Welcome to my 10 Days Series on the topic of nature study! Each of the ten days brings you a creative nature walk idea and a fun follow-up activity to spark your enthusiasm for nature study today!
Did you know most of the wind in the northern hemisphere (north of the equator) blows from west to east and in the southern hemisphere (south of the equator) it blows mainly from east to west? On today’s walk, you should first notice how fast the clouds are moving. Next, talk about the wind’s role in that movement. Older children can use a compass to identify the direction of the wind based on the movement of the clouds. You might even bring along a map of the United States (or a map from another part of the world) to discuss and note your findings.
Follow-up Activity:
Today’s follow-up activity is strictly fun and yummy! Wait until after dinner to start the recipe because it will need to sit in your oven overnight.
Meringue Cloud Cookies
You need:
3 egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup superfine sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray lightly with cooking oil. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Add sugar slowly and continue beating until very stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla extract. Use two spoons to place “clouds” of meringue on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 1 ½ hours or until they turn pale and are somewhat crispy. Turn the oven off and leave the door of the oven open slightly overnight. The cloud cookies will be ready to eat tomorrow!
Read a Book or Two If You Like:
Today’s nature study ideas are just a very small sampling of similar suggestions you’ll find in the NaturExplorersCaptivating Clouds study!
Be sure to visit the other fantastic bloggers taking part in this season’s 10 Days Series!
The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects. Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. And of course, click the image above to visit all the 10 Days posts from these homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network.
Welcome to my 10 Days Series on the topic of nature study! Each of the ten days brings you a creative nature walk idea and a fun follow-up activity to spark your enthusiasm for nature study today!
Finding fungi is easiest in the spring or fall when temperatures are warm and the weather has been moist. Look in grasses, on ground clutter, on trees and even on rocks. They especially like shaded areas like woods, for instance. There are tremendous varieties of shapes, textures and patterns among fungi. Choose one of those characteristics (either shape, texture or pattern) to observe more closely as you discover fungi on your walk today. Draw sketches and jot notes in a nature notebook for each fungus you find. Discuss comparisons from one fungus to another.
Please do not touch, taste or smell fungi. Some can be dangerous. Eye observations only!
Follow-up Activity:
Fungi can grow almost anywhere! We find them in nature, on foods, on our bodies and some even grow well in deep bodies of water. Each type of fungus has its own needs to grow well, but generally, their basic needs are moisture, warmth and darkness. For today’s follow-up activity, choose one fungus that you found on your nature walk and research its particular needs. Write a paragraph about or draw a picture chart of those needs.
Fungi are sometimes difficult to identify precisely. Use a field guide to attempt identification. If you aren’t entirely sure you can correctly identify it, you will at least know the group of fungi in which it belongs – like slimes, puffballs, or polypores, for instance. (P.S. The field guide will help you determine the group.)
After researching the needs of your fungus, consider these questions: Do you think fungi grow better in tropical areas? Why or why not? Do you think fungi grow well in arctic areas? Why or why not?
Fungus Field Guide I Recommend:
Today’s fungus ideas are just a very small sampling of the nature study suggestions you’ll find in the NaturExplorersA Fungus Among Us study!
Be sure to visit the other fantastic bloggers taking part in this season’s 10 Days Series!
The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects. Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. And of course, click the image above to visit all the 10 Days posts from these homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network.
Welcome to my 10 Days Series on the topic of nature study! Each of the ten days brings you a creative nature walk idea and a fun follow-up activity to spark your enthusiasm for nature study today!
Before heading out to observe a pond today, create an underwater viewfinder from some simple materials. You’ll need:
A recycled plastic container such as a milk jug, butter tub or juice carton
Scissors or a knife
Thick plastic wrap
A sturdy rubber band or two
Cut the bottom out of your container. (I find that an adult usually needs to do the cutting.) Place the plastic wrap over the open bottom and secure it with a rubber band. At the pond, gently place the viewfinder into the water to observe the plant and animal life under the surface. In a nature journal, draw what you see. Do this several times in in various places around the pond.
(Be safe near water! A child should never be unsupervised around a pond.)
Follow-up Activity:
After your pond observations, take a few minutes at home to read about pond life from a book or internet source. Draw a cross section mural of a pond showing life you might find in the water and around the pond. This means you will pretend as if you can part a pond like God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites escaping Egypt. What would you see if you were able to look at a pond from this perspective?
You might find the clipart in this Pond Food Web activity useful for the mural. Or, use the activity “as-is” for an additional lesson about food webs.
Today’s pond activities are just a very small sampling of similar ideas you’ll find in the NaturExplorers Peaceful Ponds study!
Be sure to visit the other fantastic bloggers taking part in this season’s 10 Days Series!
The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects. Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. And of course, click the image above to visit all the 10 Days posts from these homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network.
Welcome to my 10 Days Series on the topic of nature study! Each of the ten days brings you a creative nature walk idea and a fun follow-up activity to spark your enthusiasm for nature study today!
Animal tracks are easiest to find near a water source – like the edge of a creek or pond, or even on bare land after a rain. Today, take a walk looking for animal tracks. In a nature notebook, sketch the track(s), measure length and width, notice features such as toes and nails, and scan the area for further clues the animal might have left behind. Use an animal track field guide to help you determine which animal made the track.
I suggest:
Follow-up Activity:
Work hard to identify at least one animal track you found, and then learn all you can about that animal. Create a diorama or other presentation to share about the animal’s life and habitat.
How to Make a Diorama
A traditional diorama can be made by decorating the inside of a shoe box to look like the topic you are studying. When making an animal’s habitat, for instance, you might decorate the box to look like a forest, being sure to include everything the animal would need for survival. Don’t forget to include the animal, too! Use whatever materials you have around the house like construction paper, paints, clay, or even little plastic models you might have in your toy box.
Today’s animal track activities are just a very small sampling of similar animal signs ideas you’ll find in the NaturExplorers Animal Signs study!
Be sure to visit the other fantastic bloggers taking part in this season’s 10 Days Series!
The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects. Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. And of course, click the image above to visit all the 10 Days posts from these homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network.
Welcome to my 10 Days Series on the topic of nature study! Each of the ten days brings you a creative nature walk idea and a fun follow-up activity to spark your enthusiasm for nature study today! (Well, maybe not today in your neck of the woods, but soon!)
When rain is approaching, the ominous looking clouds are a sight to behold! And how amazing to see sheets of rain falling before they reach you! Use this time as the rain approaches to practice photography skills and capture the sights. You might like to do quick sketches every five minutes to show how the system is changing as it approaches. Make notes on each sketch about things such as how the air smells, how the breeze feels, how loud the thunder is becoming, how many seconds you count between the lightning and thunder, etc.
After staying safe during the rain or storm, go back out to take pictures of the aftermath. Note how things look different after the rain.
Follow-up Activity:
Make your own rain at home by completing one or both of the following activities.
1. Boil some water in a pot (or a tea kettle) until steam forms above it. Slowly and carefully pour the hot water into a glass jar. Fill an aluminum pie pan with ice cubes and place it on top of the glass jar which is emitting the steam “cloud”. After a few minutes have the children observe the bottom of the pie pan which will show that when the steam comes in contact with the cool air from the pie pan, drops of water form and fall back into the jar like rain.
Explanation: As the water boils, it turns into a gas called water vapor. The steam you see is the water vapor. When it touches the cold pie pan, the water vapor condenses, or changes back into water. When the water droplets get heavy enough, they fall from the pie pan much like rain falls from the sky. This process is called the water cycle. As it pertains to weather, water from oceans, lakes, streams, puddles, etc. evaporates (or turns into water vapor) and rises. As the water vapor reaches the cooler air in the sky, it condenses and the water droplets gather together to form clouds. And, in very simple terms, once the water droplets become heavy enough, they fall back to earth as rain.
2. Here’s another simple demonstration for observing the water cycle as you make it “rain”. Add ½ cup of blue tinted water into a zip top baggie and seal it tightly. Tape the baggie to a sunny window. After a few hours, you should see the water droplets that have evaporated condensing near the top of the bag and raining back down the sides of the bag.
Read a Book or Two If You Like:
Today’s rain ideas are just a small sampling of similar activity suggestions you’ll find in the NaturExplorers Remarkable Rain study!
Be sure to visit the other fantastic bloggers taking part in this season’s 10 Days Series!
The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects. Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. And of course, click the image above to visit all the 10 Days posts from these homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network.
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to attempt identification. If you aren’t entirely sure you can correctly identify it, you will at least know the group of fungi in which it belongs – like slimes, puffballs, or polypores, for instance. (P.S. The field guide will help you determine the group.)
