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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 06 2005 at 7:14am | IP Logged
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Hi Everyone,
This is my first attempt at posting on this board...hope I do it right!! I'm wondering if anyone does nature study in an organized sort of way. We love nature hikes and take them as often as possible. We also are big campers and live in the perfect location for nature study (IMHO). We have woods just behind us, through which runs a river that my ds loves to fish in. We also have fields next to us that the kids find all sorts of critters in. My ds (11) just naturally does nature study. He loves to find things and look them up to find the name and other info. My other children don't seem to have the same passion but they do love to be outside and take hikes. So, to make a long question even longer... How can I organize our nature hikes? I feel like they are "hit or miss" and I don't think my dc are benefitting from them as much as I would like. We do try to keep nature journals, but usually, after a hike the kids aren't that interested in sitting down to record anything. Maybe I just need to be more strict about making them do this? I could sure use some advice!!
Thanks!
Becky
(Wife to Wes, Mom to Joel, Sarah, Daniel, Matthew and 3 saints in Heaven)
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 9:05am | IP Logged
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Well, I don't have much experience here but I thought I'd share what has worked at times in our family.
Like your children, mine are often not interested in recording/illustrating discoveries once we've returned home from a hike. What has worked well for us is to pack sketch pads, pencils, colored pencils and field guides with us and sketch as we walk. We stop whenever the boys find something that they want to include in their notebooks, and must wait until they have finished in order to move on. This often makes the outings MUCH longer, but we capture the moment while the boys are still excited about it. Inevitably, when we "do" nature study this way, they find many things to put in their notebooks. After we get home, I do usually ask them to write a brief description -- maybe just name of flower/whatever and when/where found. This they don't seem to mind as much.
As for organizing nature study, maybe you could pick a particular subject -- mushrooms, for example -- and focus on that during an outing. You could take along the appropriate field guide and see how many varieties of X (mushrooms) the family can discover. Maybe you could read a little about mushrooms from a picture book before the outing. I think that a great resource for this type of targetted study is Anna Comstock's book. She takes a subject (turtles) and suggests wonderful activities, mentions specific areas for observation and describes several species.
I would personally try being creative with the nature studies before becoming more strict with the children about narrating. Maybe nature coloring books (like Dover or Peterson) or stickers would help.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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MacBeth
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 10:45am | IP Logged
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Just off the top of my head...
Younger kids:
Scavenger hunts, Bingo (you make up cards of things the kids might find), classification collections, collecting by color ("find green things"), wild edible walk, rocks only...
Older kids:
A more quantitative study, like this one from the Jason Online study. Tree and plant ID. Population studies (what's under a rock for younger kids...how many of each animal is under there for older kids. Classify rocks. Anyone else have a great organized study to add?
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog 
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Dawn
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| Posted: June 18 2005 at 5:12pm | IP Logged
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I really hope to make nature study more of a priority for us next year. As much as I love nature study, I really let it slip through the cracks way too often, not getting us out in the "wild" as often as I'd like. Being a planner (maybe more so than a do-er at times!) I have started filling out a nature study "plan." What I did was to break down the year into six mini-seasons, each one being two months long. During each season I will plan a little unit study on a particular kind of natural experience:
Autumn: (Sept-Oct) woods
Holiday: (Nov-Dec) backyard/animals preparing for winter
Winter: (Jan-Feb) backyard/birdfeeders/animal tracks
Early Spring: (Mar-Apr) pond & farm
Late Spring: (May-Jun) meadow & field
Summer: (Jul-Aug) seashore
Sometime during that timeframe we will venture out for a field day, with dh along too. We will sketch, snap photos, consult field guides, etc. Back home, before and after that day, we will continue to do what we always do -- watch our windows, fill the feeders, listen to the birds, feel the weather, read lots of great books etc.!
If we don't get out as often as I'd like, we are, at least, very good at being keen observers at home, in our own backyard, even just looking out the windows! I jot down everything we notice or experience in my diary, from when the orioles return, to locations of this year's nests, the kinds of spiders we find, what night the frogs start singing. In this way, I can look back at my diary from last year and anticipate the nature to come in this year ... But this year, I hope to start a year-long family nature journal with photos, sketches, journaling etc., contributions from us all. By the end of the year, hopefully, the book will be filled with fond memories of fun times, and serve as a great record of the natural year!
This all looks good on paper, of course, but it will be the follow-through with the kids that will matter ~ making the connections, writing things down, looking things up and asking questions, getting outside! 
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 19 2005 at 7:22am | IP Logged
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What a wonderful idea Dawn! I didn't think about doing it "mini-unit style"! I like the way you've broken it down too. We could do something like that around here. In the past, I have tried choosing an animal or group of animals (or plants, fish, etc.), we would read about that particular group and then focus on that while we were taking a nature hike. The problem is that we didn't always see any of the particular subject we were focusing on during the hike. It wasn't that big of a deal, we always find something of interest, but that's why I felt our nature study was a little hap-hazard. I'll try using a habitat for our focus instead.
I also wanted to say that I love your activity ideas for younger kids Macbeth. We went on a 3 1/2 mile hike with our children a few weeks ago. My husband had the 18 month old in the back pack but the 4 and 6 year olds complained an aweful lot. I think they get bored. We finally made up games like "Who can find a ___" and that kept their interested up a little better. My oldest ds (now 11) has always been totally awed by nature study. Even when he was young, he just loved to explore as we hiked. I didn't have to add activities like the ones mentioned above. Even now when he takes his kyak (spelling?) down the river he is all over the place checking out this corner and that, looking for fish or water plants, etc. while I think my younger ds will be in it for the "speed" when he gets old enough to paddle himself!! Oh well, different kids!
Thanks for all the wonderful ideas for nature study!
Becky
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 19 2005 at 7:29am | IP Logged
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Janette,
I really like your idea about the coloring books for the younger kids. My dd (6yo) loves to draw but the 4 year old isn't interested yet. He does like to try coloring books at times though. Have you used/seen the Dover or Peterson books? I'm just wondering which would have the more simple format? I'm also thinking now that perhaps this is the answer for my 11 yo. He really loves nature study, but doesn't like to record anything. Maybe I could give him the option of at least finding a picture of something he observed while on the hike and coloring it...hmmm...maybe some special colored pencils would help too...even just having that option might encourage him in this regard. Thanks for the idea!
Becky
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: June 23 2005 at 8:35am | IP Logged
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I haven't bought any of the nature coloring books (I have other Dovers), but have looked at them at Barnes and Noble. I'm not sure that I'd consider either less detailed than the other (where the actual animal is concerned), but Dover's pictures are bigger and have more background. Might be a bit overwhelming for the little ones, or maybe not.
Peterson Color-in Books
Look inside a Peterson Color-in book here.
Dover coloring books
Look inside a Dover coloring book here.
Dover definitely has more to choose from. One series that my boys have enjoyed is the Dover Stained Glass coloring books. (Listed in the same link above w/ other Dover coloring books.) Again, there are lots to choose from, and the pictures are small like the Peterson pictures. These might be a less overwhelming option for your younger ones, and then you can decorate your windows with them!
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 24 2005 at 6:59am | IP Logged
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Thanks Janette! One year I got a stained glass coloring book for Christmas for my kids. Ds (11) - who doesn't like coloring - even enjoyed it. Maybe I'll look into something like that for him. I also wanted to mention a book I found at the Library yesterday. It is called _Woods, Ponds and Fields_ by Ellen Doris. Since we are going to focus on ecosystems for nature study next year this book will be very helpful. It is pretty basic, but it will be great as a springboard. The author not only explains each of the ecosystems above but suggests activities for during the hike and when you get home. We live near each of these ecosystems so we will try to do a better job of studying what is just outside our backdoor instead of having to go somewhere.
One more question... Is there a difference between an ecosystem and a biome? I've heard both but the words seem to be used interchangeably.
Becky
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: June 24 2005 at 8:05am | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
| Is there a difference between an ecosystem and a biome? |
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Hmmm... That's a question for MacBeth!
Since you're interested in ecosystems, you might check out the One Small Square and One Very Small Square series by Donald Silver if you haven't seen them yet. They are a cross between miniature field guides and experiment/observation books. I really like them and so do the kids. There are lots to choose from: Woods, Pond, Backyard, Cave, Seashore...
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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MacBeth
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| Posted: June 24 2005 at 9:18am | IP Logged
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An ecosystem is smaller than a biome. A biome can be similar ecosystems throughout the world grouped together. A biome is a large area with flora and fauna that live together..."rainforest" biomes are scattered all over the world, but an ecosystem is specific to an area...the ecosystem of one tree in the canopy, for instance.
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: June 24 2005 at 11:41am | IP Logged
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Wow and thanks! I knew you'd know the answer. 
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 25 2005 at 6:04am | IP Logged
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Yes, thanks Macbeth! So, just to clarify...The river that flows behind our house is an ecosystem, while rivers in general (or all freshwater?) is the biome...right?
Thanks for your patience!
Becky
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Organized Nature Study?
