A Child's Garden: Nature Study

B INQ.9 Use measurement tools and standard units to describe objects and materials.

B INQ.10 Use mathematics to analyze, interpret and present data.

Handbook of Nature Study

The Notebooking Treasury

There are so many notebooking pages available, even within one set. We always have one page which include the following information: common and scientific name, specific details, a range map, a small illustration to color, and about a quarter page for writing. During read-aloud, my son colors the illustration (using his field guide as a guide), and he uses the "specific details" section to record any details he learned about the bird from the reading (this is just the "were you listening?" section of the notebooking page). He looks up the scientific name (he loves scientific names), and I help him to outline the range map, which he colors according to the key (winter, breeding, summer ranges). If we are studying an animal, he notes when we might see that creature here in Connecticut.

I have tried a number of different ways to encourage stamina in non-fiction writing with my son, and have discovered that a prompt helps him to write more deeply about a subject. So, for independent work after the reading, I have him think about, and write a response to, a prompt. Sometimes, these are questions from the Handbook, sometimes they go along with our zoology reading. Other times, they are ones that I make up. But I always try to focus on a bigger idea. Here are some examples of the kinds of prompts we used in a recent bird study:

Observe a bird flying. Name the bird, and describe its flight.
What are some problems associated with introduced species?
How do birds sing? Why do they sing? What are some functions of bird songs and calls?
Why are so many birds brown? Think of at least three reasons why being brown is beneficial to a bird.

My little guy loves to draw, but is not very keen on coloring someone else's drawings. I DO want him to examine the field guides and try to color at least one diagram of each bird we study, because it DOES help him to identify the bird in the field later. So we've devised an agreement that works well for us. If your child is a reluctant colorer, maybe it will work for you, too.

Many notebooking pages come with a full-page illustration, that you can use as the cover for a project. I would have loved to color one of these as a child (and still do!). But Malik does not -- he literally groans to see so much empty space. So I limit our coloring to drawings that are 1/2-page or less.
He loves coloring with someone. And, I figure, one reason we homeschool is to spend time together. So we grab colored pencils and color together, when the illustration is a larger one.
If he is going to color independently, we consult our field guide first, and discuss field markings. We are learning about these in our zoology studies, so it's a curriculum connection for us. Also, if he gets the important field markings in the drawing, I don't care about the other parts (we can color those in together, later, or not).

I don't know about you, but not all parts of homeschooling go smoothly for us, every day -- notebooking has been one area where we have had to do some work. Now that he is a sixth grader, our perseverance has paid off, and he reaps the benefits by using his (well-done) journal entries to study for quizzes. But we have found the above procedure to work very well for us in nature study. We are all happy now!

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Background Lesson Material: Handbook of Nature Study

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Whenever we happen upon a new creature, through our outdoor time or our Burgess Bird Book for Children readings, our next stop is always the Handbook of Nature Study. The Handbook is for you, the teacher. It contains important information about so many things you might want to study in nature, poems, and questions to guide your interactions with your child. The link, above, leads to one of several online, downloadable e-texts, but I borrowed it from the library, and quickly bought my own copy. It will cost you about $25 for a used copy, but you will get your money's worth out of having your own copy.

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Poetry: Handbook of Nature Study

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As a child, I was never a big poetry lover, and it is still one of those things that, if I don't intentionally include it in my planning, I would probably overlook entirely. However, I know, as a teacher, that poetry is powerful, because the poet must use just the right words to convey a strong image and sentiment, in a small amount of space -- good stuff for helping kids comprehend their reading and for teaching them powerful word choice.

I also know that kids sometimes like things that their parents do not! My son loves poetry, and makes up his own songs, poems and raps constantly. If I omitted poetry, simply because I don't care for it, then that would not honor his preferences. Fortunately, the Handbook of Nature Study sprinkles poetry throughout every lesson. When we come upon one of these poems in our HNS readings, he records the title on his notebooking page, as a record, and give him a chance to respond in whatever way he chooses. Sometimes, he surprises me! In the example in the photo, he was imagining a conversation between a Song Sparrow, who wouldn't stop singing, and the stump upon which the bird was perched. I think it's clever...

Another source for literary connections to your nature studies is through a search site for famous quotes, such as Brainy Quotes. Again, the computer is your friend! Use these as copywork, or for connected readings, as you see fit.

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Lesson Ideas and Links:

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Barbara McCoy, a veteran homeschool mom and nature student, almost always has at least one nature study on whatever nature topic or critter you might want to study at Handbook of Nature Study (website). The only time I can't find something is if it's a really East Coast thing, as Barb is a West Coast resident, but this happens so rarely, that I am surprised by it.

For folks who are teaching in a classroom, I have been compiling some easy-to-do science tasks that are centered around familiar items and experiences in nature, on my website, Simple Science Strategies. These will connect to the Next Generation Science Education Standards as well as the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics

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Other Activities We Did in This Study:

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There are always interesting things that come up, or new sites we discover, when we study something new. I try to include a section for these activities and resources for each study.

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Share!

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When we finish a study and blog about it, I post a link to my blog in one of a number of "sharing" places. The The Outdoor Hour Blog Carnival is also a great way to share with other bloggers and homeschoolers who are blogging on the same nature study topic. Once a month, Barb highlights entries on her Handbook of Nature Study blog -- a good way to link up with others and increase traffic to your blog. There are many places to link up your posts.

Our Nature Studies

Here is list of our nature studies, by topic, with links to the posts. Please bookmark this page, as I will be adding to it as new studies are completed.

If you find this post useful, and want to have more nature study posts delivered right to your mailbox, please subscribe to this blog, using the form in the sidebar!

What nature study are you doing this week? Leave a comment and link to your post, below!