3rd and 4th grade

Explore/Observe/Wonder/Predict/Investigate

All About Conifer Trees

Read the text that shares interesting facts about pinecones: Fun Facts About Pinecones

Hike With Child in backyard, wooded area, or nature center nearby. Use the Constant Conifer Hike as a guide.

Look for trees that have needles...These are conifers.

Collect and Identify different examples using this guide: Pinecone Identification

Native American Culture: Native Americans Were the Early Builders of Snowshoes

View the different artwork depicting snowshoes. For each piece, enter into your journal the following:

What's going on?

What makes you say that?

How does the snowshoe design make that activity better in the art?

Watch these videos about snowshoes:

  1. Snowshoeing at the Straits of Mackinac:

https://youtu.be/GjtkrYGUmpc

  1. The Snowshoe Storyteller:

https://youtu.be/H_UEW92p8xU

  1. Snowshoe Making - an endangered art:

https://youtu.be/c0Whah0U28Q

DIY Feeder Station

Choose a feeder station to design with your child. Build it and find a place to put it where you are able to observe birds using it. Try to count the number of birds on the feeder, near the feeder, above the feeder, or below the feeder.

Consider making a bar chart or bar graph of the number of birds you see for a few days or the number of different color birds you observe. Make a prediction for the next day each time you observe. What might alter the count from one day to the next? Write in the time you observed your birds. Draw the clock face in your journal when your observation is done.

Bird Calls

Find a quiet spot in your backyard to sit and listen for bird calls. Morning is Best! Record predictions for how many different calls you would hear in the time you are sitting? Were you right? Were there more or less than you predicted?

-How many different calls/songs do you hear?

-Are the calls high or low pitched?

-Are the calls fast or slow paced?

Bird Scavenger Hunt

Walk around and listen to birds:

  • Try to mimic the noises with kids (quietly, loudly, while “flying” (running and flapping arms) around)

  • Play noises on Merlin phone app if adult recognizes call

Scavenger hunt (Talk about the similarities and difference in size, color, and height):

  • A bird singing

  • A bird in a tree

  • A bird on the ground

  • A bird with white

  • A red bird

  • A big bird

  • A little bird

Links:

  • Bird species present in Ottawa Co. and when they can be found here: Link

Birds In Your Backyard

What bird is most common in your backyard? Choose from this tally sheet or tally sheet #2 to note how many of each type you find in your yard.


Help Your Habitat

After observing what parts of a birds’ habitat are in your yard, create a plan with your child to add more food, water, and/or cover to your backyard.

Read all about it

Merlin Bird ID App

Practice identifying birds based on their size, color, and habitat with the Merlin Bird ID App.

Math and STEM Connections with Nature

Found Items As Manipulatives

Manipulatives are sets of materials that kids can use to help them learn to count, add, subtract, and just think about number sense and logic.

Gather a set of manipulatives from nature. These can be sticks, seeds, stones, bark, or anything your child enjoys collecting.

Create a 1's Set (1-10)

Create a 10's Set (10-100)

Want to do more? Here are 25 activities using Math Manipulatives from Nature for you to try.

All About Melting

Find a day where it still warms up enough to melt ice! Grab a bunch of ice cubes and head outside...

  • Give your child some unstructured time with ice outside.

  • Give children a plastic bowl of ice cubes and let them play. You can play, too, but participate as a peer, not a teacher. The goal is to let kids make their own discoveries.

  • If you like, you can also encourage kids to record their observations by drawing.

Discuss: What makes ice melt? What eventually happens to your ice "paintings"?

Read the Article: How Ice Melts

Sun Vs. Shade Late Fall Edition

Help your child understand that the energy from the sun still drives change in materials even during late fall!

  • Make predictions before beginning the experiment. Discuss about what makes ice melt. Ask kids to make a guess:

    • Where do you think ice will melt faster?

      1. In the sun

      2. In the shade.

  • Have kids put one ice cube in the sun and the other in shade.

  • Watch and note the results.

Discuss: Why did the ice left in the sun melt faster? Ask kids to stand in the sun and then stand in the shade. Can they feel the difference?

Dinner Discussion

  • Prompt your child with the following prompts to talk about their experience.

      • Today I noticed....

      • Today we saw.....

      • I made.....

  • Talk about predictions that were made and how close observations were.

  • Ask your child to estimate the number of examples (1-10) of an item they saw to help reinforce number sense being developed in the activities.

Share with the world

  • Use #ODCbackyardcrusade to share your learning from this week on social media

  • Email a photo to bob@outdoordiscovery.org so we can share it with our community.

Beyond The Lesson


  • Blubber Gloves! A fun activity that will help your child learn about how animals prepare for winter temperatures.

  • Have children create a map of their backyard. Include on the map where birds could find food, water, cover, and space to survive.

  • Design your own idea for a new and different snowshoe shape and material based upon your knowledge of Native American Designs.

  • Take an owl hike. Head out at night and listen closely at dusk. Owls may start to call. Other birds are active in the evening as well. Use your merlin app to identify these birds. Notice how quiet the evening can be with newly fallen snow. If the sky is clear, look for the moon, what shape is it?

  • Travel to a Park or the Outdoor Discovery Center to expand on any of the concepts in our study.

    1. Outdoor Discovery Center

    2. DeGraaf Nature Center

    3. Ottawa County Parks

Banner Photo Credit: Mike Lozan