Nature Study - Eva Varga

The Arbor Day Foundation was founded in 1972, the centennial of the first Arbor Day observance in the 19th century. I was born just a month later in Oregon – where a full week is set aside to celebrate trees.

The Arbor Day Foundation inspires people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees.

We can do better than a single day or even a full week to honor earth. Join us in celebrating trees all year long with these 12 activities.

1. Learn about the history of Arbor Day

2. Plant a fruit tree in your yard or enjoy field trip to an apple farm

3. Correlate the history of the United States to one tree’s growth rings

4. Create art or poetry inspired by trees

5. Get Involved with the US Forestry Department or other resource agency

6. Learn how to measure a tree’s height, crown spread and diameter

7. Study the ecosystem of one particular tree

Life Logic: Botany – Plenty O’Plants is a hands-on life science curriculum that provides ample opportunity for kids to explore plant science in-depth. This 10-week unit is full of inquiry-based activities and lesson plans fully outlined for you.

8. Learn to identify trees in your community using a dichotomous key or create your own

9. Study the structure of a tree, how it functions, and what benefits a tree provides

10. Take a nature walk and practice your new skill

11. Organize a Nature Explore Families’ Club

The Arbor Day Foundation has put together a research-based, field-tested collection of resources designed to help you organize a Nature Explore Families’ Club at your school, organization, or in your neighborhood. The Families’ Club Kit has everything you need to start a club and help you connect families with the outdoors and each other.

It also includes general information and customizable forms to get your club started, a facilitator’s guide with helpful hints on organization, and 15 visual, child-friendly activity sheets with facilitator notes specific to each one. For families interested in getting started with nature study and outdoor learning in a co-op environment, this is a wonderful resource!

Read my post, How to Start a Homeschool Coop, to learn more about how to get started with collaborative learning experiences.

12. Show us your favorite tree

Post your photo in the comments, on my Facebook, or send me an email (eva underscore varga at me dot com). I’ll compile them in a special post and we can celebrate Arbor Day together!

Some species of native ladybugs in North America are disappearing. In just the last 20 years these beneficial predators of farm and garden pests have become extremely rare. This rapid decline is of great concern. Recognizing the need to take action, a number of schools in New York State began the Lost Ladybug Project in 2004.

The Lost Ladybug Project is a citizen science project that people of all ages to look for any ladybugs they can find, and then send in pictures of each one. One of the first major discoveries came in 2006 when Jilene (age 11) and Jonathan (age 10) Penhale found a rare ninespotted ladybug near their Virginia home. This was the first ninespotted ladybug seen in the eastern U.S. in 14 years. Their finding confirmed that the species was not extinct and that with enough people working together we can find even these rare species.

With recent funding from the National Science Foundation the Lost Ladybug Project has expanded and now anyone in North America can participate. Both common and rare ladybugs, whether native or introduced, are important to find. They all contribute to understanding where different species of ladybugs can be found and how rare they really are. Once we know where the rare ladybugs can be found, we can try to protect their habitat and save them!

ladybughike We have been participating since 2012 when we first learned of the project. You can read about our earlier discoveries here:

Ladybugs, Ladybugs, Ladybugs (2012)
Hunting the Lost Ladybug (2013)
Identifying Ladybug Species (2015) – coming soon

All About Ladybugs

What do ladybugs eat? A single ladybug larva will eat about 400 medium-size aphids during its development to the pupal stage. Males may eat less but an adult female will eat about 300 medium-size aphids before she lays eggs. She can eat about 75 aphids in a day and may consume more than 5,000 aphids in her lifetime!

Did you know that ladybugs use their antennae to touch, smell, and taste?

What would happen if all the ladybugs were gone? Both adult and larval ladybugs are known primarily as predators of aphids but they also prey on many other soft-bodied insects and insect eggs. Many of these are agricultural pest such as scale insects, mealybugs, spider mites and eggs of the Colorado Potato Beetle and European Corn Borer. A few ladybugs feed on plant and pollen mildews and many ladybugs supplement their meat diet with pollen.

Beetles chew from side to side, not up and down, like people do.

How did ladybugs get their name? The most common legend is that during the middle ages in Europe, swarms of aphids were destroying crops. The farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary for help – and help came in the form of beetles that devoured the plant-destroying pests and saved the crops! The grateful farmers named these insects “Our Lady’s beetles,” a name which had endured to present day.

How long do they live? After a female lays her eggs, they will hatch in between three and ten days, depending on ambient temperature. The larva will live and grow for about a month before it enters the pupal stage, which lasts about 15 days. After the pupal stage, the adult lady beetle will live up to one year.

Why are they so brightly colored? Why do they have spots? The bright colors serve as a warning to indicate to any potential predators of the distasteful repellents the beetle will release if attacked. The spots are part of the bright warning pattern and vary depending upon species.

What eats ladybugs? Lady beetles are not commonly eaten by birds or other vertebrates, who avoid them because they exude a distasteful fluid and commonly play dead to avoid being preyed upon. However, several insects, such as assassin bugs and stink bugs, as well as spiders may commonly kill ladybugs.

How many different species are there in the US? In the world? There have been over 500 species of ladybugs identified in the United States, and over 4500 in the entire world. Only about 70 of these are the cute red, yellow, and black ones we think of most.

Ladybugs can be found all over the world and can move between continents. Introductions of new species can affect natives. What you will be doing as part of the Lost Ladybug Project is sampling the ladybugs in your habitats.

Inquiry Challenge

The degree to which specific ladybug species are associated with particular plant hosts (or their prey) is still an unsolved mystery. This would make a wonderful science fair project for advanced students.

You may also be interested in my Ultimate Guide to Studying Insects. Here you will find links to curriculum and resources for the major insect orders.

If you are interested in participating in the Lost Ladybug Project, visit the website to learn more. There is also an app to enable you a fast way to upload and share images on the go!
ladybugs journal

We’ve always enjoyed taking part in the monthly challenges at Handbook of Nature Study. This month, our selected challenge was Incorporate a Photo. Later in the week, we utilized one of our photos to create a nature journal entry to commemorate our outing.

Nature study has always been a major component of our homeschool. I must admit that when the kids were younger, we ventured outside more regularly and they sketched in their nature journals every week.

Now that they are older and are more involved in extracurriculars as well as social activities, it takes a little more planning on my part to assure that we continue to venture out for leisurely walks.

Here in Northern California, we are in the midst of a drought. The water levels have been so low at Shasta Lake that old bridges and railroad tunnels that had been flooded when Shasta Dam was built in the 1940s are now visible again (see my post Feast or Famine: An Historical Nature Study). We have been praying for rain and these past couple of months, our prayers have been answered.

Winter Nature Walks

When I shared with our local homeschool community the date for our winter nature walk outing, their response was, “But what if it rains?”

In the words of Charlotte Mason, “The fact is, that rain, unless of the heaviest, does the children no harm at all if they are suitably clothed.”

I assured everyone that we would proceed forth in drizzle and chill – just come prepared in wellies and layers. The rains provide us with the opportunity to make wonderful observations .. to study erosion, sedimentation, plant adaptations, and of course weather patterns. Muddy or snow covered ground makes tracking animals so much easier.

Norwegian Proverb: Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær.
[ There’s no bad weather, just bad clothing. ]

What I love best about these rainy nature study days is the abundance of fungi we are able to observe. We have seen so many fascinating fungi over the years; our favorite is Fly Agaric.

Nature nevers disappoints and this last month we observed several species we haven’t seen before – at least not here in NorCal. It can be a challenge to identify them sometimes, but that is the educational reward upon our return home.

Submitted to the December Handbook of Nature Study Outdoor Hour Challenge.

naturestudycurrclick We had an amazing time in the Galápagos last month. We are still processing the images we captured (we took over 14,000 pictures and video clips). I know that the experiences we shared will be a part of our curriculum for months to come – there was just so much to take in. Undeniably, we will remember most the incredible wildlife of the islands.

We have been using nature journals in our homeschool from the very beginning and my children are both adept at recording their observations and sketching things of interest. As their skills have improved, I have been looking for something to instruct them on the finer points of art.

Art and Nature Study with CurrClick

Knowing of the vast resources available on CurrClick, I browsed the collection for materials specifically for instructional books or activities to help integrate art and nature study in our homeschool curriculum.

Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice was the perfect tool. She does a wonderful job reviewing the tools of an artist (ink, watercolors, the color wheel, acrylics, brushes, etc.).

One chapter is devoted to the seven distinct texturing techniques: contour lines, parallel lines, crosshatching, dots or stippling, scribble lines, wavy grain lines and crisscross lines. This was the perfect lesson to connect our observations in islands with art techniques.

“Thick tangled foliage, flowing water, soft rabbit fur, weathered wood and the leathery folds of elephant skin could all be depicted with the stroke of a pen.” ~ Claudia Nice

The example illustrated in the text was a pelican; what luck! I thereby asked each of the kids to read the chapter independently, choose a bird from our trip Photostream, and then to practice each of the seven techniques in their nature journals.

currclicknaturestudy Another fun resource that I found on CurrClick was Cranberry Dissection from the Kitchen Science Nature Study series by Roots and Wings Homeschool. I grew up in Bandon, Oregon where cranberries are a major agricultural crop.

A few years ago, we had the opportunity to observe how cranberries are harvested. Cranberry Dissection is a fun and simple activity that guided us through the physiology of the fruit. What I loved best was the inquiry activity, “The Cranberry Bounce”.

For Thanksgiving, my dad had brought up a bag of fresh organic cranberries from the bogs we had visited previously (he volunteers each year to help harvest the cranberries). The kids and I thereby spent some time bouncing cranberries as we awaited our turkey dinner.

Sorting the berries by hand is a hard, tedious process. Most growers today use devices that tumble and bounce the berries. The freshest berries bounce along the conveyer, but the damaged, poor quality berries do not bounce and are left behind.

12 Days of Christmas CurrClick Giveaway

Christmas is right around the corner and I am delighted to share with you the wonderful giveaway happening at CurrClick. For the next 12 days, some friends and I are partnering with CurrClick with the 12 Days of Christmas Homeschool Freebies and Resources.

Each day will bring a new post with how we use CurrClick in our homeschool. Then, we’ll share the love with you by giving you a new freebie each day, plus an opportunity to win a CurrClick gift certificate!

Start with this freebie: Penguins

From December 1 through December 3, you can download this Penguins lapbook for FREE with the code CC12Days2.

Then visit each of the participating blogs for another wonderful freebie from CurrClick and register to win a $20 CurrClick gift card. There will be 12 freebies and 12 gift cards given away in all!
12daystext

The giveaway begins Dec 1st at 1:00 am and will end on Dec 16th at 10:00 pm.

Entry -Form

Enter here and at the end of the 12 Days Of Homeschool Freebies and Resources, we’ll draw 12 names for 12 $20 CurrClick.com gift certificates!

With summer in full swing, family vacations may already be a treasured memory, or a much-anticipated pleasure. In Northern California, a family holiday often means a trip to a lake, creek, or river.

summer nature Whether your summer holiday is still fresh in your memory or an adventure you are all yet looking forward to, I thought I would pass along some resources for turning your outdoor nature experiences into art and writing opportunities.

Summer Nature Activities

Start Nature Journaling (Academia Celestia)
Find inspiration for Summer Nature Study Challenges (Handbook of Nature Study)
Learn how easy Implementing a Nature Study can be (Blog, She Wrote)
Bring Science to Life at the Aquarium (Education Possible)
Children’s Nature Guide
Take a Fossil Walk (Our Westward Journey)
Explore and Write About Nature (Read Write Think)
Teach Writing Using the Environment (Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources)
Nature Rocks—Activity Page (The Nature Conservancy)
11 Simple Tips for Kids: Nature Photography (National Wildlife Federation)
Participate in Junior Ranger Programs at State and National Parks

If you have additional suggestions, please let us know. Leave a comment here or post your suggestion on my Facebook page. I hope you and your children have wonderful nature encounters.

In May, we ventured to Florida for a family holiday. While there, we were fortunate to spend a few days visiting the Everglades and the Keys. We observed so much and are still in the process of absorbing all that we learned. In an effort to encourage the kids to be more independent with their education, for the past few months I have asked the kids to do a journal entry in their nature journals.

This past week, I asked them to choose something they had observed while we were in Florida. Geneva chose to record her observations for the Horseshoe Crab while Jeffrey chose to illustrate the Lubber Grasshopper.

While four species exist today, only one species is found in North America; Limulus polyphemus, found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Horseshoe crabs are not true crabs but are more closely related to arachnids (along with spiders and scorpions) than to crustaceans (along with true crabs, lobsters, and shrimp). Horseshoe crabs are often called “living fossils” because fossils of their ancestors date back almost 450 million years and the horseshoe crab body forms have changed very little over all of those years.

On beaches along the mid-Atlantic states and Florida in spring and summer, male horseshoe crabs move parallel to the shoreline on sandy flats and intercept females as they pass by. A successful male attaches himself to a female by using his specialized front claws, and together they crawl to the beach.

Horseshoe crab larvae emerge from their nests several weeks after the eggs are laid. Juvenile horseshoe crabs resemble adults except that their tails are proportionally smaller. The young and adult horseshoe crabs spend most of their time on the sandy bottoms of intertidal flats or zones above the low tide mark and feed on various invertebrates.

lubber

The eastern lubber is surely the most distinctive grasshopper species in the southeastern United States. It is well known both for its size and its unique coloration. In the photograph above, note the wings of the adult lubber do not extend past the abdomen. As a result, the wings are not much help and the grasshopper relies more on its legs for mobility. Hence, we can understand where its name was derived. “Lubber” is an old English word “lobre” which means lazy or clumsy. In modern times, it is normally used only by seafarers, who term novices “landlubbers”.

While in the Everglades, we mostly observed the nymphal stages (immature grasshoppers) which differs dramatically in appearance from the adults. Nymphs typically are almost completely black, but with a distinctive yellow or orange stripe along its dorsal side. There were so many nymphs present it was difficult to walk in the grass without stepping on one. They were also easily handled (due in part to their lack of wings).

Our Florida nature study is still underway. I know the kids have several other entries they plan to document in their journals. We’ll share each with you over the next few weeks.

For more insect related nature study ideas and inspiration, check out the Outdoor Hour Challenge Summer Series #10 at Handbook of Nature Study.