Handbook of Nature Study

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 - Iris Study

2012-05-25T02:00:00.000-07:00

It hardly seems possible that this is the last challenge from the More Nature Study Book 3 Spring Splendor series! This season has gone by so very fast. Let's all make an effort to get outside this week and view some garden flowers whether they are in our own backyard, at a near-by park, or at a garden nursery. Take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy this last spring challenge outdoors with your family...fifteen minutes can be squeezed in first thing in the morning or right after lunch if that works for your schedule.

Thank you so much to all the participants who have shared their outdoor adventures this season through the links of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Keep sending in your entries! We will be taking a little break from the challenges until June 8, 2012 and then we will start our Summer Sizzle series of challenges at that time. The new ebook is available and ready for you to download in preparation for a summer of enriching nature study. I hope to see some summertime entries from all the OHC families!

More Nature Study Book 3
Garden Flower - Blue Flag Iris

“Each iris flower has three side doors leading to the nectar wells; and the bees, in order to get the nectar, must brush off the pollen dust on their backs” Handbook of Nature Study

Inside Preparation Work:

Read Lesson 157 in the Handbook of Nature Study (pages 571-574). View the diagram on page 573 showing the parts of the iris labeled.
View these YouTube videos: Blue Flag and Iris and Bee.
Advanced Study: You can determine what kind of native irises you have in your area by viewing the maps at the bottom of this page: USDA Iris.

Outdoor Hour Time:

This lesson is valuable for learning about wild irises and garden irises as well. Take your outdoor time for this challenge and view an iris if possible. The lesson also suggests that observations of the flower can take place inside but the viewing of the bee visiting the iris is the most interesting way to learn about this flower. You may need to file this study away until you can visit an iris in person.
Alternate activity: Spend time watching insects and flowers in your garden or at a near-by park. Use the information about the iris and the information you learned in the Poppy-Buttercup Challenge to make comparisons between flowers. Remember to use proper flower part vocabulary in your conversation. Ebook Users: You can use the Spring Flower notebook page if you would like as part of this challenge.
Watch any pollinators in your yard and observe their behavior.

Follow-Up Activity:

Allow time for a nature journal entry where your child can sketch and record their iris study or complete a coloring page. This site may be helpful in carefully drawing the iris and labeling its parts: The Iris Flower (USDA). Advanced Study: Use colored pencils and draw your iris in your nature journal (see an example HERE). How about a video?
Discuss any pollinators you viewed as part of this challenge and record any interesting thoughts in your nature journal. See the list of questions above.
Advanced Study: If you live in the United States, you can use this website to determine what plants and pollinators you have in your neighborhood: Pollinator Partnership. View your guide to determine five plants that you can add to your garden to encourage pollinators to visit. If you already have native plants, make a list of them in your nature journal. Alternate activity: Record information in your nature journal for one native iris to your area.

Additional Activities:
Great Sunflower Project: If you enjoy watching bees visit your garden flowers, you may be interested in participating in this citizen science project. It is simple enough for even very young children to get involved with and it doesn’t take a lot of time. Click over to their website to learn more.

Blue Iris Time Lapse video (for fun).

Don't forget to share your Spring Splendor Walk blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in May are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 5/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.

Recollections from a Visit to Anna Botsford Comstock's Lake Cottage

2012-05-23T11:38:00.001-07:00

Anna and Henry Comstock

Every reader of the Handbook of Nature Study (the book) knows who Anna Botsford Comstock is....the esteemed author of our nature study guide and lessons. She wrote the words that have touched my personal life in such a profound way, changing how we view the world in our own backyard. She may have touched your life in a similar way through the pages of the Handbook of Nature Study as you worked through the Outdoor Hour Challenges.

When the opportunity was offered to me a few years ago to visit and actually stay at her cottage in New York outside Ithaca, I wasn't able to make the trip at that time. It was on my mind a lot through the years so when a last minute trip involved traveling in New York came up last month, I immediately contacted the family that now owns the cottage to see if it was available during our visit. It was! We made arrangements to stay for three days in the cottage that Anna and Henry Comstock built on the shore of Lake Cayuga.

" During the fall of 1906, we were making habitable The Hermitage, our summer cottage on Cayuga Lake. We put a large window in the living room which gave us a wide view of the lake. This room was given a hardwood floor and was ceiled, to make it warm. Here we set up the wood stove that had been in my mother's parlor when I was a child. It had a grate and in the evenings we opened up its front doors; this made it as cheerful as a fireplace." Anna Botsford Comstock

It was just like I imagined it...set in the woods, right near the water's edge. The birds, flowers, and trees were those that Anna wrote about in her books. It was warm and cozy and somehow familiar.

We sat on the porch and enjoyed the sounds of the woods. The lake glistened as the sunset on that first day. I climbed into bed and thought how it must have been there over a hundred years ago when the Comstocks first built the cottage.

Sunrise Walk in the Woods

"Harry and I spent weekends there, and on each trip he would walk the mile and a half from Taughannock Station to The Hermitage, carrying on his back a basket filled with materials for fixing the house.The labor my husband performed in and about this place was remarkable." Anna Botsford Comstock

The next morning I was up early for a walk in the woods. I ventured out alone for the first hike and as I stepped off the porch I heard birdsong and glimpsed a young deer sneaking across the road into a thicket of bushes. The woods woke up as I hiked up the trail and my eyes were trying hard to take in all the sights.

The green of the new spring leaves, the thin trunks of the trees, the rustlings of birds and the cry of the mourning doves. These were Anna's woods. This was the place that helped inspire her to share her love of nature with teachers and children, bringing them into a relationship with common everyday things in their world.

There was teasel by the trail...new to me in person but familiar through the pages of the Handbook of Nature Study. Advanced preparation does work...I recognized it right away and remember that she had called it " a plant in armor".

Sunrise Paddle

"He added paths and built a fine wharf and a double-decked boat house, in the upper part of which we swung our hammocks, and from which we enjoyed the glory of many sunsets. The Hermitage was always a place where work was play; we dumped our cares at the Ithaca station when we left, but they were always waiting to jump at us on our return." Anna Botsford Comstock

I made my way back to the cottage and by this time the boys were up and ready for the day. My husband and Mr. A took out the canoe onto the morning smooth water of the lake. Exploring a new place by water...leaving their cares behind as they paddled across the surface of the lake in the early morning sunrise.

Mr. B and I decided to take another hike through the woods and this time we noticed the wildflowers. These were the wildflowers of Anna's books...the ones we don't have in California.

The whole weekend was filled with the opening of eyes and hearts to a magical place, gently teaching us the way of the New York woods in which we found ourselves. One day it rained and we watched the drops fall from our dry spot on the porch. The fragrance of the wet woods was delightful...different than our Northern California woods. The rain stopped and we grilled dinner on the stone fire pit down by the water. We skipped rocks, sat and watched the fisherman go by on their little boats, and we shed our cares, refreshed.

At the end of the weekend, we had made many entries into our nature journals, took lots of photos, and made some memories of our own at this lakeside cottage.

We will always remember our weekend spent on Lake Cayuga at the Comstock's beloved Hermitage Cottage. Special thanks to Christiana and Alison who graciously opened up their family cottage to our family, making this trip to New York even more special.

I hope my readers enjoyed glimpsing our weekend....we all need to remember to build in our families a rich heritage of outdoor experiences. Who knows who it will touch in the future?

Here is the original webpage that Christiana posted on the Cornell website, Celebrate Urban Birds, that sparked our friendship:
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Next time I will share our day at Cornell's Lab of Ornithology and Sapsucker Woods! More connections were made to the Handbook of Nature Study.

First Queen Anne's Lace of 2012

2012-05-21T17:22:00.002-07:00

I have so MUCH to share with you!

We just returned from a wonderful trip to New York which included a visit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Sapsucker Woods (hosted by Heather from Blog She Wrote).

We stayed two days on Lake Cayuga in Anna Botsford Comstock's early 1900's cottage...so much to tell about that experience!

I promise to write about these events soon. In the meantime, enjoy my first Queen Anne's Lace of 2012. We saw a small patch along our walking trail today and it means that summer weather will just be around the corner.

Don't forget to send in your Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival entries....you can find the link on the sidebar of my blog or you can email them to me directly if you would like.

More Nature Study Book 4 Summer Sizzle - Outdoor Hour Challenge

2012-05-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

More Nature Study Book #4 - Summer Sizzle is the last ebook in the More Nature Study ebook series. This completes the cycle of seasons using the Handbook of Nature Study with options for more advanced study of the world in your own backyard. Families have found it easy to offer nature study from their youngest to their oldest children using this series of nature study plans. My own family has greatly enjoyed having the options to bump up the simple plans to a more in-depth study when we came across a topic that interested us.

The challenges in More Nature Study Book #4 cover a variety of topics and I have done my very best to allow for differences in habitat and availability of subjects. You will always be able to adapt each specific challenge to fit a broad range within that topic. For example, when the topic is the Cottonwood Tree, I give suggestions for choosing another summer tree in your own neighborhood if you do not have a Cottonwood to observe up close.

I know summer nature study tends to be more relaxed so I have included simple follow-up activity options that will enhance and support your outdoor time. When you study the Cottonwood, one of the suggestions is to eat a snack or meal in the shade of a backyard tree. The rock study encourages you to complete some simple follow-up projects using rocks. You are going to find the challenges in the More Nature Study Book #4 a wonderful supplement to many of your family's outdoor activities.

The challenges in this ebook will be posting on the Handbook of Nature Study blog starting on June 8, 2012. They will continue for ten weeks and finish on August 10, 2012. Of course, you are welcome to complete the challenges in any order and then submit your blog entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. See the Blog Carnival button on the sidebar of my blog.

Outdoor Hour Challenge:
More Nature Study Ebook #4 - Summer 2012
Summer Sizzle

Ten challenges using the Handbook of Nature Study. See a list of topics and a Sample Challenge.
15 regular notebook pages and 12 coloring pages
18 additional upper level notebook pages for advanced or experienced students
10 Charlotte Mason style exam questions
Complete list of supplies needed (nothing fancy or expensive)
Detailed instructions for each challenge, with links (including YouTube videos) and printables
Nature journal suggestions and examples
Special Bonus Features! Summer Photo Challenge and Summer Sunflower Grid Study!
All the challenges will coordinate with the June through August 2012 Outdoor Hour Challenge Newsletters
Alternate ideas to adapt the challenges to your local area
73 pages
$8.95

Please note that I send the ebook personally so it may take up to 24 hours to receive your download link. Download links will be sent to the email address associated with the Paypal account.

Order before 5/25/12 and receive a bonus gift

and an entry into a giveaway!

Bonus Gift from NotebookingPages.com!
There is a bonus gift for everyone who purchases the More Nature Study Book #4 by Midnight, Friday, May 25, 2012! Debra from NotebookingPages.com has generously offered to give everyone who purchases by that date a FREE set of notebooking pages.

A-Z Animal Notebooking Pages-

$2.95 value!

Bonus Giveaway! One Treasury Membership from those who purchase by 5/25/12!
PLUS I will choose one random winner from everyone who purchases my More Nature Study Book 4 Ebook by Midnight, Friday, May 25, 2012. That is a $74.95 value! (If you already have purchased a membership, she will extend your membership!)

Outdoor Hour Challenge Summer Bundle Special!

You can now purchase the More Nature Study Book #4 Summer Sizzle Ebook as part of my Summer Bundle of ebooks.

Bundle Includes:

More Nature Study Book #4 Summer Sizzle (new summer 2012)
Summer Nature Study: Using Your Senses (2010)
$17.90 value

Special Bundle Price is $13.95

More Nature Study #3 Garden Snail Study

2012-05-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

Image Source: Flickr

More Nature Study Book 3
Snail Study

“Perchance if those who speak so glibly of a ‘snail’s pace’ should study it, they would not sneer at it, for, carefully observed, it seems to be one of the most wonderful methods of locomotion ever devised by animal….The snail carries his dwelling with him, and retires within it in time of danger. He can climb on any smooth surface.”
Handbook of Nature Study

Inside Preparation Work:

Read the Handbook of Nature Study pages 416-422 (Lesson 106). There are lots of interesting details about the snail’s life history and its behavior. Highlight a few things you can share with your children.
Choose a few of the suggested activities to use as part of your snail study.
YouTube videos for preparation and building interest: Garden Snail Video (excellent), Escargot, and Two Garden Snails and this one (preview) Garden Snail.

Outdoor Hour Time:

Go on a snail trail hunt! Although snails are nocturnal, you can look for snail trails during the day which may lead you to some snails hiding in moist places like pond areas or near the garden. Continuous trails are from slugs while trails with breaks belong to snails. Snail trails will glisten in the sun or shine at night with a flashlight.
If you find a snail or a snail shell, make careful observations. If you have a container, gather a snail for more indoor observations. Use a magnifying lens to view the snail’s eyes or other body parts. Handle the snail carefully and wash your hands afterwards. Use the suggestions from Lesson 106 to guide your careful study of the snail.

Follow-Up Activities:

If you found a snail, record your observations in your nature journal. Describe the color, size, and behavior of your snail. Put it into a clear container with some leaf litter and source of moisture like a can lid filled with a bit of water. Put in some bits of lettuce and watch the snail eat. Watch the snail as it climbs the clear walls, observing the underside of the snail.
If you found an empty snail shell, take careful notes of its appearance. Advanced study: Identify the type of snail you found. Draw your snail shell in your nature journal. (See link below.)
Advanced study: Research the Phyllum of Mollusca. Record your findings in your nature journal along with a list of other mollusks.
Advanced study: Develop a question about snails that you can answer by observation. Design an activity or experiment to answer your question. Carry out your activity and then record your results in your nature journal. For example: How fast does a snail crawl? How does it eat? How does a snail protect itself? How does a snail react to light? Ebook users: Notebook page included in the ebook.

Additional Links:

Excellent website with images of land snails (UK based but relevant to the US as well).
Snails are Easy to Draw
Read about snails and color a snail online at Enchanted Learning
Moon Snails (aquatic snails) on YouTube.com

Don't forget to share your May OHC blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in March are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 5/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.

This is an awesome and fun YouTube video: Snail Art

Learing about Vines With Nature Study

2012-05-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

Vine Study with the Outdoor Hour Challenge

Our world is full of vines...I never noticed how many vines there are in our neighborhood until we focused on vines for the past few weeks during our outdoor time. The vine above is a Common sulphur pea that grows wild in our area and is a native plant. I always just call them sweet peas. These are growing on our hiking trail and they don't bloom very long since they are on the sunny dry side of the trail. They are a delight while they last.

Blackberry vines - This tangle is right alongside our walking trail. They don't get a lot of water here on the dry side of the hill so they aren't very sweet and plump. The wild critters benefit from these patches of blackberries.

I think these are Himalayan blackberries and are an invasive species in our part of the world. I have them in my yard...creeping in wherever I don't whack them back or chomp them down. I keep a very small manageable patch in my front yard for the birds and for my own early morning picking pleasure in the summer. Nothing like a freshly picked, sun-warmed blackberry for your breakfast.

Sweet peas - These are the purple-pink sweet peas that grow wild alongside the walking trail. They come back year after year. I am cultivating a nice patch of them in my backyard, hoping they will fill in a spot with their brightly colored flowers. We read in the Handbook of Nature Study that studying the sweet pea should be a garden lesson so we will save it for the summer. (We did a previous sweet pea study and you can read it here along with my little video.)

English ivy - This is a vine that grows over and through our fence from our neighbor's yard. We spend quite a bit of time cutting it back since we really don't want ivy taking over our yard. It is pretty and green but that is about all I can say nice about it.

Hedge bind weed - We have this growing under our birdfeeder. We are watching it grow and then in a few weeks after it has bloomed we will pull it all out. (I am keeping just a few of the hedge bindweed plants on the advice of a fellow gardener who told me it could quickly take over.) We did a previous study of this plant here: Hedge Bindweed if you want to take a look.

Vetch - This was the plant that led to a complete afternoon of study. We actually have two varieties of vetch along our hiking trail. The one above is Hairy vetch and then we also have Spring vetch.

The spring vetch almost looks like a small sweet pea (same family, different genus). It took some time to find information on these two vetches because neither plant was in our wildflowers field guide. I presume this is because they are non-native plants. We found this interesting because these two plants are seen everywhere in our area. I have started keeping track in my nature journal of native vs. non-native plants...interesting exercise.

We decided we needed to keep this as an on-going nature study and we will be watching as the hedge bindweed and sweet peas in our garden as they mature over the next few weeks. We have had fun noticing if plants twine in clockwise or counter clockwise directions. It becomes sort of an obsession. Keeping a focus always adds an enjoyable layer to our outdoor time and nature study.

Don't forget to share your Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in May are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 5/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.

Watercolor Block Nature Journal Idea

2012-05-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

I really like to play with watercolors in my nature journal...it is a wonderful way to brighten up a rather ordinary idea for a journal page.

I try to periodically record random thoughts and ideas in my nature journal....keeping a record of what activities we have been doing or things we have observed that don't necessarily merit a whole journal page. Lists are an easy nature journal technique and even the most beginning of journalers can do a list.

So combining both ideas into this Watercolor Block Nature Journal suggestion seemed the perfect blend of color and simplicity.

Start by using your favorite watercolors. When I want to be super fast, I pull out my Prang Semi-Moist Watercolors. I also recommend using a larger flat brush which makes it easy to make big splotches of color.

Freehand some color blocks using colors to match your particular season or subject. Make some blocks tall and some wide. You don't have to put as many blocks as I did if you want to make it even simpler or if you are doing this activity with a young child.

Let the page dry and then record your thoughts. I use Prismacolor Markers in my nature journal (I wrote a review of these markers HERE). I made sure to use one of the color blocks for the month and year. You could even sketch something in one of the blocks if you want to since this is your nature journal. I love to do make some doodle-style frames for my color blocks with swirls, dots, and dashes. Be creative and have some fun!

Note:
If you are reading this in a reader or an email, the Amazon links for the watercolors and Prismacolor Markers may not show below. You will need to click over to the blog to see which ones I use.

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 - Vine Study

2012-05-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

More Nature Study Book 3
Vine Study - Sweet peas, Hedge bindweed, and Dodder

Vines: Plants that have the habit of climbing upon other plants or upon sides of houses. Stems of vines are not strong enough to stand alone, seeking support to help get their leaves up into the life-giving sunlight. Some vines climb by twisting their stems around the support plant while others have special “holders” which are called tendrils.

Inside Preparation Work:

Read these pages in the Handbook of Nature Study to prepare you for this week’s challenge. 1. Sweet Pea: 588-590 (Lesson 164) *vines with tendrils. 2. Hedge Bindweed: 518-520 (Lesson 137) *twining vines. 3. The Dodder or Love Vine: 520-522 (Lesson 138) *tendrils with sucker.
If you would like to start your sweet peas from seed, follow the instructions in Lesson 164. This study could then continue into the summer months and end in a study of the sweet pea flower using Lesson 164.
Read this page and view the images: How Vines Climb. You can watch these videos on YouTube: Twining Motion of Vines, Morning Glory Stop Motion, Time Lapse of Cucumber Tendril (Beware: 1812 Overture plays loudly.)

Outdoor Hour Time:

Use your outdoor time for this challenge to explore your yard and neighborhood looking for vines of any kind. Don’t worry if you can’t find a sweet pea, dodder, or hedge bindweed but apply your knowledge and vocabulary to any vines you do find.
Make sure to observe closely how the vine climbs. If the vine is a twining vine, note which direction the vine wraps itself around the support plant. If the vine has tendrils, note their color, size, and direction.
Optional: Plant sweet pea or morning glory seeds for your own vines to observe over the next few months.

Follow-Up Activity:

Follow up your outdoor time with the opportunity to record an entry in your nature journal with your vine observations. Ebook Users: You can use the vocabulary found on the chart in the ebook.
Advanced study: Research more vines and how they climb (How Plants Climb). Summarize your information in your nature journal.
Advanced study: Make your own time lapse video of a vine twining or using its tendrils.
If you planted sweet pea or morning glory seeds, continue to record their growth over the next few months in your nature journal.

Don't forget to share your May blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in May are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 5/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.

Updated Wildside-New Garden Arch-Delighted Nature Mama

2012-05-10T07:50:00.002-07:00

This was a big week in the garden.

My dear sweet husband surprised me by making a new garden arch for my front yard. We had talked about adding a decorative arch, kicked around a few ideas, and then he added his creative touch. I love the way it makes a sort of "window frame" to the lower part of the garden. He is going to fill in the bare spot with another sage. The poppies are filling in naturally and I think by next year they will be to this lowest part of the yard.

He added a few of my favorite things....birds, butterflies, vines. (Maybe all this garden beauty will distract me from my neighbor's falling down fence.)

He didn't stop there. He finished up the top terrace of the front yard....he eliminated much of my wildside garden but now it is going to be filled with more wonderful color. Just a note: He used the idea I found on Pinterest to spray a solution of vinegar and water on the weeds before trying to remove them. He sprayed last weekend and let it sit for a week. It was awesome how easy those weeds just hoed out of the ground. He was able to do this entire area in less than an hour! I didn't get a "finished" shot....I will soon.

We are adding more yarrow...a different color this time. The yarrow in our front yard is amazing right now...what a great performer with no water and lots of sunshine.

Maybe someday this new section will be as colorful as the established part of the garden. Here is an image from the top terrace looking down onto the yarrow, lavender, butterfly bush, poppies, and dogwoods. We also added some lamb's ear among the rock garden. I am going to see if spreads too much but it has added a new texture to the yard.

Switch gears now and head to the back butterfly garden.

The columbine is starting to bloom! This is such a wonderfully happy flower that loves my semi shady spot in the butterfly garden. Look at those colors!

How about the shape? Isn't it interesting to see how different the back of the flower looks from the front? I am adding this image to my nature journal...I think watercolors.

Last but not least, I wanted to share another one of my swallowtail visitors to my back garden. This magnificent butterfly spent quite a bit of time yesterday fluttering among my potted plants. He seemed to like the bright pink dianthus the best.

So now you know what I am one delighted nature mama. I love this time of year!

Jami's Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!

Our Spring Fern Nature Study

2012-05-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

Taken May 3, 2012

We actually started our fern nature study way back in January during our Silent Nature Winter Walk.

This week we walked the same trail to view our ferns. We tried to remember how many ferns there were back in January and there seems to be more ferns now and they are larger. Comparing photos I think we are correct.

Magnificent ferns on our hiking trail.

I was interested in the Western sword fern but Mr. B was interested in the California Maidenhair fern. Both are plants that we have looked at closely before. The Maidenhair fern is interesting because it has a black stem and looks like lace...sometimes you have to look twice because you think the green parts are floating in air but really they are attached with delicate black stems.

More Nature Study Book #3 Fern Study Notebook Page

We had a field guide to consult and to glean a few new facts from. Mr. B did a nature journal page for the California Maidenhair fern from our hiking trail. He thought the stalk was a purple/black...I will have to look closer the next time we hike down the trail.

California Maidenhair Fern - March 2010 (Best photo I have that shows the stalk.)

Now do you want to see some of our California wildflowers from further up the trail? We were busy this time stopping and noting all the colorful flowers there are right now.

This is a colorful time of year in our part of the world.

I am keeping a running list of wildflowers seen on this particular trail for the whole year of 2012.

Keeping a list...nothing fancy about this page in my journal.

I just add to my list in my nature journal when we get back from our hike. It is interesting to see the patterns and successions of blooms.

Making fern prints with ink. See link below.

We will be revisiting ferns again this summer as we visit several spots in California that have ferns. I think it will be fun to add to our collection of fern prints that we started back in January.

It is not too late to join in with your own fern nature study..... If you own the More Nature Study Book #3 for spring, there are plenty of simple ideas to glean more information about your local ferns or prepare for the future when you may encounter ferns during your travels.

Goat Nature Study? Where Are The Goats?

2012-05-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

No photos of goats but we did spy some awesome insects in the garden.

This week we were hoping to complete the Outdoor Hour Challenge Goat Study.

We had every intention of finding a real live goat to observe for this challenge...we had several ideas but none of them panned out. We did the next best thing and prepared for the time the opportunity does arise. Mr. B is always up for a research project so this was agreeable to him.

We went through the challenge and narrowed the research to these few things:

Read in the Handbook of Nature Study about goats (lesson 65).
He viewed the videos linked in the Goat Study Challenge. His favorite? Fainting goats, of course!
Research and record information on ruminant animals (animals with four stomachs).

In my experience, after preparing for a particular nature study, we will have an opportunity to use our goat information in the near future. It always seems to work that way, maybe because we are looking for the opportunity with clear eyes.

We had our first swallowtails in the garden this week.

We have had plenty of outdoor time this week as we have worked in the garden, taken a long drive in vineyard country, and walked our trusty Kona dog ( who stood in for our mammal for this study).

Remember to send in your Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries completed in the month of May to the OHC Blog Carnival. Deadline for submitting will be 5/30/12.

Latest edition: April 2012: Spring Splendor

Newsletter Challenge: Extraordinary in the Ordinary

2012-05-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

Extraordinary Defined:

Going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary.

Noteworthy or remarkable.

The Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter for May 2012 builds on the theme of Noticing Nature in the Everyday. One of the activities from the newsletter is to find something extraordinary in the ordinary....by using the May Grid and Printable Bookmark. I encourage you to spend time in your own backyard, helping your children find something of interest.

I wanted to expand that a bit with this post and offer a printable notebook page to use to follow-up your Extraordinary in the Ordinary outdoor time. I challenge you to find at least one thing to take a closer look and to then complete a notebook page or nature journal showing what you learned. My family will be participating in this challenge too!

See if you can find something extraordinary right under your noses.

You can see a past example from my post: Extraordinary in the Ordinary.

Free Printable Notebook Page: Extraordinary in the Ordinary - In Your Own Backyard.

Please feel free to submit your entry to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.

Note: If you would like to receive a copy of the May 2012 Newsletter, please make sure to subscribe to my blog and you will receive the link to download the newsletter in the next blog entry emailed to your inbox.

Now is the time to renew or purchase a membership to the Notebooking Treasury. She is offering 25% off and three extra months PLUS you will have access to all the new features when they become available June 2012. At that time, they will be releasing The Notebooking Publisher, a new web-application for creating, customizing, and completing your own notebooking pages. With The Notebooking Publisher, your children can create and complete their notebooking pages on the computer!

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 - Ferns

2012-05-04T02:00:00.000-07:00

More Nature Study Book 3
Fern Study

Inside Preparation Work:

Read pages 693-706 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lessons 192-195)). Highlight information on ferns that you would like to share with your children. After reading through the information, pick one aspect of the fern to focus on during your outdoor time (unfolding, fruiting, learning parts of the fern).
View this animation: The Life Cycle of the Fern. This one is also interesting: YouTube: Time Lapse Fern Unfurling.
Advanced preparation: YouTube: Fern Life Cycle (Give this one a chance. It starts off a little rough but covers the information very well for this challenge.) Fern Cycle—Animated (For Fun). For students who have a background with high school biology: Fern Life Cycle.

Outdoor Hour Time:
Note:Take a hand lens and a way to carry a fern frond with you during your outdoor time.

Ferns are in the section of the Handbook of Nature Study that covers Flowerless Plants. Use your outdoor time this week to go on a fern hunt or as an alternative, look for moss which is in the same section in the Handbook (Lesson 197). Make observations using a hand lens if you have one. Take photos of the location of your ferns or other subjects.
Collect one frond of your fern (if appropriate).

Follow-Up Activities:

Allow time for a nature journal (notebook page provided in the ebook). If you would like to make this study into a year-long project, record your spring fern observations and mark your calendar to return in summer, autumn, and winter to view your fern’s changes.
Use careful observation to view the sori on the back of your fern.
Make ink prints of your fern frond in your nature journal. Step by step instructions are on my blog: Making Leaf Prints With Ink.
Advanced study: Record the story of the fern in your nature journal. Ebook users: Optional: Fern coloring page.

Additional Links:
Biology of a Swordfern (references to evolution)
Guide to Ferns (for Georgia but information that can apply anywhere)

Printable Parts of a Fern

Fern vocabulary

Backyard Ferns

Don't forget to share your Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in May are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 5/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.

Our Beloved Dogwood Tree - Blooming Right on Schedule for Our Nature Study

2012-05-02T16:01:00.001-07:00

Our Dogwood Study with the Handbook of Nature Study
(It is not too late to join us if you still have a dogwood blooming in your neighborhood.)

Funny how we all have had our favorite spring Outdoor Hour Challenges. For me? This dogwood study has been about two years in the making. I have always wanted to have a dogwood tree in our front yard but it wasn't until we did our massive front yard remodel that I was able to find a dedicated spot for the dogwood tree. We choose one with white blossoms...my favorite.

You can see our front yard transformation here in this post: Removing the Lawn.

We waited last year for it to flower but we only had leaves. This year....ta da! A dozen or so creamy white blossoms to enjoy and now study.

We read in the Handbook of Nature Study about how the flowers have been waiting inside the bracts all winter long, protected and sheltered until conditions were right. I have spent the last month or so going out almost daily to check the branches for any signs of opening. What a gift once we saw the bracts changing!

See the notched bract? This is another thing discussed in the Handbook of Nature Study that I would have never noticed if it wasn't pointed out to me.

I had to convince Mr. B that the true flowers are the ones at the center and not the big white bracts. We counted the flowers and found there were 25+, some open and some closed.

Notebook Page for More Nature Study Book #3

The Handbook of Nature Study said that this was a perfect lesson to use a hand lens for so we brought ours out and took a deeper look. Amazing! If you haven't yet done your dogwood study, I highly recommend this activity. You might note it in your ebook to do for next year as well if your dogwoods are no longer blooming.

How fun is this? Don't the leaves look like a bird? I was busy standing on top of my retaining wall to take photos of the dogwood and looking down on the leaves....it truly looked like a bird!

Now for a few fun images from our evening study. Here is a colorful view of our front yard right now....hubby brought me home a new garden flag for the front stairs. I love it! We did have a swallowtail in the yard a few days ago so it won't be long now until butterfly time! The Kona dog is taking a rest from helping us weed and water.

I don't think I shared my new addition to the rock garden. We took a new hike up into the mountains and into an area where you can collect rocks, a true rockhounds paradise. We brought home this big piece of serpentine which is the California State Rock. Isn't an amazing shade of green? Our rock garden has become its own little micro-habitat with insects and critters living around and under the rocks. In the evenings there is a very loud cricket chorus in our yard. It is a comforting sound and I stand on the deck and listen in the dark and imagine where they all are as they sing.

What a wonderful study! It all started back when we decided to remodel the front yard a few years ago and we put on paper our list of plants and trees we hoped to include. The dogwood came two years ago and this past week we added a California redbud. I am looking forward to seeing it grow and mature...maybe next year it will bloom for us.

I invite you to take a closer look at your dogwood using the Handbook of Nature Study!

Jami's Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter May 2012 - Noticing Nature in the Everyday

2012-05-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter

Companion to the Outdoor Hour Challenges

Supporting a Global Community in Their Nature Study

May 2012 Edition: Noticing Nature in the Everyday

The Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter is a companion to the Outdoor Hour Challenges that are posted here on the blog every Friday. In this issue there are special printable activities, nature journal suggestions, additional links and ideas, as well as articles and photos from a variety of OHC participants. There are also two special offers for Outdoor Hour Challenge ebooks. I invite everyone to subscribe and get the newsletter each month in your inbox.

I have attached the newsletter download link to the bottom of my blog feed so if you are a subscriber you will receive the link to the latest newsletter at the bottom of every post for the month of May. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter in the next post that comes to your email box. You can subscribe to my blog by filling in your email address in the subscription box on my sidebar.

Make sure to click and save the newsletter link from the email for future reference.

If you have trouble getting the newsletter to download, try right clicking the link, save the link, and then open it. (The link is in the email and not in this blog post.) I am not going to be archiving the newsletters at this point. You will need to SAVE the FILE on your computer each month if you want to save back issues.

New More Nature Study Book #4 - Summer Sizzle
will be available on May 20, 2012!

Spring Series Nature Study with Art and Music - Update to Composer

2012-04-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

It was brought to my attention that the composer links for Schubert on page 20 of the ebook are no longer working.

Here are the updated links...you can print out this email and put it with your ebook so you will have the updates when you need them:

· Listen to the entire Piano Sonata in B flat Major D. 960 on YouTube.com.

Movement 1: http://youtu.be/Ok9tofNmqNY

Movement 2: http://youtu.be/G2AIMQ0-zWY

Movement 3: http://youtu.be/zD12AOCty0Q

Movement 4: http://youtu.be/p2YbCgudmc0

Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnvial - Spring Splendor

2012-04-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

It has been a lot of fun for me to see spring come to all parts of the world through your Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries as part of this carnival. So many of you have had an early spring which makes for a very green and colorful carnival.

Our family has enjoyed getting outside everyday as part the Go Explore Nature photo scavenger hunt. Yes, even our family needs a little push to get outside sometimes and this project encouraged us to not only get outdoors but to notice things in a deeper way. I hope that the Outdoor Hour Challenge helps your family in the same way....there is evidence in this edition of the carnival that proves that you are indeed finding joy and learning right outside your back door. Thank you to all the participants this month and I look forward to seeing your May entries as we all get deeper into this Spring of 2012.

Just a little note about the

More Nature Study Book #4

for Summer Nature Study.

I am still writing and creating furiously in order to meet my May release deadline. I have found it necessary to push the release date to May 20, 2012. I wanted to keep you informed so you can plan your summer nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenge.

Enjoy the carnival!

Spring Journal from Grace and Truth

Spring Splendor

Denise from Grace and Truth is a fellow Californian (she is southern and I am northern) and she has put together a wonderful post to share their Spring Splendor. Thank you so much Denise for sharing your nature journal entries..inspiring! Don't miss her beautiful images either.

Heidi from Starts at Eight would love for you to pop over and see their Outdoor Hour Challenge #1 (which is really a Signs of Spring post). What lovely collages of their spring world she has put together for us all to enjoy!

Buds/Catkins/Blossoms

Angie from Petra School has submitted their Spring Nature Study-Catkins entry for carnival readers. I'm sure we would all love to have been there for their study set in a gorgeous location with a magical place to complete our journals.

Barbara from Schoolhouse on the Prairie shares their Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms on Our Spring Splendor Walk entry with the carnival. They made some important observations and followed up with journals that will remind them of their spring walk on the prairie. Don't miss reading her closing statement. :)

Kim from A Child's Garden wrote up their account of Our March Bark Walk on the Nipmuck Trail. There are a lot of things to note in this entry but I what I noticed was how different her early spring woods look in Connecticut from what we see here in Northern California. Different trees, different colors...interesting to me.

Jen from Snowfall Academy has been conducting a tree study of a tree they can see from their apartment window (in France!). See their Spring Tree Study entry and be inspired.

Robin Pastels Project from Hodgepodge

Spring Bird - Robins

Janet from Across the Page is sharing Cornell Pilgrimage Part 2: Hawks for us to enjoy. I loved this entry and it inspired me to make our plans in the near future to visit Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Stay tuned for more information from Janet on the Cornell Lab in the May edition of the Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter.

Amy from Across the Page gathered several nature study sessions into her entry: April Nature Notes. Her robin image is gorgeous and her girls followed up with some very carefully done nature notebook pages. She also shares a few of their images from their photo scavenger hunt from Go Explore Nature.

Tricia from HodgePodge has put together a jam-packed entry with so much nature study goodness it makes my heart swell: Spring is Full of So Many Things. Take a look at their robin study and follow-up Robin Patel artwork (shown above).

Schoolhouse on the Prairie is all ready for some birding!

Barbara from Schoolhouse on the Prairie has submitted their All About Birds entry for carnival readers to enjoy. I really loved seeing how birdwatching is a such a part of their everyday life. There is also a nice shout out to the Hodgepodge family...

Leslie from Two Cowgirls shares their Farm School - Raptors entry with this edition of the carnival. You must click over and see their nest images and hear how they are incorporating interest driven learning.

Jen from Whimsical Blessings wants carnival readers to see their Nature Study - Robins entry. Did you know that robins are the state bird of Michigan? She also includes their Signs of Spring Journals...excellent job!

Spring Flowers - Poppies, Buttercups, and More

Shirley Ann from Under an English Sky shares their Dandelion Study with carnival readers. They had a wet day to complete their nature study which included observations, collecting, and journals. She has a printable Dandelion Notebook Page to share with you all. Enjoy!

Angie from Petra School wrote up their Spring Flower Study-Learning the Parts study for us all to enjoy. What a beautiful visual entry! She has some images of their Forget-Me-Nots and up-close images that are going to inspire you to give your spring flowers a good inspection. Her boys have made wonderful nature journal entries too.

Here is an inspiring entry for those of you with younger children: Nature Study with Spring Wildflowers from Jen at Whimsical Blessings. Their family uses a more formal science program during the winter and then nature study the rest of the year, building on interests and subjects that they have in their own backyard. They also incorporate nature study with their art time...perfect!

Rachel from All Things Bright and Beautiful shares their Wildflowers Everywhere entry with carnival readers. They took a hike and captured some beauties! Rachel's daughter has also put together a blog entry all her own: The Buttercup. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful entry!

Dogwood Study

Amy from Hope is the Word has written and submitted their Dogwood Tree Study. She says, "One of the toughest things I have to let go of as a homeschooling mother/tutor/teacher is that I will always have all of the answers." I think that is the lesson we all learn over time...hard to let go of it though. Thank you for submitting your dogwood study and showing examples of your nature journals.

Dogwood Nature Study and Chalk Pastels Sketches from the Hodgepodge family will inspire you to look more closely at your flowering trees (and maybe even follow up with an art project!). Make sure to see their beautiful dogwood blossoms.

Fern Study from Under An English Sky

Potpourri

Shirley Ann from Under an English Sky was surprised to find ferns for their OHC - Fern Study in their neighborhood..in fact, their own backyard! She relates how this was a surprise to her and they now will be able to watch the fern throughout the year. They did an excellent job on their nature journals, capturing in great detail their fern study.

Annette from Life With the Grubb Worms has shared their Outdoor Hour Challenge #1! Welcome to the OHC community and thanks for sharing your outdoor time with carnival readers.

Brandy from Half a Hundred Acre Wood wants to help you Make a Botany Book. They started their Dogwood Study early and have included a tutorial and a free printable tree notebook page in their entry. She also has submitted their Tree Study for you all to enjoy. Thanks Brandy.

Good Friday Garden and Choosing a Tree - Another great entry from the Hodgepodge Family. They are keeping up a family tradition while planting seeds and starting another tradition with their youngest and his personal tree study. Wonderful ideas.

Learning to Study Nature from Lisa at Looking At Life Creativlei is their account of the Spring Splendor Walk. They really saw some interesting things. I hope to see another entry from their family soon!

Amy from Barefoot in the Park has submitted their Spring Green collage for carnival readers to enjoy.

Christy shares their Spring Nature Walk and Fairy Houses entry from her blog Crafty Cristy. What a great setting for enjoying a little spring sunshine and creativity. They also had a whopper of a grasshopper visit this month and she shares her Serendipitous Nature Study of a Grasshopper entry with the carnival. I love to see families find a subject and then pull out the Handbook of Nature Study to learn more...excellent!

Bethany at Little Homeschool Blessings shares their latest addition: The New Momma. Check out their little colt!

Don't forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in May are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 5/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com or submit them at the blog carnival site (link on the sidebar of my blog).

Also, the May Newsletter link will be in tomorrow's blog entry so make sure you are subscribed so you can download your copy as soon as possible. There are lots of great ideas for nature study, a new nature journal suggestion, and several articles contributed by Outdoor Hour Challenge participants.

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 - Dogwood Study

2012-04-27T02:00:00.000-07:00

More Nature Study Book 3
Dogwood Study

“But when spring comes, these bud scales change their duties, and by rapid growth become four beautiful white or pinkish bracts which we call the dogwood flower.”
Handbook of Nature Study

Inside Preparation Work:

Read pages 680-682 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 188). Read through the lesson for suggested observations for your outdoor time.
View this video for more information: Briar Patch: The Dogwood Tree. You may also like to view these pages: Pacific Dogwood (western U.S.) and Flowering Dogwood (eastern U.S.)

Outdoor Hour Time:

Enjoy your outdoor time for this challenge looking for blooming trees. Spend a few minutes observing the colors of the blooms and look for any insect visitors. If appropriate, gather a leaf and a blossom to sketch in your nature journal.
This is the perfect time to begin a year-long tree study. For ideas on how to get started, see this entry: Year-Long Tree Study.
If you have a dogwood to view up close, use a few of the lesson ideas to make careful observations. Look at the bark, the flowers, and the arrangement of the flowers on the branches.
Advanced study: Bring along your sketching supplies and sketch or watercolor the bracts and flowers.

Follow-Up Activity:

Take a few minutes to sketch your tree, the flower, the leaf, the bark, or fruit of your tree. You can use this website’s images as a reference for your drawing: Identifying Dogwood Trees (They call the bracts “petals” but otherwise this is a very good page.) Ebook Users: There is a notebook page and two coloring pages included in the ebook for your dogwood study. There is also a notebook page for any flowering tree.
Advanced study: Complete a nature journal entry for your dogwood or other blooming tree. Ebook users: There is a notebook page to complete using a field guide or the internet.
Advanced study: Find out what hardiness zone you live in: National Gardening Association. Read the list of trees that grow in your hardiness zone: TreeLink. Pick a tree from your zone list and do additional research. Record your findings in your nature journal.

Additional links:

Clare Walker Leslie’s Guide to Sketching Trees –Excellent printable resource
Find out when Arbor Day is in your state: Arbor Day Foundation
Other Blooming Tree Ideas: Spring Blooming Trees

Don't forget to share your Spring Splendor Walk blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in April are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 4/29/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.

Spring Green Photo Hunt - Nature Study with Colors

2012-04-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

Today's Photo Scavenger Hunt theme from Go Explore Nature: Green!

We are still noticing all the greens of our garden so this was the perfect assignment for us to do this month. You can see more about spring greens in our nature journal: Spring Green Nature Journal Ideas.

5 Easy Nature Study Suggestions for the End of April

2012-04-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

If you have been too busy this month to keep up with the Outdoor Hour Challenge, you many want to consider this week a time to get a few final April nature study activities. If you blog about it, you are welcome to submit your link to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.

Five Easy Nature Study Suggestions for the End of April

Just get outside and take a walk! Informal nature study done while spending time together as a family is often the most meaningful. Get outside for a quick walk when you have a few minutes to spare. Printable Scavenger Hunt available from Hearts and Trees: Spring Nature Walk. You can also use my free Signs of Spring Notebook Page to follow up your walk.
Keep track of temperature for three days in a row. Record it in your nature journal to compare with future months. You can print and use my free Printable Weather Chart Notebook Page.
Observe clouds over the course of a week. Print out a Cloud Chart (scroll down and there are two choices). Record your cloud observations in your nature journal with sketches.
Complete a Seasonal Weather Notebook Page.
Finish the grid suggestions from the Apri 2012 Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter. Note: You will need to subscribe to my blog to receive the download link for the newsletter at the bottom of the next blog entry email.

Nature Study - Living Science Beyond the Books

2012-04-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

Every parent hopes their child receives a solid education in science. This is the case whether our children are homeschooled or attending a more traditional school. Many parents, including myself, know we received very little "real" science education growing up and when it comes time to teaching or supporting science learning in our children, we feel inadequate. This doesn't need to be the case.

Jeannie Fulbright wrote on the Apologia Blog, Overcoming the Fear of Science, which I read with interest. It got me thinking about how I have seen my own children gain a real, living science education using books and experiences.

For our family, providing the opportunities for science as part of our every day life has been as easy as opening our back door and doing some exploring together. Books are a wonderful window to the world but true heartfelt science learning takes place when you learn about things you can see, touch, smell, and hear.

Birds in a book are great but birds in your very own feeder are a living and breathing example to learn from. We have found what works best is observation first and then facts. For example, we learned more by trying to identify these feathers...using a feather identification key for the first time, reasoning on which birds we see in our backyard, and then narrowing it down to a few bird choices.We had to learn the different kinds of bird feathers and make careful observations about color and pattern. So much to build on from just this simple feather find from our backyard.

Learning about pollen in a book is interesting but seeing it on a flower, watching a bee covered in it, and then perhaps looking at the flower pollen with a hand lens take it to a whole new dimension. Suddenly you care about the pollen...it means something. My son noticed the little yellow specks on these California Lilacs and we brought them inside for closer inspection...pollen! No wonder the bees are swarming around this plant in our yard!

Mr. A found this spider on a flower blossom and we spent some time watching it together. Direct observation of a spider takes the fear away and allows the awe to settle in for such an amazing living creature. Live and up close is the best kind of learning for science....books are there to support or to generate interest.

"Nature study, as far as it goes, is just as large as is science for "grown-ups". It may deal with the same subject matter and should be characterized by the same accuracy. It simply does not go so far."
Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study

She supports the idea that beginning with nature study and observation we can build on those ideas and experiences and go farther with more formal science. For a complete picture of how she outlines nature study for families, read the introductory pages of the Handbook of Nature Study (pages 1-24).

"Adults should realize that the most valuable thing children can learn is what they discover themselves about the world they live in. Once they experience first-hand the wonder of nature, they will want to make nature observation a life-long habit. All people are supposed to be observers of nature and there's no excuse for living in a world so full of amazing plants and animals and not be interested in them."
Charlotte Mason, Volume 1

So, I think we are in good company. Thanks Jeannie for the insightful and informative post that got me thinking about this very important topic. We can provide or support science education in our homes if we remember to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves. Open eyes, open hearts, and then open minds...living science.

If you would like some help getting started with nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study, I invite you to read more about the Outdoor Hour Challenges that I offer each Friday here on my blog. The first ten challenges which will help you to become a better nature study guide are all gathered into one convenient ebook along with follow-up nature notebooking pages for you to print. I would love to help you get started on a more meaningful path of science learning.

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 - Goat Study

2012-04-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

More Nature Study Book 3
Goat Study

Inside Preparation Work:

Read pages 266-270 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 65). There is a lot of information on the history of goats and details about specific kinds of goats. Some of the activities in the lesson are outdated so my best suggestion is to cover the information as a preparation for future encounters with goats. Look for a petting zoo, a local farm, or a zoo that might have goats to observe in person.
Burgess Book of Animals Chapter 38: Read online or listen to the audio version online.
Acquire some goat’s milk or goat’s cheese to sample as part of your preparation or follow-up to this challenge.

Outdoor Hour Time:

This week spend some time outdoors observing mammals. The most important part of this challenge is to get outdoors and casually point out what a mammal is and keep your eyes out for a subject. This can be any mammal. (What is a mammal?) If you have access to a goat, use the suggestions from the lesson to make careful observations.
Alternate field trip idea: Goats are related to the bison, antelope, gazelle, sheep, muskoxen, and cattle so if you have any of those mammals in a near-by zoo you can observe them and make some comparisons to the goat.

Follow-Up Activity:

Complete a nature journal entry recording the information you observed or learned about goats (Ebook users have two notebook pages to choose from). You can view this website and videos and use this for your goat observation: St. Louis Zoo Website: Info and three short videos. You can also print out some goat coloring book pages as an alternative follow-up activity.
Advanced study: Research and record the history of goats or research the different breeds of goats and the different types of goats (meat, dairy, fiber) using the additional links below.
Advanced study: Compare two breeds of goats. Record your results in your journal.
Advanced study: Research ruminant animals (animals with four stomachs). Here is a website to use as a reference: Digestive System of Goats.

Additional Links:
Smithsonian Link: Goats (excellent information)

Fainting Goats on National Geographic

Breeds of Goats— Excellent research website

Breeds of Goats by Use

Spring Wildflowers- California Poppy Nature Study

2012-04-18T05:41:00.000-07:00

"One of the most interesting performances to watch that I know is the way this poppy takes off its cap before it bows to the world. Like magic the cap loosens around the base; it is then pushed off by the swelling, expanding petals until completely loosened, and finally drops off."
Handbook of Nature Study, page 563

Way back when I was planning the challenges for the More Nature Study Book #3, I had no way of knowing what perfect timing I would have with this particular Poppies and Buttercups Challenge. We were treated to two events this week in connection with our poppy study.

1. We took a day trip to Yosemite National Park and even though parts of the park still have quite a bit of snow, when we left the park through the southern El Portal entrance and out Hwy 140 there were millions of poppies blooming along the hills that run alongside the Merced River. It was breathtaking! I have lived in California all my life and I have never seen such a display of poppies...miles and miles of poppies in bloom.

2. The California Poppies in our front yard garden decided to start blooming on Monday. I am serious....Monday, right on cue! We took some time to closely observe the way the caps tip to reveal the petals (see the top photo in this entry). We marveled at the light shining through the bright orange petals. We peered into the inside flower parts and remembered Anna Botsford Comstock's remarks about sleeping inside a poppy. We observed the lacy leaves and decided to do some sketches and rubbings of the leaves in our nature journals. You can view a previous more thorough study of poppies in this blog entry: CA Poppies-Using the Handbook of Nature Study.

"The insects in California take advantage of the closing petals and often get a night's lodging within them, where they are cozily housed with plenty of pollen for supper and breakfast.."
Handbook of Nature Study, page 564

As part of the advanced study suggestions for this challenge, we are keeping a spring list of wildflowers in our nature journals.

Advanced Study Notebook Page - More Nature Study Book #3 Spring

Mr. B also completed an additional notebook page for the Hound's Tongue wildflower that we saw blooming this week on our hiking trail. This is one of the early wildflowers that we see in our local area. It's distinctive leaves make it an easy flower to identify. The flowers are almost blue which is unusual and beautiful.

I enjoyed the lupine on the way home from our Yosemite trip. We had a wonderful week of focusing on wildflowers, increasing our desire for spring to really come and stay in our part of the world.

Don't forget to share your Spring Nature Study blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.You can submit any entries from April to the carnival or directly to me if needed: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com

Spring Green Nature Journal Ideas

2012-04-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

So many shades of green!

The spring world just begs to be sketched in our nature journals. The colors of the flowers as they blossom in the warming sun just cry out to us to observe them closer, to see their intricate details. As I gather a few of our early spring flowers to record in my nature journal, I am struck the with the varying shades of green that appear in the leaves of these springtime beauties.

Each stem and leaf is a different shade of green, or they are even a mixture of greens that need our careful scrutiny if we are going to get them just right in our journal. Some leaves are olive green, some are emerald green, and some are dark green. I invite you to look at your garden greens and see if you don't notice it too.

I count myself a very careful observer of nature. I spend lots of time in my garden enjoying the many varieties of plants, bushes, and trees, but I didn't even notice the reddish edges on this leaf until I brought it inside to sketch into my nature journal. This illustrates the value of slowing down and taking the time to keep a nature journal...you are blessed with better powers of observation.

This is true in adults and also in children. We can help train our children to have better observation skills in all areas of their life if we use nature journaling as a skill-building tool.

Out of sheer self-indulgence I decided to make a couple pages in my journal with all the different greens I have in my colored pencil collection. I made small little sample splotches of color for each of the greens in my watercolor pencil and regular colored pencil sets. I labeled each color patch with the name on the pencil or in some cases the number on the pencil. This way I can use it as a reference whenever I need to find just the right green for a sketch. The color palette of spring is very different than that of autumn or winter.

Note to self: I think I have a lot of shades of green pencils...no need for any more.

Now I am ready to make some nature journal entries!

You may be interested in seeing my fall color palette. I did a similar nature journal entry last fall with my fall colors nature journal.

You may wish to include this nature journal idea as part of your Spring Wildflowers study.

OHC More Nature Study Book 3 - Spring Wildflowers: Poppies and Buttercups

2012-04-13T02:00:00.000-07:00

More Nature Study Book 3
Spring Wildflowers - Poppies and Buttercups

Inside Preparation Work:

Read the Handbook of Nature Study pages 516-518 (Lesson 136) on the buttercup. Also, read pages 560-565 in the Handbook about the poppy and the California poppy (Lessons 154 and 155). Use the information to identify and then observe these flowers when you get the opportunity. If you don’t have these flowers in your area, use this challenge to find and view closely any flower in your spring world.
View this page for some amazing images of buttercups: Close-Up View of 3 Buttercups. Ebook users: View poppy images on page 29.
Use this challenge to introduce the parts of a flower with the proper names. You can find information online HERE and HERE. There is a diagram in the Handbook of Nature Study on page 456. You can also refer to Garden Challenge #2. I encourage you to start using the flower part names as you observe flowers.

Outdoor Hour Time:

This week you can spend some of your outdoor time looking for spring flowers or flowering weeds. Part of this challenge is to start using the correct flower part names and that can be done with any flower you find.
Collect one or two flowers to bring inside to draw in your nature journal.
Advanced students: Complete your nature journal in the field. List as many of the flowers you observed as you can (Free printable list notebook page HERE). Use your field guide to identify any flowers you don’t know. Pick one to research later in the week.

Follow-Up Activity:

Sketch or watercolor the flower you collected during your outdoor time. Make sure to add a date, flower name, and the location you collected the flower to your entry.
Press your flower. You can refer to the Garden Flowers Challenge #3 for more information (which includes my YouTube video with instructions for a making a press: How to Make a Flower Press.
Advanced students: If you did not do so in the field, complete a nature journal entry for your flower, complete with flower parts labeled. Use a field guide or the internet to learn more about your flower.
Advanced students: Research more information on one of the flowers you observed during your outdoor time.

Additional Links:
Slideshow for poppies (child friendly)

Buttercup coloring pages

You can see our Spring Wildflower Study by clicking over to my follow-up blog entry:
Spring Wildflowers - CA Poppy Nature Study (and an additional wildflower too).