Nature Study and Digital Photography: Would Anna Botsford Comstock Approve?

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All three of my sons enjoy digital photography to capture our time outdoors.

A love of the natural world does not come automatically for all children and sometimes we need to find a way to hook them into getting outdoors. We live in a world of "wired" children....they have a lot of screen time each week as part of their normal routines. How do we get these children to move from their indoor screen to one that they can take outdoors?

Digital photography

• It slows them down.
• Helps them focus and really see an object.
• Everyday things in their own backyard can now be captured and viewed.
• They can see the beauty.
• They make their own connections.
• Perfect for our teens...they are comfortable with the technology and love to share with their friends.

My teens both had cameras on last year's trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons. They took amazing images.

Would Anna Botsford Comstock and Charlotte Mason have approved of this use of technology in the natural world? I think they would have accepted that sometimes we need to help our children make connections in a way that is comfortable to them. If our 21st Century children are using technology on a regular basis, they are going to find it an easier transition to move from inside screen time to outside time with the aid of a digital camera.

Using this month's Insect Grid (from the September newsletter) and a digital camera might be just the invitation your child needs to get started on their own outdoor experiences this month. There is also the Bug's Eye View activity and notebook page from last week that could encourage a little outdoor time and allow some creativity. You don't need to travel far to capture great images with your digital camera...your own backyard will reveal some interesting subjects for even the youngest photographer.

One of Mr. D's calendar images.

I have encouraged my children to take digital photos for a long time now. This past summer, I challenged my oldest son to capture six images for next year's family calendar. He blew me away with his nature photography! They are all stunning....I shared one of the photos above.



At some point we can hope that the technology is put away and our children just enjoy being outside but don't overlook the power of digital photography to get your kids outside and exploring. 

Additional Links for More Information:

• 11 Simple Tips for Kids: Nature Photography from National Wildlife
• Digital Photography Helps Wired Kids Plug Into Nature - excellent article with lots of research to back up their thoughts
• A Closer Look by Richard Louv - from the man himself

Outdoor Hour Challenge- Seasonal Study: Queen Anne's Lace

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If you don't have Queen Anne's Lace to study, try the Getting Started suggestion in this post.

Outdoor Hour Challenge:
This week's Outdoor Hour Challenge is from the Archives and the beginning of a potential year-long study of Queen Anne's Lace. Please see the following Autumn Queen Anne's Lace challenge for suggested activities to get your started. This is a study that you can repeat in every season for a complete year to see the life cycle of this interesting plant. Here are the past resources for Queen Anne's Lace.

Autumn Queen Anne's Lace (Autumn challenge 2010 ebook) Winter Queen Anne's Lace Notebook Page (Winter 2011) Spring Queen Anne's Lace Notebook Page (Spring 2011)
Queen Anne's Lace Notebook Page from Jimmie's Collage for Summer (Summer Challenge 2011) 
(Note that it works better to right click the link and "save link as" and then print.

Please Note:
If you are interested in connecting your insect study and your study of Queen Anne's Lace, do some careful observations of your plant for signs of insects. Follow up your outdoor time with some time spent identifying your insects.

"Children should be encouraged to make notes about the same plants or birds for several consecutive years. Each year will bring some new things to their notice and a fuller knowledge of the ways and habits of their subject." The Charm of Nature Study, 1930

Printable Notebook Page:
This week the challenge extra is another notebook page. Make four copies and use one in each of the up-coming seasons to record your Queen Anne's Lace observations.

Seasonal Observations Queen Anne's Lace - Use this notebook page in each of the four seasons to record you careful observations. Use the suggestions in the challenges listed above to guide your study.



Getting Started Suggestion:
You can complete Challenge #2 Using Your Words and the accompanying notebook page if you have the ebook. This would be especially helpful if you do not have any Queen Anne's Lace to observe.

If you need an explanation of how the Outdoor Hour Challenge is going to work from this day forward, please read this entry:
Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge - How to Steps and Explanation.

You are welcome to submit any of you blog Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Entries for the current month are due on 9/29/12.








Shared this on Jen's Friday FreeBEE.

Icky Bug Book Giveaway: Introducing Insects to Little Ones

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I love this little board book so much that it gets its own entry on my blog. :)

The Icky Bug Alphabet bookis a great way to introduce your little ones to insects without overwhelming them. This book has clear illustrations with simple text that will appeal to even young school age children.

Insects can be a little creepy and scary to some young ones so perhaps having a book that presents them in a non-threatening way they will avoid the apprehension that many of us have about creeping and flying insects.





In fact, I love this book so much that I am going to give one away! Please see the Rafflecopter gadget in this entry for more details. Act fast because the giveaway will end on October 1, 2012 at Midnight!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please note that the giveaway is only open to US residents and I cannot ship outside the US. See the Rafflecopter gadget for the complete terms and conditions.

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Insects and September Newsletter Edition

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So how has your month gone with the Outdoor Hour Challenge focus on insects using the newsletter and weekly ideas? Our family has enjoyed the easy way we can incorporate nature study into a very busy high school week. I love having a month long focus.

Would you like an example of how one family used the Insect Study Grid, the Insect Study notebook page, and the small square study this month? Get ready to see how simple it was and how successful they were in their efforts!
Sarah from Granwood Explorers shares their entry: Outdoor Hour-Focusing on Insects. What an excellent month they had and what a great example for the rest of us!

Get ready for one fully loaded blog carnival! What a great month of nature study from all over the world!

Ant Study

Andrea from The Loopy Homeschooler shared their ant study using the insect printable from my blog.

Andrea at the Loopy Homeschooler shares their ant study with the carnival. They were actually able to identify their ants and her daughter created an awesome nature journal entry using the Insect Study notebook page from the ant challenge. Read all about it: Outdoor Hour Challenge #3.

Leah from The Making of a Mom has joined the OHC carnival for the very first time! She submits this entry: Nature Study Co-Op September (Ants) for us all to read. What a lot of happy faces and so many interesting discoveries! I really enjoyed reading about their co-op and so will you.

Leah from The Making of A Mom shares their Insect Grid Study

Insect Study Grid

Shirley Ann from Under An English Sky submits their Insect Grid Study. She says, "My youngest has decided that she prefers the notebooking pages to keeping a journal, so she used her grid as a notebooking page, adding some finds to the back of the page." It is wonderful to see families adapting the OHC to fit their style of learning. You don't want to miss her awesome images of colored insects in this post as well.

Tricia from Hodgepodge shares How Summer Nature Study Complements High School Biology.  What a wonderful entry for the carnival! Tricia shows how they have been looking for insects and pulling in their high school biology work to make a wonderful mix of fun and learning.

Bugs, Insects, Butterflies, and Creepy Crawlies-Oh My! from Cristy at Crafty Cristy documents their insect study so far using the Insect Grid Study and Insect List found in the newsletter. I learned a few things about cicadas in her entry and they are definitely learning a lot this month about insects. They have also shared their September Insect List for you to view along with images.

Rachel's American Grasshopper

Rachel from All Things Bright and Beautiful has put together their month long study of insects into a gorgeous entry with images you will want your kids to see: Buggy Bugs. Which image is your favorite?

Fall Insect Walk! Angie from Petra School has submitted this wonderful example of a fall insect walk with her boys. I always appreciate their casual in-their-own-backyard nature study time and Angie's images really tell the story. Angie and her boys would like to also share their Queen Anne's Lace entry with carnival readers. They were able to incorporate some insect observations along with their QAL time...don't miss the grasshopper image in their entry!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #22 is where Catherine from Grace to Abide decided to start their insect study.  They were able to identify a few of their butterfly finds from a local park and then they visited a butterfly garden. I agree with her...butterfly gardens are magical!

Virginia from Livin' Lovin' and Learnin' shares their entry The Grid-Sept 2012 Insects showing how their family of children of all ages has enjoyed this month's focus. Another magnificent grasshopper photo in this entry! They also completed a study of a specific insect, the Illia Underwing Moth. What a beautiful creation to observe up close. One last entry from this family....Golden Ponds Nature Walk. They found many interesting and seasonal subjects to enjoy and share with all of you. Thanks for a glimpse into your nature study this month.

Carol's really big stick insect sitting on a camellia bush: Journey and Destination.

Carol shares their September Nature Notebook entry with the carnival this time around. They live in Australia where it is spring and everything is coming alive. Check out their really big stick insect! She also shares some wonderful images of other creatures they have observed this month including a Eastern water dragon!

Jenny Anne from Royal Little Lambs shares their Creepy Crawlies entry with the carnival. It must be the season for grasshoppers!

Heidi from Home Schoolroom has written up their Focusing on Insects and Spiders entry for you to enjoy. They incorporated the ideas from the newsletter and OHC Challenge #4 - Finding a Focus to continue a month long study of insects and spiders. Perfect!

Nadene from Practical Pages has submitted a round-up of their September insect studies using the newsletter and challenge ideas: Nature Study and OHC September. You are in for a treat because she shares their very well done nature journals to inspire you and your children.

Lauren from Serving From Home has written up their monthly nature study entry: Our September Nature Studies-Insects and Apples.  They have done a great job this month with their observations, outdoor time, and nature journals. What an encouraging entry!

Nicole from Journey to Excellence shares their month of nature study.  You are welcome to read their Small Square Study and their Insect Grid experiences. She also found a pretty white plant that she thought was Queen Anne's Lace but it turned out not to be: Queen Anne's Lace.  She would appreciate some help in identifying her mystery plant.

Sara from Garner Goings On shares their entry Saying Goodbye to Swallowtails and Cicadas for carnival readers. Check out her beautiful images and the final video of a swallowtail emerging from its chrysalis. 

Potpourri
Carey Jane Clark who blogs at enCouragement joins the carnival this month with her entry: Our Nature Study Backpack. She shares how they are using the newsletter study grid and a well prepared backpack to aid their nature study in China.

Michelle from Following the Footprints submits their very first two Outdoor Hour Challenges: Challenge #1 and Challenge #2. I think this quote from one of her entries sums her experience up well, "I felt so empowered by my success in identifying two plants that it changed the way I looked at nature for the rest of the week.  All of a sudden, I was looking at trees in parking lots and across the street wondering what those trees were.  I saw a beautiful brown and black bird in my backyard and I wondered what that was.  And I am so excited to find out!  Such a change in me in so little time!"

Kim from A Child's Garden shares their unexpected nature study: Puffballs!  She does a great job of explaining what they are and her images are interesting too.

Look at those little feather collectors! Image from Michelle at Following the Footprints

Michelle has also submitted their Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 for you to read. They are humming right along with their family nature study, and this time it is in their very own backyard! One last entry from this enthusiastic family: Outdoor Hour Challenge #4. So many things to like about this entry and I think they accomplished Challenge #4 very well with their feather collections in the nature journals.

Ann from Harvest Moon By Hand has put together their Hummingbirds-Outdoor Hour Challenge entry for you to enjoy.  Take a look at their Minnesota hummingbird study and be inspired! They were also able to complete their Red Birds Challenge from the Handbook of Nature Study. Ann says, "It was as if the birds that had red on them knew we were learning about them today. Such an inspiring and uplifting afternoon!" What a treat!

Makita from Academia Celestia shares their Exploring the Redwoods study with the carnival.  They were able to observe two different groves of redwoods here in California and follow up with additional reading and journals. They also had some unexpected insect study: Looking for Birds, We Discovered Caterpillars. Read their Water Quality Monitoring entry to learn more about their participation in worthwhile citizen science projects.


Don't forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in October are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 10/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com or submit them at the blog carnival site (link on the sidebar of my blog).

Queen Anne's Lace in Autumn

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We live in an area where Queen Anne’s Lace is abundant and it is a constant part of the scenery all summer long. It lines the roads and fills the empty fields. I am always aware of it now as we hike and spend time outdoors. It makes me think about Anna Botsford Comstock’s words:

“The object of this lesson should be to show the pupils how this weed survives the winter and how it is able to grow where it is not wanted. The weed is very common along most country roadsides, and in many pastures and meadows. It blossoms very late in the autumn, and is available for lessons often as late as November.” Handbook of Nature Study

This year however our family noticed a difference in our summer time Queen Anne’s Lace. Instead of the really tall towering plants with loads of blossoms, we only had short plants which were sparsely covered with flower heads. Our growing season has been very unusual with hotter and drier conditions than the last few years. We are reasoning that that is the cause of the smaller plants. It will be interesting to see the crop that sprouts next year and then make some more comparisons.

Some more Autumn weeds to enjoy.

This is the joy of a year-long nature study of any subject, getting your eyes to see the changes not only from season to season but from year to year.

You may wish to read my Autumn Queen Anne's Lace entry from 2010 where we looked very carefully at the seeds of this plant.  You can complete your own study using this year's Queen Anne's Lace challenge along with a free printable notebook page.

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter -October 2012

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October 2012: Trees - Year Round
This month the newsletter and Friday challenges will center on a focused study of trees. Trees are a terrific topic of nature study no matter the season....there is always something interesting to observe.

This edition of the newsletter contains loads of ideas to get you started and make it fun for your family.

• October Grid Study and Bookmark with the tree theme.
• Two tree study notebook pages
• Special nature journal idea
• Book review and study plan
• Three articles from contributing writers
• Show and tell photos from fellow Outdoor Hour Challenge participants
• Short list of my favorite tree related links
• Explanation of how the Outdoor Hour Challenge works (reprint from last month for new readers)

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 October. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter link 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.

Note: You can download your newsletter from the link in two ways:

1. If your link is clickable, right click the link and then "save link as" to save the file on your computer.
2. If the link is not clickable, cut and paste the link to your browser, open, and then save your newsletter to your computer.

Queen Anne's Lace in Autumn

To contact us Click HERE

We live in an area where Queen Anne’s Lace is abundant and it is a constant part of the scenery all summer long. It lines the roads and fills the empty fields. I am always aware of it now as we hike and spend time outdoors. It makes me think about Anna Botsford Comstock’s words:

“The object of this lesson should be to show the pupils how this weed survives the winter and how it is able to grow where it is not wanted. The weed is very common along most country roadsides, and in many pastures and meadows. It blossoms very late in the autumn, and is available for lessons often as late as November.” Handbook of Nature Study

This year however our family noticed a difference in our summer time Queen Anne’s Lace. Instead of the really tall towering plants with loads of blossoms, we only had short plants which were sparsely covered with flower heads. Our growing season has been very unusual with hotter and drier conditions than the last few years. We are reasoning that that is the cause of the smaller plants. It will be interesting to see the crop that sprouts next year and then make some more comparisons.

Some more Autumn weeds to enjoy.

This is the joy of a year-long nature study of any subject, getting your eyes to see the changes not only from season to season but from year to year.

You may wish to read my Autumn Queen Anne's Lace entry from 2010 where we looked very carefully at the seeds of this plant.  You can complete your own study using this year's Queen Anne's Lace challenge along with a free printable notebook page.

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Tree Study Grid

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Outdoor Hour Challenge:
This week we will be using the Tree Study Grid from the October 2012 Newsletter. Print the grid out, cut it to include in your nature journal, and then take a few minutes during your week to complete some of the suggested activities. If you haven't subscribed to the blog yet, you can do so now and you will receive the newsletter link in the next entry.

 
Printable Activity Notebook Page:
This week the challenge extra is a free printable activity notebook page.

My Tree Is A Living World: Record all the living things you find in the tree you observe. Remember to look high, low, on the bark, on the leaves, in the crown, and on the branches. If you don't know what something is, record a description and then look it up after you return home.


Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own this ebook, this week's challenge would be a great addition to Challenge #6: Starting a Collection. Read the challenge for simple ideas to get you started with a nature collection. You could focus this month on collecting things related to trees.

Pictured above is our very casual collection of tree related items and misc natural objects. There are seeds, acorns, nuts, peeled tree bark, galls, leaves, moss, and a few small twigs. These sit right on top of our nature table.

If you need an explanation of how the Outdoor Hour Challenge is going to work from this day forward, please read this entry:
Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge - How to Steps and Explanation.





You are welcome to submit any of you blog Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Entries for the current month are due on 10/30/12.

Romantic Vacations Arizona

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Srp Power Arizona

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Syrian Plane 'Carried Russian Munitions'

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Turkey's Prime Minister says a Syrian plane forced to land in Ankara was carrying Russian-made munitions destined for Damascus.

Tayyip Erdogan has said a Syrian passenger plane from Moscow which was forced to land in Ankara was carrying Russian-made munitions.

It's believed the arms were destined for Syria's defence ministry.

The Airbus A320, which had 37 passengers on board, was escorted to Ankara airport by F-16 fighter jets where the Turkish authorities seized some of its cargo.

"We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres against civilians," said Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

None of the planes passengers were arrested, and all were allowed to travel on to Syria.

The Syrian authorities say the plane was carrying civilian electrical equipment and has described the interception as an act of piracy. Read More

Barry Thew Jailed for Eight Months For Wearing Police Deaths T-Shirt

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A man who wore a T-shirt emblazoned with anti-police comments just hours after the killings of two policewomen has been jailed for eight months.

Barry Thew, 39, was spotted in his home town of Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, wearing a T-shirt which carried the handwritten comments "One less pig; perfect justice" and "Killacopforfun.com haha".

Less than four hours earlier, PCs Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, had been shot dead in a gun and grenade attack as they responded to a reported burglary on the Hattersley estate in Mottram, Greater Manchester. Read More

Hizbollah Admits Sending Drone Over Israel

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Hizbollah has confirmed it sent an Iranian-made drone which Israel shot down last weekend.

The leader of the militant group made the admission after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Lebanese based group of sending the drone.

"We are acting with determination to protect our borders," Mr Netanyahu said during a visit to the frontier with Egypt.

"As we prevented last weekend an attempt by Hezbollah. We shall continue to act aggressively against all threats".

Israel says the drone was not carrying explosives and appeared to be on a reconnaissance mission. Read More

Ashleigh Davis Sues Florida Police 'Who Beat Her'

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A Florida woman is suing police who she claims knocked out her teeth and left her half-naked while she was being arrested.

Ashleigh Davis and a friend were detained on charges of being drunk and disorderly at Leesburg's BikeFest in April.

Images taken from a police video appears to show her topless on the floor, with her legs and arms cuffed, and surrounded by male officers.

"(They) handcuffed my hands to my feet and then took a tie and tied it around, then carried me like a suitcase and threw me on the back of a golf cart," Ms Davis told WFTV.

The 32-year-old from Ocala said her bikini top came off while she was being restrained and she was then led through the crowd before being taken to the Leesburg Police Department.

She said the abuse continued at the station. She is seen kicking and fighting with the officers and admits biting one and drawing blood in the struggle. Read More

Seven Royal Marines Held Over Afghan Murder

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Seven Royal Marines have been arrested on suspicion of murder over an incident in Afghanistan last year.

The arrests by the Royal Military Police relate to a killing which happened after "an engagement with an insurgent", the Ministry of Defence said.

No civilians were involved.

The Ministry of Defence said: "The investigation will now be taken forward and dealt with by the Service Justice system.

"These arrests demonstrate the Department and the Armed Forces' determination to ensure UK personnel act in accordance with their Rules of Engagement and our standards.

"It would be inappropriate to make any further comment while the investigation is under way."

More follows...

Up-Close Insect Observations and a Relaxed Form of Nature Study

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This past month saw a return of the Outdoor Hour Challenge to a more topical approach as opposed to a seasonal approach. For our family, it breathed new life into our time outdoors and although we had a focus we were much more open to letting things just happen.

As we gardened, sat outside for our dinners, and traveled to various local locations, the insect topics came to us and we worked on paying close attention to the opportunities. This truly is the kind of nature study that interweaves itself into your everyday life, the kind you can do just about every day.


We were trimming lavender when we noticed this foamy white globs on many of the plants. We knew right away that it was some sort of insect that was creating these globs but we were not sure which insect. When we were back inside, I Googled "white foam on lavender" and right away we could easily see this was a common search. There were many resources that all pointed to the Spittlebug.


After doing some reading online, we found that it is many times found on rosemary plants too so we went out to look. Yes! There it was on our rosemary plants.

• They are related to aphids. 
• They feed by extracting plant sap. 
• Nymphs cover themselves with a frothy mass that provides protection from predators. 
• There can be more than one nymph in a glob. 
• Oh, and the "spittle" is not spittle at all and actually comes from the other end of the insect. :)

Although they can do minimal damage to plants (according to most sources we read online), we decided to take the advice of most and just wash the globs off with the hose. Easy enough.


We have had a huge increase in the number of flying insects in the front garden. The sage, the butterfly bushes, and the lavender are all still in bloom and each day there are hundreds of flying creatures that come to enjoy the flowery goodness. The fiery skipper above is the most common butterfly we have in our garden at this time of year. Isn't it amazing to see all the parts up close? Can you see the probiscus?


The bees are thick and it makes me realize how easy it is to provide a healthy bee habitat. Plant bee friendly plants and provide even the smallest amount of water and they find you. We had a visitor the other day ask if we were afraid of bee stings and I honestly answered that even though we are in close contact with the bees, they avoid us more than we avoid them.


The flying insect we do have trouble with is the yellow jacket. We had to put up a trap for them because they were stinging my son.....who somehow seems to attract them. Every evening when we sit outside to eat our dinner, one or two of the pesky little insects come to buzz around us and our plates of food. They are very persistent this year for some reason. I think this is the fourth time we have had to rebait our yellow jacket trap. This style has been very successful for us and it is very economical to use since you just buy little packets to bait the trap after it gets full. (You can buy them on Amazon: Rescue WHYTR-BB8 Wasp Hornet Yellow Jacket Trap Reusable.)


I have been thinking a lot about the relationship between native plants, non-native plants, and insects since reading a book on this topic. Bringing Nature Home is another one of the books I received from Timber Press to review and share with you in a post. This book goes more deeply into how introducing non-native plants into our habitats creates an environment that can make life harder for native insects and plants.

It is far more in-depth than I could grasp on the first time through reading it but it has given me lots to think about. It is a book that makes me wish I was staring over with choosing plants for our whole yard but since I can't do that, I can look forward and make better choices in the future.

If you are interested in reading and learning about how plants and insects (and other creatures), both native and non-native, thrive or die because of choices we humans make....this is the book for you. I am going to read it through again once I have some time to think and meditate on my responsibility as a garden owner.


We are still experiencing temperatures far above normal and the abundance of sunshine has drawn us out into the garden just about every day this week. We did lots of pruning and composting but we are still delaying our actual autumn garden clean-up until we see a change in the weather. The birds and insects and I suspect a skunk and raccoon are still frequenting our garden and enjoying the food source.



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

Me and My Tree: New Pinterest Board Photo Project

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Since this month's theme is trees, I thought it might be fun to start a new photo challenge featuring trees.

Here is the challenge:
1. Take a photo of your child (or yourself) with a tree you observe during October 2012.
2. Join my new Pinterest board: Me and My Tree. You can email me with your Pinterest name and I will add you to the board.
3. Pin your photo to the group board. Make sure to leave the tree name in the description and your state and/or country. You do not have to show your child's face if you don't want to...be creative.

I look forward to seeing your trees!



Edit to add:
Hearts and Trees just posted a free printable Digital Camera Fall Scavenger Hunt activity on her blog! It is awesome so click over and grab your copy now!

Outdoor Hour Challenge -Oaks and Acorns

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We are starting a new theme for the month of October - Trees! 
For this whole month we will be enjoying trees in our backyards and neighborhoods during our Outdoor Hour time and then following up with some exciting activities. Make sure you are subscribed to my blog and you will get the download link for the October Newsletter in the next blog entry mailed to your inbox.



Outdoor Hour Challenge:
One of the most popular trees that we study here on the Handbook of Nature Study is the oak tree. The oak has many interesting aspects including its leaves, bark, acorns, and the habitat that it provides to animals and birds. This week you can choose one of the previous oak tree challenges to complete when you find an oak tree subject. Make sure to read the suggested pages in the Handbook of Nature Study. Keep your eyes out for oaks and acorns!

Oaks and Acorns (2009 Autumn Series)

Oak and Leaf Activity Suggestion:
This week the challenge extra is a creative way to slow down and look at leaves.

Source: artfulparent.typepad.com via Barb on Pinterest
This project which came from The Artful Parent (via Pinterest) is a simple activity where you collect leaves and then thread them onto a stick. I love the variety of shapes and colors and as we work our way through October there should be an opportunity for your family to collect and then make a leaf stick. We found this works best with leaves that are not too dry and brittle. Make sure to include photos of your leaf sticks in your blog entries and then submit them to the blog carnival.

You also may be interested in trying some of the ideas in this Hearts and Trees entry: Things to Do With Acorns. 


Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own this ebook, this week's challenge would be a great addition to Challenge #10-An Outdoor Picnic. Find a majestic oak or another tall tree to spread a picnic blanket underneath and enjoy as you have a snack or meal. Bring along a book to read (see widget below for some suggestions).



If you need an explanation of how the Outdoor Hour Challenge is going to work from this day forward, please read this entry:
Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge - How to Steps and Explanation.




You are welcome to submit any of you blog Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Entries for the current month are due on 10/30/12.