Now available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships:
Tree Study Nature Study Notebooking Set
Salt Nature Study Printable Set
(See the end of this post for more information on how you can become a member.)
Tree Study Notebooking Page Set – You are going to love this set of tree nature study notebooking pages. Here are the trees included: black walnut, buckeye, catalpa, cedar, eucalyptus, Joshua tree, lodgepole pine, madrone, magnolia, palm, palo verde, ponderosa pine, redwood, smoke tree, and Western larch. 15 trees, 30 notebooking pages!
Salt Nature Study Printables – This is a set that has been shared over on my daughter’s website, Hearts and Trees. This printable set will be a great way to learn more about salt for a nature study unit.
Note: If you have any subjects you would like me to create nature notebook pages for, please let me know in a comment here on the blog or in an email: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
Print a complete list of printables available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships by clicking the button above.
Use the discount code NATURE5 for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership!
Salt Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 212, pages 753-754
Make sure to click the link above to read the entire Outdoor Hour Challenge with helpful links, nature study ideas, and suggested follow-up activities.
In addition to the suggestions in the Handbook of Nature Study, you may wish to conduct this simple winter experiment to enhance your salt study.
If you have freezing temperatures in your area, conduct an experiment where you try to freeze salt water outdoors in your own backyard. Take two pie pans. Fill one with tap water and one with saltwater. Compare the time it takes for each to freeze.
Please note this challenge is found in the Winter Series ebook, included in the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership. Log into your membership and scroll down to the ebook download link.
Included in the ebook, there is a custom notebook page for this challenge.
Salt Experiments Printable Shown Above is Available to Members!
If your family is interested in conducting even more salt related experiments and you’re a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you can download the Salt printables shown above and use the pieces in your nature journal. This printable unit comes complete with instructions for four simple experiments using common household items.
Look for the printable in your Ultimate and Journey level memberships in the Misc. Category.
If you’re not currently a member, you can use the links above to learn more about the benefits of a membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study.
Note this is an Amazon affiliate link to a product I own and love!
***The salt experiments are a fun way to learn about an everyday subject that all of us have in our homes. You might find the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study an interesting read as part of this challenge.
***Winter weeds are one of my favorite winter nature study subjects. If you would like to participate, here are a few suggestions from the challenge
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.
3. Pick a weed you know you have and print out a coloring page for your nature journal.
My daughter has graciously made available her Salt Study Lapbook pdf to go along with this challenge. Please click over to her blog at Hearts and Trees to read more about it!
NOTE: If the challenge is included an ebook, it is noted directly after the challenge. If you have an Ultimate Membership, you will be able to pull up the ebook and print any notebook pages, coloring pages, or other printables for your nature study.
The links above are Amazon affiliate links to resources I own and love.
We completed the salt crystal experiment described in the Handbook of Nature Study. I think it took our water about a week to evaporate enough that we had crystals on our paper. Reading other families’ experiences with this activity I was interested in the fact that some of their water evaporated overnight or within a day or two! We must have a very humid environment compared to others.
We completed the experiment to find out which melts faster-ice with or without salt.
We were totally amazed at the differences in the different freezing points of various salt/water solutions.
And the most long lasting activity was growing salt crystals on a string, with really beautiful results.
We are going to copy some of the other families who conducted the salt crystal activity with various kinds of salts. I think this would be a great way to wrap up our study of salts and to have some more fun in the kitchen together.
Special Long-term Project: For this challenge we will be doing something a little different. How would you like to grow your very own crystals to observe? You can make our own crystals by dissolving salt in water and then letting it sit in a saucer in your very own windowsill.
Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 753-754 in the Handbook of Nature Study. These pages give you a quick study of this common substance that we use daily. Be sure to read through the lesson starting on page 753 that outlines an easy to complete activity to make salt crystals to observe using regular table salt and water. Get your crystals growing and then take your outdoor time. I would suggest putting the saucer in a warm windowsill where it will not be moved.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Spend 15-20 minutes outdoors this week in your own backyard carefully looking for something that interests you. Relaxed nature study outside your own backyard can be surprisingly fun since you let your children lead your adventure.
Something you might like to try if you have freezing temperatures in your area is to conduct an experiment where you try to freeze salt water outdoors in your own backyard. Take two pie pans. Fill one with tap water and one with saltwater. Compare the time it takes for each to freeze.
Follow-Up Activity:
Keep close watch on your salt crystals growing in your saucer. Use the notebook page from your Winter Series ebook or a blank page in your nature journal to record your crystal’s growth. You can use a hand lens to observe the crystal’s shapes more closely and then record their appearance in your nature journal.
It took about six days before we actually began to see some salt crystals form in our saucer. They are fairly small but with a magnifying glass we could see their shapes easily. We found it easier to observe the crystals if you put them on a dark surface.
I know there are lots of fancy salt experiments out there, but I like to keep things simple. This simple salt and water on a saucer experiment is easy enough for any family to complete with children of any age.
