Nature Study Tote Box

Not sure if you visited my Homeschooling on a Wing and a Prayer blog lately, but I have a detailed post highlighting all the things we keep in our Nature Study Tote (portable one for taking out into the field for study) with links too.  Be sure to check that out.

The tote could be put into the workbox (if deep enough to hold it) with a notebook page on a particular area to study, some field guides and a little note with the projected time of your little excursion.  Or one could simply put a cute card in the box with details of your outdoor study, a snack/water and so forth.  Since the weather is so much more inviting, it's time to embrace the nature study activities as often as possible. Having that tote to go is a great way to be ready in an instant.

**I try to cross post as often as I can because I know folks don't always remember I have two active blogs...so I wanted to mention the post over there.  I have lots and lots of things I cover but do not repost here.  Wanted to give you a reminder of that-HTH.

Homeschool Room Tour 2015 Part 3:2 and 3:3 -finally done!

Well folks-after many, many retakes, stalls/stops and a kitty cat that just couldn't stop trying to be the star, I have uploaded the last two sections of the 3rd part of our tour.

Enjoy!

Homeschool Room Tour 2015 Part 3:2

and

Homeschool Room Tour 2015 Part 3:3

and in case you missed the first one:

Homeschool Room Tour 2015 Part 3:1

I have two other posts noting the geography wall and the basic pan around intro video too!

Finally did some nature study-what is in the box you ask?

When we went to have my dd's wisdom teeth evaluated, we found oodles of these pods laying about under a tree that I didn't recognize.  So to keep the boy busy I had him gather some up (that translates to him not picking up the ones already on the ground-like every good boy he jumped and jumped and tried to gather from the largest tree all those pods that were way up there. Well at least he got rid of some of his ya-yas before we went into the appt.).  Later in the week, I put them in a shoebox workbox with the tree identifying book, some paper, a pencil, tweezers, a magnifier and a container.  The goal?  To open those babies up and examine the seeds, count them, average them and to just kinda explore these crazy pods.

We figure it is a Honeylocust (thornless version) since it fit the description to a T, was used as landscaping for that building and such.  He enjoyed the task.  Well, say for the beetle that popped out of a pod.  He jumped a bit since he wasn't expecting it and that little beetle took a swim into the depths of the sewer line (aka: it was flushed).  Oh and the biggest pod held 26 seeds!  We have them saved and will disperse them about hoping the birds/animals eat and distribute them later via the natural way (since they do germinate better when they go thru a critters system).  I didn't have him record or draw them this time-since we were running behind on other activities but I truly don't feel we need to journal/data entry/draw every. single. thing. we do in nature study. But I am a rebel like that.

Hopefully, we'll have a few of the Honeylocust trees in our neighborhood (in a few years) and maybe next time I will be a better NS instructor and request a notation in his nature study book-or maybe not.

Animal Tracks in the workbox?

Yep-tracks fit alright.  So for our HOD Creation to Christ program-we are using Apologia's Creation with Zoology 3 book.  Through the course we will cover various critters and so one project was to keep an Animal Tracks book.  Well HELLO-that is right up our CM loving family.  So I grabbed one of the bound, white books I bought from Bare Books a few years ago, and I am pleased b/cuz it is proving to be a perfect fit for this project.

On top of that-I purposefully avoided using the animal section of the Considering God's Creation program we have been using on and off for the past two years just so I could save it for this study. Perfect again.  The Animal Tracks Match game came from there.  It also has notebooking pages that discuss critters and "after their own kind" and so forth-so when it matches the reading assignments, I tossed that in for interest.  So even though most of the HOD program is the boy and I on the couch with me reading to him-this is one project that can go nicely into the workbox.

 Animal Track Match-just laminated them 

(altho they suggested coloring em but eh)

 I drew the cover-he didn't care and I rather enjoyed doing it

 I also have been putting the verses in-he is certainly capable but I have better handwriting (sometimes and he wanted to focus on the drawing of the prints more)-I will have him do some,
but he prefers lines and more space...so obviously-it is up the child when it comes to this part.

He will first look at the print, draw it in pencil then use the permanent marker to fill it in.