IF YOU ARE NEW TO NATURE JOURNALING PLEASE LOOK AT OUR NATURE JOURNALING PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Nature Journaling is an incredible tool for helping students to add measurement to their observations by using non standard units to compare sizes and the attributes that go with those sizes - different sized leaves, lengths of stems, bigger or smaller than your hand, etc.  

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 making the connections.  Encourage students to begin writing using single words or simple sentences. Please note that spelling is not the focus in a nature journal.  At this age you may start to see art fears - ensure you are re-iterating it is not about a pretty picture.  It is about their observations.  Please see the link below for tips on giving feedback.  Using a combination of 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. She has written a blog post for Teaching nature journaling at all ages.  

Here are some more of Bethan's ideas to get you started:

• Engage the fives senses (whenever possible)

• Make leaf prints (paint the leaf and press the print into the journal)

• Do leaf rubbings with paper and the side of crayons

• Trace items

• Add leaves into the journal using tape

• Count the birds/squirrels/insects etc. 

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 encouraged 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.

A phenology wheel is a circular way of journaling, that is reflective of the earth and place you live.  These are amazing ways to measure the following items

• Max & min temperatures

• Moon phases

• Sunrise & sunset times

• The amount of precipitation

• Wind Speed

• Growth of a plant

• The possibilities are endless and many combinations can be created

As you work through the process of measuring make note of any patterns you are seeing for example.

• What are you noticing about the times of the sunrise and sunset

• Do you see any patterns in the temperatures

• Can you see the different moon phases when you look outside

• The I notices and I wonders are endless

In the activity Time Observed from John (Jack) Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren's book: How to Teach Nature Journaling.  "Students observe the behavior of a group of animals and use a sample protocol to quantify the frequency of different behaviours."

All resources shared with permission.

In order to participate in this activity you will need to complete the "Simple Map" activity in Geometry & Spatial Sense. 

Use the landmarks and map you have created to measure some distances.

• How far is it between the two landmarks closest together?

• How far is it between the two furthest landmarks?

• You can use different ways to measure the distance - footsteps, stick, or the time it takes to walk/drive between places

• Estimate the distance and then actually measure the distance.  How close was your estimation?

Curriculum Links:

• see Geometry & Spatial Sense 

NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity at the top of the page.