Nature - Eva Varga

A few years ago, I read aloud Brian Selznick’s Wonderstruck to the kids and we delighted in the story as well as the accompanying illustrations. For years prior, I had kept a growing collection of seeds, cones, feathers, bones, leaves, insects, rocks, sand, galls, etc. – things I would gather in our regular nature outings. As a former elementary science specialist, I also had a large collection of specimens that students had given me over the years. I had always simply referred to it as the nature study cabinet but upon reading Wonderstruck, my kids renamed it Our Cabinet of Curiosities.

Earlier this year, I came to realize that our collection had grown beyond what I could display nicely in the small curio cabinet that once held my Avon doll collection when I was a child. As you can see in the “before” picture, I have stacks of shoeboxes atop the cabinet and piles of specimens on the table. It was a mess.

nature table

Then one day when the kids and I were on a quest for some thing or another at a second hand store, we came upon this moderately sized china hutch. I bought it without much thought as to how I was going to get it home – I drive an Accord, after all. I’d figure out something .. I couldn’t let it slip through my fingers.

When I finally got it home a few days later with the help of a friend (thank you, Jenn!!), the kids and I enjoyed organizing and displaying our collection of curiosities. There are still many specimens and rock samples that are not on display, but the cabinet allows us to showcase our favorites. The cupboards below allow us space to store our nature journals, leaf collections, and many field guides. There is even space enough for a few small tools (hand lenses, wind gauge, etc.).

Our Cabinet of Curiosities is where we can display our nature collections and marvel at our natural world. Do you have a collection of natural objects or curiosities? Share with us by leaving a comment below.

Prior to our departure for holiday in China, we had enjoyed the new DreamWorks movie, Turbo. Snails were thereby on our mind and to the delight of the kiddos, we happened upon a few small garden variety in the ancient gardens of China and at the Panda Breeding Center in Chengdu. In Yangshuo, we discovered what the locals called Duck Snails, a large freshwater snail belonging to the family Ampullariidae. The more accepted common name is the Apple Snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusks with gills and an operculum.

apple snails

Field Studies

We first noted the presence of these snails because of the bright pink egg masses that we observed all over the shoreline of the Yu Long (Dragon) River. These egg masses are laid on solid surfaces up to about 20 inches above the water surface. An average clutch contains 200 to 600 eggs, with each egg measuring 0.9 to 1.4 mm in diameter. Soon thereafter, as the kids began to play in the river, we found adult snails in a variety of hues, ranging from creamy yellow to a light pink.

As amateur naturalists, we are not sure exactly what species we observed (Pomacea canaliculata or Pomacea insularum) – perhaps even multiple species. Based upon our research, we are leaning towards P. canaliculata. Even so, the kids enjoyed playing with them and watching them glide across the surface of the bamboo boat structure that was anchored near shore.

Sweetie expressed wanting to take them home and of course, I explained that this was not only illegal (customs would certainly not allow us to transport live animals back to the states) but it would also be negligent on our part and potentially environmentally catastrophic.

Phylum Mollusca

When we returned home, I took advantage of their interest in the snails, to engage them in a little nature journaling. I pulled out a few text books and had the photographs we had taken in Yangshuo available on the iPad. Sweetie ran to her room and brought back one of the shells she had collected during our stay. We then got about sketching and noting our observations in our journals.

As they worked, I read aloud a book that I had purchased years ago in Hawai’i, Beyond ‘Ohi’a Valley: Adventures in a Hawaiian Rainforest by Lisa Matsumoto. The illustrations are very beautiful and the characters are very comical; the storyline tells about the native animals of Hawai’i and the impact of invasive, non-native species. While discuss how similar problems could occur with the introduction of the apple snail – in fact, it is happening …

Pomacea canaliculata is native to temperate Argentina and northwards to the Amazon basin. Through human introduction, this applesnail has rapidly spread to Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, southern China, Japan, Philippines, and Hawai’i. There are indications that they are invading Australia. In the 1980’s, channeled applesnails were introduced in Taiwan to start an escargot industry. This snail was originally imported under the name “golden snail” or “golden applesnail” for human consumption. However, the Asian escargot market never materialized and applesnails, that escaped or were released, ultimately came to cause extensive damage to rice fields.

I’ve posted more pictures and information about Pomacea canaliculata onto Project Noah. I encourage you to hop over if you are interested in learning more about Apple Snails.

Submitted to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival at Handbook of Nature Study.

Outdoor learning adventures are a great way to ignite passion for learning in a child’s heart. Outdoor adventures have the power to capture and hold the attention of even the most active learner. Here are some strategies for maximizing your learning adventures in the outdoor classroom.

Strategy 1 – Start in your own backyard

You don’t have to go far or spend a lot of money. Just step outside and let the adventures begin. Take advantage of Junior Ranger programs in local, state, and national parks; where the great outdoors is the predominant classroom.

Strategy 2 – Be curious

Use their natural curiosity to help guide their outdoor adventure. Encourage the kids to be detectives – to be curious and ask questions. Don’t fret … you don’t need to know the answers! Kids look for answers to those questions during the learning adventure – which will more than likely continue even after you come back indoors.

Strategy 3 – Hands-on research

Give kids the opportunity to explore and dig deeper into their learning adventure. Getting dirty really helps add to the fun of the adventure. Back inside, encourage them to find answers to their unanswered questions using the internet or encyclopedias and books you have in your home library.

Strategy 4 – Write it down

Model for them the process of keeping a journal or notebook. Have kids record observations, identify, journal, draw, write stories, or make a video about what they see or have learned. Doing it alongside them will help to assure they stick with it. Eventually they will take ownership and eagerly record their observations without prompting.

Strategy 5 – Review new material

Take time later to review new learning in a fun way to make it stick! Have your adventurer come up with creative ways to teach others about what they have learned, such as a game, poster, or video.

Strategy 6 – Celebrate new learning

Share videos, pictures, and artwork with others. Posting work on Facebook and blogs is an awesome way to celebrate new learning and will encourage others to follow your example.

Now — Step outdoors and let the adventures begin!

More and more, students are leading the efforts to protect their local environment. Living in a world shrunken by technology, they have a better understanding of the interdependence of important natural resources in a larger, global setting.

citizen science

Each year between March 22 until December 31, the World Water Monitoring Challenge presents an important opportunity for young people around the world to become involved in safeguarding natural resources on a local, national and international scale. Students learn more about the watersheds in which they live, how watersheds work, and how protecting their waters can have beneficial impacts downstream. Teachers and students often use their data to discuss impacts in their local watershed and compare their findings with others.

This hands-on challenge builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies. With an easy-to-use test kit, citizen scientists sample their selected waterway for four basic indicators of water quality—dissolved oxygen, pH (acidity), temperature and turbidity (clarity).

We will be participating again this fall. I invite you to join us in this global monitoring effort. Resources are available to help you. Click here for guides and lesson plans tointegrate this citizen science opportunity into your science curriculum.

I grew up in Bandon, Oregon and though we now live in the valley of northern California, we travel home as often as possible. While we go primarily to see family, the ocean pulls us to her just as compellingly. We have enjoyed exploring the tide pools, investigating the unique estuarine habitats, and tasted freshly caught Dungeness crab many times in the past. Recently, however, we spent some time taking a closer look and discovering the secret of the tides.

As pictured in the the photo collage above, we visited a beach access area at both low tide (6:59 a.m. @ -1.9′) and high tide (6:56 p.m. @ 1.5′). I specifically selected this area because on low tide, we had access to tide pools. Shortly after I took the photo, we walked down the stairway and spent time investigating the marine invertebrates. While we marveled at the sea stars and innumerable sea anemones, I began to pose questions about the animals we observed and about the wave evidence on the shoreline. We noted specifically where we found each species and shared our hypothesis for how these organisms could survive in such a dramatically changing environment. I’ll share our discoveries soon – the kids are still working on their nature journals.

Create a Tide Graph

One of the most useful activities we undertook this past week was to create a tide graph and then use the newspaper to also plot the corresponding moon phases. To create a tide graph yourself, use a tide chart and select a specific month; you can access tidal data from NOAA. Use a piece of graph paper to graph the highest high tide and the lowest low tide for each day (recall there are typically two high tides and two low tides each day). Use a different colored pencil for each tide type. The day of the month should be on the x-axis and the height of the tide on the y-axis. Tides can be negative, so be sure to include negative numbers on your y-axis.

Lastly, find a moon phase calendar for the selected month (or look up the moon phase in your local newspaper). Sketch the four major moon phases (new moon, 1st quarter moon, full moon, and 3rd quarter moon) under the corresponding calendar date and label them accordingly. After completing the graph, answer the questions listed below.

Is there a relationship between the phase of the moon and the tides? Explain what you observed based upon your graph.
What are spring tides? Based upon your data, around what phase(s) of the moon do spring tides occur? How do you know this?
What are neap tides? Based upon your data, around what phase(s) of the moon do neap tides occur? How do you know this?

Take it Further

If you have enjoyed this activity and would like to explore related lessons and inquiry activities, check out Estuary Ecology, a fourteen lesson hands-on life science curriculum unit study that focuses upon estuaries and salt water marshes.

** Please note that graphs will vary depending upon the selected location and time of year. A great extension activity is to create tide graphs for distinctly different locations (Newport, Oregon and Cape Code, Massachusetts, for example) and/or different seasons.

Submitted to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival at Handbook of Nature Study.

Is there a better way to spend Mother’s Day than at Grandma’s gardening and exploring her flower beds? We live in a rental and do not have a garden of our own – not yet anyway. To get our gardening fix, we thereby made an excursion to Grandma’s where the flowers rival the botanical gardens. She always puts us to work when we visit and we gladly dig in.

After our visit, we always walk away with the dirt beneath our finger nails, grass stains smudged on our knees, and a passion for and greater understanding of flowers. Today, I’d love to share with you Grandma’s flower gardening tips.

1. Use good soil. You want a rich, dark soil that when grasped in your hand and squeezed, will hold together to some extent. Top soil (for garden and flower beds) or potting soil (for pots).

2. Plant in an area according to the preferences indicated on the tag (in the shade, full sun, or partially sunny).

3. Water consistently. The soil should be moist about an inch down.

4. Use rabbit pellets or steer manure for fertilizer once or twice a year, applying in the fall or early spring.

5. Plant when it is cool (early morning or evening). If it is too warm, the roots will dry too quickly and stress the plant. Any water added will evaporate almost as quickly as it is added.