Nature Journals
It’s time to begin our nature journals.
These journals are your own – they will not be graded or checked for grammar. However, there are some things you will want to include for your own benefit:
Date and Location
Weather (e.g. cold, sunny, rainy, hot)
Scents in the Air (e.g. crisp air as in spring, earthy as in fall)
Sounds (kids playing in the distance, airplanes, a wolf)
The only rule is you will be expected to share your discoveries.
In your Personal Nature Bag you’ll find:
- Your very own sketchbook journal with a drawing pencil/pen
- Your very own copy of Anna Botsford Comstock’s “Handbook of Nature Study”
- Magnifying glass
- You can bring your scopes, binoculars, cameras, etc. if you like, however you may find it hard to carry more than just the binoculars or a magnifying glass if you are going far.
The Shared Art Supplies Bag contains:
- Artist drawing pencils
- Small bottle of water (for your watercolors)
- Cotman watercolor set
- A few different pieces of drawing charcoal (vine, conte’, and block)
- Crayons or colored pencils
You can color your sketches in the field or when you get back. The choice is up to you.
REMEMBER: ALWAYS SAFETY FIRST!
When you go on ANY nature hike, carry:
-
1. First Aid Kit
2. Bottle of drinking water
3. A snack (you may lose track of time)
Have Fun!
Additional Research:
Plants / Trees:
1. Ibiblio.org’s Virtual Herbarium: Start here to identify your plant
2. PlantsUSDA.gov
3. What Tree is That? at treelink.org
Birds:
1. What Bird.com
2. IBird Explorer on the Touch
3. Various Bird Books – don’t forget to check eachother’s books.
Animals:
Enature.com Identifying What You See
Reptiles
Reptiles and Amphibians of South Carolina and Georgia courtesy of Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Herpetology Program
Scat and Tracks
1. Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management
2. Identifying and Preserving Wildlife Tracks
Miscellaneous:
The Adventures of Mud E. Boot
There is a generous amount of information on the internet available for the budding naturalist, however, here is just a handful of some that you may find as interesting as I did:
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory’s Outreach Links *ecology fact sheets, experiments +lots of other great information.
NRCS Soil Education
Discovery Education’s The Dirt on Soil
USDA Outreach and Education Portal *Check your grade level for terrific links!
Kids Pages from Fedstats.gov.
The History of the Land
Conquest of the Land Through 7,000 years from USDA NRCS: National Resources Conservation Service
Additional reference material can be purchased at:
NSTA – Nation Science Teachers Association Science Store
