Heritage & Identity
Grade 2: Heritage & Identity
Changing Family and Community Traditions
Nature Journaling: I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of...
Have the students observe the types of families in the nature world around them. Which parents stay with their young and for how long and which ones do not. How are human families different and why?
At this age all three prompts "I notice..., I wonder...?, and "It reminds me of..." become very intuitive. However the last statement becomes very important for connection making. Encourage them to begin writing themselves using single words or simple sentences. Please note that spelling is not a focus in the nature journal. At this age you may start to see art fears - please ensure you are re-iterating it is not about a pretty picture. It is about their observations. Please see the link feedback at the bottom of this lesson for tips on this. Using words, pictures and numbers allows the students multiple tools to document their observations. With permission Bethan Burton has allowed us to link to her website as she has written a blog post for Teaching nature journaling at all ages.
Here are some more ideas to get you started.
Engage the fives senses (whenever possible)
Make leaf prints ( paint the leaf and press the print into the journal)
Make leaf rubbings
Trace the items they are looking at
Add leaves into the journal using tape
Count the birds/squirrels/insects etc.
Measure as much of the phenomena as the students can using non standard and standard units of measurement.
Here is a downloadable lesson from John (Jack) Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren book: How to Teach Nature Journaling. All resources shared with permission. "I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of..."
GIVING FEEDBACK here is a fantastic resource from Jack and Emilie
NOTE: You are encourage to spend time in the outdoors Nature Journaling. However, you can also bring nature inside, look out your wonder window, have a refrigerator Safari or even observe a house plant or pet.
Diversity is our Strength
Diversity means variety. A diverse community is made up of many unique individuals. This can be a community of people, animals or even plants.
Go for a diversity walk outside. Collect as many different kinds of plants that you can find. Only take one small sample leaf from each plant that you visit. You can also draw the leaves and plants rather than collect them. Be sure to stick to public properties.
If you are observing from inside, you can look out your window and make a tally of all the different plants you can see.
How will you know they’re different from one another? Some ideas: look at the leaves, the shape of the tree or plant, the flowers that are growing on it.
You can even walk around inside and tally different kinds of plants in your home (don’t forget to look inside the fridge!). Make drawings of the different leaves or plants.
Once your tally is complete, count how many different plants you found. Are you surprised by what you discovered? You studied a natural community or group of living things. Now think of your family and school community. Can you describe some of the differences between people in your community and the activities they participate in?
NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity at the top of the page.