I have decided to add a weekly nature study to our homeschool curriculum. The girls really enjoy exploring outside and finding treasure, and I wanted to find a way to let them develop that. I found information on nature studies based on the book "Handbook of Nature Study" by Anna Botsford Comstock.
I was a bit concerned about using the book since its copyright is 1939, but as I read it, I found that it to provide a great background for nature studies. I also found a website that provides weekly challenges based on the book and only take 20 minutes or so. It is located here .
So, I intended to just start with the first five challenges, as the website suggests, and then move to whatever the current challenge was. However, as I read the book I came across information on the woolly bear caterpillar, which becomes the Isabella tiger moth in the spring. Well, I know the woolly bear caterpillars are around now, and how could we pass up exploring something that has Isabella in its name. So, today we set off to find some woolly bear caterpillars. Well, we did not find any (yet), but we did find some great spider webs.
This one was on our swings. It was interesting because it had one part that was quite thick.
This one was on the corner of our monkey bars. It was difficult to get a good picture of it, though.
Isabella was very excited to start drawing in her journal. She drew both of the spider webs as well as a squirrel and butterfly that she saw while we were outside. She even "wrote"about them.
After drawing and writing a bit, we thought we would go check the woods behind out home for woolly bears. We did not find any, but the girls did build some homes for some fairies while we were out there using sticks, nuts, bark, flowers, a feather and leaves that they found. Isabella used an old log as the base of hers.
Madeline included "beds" for eight fairies in hers.
And she made a roof and a slide from bark.
While they were collecting items for building the homes, Madeline found this garden snail. We brought it back, added drawings of it to our journals, and learned lots about snails.
Did you know garden snails actually have mouths with teeth and a tongue? Or that the ate apples? Or that those long "antennae" actually have eyes on them? Or that they fold up and go back into their shells head-first?
There is just so much to learn!
This one was on our swings. It was interesting because it had one part that was quite thick.
This one was on the corner of our monkey bars. It was difficult to get a good picture of it, though.
Isabella was very excited to start drawing in her journal. She drew both of the spider webs as well as a squirrel and butterfly that she saw while we were outside. She even "wrote"about them.
After drawing and writing a bit, we thought we would go check the woods behind out home for woolly bears. We did not find any, but the girls did build some homes for some fairies while we were out there using sticks, nuts, bark, flowers, a feather and leaves that they found. Isabella used an old log as the base of hers.
Madeline included "beds" for eight fairies in hers.
And she made a roof and a slide from bark.
While they were collecting items for building the homes, Madeline found this garden snail. We brought it back, added drawings of it to our journals, and learned lots about snails.
Did you know garden snails actually have mouths with teeth and a tongue? Or that the ate apples? Or that those long "antennae" actually have eyes on them? Or that they fold up and go back into their shells head-first?
There is just so much to learn!
1 comment:
Looks like a great nature study start! My boys are entranced with everything outside they can find.
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