Discover Nature in Winter Archives

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Barb — 5 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge-Winter Series #2 Winter Tree Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Winter Series Ebook
Winter Tree Study

Inside Preparation Work:
Now that winter is upon us, let’s take this week and observe the tree we chose last autumn to study during each of the four seasons. This week you will use the suggestions on pages 624-625 of the Handbook of Nature Study to make general winter observations of your tree. You may wish to read through the suggested ideas for studying your tree before heading outdoors so you will have those in mind. If you started a year-long tree study a few months ago during the Autumn Series of challenges, you may want to pull out your nature journal and refresh your memory about your particular tree. Hopefully when you go outdoors you will observe some big changes.

Also, if you have the Discover Nature in Winter book, turn to pages 76-81 for valuable information on branch patterns, tree silhouettes, twigs, and seed containers.

Outdoor Hour Time:
Take your 10-15 minute outdoor time to study your tree. If you are just starting out with a tree study, pick a tree from your yard that you can watch through all four seasons. Have your children make as many observations as possible, perhaps comparing the appearance to how it was during autumn. Another way to record your tree changes is to take photographs in every season. This makes for a very easy nature journal entry once you get back indoors. If your weather is too cold or snowy to go outdoors, you can pick a tree to observe from your window or you can bring in a twig or cone to study from your tree instead.

Simple Suggestions for Winter Tree Study:
1. Pick a tree in your yard or on your street and view its branch patterns and silhouette.
2. Find a tree that has lost its leaves and sketch its shape in your nature journal. This activity can be done from a window if your weather is too cold or snowy.
3. Collect some seeds from trees that may still be left over from last season. Look for sweet gum, locust, yellow poplar, ash, mimosa, or sycamore.
4. Collect twigs from different trees and compare them.

Follow-Up Activity:
After your outdoor time, complete a nature journal entry. If you purchased the Winter Nature Study ebook you will have a custom notebook page or there are several free alternatives by using a general notebook page from the sidebar of my blog, the original Seasonal Tree notebook page, or your own blank journal. You can take photos of your tree to put in your nature journal as well. The Handbook of Nature Study suggests sketching your tree to show its shape as it stands bare. File your nature journal page as a record of the season.

Additional Project:
Anna Botsford Comstock in the Handbook of Nature Study suggests on page 624 to take a twig from your tree in February and look at it carefully. She suggests placing the twig in a vase of water and then leaving it in a warm, light place and see what happens to the buds.

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Barb — 5 Comments

Winter Wednesday- Mammals and Hibernation

Winter Wednesday
Week 9 Winter Mammals
1. Read chapter nine in Discover Nature in Winter. Mammals in general tend to be shy of humans. In the winter, it is even more difficult to observe mammals. The chapter suggests looking for signs of mammals instead like tracks and scat. Highlight ideas for your family to try this week while you are outdoors and looking for mammals.

2. Our family is going to review the chart showing different animal tracks on page 182 and 183. We might try sketching some of the tracks into our nature journal as a reference for future outdoor time. In our area, we often come across animal scat as we hike and we are going to familiarize ourselves with the various kinds of scat by studying the illustrations in this chapter.

For families wanting to participate that do not have the Discover Winter in Nature book, I will list a few simple nature study ideas that you can try with your family.

1. Keep a record of animal tracks you have observed in the snow or mud. Record your findings in your nature journal along with a drawing, the date, the weather, the time of day, and the type of animal if you have identified it at this time.
2. Compare a dog’s and a cat’s footprints in the snow or mud.
3. Research an animal that hibernates and record what you learn in your nature notebook. You can also sketch your animal and what its tracks look like.

Here is a link that will help you out with animal tracks:
Animal Tracks at Beartracker
I think this is a fantastic online resource for nature study!

You might want to pull your copy of Fun With Nature out and read over the chapter titled: “Rabbits, Squirrels, and Chipmunks” and also “Tracks, Scats, and Signs”. I know a lot of us have this terrific resource on our shelves and we are not using it as much as we should.

Posted on March 1, 2009December 28, 2021 by Barb — 2 Comments

Even More Lovely Than I Imagined: Winter Weeds

Our Winter Wednesday – Winter Weed Study

We really enjoyed our Discover Nature in Winter reading in the chapter about winter weeds. It is a totally new topic of nature study for us. I feel like we are just getting our feet wet this year and as the years go by, we will be able to observe more subjects. I gathered a few of our photos from recent walks here at the beginning of the entry.

The one thing that the boys noticed about the winter weeds that we observed is that during this season it is not the flower we are looking at but rather the seeds.

We discussed how the seeds were important at this time of year as food for many of the animals that inhabit the area. We also talked about how the rain and the snow knock the weeds over and as they lay on the ground, they are dispersing their seeds in that way as well.

I hope that we remember to look at these particular plants in the summer to compare the differences. It would make a great nature journal entry.

These last photos are from yesterday’s family hike. We took a couple of hours to hike along the American River which was just roaring! It was the first time that all six of us were out on the trail together in a very long time.I told my husband as we hiked along that it was great to have us all spending time in the fresh air and I relished the conversations and relationships that the kids have with one another.

Here are a few of the weeds we saw as we hiked along.

It was such a great afternoon and as always, with any trip to the river, there was eventually rock skipping….so many lovely rocks to choose from.

How about a wildflower photo from the day?

I love a good purple wildflower photo. 🙂

One last treat from the day…..

A beaver dam!

I am so glad that I organized the Winter Wednesday activities. It has given our family a new perspective on the winter season and another reason to get outside and enjoy the day together.

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Barb — 1 Comment

Winter Wednesday-Birds

Winter Wednesday
Week 8 Winter Birds

1. Read chapter eight in Discover Nature in Winter. If you do not already have a birdfeeder in your yard, you should pay extra attention to the pages showing how to make your own birdfeeders and the differences between the variety of seeds available. You may wish to read my Birdfeeders in Winter page for some additional tips.

2. Our family is going to complete the exploration suggestions on page 162. Since we already have a birdfeeder and a birdbath, we will be continuing our observation and identification of birds that visit each day. In addition, we will each pick one bird to study more in depth by finding a book at the library to glean information from for our particular bird. There is a custom notebooking page for this challenge in the Winter Wednesday ebook which is part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library.

For families wanting to participate that do not have the Discover Winter in Nature book, I will list a few simple nature study ideas that you can try with your family.
1. Hang a birdfeeder and observe the birds that visit over the period of a week.
2. Keep a tally of the different kinds of birds in your feeder.
3. Observe one species of bird for a week and then record in your nature journal the unique behaviors of that bird. For example: only eats seed from the ground, pecks at the seeds, perches and fluffs his feathers each time, chases other birds out of the feeder, only comes to feed in the early morning.

You may be interested in viewing the other Winter Bird Study challenge here on my blog.

Note that this entry includes an Amazon.com affiliate link to a product I own and love!

Posted on February 11, 2009December 28, 2021 by Barb — 3 Comments

Winter Wednesday: Winter Weeds

Winter Wednesday
Week 6 Winter Weeds

1. Read chapter six in Discover Nature in Winter. For wildflower lovers, this is a fantastic and interesting chapter. As your read through the pages, highlight or mark in the margins the plants that you are already aware of that have grown in your area. Queen Anne’s Lace, goldenrod, yarrow, mustard, mullein, and many more are illustrated in this chapter. It might be fun to use the illustrations as the basis for some nature journal entries as well. There is also a whole glossary of botanical terms that are explained and illustrated on pages 106-108.

2. Our family is going to use the chapter illustrations as well as the section, “Clues to Identification”, to find some winter weeds in our area. We have already gathered a few winter weeds to display in a vase on our nature table.

“ From October to April, the dried flower stalks, withered leaves, and seedpods give some clues as to the plants’ identity. “

For families wanting to participate that do not have the Discover Winter in Nature book, I will list a few simple nature study ideas that you can try with your family.
1. Collect a variety of seeds from weeds in your local area and sketch them in your nature journal.
2. Gather a few varieties of weeds and display them in a vase.

Have a great Winter Wednesday….or Thursday or Friday or whatever day.

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Barb — 7 Comments

Winter Wednesday-Tree Silhouettes

Winter Wednesday Week 4
Trees Part 1

1. Read chapter four in Discover Nature in Winter. Even though the title of this chapter tells us that it is about birch trees, after you read the actual material you realize that it covers so much more in its pages. I do not live where birch trees are native but this chapter gave me lots of ways to observe any tree that I come across. Pay special attention to the sections on branch patterns, twig parts, seed containers, and tree silhouettes. This chapter alone could give you plenty of ideas for a complete season of winter nature study.

2. We are going to complete two of this chapter’s activities:
Tree silhouettes on page 77
Seed containers on page 81

For those families that do not have the book to work from, here are some ideas for you to try with your family.
1. Pick a tree in your yard or on your street and view its branch patterns and silhouette.
2. Find a tree that has lost its leaves and sketch its shape in your nature journal. This activity can be done from a window if your weather is too cold or snowy.
3. Collect some seeds from trees that may still be left over from last season. Look for sweet gum, locust, yellow poplar, ash, mimosa, or sycamore.
4. Collect twigs from different trees and compare them.

Tag: Discover Nature in Winter