Nuts About Nature - Winter

If you don't know yet, Melissa at In the Sparrow's Nest has
started a wonderful nature series exploring winter and spring. I am very behind but we finally completed Week #2! Between colds and toddlers and what not, it took us a while. Melissa has done such a wonderful job. If we do nothing else but follow her outline of topics, using library books, I think we will have learned a lot.

So using her outline for Week #2, we read a lot of books from the library and we made a chart on our board. As we read about an animal, we put a picture of it in the appropriate column.






And here our some books we used from the library.


Why Do Some Animals Hibernate?

Who Lives In The Snow?



Animals Hibernating: How Animals Survive Extreme Conditions


Explore Winter! 25 Great Ways to Learn About Winter





Some easier picture books

Winter

Let's Look at Winter


What Happens In Winter?



Lewis Cardinal's First Winter


Thank you, Melissa!

Why study nature?

This is why I want my kids to do nature study. Not only to observe and be attentive to details, not only to draw and to appreciate, but to draw nearer to God, to worship Him, and to fellowship with Him.

Here's an article by Melissa that explains it well.



[edit 9/17/08]

Here's another good reason to study nature: to know and to understand those things that are near and relevant to us. This was posted by Barb.

Nature Studies

Here are some links that i wanted to save regarding nature studies:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HarmonyArtMom/388428/
studying one tree at a time
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HarmonyArtMom/391542/
drawing and your nature journal

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HarmonyArtMom/391542/
nature study vs. nature journals
http://lapazfarm.homeschooljournal.net/nature-study-activities/a-nature-scavenger-hunt/
a nature scavenger hunt
http://dawnathome.typepad.com/by_sun_and_candlelight/2007/09/a-scavenger-hun.html
an autumn nature scavenger hunt