I am convinced that the blog carnival has gone the way of all things…great while it lasted, a boost to those that participated, and a launching ground for bigger things. I console myself that perhaps the reason for the lack of blog entries for the carnival may not be that the nature study has not taken place but more a factor of our busy lives and no time to share on our blogs about the adventures and learning that took place that month. I can understand that and have actually felt it myself as my life has taken a new direction with my children grown and moving on.
I am happy to share this last edition of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival with a heart full of emotion. Our journey together has not ended but will continue on in new ways. Growing pains and new chapters in life…all shaping our families in ways we don’t know until the pen is put down at the end of the book.
I’m not going anywhere, just ending the tradition of the monthly blog carnival.
Stick with me for all the other normal features here on the Handbook of Nature Study. I am writing the spring challenges right now and that warms my heart! Think-wildflowers!
Here are my January entries just in case you missed one:
Thank you to all who have contributed to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival in the past! I have learned so much from your entries and taken such joy in reading every single entry.
Read pages 725-726 of the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson #202). This is a short reading but it will get you started with your study.
Watch this short video that lets you see this fungi up close: Scarlet Cup.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Take some time outdoors to look for fungi in your neighborhood. The scarlet cup fungi is one of the earliest fungi to look for in the woods. Look for it on decaying branches in damp areas, sometimes buried beneath the leaves on the forest floor.
Use the lesson’s suggested observations when you find your specimen. Depending on where you live, you may find this fungus during the months of January-April.
Follow-Up Activities:
Create a nature journal entry that includes a colorful sketch, a caption, and words to describe this interesting fungi.
Advanced Study:Scarlet Cup Fungus. After reading this page, create a nature journal entry using the notebook page included in this ebook. If you run out of room on the front of the page, continue on the back.
Join us for this series of challenges every week here on the Handbook of Nature Study.
If you want to purchase the Winter Nature Study Continues ebook so you can follow along with all the notebooking pages, coloring pages, and subject images, you can join the Ultimate or Journey Membership Levels. See the Join Us page for complete information. Also, you can view the Winter Nature Study Continues Ebook Announcement page for more details.
The Wild Muir was my first selection in my Nature Book of the Month Project. This book just begged to be read aloud so we did just that. Each chapter is actually a selection from one of John Muir’s many books, chosen to make a wonderful collection in this book The Wild Muir.
We didn’t read the chapters in order because we found it was fun to read the chapter titles and then pick one that sounded interesting to us at the moment. We read first thing in the morning with our coffee, or while riding along on a car ride, or sitting outside in our front yard. I can imagine us reading some of these again on a camping trip while sitting around the campfire. John Muir can spin a tale, drawing you along with his words that sounded like poetry at times. He gave interesting details and shared his thoughts about what he saw and experienced. There were a few chapters that gave us a glimpse into his childhood, his early adulthood, and then long into his career as a conservationist.
Many of us would never dream of attempting the many daring explorations that he set out on or dream of pushing ourselves to the physical limits that Muir did during his life. But, we can experience the thrill of hiking up to mountain peaks, across glaciers, far into the Sierra mountains, and swaying on trees in the middle of a huge winter storm.
His words paint such wonderful pictures…here’s a couple quotes:
“At length, all their plans perfected, tufted flakes and single starry crystals come in sight, solemnly swirling and glinting to their blessed appointed places; and soon the busy throng fills the sky and makes darkness like night.”
“As soon as I got out in Heaven’s light I started on another long excursion, making haste with all my heart to store my mind with the Lord’s beauty and thus be ready for any fate, light or dark. And it was from this time that my long continuous wanderings may be said to have fairly commenced.”
I learned some really interesting stuff from reading his book. Who knew learning about frazil ice would lead to some really awesome YouTube videos? I also never really knew how all those round metal plates got placed on the top of mountains and other spots that we have seen on our hiking expeditions…well, they are there in part due to the Coast and Geodetic Survey which mapped and measured such places. I had to look up dozens of plants and flowers that Muir mentioned in the book to see if I knew what they were or had seen them in my travels. I also looked up lots of geological vocabulary like “moulin“.
Please note this entry includes affiliate links.
I loved this book and highly recommend it as a glimpse into Muir’s life, his writing, and his ideas.
Every now and then I remember that I have a particular plant or tree to research and the California hoptree is one such subject (Ptelea crenulata). I hike past it with great regularity and note its stages of development through the cycle of the seasons. But, even with its interesting circular fruits, I often fail to take a photo and look up more information on this plant.
In researching the hoptree, I found that it is a member of the citrus family (Rutaceae) which is distinguished by its aromatic gland-dotted leaves. The hoptree that we have alongside our canyon trail is more like a shrub and my field guide says it can be from 6 ft to 16 feet in height. I would estimate that our tree is about 6-8 feet tall and almost completely surrounded by blackberry vines which makes it hard to determine where the hoptree ends and the vines begin.
The California hoptree became the topic of my Once a Month Nature Journal Project for January. I used one current photo and one from my archives showing the features of my winter observations. I pulled out my field guides and looked online for information to include on my page. Creating a simple journal page pulls all the information together both on the page and in my mind. Next time I hike past this tree I will slow down to take note of its identifying features and anticipate its blossoms come springtime.
Have you created your nature journal page yet this month?
National parks give us the opportunity to experience things that are out of the ordinary. National parks give us some space to breath in the wilderness and take a break from the same old routines of modern life. Joshua Tree National Park is just such a place with its unique rock formations, fascinating plant life, and creatures of the desert. What is a Joshua Tree? Well, it is not really a tree at all but a species of yucca. They can grow to be over 40 feet tall and they bloom sometime between February and April. They are part of a fascinating desert habitat in southeastern California.
This national park is only about 2.5 hours from Los Angeles, 2.75 hours from San Diego, 3 hours from Las Vegas, and 3 hours from Phoenix. It is reachable for many of my readers as a weekend trip or even tacked onto another destination as a bonus. The park is easily experienced in a day but I highly recommend giving this special place two days to explore (suggested itineraries here). The hiking here is not difficult so families with even young children can enjoy getting outside in the sunshine together.
Tip:We purchased the Road Guide To Joshua Tree National Park at the Visitor Center and I highly recommend this as a guide through the park. The book starts with stop at the Oasis Visitor Center and Nature Trail and then continues along the park drive, giving you mileage points and this to view and experience. We did the trip in one day and stopped at various spots to hike, picnic, and take photos. I always love knowing what we are looking at so this book was a huge help.
We started as usual at the Oasis Visitor Center near 29 Palms (trip taken in 2009 when my boys were teenagers). This was a simple way to introduce the park and to get our bearings. (There are 3 different visitor centers for you to visit.) There is a Junior Ranger program for children to complete at Joshua Tree.
Joshua Tree National Park is situated in a unique place within parts of both the Mojave and the Colorado Deserts. It is the only place on earth where the Joshua trees grow in large numbers in the wild.
Arch Rock was a great place to stop and stretch our legs in the warm California sunshine. This is a wonderful place to talk about the geology of the park and share a bit about the granite arch and how it was formed.
The beauty of this place can not be truly appreciated unless you get out of your car and walk out into the landscape. The harsh environment creates plants that are strong and rocks that are carved out in interesting formations. We spent a lot of time giving names to our favorite rocks.
The Cholla Cactus Garden trail was lined with menacing cactus. There are many other nature trails within the park for you to choose from.
There were lizards, birds, and spiders to distract us from the cactus. This lizard posed for us on the top of a rock!
This is an amazing place that we hope to visit again someday, hopefully camping to experience the night sky and to slow down to take in more of the parks plants and animals…and birds too! Don’t be fooled by thinking that the desert landscape is barren and empty. It is a rich habitat with much to learn about along with your children.
Palm Springs is a short distance for hotel rooms of all kinds. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Palm Desert.
There are three visitor centers at each of the entrances to the park: Joshua Tree Visitor Center, Oasis Visitor Center, and Cottonwood Visitor Center.
Visiting in the spring and fall are recommended. We were there in February and the weather was perfect and there were many wildflowers and blooming cactus to view.
There are places to picnic but you will need to purchase your meal before you enter the park.
Make sure to add your year-long study to your January or February nature study plans so you don’t forget!!!
If you are a member of the Ultimate or Journey levels here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you will find this ebook listed in your library after you log into your account. The ebook version available to members includes all of the notebook pages, coloring pages, and color images. I highly recommend purchasing a membership for all the added benefits for each and every challenge.
Along with my new Nature Study Goals for 2015, I am determined to read more books to fuel my learning about the natural world around me. I have gleaned a few books from my shelves that I need to read or reread but the rest are brand spanking new from Amazon.com. I spent an afternoon just rabbit trailing around Amazon, putting stacks of books onto my wishlist. to consider for the final 2015 list.
I picked ten books altogether so if I slack a bit somewhere I can make it up during the two unscheduled months. I have decided to leave July and December free for just that purpose.
I imagine I will pick up and put down several of these over the year but I will try to have completed the reading by the designated time. Creating a blog entry at the end of each book will detail my thoughts and perhaps even inspire you to pick it up and read it in the future. If you own any of these books and would like to comment on your experience with the book, you can join me in the appropriate month and corresponding blog entry.
I have already started reading The Wild Muir aloud to my husband a little each day. It is fun to share these stories aloud and comment on his adventures. Stay tuned for some of my thoughts!
Please note the entry includes Amazon.com affiliate links.
Read pages 823-826 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson #226). You may wish to review Lesson #224 outlining how to find the Dipper constellations and the Pole Star (North Star).
Here is a simple explanation of Orion the Hunter and some images that may help you in your study of the constellation: Orion—The Star Hunter.
Make sure to look at the chart on page 824 in the Handbook of Nature Study. This will help you see where to look for Orion’s Belt in the sky in relation to the Pole Star.
Advanced Study: Click the month of the year on this NASA page to print out a star finder and follow the directions on the page for some constellation fun.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Use your outdoor time to look for Orion (and Orion’s Belt). If you studied Cassiopeia in the autumn, remind your children how to find this constellation.
Advanced Study: Click this link and scroll down to Winter Night Sky Tour to print out a list of all the constellations you can see in the winter sky (January, February, and March). Use the list to find several winter sky constellations.
Follow Up:
Spend a few minutes after your outdoor time discussing the stars of the winter sky. Create a winter night sky nature journal entry.For fun, create a winter night sky poem for your nature journal.
One word to describe something you heard.
Two words for something you saw.
Three words for something you felt.
Advanced Study: Study and then sketch for your nature journal the primary stars of the winter sky, including Orion. Here is a link with a simple diagram for you to use: Winter Constellations from Space.com.
Join us for this series of challenges every week here on the Handbook of Nature Study.
If you want to purchase the Winter Nature Study Continues ebook so you can follow along with all the notebooking pages, coloring pages, and subject images, you can join the Ultimate or Journey Membership Levels. See the Join Us page for complete information. Also, you can view the Winter Nature Study Continues Ebook Announcement page for more details.
Free Printable Nature Study Goals Planner Page for everyone! Download this simple planner page to record simple nature study goals and create a plan to accomplish those goals. I know there were many of you who responded to my 2015 listand perhaps this will encourage you to make a few goals of your own.
There are new printables for you to use with your family if you are a member of the Ultimate Naturalist or Journey level memberships. You need to log into your account and then check the “Other Releases” section for brand new printables to enjoy along with the Outdoor Hour Challenges in January 2015.
Inside Preparation Work:
