2011 Winter Series OHC #9 and Winter Wednesday #9 - Mammals in Winter Nature Study

Our Resident Pair of Fox Squirrels in Our Backyard

This week you are going to spend some time focusing on mammals.

OHC Winter Series #9 Mammals

Winter Wednesday #9 Mammals

Link for you to check out: Hibernation
This pdf can be printed out and shared with your children.

Ideas for you to try:
1. Keep a record of animal tracks you have observed in the snow or mud. Record your findings in your nature journal along with a drawing, the date, the weather, the time of day, and the type of animal if you have identified it at this time.
2. Compare a dog’s and a cat’s footprints in the snow or mud.
3. Research an animal that hibernates and record what you learn in your nature notebook. You can also sketch your animal and what its tracks look like.
4. Squirrel study ideas - Outdoor Hour Challenge #45 (printable from Scribd).
5. Rabbit study ideas - Outdoor Hour Challenge #44 (printable from Scribd).

2011 Winter Series #8 One Small Square and Winter Wednesday #7 Winter Insects

***Winter Series #8 One Small Square-Winter 
(You can also read my Squidoo Lens: Square Foot Nature Study.)

***Winter Wednesday #7 Winter Insect Study
A couple of extra links for winter insects:
Where Do Insects Go In Winter?
Where Have All The Bugs Gone?

FYI: You can download from Scribd all the regular insect challenges in a pdf document if your child is interested in learning more about this topic: OHC 22-28 Insects.

If you are currently experiencing lots of snow (like we are), perhaps today is not the day to do this challenge. Pick one of the other challenges from the winter series: Filter snow, melt snow, look for animal tracks, observe some birds, or notice tree silhouettes.

There are plenty of challenges that you could try or do again this week if you can't do the small square or get outside to look for insects. I look forward to reading about your family's nature study this week. I am so enjoying glimpsing into your winter world and all of the bird study entries from last weekend.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #7 and Winter Wednesday #8 Winter Birds

Finches in Our Feeder 2 16 11

I thought we would line up these two challenges this week as many of us prepare to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. I realize that the Winter Wednesday challenge is out of order but it just seems to make sense.We will do winter insects next week.

Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #7 Winter Birds (including bird migration)
Winter Wednesday #8 Winter Birds (How do birds survive the winter?)


I look forward to seeing everyone's list of birds or if you just observe one bird and learn a little about it that is fine too! Please do as much or as little as your family can manage. Remember that you can share your list of birds at the end of the month on Heather's Tweet and See!

Winter Weeds Along Our Walking Trail

Our world is slowly turning green and it feels nice to walk along and see the plants starting to awake for spring. We had our eyes open for winter weeds and we found some new things and some familiar things to share.


The side of our walking trail is covered in this plant with the nicely shaped leaves. I am going to watch it as the season progresses to see exactly what it is.


The California poppies are starting to grow and I can hardly wait to see their happy orange little faces in a month or so. Isn't it interesting how it can grow right there right on the rock? Not much soil here but there are plenty of poppies sprouting up for us to enjoy.


Here is what our mullein looks like right now....all brown and the tops are covered in lots of seeds.

The Handbook of Nature Study says, "Later the capsule divides partially in quarters, opening wide enough to shake out the tiny seeds with every wandering blast. The seed, when seen through a lens is very pretty; it looks like a section of a corncob, pitted and ribbed." (page 538)

This is the most interesting of the dried weeds that we observed. I like the way the bottom of the stalk looks like it is the skirt of the plant.

I can't remember what this looks like in the spring or the summer....Does it have flowers? What do they look like? Now is the best part of the nature study experience. We get to watch this spot as the seasons progress and then see if we can identify it with our field guide. There is always something to learn and I am glad our Creator made us to be curious and he filled the world with interesting things to occupy our minds productively. (If you are a Bible reader: Ecclesiastes 3:10-14.)


Here is what it looks like close-up.


The top looks like this with its thin branching arms.


Our Queen Anne's Lace looks pretty much like it did in the autumn.We had planned to pull up a specimen to observe the roots but we have snow today! We will have to wait now until we can get outside to finish our study.


I couldn't decide on what I wanted for a journal entry this week so started a bulleted list of weeds we observed. I will add a few more as the month goes on and we see some more. I had room so I made a list of random other subjects we have come across this past week...sometimes it is just nice to have a little reminder to look back on in the years to come.

One last thing to share with you. Phyllis had this link in their winter weeds study:
Weed Collection Board - awesome idea!

People always ask me what journal I use and what pens I like so here you go. (You may need to click over to the blog itself to see the links.)

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #6 Salt Study and Winter Wednesday #6 Winter Weeds

Winter Weeds- Look for seeds, pods, or dried flowers.

This week's combination of challenges will give you two very different subjects to consider.

Winter Series #6 Salt Study
Winter Wednesday #6 Winter Weeds

                                                ***The salt experiments are a fun way to learn about an everyday subject that all of us have in our homes. You might find the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study an interesting read as part of this challenge.

***Winter weeds are one of my favorite winter nature study subjects. If you would like to participate, here are a few suggestions from the challenge
1. Collect a variety of seeds from weeds in your local area and sketch them in your nature journal.
2. Gather a few varieties of weeds and display them in a vase.
3. Pick a weed you know you have and print out a coloring page for your nature journal. 


Don't forget you can click over to my winter pages on Squidoo too for some winter nature study ideas.
Winter Series
Winter Wednesday


My daughter has graciously made available her Salt Study Lapbook pdf to go along with this challenge. Please click over to her blog at Hearts and Trees to read more about it!

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #5 Pine Trees and Winter Wednesday #5 Evergreens

Evergreens and Aspens

Another week where the challenges match up for you!

Winter Series #5 Pine Trees in Winter
Winter Wednesday #5 Evergreens/Cones

Please feel free to complete one or both of the challenges as you have the opportunity. We would all enjoy seeing your entries and even if it is at a later date, please come back to this entry and add your link.

Evergreens on the Lake's Edge

Don't forget to check the Winter Wednesday Squidoo page for more information for #4 and #5 challenges to go along with this week's study.


I forgot to mention last week with the winter weather challenge that my daughter has a Weather Lapbook Kit that you can purchase if you want to spend some extra time learning about your weather. Check it out on her blog Hearts and Trees. 

Weather, Weather, Weather....Nature Study in the Day to Day

We all have weather.....no doubt about it. Our family seems to notice the weather everyday and we often talk about how cold or how dry or how windy it is in comparison to last year or to the previous season. Sort of related this week, two family members came to me at separate times to tell me that the days are definitely getting longer. I had actually noticed it in the mornings and this morning in particular I realized that I did not need to turn the back lights on when I took the dog outside. The sky was just tinged with blue and the only luminary that I saw was Venus...nice and bright!

Weather Chart from the Autumn Series Ebook

We started this week keeping a daily record of our temperatures, sometimes several times a day just to see the variation. We compared this to our autumn study record that we kept in November 2010. There is virtually no difference except for perhaps we had more rain in November. We are going to keep going with our chart and see when we have a change in our weather.

Our tree silhouette study goes pretty much all winter so I had to try to come up with a new aspect to offer to the boys this week. We decided to note tree buds and to bring in some twigs from the forsythia bush to see if we can force some blooms.


Our sweet gum tree is already making some changes...the buds look like this right now.

Our birch is looking pretty much the same, it is in a shadier and cooler part of the yard.


The forsythia twigs are all gathered in a vase, sitting in the front window. I will let you know when and if they blossom.

Hope you had a great week of winter nature study and are getting outdoors a little each week to discover some interesting things in your part of the world.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #4 Winter Weather and Winter Wednesday #4 Tree Silhouettes

Fallen Leaf Lake Snowshoe Hike

Here are this week's challenges:

Outdoor Hour Challenge #4 Winter Weather Study 
Winter Wednesday #4 Tree Silhouettes -More ideas for this study can be found on Squidoo.

These two challenges can easily be combined into one outdoor excursion. Both challenges can also be done from the comfort of your own window if it is bitterly cold outdoors. Observations can be made and then recorded in your nature journal or if you have the ebooks you can record your findings on the accompanying notebook pages. I have a free Seasonal Weather Notebook Page on Scribd if you would like to have that one for your follow-up activity.

Snowshoe Tracks with Aspen Silhouettes

Even if you don't do anything else this week, try to get outside for some fresh air and a good walk with your children.

Please feel free to complete one or both of the challenges as you have the opportunity. We would all enjoy seeing your entries and even if it is at a later date, please come back to this entry and add your link. I am listing all the entries in this series on the sidebar of my blog for you to add to as you have time. You are never "late" and you can add links whenever you have the chance.

Our Winter Sky Studies

Beautiful Pink and Lavender Sunset

We have been out a few nights in the past week to gaze at stars even if it was for just a minute or two. The moon was very bright and we even saw it early in the morning a couple of times, peeking out from between the pines on the horizon. I think the moon impressed us more than the stars. We have been focusing on stars all this school year so I just went with what the boys were interested in learning about.  The next full moon is on February 18, 2011 and is know as the Full Snow Moon.



I ordered a new book for them because of their interest in learning more about the Apollo landings on the moon and the Apollo program in general. I know it doesn't look like a very deep book but it gets builds their interest and helps them to know what they can research more on their own. It is another one of those books that I will keep on the coffee table for a few months and let them browse it at their leisure.

The other interesting subject that came our way was a bat! We were out at sunset and here was a bat flying and swooping around our backyard. We were surprised to see him but it was fun to watch as he flew around and around putting on an acrobatic show.

Purple Sunrise...Looking West

My son pointed out this purple sunrise sky...this is facing west so the sunrise is behind us. It is the same spot that the very top photo was taken at sunset. I had a hard time getting the color right and had to take about twenty images on different settings to get it to come out. It was really this purple.



If you are looking for a journal to use over long periods of time for star gazing (or moon gazing), we found a perfect one that my son has been using all year.


It is called Stargazing Journal and it has pre-printed pages for you to record each night time session you have. There is even a place on the page for a sketch of your observations. I like that it is hardbound and has an elastic closure.

I have really enjoyed reading other family's star entries and I encourage you all to give it a try. It doesn't even need to be a long session but just calling attention to the winter sky's beauty is even enough if that is all you can fit in. Do a sunset or a sunrise study if you can manage that for this challenge. I guarantee if you put in the effort, you will be rewarded.

Have a great week and I will post up the next challenge tomorrow.

Don't forget to submit your January Outdoor Hour Challenge and Winter Wednesday entries to the OHC Blog Carnival. The deadline is this coming Monday, January 31st.

Entry Form for the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 and Winter Wednesday #3 Winter Sky

"After the polar constellations are learned, we are then ready for further study in the still earlier evenings of winter, when the clear atmosphere makes the stars seem more alive, more sparkling, and more beautiful than at any other period of the year."
Handbook of Nature Study, page 823

We have been enjoying the full moon and the brilliant stars just about every night this week. We also were observing the moon this morning when it was still up over the tree tops first thing....amazing. We tried to capture our moon with the camera but it is pretty tricky. This is the perfect winter study for our family and I hope you get to give it a try too.

Here are the links to this week's challenges:

Winter Series #3 Winter Sky (stars and moon)
Winter Wednesday #3 Winter Sky (constellations)

Please feel free to complete one or both of the challenges as you have the opportunity. We would all enjoy seeing your entries and even if it is at a later date, please come back to this entry and add your link. I am listing all the entries in this series on the sidebar of my blog for you to add to as you have time. You are never "late" and you can add links whenever you have the chance.

Don't forget to check in with the additional webpages for these sets of challenges:

Winter Wednesday

Winter Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges 

Winter Nature Walks 

My Thoughts on Purchasing Discover Nature in Winter - Ebook Version Available

I am writing this because I have had so many emails about the frustration of not being able to find this book for purchase at a reasonable price. I understand that you would like to own a copy of this wonderful book but I would never encourage you to pay more than about $20 for it. This book is a valuable reference but it is NOT worth the prices that I see used around the internet. Honestly $58 and $80 were the two cheapest copies I could find this morning.

I did however find that you can purchase this as an ebook through Powell's Books from Google Ebooks.
http://www.powells.com/biblio/95-3330000125360-0
I am assuming it is the same book that I have but in ebook format. It has the same number of pages and the same copyright date.

I knew the availability of this book was an issue and that is why I rewrote the Winter Wednesday challenges for the current ebook. I wanted to write them in such a way that you did not absolutely need the Discover Nature in Winter book to participate. Of course there is a wealth of information in the book that is not discussed in the Winter Wednesday ebook but you will still have a great winter nature study experience if all you do is follow the instructions and links in the fresh challenges.

Even the original challenges were written for families to complete without the book. Every challenge has a section that says that it is for families who do not have access to the book.

So you have a few choices:

• Purchase the ebook and print it yourself or read it from your computer. 
• Work through the challenges without owning the book and enjoy the suggestions given in the challenges.
• Hold out for a used reasonably priced book.

I hope this helps you make an informed decision about the Discover Nature in Winter book.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom



You can read all about this new ebook in this ENTRY.

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #2 Winter Tree Study and Winter Wednesday #2 Snow

Get Outside And Experience Your Winter World

Here are the links to this week's challenges:

Winter Series #2 Winter Tree Study 
Winter Wednesday #2 World of Snow 

Even if you don't have snow...take a Winter Nature Walk. Click HERE for nature walk ideas to print out for your family. Please feel free to complete one or both of the challenges as you have the opportunity. We would all enjoy seeing your entries and even if it is at a later date, please come back to this entry and add your link. I am listing all the entries in this series on the sidebar of my blog for you to add to as you have time. You are never "late" and you can add links whenever you have the chance.

Don't forget to check in with the additional webpages for these sets of challenges:

Winter Wednesday

Winter Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges 

Winter Nature Walks 

Whose Woods These Are.... Winter Nature Study #1

"Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow."

Robert Frost

Few lines from Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, 1923.

Our Winter Wednesday color walk and cattail observations were combined into one snowy hike....snowshoes firmly attached. It started off with 18 degree weather but by the time we finished it was around 40 degrees, sun shining brightly. There was lots of snow in our favorite woods.....it brought to mind the Robert Frost poem that we have been reading in our poetry study the past few weeks.

We started off with not much aim other than looking for colors and finding the cattail pond. I decided that it is nice to have something in mind as we head out in the really cold air....otherwise you keep your eyes down and forget to look up and out.

The color palette of this snowy world is actually quite beautiful. The blue sky, the evergreen pines, the red-yellow-orange of the shrubs, the colorful lichens, and the blue of the lake really stand out against all the snow.


Our cattails this year are quite secluded and we aren't even sure if we will be able to get out here since we think this is marshy in the spring and summer. It will be interesting to see how the terrain changes by the season.


Look at the mountain covered with snow! The colors really pop when you have all this whiteness going on...blue sky, reddish-oranges of the willow and dogwood, green evergreens.


It seems unlikely that we would get lost but we did wander around following someone else's path. It is a really good idea to have in mind a route when you are out in the woods like this. We knew our general direction but you get tired trudging through large amounts of snow even with snowshoes on. (I also got hot...too many layers.) Our problem was that there are two large creeks that run through the snowy meadows and if you don't plan it right you are stuck on one side with the water running between you and the rest of the path. I could see where animals had just jumped across the gap but with snowshoes on, you don't jump very well. We had to find a way to go around.


Another factor is that with all this snow, our familiar landmarks are erased. The bushes are flat with snow and there is far more water than we are used to.All those lumps are bushes weighed down with a couple feet of snow. You can't really hike over the top. Going around again.


In the end, we made it back to the car by following the creek and finding the bridge. It was a wonderful romp through the woods, successful in refreshing our hearts with some wonderful awesome vistas that you would never see if you didn't break out the snowshoes or cross-country skis.

I am going to add this to the first week's Winter Series Mr. Linky and I encourage you to do your own color walk and find a patch of cattails to study.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom