weeds: leaves, roots, bugs, flowers
  • Dirt: worms, gravel, stones, seeds, mud, ants, mushrooms, moss
  • Sky: clouds, sun, moon, stars, birds
  • Air: temperature, wind, smells, breath on a cold morning
  • Birds: flying, pecking, eating, chirping, hopping, shapes and colors, beaks, wings, tails, feet
  • Sounds: wind, frogs, rain, leaves, crickets, bees, fly buzzing, mosquitoes
  • Weather: rain, clouds, temperature, snow, ice, dew, wind
  • Flowers (garden or in a pot): petals, pollen, roots, leaves, stem, fragrance, shapes, colors, seeds
Your backyard is a homeschool nature study laboratory! You already have what you need to build the habit of getting outside with your children.

How long does it take? Just 15 minutes!

Consistently taking fifteen minutes during your weekly schedule to get outside will be of great benefit in providing interesting things to observe. Even better, take that time when your child is distracted or listless during the homeschool day and seize the opportunity to get outside with them for just a few minutes. Once you see the benefits of allowing this time outside to reset, you’ll begin to see nature study as a refreshing necessity rather than a task that needs to be checked off a list of things to do.

We don’t need to devote a lot of time to nature study during our weekly schedule. Keen observation is the key, not reading lessons, filling in notebooks, or keeping collections. Short walks outdoors along with our children as we encourage observation will do far greater good than any other form of lesson plan.

Favorite Handbook of Nature Study quotes

Can I just send my kids outside on their own?

Children need to grow the habit of looking at things carefully.  In nature study, we can encourage our children to look at things more closely, to really see what is there.  You need to go with your children outdoors at first, walking alongside them or being available nearby. This will alert you to subjects of their interest. Have them describe what they see and perhaps you can ask a few leading questions. Keep it friendly and light.

“The great danger that besets the teacher just beginning nature study is too much teaching, and too many subjects. In my own work I would rather a child spent one term finding out how one spider builds its orb web than that he should study a dozen different species of spiders. If the teacher at the end of the year has opened the child’s mind and heart in two or three directions nature-ward, she has done enough.”

Anna Botsford Comstock

In My Experience

Your backyard homeschool nature study can hold your attention for a long time if you are diligent about looking for a variety of things to observe. Most of us have plants, birds, trees, rocks, insects, invertebrates, and mammals that will visit us at least at certain times of the year. Challenge your family to pick something each week to learn more about. Nature study is a long-term project (or even a lifestyle) that everyone can find satisfaction in doing together as a family.

Each family member can develop their special area of interest. My daughter and I love flowers and birds. My husband is a tree person. The boys enjoy insects, rocks, and mammals of all sorts. Look for your child’s interest and nurture it! I sometimes wouldn’t get involved at all when the kids were looking at something. Quietly observing their interaction with the natural world gave me insight into what we could learn about in the future.

Remember that nature study intensity can come in cycles. There are periods of time or seasons of the year when we devote much energy to getting outside and taking nature walks. The amount of time may fluctuate to fit our family’s circumstances. Although regular outdoor time reaps the most benefits, real life demands we make allowances for breaks and interruptions. But don’t let these breaks stumble you and get back into it as soon as possible, picking up where you left off.

What can homeschool parents do?

To be successful in creating a nature study habit, it’s helpful for parents to be enthusiastic and see for themselves the beauty in the natural world. Start with your passions and then build from there with what you discover about your child’s interests. For example, if your interest is in flowers, spend time in your garden together or visit a nearby garden with your family. Start off looking at flowers and see where that leads. An insect may visit your flowers, or a bird may land nearby. Try to allow for nature study to unfold before you.

They need you to regularly allow time to just be outside during all the seasons. We can all bear fifteen minutes a week of backyard homeschool nature study under even the most uncomfortable circumstances. If you keep in mind that your nature study can be just outside your back door, you’ll be more apt to go out regularly.

Homeschool Nature Study Members Have Great Resources at Your Fingertips

Consider working through the first three Outdoor Hour Challenges in the Getting Started ebook. These three challenges can help build your nature study habit. I highly recommend following the suggestions for reading in the Handbook of Nature Study that go along with those challenges. The words expressed in those readings include timeless advice to parents about the value of regular nature study close to home. Make sure to have the printable nature journal pages bookmarked in case your child is ready to create a record of their Outdoor Hour Challenge.

#1 Let’s Get Started
#2 Using Your Words
#3 Now Is The Time To Draw

Look for the Outdoor Hour Challenge Planning Pages printable in the Planning Resources course. Use these pages to make a rough plan for your nature study.

If you’re not a member here at Homeschool Nature Study yet, please consider joining to gain the benefit of having a nature study library at your fingertips. There are numerous resources available for you to help create the habit of nature study within your family.

Your backyard is a homeschool nature study laboratory! You already have what you need to build the habit of getting outside with your children.
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Clover or Shamrock Homeschool Nature Study

Enjoy a clover or shamrock homeschool nature study this spring and learn about this abundant ground cover you likely have in your own backyard.

Clover or Shamrock Homeschool Nature Study Inside Preparation Work


1. Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 591-598. These pages cover three sections in the Handbook of Nature Study but are closely related. I encourage you to read all the pages even if you do not think you have the particular clover in your area. Use your highlighter to mark sections you found interesting and that at some point you want to share with your children in the follow-up activity.

“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

This video will give you a good idea of how bees move from clover to clover.

You can do an internet search for each of these kinds of clover so you and your children will know what you are looking for during your Outdoor Hour time this week. I use Google Images. You may wish to preview any searches.

Enjoy a clover or shamrock homeschool nature study this spring and learn about this abundant ground cover you likely have in your backyard.

Your Nature Study Outdoor Time


2. Your outdoor time this week can be spent in your yard or at a near-by park. Look for areas of lawn or pastures that may include clover. You may find clover at the edges of trails as well so keep your eyes out as you have your outdoor time this week.

3. Another subject for your outdoor hour time could be the honeybee. The relationship between clover and honeybees is a beneficial one and if you can observe bees in the clover you have witnessed a great partnership.

4. Pollen can be a topic for your outdoor hour time if you don’t find clover or honeybees.

Is it four leaf clover or shamrock?

Clover or Shamrock Follow-Up Activity


5. After your outdoor time, make sure to discuss with your children what interested them from shamrock homeschool nature study this week. They may be more interested in learning about something they observed and our job as parents is to help them answer their questions. Use the Handbook of Nature Study by looking up the topic in the index or the table of contents. You can also look on the Handbook of Nature Study blog and see if we have covered the topic in a previous Outdoor Hour Challenge.

In the Handbook of Nature Study, on page 593, there is a section on nodules. The nodules will be found as little “swellings” on the roots of clover. These nodules have an important job which is explained in the Handbook of Nature Study on the same page. Make sure to read this section to yourself so when you have your follow-up activity you will be prepared to talk about nodules.

5. On page 594 in the lesson, #3 suggests that you take up the clover plant and look at its roots. This would make a great addition to your nature journal. Sketch the whole clover plant and then perhaps one of the flowers.

Spring is slowly raising its sleepy head and St. Patrick’s day is on the horizon, so let’s create a Clover Shamrock Nature Journal Entry. A shamrock is just a type of clover but it has become known as the symbol of Ireland.

Homeschool Nature Study members can enjoy a Video Shamrock Journal Lesson with nature illustrator, Victoria Vels!

6. On page 598 in the lesson, #5 suggests that you tie a string around a clover head that has not yet blossomed. This way you can observe the same flower over a period of several days. You could record each day’s observations in your nature journal either in words or as a sketch.

Rainy Day? Enjoy A Clover or Shamrock Study Indoors!

Amy Law shares, “Rainy day by you, too? It doesn’t have to keep you from nature study! In honor of Saint Patrick’s day, we decided to do the nature study lesson on Shamrocks! We dashed through the raindrops to grab some clover, spent time learning more about this important plant, watched a video of a bee in clover, and did a chalk Pastel lesson with Nana! (All with the nature study calendar!) What a lovely way to spend a rainy afternoon.”

@AmyLaw on Instagram

More Clover or Shamrock Homeschool Nature Study Ideas

Here are some optional activities for you to enjoy in your homeschool.

St. Patrick’s Day Homeschool Bundle

This St. Patrick’s Day homeschool unit study bundle includes integrated lessons in history, literature, art, nature study, science and more! Find it here!

Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Backyard Nature Year Round!

There are so many benefits to joining. You will access our full range of curriculum, our interactive learning calendar as well as a brand new homeschool nature study challenge post each week!

Please do tag us in your Outdoor Hour Time photographs on Instagram. We would love to see how your family is learning about the shamrocks in your homeschool.

Enjoy a clover or shamrock homeschool nature study this spring and learn about this abundant ground cover you likely have in your backyard.

written by Barb July 2009 and updated by Tricia February 2022

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Handbook of Nature Study Review of New Edition

Looking for a Handbook of Nature Study review? Wondering about the new edition of the Handbook of Nature Study by Living Book Press? Here is my full review and what I recommend for homeschool nature study families.

Here is a Handbook of Nature Study review of the new edition by Living Book Press  with honest recommendations for homeschool nature study families.

Handbook of Nature Study Review of New Edition

I recently wrote a review of the new Living Book Press edition of the Handbook of Nature Study.

I’ve used the Handbook of Nature Study for decades. To say that I love this book, would be an understatement. It has taken me on the journey of a lifetime and sparked my love and passion for all things found in the natural world. When I learned there was a new version of this classic book with full color images, I was excited.

Living Books Press has created a seven volume series of paperback books that take the original content of the Handbook of Nature Study written by Anna Botsford Comstock and updated the black and white images with full color images for every topic in the book.

I recently wrote a thorough review of this series over on The Curriculum Choice

You can read that review here: Living Books Press – Handbook of Nature Study.

I would love for you to click over and read that review.

Here is a Handbook of Nature Study review of the new edition by Living Book Press  with honest recommendations for homeschool nature study families.

Just in case you want the bottom line…..

  • I don’t recommend these volumes for my Outdoor Hour Challenge families. The price is what holds me back from giving them a thumbs up. At almost $100 for all the volumes, the investment is just not worth the benefits of having smaller books and colored images.
  • I would rather you purchase the version recommended for years here on the Handbook of Nature Study blog (cost is less than $30). Then, take the additional money and purchase some field guides to have as a supplement to the Handbook of Nature Study.
Review of The Handbook of Nature Study at The Curriculum Choice.

More Handbook of Nature Study Homeschool Help from The Curriculum Choice

The Handbook of Nature Study Book Here at Homeschool Nature Study

Which edition of the Handbook of Nature Study do you use? Where do you find The Handbook of Nature Study book?

The Handbook of Nature Study book by Anna Botsford Comstock is a staple in the Outdoor Hour Challenges we share. This is a wonderful reference guide for you, the homeschool teacher to use. We show you how, HERE!