Year-Long Cattail Study Archives

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Barb — Leave a comment

Summer Reminders – Year Long Study 2021

Summer Year Long Study

Reminders

Many families enjoy taking a closer look at a topic over a period of a year, making observations once each season. This simple nature study idea creates an intimacy with the subject that makes lasting impressions.

My sons completed quite a few year long studies of trees. They would pick a tree and then return each season to note the changes. My favorite year long seasonal study was the one we completed using the Queen Anne’s Lace plants in our yard and neighborhood. The beauty of this type of nature study is that your children can pick what they want to observe and then make plans to learn about the subject in each successive season.

I have listed an linked below many of the summer seasonal studies to get you started. You can start now if wish or you can continue a study you have already begun in a previous season. Many of the challenges have free printable notebook pages for you to use in your nature journal!

Make sure to mark your summer calendar with one or two of the year long study summer season ideas below!

Start by clicking the link to the archived entry below.

Year-Long Big Dipper Study – with free printable
Summer Willow Study
Seasonal Cattail Study – with free printable
Seasonal Milkweed Study – with free printable notebook page
Year-Long Pond Study – with a free printable notebook page
Year-Long Queen Anne’s Lace Study and a free printable notebook page
Seasonal Tree Study– with printable activities and a free notebook page
Year-Long Thistle Study
Summer Weather and Summer Weather

Don’t forget there are many more summer nature study ideas in the summer themed ebooks here on the Handbook of Nature Study.

Click the graphic above to see all of the topics you can choose from on the Summer tab.

Use discount code NATURE5 to receive $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership.

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Barb — Leave a comment

Year Long Study – Spring Cattail

Start Here:Spring Cattail Nature Study

We are eagerly anticipating the spring season here in Central Oregon. In the meantime, we will plan our spring cattail nature study and keep our eyes out for the opportunity to study them soon!

If you have a near-by park that has a pond or little stream, look for cattails along the bank. Here are a few suggestions from the original challenge linked above:

Make sure to encourage your child to sketch the cattail leaves.
Try to include a little of the habitat that your cattails are growing in during this season.
Include in your sketch any insects, birds, or animals that you observed near your cattails during your outdoor time.

If you’re a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, there’s a notebook page you can use to record your spring cattail nature study observations listed in the printables section of your membership.

Links to prior season’s Outdoor Hour Challenges:

Autumn Cattail Nature Study – Free Printable

Winter Cattail Nature Study-Free Printable

There are many more spring related nature study ideas in the four ebooks shown above. You can find them in the Ultimate Naturalist membership library.

Use discount code OHC10 for $5 off any membership!

Posted on March 2, 2019 by Barb — Leave a comment

New Printables for Members – March 2019

Now available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships:

New Notebook Pages: Spring Willow Study and Spring Cattail Study

(See the end of this post for more information on how you can become a member.)

Spring Willow Study: Use this simple notebook page to record your spring willow observations of the bud and catkin.

Spring Cattail Study: Here is a new page for you to use after you make your spring cattail observations.

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!

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Barb — Leave a comment

Our Winter Cattail Observations

We can’t get too close to our winter cattails because they’re in a pond surrounded by icy waters. But, we saw them from a distance as we took a nice winter walk along the river and then down around the bend.

In the summer the pond is lined with pretty, sheltering willows and the cattails are growing from the edge out to the middle “island”. Often we can spy mallards and Canada goose in the water but there’s no sign of those birds right now. Instead, the pond is a frozen spot with some tracks zig zagging from side to side. We’ve seen coyotes, otters, signs of a beaver, and even a mountain lion in this area so it’s hard to say who is walking around on the frozen surface.

It’s never too late to start your own year-long cattail study, even if you didn’t start it back in autumn. Pick up here and join us! Click the graphic below to go to the original winter study challenge here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Click here for the Autumn Cattail Outdoor Hour Challenge.

Although the winter season is coming to a close, you may be able to squeeze in a few of the ideas from the winter ebook. Check out the list of winter nature study ideas by clicking above.

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Winter Cattail Study

We started a yearlong study of cattails back in September and now’s the time to start thinking about making some winter observations of this interesting plant. We have a patch growing out along a pond near our home and we will be trekking over to take a look as soon as we have a sunny, warm day. We’ve had quite a bit of snow and the pond should be frozen so that should make it interesting.

Here’s a link to the Autumn Cattail Study if you’d like to take a look at that: Autumn Cattail Study using the Handbook of Nature Study.

Winter Cattail Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study pages 500-503

(See suggestion #7 for winter work.)

In addition to the ideas in the Handbook of Nature Study, you can make the following observations.

Observe the stems and any leaves that are left.
Are any of the cattail seed pods left intact? What does the “cattail” part of the plant look like now?
What are the conditions where the cattails are growing? Is there water, ice, or snow?
What color and shape are the leaves?
Can you pull some of the fuzz from the cattail and observe it more closely?
How do you think the seeds spread, by wind or water?
How crowded are the cattails growing together?

Link to the notebook page: Seasonal Cattail Notebook Page

Make sure to click the link below to read the entire Outdoor Hour Challenge with helpful links, nature study ideas, and suggested follow-up activities.

Winter Cattail Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study pages 500-503

Please note this challenge is found in the Winter Series ebook found 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.

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Barb — 4 Comments

Autumn Cattails Nature Study and Printable

Autumn Cattail Nature Study

Kids and cattails are a great combination for a fun autumn nature study and your autumn search for cattails can begin this week! When the original autumn cattail Outdoor Hour Challenge was posted years ago, I asked my boys if they knew where any cattails were growing. Amazingly, they knew a couple places around town where they were growing so we were off on a cattail adventure. Read the lesson material in the Handbook of Nature Study and use the suggestions in the linked post below to make a detailed autumn study.

Potential Year-Long Nature Study

This could be the start of a year-long study of cattails in which you observe a designated patch of cattails once each season to watch the changes. As the year progresses, the complete life cycle story of not only the cattails but the rest of the critters that live around them begins to emerge. Such a valuable nature study lesson!

Autumn Cattails Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 131

Archive Outdoor Hour Challenge – Click the link above to take you to the original challenge and a free printable notebook page for your family to use each season for your cattail study.

“The cattail is adapted for living in swamps where the soil is wet but not under water all the time….They usually occur in marshy zones along lakes or streams; and such a zone is always sharply defined by dry land on one side and water on the other.”

Handbook of Nature Study, Page 502

Make sure to click the link below to read the entire Outdoor Hour Challenge with helpful links, nature study ideas, printable notebooking pages, and suggested follow-up activities.

Autumn Cattails Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 131

Link to the notebook page: Seasonal Cattail Notebook Page

This Outdoor Hour Challenge is part of the 2018-2019 Plan here on the Handbook of Nature Study. We’ll be using the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock to discover new things about the world around us. Join us each Friday for a different nature study topic. Make sure to subscribe to this blog to receive the weekly challenge right in your email box.

Links to our family’s past cattail studies for inspiration:

Our Cattail Study – This archive post brings back happy memories of nature study with my boys. I also share in this entry a few hints for water coloring a cattail.

Beautiful Cattails – This entry will inspire additional nature study topics that go along with your cattail study.

Please note these are Amazon.com affiliate links to books I own and love.

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Barb — Leave a comment

Summer Seasonal Study Reminders

It’s time to mark your calendars for your summer nature study observations! Whether you are starting a fresh year-long nature study project or continuing with one from this spring, here is a list of ideas here on the Handbook of Nature Study to inspire you. Later this summer I will be sharing a brand new year-long nature study featuring willows so look for that in an upcoming week.

Summer Seasonal Observations

I know summer is a time for casual nature study but pick something to look for and then revisit that topic every season for a year and you will be surprised what you learn. This kind of nature study is valuable because it helps us slow down and note the changes that occur from season to season. It will also help you learn how to anticipate the turn of the season as you recognize the changes in the natural world around you.

Pick one and get started by clicking the link to the archived entry that will give you lots of ideas for completing your own year-long nature study.

Year-Long Big Dipper Study – with free printable
Seasonal Cattail Study – with free printable
Seasonal Milkweed Study – with free printable notebook page
Year-Long Pond Study – with a free printable notebook page
Year-Long Queen Anne’s Lace Study and a free printable notebook page
Seasonal Tree Study – with printable activities and a free notebook page
Year-Long Thistle Study
Summer Weather and Summer Weather

If you have a continuing year-long nature study project, don’t forget to put it on your calendar or you may forget to make your summer observations.

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Year Long Study Winter Season Reminders

Seasonal Topics Reminders – Winter

Here are some ideas from year-long nature study topics we have done in the past:

Seasonal Milkweed Study – with free printable notebook page
Year-Long Queen Anne’s Lace Study and a free printable notebook page
Year-Long Pond Study – with a free printable notebook page
Year-Long Big Dipper Study – with free printable
Seasonal Cattail Study – with free printable
Seasonal Tree Study – with printable activities and a free notebook page
Year-Long Teasel Study – links to images and resources
Year-Long Burdock Study – links to images and resources
Winter Weather

Make sure to add your year-long study to your January or February nature study plans so you don’t forget!!!

Looking for more winter nature study ideas? Check the Winter tab at the top of the website.

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Barb — Leave a comment

Summer Seasonal Nature Study Reminders

Seasonal Topics – Summer Reminders

It is that time of year again! Time to plan a few seasonal observations….and get outdoors with your family! I make it easy with the printable notebook pages that go along with these year long nature study ideas. Pick one and get started or take a few minutes to make the summer observations happen before we run out of summer.

Year-Long Big Dipper Study – with free printable
Seasonal Cattail Study – with free printable
Seasonal Milkweed Study – with free printable notebook page
Year-Long Pond Study – with a free printable notebook page
Year-Long Queen Anne’s Lace Study and a free printable notebook page
Seasonal Tree Study – with printable activities and a free notebook page
Year-Long Thistle Study
Summer Weather and Summer Weather

If you have a continuing year-long nature study project, don’t forget to put it on your calendar or you may forget to make your autumn observations.

Enjoy your summer activities and share your comments or links in this post and I will come over and check it out.

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Barb — Leave a comment

Spring Season Reminders

Seasonal Topics – Spring Reminders

It is time to plan some spring nature study and I hope you add some of the spring seasonal ideas to your nature study planners.