Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter June 2012 - Ocean Beach Edition

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter

Companion to the Outdoor Hour Challenges

Supporting a Global Community in Their Nature Study

June 2012 Edition: Ocean Beach

The Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter is a companion to the Outdoor Hour Challenges that are posted here on the blog every Friday. In this issue there are special printable activities and a notebook page, additional links and ideas, as well as three contributed articles with wonderful ideas for your family to use at the ocean. I invite everyone to subscribe and get the newsletter each month in your inbox.

I have attached the newsletter download link to the bottom of my blog feed so if you are a subscriber you will receive the link to the latest newsletter at the bottom of every post for the month of June. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter in the next post that comes to your email box. You can subscribe to my blog by filling in your email address in the subscription box on my sidebar.

Make sure to click and save the newsletter link from the email for future reference.

If you have trouble getting the newsletter to download, try right clicking the link, save the link, and then open it.  (The link is in the email and not in this blog post.) I am not going to be archiving the newsletters at this point. You will need to SAVE the FILE on your computer each month if you want to save back issues.

Most of you already know that the latest ebook in the More Nature Study series has been published but I will add a reminder here in this post that the first official challenge of the summer from this ebook will post on Friday, June 8, 2012.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival - June Newsletter Edition

There seems to have been a malfunction with the Blog Carnival website this month. I know some of your had trouble submitting your entries and I know I didn't receive notice for many of the entries. PLEASE let me know if I somehow missed your entry and you would like to be included in the carnival.

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION: There were four suggested topics in the newsletter but I don't want to limit any of you to just those topics. There is a section at the bottom of the carnival that I titled "Potpourri" and I have included the entries that don't fall into the suggested four topics there. I think this really gives the carnival a great flavor and I truly enjoyed reading each and every entry.

I would like for the entries to include some element of an Outdoor Hour Challenge - reading in the Handbook of Nature Study, outdoor time exploring as a family, and following up with discussion, research, and an opportunity for a nature journal entry. One thing I would like to ask of you in return is to include in your entries a link back to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Newsletter or the Handbook of Nature Study blog. I want as many people as possible to learn about our activities and jump in and participate. If you want to use the Outdoor Hour Challenge logo in your entries that is encouraged too but not required.

June Newsletter Topics

Birds

• Angie and her sons have voted their woodpecker bird study their Favorite Nature Study ever! Now that says a lot because they have done a lot of nature study. Take a look at their entry and their journals: Hairy
  Woodpecker.
• Serena from Casting Pearls has captured their June Nature Study in her entry to the carnival. They started out going to an apple orchard but they found it filled with a flock of Cedar Waxwings. She has the most gorgeous images of the birds in the apple blossoms! Don't miss seeing their family's entry.
•  Heather posted their Killdeer Nature Study on their family's blog, Kingdom Arrows. I love that they were able to incorporate the Bird Study Grid from the June newsletter and take advantage of the notebook page. Thanks Heather.
• Ann from Harvest Moon by Hand always shows how much you can pack into one nature study topic. This Spring Bird Study entry is no exception and you will enjoy reading about their bird song study. She writes, "One of the things Olivia mentioned was that she heard so many birds singing all at the same time.  One would start and then another and another.  'I couldn't tell the old birds from the new birds.'  It did sound like - a constant symphony of birds singing and calling to one another." Click over to see her whole entry.
• Zonnah shares their Dove Study on her blog this month. Check out their nature journal entries and it looks like they used the Bird List from the June Newsletter too!
• Kristin and her girls looked for Backyard Desert Birds in the very hot desert temperatures! They made a quick outdoor study and even found some feathers to observe. Make sure to see the gilded flicker images. Wonderful!
• What a treat of an entry Tricia and her children put together for the carnival! Check out Bird Watching on their Hodgepodge Homeschool blog. They used the Bird Study Grid and the Bird List from the Newsletter. Don't miss all the wonderful images and their journal entries
• Alex from Canadian Home Learning submits to the carnival their Unplanned Nature Study of ducks and a Mudpuppy. Don't know what that is? Click over and read all about it and don't miss the adorable duckling photos.
• Susan from Learning All The Time writes about their June bird study as outlined in the June Newsletter. I really enjoyed seeing their bird list and their journals. Thanks for sharing with the carnival.  
• Holli from Settled In My Home shares their bird study: Surprised By Barn Swallows. I love that they took the opportunity when it arose to study these beautiful and interesting birds with the HNS.
• Nicole's boys each picked a bird to study as part of the June Newsletter suggestion. Read about their OHC on One Hook Wonder.

Garden Critters

• Tricia from Hodgepodge Homeschool shares their Backyard Bunnies nature study to the carnival. Adorable, sweet bunnies! They did a great job using the Handbook of Nature Study to learn more and they used the notebook page from the June Newsletter for their nature journal.
• As the Garden Grows is Jessy's entry to the carnival. They are giving us an update on their square foot garden which includes one big black spider!
• Kattie from 2 Ladybugs and  Lizard submits their Plant and Flower Study....she has pulled everything together nicely in this entry....make sure to see their very well done nature journals. 
• Kristin writes about her adventures in the desert with preschoolers and garden critters in her blog entry Garden Critters (aka Running and Screaming). 
• Spittle Bugs! Read the entry on the Urban Cottage Homeschool to see their Garden Critter entry featuring this interesting insect. You might want to see their beautiful garden images too.
• Susan from Learning All The Time! has put together a wonderful entry for the Tiger Swallowtail Study.  The images and nature journal entries are worth a click over to see...such careful work in the sketches. I really enjoyed this entry.

Crop Plants

• Tricia has given us a treat of an entry in their Crop Plant Study of Squash. Not only does she pack it with interesting images and facts, we get a recipe too! I am anxious to do a squash study with my boys soon. 

Tree Study

• Zonnah gives us a great example to follow when our children are not as excited as we would like them to be about nature study. She allows some flexibility and they have a wonderful entry to share: Oaks.  
• Crape Myrtle Tree Study - Heather and her family chose to study their own crape myrtle trees as part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Make sure to view their nature journals since they are very good examples of how simple sketches and captions still make a wonder record of your nature study. 

First Day of Summer

• Nicole from Journey to Excellence writes about their First Day of Summer and shares their notebook page. Thanks for sharing your day!
• Jenny Anne from Royal Little Lambs also completed their First Day of Summer activities with a notebook page. She also shares some glimpses into their garden. So pretty!
• This entry really could go into several categories but I will put it here: Tricia from Hodgepodge Homeschool submits this wonderful entry about her Daddy's garden....and a visit they had last week.  I appreciate how much their family supports their nature study. Thanks Tricia and family!
• Another family marked the First Day of Summer with some nature study and a notebook page. Thanks Susan and family for sharing your day.!

Potpourri

• Wildflowers - Tricia (Hodgepodge Mom) and  her family were able to do a wonderful observation and nature study of their Queen Anne's Lace Abundance. They had their patch but now they see it everywhere. Great journal examples for you all to see in this entry as well.
• Wildflowers - Nicole shares their family's experience with keeping track of all the wildflowers they saw from March to May. Read her entry on her blog, One Hook Wonder. 
• Elk and Prairie Dogs - While on vacation, Nicole and her family were able to make some up-close observations of elk. They followed up with questions to be answered and here is there entry on One Hook Wonder.  The also had the opportunity to study up close some prairie dogs and their colony. See their entry Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs.
• Box Turtle - Heather's family completed their very first Outdoor Hour Challenge. They observed, read about, and then journaled a box turtle they found at their home. Here is their Box Turtle Entry - Excellent job!
• Tricia has had another little creature visit their backyard. First they had a bunny and now a Baby Squirrel or Is It? What a great entry....don't miss the backyard rainbow. 
• Ann shares two wonderful entries that show their summer nature study activities, Strawberries and Outdoor Picnic. Great job!
• Kim's son shares their family's experience with a bat. I love hearing his version of the event. You can read all about it in their entry: Nature Study: Bats (Much to the Dismay of My Husband).

Now for the giveaway for the Squirrel-Buster Birdfeeder!

I randomly drew numbers and Nicole from Journey to Excellence will receive the birdfeeder. Congratulations Nicole and family! Thank you for your entry into the carnival this month.

In fact, thank you to everyone who entered into Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival this month. I will be posting the July Newsletter tomorrow so make sure to download and save the June Newsletter before it is gone. I am seriously loving the new format for the Outdoor Hour Challenge and I have heard from many of you too that you like the flexibility and the added resources. I hope you spread the word about the Outdoor Hour Challenge Newsletters to all your readers!

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Our June Bird Study: Lesser Goldfinches Eat My Sunflowers

Sunflowers in our garden (self-seeded). Tasty snack for the goldfinches.

Bird Study for the June Newsletter Challenge

We have a beautiful songbird in our backyard that sings to us as we garden. He often is seen in our finch feeder but he also has another part of his diet that is interesting. The Lesser goldfinch eats our sunflower's leaves! They must be so very light because they can land on the leaves and they hardly dip under the weight. They nibble the green parts of the leaves and leave holes and skeleton leaves on the plants.

I found this video on YouTube.com that shows what we observed in our garden.

Lesser goldfinch eating sunflower leaves

I caught this Lesser goldfinch in our birdbath....bathing and singing.

There is a lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 10) and a previous Outdoor Hour Challenge (Yellow Birds) for the goldfinch which includes this link: Get Gorgeous Goldfinches! The article gives you tips for attracting and then feeding your own goldfinches. If you would like to hear the goldfinches song, you can listen at AllAboutBirds.com.

We used a photo and the notebook page from the June Newsletter.

We read on AllAboutBirds.com that the Lesser goldfinch sometimes makes its nest in among grapevines to shade the nest from the sun. We think our finches are nesting in our grapevines that are near our back birdfeeder. I never thought to look there.

We love these little birds and even though they cause a little mischief in the sunflower patch, we hope they stick around for awhile.

This is the last of our June Newsletter Challenges. We were able to complete all four this time.
Here are links to the other three:
Garden Critter: Honeybee
Tree: Sitka Spruce
Crop Plant: Corn

Now for our Tweet and See list for June 2011
Backyard and Neighborhood:

1. Turkey vultures
2. Steller's jay
3. Oak titmouse
4. Lesser goldfinch
5. Anna's hummingbirds
6. California quail
7. Western scrub jays
8. Mourning doves
9. Acorn woodpecker
10. Common raven
11. Wild turkeys
12. Cooper's hawk
13. White-breasted nuthatch
14. California towhee
15. Spotted towhee
16. House finches
17. American crows

Trip to Oregon-There were more birds that I didn't know so I can't list:

1. Osprey
2. Brown pelican
3. Song sparrow
4. American crows
5. Turkey vultures
6. American robins
7. White-crowned sparrows
8. Western gull
9. California quail
10. Black oysercatcher
11. Winter wren

Happy Birding!

Our Tree Study - Sitka Spruce in Oregon

Jedediah Smith Redwoods - Boy Scout Tree Trail June 2011

Our camping trip to the Oregon Coast was glorious. The weather was perfect without even a sprinkle or a cold day! We enjoyed sunshine, sand, and trees all up and down the southern coast of Oregon. Although I could fill a complete post with our adventures, I want to focus on our tree study that was completed right in our campsite.

We were prepared with some notebook pages and a field guide so this was not only an easy study, it was informative and interesting. The campground had a brochure that discussed the common plants and trees to be found so it was our starting point. We read through the brochure and decided to focus our tree study on the Sitka Spruce. Turns out our campsite was surrounded by them!

We looked up the identifying marks of the spruce as well as looked at the images of the needles, the cone, and the trunk. We discovered that the Sitka Spruce is found along the fog belt of the coast of North America.



They are not quite as tall as the Coast Redwoods we experienced most of the week but they are still very tall trees. The photo above is my husband showing how large the base of this Coast Redwood is on one of our hikes. These trees make you feel small and insignificant. We would hike along and one of these ancient ones would come into view and it would make you stop dead in your tracks. Breathtaking.

Even though the Sitka Spruce is not in the HNS, we looked up the information for the Norway Spruce and used the suggestions in Lesson 186 to learn more about spruces in general. We observed the needles, the cones, the bark, the shape of the tree, the roots like buttresses, and the way the limbs droop.

NotebookingPages.com - Nature Study Set. I like to embellish mine a bit with colored pencils.

Somehow I misplaced the photos I took for our study so now I am glad that we did the sketches on the notebook pages for our journals. We enjoyed our simple vacation nature study....one of many we did on this trip.

Here are some other things we observed and read about: harbor seals, trillium, fuchsia, gumboot chiton (sea creature in the tidepools), Winter wrens, huckleberries, and owls. There is a story to every nature study we did and if I had time I would relate them all but for this entry I will stick to our tree study.


Here is the best shot I have of the Sitka Spruces around our campsite. We could have spent our week focusing on the many plants, birds, and trees of this place and not run out of interesting things to think about. Eating and sleeping under the spruces made our study even more meaningful.

Okay, do you love my new tent? It is 6 1/2 feet tall and even my really tall husband and boys can stand up inside it without rubbing their heads on the ceiling. I love the hinged door too! This was our first outing with it and I think it is going to serve us for a long time.


Just a pretty shot I took one night while we were out for a sunset walk...the moon was incredible the whole time we were camping, a natural nightlight.

So there you go...our vacation tree study. Wish every tree study could be this up close and personal. 


Well maybe not that up close....my boys have decided Planking is rather a fun activity.

Our Crop Plant Study: Corn!

Our crop plant study as part of the June Newsletter suggestions focused on corn. Yes, corn. We haven't had much luck in the past growing corn but we wanted to try again this year as part of our Three Sisters Garden where we plant corn, beans, and squash as companions. (There is an official Corn Crop Plants Challenge on my sidebar. You can just observe an ear of corn and make an entry if you wish.)


We did some reading beforehand and realized that we needed to plant more corn than we usually do so it will have a better chance of pollinating. We planted the corn in mounds and have let it grow to around six inches high before planting the beans around the corn and then pumpkins in alternating mounds between the corn. You can find complete directions HERE on Renee's Garden website (love this website).


Here are our young corn plants. We have been using homemade compost to enrich our soil and every time I dig around to weed the mounds I find oodles of earthworms. I am hoping that is a good sign for our corn and its health.

We had to put tomato cages around each mound for now to keep the critters out.....human kind and canine kind as well.


I noticed that there is a potato growing in the row so we decided to leave it and see what happens with it. We have never grown potatoes but there must have been one left in the compost when it was dumped in this section of the garden.

We read in the Handbook of Nature Study that corn study can take place in the spring as soon as the leaves appear and that because the corn plant grows so fast that it is a great season long study. We will be watching anxiously as our corn grows and in Lesson 168 in the Handbook of Nature Study there are many interesting observations to make as the plant grows.



You can purchase a set of notebook pages to go along with all the Crop Plants studies in the Handbook of Nature Study HERE. There are also challenges listed on the right sidebar of my blog to go along with them.



We are also anxious for our green beans to start their vines...our poles are ready!

Don't forget to post and then share your crop plant study with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Here is the link to ENTER.

Honeybees and the Great Sunflower Project - Nature Study Using the Handbook of Nature Study

Our choice for the Garden Critter study this month is the honeybee. We have been building a bee, butterfly, and bird habitat in our yard this year and it seemed fitting that we take a few minutes to read in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 99) about this welcome guest to our garden.

We have planted many bee attractive plants and every day, rain or shine, they come to visit. Their favorite spot in the yard is the center square filled with lavender. If you sit close by, you can hear the buzzing of wings and you can watch their activity among the flowers.

Water for the Bees - Lavender and Baby Lemon Queen Sunflowers

We read recently online that bees need water as part of their habitat. We found a shallow pie pan, filled it with an assortment of local rocks we had on hand, and then filled it with water. The rain has kept it filled but now that the weather is looking like it will remain dry, I will just replenish the water when I water the garden. Here is a really informative article about Planting a Bee Garden.



We found this webpage very helpful: California Habitat Gardening and this one too: Bee Friendly Gardens.




This is what we are aiming for...image from two summers ago in our sunflowers. Can you believe that pollen?

We will be taking part in the Great Sunflower Project later in the summer. I highly recommend this nature activity which is fun and simple to do as a family. Click below for more information. 



Don't forget to post and then submit your June Newsletter nature studies to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Here is THE LINK. If you need to find the link quickly, it is at the top of my blog in a couple of places for easy access.



Jami's Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!

Ideas for Garden Critter Nature Study - June Newsletter Suggestions

As part of the June Newsletter, I suggested that you try to find a garden critter to observe and study using the Handbook of Nature Study. There are already quite a few challenges that feature critters that you may come across in your own garden. Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge does not need to take a lot of time. In fact, I originally started the challenges and expected participants to only spend 10-15 minutes outdoors with their children. You do not need to make your nature study into a unit study or complicated. In fact, the simpler the better since it usually means the children are following their interests. If you already own the Getting Started ebook, you can use the first five challenges along with the suggestions in the June Newsletter.

Here are a few links to challenges that you may wish to think about using as part of the Garden Critter suggestion in the June Newsletter.

• Earthworms (Spring Ebook)
• Rabbits
• Bees
• Ants (Spring Ebook)
• Robin
• Garden snake(Spring Ebook)
• Swallowtail or Monarch butterflies
• Grasshopper(Summer Ebook)
• Ladybug
• Garden snail (no OHC yet but covered in the Handbook of Nature Study)

Have fun exploring your garden or yard for something interesting to learn more about in your nature study. You might try to go outside early in the morning or later in the evening when the temperatures are cooler and there may be more critters moving around.

Make sure to follow up your study with the chance for a nature journal entry. Look up the answers to any questions your children may have either in the Handbook of Nature Study or at your local library. After you make your blog entry about your garden critter, submit it to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Remember every entry to the carnival is an entry in my June Newsletter Giveaway for a Squirrel Buster Birdfeeder.

Outdoor Hour Challenge June Newsletter is Posted!

Thrilled, excited, energized! I couldn't be happier about the new format for the Outdoor Hour Challenge. The monthly newsletter has not only given our family more flexibility as we spend time outdoors but I find myself enjoying the process more. Spending time outdoors is more about exploring again and letting interesting subjects come our way.

I was happy to see that other families felt a little of this freedom as well and the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival that was posted yesterday reflects all the wonderful nature study completed in May along with some of the suggested activities from the May Newsletter.

Just to remind readers of the changes to the Outdoor Hour Challenge:

1. Instead of a weekly challenge, there will be a monthly newsletter with a month's worth of nature study suggestions, new nature journal ideas, a custom notebook page, and always a few more goodies. 
2. Each newsletter will be filled with specific ideas for encouraging nature study in your family, no matter where you live.
3. The newsletter will be available at the beginning of each new month and you will be able to download it and print for your family.
4.The newsletter will outline the Outdoor Hour Challenge topics for the month and all participants will complete the challenges the same as before but there will no longer be a Mr. Linky each week. Instead, blog entries will be shared in the monthly Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival at the end of the month.
5. I will still share our family's Outdoor Hour Challenge experiences on my blog and support everyone's entries by sharing about them in the Blog Carnival.

Please note that you are encouraged to try to use the topics suggested in the monthly newsletter but if your family finds another topic of interest...always follow your interest. You can still submit the entry to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. You can submit more than one entry to the carnival.

I am going to start asking that your entries submitted to the carnival include a link back to the Handbook of Nature Study blog, which can include the OHC logo if you wish. I am hoping that by sharing the link back to my blog that other families will be encouraged to download the newsletter and participate in the carnival as well, spreading the OHC community. For the month of June there is a special giveaway to those families that submit an entry to the OHC Blog Carnival by 6/29/11. Read the June Newsletter for details.

I would love to hear your feedback on this issue of the newsletter. It includes many new features and I am excited to hear how you like it or if you have any suggestions for future issues.

Here is the June 2011 Outdoor Hour Challenge Newsletter. 
(If you have trouble downloading the newsletter and you have Mozilla Firefox, right click the link, save it, then try to open it from your desktop.)