Interested in entering a giveaway for a $10 Amazon.com gift card?
This month’s newsletter has a “mystery photo” for children (under the age of 18) to try to identify. Full instructions for submitting a guess are included on page 3 of the September newsletter.
Make sure to submit your guess according to the rules in the newsletter by 9/7/14 at midnight in order to have a chance at a $10 Amazon.com gift card.
Have fun guessing!
NOTE: All subscribers to the Handbook of Nature Study blog entries will receive the newsletter download as a separate email on the first of every month. Some people have this email go to their SPAM inbox so check there if you don’t see it in your regular email inbox. If you are a new subscriber, you will get a follow-up email upon subscription with the current newsletter downlink inside. Also, Ultimate and Discovery level members have each and every newsletter in their download library. Members will need to log into their account to find the download links.
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This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of September so be sure to download it before 9/30/14.
Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:
3 fall flower related articles with loads of practical ideas
Nature Table ideas from a veteran Outdoor Hour Challenge participant
Spotlight Family – The Vels
Newsletter Contest – Mystery Photo
The next month’s selections for Preschool Nature Table
BRAND NEW! Mom’s Planning Page: Use this printable page to plan your month’s nature study. There is a place to create notes to remind you of ideas you want to implement and then reminders for year-long study projects, extra topics that come up during the month, and then to send in your entries for the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. See below!
Please note that Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level members have access to members only printables each month in addition to the newsletter printables. You will need to log into your account and then go to the “Other Releases” section.
Does the summer seem to be slipping away for your family like it is for ours? The month of August has had some wild weather that included thunder and hail storms here…not normal at all. I think I am ready for September’s gifts of changing colors and honestly I think the air is different too.
Thank you to this month’s blog carnival participants and I hope that there will be some new faces as we start the new Outdoor Hour Challenges for autumn. Make sure to print tomorrow’s newsletter for a new printable nature study planner page for you to stay on top of the topics and to create a reminder for you!
Our families August entries from this month’s study (in case you missed one):
Bristlecone Pine Tree – sneak peak into our trip to Great Basin National park
Evening Primrose Study
Nelleke from Educaion is a Life is sharing their most wonderful Evening Primrose Study with the carnival this month! Don’t miss reading and seeing their experiences.
Potpourri
Janet from Pursuing Joy in the Journey has submitted two excellent nature study entries for you to enjoy. The first is their experience with Big Butterfly Count and the other is their Park Trip with some relaxed nature study with a little one.
Michelle from Following Footprints share their Summer Strolls in the Sequoiaswith carnival readers in this edition of the carnival. They love these giant trees as much as I do…please stop by and view her images. They also have started a new project- The Beginning of a Year Long Tree Study: Our Apple Tree. Take a look at the first season and their nature journals too.
Carol from Journey and Destination submits their entry Rocks and Wildflowers for you to view. I love the learning going on in their part of the world, both the nature journals and the sandstone information is worth a look.
Nadene from Practical Pages has submitted their entry Spring Blossoms to the carnival. It is crazy to think that they are just heading into spring as we are going into autumn. She shares not only some beautiful images but excellent examples from their nature journal. Inspiring!
Angie from Petra School is sharing their Nature Study Planning for High School. So many great thoughts in this entry and I encourage all who have a little bit older student to read and apply her suggestions. Thanks Angie!
Don’t forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in September are eligible for the next edition. Send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.
Vacations can be many things. Our trip to Utah and Nevada was rich in nature study opportunities and family adventures too! I love that type of vacation because it leaves us refreshed and full of memories.
The road between California and Utah is really captured in the image above. Open roads, big skies, and lots of NOTHING. We had a long trip to get there but watching the clouds and then early evening lightning in the sky was enjoyable. Plus, there are many rest areas that you can stop at along the way to stretch your legs, get a cold drink (most have vending), and use the clean restrooms. We didn’t have a single rest area where that wasn’t clean and inviting.
We took several longer stops where we all got out and walked a bit before hopping back on the road. This rest stop (Grassy Mountain/Cedar Mountain Wild Horse Range) in Utah had a path up to where you could see the pioneer trail across the Great Basin. We had our youngest son and two of his friends on this trip which made for a lot of boy time…I felt very outnumbered.
Yep, the sign says snakes and scorpions. The boys were disappointed that we didn’t see either of those things on our hike to to top of the hill and back. What we did have was an awesome view!
Just another road shot on the way to Utah along Hwy 80. More rocks, more sky, more clouds, more road…..along about this time I was ready to be at our destination.
We arrived at Jordanelle State Park and had a terrific spot in the Hailstone Campground. This is a super place to camp and a great home base for our trip….between Park City and Heber City (where we were visiting friends).
The Jordanelle campground was filled with lots of wildflowers which surprised me. It was nice to talk walks in the evenings when it was cooler.
We spied a large patch of milkweed!
We all were invited to hike up in Park City up at Summit Peak. We started off with sprinkles of rain but it never did get us too wet. What a beautiful trail! We had a lot of fun hiking here and getting to know the boys’ friends.
Along the trail there were lots of wildflowers growing and my husband and I noted this plant in abundance. At first I wasn’t sure what it was, so I took some photos of the big distinct leaves. Later on I discovered one with flowers and was able to identify it…burdock! I was thrilled because that is one of our new Outdoor Hour Challenges coming up in September. This gave me an opportunity to observe it up close and I will share more photos next month.
Lots of these along the trail too!
One night we walked up and down the historic downtown of Park City. I love doing window shopping, finding a nice place to eat, and then strolling through a town to get the feel of it. This is a very casual and friendly place that I would love to go back to in the winter…skiing!
Loved this sign downtown that shows the direction and distance to other Olympic game sites around the world. I live closest to Squaw Valley…how about you?
With three teenage boys around, they were always eager to have a campfire after dinner. This night though it was my husband that got it going and I sat and enjoyed the warmth and glow of the flames. Jordanelle has these awesome cement fire pits complete with grill that swings over and a hook for hanging a dutch oven.
This was the night of the really bright moon….too bad we had clouds that obscured the light and brightness. We still enjoyed sitting out late and watching it peek in and out from the cloud cover.
We reluctantly left Utah and headed back home at the end of the week. Here is our smiling faces somewhere on a summit near the border of Utah and Nevada on Hwy 50. We were heading back into Nevada to Great Basin National Park. This is a very remote park but very much worth the effort.
Here is a little sneak peek into our campsite at Great Basin….more on this national park in an up-coming post!
I fell in love with Utah on this trip and we are eager to go back again maybe next fall to experience Zion National Park. We just couldn’t work it in this time but it will give us something to plan on and look forward to in the future!
Here are my August photos for the Nature Photo of the Week project. We enjoyed a trip to Utah and Nevada this month so take a glimpse into a little bit of our adventures via the Nature Photo of the Week.
Top: My son and his friend hiked to the top of Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park-August 2014. 13,605 feet high!
Just wanted to let you know that both Ultimate and Journey level members have new printables that were added today. They will be useful with next month’s challenges. Log into your membership and find the three new notebooking pages available now.
Outdoor Hour Challenge:
Take a wildflower walk this week and try to find some Queen Anne’s Lace to observe up close. Look alongside your roadways as you drive…we often see it growing along the shoulders of our local roads. Use the ideas in the original challenge (and the printable notebook page) to complete you Queen Anne’s Lace nature study.
Use discount code = discount5 to save $5 on your $10+ purchase at NotebookingPages.com
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #8. Use the suggestions in this challenge to look up close at any garden flowers or wildflowers you have in your yard or neighborhood. Follow up with the notebook page if you want to keep a record of your observations.
We have spent lots of time outdoors in the evenings this summer because it is too hot to be out much during the day. We usually start our evening off with dinner on the back deck and then sit later in the evening as the sun sets. We are still experiencing lots of finches flocking to our tree just at dusk…accompanied by lots of singing and chirping.
We also notice the hummingbirds at the feeders as the sun descends lower and lower on the horizon.
The bats come as well and several times I have felt them whisk past my ears while I am on the deck, startling me but they never actually touch me so I am okay with that.
We have been on the lookout for insects at all times of the day. We noticed grasshoppers in Utah and Nevada on our trip a few weeks ago.
I was able to capture some butterflies at my dad’s house that were in among his flowers. This butterfly had a lot of his wings broken off…didn’t seem to stop him from flying skillfully from flower to flower.
My favorite insect of the month so far is this Milkweed beetlethat we saw in Utah. Amazing colors and design!
Here is an interesting bee we saw in our front yard on the lavender.
And then there were crickets in our yard. When I took a video (so I could capture the audio), I realized that there are two distinct sounds. One is definitely a cricket but the other is a buzzing sound. I am thinking it is a cicada of some sort and have done some research on cicadas found in California. There are some so I am now on the hunt to actually see one.
Just remembered that we saw cave cricketswhen we were at Great Basin National Park in the Lehman Caves, which are pale and have really long antennae. I was so focused on the cave and its awesome formations that I forgot to really pay attention to the crickets or take a photo.
I love it when we take one topic and focus on it for a month….I highly recommend it for more in-depth study of anything topic your children are interested in learning more about.
Have fun this week outside in the evenings looking for or listening for crickets. This is a great challenge to work on building your quiet time outside as you go on a cricket hunt. Don’t worry if you only get a few seconds of quiet from your younger children since listening and working quietly are skills they can build as they mature. Older children can be challenged to hunt quietly for a few minutes and they will be surprised by how much they hear when they do so. (You may find this entry helpful: December Senses Walk.)
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #4. This week you can work on an insect focus. Start a list of summer insects that you observe in your yard or neighborhood. Keep your list in your nature journal and add to it during each season if you would like.
How can you get the new ebook? It will be loaded into the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships in August!
Here is a list of the specific challenges included in this ebook:
Garden Flower – Salvia
Weeds – Teasel
Weeds – Burdock
Reptile Study – Lizards (Geckos and Anoles)
Tree Study – Ash
Tree Study – Hemlock
Tree Study – Witch Hazel
Tree Study – Staghorn Sumac
Fungus Study – Stinkhorns
Fungus Study – Bracket Fungi
Mammal Study – Pig
Star Study – Casseopeia’s Chair, Cepheus, and the Dragon
Rock Study – Mica
Bird Study – Belted Kingfisher
Bird Study – Hawks
Winter Berries (not in the Handbook of Nature Study)
I am happy to announce the release of the long awaited Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Nature Study Continues ebook! You are going to love the fresh new challenges to try in your family as you work your way through the weekly topics. I have been eager to start them as I put them together, gathering lots of fun videos and supporting resources to use along with the Handbook of Nature Study lessons.
You will need to have a copy of the Handbook of Nature Study to use with the suggestions in the ebook. You can purchase a copy from Amazon.com or you can use an online version. The version I use is ISBN 0801493846.
Each week I will be sharing one of the challenges here on the blog which means you can follow along without a membership if you subscribe to my blog. You can subscribe by entering your email address in the subscription box at the top right of my website. After you enter your name, you will need to confirm your subscription by responding to the email that will come to your inbox.
Where Can I Get The New Ebook?
This ebook will not be sold separately but will be added to the Ultimate and Journey levelsof membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study.
If you are a member of the Ultimate or Journey levels here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you will find the 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.
The drought in California just keeps going on and on…creating conditions in my yard much like the thick of autumn. We have brown leaves falling and dry crispy lawns brought on by the heat and watering restrictions imposed by our local water district. We can water three days and with very limited time windows. Even watering for those three days a week with longer watering times, my yard has suffered. I gave up trying to keep the flower beds going and we never even planted a vegetable garden.
Our grapes look more like raisins and the usually lush green foliage is turning brown and leaving the vines exposed.
Even our drought tolerant plants are withering in the heat leaving us wondering if they will come back next year. Time will tell.
Our sunflowers are all dried up and the birds have already eaten most of the seeds from each flower head. I am glad that they have a source of food to draw from in our yard but it is much earlier than normal for them to be scouring the yard for food.
August is usually prime time for my cutting garden and I can count on gathering vases and vases of flowers for my kitchen table and window sill. Not this year. My daisies, coneflowers, zinnias, and hydrangeas are all done and dying.
There are a few flowering plants left in the front still going strong…sage, lavender, butterfly bush. I have seen the hummingbirds visiting each and every plant in the front yard. There have been butterflies and bees, moths and beetles. Now I wish we had switched the backyard over to be more drought tolerant like the front yard. It may survive.
To contrast this year, here are a few August garden entries from the past:
I know there will come a time when I can freely water my yard again. I will plant vegetables and see my green grass grow soft under my feet. I look forward to eating the fruits of our labor and feasting my eyes on the wonderful colors of my garden flowers. In the meantime, I will be patient.
