nature study

For science this year (and probably throughout the elementary years) we've opted to do nature study, gardening, cooking, reading living books about science and visiting science museums.

Nature study assumes actually giving them time outside to study God's world. Generally I let them go out in the mornings for a period of time, they check their gardens and find interesting bugs and birds and then when it is Table Time they have something to draw in their Nature Journals. Mostly my K5-son is the only one maintaining a Nature Journal now as he understands the concept to draw something he saw outside. My K3-daughter was often drawing spaceships and elephants climbing the crepe myrtle trees. They especially enjoy it when I give them a clipboard and they can go outside and draw while looking at their subject.

Nature study doesn't just happen in our backyard either. In fact, their observation of the God's awesome creation happens every time we go outside whether to the grocery store or church or special trips to see the buffalo at a nearby park. When possible, we also take time to encourage their exploration and ask them questions that get them thinking. Like, what is that on the buffalo's back? A bird? Why do you think a bird is riding on the buffalo's back? And we can talk to them about how God created the birds to help eat the bugs bothering the buffalo.

Often they ask questions for which we don't know the answers. That's when our "field guides" come in handy. So far, we have a rock/mineral identification book (though it is kind of lame) and a wonderful North American bird book that I got from a garage sale. We keep our eyes open for good, colorful reference material. Sometimes if we can't find the answer in one of our books, we'll look it up together on the internet. At this age especially, computer time is not something I usually allow. I want them to play with concrete objects and not in a cyber world. However, the internet has been helpful if we are reading about bird, for instance, to go and hear the bird's call.

The Nature Journal template that we use has space for them to record weather observations and the current date. (We mark off the days on our wall calendar and each day practice saying the entire date - Friday, September 25th, 2009). For recording the weather, we first were using some weather stickers I printed, but now I just let them draw the weather - whether sunny, rainy, cloudy, etc.

Sometimes my K5-son collects leaves and flowers that we press and then tape to the back of a Nature Journal page. We're not labeling and identifying these yet, but just using the leaves to make different shapes and pictures.

Each day a blank Nature Journal sheet goes into my K5-son's folder for the day and when he is done drawing he puts it a 3-ring binder for safe keeping.