Katie's Homeschool Cottage Nature Study, Nature Journals, and Poetry Through the Year E-book

4. 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.

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

8. 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.

10. Each topic has the following:

11. A suggested living book list

12. 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

14. Nature walk or post walk suggestions

16. 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.

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

19. 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?

21. Scientific Connections that bring the nature study topic into a natural extended formal scientific study into biology, physics, or chemistry

23. Within the scientific connections are living book suggestions

24. 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

25. And activity and experiment suggestions

26. Activities and Experiments Research the different kinds of electricity and their causes. Conduct experiments with electricity. http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/electric.html http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/staticelectricity.html http://www.weatherwizkids.com/hair.htm http://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.htm http://homepage.eircom.net/~kogrange/sound_experiments.html http://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.html http://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.htm http://weatherwizkids.com/Rain.htm http://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.html http://www.juliantrubin.com/fairprojects/environment/acidrain.html http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/education/experiment7.html http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/examples/miller03/acid%20rain% 20effect%20on%20metal%20&%20stone.doc

28. The next major section of the book discusses Nature Journaling. This section provides book suggestions about nature journaling and drawing in nature journals.

30. It also provides suggested sources for nature journal pages and provides you with sample nature journal pages you can begin using immediately.

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

33. Poetry selections are provided throughout the book that tie in with each season and topic of study.

34. “The stormy March is come at last With wind, and cloud, and changing skies; I hear the rushing of the blast That through the snowy valley flies.” Bryant

35. 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.

36. Here are some common (and easiest to start with) poetry conventions to try: Haikus, Free Verse, Limericks, More http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/poetry_engine.htm Haiku http://www.teachervision.fen.com/poetry/lesson-plan/5637.html http://www.schenectady.k12.ny.us/users/title3/Future%20Grant%20Projects/ Projects/Projects/haikulesson_files/frame.htm Diamonte http://www.canteach.ca//elementary/poetry6.html http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/diamante/ Cinquain http://www.canteach.ca//elementary/poetry5.html

37. 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.

38. 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 devices http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/Terms/assonance.html End rhymes (poetry) http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~lpadilla/Poetry.ppt http://www.bownet.org/bjozokos/end_rhyme_scheme.htm Rhyme scheme (poetry) http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~lpadilla/Poetry.ppt http://www.bownet.org/bjozokos/end_rhyme_scheme.htm http://www.rbuhsd.k12.ca.us/~rgrow/Rhyme%20Schemes.html Metaphors and similes http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/2poe.htm

39. Whether you just want to get outside and informally explore events occurring during each season or tie each season’s events to a formal study of scientific concepts,

41. 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.

43. 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.

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