Green Hour Challenge Assignment #1

Barb from The Heart of Harmony as started this wonderful nature study challenge: Green Hour Challenge. If you have wanted to do nature studies with your children, but always seemed to put them off for one reason or another, this challenge is for you.

One thing (among many) I really appreciate is the fact that she is teaching us how to use Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock (here is a free downloadable version). I had this book for quite some time, but the size scared me to death. Barb is suggesting a few pages at a time from different sections of the book. It really is giving me a better understanding what a Nature Study is all about.

Here are a few quotes that stuck out to me, encouraged me, and inspired me:

"Nature-study cultivates in the child a love of the beautiful."

"Nature-study cultivates the child's imagination, since there are so many wonderful and true stories that he may read with his own eyes..."

"...more than all, nature-study give the child a sense of companionship..."

"In nature-study any teacher can with honor say, "I do not know"; for perhaps the question asked is as yet unanswered by the great scientists."

"Moreover, the teacher, in confessing her ignorance and at the same time her interest in a subject, establishes between herself and her pupils a sense of companionship which relieves the strain of discipline, and give her a new and intimate relation with her pupils which will surely prove a potent element in her success."

There was more I underlined or highlighted, but those above really stuck out to me.

For this assignment we went into our back yard and wondered around for about 10-15 min look at different items from nature that might be of interest to the kids. Is there a plant they see and they wonderful what the name is? How long does it take for a tree to grow? What tree does this leaf come from? And other possible questions.

I created notebooking pages for this assignment (and have assignments 2 notebooking page already done as well). This way they will keep a nature journal about our nature studies. I will place them in a 3 ring notebook and divide up the notebook into sections: Plants, Trees, Animals, Birds, Insects, etc...

Here were our results...

Timmy:

Question 1: What did you see: leaves, tree, rock, & grass
Question 2: What was interesting about them: He left this area blank. When I asked him about this verbally, he said, "Mom, it is my backyard. I play here all the time and didn't see anything new." Ok... Think to myself... He has a point there, but we will work on different approaches to seeing things as we go along on our nature studies.
Question 3: Did you bring anything back with you? No
Question 4: What would you like to investigate further? The Fig Tree
Question 5: What did you discover? Common Fig : Figs were a common foodsource for the Romans and were used to fatten geese.

Here is a picture of him hanging from one of the branches of the fig tree. And yes, it produces a ton of figs. Unfortunately a lot of them go to waste. I can't get past the part of what they look like when you open them up. YUCK!

Jessica:

Question 1: What did you see: grass, wisteria, pond, rocks

Question 2: What was interesting about what you saw? Grass-There was a lot of it. Wisteria- had no leaves on it and it looked dead. Pond- had not that much water in it. Rocks- they were around the pond.

Question 3: Did you bring anything back with you? A small branch with buds and a leaves attached to it.

Question 4: What would you like to investigate further? What color are ht buds when they bloom & what is the name of the plant

Question 5: What did you discover? It is the flower buds of a White Lilac.

Ok after I went outside to varify the plant type, I know it isn't a lilac. I will have to search for the "real" name. This is a learning process for us all. :o)

We have finally figured out what this lovely plant is offically called. This is a Cliftonia Monophylla. We also have that has redish belled flowers. They are very pretty when they are in full bloom.

Ok... 3rd time is a charm, right. After searching through more books on nature study and identifying, we are almost certain this is a (drum roll please...), a Japanese andromdeda (Pieris).

Holly:
Question 1: What did you see: leaf, new sprouts coming up from the ground
Question 2: What was interesting about them: Buds-They were dark green
Question 3: Did you bring anything back with you? No
Question 4: What would you like to investigate further? Find out the name of the flower
Question 5: What did you discover? This is a Mealy Cup Sage, will have purple flower spikes; blooms spring, summer, fall; shear occasionally; full sun; 2 to 3 feet.


Jake:
Question 1: What did you see: leaf & tree
Question 2: What was interesting about them: leaf- it was green.
Question 3: Did you bring anything back with you? No
Question 4: What would you like to investigate further? Find out the name of the tree
Question 5: What did you discover? This is a Rubber Tree/Plant.


For Green Hour Challenge #2, we will be heading the the Clear Creek Trail with some friends.

PS: If anyone would like a copy of my notebooking page, you can download them by clicking the link below the Green Hour Challenge Logo on the right side bar, or Here to get to them directly.