Let it Snow!

It's the time of year when we think of....snow! I grew up in Buffalo, New York, so I have a lot of first-hand experience with snow. There are few natural things that children enjoy more than playing in snow, so why not add a little science to the mix?

Snow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds.The shape of the snowflake is determined broadly by the temperature and humidity at which it is formed. Snow forms in a hexagonal (six-sided) form due to the way that water freezes.

Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley was the first known photographer of snowflakes. He perfected a process of catching flakes on black velvet in such a way that their images could be captured before they melted. Common knowledge is that no two snowflakes are alike, but they can be very similar when conditions are the same.

You can study snow with children by observing it in and out of the classroom, using all the senses (Note: I do not recommend having children eat real snow). Examine it with a magnifier, feel it with your fingers, listen to it crunch, watch it melt, weigh it, measure it, roll it with a rolling pin, fill up a cup with it, make tracks in it.

Snow Resources:

• The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder, Mark Cassino. Chronicle Books, 2009.
• Snow Is Falling (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1), Franklyn M. Branley (Author), Holly Keller (Illustrator). Collins, 2000.
• I Am Snow (Hello Reader, Science), Jean Marzollo (Author), Judith Moffatt (Illustrator). Cartwheel, 2000.
• Search on 'snowflakes' in Google Images for hundreds of photographs.

Colors in Nature

Here is a sneak preview of my keynote speech, The Art of Nature Science for the 3rd Annual 'Green' conference on Saturday, January 9, 2010, here at Cape Cod Community College:

Nature is the original artist! Did you know that the color wheel, used in a variety of activities from painting to gardening, actually reflects the amazing ways that nature combines color to great effect. Complementary colors are colors opposite each other on the color wheel, such as blue and orange, red and green, and purple and yellow. Analogous colors are colors next to each other on the color wheel, such as red, orange, and yellow, or green, blue, and violet. Look around you and you will start to notice all of the natural complementary and analogous colors everywhere. You can do nature color studies with children, provide nature pallets for painting, drawing, etc. The colors of nature offer another 'language' for children to use when creating and representing their world.

Cones in Nature

I am still fascinated by the art of Andy Goldsworthy and it's relationship to nature and art (See March 12, 2009 entry about spirals). Just as children are intrigued by spirals, they also like cones. Andy Goldsworthy has made cones of various materials all over the world. Did you know that there are all kinds of cones throughout the natural world? There are dozens of varieties of pine cones, of course, but also cone flowers, pineapples, and artichokes, to name a few. Cones are forms by scales or petals that are arranged in a spiral formation known as a Fibonacci number sequence. You can study all kinds of cones with young children by making a collection and setting it out on the science table. Have a children's field guide to trees, as well as photographs or real examples of other types of cones mentioned above. How are the cones the same? How are they different? What are they made of? What is inside of them? Do any animals eat them? Why are some cones long and thin, and others short and fat?

Resources about Pine Cones

From Pine Cone to Pine Tree (Scholastic News Nonfiction Readers: How Things Grow), by Ellen Weiss, 2007. Children's Press. This is a great book about pine cones , and one of an interesting series for children.

Pine Trees (Rookie Read-About Science) by Allan Fowler, 2002, Children's Press. This book includes different types of pine trees as well as the parts of the trees, including the cones.

There are thousands of photographs of pine cones and other types of cones in nature in Google Images. Children can paint cones, paint on cones, and create cones with clay. Many nature books for children include ideas for pine cone activities.

The Science of Trees

Trees are the most accessible and obvious way to introduce children to nature. Every tree is a habitat unto itself, providing food and shelter for any number of insects, birds, and mammals. A tree study can be carried out throughout the year so children can observe a variety of natural rhythms and cycles. The trees in your area will depend on the climate as well as how often the area has been cleared. Many people plant exotic or ornamental trees that are not native to their area. It’s a good idea to study a healthy, native tree. You can identify a tree by using clues such as its leaves, its bark, and its shape. I also recommend planting a tree with he children as a way to demonstrate that there are things we can do to help the earth. See the Arbor Day link below for information about planting trees.

Trees Facts

· There are approximately 100,000 different species of trees throughout the world
· Trees produce oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and thus are very important for maintaining a healthy environment
· Conifers or evergreens are cone-bearing trees such as pines, firs, cedars, junipers, and redwoods
· Deciduous trees lose their leaves due to seasonal changes
· Most trees produce growth rings every year, which makes it possible to determine the age of the tree
· The oldest known tree in the United States is a Bristle cone Pine Tree in California that is 4,700 years old!
· The tallest trees are the California Redwoods; one was measured to be 379 feet tall!

Tree Resources

http://www.arborday.org/ This site has everything you need to know about trees, including an online tree guide and a Nature Resource Book for teachers.

First Guide to Trees, G. Petrides, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2nd edition, 1998

Fandex Family Field Guides: Trees (Cards), S. Aronson, Workman Publishing Company, 1998 This is a great way to learn about trees with children. The cards have die-cut leaf shapes, along with photographs and facts about every tree in the set.

Schoolyard Habitats

Did you know that you can create a natural schoolyard habitat and have it certified by the National Wildlife Federation? A schoolyard habitat can attract birds, butterflies, and other wildlife nearby your school where children can observe and learn more about them without having to leave the safety of your own schoolyard. In order to create a habitat you will need to include some of each of the following:

• food sources, such as seeds and nectar
• water sources, such as a small pond or a bird bath
• places for cover, such as a thicket or a rock pile
• places to raise young, such as a nesting box or dense shrubs
• use sustainable gardening methods, such as compost and mulch

Go to http://www.nwf.org/schoolyard/howtoguide.cfm

for free, complete guidelines for your schoolyard project, including free pdfs about planning your habitat, native plants, composting, container gardening, as well as free articles about the schoolyard habitat movement. Turn your schoolyard into a miniature nature area, and join the hundreds of teachers who bring nature to life right outside their classrooms.

Earthworms

Earthworms might make teachers squirm, but there is no doubt that young children are facinated at these crawly creatures. Earthworms are interesting and easy to study, because you can ususally access them right in your outside play area.

Earthworm Facts:

• There are 2,700 different species of earthworms
• Earthworms can be from 1-2 inches up to 14 inches long
• Earthworm bodies are made up of ring-like sections
• Earthworms are invertebrates, meaning they do not have an internal skeleton made of bone
• Earthworms form the base of many food chains. They are preyed upon by many species of birds, e.g. starlings, thrushes, gulls, crows, and robins. Some snakes feed on them and mammals such as bears, foxes, hedgehogs and moles eat many earthworms as well. Earthworms are also eaten by many invertebrates such as ground beetles and other beetles, snails.

Earthworm Resources:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/CreatureFeature/Earthworms
Earth worm facts and photographs.

The Worm Book: The Complete Guide to Gardening and Composting with Worms by Loren Nancarrow and Janet Hogan Taylor, 2004

The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms by Amy Stewart, 2004
Earthworms (Minibeasts) by Claire Llewellyn and Barrie Watts, 2002

http://www.howtodothings.com/hobbies/how-to-raise-earthworms

Owls

Thanks to Harry Potter, most children recognize the familiar features that make an owl.

Here are some owl facts:

· There are 200 different types of owls in the world, and they live almost everywhere except Antarctica, most of Greenland, and a few small islands
· Owls are birds of prey, meaning they hunt and eat small mammals, birds, insects, even fish. What they eat depends on the type of owl
· Owls come in different sizes, some very small, weighing as little as an ounce (Elf owls, Pygmy owls), to very large, weighing as much as 10 pounds (Eagle owls, Snowy owls)
· We often think of owls as being nocturnal, or active at night, but many owls are active during the day as well
· People have used symbols of owls for a variety of purposes for thousands of years. The Egyptians used an owl symbol in their hieroglyphics
· A group of owls is called a ‘parliament’

Children usually recognize the familiar owl face: round head, large eyes, flat hawk-like beak. Children are often familiar with owls because of Harry Potter movies, but very few have ever seen an owl. As a matter of fact, most adults have never seen an owl in the wild.

Some nature centers have rescued owls in residence. These owls could not live in the wild, so they are often used to help educate people about these magnificent animals.

Owl Resources:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/CreatureFeature/Snowy-owl Photos, video, games, etc. related to the Snowy owl
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-owl.html Page of owl facts , photos, and links
http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/flash/v4/index.htm Virtual Owl Pellet Dissection

The Science of...Pumpkins

Children are fascinated with pumpkins, and there is a lot you can do other than make jack-o-lanterns! Here are some fun facts and resources about pumpkins:

• Pumpkins are in the squash and gourd family


• Pumpkins are actually the fruit of the plant (the state fruit of New Hampshire)


• Pumpkins originated in North America and are one of the most popular crops in the United States


• Pumpkins are usually orange or yellow, but some are green, white, and even red


• Pumpkin seeds, or pepitas, are edible and very nutritious


• Pumpkins are now grown on every continent except Antarctica
  
• Pumpkins come in many different sizes and have fun and interesting names:

Small: Baby Bear, Small Sugar, Spooktacular
Medium: Harvest Moon, Funny Face
Large: Big Tom, Big Autumn
Jumbo: Big Max, Mammoth Gold

• Pumpkins usually weigh between 9-18 pounds, but can weigh much more, and every year, hundreds of growers compete to grow the heaviest pumpkin
  

Resources about pumpkins:

• http://www.pumpkin-patch.com/



• http://www.teachingheart.net/apumpkinunit.html
  
  
• Pumpkins
  by Ken Robbins, Square Fish, 2007
  
• How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?
  by Margaret McNamara, Schwartz & Wade, 2007
  
• Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden
  by George Levenson, Tricycle Press, 2004
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

The Science of... Sunflowers

One of the best projects I ever did with children was the sunflower project. Children, teachers, and families were fascinated by the brown sunflower heads I brought in to study. We did sunflower paintings ala Van Gough, made sunflower murals and told sunflower stories. Here are some sunflower facts and sunflower resources:

• Sunflowers are in the Asteraceae family, which means star-shaped flower. Why do you think they call it that? They are related to daisies, asters, and dandelions.
• Their Latin name, Helianthus annuus, literally means sun annual.
• Sunflowers are native to North America, but now are grown in many places throughout the world.
• Sunflowers come in several shades of yellows, oranges, reds, and even greens.
• The head of a sunflower is actually composed of dozens of florets in a spiral pattern.
  
• Sunflowers come in many sizes, from dwarf to giants up to 25 feet tall!
  
• Sunflowers come in many varieties with fun names such as ‘baby bear’, ‘mammoth’, ‘elf’, and ‘lemonade’.
  
• Sunflowers growing outside follow the sun as it moves through the daytime sky.

Here's a great sunflower science activity:

Dissect a sunflower head. You will need a sunflower head from a farm stand, a table covered with paper, trays for sorting, tweezers, magnifying glasses. Examine the sunflower. Notice the spiral pattern of the seeds. How is it different than a growing sunflower?

Resources about sunflowers:

• http://www.burpee.com/ This site has photos and descriptions of several varieties of sunflowers. You can see the different colors as well as the names of sunflower varieties.
• http://www.google.com/ Enter sunflowers and click on images. This site has hundreds of photographs and sunflower paintings.
• This is the Sunflower, L. Schafer and D. Crews. Greenwillow, 2000.
• Sunflower House, E. Bunting. Voyager Books. 1999.
• From Seed to Sunflower, G. Legg. Watts, 1998.

The Freshwater Pond Habitat

The (freshwater) pond habitat teems with plants and animals from several groups, including a vast array of microscopic inhabitants. There are many interesting pond animals: amphibians (frogs, tadpoles of frogs, salamanders, and toads), birds (Kingfisher, ducks, swans, small herons, red-wing black birds), fish (wide variety depending on where you live), insects and insect larvae (dragon flies and dragon fly nymphs, mosquito larvae, water striders, water beetles), mammals (Muskrats), and reptiles (a variety of turtles and some water snakes). The pond consists not only of the water, but the perimeter of small trees, grasses, cattails, and mud. A scoop of pond water yields an interesting study in itself. and is a great invitation to this topic. Armed with magnifying glasses and shallow trays, children can discover a seemingly endless variety of interesting creatures swimming around.

Ponds vary tremendously in size and origin, and specific plants and animals found will depend on your location and climate. If you have a small pond nearby your center, you have a great place to study this interesting habitat. Here are some things to think about and/or ask the children:

• How is the pond different from the ocean? How is it the same?
• How are pond turtles different than sea turtles? Why do you think so?
• What is the difference between an amphibian and a reptile? Why do many people confuse them?
• Are there sharks in the pond? Why not?

Some ideas for pond life activities:

• Create a fresh water aquarium for your classroom for a few days so children can observe animals first-hand. This is especially important if you cannot safely bring children to a nearby pond. Make sure you know how and what to feed any animal you include, and make sure you put them back in a few days where you found them.
• If you can go to a pond, do a checklist scavenger hunt or make a pond walk photo-journal of your visit.
• Make a pond mural (see above photo) throughout your study.
• Make or buy a set of frog life cycle stamps to help children represent the different stages they have observed.
• Make a frogs and lily pads or a turtle and logs matching and counting game.
• Play non-competitive musical frogs and lily pads instead of musical chairs.

There are dozens of field books for children that focus explicitly on pond life, as well as reptiles and amphibians, insects, and birds. The best resource I have found is Woods, Ponds, & Fields, by Ellen Doris. As you can tell by the title, it is also a great resource for the field/meadow and forest/woodland habitats. It includes dozens of nature activities and information, such as how to make an underwater viewer, as well as important safety tips (poison ivy, ticks, etc). Unfortunately, this book is out of print, but there are many used copies available online, and I highly recommend it.

The Forest or Woodland Habitat

The forest is at once familiar and fascinating. Many children have experienced trees, squirrels, deer,and skunks, but they never grow tired of them. There are many types of forests in the United States, each one with it's own specific plants and animals. Mammals, birds, and trees are the most obvious forest life groups. However, don't neglect the worms, insects, amphibians, ferns, mosses, and wild flowers of the forest floor. One fun activity is to place a hula hoop on the forest floor and then observe everything that you find inside the circle. This is a simple adaptation of what is called a plot survey. Play squirrels and trees, a non-competitive version of musical chairs where half of the children are stationary trees and half are squirrels that scramble from tree to tree when the music stops.

There are many forest/woodland resources:

1. One Small Square: Woods by Donald Silver and Patricia Wynne (Paperback - Sep 1, 1997)

This book identifies many forest plants and animals with attractive illustrations.

2. http://www.arborday.org/ Their mission is to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. There is a complete section on nature study with children.

Marine Life Habitat

Children are fascinated by the marine coast habitat. There are hundreds of intriguing animals to learn about: shell fish, crabs, sea stars, sharks, etc. Each coastal area has different inhabitants depending on location and climate. The rocky shore is home to different animals than the sandy beach or muddy marsh. There are several marine animal groups: mollusks (snails and clams), crustaceans (crabs, shrimp, and lobsters), echinoderms (sea stars, sand dollars and urchins), as well as fish, sea turtles, and many more. The dominant plant group will be sea weeds and shore grasses and flowers, such as beach plums. If you are lucky enough to live near the marine shore, you will have access to these fascinating plants and animals.

There are many interesting technology resources for this (and any other nature) topic: Google Images, You Tube, and live web-cams. Here are a few links, but make sure you explore to find more.

1. http://images.google.com/images?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS271&q=star%20fish&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

This will connect you to Google star fish images. You can search on any marine life animal and get similar results.

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRAfvws13E

This link will connect you to a clip of a sand dollar moving on the beach. This is a lot of fun to watch. Try looking for barnacles feeding, or sea urchins moving.

3. http://georgiaaquarium.org/exploreTheAquarium/webcam-beluga.aspx

This link connects you to the beluga web cam at the Georgia Aquarium. There are dozens of web cams all over the world where you and the children can watch live animals.

Field and Meadow Habitat

At first glance, the field or meadow might appear to be a simple place. However, it is actually a complex system of grasses, wild flowers, insects and birds, as well as many small snakes and mammals. It is a place of delicate beauty and frenzied activity. It literally buzzes. The most obvious group of field animals are the insects: caterpillars, butterflies, grasshoppers, lady bugs, bees, beetles, and ants. Next are the birds: finches, swallows, sparrows, blue birds, and kestrels. The dominant plant groups are grasses and wild flowers: daisies, Queen Anne's Lace, milkweed, thistle, etc. Other field-related topics are seeds, wind, and clouds.
Fields are usually easily accessible for short walks, and there are many teacher guides to maintaining insects for study in the classroom. Look for a children's field guide (such as Peterson's First Field Guides) to both insects and wild flowers. Go to the meadow on your own first and try to identify a few of the things you find. Look under leaves for butterfly eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalises. Monarchs love milkweed, and swallowtails love Queen Anne's Lace.
There are literally hundreds of resources for studying the plants and animals of the field. You can visit the meadow at different seasons to see how it changes through the year: buds and shoots in the spring, flowers and insects during the summer and fall, seeds and tracks in the winter.

For more information, see my book, Science for the Whole Classroom. A good book for beginners with little science background, it includes habitat charts, resources, and activity ideas, including setting up miniature habitats in the classroom and going on short field walks.

Studying Plants and Animals by Habitat

All plants and animals live in a habitat, a specific place where they can get what they need to survive, including food, water, and a safe place to live and reproduce. There are many types of habitats such as the field or meadow, the forest or woodland, the freshwater pond, and the marine coast. There are many more habitats in the United States, even in urban areas, and there are differences in similar habitats depending on what area of the country you live in. A habitat can be very small, and some schools are actually creating their own schoolyard habitats. The advantage of habitat study is that the children can see the entire system of interrelated flora and fauna (plants and animals). When you study a place where plants and animals live, the first thing to do is determine what are the most common groups of plants and animals in this place (for example, trees in the woodland)? Some field guides are actually organized by habitats or regions, such as the Atlantic Seashore. In the next few Blogs, I will go into detail about four different habitats, the plants and animals that live in them, and the resources available for each. You can adapt the information for any habitat to your local area. Natural Science museums are important sources of information and materials for teachers interested in habitat study.

Resources

I. http://www.nwf.org/outside/ National Wildlife Federation

II. http://eelink.net/eetap/info23.pdf Schoolyard Habitat Article

Studying Animals by Groups

All animals are classified in a scientific system. This is called taxonomy. Each species belongs to a genus, which belongs to a family, which belongs to an order, which belongs to a class, which belongs to a phylum (the largest grouping). Teachers often study animals in groups, most commonly by class (birds, mammals, reptiles, fish) or by family (cats, bears, ducks, snails, owls). It isn't necessary to know the Latin names for these groups, but it's fun to see how often they relate to words that we know and use, such as felidae (cats)> to feline. When you study a group of animals, you can learn about how they are the same and how they are different. What do all birds have in common? What is the smallest bird? The largest? Do all fish have scales? How is a house cat like a tiger? You and the children can generate many interesting questions to look into. Field guides are excellent resources for studying groups of animals, and there are several series for children in particular. There are also hundreds of websites. Here are a few resources to check out:

1. Peterson Field Guides, such as The Young Birders Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, 2008.

2. National Audubon Society First Field Guides, such as Insects. 1998

3. National Geographic Society kids site:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/

This site has video clips, stories, games, photographs, etc. about hundreds of animals.

Studying Individual Animal Species

Children often become very interested and engaged in the study of one particular animal, such as the horseshoe crab project pictured here. The study can be inspired by seeing the animal in the schoolyard, reading about it in a book, seeing a photograph that someone brings in, or a visit to a nature museum or zoo. There are literally thousands of resources available for teachers to implement a them or project about one specific type of animal. Here are a few examples:

1. Getting to Know Nature's Children series by Scholastic. This is a great set of 30 different volumes, each focusing on one animal. Most libraries have these in the children's non-fiction section.

2. Google Images. Search on an animal and click on images. You will be able to find hundreds of images for each animal.

3. Live webcams and YouTube videos. There are dozens of live webcams and hundreds of You Tube videos for many animals. Here are two examples:

http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/exploreTheAquarium/webcam-beluga.aspx

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SRAfjvws13E

Try these and then search for more that go along with the animal you are studying.

Approaches to Teaching Nature Science to Young Children

There are many, many approaches to teaching nature science to young children, from micro to macro:

1. Individual species, such as gray squirrels, polar bears, monarch butterflies, or emperor penguins.

2. Groups by classification, such as insects, birds, or bears.

3. Groups by habitats, such as pond, woodland, meadow, or marine coast.

In my next few Blogs, I will focus on each one of these approaches, including strategies, resources, and photographs, as well as ideas for invitations to learning for each topic. Whether you use the thematic or the project approach, you can introduce children to nature science using approaches that will engage them, and engage you as well.

There are literally hundreds of books and web site resources for teachers and children. Here is one to consider.

Sharing Nature with Children, 20th Anniversary Edition, by Joseph Bharat Cornell, Dawn Publications, 1998.

State Nature Symbols

Did you know that every state has an official state bird and flower? Most states also have several other state animals and plants: insects, trees, reptiles, mammals, etc. These symbols often represent a beautiful and common example of the state's wildlife, and it's fun to find out what your state symbols are. Here is a photograph of me feeding my state bird, the Black-capped Chickadee.

There are many online sources for information about state plants and animals. Wikipedia has photographs of all state birds and flowers. For a complete list of all state animals and plants, go to http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/ Have you seen your state bird in the school yard? Is the state tree or flower growing anywhere nearby? I live in Massachusetts. Here are my state animals and plants:

Bird: Black-capped Chickadee

Flower: Mayflower

Tree: American Elm

Insect: Ladybug

Fish: Cod

Marine Mammal: Atlantic Right Whale

Mammal: White-Tailed Deer

Reptile: Garter Snake

Lady Bug, Lady Bug!

Here I am outside with the children letting our Lady Bugs go. Get them at your local garden center.

Lady Bugs are another fascinating insect to study. Here are some Lady Bug facts:

• Lady Bugs are actually beetles, and, like all insects, have six legs
• There are almost 5,000 different kinds of Lady Bugs around the world; 400 species live in North America
• Lady Bugs taste so terrible that birds will not eat them
• Lady Bugs favorite food is aphids
• You can tell Lady Bugs apart by their color and number of spots
• Lady Bugs are the state insect in Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Tennessee (my next blog will be about state animals: birds, insects, etc)

Lady Bug Resources:

1. http://www.insectlore.com/ Insect Lore sells a variety of Lady Bug materials.
2. http://www.google.com/ Search on Lady Bugs, then click Images.
3. www.geocities.com/sseagraves/ladybugteachersguide.htm For Lady Bug information and activity ideas.

Beautiful Stuff

This book, Beautiful Stuff, Learning with found Materials, by Cathy Weisman Topol and Lella Gandini (Davis, 1999), is an excellent resource for implementing a recycling materials project in an early childhood classroom. Colorful, inviting photographs document the collecting, sorting, and using of a variety of intriguing and readily available recycled materials. More than just toilet tissue rolls, recycled materials add a wealth of variety and creativity as materials for children's art. Each face, each fish, each representation is unique, because the materials are unique, and an so they are an important language for children. I have implemented a similar project in my preschool, and I do a 'Beautiful Stuff' workshop in my curriculum planning course in my community college early childhood education program. I was recently delighted to meet Cathy when we both presented at a materials conference for teachers, then again at another conference where we both were in attendance. At each conference I heard teacher after teacher express their appreciation for to her for this book.
What a great way for us to model recycling and help save the planet!

More Resources for Nature Education- Web Sites

Just in time to prepare for Earth Day next month!

1. This link, from Beyond the Journal (NAEYC) connects you to several helpful articles and resource lists, including a book list. The articles are in pdf format, and are available at no cost.

January 2008: Teaching and Learning about the Natural World. This issue offers research-based ideas and practical strategies to give children many opportunities to explore, appreciate, and value the natural world. For more ideas about children and nature, see the two articles published exclusively online. You’ll also find four articles from the January 2008 issue of Young Children as well as additional resources and columns.

2. This link connects you to a page on the National Wildlife Federation web site, Outside in Nature. This page includes several free articles, including Connecting Today's Kids to Nature Action Guide, as well as several activity guides for teachers.

http://www.nwf.org/outside/
National Wildlife Federation

3. This link is a nature resource bibliography.
http://ectc.nde.ne.gov/media/bibs/nature.pdf
Nature Resource Bibliography

4. This article describes what is called the Schoolyard Habitat Movement; how to create natural schoolyard habitats in your outdoor space.
http://eelink.net/eetap/info23.pdf
Schoolyard Habitat Article

Teachers all over the country are creating intentional and engaging nature education exeriences for young children. Take advantage of the multitude of resources for teachers.

Nature Materials and Forms: Inspirations from the work of Andy Goldsworthy-Spirals in Nature

I first encountered the work of Andy Goldsworthy in a film clip during a leadership seminar led by Margaret Wheatley. It immediately struck me as something that teachers should know about. Soon after, I found a photograph of a child's stone spiral constructed next to the cover of Goldsworthy's amazing book, A Collaboration with Nature (1990), and I soon started introducing the images and materials to students in my curriculum courses.
Recently, in the process of developing a photo-presentation for a workshop for teachers, I became enamored by all of the spirals in nature: from snail shells to galaxies, seed patterns in a sunflower head to fiddle head ferns, a ram's horn to the petal patterns of a rose.
The spiral is one of the most ancient human symbols and was described mathematically by the ancient Greeks, including Archimedes. I like them because they are simple and elegant, and children are naturally drawn to them- they love snails and curly snakes and anything that loops around. It's a form they can make using a variety of media and materials.
Check out spirals in google images, then go on a spiral hunt in your school yard. Introduce photographs and natural spirals to the children and see what happens. It's a lovely way to help children connect to the natural world.

Go to flickr.com and search on dgmurphy2002 to see some photographs of Goldsworthy-inspired art by student teachers.

Resources and Inspirations- A great book

Picture Science, Using Digital Photography to Teach Young Children, by Carla Neuman-Hinds. Redleaf Press. 2007

This is a wonderful book to help you get started introducing children to nature science. It includes dozens of photographs and sample lesson plans, many with a focus on plants. It is divided into four sections: photography for collecting and analyzing data, photography for demonstrating conclusions, photography for making the process of inquiry visible, and photography for creating documentation. One great idea is a photo-scavenger hunt. Take close-up photographs of nature around the school and mount them on cardboard. Have the children match one card at a time to the actual objects out in the yard. There are ideas for creating charts, sequencing, sorting and matching activities, puzzles and making books. It is very concrete and will inspire you to invent your own activities. You do not have to be a scientist or a photographer to implement the great ideas in your classroom.

Butterflies: A Great Place to Start

Almost everyone is attracted to butterflies, so they are a great window into the world of nature. I actually wanted to a Lepidpterist (a person who studies butterflies and moths) when I was 12 years old, until I found out that you had to kill them to study them! No thank you!
Many early childhood teachers include a cursory treatment of butterflies as a unit, but there is so much more. Here are some tips and resources for enhancing and enriching your butterfly studies:
1. Find out what kind of butterflies live in your area. For instance, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts where I live, there are over 70 species of butterflies! Contact your local nature museum, county extension, of get a butterfly field guide and look at the range maps to see if they might be in your area. You can also go out on your own before you talk with the children and look for them, too. Butterflies are often seen in wild meadows and fields, along the borders of woodlands and forests, as well as in gardens, especially butterfly gardens.

2. Borrow or buy a copy of The Family Butterfly Book, by Rick Mikula. There are literally hundreds of books about butterflies, but this one is itened to be used with children and is very comprehensive and includes detailed information on butterfly gardens, raising butterflies, and lists the most common butterflies as well.

3. Find out more about the butterflies in your area. Did you know that each species of butterfly has it's own caterpillar food plant (No, they do NOT eat grass!) and favorite nectaring plants as adults? You can attract specific butterflies from your area to your school yard by planting both types of plants. Did you know that butterflies sip nectar through a long "straw" that they keep curled up until they need it? Patient, careful observation can reveal this and more, which is why studying butterflies have all of the benefits of engaging children in nature.

You can google butterflies for web sites and images. They are there by the thousands, testiment to the human facination with butterflies.

Back to Nature

"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he or she needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in."

Rachel Carson

Inspired by Richard Louv's stirring book, Last Child in the Woods, hundreds of teachers around the world are searching for ways to become that adult in the lives of the children in their classrooms. But most teachers have little nature experience themselves, and struggle to know where to being. Louv gives us a hint: "The main thing is to discover or own sense of joy, excitement, and mystery." In the next few months, I am going to offer some thoughts on this subject:

Nature 101:Resources, Strategies and Inspirations for Teaching Children about Local Habitats

I will be exploring a variety of nature topics, books, websites, and ideas to help you implement intentional, authentic nature science experiences in your classroom.