[Nature Study} :: Deepening my Observation

I have just started digging into "The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling". Right from the beginning, several gems caught my attention...techniques to help my journaling and to share as fun and easy skills to pass along to my children.

I am going to share the results of how Mr. Laws helped me to observe in ways I had never considered before...and it is exciting! These are prompts from the Curiosity section of the book (pages 6-7). 

Prompts to deepen observation:
I notice...
I wonder...
It reminds me of...

My Nature Journal Pages

I notice...
Just take some moments to observe, examine, and see your subject-matter from various perspectives.

I wonder...
Come up with questions about your subject that you are curious about.

It reminds me of...
Anything goes here! (I thought this was fun) ...anything from a previous experience, a factoid or a physical object that may not even have anything to do with the subject-matter.

At the core of all science are insatiable curiosity and deep observation,

qualities that lead to the best kind of learning:

learning motivated by your intrinsic wonder, hunger to understand, and ability to observe.

-John Muir Laws

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{Keeping} :: My Commonplace

On Deliverance

Now I began to construe the words mentioned above, "Call on me, and I will deliver you," in a different sense from what I had ever done before; for then I had no notion of any thing being called deliverance, but my being delivered from the activity I was in; for tho' I was indeed at large in the place, yet the island was certainly a prison to me, and that in the worst sense in the world; but now I learned to take it in another sense. Now I looked back upon my past life with such horror, and my sins appeared so dreadful, that my soul sought nothing of God but deliverance from the load of guilt that bore down all my comfort: as for my solitary life, it was nothing; I did not so much as pray to be delivered from it, or think of it; it was all of no consideration in comparison to this. And I add this part here, to hint to whoever shall read it, that whenever they come to a true sense of things, they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing than deliverance from affliction.

Robinson Crusoe 

Daniel Defoe

Ch 12, p111

2016's First Nature Study

As I was attempting to plan for a good start to our Nature Study outings, I was so glad to have Barb's January Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter in my inbox for inspiration!

I printed off her planning page, skimmed through Comstock's guide, made a few notes about the pine trees in our neighborhood, then was ready to go the following day with the kids in tow.

It was a chilly day, but we enjoyed finding out some interesting things about the Afghan Pines we have planted here (For more info on this pine species, see here and here). They are non-natives, originating from southern Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. One of the best desert pines, they thrive in heat and drought. A good thing for our Texas summers!

We used some of the lesson questions in the Handbook of Nature Study itself that Barb highlighted and focused on the tree as a whole, then its smaller parts/characteristics. We did several entries in our Nature Journals, so this has taken place over the past two weeks.

A sampling of our outings and drawings ...

Alice amidst the trees

"The dark foliage outlined against wintry skies appeals to the imagination,

and well it may, for it represents an ancient tree costume.

...

They stand among us, representatives of an ancient race,

and wrap their green foliage about them as an Indian sachem does his blanket,

in calm disregard of modern fashion of attire."

-HONS, p670

curly bark

two needles per sheath

my entry

a little monkeying around

doing some needle rubbings

their favorite tree

these are the pine cones (female)

these are the pollen cones (male)

a look at our tree sketches

back home to sketch pine cones

"The appearance of the unripe cone is another convincing evidence that mathematics is the basis of the beautiful. The pattern of the overlapping scales is intricate and yet regular - to appreciate it one needs to try to sketch it. Beneath each scale, when it opens wide, we find nestled at its base two little seeds; each provided with a little wing so that it can sail off with the wind to find a place to grow."

-HONS, p672

"The shape of the scales of the cone is another distinguishing characteristic of the pine, 

and sketching the outside of scales from several different species of pine cones will develop the pupils' powers of observation."

-HONS, p672

{Keeping} :: My Commonplace

I actually finished Davy Crockett's Own Story, as written by himself a few weeks ago. I noticed it sitting by my bedside tonight with a bookmark still stuck a little past halfway. Remembering I do this to mark something I want to enter in my Commonplace, I decided I'd best take a look because I didn't remember if I ended up transcribing what important words Mr. Crockett penned. Turns out I hadn't!

So here it is, a modernized, frontier-style Davidic psalm, if you will... beautiful.

We were alone in the wilderness, but all things told me that God was there.

The thought renewed my strength and courage.

I had left my country, felt somewhat like an outcast, believed that I had been neglected and lost sight of:

but I was now conscious that there was still one watchful Eye over me;

no matter whether I dwelt in the populous cities, or threaded the pathless forest alone;

no matter whether I stood in the high places among men, or made my solitary lair in the untrodden wild,

that Eye was still upon me.

My very soul leaped joyfully at the thought;

I never felt so grateful in all my life;

I never loved my God so sincerely in all my life.

I felt that I still had a friend.

p269-270

{Keeping} :: October's Firsts

As the calendar changed from September to October, the weather finally caught a clue that it really is autumn now! We are so happy to enjoy the changing seasons again. I just love fall. It is my favorite time of year. It is the primary season I truly missed when we lived in the jungle. I don't ever remember not enjoying autumnal changes before; however, after not having them for several years, I can honestly say that I am more thankful for the colorful beauty, the more filtered light and more pleasant temperatures that autumn brings.

HAPPY AUTUMN!

From my Calendar of Firsts this month:

1 - gayfeather blooms & cooler daytime temperatures (80s finally!)

15 - gayfeather blooms fading

       flaming sumac leaves turning red

       red mulberry leaves turning yellow & falling

22 thru 25 - received a grand total of 14.5" of rain!

And for some more firsts (some nature-related, some not), you can check out this post from a few days ago.

{Science} with A Drop of Water

We have continued with our water studies this term and conducted a few more experiments last week, which (again) were lots of fun! 

We read the sections on "Soap Bubbles" and "Bubble Shapes", then got some materials together for a little experimentation. After watching a youtube video here on making bubble shapes, and after reading Soap Bubble and Bubble Frame experiment notes in the back of the book, we got to work.

We connected straws to play-doh corners at first (to make our cube), but then the play-doh got slimy and didn't keep a firm grip on the straws. After that we decided to use pipe cleaners twisted together at the ends to form a cube. This worked fairly well, although the cube was a little lopsided. However, we did manage to get a shape to form in the middle. It wasn't the 3-D bubble cube like in the book or on the video. It was just a flat square ... but still cool!

We then attempted to bounce bubbles with our gloved hands. The kids had a ton of fun doing this, although I should have taken it outside. At least it wasn't a dirty mess.

After reading about how to rest a bubble on the mouth of a jar in order to drop a pin through it, we couldn't resist trying this out. We wet the pin with bubble solution and dropped it through the bubble. The bubble didn't pop! And quite by accident (as our hands were already so covered with solution) we discovered that even our fingers could pass straight through the bubble without it popping:

How cool is that?!?

After all this experimenting and excitement, Royal mentions how maybe we should start a science journal and write down our findings. ... And after blinking and pinching myself, I said: "Ok, good idea!"

Alice dictated to me her notes, then she copied them from the white board.

This addition to our Year 3 studies has been so much fun!

... and apparently inspiring as well ...

:-)

{Keeping} :: September's Firsts

Quite a month of variety as we head into a season of change. 

I am glad to have gotten so many photos of our Firsts as well.

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1  - spotted a canyon wren on our roof
    - elm seed pods dropping; ants carrying them underground

8  - rouge plants (pigeon berries) now showing red berries

    - identified mystery plant/grass: Plains Lovegrass

    - two red-headed woodpeckers up in an elm tree

9  - sandhill cranes flying south
    - rainy day ... cooler weather (80s)


12 - happened upon some Queen caterpillars ... there is a plentiful patch of milkweed vine

milkweed vine

19 - Monarch chrysalis formed

27 - bloodmoon

It was a cloudy evening.
I was thankful I could just get a glimpse of this spectacle.

28 - Monarch butterfly!

This one is a male.
Apparently the black lines nearest the body give the gender away.
Male's lines are thinner than female's, and they also have a little bulging black dot
along one of the lines nearest the body.

Can you spy it?

29 - Bigpod sesbania blooms down in the riverbed

30 - identified the Red Mulberry in our backyard (there are several)

Interesting how there are two kinds of leaves on the same tree, lobed and entire.

I hope you enjoyed a peek into Firsts in our part of the country.

What natural wonders are you noticing in your area?

The Switchman

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
    but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 19:21

I begin each school week with high ambitions to accomplish much. Sometimes, things derail, or rather the Switchman puts us on a different track. I think that is what happened to us this week. But I am fairly certain it turned out more fruitful than anything we may otherwise have done.

Our usual Day 1 (Tuesday) was scratched because Daddy had an extra day off and I was still recovering from the weekend's birthday festivities for Alice (now 7!)

Wednesday (this week's Day 1), we managed to get everything done in a timely manner, with just a few minutes to spare before three friends arrived for their first Spanish lesson. Royal and Alice joined in with their friends while Almanzo napped, and we had a fun time of singing and playing and acting out things in the foreign language.

Thursday also went well. It was a shorter day, lesson-wise, so we got everything done. This afternoon, Royal decided he wanted to sew some buttons on his pajama pants to make them look like thermal underwear or something (like in the olden days), so I let him. The plan for his handicraft was to do some leatherwork with his Grandpa this evening while Alice was at volleyball practice... Well apparently Grandpa was watching a show on the Alaskan frontier and so the leatherwork didn't get touched. Royal enjoyed it, of course. (And it just fueled his desire to be a backwoodsman when he grows up).

Friday for some reason didn't work out to be as efficient and we ended up having to postpone a couple of lessons (Parables of Nature and A Drop of Water) because we were running behind and needed to get to our first piano lesson by 2:30. Oh, and Almanzo refused to nap today. But I was able to coax him into at least staying in his room to play until I went to get him. (I think we must be transitioning into the age of no-daily-naps soon, sniff-sniff).

The first piano lessons went great and the kids enjoyed them. This is really a God-send and I thank the Lord for sending us our new friends and neighbors. Our kids play well together and we both homeschool. I bought our keyboard from them, and now my friend teaches our kids piano in exchange for me teaching her kids Spanish. Sweet!

Saturday we had early volleyball games. My plan was to return home to do a regular day of school; however, the weather was SO glorious, I just couldn't bear to be inside at the table. I sent the children outside for the remainder of the morning to play and explore until lunch. As it happened, they chanced upon a wonderful patch of milkweed vine with a number of monarch caterpillars! 

I toted the nature journals out there and had a little impromptu nature study, talking about the visual difference between a Queen and a regular Monarch caterpillar. 

Alice's sketch

Isn't this just the cutest sketch ever?!?

We saw 2 Queens and one Monarch. The children wanted to bring one inside to our habitat, but as we already have one, I wanted to leave the others to enjoy their natural surroundings. I suggested we just go check on them every day. After lunch, however, Royal came rushing back to me and said the fire ants had eaten the two Queens! Fantastic. So this evening I wanted to go poking around some more out there to see if I could spy any more. Fortunately I did, and this one (also a Queen) was so tiny! I think I even found a couple of monarch egg sacs deposited underneath one of the milkweed vine leaves.

During Almanzo's nap today we did get a little school done; however, due to our morning adventures and discoveries outside, we fell far short of a full day of book-learning. But really, I am ok with that ... especially when Royal makes his own written entry in his Nature Notebook alongside his drawing and later tells me that Nature is his favorite thing and how glad he is that we don't live in a city.

Royal's sketch and entry

I have been reading a bit of what Heather over at Bent Leather has been writing this week (and in this post particularly) ... and after today's experience outside, I am further encouraged that women, children (amateurs) can take away so much more from the world of science if they are actively curious than they can from whole volumes of scientific material produced by the experts.

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What blessings have you experienced from a week of "failed" plans?