Nature Journals

Nature journaling is the act of making observations multiple times throughout the year. This is the next step for engaging your students in the topic of phenology. With journaling, students can see the changes that occur throughout the season in a structured setting. It can be targeted at different aspects of nature and phenology. Here we highlight three main approaches: Artistic, Qualitative, and Quantitative. For some of them we provide written activities, others, we just provide some ideas. You can also check out Nature Journaling and Journaling Prompts.

Artistic

Artistic nature journaling allows for a hands on approach, which is good for K-5 students but can also be fulfilling for older students. Things that could be done include: leaf rubbings (where you put a leaf under paper and rub a crayon over to get the image of the leaf), leaf presses/window panes (leaves can easily be dried by pressing them between pages of a book, if you don’t have a press), depictions of nature though free drawing, and painting with nature (like leaves or twigs). The point is to repeat the activity over time so that the students can visualize how plants change. We do not have any written-up artistic activities but they can easily be developed to fit your classroom needs.

Activity may support these standards:

0L.1.2.1.2 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. (P: 3, CC: 1, CI: LS4)

0P.2.1.1.1 Sort objects in terms of natural/human-made, color, size, shape, and texture, then communicate the reasoning for the sorting system. (P: 4, CC: 2, CI: PS1)

2L.4.1.1.1 Construct an argument with evidence that evaluates how in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. (P: 7, CC: 2, CI: LS4, ETS2)

2L.3.2.2.1 Engineer a device that mimics the structures and functions of plants or animals in seed dispersal.* (P: 6, CC: 6, CI: LS2, ETS1)

3L.3.1.1.2 Develop multiple models to describe how organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have birth, growth, reproduction, and death in common. (P: 2, CC: 4, CI: LS1)

3L.4.1.1.1 Construct an argument about strategies animals use to survive. (P: 7, CC: 2, CI: LS2)

3L.4.2.1.1 Obtain information from various types of media to support an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.** (P: 8, CC: 4, CI: LS1)

Qualitative

Another option is for students to write down their observations. With this type of activity, you can focus on increasing vocabulary and writing skills in addition to learning about phenology. Possible activities are homework journals (students must go into nature and describe what they see) and class room nature walks with directed writing afterwards. Check out Hofman’s “Nature Journaling: A Creative Path to Environmental Literacy” for ideas.

Activity may support these standards:

2L.3.2.2.1 Engineer a device that mimics the structures and functions of plants or animals in seed dispersal.* (P: 6, CC: 6, CI: LS2, ETS1)

3L.3.1.1.2 Develop multiple models to describe how organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have birth, growth, reproduction, and death in common. (P: 2, CC: 4, CI: LS1)

3L.4.1.1.1 Construct an argument about strategies animals use to survive. (P: 7, CC: 2, CI: LS2)

Quantitative

The next step is to record quantitative data on phenology. This requires that students monitor plants over the course of a season and learn about how to identify phenophases (i.e., stages of phenology like budburst). They would observe the plants and record the number of buds or percentage of buds at each phenophase. Data can be recorded using Nature’s Notebook or more informally. We have two different examples for quantitative journaling: Observation Station and Investigations in Phenology. The Driven to Discover curriculum also has great quantitative activities.

Activity may support these standards:

5L.1.2.1.3 Plan and conduct an investigation to obtain evidence that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. (P: 3, CC: 5, CI: LS1)

7L.2.1.1.1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.** (P: 4, CC: 2, CI: LS2)

7L.3.2.1.1 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms and/or populations. (P: 6, CC: 2, CI: LS1, ETS2)

7L.4.1.1.2 Support or refute an explanation by arguing from evidence and scientific reasoning for how animal behavior and plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction. (P: 7, CC: 2, CI: LS1)

7L.4.1.2.1 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes in physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.* (P: 7, CC: 7, CI: LS2)

9L.2.2.1.1 Use a computational model to support or revise an evidence-based explanation for factors that have ecological and economic impacts on different sized ecosystems, including factors caused by the practices of various human groups.** (P: 5, CC: 3, CI: LS2)

9L.3.2.1.5 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to the adaptation of populations. (P: 6, CC: 2, CI: LS4)

9L.4.1.1.1 Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on an individual’s and species’ chances to survive and reproduce. (P: 7, CC: 2, CI: LS2)

9L.4.1.1.3 Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species. (P: 7, CC: 2, CI: LS4)

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