Category Archives: Nature Study

OHC::Fall colors in our backyard # 1 + some tree books we like

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I took my own advice last week and headed into our backyard for a bit of nature study. We have one tree in our yard now, thanks to a storm when Lulu was a baby that revealed to us the wisdom of having the exceedingly tall pine trees in our front yard removed. Our remaining tree is a lovely maple that puts on quite a show in autumn.


Can you see any of the reds, yellows, or browns? How about a closer look?

The top is where most of the color is:

I think it’s so interesting that part of the leaves on one branch can be green and part of them have already put on their autumn colors.

We walked around the tree and discussed its shape, noting in particular that one limb is missing at the trunk.  We also noted the texture of the bark–how deeply grooved it is.

I intended to collect a few leaves and then head back inside to do our sketching and painting (or whatever the girls decided to do), but it was such a beautiful day (and the DLM was so happy to be outside!) that I wiped off our Little Tikes picnic table, gathered our materials, and we stayed outside for a bit of nature artwork.

I taught them some new words during our nature time, words that I would never have known if I hadn’t watched Barb’s leaf sketching tutorials.  We talked about a leaf’s midrib, veins, and how the petioles on some of these leaves were a beautiful pinkish-red.

The girls each sketched a leaf and then made some leaf rubbings for their nature notebooks.  I think they did a beautiful job.

Lulu's colorful leaf--she used her imagination ;-)

The leaf Louise chose was gorgeous!

I even got in on the action this time.  :-)   I love using the watercolor pencils and blending the colors together with a wet paintbrush.

The DLM might have had the best time of all.  He really, really, really liked the colored pencils, too.  :-)

Mary asked last week about the notebooking pages we use for our nature study.  These pages (and most of our inspiration!) come from Barb’s Handbook of Nature Study blog.  There’s a box on her blog in the right sidebar where you can enter your email address to subscribe to her blog and get her monthly newsletter, which is where the notebooking page we used (seen above) came from.

I wanted to plug a few tree books in this (already lengthy) post while I’m at it.

Most avid readers of children’s literature, particularly nonfiction,  probably already know Jim Arnosky’s lovable naturalist, Crinkleroot.  Somehow, I missed him.  However, his name was firmly planted in my mind by Carrie’s praise, and after reading Mary’s post entitled “Do you know Crinkleroot?”, I knew I had to seek him out.  I love this book–Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Trees.  We did not read it straight through; to me, it’s more of a title to dip into when needed.  I love how “home-made” it feels, especially in this day and age of computer generated illustrations.  I love how the illustrations and even the diagrams still look hand-drawn.  The tone of the book is so casual, so “you can do this, too”–it’s very encouraging to a young naturalist.  Highly Recommended.  (Simon & Schuster, 1992)  (I think the Crinkleroot titles must be out-of-print, so if you find one, snap it up!  If you don’t want it, I do!  :-)   )

Of course Gail Gibbons has a book about trees.  Of course!  I consider her the Queen of Juvenile Nonfiction; she really has the ability to break down complex topics in a way that even young children can understand.  Tell Me, Tree:  All about Trees for Kids does just that–from a brief look at photosynthesis to what’s inside a tree to how to distinguish between the two main types (and then how to further identify a particular tree), it’s all here in a very accessible format.  I think with the Crinkleroot book and this one, you really have all you need to engage in a real-life study of trees.  (Little, Brown, 2002)

I’m pretty sure that I saw Redwoods by Jason Chin on someone’s blog, but now I can’t find the review.  If it was yours, thank you.  :-)   (For the record, no, we don’t have any redwoods standing tall and proud in our backyard, but I thought it fit with our theme so I went with it!)  We were mesmerized by this book and its tale of the majestic giants! I like how the little boy on the cover is on every page of the book, and while it’s not written from his perspective (it’s more of an informational book than a storybook), the readers pick up on the awesome majesty of the giant trees simply by looking at his face.   Really, we knew very little about the redwoods, and this book served to whet our appetite to know even more.  In fact, it prompted me to look up a video on the redwoods, something I’m not prone to do.  This is another Highly Recommended title, but this one makes me want to hop on a plane and head west.   Visit the book’s website here and the author’s website here, or even better, get your hands on this terrific book and read it yourself! (Roaring Brook, 2009)

If those aren’t enough, here are a few more posts in which I’ve written about tree books:

We’ll be dipping into these books and others more in the days ahead.  I’m excited about continuing our study of our maple tree in the weeks to come!

OHC::leaf miners and morning glory leaves

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We picked up our nature studies again for last week‘s Fun Friday.  I was inspired by Barb’s Outdoor Hour Challenge to get my children outdoors to look for evidence of leaf-rollers or leaf-miners (or both!).  Before taking off, however, we watched the video clips that Barb includes in her post, and I familiarized myself with some of the information from The Handbook of Nature Study.  My own knowledge of plants is rather limited, so instead of being able to identify the plants by sight and look for certain host plants for these insects, we just looked at various leaves on plants as we walked.

Believe it or not, we got no further than the end of our driveway when we found evidence of leaf-miners on a weed growing out of the curb surrounding our neighbor’s large back yard.

The picture above is the underside of that same leaf. I think these tiny little bits of fuzz are actually the insects (maybe?).  I really need to invest in some good field guides!

The rest of the leaves had this chewed-up look.

As we walked along, we continued to look for evidence of leaf-miners or leaf-rollers.  Louise was particularly interested in this and really treated it like a treasure hunt.  She picked up several leaves that were all curled up, thinking it was the work of leaf-rollers.

We studied several of our neighbor’s crepe myrtles and dogwoods.  I think the above leaf is the victim of a leaf-miner, too.

I don’t quite know what to make of the leaves above; maybe leaf-rollers, maybe not.

As we were headed back to our house after a s-l-o-w relaxing walk around the block with the DLM picking up every pebble or small stick that he saw, I was thinking about the immensity of the volume of knowledge there is about the world in which we live.  Leading my children in these nature study excursions, I am only slightly more knowledgeable than they.  All I can tell them is what I think we’re observing and that we can use the resources we have to learn more about it.  As a box-checker, that’s tough for me, but doesn’t it open up an exciting world of possibilities for learning if I don’t let it flummox me?

I told the girls they could choose a leaf to sketch for their nature journals, and they both chose to sketch a morning glory leaf from the vine that grows every year on the curb by our neighbor’s back yard.  Of course, I encouraged this–I love these heart-shaped leaves!

Following the instructions in Barb’s Handbook of Nature Study September Newsletter, I suggested that they outline their leaves and then fill in the space around them with watercolors.

by Lulu, age 7

by Louise, age 5

They used watercolor pencils to add the detailing on the leaves and pan watercolors for the larger areas they filled in.

The biggest thing I learned from this experience is that nature really is in my own yard.  I know this, of course, but I need reminding occasionally that I really don’t have to go far to find something new to observe.

Pond Flora and Fauna

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As a part of our pond study this month, the girls and I brainstormed (a word the girls found very funny, by the way) a list of all the animals and plants we remembered seeing in and around the ponds we visited.  This wasn’t my idea, actually–Barb includes a nice little “pond critters” list in August’s OHC newsletter.  Here are links to posts about this month’s study, in case anyone is interested:

When I look back over our list, I’m sort of surprised at how many different types of animals and plants we saw and identified.  The links are to blog posts in which I posted pictures of the animal or plant.

Our pond list:

And I know that’s not all. 

I love that we are growing more observant about the natural world.  I love how being out in nature is restorative to my spirit. Nature study has been a blessing to our homeschool this month.  I can’t wait to see what September holds for us! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OHC–Pond Study:: Cattails

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Last week’s nature study took us back to the same park we visited the week before.  This time we visited in the late afternoon, but it was still HOT, probably even hotter than the week before.  I chose this park because I spotted some cattails during our earlier visit, and a cattail study is one of the suggested studies from the OHC August newsletter.  (Barb also provides some good information and inspiration in this post:  Summer Cattail Observations.) 

I was a little concerned about whether or not we’d be able to sit and observe here because of all the friendly geese and the fact that we had the DLM along with us in the stroller.  We did find a shady spot under a nearby tree, but the girls really needed someplace to sit (away from the geese litter!) and sketch.  Of course, some of our “friends” did come looking for us:

I ended up breaking off a couple of the cattails for closer observation (I hope this is okay–I’m so new at this, really, that I’m not sure of all the ethical ins and outs).  We took them with us back around to the pavilion over one of the ponds where the girls could sit and sketch and observe some more.

 

 

We sat under the pavilion for a while and the girls worked on their notebook pages.  The DLM walked around and grunted at the geese while I tried to read from The Handbook of Nature Study about cattails.   Then we headed back over to the other pond to look at the cattails one more time.  Before we left, though, several of the geese treated us with a show:  they took off from one side of the pond and skimmed over for a graceful landing closer to the pavilion.  It thrills me every time I witness this–so beautiful!

 On our second trip back over to see the cattails, I did point out to the girls how the leaves grow and questioned them as to why they grow this way.  They figured out that it must be to protect the stalk.  :-)   They also felt of a leaf and noted that it gets thinner toward the tip-end.   

 The girls completed their notebook pages at home.  Louise chose to draw a cattail on the side of her page alongside a sketch of the pond.  The goose is coming in for a landing.  :-)

 

Louise's page

Lulu chose to complete an animal observation page from Elemental Science instead of the pond study page.  I think she likes answering the questions.

 

Lulu's page

They also sketched the cattail up close, using sketch paper, sketching pencils, and watercolor pencils.  I think their sketches turned out to be lovely!

Louise's sketch

 

Lulu's sketch

Louise spent a lot of time looking at the cattails when we got home, and she even made a discovery–the fluff comes out!  (She hadn’t put two and two together yet with the one that is already losing its fluff.)  We had a great discussion about what this is and how it gets dispersed.  All in all (despite the heat) it was a great nature study exercise.  I look forward to observing this cattails in a different season. 

 

OHC–Pond Study::Turtles, Geese, and Herons!

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In keeping with my plan this year to mix it up a bit on Fridays, this past Friday we did some reading aloud (including the next chapter in By Pond and River, which I mention briefly in this post), some fun math, composer study, and then we headed out to the park for a picnic lunch and nature study.  It just so happened that a homeschool group we’re a part of was meeting at this park in the early afternoon for a meet & greet, so it worked out very well!

Like the other local park with a pond, this park is almost overrun with Canada geese.  While they are lovely, they can be intimidating (they aren’t afraid of people!) and they leave a big mess, which is my primary complaint against them now that I once again have a toddler.

Trust me–there are a lot more of them than this! 

This one got a little too close for comfort:

He didn’t come much closer, though. 

I noticed from way across one of the ponds the silhouette of a bird that didn’t match the others, so we walked around to the pond to get a better look.

 I think this might be a little blue heron, maybe, but I have a tough time with identification.  Any ideas?  The bird took off and flew across to another pond while we were standing there, so we headed that way ourselves.  This is a picture I snapped at the other pond, just as the heron decided to head back to its original spot. 

We enjoyed looking for turtles as we walked over the bridge toward the second pond, and Lulu even spotted something among the grass on the side of the pond that caught her attention.

I really wish I knew more about plants!  I know this is just some sort of grass, but my (admittedly minimal) efforts at identifying it were in vain.

This caught my eye:

By this time we were more than ready to be in the shade, so we headed over to the second pond, which has a lovely pavilion built over it.  As we started down the walkway to the pavilion, I spotted an unusual-looking bird on the roots of some trees growing just along the water:

And a closeup:

Immediately after this, it flew over to the next tree.

When I got home and started trying to identify this bird, I was shocked to learn that it is also a heron–probably a black-crowned night heron (?).  What threw me off is how short its neck appears to be.  I know for the experienced birdwatcher that seeing these two herons would be no big deal at all, but it was quite thrilling to me.  I can’t think of anything educational that we do that excites me more than nature study!

We then headed over to the pavilion where we were able to unpack our nature study bag and settle in for some sketching.  This was also the perfect place to observe the many, many turtles that live in these ponds.

We saw at least twenty turtles, probably more.  I didn’t take my good camera along; I thought I’d probably have enough to do just keeping up with the DLM.  Next time we go I think I’ll try to take the dSLR instead of the point-and-shoot!

When I asked the girls what they wanted to draw for their journals, they both chose turtles without much hesitation.  That pavilion was the perfect little art studio!

 

Meanwhile, I read aloud about turtles from The Handbook of Nature Study when I wasn’t chasing the DLM, who kept me busy while he explored.  I was very thankful for the mesh between the railings and how solidly built the pavilion is!

Louise used a notebooking page from Barb’s August newsletter for her sketch:

 

Lulu chose to use an animal observation sheet from Elemental Science–Biology for the Grammar Stage:

I pushed my luck with the girls on a late Friday afternoon (I credit the fact that it was a late Friday afternoon by the time we did this with Lulu’s response of seven cutes to the question “What’s special about me?”) and had them do a sketch of the grass we found, too.  They even took out a magnifying glass to look at the head of it close-up. 

Lulu's sketch

 

Louise's sketch

Nature study is the highlight of the week as far as I’m concerned.  I loved the excitement of spotting the birds and the turtles, and I loved the peacefulness of being out over the water with my children.  I just wish I knew more about identifying what we find (or maybe I should say I wish I knew more about the right resources to use in identification). 

 

Outdoor Hour Challenge–Pond Study::Cows and Dragon(flies)

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We ended our first week of the new school year last week with a day of artist, composer, and nature study.  This was just the breath of fresh air we needed after a week of trying to find our groove!  I decided to take Barb’s pond study featured in this month’s OHC newsletter and use it as inspiration for our nature experiences this month.  It just so happens that my parents have a cow pond on their property, and several of the parks in our area also have ponds, so we have no problem finding a still body of water to observe. 

Before we finished up our lessons in our indoor classroom on Friday, I took Barb’s suggestion (once again!) and read a couple of chapters from By Pond and River by Arabella B. Buckley.  (I actually purchased the Kindle book–By Pond and River–which was only $1.99.  That’s a bargain for a delightful and old fashioned science story that I’m sure I’ll review after we’ve read in its entirety.)  I read the chapters about frogs and dragonflies in hopes that we’d see one or the other (or both!) on our excursion.

My nephews stayed with my parents last week because my sister had already returned to her job for the new school year (she works as an aide in a preschool program) and the boys’ school didn’t begin until this week.  My older nephew drove the four wheeler up into the pasture while the rest of the children and I rode with my dad in his pickup truck.  My dad has several different pastures fenced off, but as it turned out his herd of cows was in the pasture with the pond because the horses were in the front pasture (near the house) and a severe storm (which might even have been an F-1 tornado!) downed lots of trees on the fences surrounding the largest pasture.  Dad guessed that the cows would actually be in the pond–it was a terribly hot day!–but when we topped the hill we saw the entire herd under some trees.  My nephew pulled the four-wheeler up to the pond and daddy pulled his truck up on the bank, too.  After some cajoling and promises that the cows wouldn’t hurt them, my girls finally got out. 

The first thing we noticed as we walked up to the pond was that a little frog bailed off the bank and into the water just as we walked up.  Score!  :-)   There were lots and lots and lots of dragonflies and damsel flies soaring, flitting, floating, and landing above and on the water.  Almost immediately we noticed that a huge dragonfly (or damsel fly?  I can’t tell)had somehow gotten down into the water and was struggling to get out. 

We cast about for a stick long enough to give it a boost up and out, but before we could help, it managed to right itself and dry its wings sufficiently for liftoff.  Beautiful!

It was about this time that one of the cows decided she had had enough of the heat. 

And then who should join her but Big Bully?

I confess that he makes me nervous.

It was really, really hot (have I already mentioned that?) and we didn’t have a lot of freedom of movement, being between a rock and a hard place (or between a herd of cows and a muddy pond, as it were), so I encouraged my girls to get started on their sketches.

While they were sktching I attempted to capture a few of the lovely flying things that would occasionally light on a branch nearby.  I needed a longer lens for my camera!

This was the best one I got.  I think it’s a damsel fly. This makes me happy. 

From there we packed up and headed back to the house.  It was a treat having my nephews (who love the outdoors and all things creepy and crawly) along for the trip.  However, I hope that the next time we’re able to spend a little more time observing. 

I wonder what this plant is. . .

The girls finished their sketches and recording their observations on Monday.  They used watercolor pencils, hence the sort of messy but overall pleasing effect on their drawings.  (I am really out of my element when it comes to all things artistic, but I love it so!)  Lulu even volunteered (actually, insisted upon!) writing her own observations.  She has really made a huge developmental leap this summer.  This, too, makes me happy.

Last year I was really good about doing formal nature study with the girls in the fall, but we didn’t do much at all in the winter, and then life overtook me in the spring and we never really got back to it.  I hope I can keep our Friday mornings simple enough that we can fit this in most weeks.

Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith

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In the wild meadow garden, many seeds

are planted too, but not by farmers’ hands.

With this introduction, Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith opens up the world of a meadow garden in which seeds are planted in a myriad of ways:  scattered, spilled, spun, and swept by the wind; eaten by a flock of goldfinches; washed by the rain to new places; carried elsewhere on peoples’ socks and sweaters; etc.  The end result, of course, is a beautiful wild meadow garden, planted by

Wind and water.  Birds and animals.  Plants and people.

All of us.

Together.

Obviously, this isn’t a cold and objective science book; it relates this message in a very creative and beautiful way.  Galbraith uses both onomatopoeia and the creative use of text/fonts to tell this story, and Wendy Anderson Halperin‘s illustrations are soft but beautifully detailed.   I would’ve really liked to have known about this book when we studied plants earlier in the spring, since this book provides many opportuinies for rabbit-trail exploration, but it can certainly be enjoyed on its own merits.  Highly Recommended!   (Peachtree, 2011)

Kathryn O. Galbraith website

Wendy Anderson Halperin website

I’ve reviewed books written and/or illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin here, here, and here. 

Nonfiction Monday is at Practically Paradise this week.

Huntsville Botanical Gardens

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We took a field trip last Friday to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens.  Steady Eddie and I went many years ago, in the B.C. era of our marriage (Before Children, that is), but the girls had only been on a drive-through trip one Christmas to see the Christmas lights.  Steady Eddie saw online that Friday, May 6, was National Public Gardens Day, and since we had planned to go there the last time we took a field trip but opted out when we realized how expensive it would be, we jumped at the chance to go FREE this time.  It turned out that Steady Eddie had an important meeting at work and couldn’t go, so my mom went along with us.  She loves flowers and spends a good portion of her time each spring working in her yard, so I knew she’d enjoy it. 

I’m just going to let the pictures speak for themselves, more or less.  There were so many areas of the gardens that I didn’t remember from our trip there so many years ago.  Most notable among the new features is the children’s garden area, although I might’ve just not paid attention to it the last time since I didn’t have any children then.  :-)

The gardens has a seasonal feature right called Treehouses with a Splash.  It was a lot of fun to meander through the gardens, looking for the next tree house.  I think the girls’ favorite was probably the pirate ship.  I enjoyed seeing the variety of them; there was everything from a gnome house to an old trading post to a “We’re Not in Kansas, Anymore, Toto” farmouse all askew, complete with the ruby red slippers. 

The gardens also has a miniature train set, complete with landscaped village.  The garden that they wanted to visit over and over again, though, was the rock garden.  Who can resist water from a rock?  (Old Testament allusions here apply.  :-)   )  There’s also a beautiful, Japanese (?) inspired pond, complete with huge goldfish.  Employees of the gardens were on hand to help supervise the children (did I mention there were lots of school groups also taking advantage of no admission cost?)  as they explored the pond and tried to capture minnows or tadpoles with dip nets. 

The children’s garden area is huge and has so many different areas to visit and explore.  Of course, the girls loved the pollywog bog, and they even caught a pollywog!  :-)   There’s also a sandbox area, a vegetable garden area, a storybook garden, and almost every area incorporates water in some way.  We could’ve spent all day just in the children’s garden!

My favorite part was the butterfly pavilion.  Not only does it house butterflies and moths, but there were also different kinds of turtles to be seen.  Rumor has it that little tiny guineas, frogs, and possibly even a snake or two call it their home, as well, but we didn’t see any of those.  (Whew!) 

Of course, there were plenty of flowers to enjoy. 

I think time spent in the Huntsville Botanical Gardens is definitely worth the price of admission, and I’m eager to go back!  They even offer homeschool programs, and if we didn’t live so far away, I’d consider them for the girls.  Who knows–one day we might try some of them out, anyway!   

It was a fun day for us and a great way to (almost) end the school year.  Does your family do anything special to finish up your school year?

Bull Skull Hollow Village and Wildflower Walk

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Bull Skull Hollow log cabin, moved to this site from a nearby location

Last week, in lieu of an official spring break, our whole family went on a field trip to nearby Bull Skull Hollow.  We had considered a road trip to a botanical garden about an hour away, but when we saw this event on the Fresh Air Family website, we decided that we couldn’t beat this deal–close by and FREE!  Although the walk hike was a little more than we expected (neither Steady Eddie nor I believed the outing could really last until 5 p.m., as the website indicated), I consider this locale a hidden gem of northwest Alabama and the Tennessee River valley. 

You can read the history of Bull Skull Hollow on the website, so rather than give you all the details, I’ll just share my pictures.

Desiccated soup? This cracked me up. :-)

A fossil of some sort--an egg, maybe?

You can read more about the village here on the website.  We really enjoyed walking around the village and enjoying all the antiques Mr. Hicks collected to share with the community.

Our hike mostly followed a creek, and it was rocky and hilly and just a little bit strenuous. 

 

mouse ear coreopsis leaf--Do you see the mouse and and its ears?

Raccoon tracks, perhaps? Perfect to go along with our reading of Rascal!

dwarf crested iris

fiddlehead--I love these!

lots o' mayapples

mayapple blossom--You have to get down low to see these!

 It was a lovely day.  Our guide was an amateur botanist, the perfect mixture of knowledge and humility; he would encourage anyone to correct him if he mis-identified any of the specimens we saw, yet he rarely came across anything he couldn’t at least guess at.  The girls made friends of most of our fellow hikers; at one point, they were holding hands with one of the ladies on the trip, a spry great-grandmother who loves wildflowers and nature, telling her all their secrets.  It was such a good day–days like this are ones that make me love homeschooling.  Huge thanks go out to Steady Eddie for this day, too.  He took off work, not knowing that he would spend the day carrying the DLM in a pack and in his arms.  The hike lasted lasted over three hours, and did I mention that it was somewhat strenuous, with lots of loose rocks, holes, mud, and hills?  Steady Eddie is my hero.  :-)

I’m tagging this post Alabama field trips, northwest Alabama field trips, and Tennessee Valley field trips, in hopes that I can blog more about some of the fun places we go around our state and region.  Alabama really is a beautiful state!