Help starting a nature/science/animal notebook

[Cranberry]

I've heard about this notebooking approach and would love a few tips on getting started. DS is 5 and with the summer months and a zoo membership I'd like to use summer to do nature and animal studies. Anyone have some tips on how to organize this or get it going? He's just at the beginning stages of reading simple words, he likes to write and draw as well.
So tell me what worked and didn't work for you at this age!
Thanks!

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

We're doing the same with my 4-year-old daughter. She wishes she was Diego, so we're going to studying lots of animals!

[laure]

The website has great ideas and support for anyone starting a nature study.

Laure

[Jennay]

I am planning the same sort of thing for our family. I have a 4.5 ds who doesn't write at all and is just beginning to read and a 5.5 ds who reads high above grade level and writes very well.

My thoughts were to have a notebook divided by mammals, reptiles, birds, etc. and pick 5 or 6 animals we were going to be sure to visit at each visit . I was then going to make up or find a simple sheet where we could attach a digital picture of the animal and recored it's diet/habitat/etc. I'm going to have them take the picture.

I am planning on a variety of animals for each visit because at my Dss ages it would never do to go to the zoo and just go to the Bird House!

I was also thinking of printing out worksheets from Enchanted Learning for labelling the body parts. (for my older son)

And follow-up with some non-fiction books from the library about the animals we focused on. Finally, we will file the page in the correct section of our notebook.

What I need to decide is if I am going to pick animals at random or according to some other structure - like maybe animals from different parts of the world to coordinate with other topics we may be studying in geography. I'm thinking I may be less stressed by just picking randomly.

[Closeacademy]

I have a nature notebook for my dd divided by botany, mammals, fish, birds, etc. I also bought http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=23175&it=1.

I like that there are coloring pages of animals and bird and pages where you can shade in the map, fill in the latin names and write some stuff down about food and stuff.

We don't do too much but whenever we come across an animal that we want to study and take time to fill out the pages we do.

:001_smile:

[Trivium Academy]

Provide a notebook (of course) but I would get something like a sketch pad for kids without lines.

Provide clip-art and photos of whatever you want to focus on either from magazines or online which is free at various clipart websites like clipart etc (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fetc.usf.edu%2Fclipart%2F&ei=rdA2SOm0MZDqgwSYnPSkCw&usg=AFQjCNGsLFvQhGSFuGpPAYm7nptqs3YdFg&sig2=RBqXcvF_2Z2rV9wZqQilAA).

Learn how to plant press, so you can press flowers, leaves or whatever else you want and put them on the pages. You can identify things together with field guides. Barb's website that someone linked above is a wonderful way to start nature study in your home.

Younger kids can cut and paste and possibly draw, do what is age appropriate. You can make this whatever you want (or your child wants).

[Targhee]

Give him a small set of colored pencils, a pen, and a notebook (this could be a sketch book, spiral bound notebook pages, memo pad, or whatever - it doesn't have to be fancy. But if you want something I find nice for small hands try this (http://www.amazon.com/Moleskine-Black-Cahier-Journal-Pocket/dp/B0017OG15Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1211565854&sr=8-2). The volumes are shorter, which is less intimidating than a sketchbook, and the size is nice for small hands).

Teach them that when making observations they should record the date and time, location, and weather and who is with you (a header - we do this in the upper, outer corner). Beyond this there is a variety of things they could record. Name or animals and plants seen. Behaviors observed. Smells, sights, textures, shapes, etc. they see in nature around them. If he is having trouble, ask some open-ended questions to help him think (What is the animal doing? Why do you think he's doing that? Where did he go? What do you hear? What does his coat look like? How many petals are on this flower? What do these leaves look like (hands, spears, ovals, stars)?

If you are using the zoo a lot I would suggest something like this for an entry (done at each "stop" you make at the zoo):
header
name animal(s) observed (most zoos also include scientific names on the display)
number of animals, or other animals in habitat
description of animal (color, relative size, shape, skin/covering, old or young, etc.)
description of habitat (terrain, plants, water, cover [trees, caves, burrows, etc.])
sketch of animal, part of animal, behavior, or habitat
behavior observed (eating, drinking, grooming, calling, standing, active/inactive, interactions with others, location in the habitat, etc.)

Then, when you return to the zoo at a different time of day, or in different weather, compare observations about behavior and number of animals observed.

Bring a magnifying glass or loupe to look closely at plants or small animals. Help him to make analogies (this looks like a bottle, this looks like a bowl, this looks like...).

Have lots of fun!

[Chris in VA]

Our nature notebook is pretty low-tech (like our timeline). Dd just uses nice watercolor paper (sometimes just plain white copy paper), and sketches what she finds outside, and then adds some words to describe where, when and what she found to draw. You can go to my blog if you want and see examples of dd's work from when she was 5-6. (I think it's several pages back)
My favorite resource for keeping a nature notebook is Cindi Rushton's Nature Study the Easy Way. She has many ideas, but also the rational for doing so. She also includes scriptures, song lyrics, and poems that pertain to nature, for dc to copy into the book. She has many examples of pages her kids (and others) have done, so you can kind of see what a 5 yo's work may look like, or a 10 yo.

[Cranberry]

So what I'm leaning towards is doing a nature journal, spiral bound which will be more relaxed, whatever he wants to record, observe, etc. I'll plan to be sure we get a specific time in teh backyard to have him work on this. Then do a separate animal book with loose leaf pages that we can take to the zoo for more structure. There is so much out there on this I could spend hours and hours....
thanks everyone!

[Tina in WA]

Currclick's freebie this week is a nature journal. Here is the link: Nature Journal (http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=23430&it=1).

It probably is a little old for your 4 year old, but I am sure it could give you some idea's. :)

[Homemama2]

You can also check out www.notebookingpages.com (http://www.notebookingpages.com). There's things you can buy-but also lots of freebies. One thing I really like about notebooking is that it doesn't have to cost a thing! (well, hardly) This site also shows you many ways to notebook-from scrapbook style, to simple drawings with captions and everything inbetween. HTH!

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

Thanks everyone! Lots of ideas!

One thing that I have decided is that we're going to do an informal animal study throughout the summer, spending just a few days on each animal. Then, in the fall when school officially starts, we're going to spend the first couple of months going over habitats. I like the idea that someone stated about separating the animals by type. Maybe we'll do by classification and then by habitat within that.

Thanks again!