Resources and learning activities to enhance nature study with our local flora.
Wild and native plants of the high desert are the focus for this spring term nature study. Plants are useful and beautiful and knowing their names like we know our friends help us to appreciate the beauty of our home. We see what we know. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint is a gem of a book. I love the thought inspiring simple story of a desert and truth. There is beauty in finding the hidden wells that feed our souls.
What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well. -Antoine de Saint
Fill the Well
Online Resources
About Deserts Habitat Description from Exploring Nature Desert Habitat Online Interactive Matching Game from Exploring Nature
Nature Study at the Desert Garden from Abundant Soul Life – beautiful photos! Up Close With Cactus from Handbook of Nature Study –There are links to some great online resources, as well as a beautiful picture walk through of the sights in the desert.
Desert USA is an online website that has tons of nature resources and information about the desert:
Books
Books by Byrd Baylor
Southwest Picture Books list by Goodreads
Nature Anatomy
Handbook of Nature
Nature Journal Prompts
John Muir Law's new book, Teaching Nature Journaling, has detailed lesson plans, and examples of journal pages. These ideas are from him. A free download of the book is available now.
Look and Look Again
Draw lots of pictures from different angles and perspectives. Fill your page with quick little sketches. The more we draw the better our drawing becomes. Try ten tiny sketches of the same object.
Multi-Media Collage
Create a journal entry with all the elements of: drawing, writing, numbers, taped specimens and that leaves space for a photo.
Biodiversity Data
Count the number of different plants in an area or the number of the same. Make a chart or graph to visually share the data.
Sit Spot
Find a spot and sit and observe closely using your senses. You can use the words that you are thinking in a poem to capture what you notice, wonder and connect to. Play with different layouts of including pictures, numbers, words and taping things in your notebook.
Treasure Map
As you go on a hike, take time to stop at different spots and jot down the landmarks and treasures you find on the way. Make this your map.
Comic Strip Memories
Memories are fleeting, but journaling helps us remember events. Record an event you experience in nature with simple comic strip or storyboard squares.
Writing Choices
You can write fragments, captions, lists, poems, stories, sentences or labels. Try nature journaling with writing the majority of the time with a border of sketches. You can write about somethings better than draw them.
String Safari
With a piece of string, make a circle on the ground for observation boundaries. Journal about the nature inside. Focus. Make a tiny map of this little bit of world.
Make Memories
Weave with pine needles: Tutorial from Mother Earth News.
Collect pictures of native plants. Follow regulations for collecting, depending on which land you go to you may need a permit to collect flowers, but pictures are a gentle alternative. The Wilderness Society has 9 Tips for Wildflower hunting.
Collect plants for natural dyes. Here is a link to instructions from Timber Creek Farm.
Desert Oasis Teaching Garden of Albuquerque has recipes to try like salve and gardening tips.
Make Seed Balls or check out other tutorials from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Comments