Family Outdoor Hour Challenge Archives

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Barb — 4 Comments

Seasonal Tree Study and Leaf Comparisons

I don’t usually enjoy the fall season…it is a melancholy time for me. I love the barefoot days of summer and the hot afternoons working in the garden or swimming in the pool. I would much rather be hiking in the green, green hills with wildflowers blooming at my side in the springtime. The promise of spring and the activity of summer are much more likely to gain my vote for “favorite season”. Winter is the enduring time, the time for preparing for spring and summer.

Autumn days are soon filled with colored leaves, falling leaves, and raking leaves. It seems to creep up slowly but then you wake up one morning to find that the leaves are starting to turn colors…..oranges, reds, yellows, golds, purples.

Observing autumn trees and looking close though, you will see spring’s leaves preparing for the winter.

So here we are in the middle of our autumn challenges and making the best of what the season has to offer. We gathered a few leaves to compare and my son reminded me that we did an in-depth study of leaves and their parts as part of our biology study.

I went to the shelf and pulled out his biology notebook and his nature journal and we thumbed through to find our completed study.

So now what could we do to learn more about leaves?

First of all, I shared with my son the idea that I gleaned from Amy at The Teachable Heart and her family’s study of autumn leaves. She actually color copied the leaves for their nature journals and they looked wonderful. I thought maybe we could do the same for our tree and other fall leaves that we were comparing just for a change in our journals.

We had already decided to choose another tree to study for a year-long tree study, the birch tree in our backyard. We gathered a few leaves and took a closer look at the tree while we were out there.

Welcome to our new tree for the year! We are excited to see what we can learn by looking at and comparing this tree to our previous tree study subjects.

These catkins are such interesting things to look at and we looked up some more information in our tree guide after our outdoor time.

We brought some inside to look at with our loupes and to draw in detail in our nature journals.

While we were out we looked at several other kinds of leaves….the dandelion growing in my pot is such an interesting shape in comparison to our tree leaves.

How about these leaves on the broccoli? Amazing gray-green color.

Our coleus is still giving us blazing amounts of color in the container garden on the deck. It makes me happy just to look at these leaves.

It had to go in my nature journal.

Watercolor pencils are fun to work with in your nature journals and we always have a set sitting on or near our work area table. It is easy to sketch quickly and then come back later to add water and details.

I will end my entry here since this journal is getting quite long. We are enjoying the connections between our biology study and our nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenges.

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Barb — 8 Comments

Apples-Autumn Series Challenge Day

Autumn came this past weekend to our world and we awoke to sprinkles of rain on the ground. It wasn’t much so we didn’t let it cancel our plans to head up early to the apple orchards to find some apples to sample and use as part of our apple challenge.

Our traditional autumn outing always starts off with apple cider doughnuts….there are plain, glazed, crumb, and cinnamon spice varieties to enjoy along with your big cup of steaming hot coffee. The crumb doughnuts were the first to be eaten. We were early enough to have a good spot to sit to eat and enjoy the mountain air.

Then the real business of the day was at hand, choosing a few new kinds of apples to try. We were disappointed that they did not have Honey Crisp to purchase since I had read on several blogs about their wonderful taste. In the end, we settled on Empire, Jonagold, and Mutsu.

Empire is a cross between Red delicious and McIntosh.
Jonagold is a cross between a Jonathan and a Golden Delicious.
Mutsu is also known as the Crispin.

Our official taste tests were interrupted when we decided to make the Mutsu apples into a pastry dessert. Mr. B had already created a wonderful dessert a few months ago with some apples and he repeated his recipe for us to enjoy again.

We compared the sizes, colors, shapes, and tastes of the apples, noting the seed patterns, the skin textures, and the skin thicknesses as we cut and peeled the apples for the pastry and some applesauce.

Some of the apples were so large that they would be a complete meal all by themselves! My dear husband announced that although he enjoyed the new varieties that we picked out, he still loves the Granny Smith for eating the best. Go figure.

This was a delicious challenge for our family and we learned a little more about the different local varieties of apples available for eating and baking.

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Barb — 11 Comments

An Autumn Tree Observation Extraordinaire

We decided that our autumn study of leaves was going to be incorporated into our annual fall trip to see the colors of the aspens up in the high country of the Sierra Nevada. The trip is about 100 miles round trip from our front door but it goes through magnificent forests, by snow fed lakes, and in view of some of the most breathtaking mountains in existence.

The first leg of the trip goes through the pine forests and we thought our day had come to an end before it really started when we encountered a control burn of the forest floor by the US Forest Service. They clean out the underbrush by setting fires and then controlling the burns. It makes a lot of smoke but we were able to drive down the highway and past the fires onto our destination.

The second part of the forest is actually in Alpine County and the forests are mixed in with aspen groves to make wonderful color in the fall. You know the minute you hit this part of the habitat because you start to see the yellows, oranges, and golds of the leaves.

We have a favorite side road that has the prettiest meadow. Yes, that is my son out there taking just as many photos as I am on this day….it is awesome to share a hobby with your grown up kids.

Here you can see the shape of the aspen leaf and the trunk of the tree in all its beauty. I never tire of looking at aspens.

It was fairly cloudy this afternoon but for a few minutes the clouds parted and we had a chance to capture the blue sky in contrast to the bright yellow leaves.

We drove the next leg of the road which leads through a place called Hope Valley. This is “the” place to see fall color in our area. There were many of us lined up on the side of the road to capture the oranges and yellows and golds of the trees on the mountain. Isn’t it dreamy?

Then as we headed back around to Christmas Valley, we saw this scene. There were some people on horses rounding up a herd of cattle. Stop the car! Yes, we had to take a few photos of this and it was the perfect way to end up this part of drive.

We observed some of the leaves “quaking”. We learned from our field guide that the reason they shake that way is because the stem is flattened near the leaf and so when the wind blows they shake or quake. It sounds sort of like the ocean to me when you hear them quaking and is a nice sound. Here is a link to try: USDA Quaking Aspens.

There was more to this trip but I will save that for another post. We actually went to see the salmon spawning and there were quite a few ducks to observe as well. Stay tuned for a salmon post when that challenge comes up in a few weeks.

I also am going to post a separate entry for our leaf comparisons since this post became rather long. Stay tuned for part two. We also have picked a new tree in our backyard to observe for a year-long tree study and I will share our fall observations with the leaf post.

Today we will be working on the apple challenge but the horse challenge is still in the works.

Posted on October 2, 2010 by Barb — 2 Comments

Our Family OHC #2 Geese and Ducks

We had quite a few false starts on this particular challenge. A couple times we planned to go out after dinner but it is getting dark so early these days that we decided it was too late to go once the dishes were done. Then one of the boys was sick and wasn’t up to going.

Thursday was the day! We went in the afternoon before dinner and we were able to see some geese and ducks.Usually there are more ducks than geese but this particular time there seemed to be more geese.

No Canada Geese this week but we did find these white geese at our local duck pond.There were a few mallard ducks hanging out with the geese as you can see in the background of this photo.

Their necks are so very long that they can do amazing maneuvers like this!

There were a few gray geese like this one as well. They would flap their wings and you could glimpse at how long they were. I love the way when he stood still his feet were on top of each other…really big feet! This guy is definitely going into my nature journal.

The goose in the background shows how they stand on the dry land and poke around in the edges of the pond to find something to eat.

The ducks floated out onto the water and did the bottoms up technique instead.

We were able to make quite a few observations on this trip because there were not too many people around to distract the birds from doing their own thing. We just stood on the bridge and watched the geese and fairly soon they totally ignored us and went about their business of preening, eating, and honking.

We are heading out to the river today to do some kayaking so maybe we will see some Canadian geese there…I will update if we do.

If you are interested in more bird challenges, you can look on the right sidebar of my blog and see a whole series of bird challenges listed there for you to choose from. Enjoy!

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Barb — 13 Comments

OHC Autumn Series #1: September 21, 2010 Afternoon

OHC Autumn Series #1: Nature Journals

We took advantage of a perfect sunny warm afternoon to spend some time enjoying our backyard. I decided to focus on the colors of yellow and orange for my nature study time. I used my camera to record the many shades of yellow and orange that are visible in our garden. These colors are really starting to pop and it was an easy assignment.

Mr. A wandered around the yard with his dog Kona, trying to find something to be interested in. He observed some sort of beetle on the concrete before it escaped under the pincushion plant. He found a spot in the yard where we think the squirrels are making a stash of walnuts…it is either the squirrels or the Scrub jays. We looked at the leaves on the sweet gum trees. He picked some strawberries and I picked some tomatoes.

It was just a nice few minutes outdoors…since this is his last official year of homeschooling I try to savor all the moments we spend together. I asked if he would like to sketch something for his journal and he sort of gave me one of those unenthusiastic teenage looks but then I noticed he had his journal and was outside for a little while longer.

Sitting on the lawn he sketched a trumpet vine blossom for his journal. The words of the Handbook of Nature Study echoed in my head and I didn’t push him to make it fancy or add to the entry in any way. The nature journal is his record and not mine.

I have received quite a few emails asking me what kind of journal I prefer to work in to record our entries. I have used several different kinds but my favorite is a small spiral-bound book with sketch paper.

I have to admit that I do use it for watercolors so the pages bend up a little when they dry. I think it adds to the charm of the finished product. If a painting makes the page curl up too much, I just don’t sketch on the back of it and leave it blank. (Yes, that is a feather sticking out of the side of the journal…what can I say?)

Here is a link to what we are using now:
S trathmore Sketch 400 Series 5.5″ x 8.5″, 100
sheets

I also have a three ring binder that I add to when I use notebooking pages or I want to save large items like bigger pressed flowers. The binder is my catch-all for things that don’t get recorded in my sketch journal.

Maybe tomorrow I can ask Mr. B to go outside with me and we can have another adventure in our backyard.

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Barb — 3 Comments

Our Raccon and Skunk Study: Mammals of the Night

This is a visitor we had at our back door a few summers ago. We had a family of skunks and a couple of raccoons that frequented our backyard in the evenings all that long summer. The raccoon would stand at our door and look in until we would chase him off…..this is when we started keeping our cat’s food dish inside. We knew he was eating the food because he would wash the kibble in the water dish, making the water brown and his footprints would lead from the dish off to the edge of the deck.

Last summer was the summer of the skunk in our neighborhood. Just about every night we would smell the fragrance of skunk coming in the windows. This summer….nothing. No skunks at all that I have seen or smelled. What a relief! But also now that I think about it, sort of interesting and curious. Now that we have no grass in the front yard it will probably mean we no longer have a skunk digging around for something to eat….didn’t think about that aspect of our yard remodel.

Mr. B and I have spent more than the usual amount of time outdoors at night the past few weeks as part of his astronomy study. I don’t think we have heard any mammals around the yard except for our cats. We listened to crickets the other night as we sat and watched the stars. A friend of ours said they had a mountain lion on their property last week! I am happy to report we do not have a mountain lion this year like we did last year in our neighborhood. It went around knocking trash cans over and making messes on trash night.

That reminds me of a conversation we had when we were camping at Yosemite in July. My boys and I were talking about whether we were more afraid of bears or mountain lions. We all agreed that in our experience bears were far less intimidating than a mountain lion. I thought that was interesting and we talked a lot about why we were more afraid of the mountain lion. We talked about how bears appear and go about their quest looking for food. If you stay out of their way, they usually just go about their business. Mountain lions seem to be all teeth and claws and if you have heard one scream, well, it is frightening. The one in our neighborhood sounded like a loud baby crying….it totally creeped me out. It was almost as eerie as a coyote howling.

Well, that is our mammal post to wrap up our summer nature study series. We are anxious to start the autumn challenges. My husband and I have sat down to plan some field trips to enhance our studies. We may revisit bats this fall since they seem to be out in record numbers this week. There is also a resident squirrel that needs some observations and journals recorded. We realized too that we have not done a formal study of our frequent guest at the feeder, the white-breasted nuthatch so that may get done alongside our autumn bird study for the challenge.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this summer series of nature study a great success and joy.

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Barb — 7 Comments

More Grasshopper Study…And A Little Praying Mantis Study Too

We were busy picking flowers and taking some photos when we had a visitor. It hopped right up on my arm and it tickled. I realized I had a visitor. My son scooped him up and put him on a flower while I captured him in a few photos.

I was pretty excited until I realized that the challenge was cricket, grasshopper, and katydid….we had ourselves a praying mantis! Oh well, it was fun observing him up close anyway.

Here is his behind….way too funny huh?

He was very good at posing. It made me laugh because every time I tried to take his photo, he would move so his head was facing away from the camera. He would actually look right at me and then turn at the last minute.

One last pose…I think he only had one antennae.

We spent last week in Nevada and it was amazing to us how many grasshoppers there were in the barren landscape. I never did get a single photo of the grasshoppers but we talked about their habits quite a bit as we were out and about.They were rather small grasshoppers in comparison to the one we found near a river in Reno.

I shared this guy last week and since them we have been trying to identify him with no success. He was rather large, probably close to 2 inches long. We think it may be a two-striped grasshopper.

Since we had crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids on our minds, we have slowed down a bit to try to find some to observe. We went out several times to try to hear some crickets but they seem to be smaller in number so the volume is less than usual. It has been a crazy weather year and I am wondering if it is effecting the crickets.

Sometimes I think we might learn more when we have trouble locating our challenge subject. We definitely find more to learn about.

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Barb — 1 Comment

Summer of Queen Anne’s Lace: Our Extended Outdoor Hour Challenge

This could very easily be called the Summer of Queen Anne’s Lace. Our local area has been blanketed with this wildflower, lining the roads and filling the fields. It is now starting to fade as the weather is very dry and hot….still a few green patches here and there but the stems are shorter and the flower bunches not as large.

Here is a patch we see regularly…this photo was taken back in July.

This is a patch we have just across the street from our house…photo taken last weekend. We were actually on a cricket hunt at sunset but the Queen Anne’s Lace captured our attention. It is still surprisingly green while all the surrounding weeds are brown and crispy. Kona wanted to be in the photo, stickers on her nose from the surrounding weeds.

Here is what the Handbook of Nature Study calls the “fruiting cluster” or “bird’s nest”. Look at all those seeds!

Here is a side shot of the Queen Anne’s Lace and you can see the red dot in the middle very clearly in a few of the flowers.

Here is a close-up showing the red blossoms in the center of this flower. If you look in the background of this photo you can see the star thistles….ugh. Those plants are crazy wicked. We pull them up by the roots if they happen to grow in our yard.

I thought this was such a pretty shape and the seeds almost look pink. This may work its way into my nature journal when I have a few minutes.

The boys have been experts at picking out Queen Anne’s Lace. At first they were mixing it up with Cow Parsnip.

This is what the Cow Parsnip looks like from the side. See how thick the stem is?

Here is the flower cluster. The balls of flowers are different once you recognize it and the leaves are totally different. The size of the plant is much larger than the Queen Anne’s Lace. I have never seen them growing together either so that makes it another identifying feature as well.

So in our attempt to identify and learn about Queen Anne’s Lace, we have learned a lot about the Cow Parsnip as well (also yarrow but that is another post).

I think for our family having a nature study focus has given our adventures a spirit of purpose. We always enjoy getting outside to enjoy our environment. Having a few possible topics in mind as we travel has helped us glean even more from our time outside. It is sort of like seeing an old friend when we come across the particular focus like Queen Anne’s Lace or grasshoppers or bats.

As we wind up our summer studies, I feel the pull of a new set of autumn adventures. I don’t usually like autumn but this year I am ready for it with its cooler days and nights, the fall of the leaves, and the changes. I think nature study has changed me inside and I know it has changed my children.

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Barb — 3 Comments

Grasshoppers Along the Way

We were not even out to find any grasshoppers but guess who crossed our path? Mr. A spotted this big guy in the grass along the hiking trail! He was about three inches in length and actually kind of pretty.

More on our grasshopper/cricket/katydid study later….since we haven’t done the reading and comparing yet.

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Barb — 3 Comments

Our Moth Study: Summer 2010

Summer Series 2010 Outdoor Hour Challenge for Fireflies and Moths

Since we do not have fireflies in our part of the world, this will be the second time we have studied moths using the Outdoor Hour Challenges. During the summer of 2008 we completed a moth study while on our camping trip. Moths seem to be one of those creatures that we don’t pay too much attention to as we go about our regular business.

The Discover Nature At Sundown book gave us some really good ways to tell moths and butterflies apart, along with wonderful illustrations of the parts of a moth. We are going to continue our study of moths as we have subjects come our way.

Here are a few moths we have seen in the past.

Forget me not moth

Moth we saw on a trip to Oregon that I would love to know the name of if anyone out there has it. Hint, hint.

We have been watching for moths in our garden in the evenings but the best place to observe them is actually in the house. I many times come into the kitchen in the morning and find a few moths clinging to the bottom of the nightlight. I scoop them up and take them back outside.

We did find some signs of spiders in the garden during the day this week. There has been a return of the webs on our crepe myrtle. I was able to capture a few in photos and even one photo of the spider that I think must be making the webs. Any ideas would be appreciated.

See the spider inside the web? These are fantastic webs to look at and they are complex as well as beautiful.

So much for a firefly and moth study….we never feel defeated though. Our advance preparation seems to always pay off in one way or another. I am confident that we will someday be in a position to study fireflies up close and personal.

Tag: Family Outdoor Hour Challenge