Field Horsetail Archives

I’m excited to be learning about the field horsetail this week for our nature study lesson. We have a patch of it that we’ve been observing on our street and along a favorite hiking trail. I hope to glean some new information about this interesting topic right alongside all of you.

It isn’t particularly pretty but it does have an interesting life cycle story. Use the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (Lesson 196) along with the link to the original challenge below to learn more.

View the original challenge here: Outdoor Hour Challenge – Field Horsetail.

Please note that the original challenge and the ebook have the wrong page numbers for the Handbook of Nature Study. The correct pages are 706-709 or just look for Lesson #196.

If you have access to the ebook, there are two notebook pages to choose from for your nature journal.

Alternate study: Take your outdoor hour time and look for any autumn weeds you have, especially those with seeds. Contrast your weed with what you learned about the field horsetail.

Sample to view: Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Nature Study 2015 Sample Pages

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Topics in this ebook include:

Swallows and swifts
Catfish
Jewelweed
Prickly lettuce
Cockroach
Field horsetail
Catbird
Calcite, limestone, marble
Chicken
Turkey
Hedgehog fungi
Sapsucker
Brooks

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Outdoor Hour Challenge
Field Horsetail

Inside Preparation Work:

Read pages 706-709 (Lesson #196) in the Handbook of Nature Study. Make sure to read the lesson information for the fertile and the sterile plants.
Look at this link for a distribution map to see if you have field horsetail in your are: USDA. I also recommend this concise description and the clear images on this page: Field Horsetail.
Advanced study: Read about the uses of this plant: Field Horsetail—Herbal Uses. Please note I do not recommend eating any plants. I am sharing the link for information only.

Outdoor Hour Time:

During your outdoor time, look for the field horsetail which this time of year is very different than in the spring. Take note of any patches of field horsetail you find so you can look for its emergence in the spring along with the spores and green stems instead of leaves.
For this challenge, use the field horsetail to complete the lesson ideas for the “sterile plant” as found in the Handbook of Nature Study. This is the perfect time to study the plant’s sterile branches along with its roots if possible.
If you don’t have any field horsetail to observe, find another autumn weed to take note of along with its seeds. You can use this time to compare the way some plants use seeds to reproduce and some plants grow from the rootstock.

Follow-Up Activity:

Create a nature journal entry for the field horsetail or any other plant you found interesting. Make sure to include a short caption that explains how the field horsetail reproduces and is different than a seed bearing plant.
Advanced Study: Draw the complete life cycle of the field horsetail plant, labeling the plant’s parts and the time of year.

If you want to purchase the Autumn Nature Study 2015 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 Autumn Nature Study 2015 announcement page for more details.

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Tag: Field Horsetail

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Field Horsetail Nature Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Field Horsetail

Outdoor Hour Challenges for families since 2008!