Advanced Nature Study Archives

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Birding By Ear

Outdoor Hour Challenge:
This will be a great week to get outside and look and listen for birds. Hopefully you have started a list of your feeder birds and now you can take a few minutes to look up on the All About Birds website what your local birds sound like.You can do this by typing in your bird in the search box and then clicking the “sounds” tab a little ways down on the page. Birding by ear is such a great skill for little ones since they many times will hear a bird before they see it. What a great way to work on our listening skills together…outside in the fresh air and exploring our own yards and neighborhoods!

Split your Outdoor Hour Challenge time this week between preparing for identifying birds by their call using the All about Birds website and then putting your skills to work. The additional activities this week will give you some more information about just how birds sing. The second video is for all the adults to be inspired by as we endeavor to share the many bird’s songs with our children…be encouraged!

Additional Activity: Videos, a Quiz, and Inspiration

The Language of Birds

Test your knowledge of your local bird calls: eNature Birdcall Quiz (online listening).

Now something special….the power of nature and being outdoors! Want to be inspired? Watch this video Birding by Ear (Blind birdwatchers in Texas!)

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #2. This is one of my favorite challenges….to listen and then use simple words to describe your outdoor time. Use the ideas in this challenge to help your child listen carefully during your time outdoors…even if it is just for a few minutes. Record your words in your nature journal or on the notebook page in the ebook.

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Posted on January 25, 2013 by Barb — 4 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Rock Observation Chart

Outdoor Hour Challenge:
This week try to find at least one specific rock to collect and observe. If you need to, pick a rock from your collection and use that as your subject. Use your outdoor time to slow down and really look for rocks or if you have snow on the ground, try to remember where there are rocks in your neighborhood and plan for a future rock hunt when the weather is more agreeable.

You may wish to complete the granite or the quartz challenge that were previously posted here on the Handbook of Nature Study:
Granite Study
Quartz Study

You may pick any rock to study that you have on hand. There are several other rocks listed in the Table of Contents for the Handbook of Nature Study that you may wish to use in your study.

Printable Activity:

Rock Observation Chart: Use this printable chart to examine several of your rocks carefully. This is a little more advanced activity using vocabulary that may be unfamiliar to you. The activity is meant to be a simplified exercise in learning how to use deductive reasoning to identify your rock sample.

You may find these links helpful: Identifying Minerals and Mineral Field Tests.

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #7. We are focusing on rocks this month so you can start your own rock field guide using the directions and notebook page in this challenge. You can record your observations from the printable activity above on your rock field guide card if you wish.

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Barb — 10 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge-Insect Study-Ants

Welcome to the first of the September 2012 Outdoor Hour Challenges. Whether this is your first or your fortieth nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study, please know that I am so glad that you are here and that you are going to join us for a new round of nature study in your own backyard.

If you need an explanation of how the Outdoor Hour Challenge is going to work from this day forward, please read this entry:
Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge – How to Steps and Explanation.

Outdoor Hour Challenge:
This week’s challenge, which you can complete at any time that is convenient, is to take a closer look at the subject of ants using the Handbook of Nature Study. You will find the original study here on my blog by following this link: Outdoor Hour Challenge-Ants (from the Spring 2010 ebook).

Printable Notebook Page:
This week the challenge extra is a free printable notebook page that will give you a place to record any of your insect studies. There are two versions for you to download and use with any of the insect challenges. Please use these with any insect you decide to study this month and not just ants.

Insect Study – record your field guide notes and a sketch
Insect Notes – simple page with wider lines for younger students

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own this ebook, this week’s ant study would be a great start to Challenge #7 – Your Own Field Guide. You could start with ants and then add more entries as you observe more insects this month. Note there is a create Your Own Field Guide notebook page in the ebook for you to use with this challenge.

Don’t forget that the Getting Started ebook has a complete selection of generic nature journal pages at the back for you to print and use with any challenge.

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Barb — 1 Comment

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 – Vine Study

More Nature Study Book 3
Vine Study – Sweet peas, Hedge bindweed, and Dodder

Vines: Plants that have the habit of climbing upon other plants or upon sides of houses. Stems of vines are not strong enough to stand alone, seeking support to help get their leaves up into the life-giving sunlight. Some vines climb by twisting their stems around the support plant while others have special “holders” which are called tendrils.

Inside Preparation Work:

Read these pages in the Handbook of Nature Study to prepare you for this week’s challenge. 1. Sweet Pea: 588-590 (Lesson 164) *vines with tendrils. 2. Hedge Bindweed: 518-520 (Lesson 137) *twining vines. 3. The Dodder or Love Vine: 520-522 (Lesson 138) *tendrils with sucker.
If you would like to start your sweet peas from seed, follow the instructions in Lesson 164. This study could then continue into the summer months and end in a study of the sweet pea flower using Lesson 164.
Read this page and view the images: How Vines Climb. You can watch these videos on YouTube: Twining Motion of Vines, Morning Glory Stop Motion, Time Lapse of Cucumber Tendril (Beware: 1812 Overture plays loudly.)
You can see some of our sweet peas in this entry: Sweet Peas and Blackberries.

Outdoor Hour Time:

Use your outdoor time for this challenge to explore your yard and neighborhood looking for vines of any kind. Don’t worry if you can’t find a sweet pea, dodder, or hedge bindweed but apply your knowledge and vocabulary to any vines you do find.
Make sure to observe closely how the vine climbs. If the vine is a twining vine, note which direction the vine wraps itself around the support plant. If the vine has tendrils, note their color, size, and direction.
Optional: Plant sweet pea or morning glory seeds for your own vines to observe over the next few months.

Follow-Up Activity:

Follow up your outdoor time with the opportunity to record an entry in your nature journal with your vine observations. Ebook Users: You can use the vocabulary found on the chart in the ebook.
Advanced study: Research more vines and how they climb (How Plants Climb). Summarize your information in your nature journal.
Advanced study: Make your own time lapse video of a vine twining or using its tendrils.
If you planted sweet pea or morning glory seeds, continue to record their growth over the next few months in your nature journal.

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Barb — 3 Comments

Our Spring Fern Nature Study

Taken May 3, 2012

We actually started our fern nature study way back in January during our Silent Nature Winter Walk.

This week we walked the same trail to view our ferns. We tried to remember how many ferns there were back in January and there seems to be more ferns now and they are larger. Comparing photos I think we are correct.

Magnificent ferns on our hiking trail.

I was interested in the Western sword fern but Mr. B was interested in the California Maidenhair fern. Both are plants that we have looked at closely before. The Maidenhair fern is interesting because it has a black stem and looks like lace…sometimes you have to look twice because you think the green parts are floating in air but really they are attached with delicate black stems.

More Nature Study Book #3 Fern Study Notebook Page

We had a field guide to consult and to glean a few new facts from. Mr. B did a nature journal page for the California Maidenhair fern from our hiking trail. He thought the stalk was a purple/black…I will have to look closer the next time we hike down the trail.

California Maidenhair Fern – March 2010 (Best photo I have that shows the stalk.)

Now do you want to see some of our California wildflowers from further up the trail? We were busy this time stopping and noting all the colorful flowers there are right now.

This is a colorful time of year in our part of the world.

I am keeping a running list of wildflowers seen on this particular trail for the whole year of 2012.

Keeping a list…nothing fancy about this page in my journal.

I just add to my list in my nature journal when we get back from our hike. It is interesting to see the patterns and successions of blooms.

Making fern prints with ink. See link below.

We will be revisiting ferns again this summer as we visit several spots in California that have ferns. I think it will be fun to add to our collection of fern prints that we started back in January.

It is not too late to join in with your own fern nature study….. If you own the More Nature Study Book #3 for spring, there are plenty of simple ideas to glean more information about your local ferns or prepare for the future when you may encounter ferns during your travels.

I am linking up to a new to me monthly meme at The Homeschool Scientist. Click over and join in.

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Barb — 2 Comments

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 – Ferns

More Nature Study Book 3
Fern Study

Inside Preparation Work:

Read pages 693-706 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lessons 192-195)). Highlight information on ferns that you would like to share with your children. After reading through the information, pick one aspect of the fern to focus on during your outdoor time (unfolding, fruiting, learning parts of the fern).
View this animation: The Life Cycle of the Fern. This one is also interesting: YouTube: Time Lapse Fern Unfurling.
Advanced preparation: YouTube: Fern Life Cycle (Give this one a chance. It starts off a little rough but covers the information very well for this challenge.) Fern Cycle—Animated (For Fun). For students who have a background with high school biology: Fern Life Cycle.

Outdoor Hour Time:
Note:Take a hand lens and a way to carry a fern frond with you during your outdoor time.

Ferns are in the section of the Handbook of Nature Study that covers Flowerless Plants. Use your outdoor time this week to go on a fern hunt or as an alternative, look for moss which is in the same section in the Handbook (Lesson 197). Make observations using a hand lens if you have one. Take photos of the location of your ferns or other subjects.
Collect one frond of your fern (if appropriate).

Follow-Up Activities:

Allow time for a nature journal (notebook page provided in the ebook). If you would like to make this study into a year-long project, record your spring fern observations and mark your calendar to return in summer, autumn, and winter to view your fern’s changes.
Use careful observation to view the sori on the back of your fern.
Make ink prints of your fern frond in your nature journal. Step by step instructions are on my blog: Making Leaf Prints With Ink.
Advanced study: Record the story of the fern in your nature journal. Ebook users: Optional: Fern coloring page.

Additional Links:
Guide to Ferns (for Georgia but information that can apply anywhere)

Printable Parts of a Fern

Fern vocabulary

Backyard Ferns

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Barb — 3 Comments

Our Beloved Dogwood Tree – Blooming Right on Schedule for Our Nature Study

Our Dogwood Study with the Handbook of Nature Study
(It is not too late to join us if you still have a dogwood blooming in your neighborhood.)

Funny how we all have had our favorite spring Outdoor Hour Challenges. For me? This dogwood study has been about two years in the making. I have always wanted to have a dogwood tree in our front yard but it wasn’t until we did our massive front yard remodel that I was able to find a dedicated spot for the dogwood tree. We choose one with white blossoms…my favorite.

You can see our front yard transformation here in this post: Removing the Lawn.

We waited last year for it to flower but we only had leaves. This year….ta da! A dozen or so creamy white blossoms to enjoy and now study.

We read in the Handbook of Nature Study about how the flowers have been waiting inside the bracts all winter long, protected and sheltered until conditions were right. I have spent the last month or so going out almost daily to check the branches for any signs of opening. What a gift once we saw the bracts changing!

See the notched bract? This is another thing discussed in the Handbook of Nature Study that I would have never noticed if it wasn’t pointed out to me.

I had to convince Mr. B that the true flowers are the ones at the center and not the big white bracts. We counted the flowers and found there were 25+, some open and some closed.

Notebook Page for More Nature Study Book #3

The Handbook of Nature Study said that this was a perfect lesson to use a hand lens for so we brought ours out and took a deeper look. Amazing! If you haven’t yet done your dogwood study, I highly recommend this activity. You might note it in your ebook to do for next year as well if your dogwoods are no longer blooming.

How fun is this? Don’t the leaves look like a bird? I was busy standing on top of my retaining wall to take photos of the dogwood and looking down on the leaves….it truly looked like a bird!

Now for a few fun images from our evening study. Here is a colorful view of our front yard right now….hubby brought me home a new garden flag for the front stairs. I love it! We did have a swallowtail in the yard a few days ago so it won’t be long now until butterfly time! The Kona dog is taking a rest from helping us weed and water.

I don’t think I shared my new addition to the rock garden. We took a new hike up into the mountains and into an area where you can collect rocks, a true rockhounds paradise. We brought home this big piece of serpentine which is the California State Rock. Isn’t an amazing shade of green? Our rock garden has become its own little micro-habitat with insects and critters living around and under the rocks. In the evenings there is a very loud cricket chorus in our yard. It is a comforting sound and I stand on the deck and listen in the dark and imagine where they all are as they sing.

What a wonderful study! It all started back when we decided to remodel the front yard a few years ago and we put on paper our list of plants and trees we hoped to include. The dogwood came two years ago and this past week we added a California redbud. I am looking forward to seeing it grow and mature…maybe next year it will bloom for us.

I invite you to take a closer look at your dogwood using the Handbook of Nature Study!

Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Barb — 5 Comments

Spring Wildflowers- California Poppy Nature Study

“One of the most interesting performances to watch that I know is the way this poppy takes off its cap before it bows to the world. Like magic the cap loosens around the base; it is then pushed off by the swelling, expanding petals until completely loosened, and finally drops off.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 563

Way back when I was planning the challenges for the More Nature Study Book #3, I had no way of knowing what perfect timing I would have with this particular Poppies and Buttercups Challenge. We were treated to two events this week in connection with our poppy study.

1. We took a day trip to Yosemite National Park and even though parts of the park still have quite a bit of snow, when we left the park through the southern El Portal entrance and out Hwy 140 there were millions of poppies blooming along the hills that run alongside the Merced River. It was breathtaking! I have lived in California all my life and I have never seen such a display of poppies…miles and miles of poppies in bloom.

2. The California Poppies in our front yard garden decided to start blooming on Monday. I am serious….Monday, right on cue! We took some time to closely observe the way the caps tip to reveal the petals (see the top photo in this entry). We marveled at the light shining through the bright orange petals. We peered into the inside flower parts and remembered Anna Botsford Comstock’s remarks about sleeping inside a poppy. We observed the lacy leaves and decided to do some sketches and rubbings of the leaves in our nature journals. You can view a previous more thorough study of poppies in this blog entry: CA Poppies-Using the Handbook of Nature Study.

“The insects in California take advantage of the closing petals and often get a night’s lodging within them, where they are cozily housed with plenty of pollen for supper and breakfast..”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 564

As part of the advanced study suggestions for this challenge, we are keeping a spring list of wildflowers in our nature journals.

Advanced Study Notebook Page – More Nature Study Book #3 Spring

Mr. B also completed an additional notebook page for the Hound’s Tongue wildflower that we saw blooming this week on our hiking trail. This is one of the early wildflowers that we see in our local area. It’s distinctive leaves make it an easy flower to identify. The flowers are almost blue which is unusual and beautiful.

I enjoyed the lupine on the way home from our Yosemite trip. We had a wonderful week of focusing on wildflowers, increasing our desire for spring to really come and stay in our part of the world.

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Barb — 1 Comment

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 – Spring Wildflowers: Poppies and Buttercups

More Nature Study Book 3
Spring Wildflowers – Poppies and Buttercups

Inside Preparation Work:

Read the Handbook of Nature Study pages 516-518 (Lesson 136) on the buttercup. Also, read pages 560-565 in the Handbook about the poppy and the California poppy (Lessons 154 and 155). Use the information to identify and then observe these flowers when you get the opportunity. If you don’t have these flowers in your area, use this challenge to find and view closely any flower in your spring world.
View this page for some amazing images of buttercups: Close-Up View of 3 Buttercups. Ebook users: View poppy images on page 29.
Use this challenge to introduce the parts of a flower with the proper names. You can find information online HERE. There is a diagram in the Handbook of Nature Study on page 456. You can also refer to Garden Challenge #2. I encourage you to start using the flower part names as you observe flowers.

Outdoor Hour Time:

This week you can spend some of your outdoor time looking for spring flowers or flowering weeds. Part of this challenge is to start using the correct flower part names and that can be done with any flower you find.
Collect one or two flowers to bring inside to draw in your nature journal.
Advanced students: Complete your nature journal in the field. List as many of the flowers you observed as you can (Free printable list notebook page HERE). Use your field guide to identify any flowers you don’t know. Pick one to research later in the week.

Follow-Up Activity:

Sketch or watercolor the flower you collected during your outdoor time. Make sure to add a date, flower name, and the location you collected the flower to your entry.
Press your flower. You can refer to the Garden Flowers Challenge #3 for more information (which includes my YouTube video with instructions for a making a press: How to Make a Flower Press.
Advanced students: If you did not do so in the field, complete a nature journal entry for your flower, complete with flower parts labeled. Use a field guide or the internet to learn more about your flower.
Advanced students: Research more information on one of the flowers you observed during your outdoor time.

Additional Links:
Slideshow for poppies (child friendly)

You can see our Spring Wildflower Study by clicking over to my follow-up blog entry:
Spring Wildflowers – CA Poppy Nature Study (and an additional wildflower too).

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Barb — 1 Comment

Buds and Catkins – Our Spring Nature Study

We still have plenty of tree buds to use in our nature study this week as part of the More Nature Study Book 3 study of Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms assignment. We went out after dinner last night to observe and gather some specimens for our study. Can I just say that we were intrigued with the variety we have right in our own backyard?

Mr. B and I both sketched buds into our nature journal. There has to be no better way to really see what a bud looks like than to try to sketch it in detail. Picking the correct color and seeing the different ways that buds are shaped lead to really truly *seeing* the subject.

Advanced Study Notebook Page from More Nature Study Book 3

Mr. B used the advanced notebook page from the ebook to try his hand at sketching an enlarged bud using the grid paper. He thought this was hard…..I think he just needs a little practice.

Sweet Gum Tree Bud

What a glorious bud he chose to sketch! This is the sweet gum tree bud…it looks like it is ready to burst open at any moment. We placed it in a glass of water to see if we could get it to open up in our window sill.

The vertical twig hanging down has our string on it…still no leaves.

We also observed the birch catkins we have on our backyard tree. This was the same tree we used in our twig study and we found the branch with the string marker. Not much of a change yet so we will continue to watch our twig as the season progresses.

New leaves on this twig of the birch tree and some catkins too.

Currently there are no tree blossoms in our yard. The plum is done and the pear and apple are not yet blossoming. We found a few more interesting things to gather and bring inside for our bud study.

Walnut Tree Twig with Buds

The most interesting thing from our study is the walnut tree twig with its unusual buds…both color and shape. We had never taken the time to really examine the walnut tree bud before so it was a surprise. It was a fun exercise to try to get the sketch right in my journal. It helps to know a little bit about twig anatomy so you notice all the important parts like the leaf scars and the lenticels.

Silver Maple Buds and Key

The maple tree buds are all burst open and you can see the keys in the image above. If you are interested in doing your own Spring Maple Tree Study, you can look back to a previous study we had here on this blog. You may wish to use the free printable: Spring Maple Tree Notebook Page

Birch Tree Catkin – April 2012

So this was another wonderful study with my teen. He did a little grumbling at first about doing the study this week since he thought there wasn’t much to learn but as you see above once we got started there were many things to be interested in. If all that he gleaned from this study was that all tree buds are unique and we can identify trees from twigs and buds, then I am a happy mama.

Tag: Advanced Nature Study