Week 8:

Camera Captures

Nature Journaling: Camera Captures

Like cave drawings or Egyptian hieroglyphics, pictures of nature can help us learn more about the organisms in them. We can learn about their shape, size, color, and more! Photographs or drawings help "trap" what we see in time, including things in nature. Drawing what we see captures that image in our memory!

Step-by-step guide:

Head outside! You can either use coloring utensils or a camera if you have one!
Find something you'd like to "trap" in time. It should be something that catches your attention! Maybe it's a bird on a feeder, a flower just-bloomed, or an insect on the sidewalk.
Draw that scene, animal, or organism into your journal, or snap a good photo!
If you need to use labels with your picture, go ahead and add them!

Post-activity question:

Why did you choose to "capture" what you did?
Did anything make you curious? If so, what was it and why?

Challenge:

How might your drawing or photograph change over time? Will what you "captured" change with the seasons? Why or why not?

Drawing Tips: Objects that Move!

If you're having trouble drawing something that keeps changing positions, don't worry!

I had trouble too. There's a few things you can do, but just remember it doesn't have to be perfect! Your goal is accuracy.

Option A: Focus on size, shape, color, and location of body parts. If you're watching an insect or animal, wait for it to reach a shape or position familiar to you. Draw what you can! If it moves, you can work from memory or wait for it to return to the same position (this is what I did).
Option B: Draw your object in multiple positions by creating separate pictures. If your object moves while you're working on a drawing, nothing is wrong with leaving that picture half-done and starting a new sketch! You can always return to the other if the object goes back to that position.
Option C: If something is moving so fast or so often that it's hard to draw, take a photo if you have a camera available, and draw that picture!

My journal page!

I used colored pencils and drew what I could without getting too close!

I sketched the shape and body structure first and then colored it in.

I chose to "capture" this wasp because it sparked my curiosity!

Share what YOU did! Take a picture of your journal page and send it to curious@duneslearningcenter.org!

AND... here's a new coloring page for you to try!

Trail Camera Color Page.pdf

Did you catch Nature in Your Neighborhood this week?

I encountered some wasps, but Nate encountered some ants! Visit Nature In Your Neighborhood to learn more about ants and their superpowers!

Chief Naturalist Anthony wants to trap the Sandsquatch this week in The Search for Sandsquatch. We learn about box traps and trail cameras!

With this color page, can you create a picture of what you might see in a trail camera?

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