Using Nature Study, Nature Journals,

and Poetry

Through the Year

Using Nature Study, Nature Journals,

and Poetry

Through the Year

Our nature study is a natural way to study science by allowing your child to interact,

internalize, and personalize their experiences.

This books discusses ways in which you can study nature and incorporate a study of all

scientific areas:

biology, physical science, and chemistry

no matter where you live or

what time of year it is.

With this book, you have a year’s worth of nature and scientific study ideas at your fingertips for each season and

month.

This study is organized and grouped into seasons, each season consisting of three

months.

Within each month are suggested topics to study that occur in nature during that

season or month.

Each topic has the following:

A suggested living book list

Reading Suggestions    

The Fungus Kingdom (Family Trees), Rebecca Stefoff 

What Is a Fungus (Watts Library), D. M. Souza 

Mushrooms Demystified, David Arora 

A Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America (Peterson Field Guide Series), Kent H. McKnight and Vera B. McKnight

 Discovering Fungi, Jennifer Coldrey

 Carnivorous Mushrooms: Lassoing Their Prey?, Victor Gentle

 The Wonders of Fungi, Richard Ott

 Protists and Fungi, Gareth Stevens Publishing

 Slime, Molds, and Fungi, Elaine Pascoe

 Fungi, Elaine Pascoe

 What is a Fungus?, D. M. Souza

Nature walk or post walk suggestions

During or Post-Walk Suggestions  

On a hike or nature walk, take a bird field guide with you and try to identify as many birds as you can. (You can also sit in one spot and see how many birds come into your area.)

 Using a bird call, try to imitate different calls from different birds.

 Sitting in one spot, listen to the bird calls around you and see if you can identify them.

 Study the migratory patterns of the birds that reside in your area in the spring.

 Find out what birds are in your area, what they eat, and put the appropriate kind of food out in a bird feeder.

 Construct a bird house suitable for the kind of bird you wish to attract.

 Put out nesting materials in your yard before the birds begin to arrive for spring. (string, lint, grass clippings, dead leaves) You will soon see them interwoven into birds’ nests around you.

 Look for different kinds of birds’ nests.

  

Questions with which to engage your child about the topic while on the nature walk

Question Suggestions

What makes leaves change color? 

What makes a leaf green? 

What kinds of shapes of leaves do you see? Do you know the names of the kinds of leaf shapes? 

Do you see any veins in the leaf? What are they for? 

What does a leaf do for the tree? 

Do you see a pattern that the leaves make in how they are attached to the branch? Do you know the names of the kinds of patterns as they are attached?

 Do the leaves do anything for other living things in the woods besides trees?

 Do you see any signs of visiting insects to the leaves? Or any eggs or sacs attached to the leaves?

 When the leaves fall to the ground, do they do anything for the ground?

 Why do the leaves make a crunching noise after they have fallen from the trees? What causes them to turn brown and dry out?

 What differences can you tell me about the leaves from deciduous trees and the ones from evergreens or from coniferous trees? What differences do you see in how they look, what they do for the tree and other living things, and their life cycles?

Scientific Connections that bring the nature study topic into a natural extended formal scientific

study into biology, physics, or chemistry

Within the scientific connections are living book suggestions

Scientific Connections – Gardening, Botany, George Washington Carver, Edible Wild Plants, Plant Propagation and Grafting  

Books

Get Growing!: Exciting Indoor Plant Projects for Kids, Lois Walker 

101 Kid-Friendly Plants: Fun Plants and Family Garden Projects, Cindy Krezel 

Ready, Set, Grow!: A Kid’s Guide to Gardening: Grades 1-5, Spohn and Rebecca 

The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants, Samuel Thayer

 Fun With Gardening: 50 Great Projects Kids Can Plant Themselves, Clare Bradley

 Plants for Kids to Grow Indoors, Adele Millard

 39 Easy Plant Biology Experiments (Science for Kids), Robert W. Wood

 American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation: The Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual of

Practical Techniques, Alan Toogood 

Plant Propagation A to Z: Growing Plants for Free, Geoff Bryant 

The Plant Propagator’s Bible (Readers Digest), Miranda Smith 

A Picture Book of George Washington Carver, David A. Adler 

A Weed is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver, Aliki 

And activity and experiment suggestions

Activities and Experiments   Research the different kinds of electricity and their causes. Conduct experiments with electricity.

http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/electric.htmlhttp://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/staticelectricity.htmlhttp://www.weatherwizkids.com/hair.htmhttp://www.weatherwizkids.com/thunderstorm.htm

 Research sound and vibrations as you would hear in thunder. Conduct experiments with sound and

sound waves.http://www.spartechsoftware.com/reeko/Experiments/ExpSoundWaves.htmhttp://homepage.eircom.net/~kogrange/sound_experiments.htmlhttp://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/soundwaves/

 Research light and color found in light. Research the nature and actions of light waves and conduct

experiments.http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/cat_curiouscolors.htmlhttp://www.learner.org/teacherslab/science/light/http://www.juliantrubin.com/topicprojects/colorsprojects.html

 Research the origin of rain and conduct experiments producing rain.http://www.weatherwizkids.com/rain2.htmhttp://weatherwizkids.com/Rain.htmhttp://www.treehuggingfamily.com/nature-experiment-make-your-own-rain-bowl/

 Research the causes and effects of acid rain. Conduct experiments to show the effects of acid rain.http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/education/experiments.htmlhttp://www.juliantrubin.com/fairprojects/environment/acidrain.htmlhttp://www.epa.gov/acidrain/education/experiment7.htmlhttp://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/examples/miller03/acid%20rain%

20effect%20on%20metal%20&%20stone.doc

The next major section of the book discusses Nature Journaling.

This section provides book suggestions about nature journaling and drawing in nature

journals.

It also provides suggested sources for nature journal pages and provides you with sample nature journal pages you can begin

using immediately.

The last section of the book integrates the study of poetry with your nature study and

nature journaling.

Poetry selections are provided throughout the book that tie in with each season and

topic of study.

“The stormy March is come at lastWith wind, and cloud, and changing skies;

I hear the rushing of the blast That through the snowy valley flies.”

Bryant

The end of the book suggests methods with which to write your own different forms of

poetry you may want to include in your nature journals.

Here are some common (and easiest to start with) poetry conventions to try:

Haikus, Free Verse, Limericks, Morehttp://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/poetry_engine.htm

Haikuhttp://www.teachervision.fen.com/poetry/lesson-plan/5637.htmlhttp://www.schenectady.k12.ny.us/users/title3/Future%20Grant

%20Projects/Projects/Projects/haikulesson_files/frame.htm

Diamontehttp://www.canteach.ca//elementary/poetry6.htmlhttp://www.readwritethink.org/materials/diamante/

Cinquainhttp://www.canteach.ca//elementary/poetry5.html

There are also suggested literary devices you and your children can look for in the poems

included in the book or

in poetry you select to read aloud. 

Aside from writing your own poetry, you can use poetry in nature study to learn how to identify and appreciate the use of literary devices in poems about nature as you read them together. You can use the poems that I’ve included in each section of this book or read ones on your own.  Here is a list of devices that are commonly used and fun to look for. There are others, but these are the most common and are found in all forms of literature. 

A large variety of literary terms and deviceshttp://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/Terms/assonance.html

 End rhymes (poetry)http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~lpadilla/Poetry.ppthttp://www.bownet.org/bjozokos/end_rhyme_scheme.htm

 Rhyme scheme (poetry)http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~lpadilla/Poetry.ppthttp://www.bownet.org/bjozokos/end_rhyme_scheme.htmhttp://www.rbuhsd.k12.ca.us/~rgrow/Rhyme%20Schemes.html

 Metaphors and simileshttp://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/2poe.htm

Whether you just want to

get outside and informally explore events occurring during each season

ortie each season’s events to a formal study of

scientific concepts,

bringing a nature study into your weekly routine is something that will

invigorate your school day,

give the kids something to look forward to each week,

and awaken your senses to the world around you.

We hope that this study will help you and your children enjoy and learn more about

nature, and give you a natural introduction to formal

scientific study, poetry, journaling, and maybe even art.

But, most of all, enjoy this time you spend together.