June Edition - Learning in the Great Outdoors

The Japanese Garden at Maymont was in full bloom last weekend. While my son and I have been spending a lot of time outdoors--walking, observing, and exploring--I've not been writing much about it. However, lots of others folks are sharing their ideas about learning out of doors. This can only mean one thing. The June edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors is here!

Worldly Travels

Last year at this time I was finishing up a trip through China, Tibet and Taiwan. This year, I'm but an armchair traveler. You can join me by reading all about this amazing trip to Nagarhole National Park (Rajiv Gandhi National Park), Karnataka.

At A Keeper's Jackpot, take a hike through the Adirondack mountains and learn about Rock Piles, Cairns, and Ducks.

At 10,000 Birds, Charlie shares the results of two days birding in Cape Town, South Africa. All I can say is, WOW!

What's Blooming? In and Out of the Garden

The magnolia outside my office is beginning to flower. Over at Exploring the World's Trees, Dan shares some photos and information about the Southern Magnolia.

Lots of folks are thinking about their gardens these days. Laura at Laura Williams' Musings shares her thoughts on Plantin' Season Around the 'Ol Homestead.

The folks at the Parenting Squad share A Child's Vegetable Garden: Cultivating Fun, Learning and Responsibility.

Jennifer at A Passion for Nature teaches us a thing or two about the mustard plant.

Barb at the Handbook of Nature Study has a series of Green Hour Challenges. The latest challenge (#16) is on Growing Sunflowers.

Arts, Crafts, Cooking and Experiments

Have you ever wanted to make something beautiful from the things you find in your yard or garden? At Po Moyemu--In My Opinion, Sylvia describes the gourd basket she made with her daughter.

At Mama Joules, Julie shares some ideas for thinking scientifically about blowing bubbles.

Stephanie at Stop the Ride! teaches us about immature pokeweed and a shares recipe for bacon and eggs made with poke weed.

Birds, Bugs and Other Critters

Jennifer at A Passion for Nature takes us along while she helps out with some bird banding.

At Birds and Things, Tony shares thoughts on the joys of birdwatching.

John at A D.C. Birding Blog has a thoughtful review of The Young Birder's Guide by Bill Thompson.

Roberta at Weekend Science Fun shares lots of great ideas for a Critter Crawl.

Granny J. at Walking Prescott spent some time in the bayou and shares her view of Swamp Things.

Beyond the Fields We Know gives us a glimpse of a wild turkey nest with eggs.

Have the cicada colonies where you live emerged from the ground? I haven't seen or heard them here in Virginia, but Stephanie has seen them in West Virginia. Check out Every Seventeen Years for some photos and cicada info.

Outdoor Explorations

Over at the Handbook of Nature Study, Barb considers the difference between nature journals and notebooks.

What could be more fun than exploring the woods with your teacher on the last days of school? Not much! Terrell at Alone on a Limb lets us join in the explorations he shared with four very lucky students.

Dawn at By Sun and Candlelight shares the results of the May Nature Study.

That's all for this month's edition. I hope you have found some new sites to follow and enjoyed this collection. The July issue of Learning in the Great Outdoors will be hosted by Terrell at Alone on a Limb. I hope to see you all there!

**UPDATED** - Okay, it's not necessarily outdoor education, but in reading the Times this morning, I came across an article that all teachers and lovers of science should/must read. It's called Put a Little Science in Your Life. It was written by Brian Greene, a professor of physics at Columbia.

Coming Soon - LIGO

The 13th Edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors will be delivered in a few short days. I forgot to post a reminder, so if you have any last minute entries, please send them directly to me and I will include you.

New Learning in the Great Outdoors

The new edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors is up over at 10,000 Birds. Charlie has done a magnificent job putting it all together. If you have any inclination towards learning outside (and even if you don't!), do head over and check it out.

BTW - I'm hosting next month, so get your submissions to me by June 11th!

Leap Into the Year of the Frog

Did you know that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is highlighting 2008 as the Year of the Frog? In an effort to raise awareness and mark a major conservation effort to address the amphibian extinction crisis, the AZA has created a series of educational activities and resources.

Starting February 29th (Leap Day), more than 70 members of the AZA will be holding fun, family-friendly events and programs to educate people about amphibian conservation. Zoo and aquarium visitors can take part in a variety of activities including leapfrog contests, frog calling, zookeepers and aquarist talks, amphibian scavenger hunts, investigating salamander habitat, and close encounters with our colorful frog friends! Learn more about events near you.

In support of Year of the Frog, National Environmental Education Week has developed a section on amphibians and reptiles for its EE Week Curricula Library.

This year we'll not only be jumping into froggy activities, but reading these froggy titles.

• All About Frogs by Jim Arnosky
• Tuesday by David Wiesner
• Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
• A Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson
• From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer
• Toad by the Road: A Year in the Life of These Amazing Amphibians by Joanne Ryder
  

What are you doing for leap day?

New Edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors

The fabulous September edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors is now up over at Alone on a Limb. Do head on over and check it out.

5th Edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors

The Summer Morning Snail
by N.M. Bodecker in Water Pennies

The summer morning snail
she leaves a shiny trail.
At sunrise in the chill, wet grass I
    find her;
so I shall always know
wherever she may go,
she leaves that guiding sliver thread
    behind her.

For long before it's day
she's up and on her way,
the moon still in the pale dawn sky
    above her;
if I could be a snail,
I'd hurry on her trail,
to tell her just how very much I
    love her.

Welcome to the August edition (5th!) of Learning in the Great Outdoors. As we brave our way through the last hot days of summer, there are many folks who choose to stay indoors to beat the heat. Not me! This is when I look forward to early mornings in the shade, sipping tea and watching the birds in the yard. These are the days when hot walks on the beach or in the shade of the forest can open your eyes once again to the wonder of the natural world. This month, let's look at the all ways we can explore the great outdoors.

Get Your Sunscreen on and Head Outside
Let's begin with picking some ripe, delicious blueberries. This post is by one of my favorite bloggers, cloudscome, who writes awesome haiku poems accompanied by some amazing nature photos at her blog, a wrung sponge.

When outdoors, always keep your eyes open, as you never know what you might see. Oh, look over there! It's that darn snake! Over at Po Moyemu, Sylvia not only writes about the snake that can't seem to stay away from the hen house, but also shares this Odd Egg Update.

Would you like to explore colors in your garden? Barb at The Heart of Harmony shares this nature activity from kidsgardening.org. Another great idea from Barb is on how to make a nature journal. This one has great pictures that show the process step-by-step.

I love my nature notebook, as it often helps me remember where I've been and what I've seen. Over at Backyard Birding, Dana shares some thoughts on notebooks and birds.

Speaking of birds, I'm crazy about them. I recently discovered the blog of a Bird Study Ecology Group. Okay, I know these folks are in Singapore, but the pictures are terrific and I'm learning quite a lot about bird behavior. Check it out and see what you think.

With fall fast approaching, now is a good time to think about making your yard a bit more nature-friendly. Tiffany at Natural Family Living shares a slide show that highlights their backyard wildlife habitat.

Well, I thought mountain climbing in Tibet was adventurous, but it seems that Stephanie over at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood has me beat! Read all about the Infamous Alaskan Backpacking Trip. (If you want to read about that mountain in Tibet, follow this link.)

For a trip closer to home, the folks at Free Range Academy share their pictures of a recent trip to the Lynde Shores Conservation Area.

Over at the Yellow House Homeschool, nature walks are a way of life. Check out the prairie walk, the tree study, and plant things. If you want to learn to take better nature photos, be sure to read the entry entitled Scale Matters.

Dawn at By Sun and Candlelight often shares shares pictures and writes about the flora and fauna that surround her family. I love this entry entitled Little Nature Stories: Birds, Bugs and Berries.

I'm always on the lookout for a new blog (at least new to me) that celebrates nature. Join me in visiting one of my new faves, Beyond the Fields We Know. The photos of this little corner of Ontario are amazing. While you're visiting, be sure to reflect on the passing of July with the entry entitled The Blessing Moon of July.

Let's Head Back in to Find Some Good Books
Becky at Becky's Book Reviews shares Shape Me a Rhyme, a poetry book written by Jane Yolen and illustrated with photographs by her son, Jason Stemple.

Would you like to learn about worms? Julie at Pines Above Snow shares some great reads for those with more than a passing fancy. If you want to follow up these books with a great online resource, I'm partial to the UIUC site The Adventures of Herman the Worm.

Over at True Colors, Dawnelle introduces us to the book Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. Using this same title, Lindafay at Higher Up and Further In writes about using this book to guide their study of butterflies.

Funding and a Bit O' Politics
Sometimes finding money for outdoor education can be a problem. Terrell from Alone on a Limb and the inventor of this here blog carnival shares a fantastic proposal for a nature study project.

Given all the federal mandates mucking up public education these days, I'm not one for adding even more requirements, but this one has me nodding my head in agreement. If you haven't read about the proposed addendum to NCLB entitled No Child Left Inside, please do.

Just for Fun
On July 7th, the New 7 Wonders Foundation announced the winners of a global vote on the New 7 Wonders of the World. You can read about it here. The Foundation has now set off on a campaign to nominate the sites for the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Where in this big beautiful world have you been that is a worthy nominee? Think about it and then head on over and nominate your favorite spot.

That's it for this edition. Thanks so much for visiting. I leave you with and excerpt from Ordinary Things: Poems From a Walk in Early Spring by Ralph Fletcher, for it's also time for me to leave my desk behind. Enjoy!

Walking
Time to leave my desk
and leave my house,
pulling the door behind.

I walk the way I write
starting out all creaky,
sort of stumbling along,
looking for a rhythm.

Each footstep is like a word
as it meets the blank page
followed by a pause
before the next one:
step, step, word . . .

No Child Left Inside - Time Out for a Political Announcement

Last week, Congressman John Sarbanes introduced the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 to the House Committee on Education and Labor (House Bill 3036). This bill urges Congress to include critical environmental education measures in the No Child Left Behind law.

Section 2 of the bill presents the following findings.

1. Environmental education is essential for--


• (A) enhancing student learning and problem solving skills, especially in science;
• (B) creating responsible and engaged citizens; and
• (C) producing graduates who are prepared to address the challenges, adjustments, and opportunities that will be present in the life and the workforce of the 21st century due to threats to human health, economical development, biological diversity, and national security arising from environmental stresses.


2. Studies documenting the increasing indicators of nature-deficit disorder show that time spent out of the classroom for learning during the school day is critical to the intellectual, emotional, and physical health of children and that providing students with quality opportunities to directly experience the natural world can improve students' overall academic performance, self-esteem, personal responsibility, community involvement, personal health (including child obesity issues), and understanding of nature.


3. Fewer and fewer students are becoming involved in important environmental education courses, classwork, and field investigations as an unintended consequence of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.).
   

The language in the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 recommends including environmental education in NCLB in these ways.

• Provide incentives for state educational agencies to create a State Environmental Literacy Plan for integrating environmental education into their K-12 curriculum to ensure that graduates are environmentally literate.
• Provide funding to help states, schools systems, and environmental education partners to implement the State Environmental Literacy Plan.

Since the inception of NCLB, most schools have curtailed or eliminated environmental education programs to allow them to focus on meeting the standards in reading and math. The reauthorization of NCLB could provide for positive change in this area.

You can learn more about this bill at No Child Left Inside.

Learning in the Great Outdoors: Fourth Edition

Since I've been busy at work this week, I haven't been reading many of my regular blogs. Therefore, I am a bit late in mentioning that the fabulous Terrell over at Alone on a Limb has posted the fourth edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors.

Okay, so this is where I tell you (gulp) that I have agreed to host the next carnival.

That's right, I'll be collecting entries for the August edition right here. Please e-mail me by August 3rd with your contributions. I will post the fifth edition sometime that very weekend. This ought to be fun, so please, do join us!

Learning in the Great Outdoors: Third Edition

I am woefully behind on my blog reading these days. I am, however, trying to catch up when I have a few free moments and can actually manage to stay awake! I am happy to announce (just a tad bit late) that the newest edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors is up. Once again, Terrell has done an admirable job putting this all together. Please stop by and take a look.

Learning in the Great Outdoors: Second Edition

Alone on a Limb has just published A Nature Walk at School, the second carnival of environmental education. This edition begins with a little research in the library (including a link to a series by yours truly), heads out the garden door for a look at poison ivy, trees, nature study groups and more, reminds you not to forget your camera as you take in the sites, and finishes back inside with a look at some web sites for great new ideas.

If you are interested in outdoor education for a traditional classroom setting, the homeschool crowd, or are just plain interested in nature, click on over for a real treat.

Exploring the Natural World - Part 3

In this third and final post in my series on exploring the natural world, I thought it would be helpful to point you to some of my best resources for outdoor education. Some of these are designed specifically for teachers, while others are actually written for kids. These are the books I turn to over and over again for great ideas for exploring nature.

First, a general plug for environmental education programs. I am a facilitator for Project WILD, Project Learning Tree (PLT), Population Connection. and Wonders of Wetlands. All of these groups publish comprehensive curriculum materials that provide background information and useful activities, many of them outdoor. If you can get to a workshop and receive these materials, by all means do.

In addition to these resources, the following books help to round out my collection of resources for teachers.

• I have two well-worn copies of the original books published by Joseph Cornell, Sharing Nature with Children and Sharing the Joy of Nature. You can find the 20th anniversary edition of Sharing Nature with Children, and Sharing Nature with Children II at Dawn Publications. These are filled with a variety of games and activities that will help young and old get more in touch with the world around them.

• Nature with Children of All Ages by Edith Sisson - This publication from the Massachusetts Audubon Society is chock full of ideas for exploring the natural world. I particularly like the thematic organization, where topics such as tree, plants, seeds, invertebrates, birds, etc. can be found.

• Hands-on Nature: Information and Activities for Exploring the Environment with Children edited by Jenepher Lingelbach - I have the "old" version of this publication, but it still serves me well. Produced by the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, this guide is divided into chapters on adaptations, habitats, cycles and designs of nature.

• The National Gardening Association Guide to Kids' Gardening by Lynn Ocone with Eve Pranis - Gardening is a terrific way to get kids outside and looking closely at the life cycle of plants. This guide was my gardening "bible" for a long time.
  

• The Kids' Nature Book: 365 Indoor/Outdoor Activities and Experiences by Susan Milord - Structured in calendar format, this book provides an activity for every day of the year.

• The National Wildlife Federation has published a series called Ranger Rick's NatureScope. Covering a range of subjects, such as weather, geology, trees, endangered species, etc., these guides provide extensive background information and activities.

There are many books written for kids that I use not only to guide my selection of activities, but as wonderful resources for grabbing their attention and focusing them on what they may find/see outdoors.

• Nature Detective: How to Solve Outdoor Mysteries by Eileen Docekal - Set up in a mystery format, this book includes information on animal tracks, animal houses, pond creatures, bird songs, animal scents, seeds, fungi, weather, and nocturnal creatures. Each chapter presents a "case" for children to solve.
  

• Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie - This wonderful book offers simple techniques to motivate readers of all ages to go outside, observe the natural world, and sketch and write about what they see.
  

• Field Trips: Bug Hunting, Animal Tracking, Bird Watching, Shore Walking by Jim Arnosky - This book, written in field-journal format, provides helpful hints for taking successful outdoor field trips with kids.

• My First Green Book by Angela Wilkes - This practical, oversized volume provides hands-on activities that demonstrate the importance of pitching in to protect our planet. Similar in format to the Eyewitness series, the book is filled with large-scale, color photos that effectively illustrate such experiments as those that show how clean the air is, how acid rain affects plants, how various objects biodegrade at different rates (if at all) and why rain forests are so crucial to the Earth. Other projects include creating a wildlife garden in a flower box, planting a tree and organizing a "green campaign" with one's friends.
  

• My First Nature Book by Angela Wilkes - Also an oversized volume in the format of the Eyewitness series, this book provides an introduction to nature through a variety of simple indoor and outdoor activities including collecting seeds, feeding birds, watching a butterfly grow and more.

• Woods Walk: Peepers, Porcupines & Exploding Puffballs! What You'll See, Hear & Smell When Exploring the Woods by Henry Warren Art and Michael W. Robbins - Organized by season and filled with fun and interesting facts, this book explores what you will find in the forests of North America.

• Nature in the Neighborhood by Gordon Morrison - Each double-page spread in this book reveals the diversity and abundance of life that can be found in your own backyard.
  

Please let me know if you have any favorite resources for getting kids outdoors and teaching about our wonderful world. I would love to hear about them.

**If you missed the earlier entries, please do read Part 1 and Part 2.

The Bio DaVersity Code

I don't usually post videos, but in anticipation of Earth Day, I want to share the Bio DaVersity Code. The science is good, but I must reluctantly admit to being one of the few people on the planet who hasn't read The DaVinci Code or seen the film. Even without this background, the video works for me!

Exploring the Natural World - Part 2

When I began teaching, I found myself in a school that was located adjacent to a cemetery that occupied 249 acres of prime green space in the city of Buffalo. With more than 200 species of trees, it was an amazing arboretum. Numerous birdhouses placed throughout the cemetery made it a year-round haven for more than 240 kinds of birds. Founded in 1849, Forest Lawn Cemetery is a veritable garden, with rolling hills, roads that curve and intertwine with the landscape, spring-fed lakes, a creek, and a wide array of sculptures that reflect the natural setting.

While the school itself had a field, it was the cemetery that started me on the path to using the outdoors as a classroom worthy of our attention. Some of the activities my students and I engaged in can be done in any outdoor setting. So, building on the activities described in Part 1, here are some more ideas for getting kids outside and learning in the natural world.

The Year of the Tree - Select a tree (preferably deciduous) that you would like to observe through the course of a year. Every two weeks (or any time period that makes sense to you) give children the opportunity to make a detailed observation of the tree, with the goal of creating a book at the end of the year. The first page of the book should include a description of the location of the tree, with information on why that particular tree was chosen. On this first observation, children should do the following:

• Make a rubbing of the bark (to serve as the cover of the book)
• Select one leaf for pressing
• Make a detailed sketch of the tree
• Look for and record signs of life in the tree, such as nests, holes, etc.
• Use a large string to find the circumference of the tree
  
• Estimate the height of the tree
• Measure the child's shadow and the tree's shadow at the same time of day. Calculate the tree's height by using the following ratio: child's height/child's shadow = tree's height/tree's shadow. (You can learn more about measuring tree height at this site on Mapping the Louisiana Territory.)

On every visit to the tree, children should make a sketch and record information about how it looks, smells, and feels at the time. Encourage observation of the tree both up close and from a distance. Spend at least five minutes sitting at the base of the tree just watching for signs of life. At the end of the year of observation, all sketches and notes should be assembled into a book about the tree. (If you are interested in using a "ready-made" form, the Science Spot has pages for an Adopt-a-Tree activity.)

• Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art by Thomas Locker - In this book, Locker depicts the same tree throughout the seasons. This is a terrific book for helping children to notice even the smallest changes that occur through time.

• One Small Place in a Tree by Barbara Brenner - When a bear uses a tree as a scratching post, it sets off a chain of events that leads to a large hole that becomes home to a variety of forest animals. This is a great book for looking at many of the species of animal that can call a tree home.

Focused Observation - When I first begin to take kids outside, we do two activities designed to help them become better observers. In the first, I assign partner and give each pair a hula-hoop. The pair finds a spot in the yard, field or forest they would like to focus on. The hoop is laid on the ground, where it provides the boundaries for the observational field. How much can you find in this "small" circle? PLENTY! The first job should be to simply sit and look at all that is inside the hoop. Kids should sketch what they see in their journals. How many kinds of grass or vegetation are in the hoop? Knowing the names here isn't important, but rather recognizing that things look different. Encourage kids to get down on their knees and use their hands or a stick to part the vegetation and see what is beneath. A hand lens will help here. I often set timer this activity and then ask for groups to share what they have found. I also give groups the opportunity to repeat with a second plot so that they can see how different these small areas can be.

The second activity focuses on our ability to hear what is happening around us. Before we start, we sit together in the grass and I read The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor. Then, each child finds a spot to lean against a tree. We all close our eyes and spend several minutes just listening. When the timer goes off, the children open their journals and record what they heard. We repeat one more time, and after children have made their journal entries, we share what we heard.

• For many good books about using your senses for observation, read this entry entitled Books That Fill the Senses.

Bug Hunting - Sometimes searching for small forms of life is easier and more interesting than looking for other animals. First, a bit about the word bug. In this case, we are looking for insects, spiders (arachnids), centipedes and millipedes. These are members of the phylum arthropod (we have left out crustaceans), the largest phylum of animals, containing more than 80% of known animal species. It may not be particularly scientific, but the word bug works for kids. I love to take kids on a bug hunt, both inside and outside the classroom. Inside? Yes, we share the indoors with lots of these little creatures. What kinds of bugs live in your house or classroom? If you don't see the bugs, can you see signs that they were there? Once your bug hunt moves outside, there are many places to look for bugs. In the air, trees, dirt, fallen logs, fence posts, bushes, etc. In the early morning hours you can even take a web hunt to see if the spider webs you find are different in location and appearance. You can take bug boxes along on your hunt, but I prefer to leave animals where I find them and just look. However, I do hold ladybugs, caterpillars and spiders so nervous kids can get a closer look. If you do this at home with your kids, consider hunting in the early morning hours and at dusk. You should see a marked difference in the bugs you observe.

• Field Trips: Bug Hunting, Animal Tracking, Bird Watching, Shore Walking by Jim Arnosky - This book, written in field-journal format, provides helpful hints for taking successful outdoor field trips with kids. A visit to the coloring pages at Jim Arnosky's web site provides reproducibles for 100 animals every child should know. There are many "bugs" on this list, and these pages can be incorporated into field trip journals.

That's all for now. In the next entry in this series I will share some terrific teacher resources that provide ideas for sharing nature with children.

**Continue on and read Part 3!

Carnival of Environmental Education

Alone on a Limb has published the first carnival of environmental education. The inaugural edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors is out there just waiting for you to explore. It begins:

I have listed more of my own posts than I would have had there been more submissions. I also have posted links to several websites that may be of interest to you. And I have gone out and solicited permission to post a few links to blogs that I found helpful or interesting. We hope our visitors will spread the word and help this grow into a real clearinghouse for web log posts about outdoor education.

So, here I am, spreading the word. Please visit and then consider submitting an entry of your own for the next go-round.

Exploring the Natural World - Part 1

A few days ago I wrote a post about the need to get kids outdoors so that they can spend time exploring the natural world. I was an outdoor kid, so this comes naturally for me. I always took my kids (students) outside for study, and today I take my preservice teachers and the practicing teachers I work with out to consider all the ways the outdoors can enhance and expand their teaching. Even with structured guidance, I still have students who are reluctant about this approach because they aren't sure how to begin or what exactly to do once they go outside.

In an effort to encourage more teachers and parents to get outside with their kids, I would like to share some of my favorite outdoor explorations with connections to books and indoor extensions. For most of these activities you need nothing more than a clipboard, pencil, hand lens (or magnifying glass), jumbo crayon, some paper and a container for your "finds." I have a collection of old plastic cups (kids drink size) from restaurants (Friday's, Olive Garden, etc.) that work really well for scooping up dirt and insects. You may even want to keep a few small baggies in your pocket for the non-living things you find on the ground. If you have a digital camera, consider capturing some photos to use for additional projects and/or discussion.

I Spy Shapes - Looking for shapes outdoors can be a fun activity. When you begin your walk outside, start by noticing the shapes of the buildings, the materials in the walkway, the objects on the playground, outdoor furniture and more. When you move away from the built environment, the challenge is in finding these shapes in the natural world. What shapes are the stones you find? The leaves? Sticks? What do flower petals look like up close? How about at a distance? Have you ever stood far enough away from a tree to really look at its overall shape? Is it round, oval, pyramidal or something else? Get up close to the tree. What does the bark look like? Can you recognize any shapes in the pattern? Do you see any animals? Can you recognize any shapes in their forms? (Does a bird beak really resemble a triangle?) While searching for shapes, encourage kids to sketch what they see. They can even trace objects they find on the ground. After spending some time just looking, play a game of I Spy. Say, "I spy a circle." See how quickly the children can find the object you have in mind. How many other things can they find with the same shape? Finally, consider using all these experiences to have kids write and illustrate their own "Natural Shapes" book.

• Icky Bug Shapes is a great book for looking at shapes in nature. Read this after exploring shapes outside.
• For some great background information on trees, their shapes and identification, take a look at this Tree Diversity Activity from the National Arbor Day Foundation.
  

Looking at Logs - What happens when a tree dies? Even though the tree may be dead, it lives on in the food and shelter it provides for other organisms. One of my favorite outdoor activities is exploring fallen trees. Take your kids to a wooded area and find yourself a tree that is decomposing. Spend some time looking for signs of life in this "dead" plant. How does it look? Smell? Feel? Carefully roll the log back and look closely at what is underneath. Scoop up a small sample of material and pour it out onto a white piece of paper on your clipboard. What do you see? Peel back a section of bark and examine the wood below. Do you see evidence of living things? Is anything growing on or inside the log? What role is the log playing in the forest?

• Wendy Pfeffer has written a terrific book called A Log's Life. In it she explores what happens to an oak tree that crashes to the ground in a storm. This is a wonderful look at the life cycle of the tree and a really neat introduction to decomposers.
• Robin Brickman contributes fascinating artwork to A Log's Life in the form of collages of 3-dimensional molded paper forms. You can view samples at her web site. Using paper, scissors and glue, children can try to create some similar pieces of their own.
  

What Happens to Our Trash? - Kids often ask why we recycle, but we do little in the way of concrete activities to show them why it is important. Find an old shoe box and pick a place in your yard where you can "plant" the box in the ground. Fill the box with soil. Pick a few items to bury in the soil. Take photos or draw sketches of the items before they are placed in the soil. I usually use some apple peelings or rinds from melons, newspaper, an aluminum foil ball, and a small plastic bottle. Make sure the items are covered with soil and then place the top on the box. The lid does not need to be covered with dirt. (This just makes it easy to find the box and its contents again.) Ask children to predict what will happen to these items. Once a week, check on the items in the box, and the box itself, and see what kind of changes have taken place. I would recommend using a stick or similar item to stir the soil each week when examining the contents. You can keep a journal of these weekly observations.

• There is a terrific book in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series called Where Does the Garbage Go? In it, a group of school kids look at where garbage comes from and then looks at what happens in landfills, incinerators and recycling centers.
• Gail Gibbons has written a great book called Recycle: A Handbook for Kids. It looks at the content of landfills and how we can recycle to reduce the need for landfills.
• Composting is a wonderful way to create rich soil for your garden while reducing the amount of trash you produce. You can view the slide show Composting for Kids to learn how to get started. A quick how-to guide on Composting with Kids provides the recipe for composting.
  

Sock Walk - Provide children with a pair of old white athletic socks (adult size). Go to an outdoor area (a yard, field, park or forest) where you can take a short walk. Once you get to the desired location, help the children to put the socks on OVER their shoes. Take a short walk through the area. Remove the socks and examine the material that is stuck to them. Don't forget a hands lens! Once you are done, you may want to scrape off the dirt and "stuck" material to plant in some soil. You may be surprised by what happens. I like to do this in the late spring and again in early fall in the same location.

• Generally, the socks will accumulate all manner of seeds. This is a good time to talk about how seeds are dispersed. For kids who want to know more, the Ken Robbins book Seeds is a marvelous photographic examination of different seeds and their methods of dispersal. Kids can learn even more about seeds in the ink and watercolor illustrations and poetic text of A Seed is Sleepy.
  

That's all for now. Look for the next installment where I will share suggestions for keeping a nature journal, bug hunting, and more.

**Continue on and read Part 2!

Break a Leg - Climb More Trees!

I heard this on Morning Edition this morning.

The popularity of video games may have an unintended safety benefit: fewer children are falling out of trees. Britain's Daily Telegraph reports that hospital admissions for tree-related accidents are way down since 1999. On the other hand, a spike has been seen in repetitive-stress injuries among young people.

I'm not surprised. I grew up in an area of western New York surrounded by open fields and dairy farms. I regularly climbed trees, raced through corn fields, picked raspberries off the vine (and ate them without washing them!), tramped through puddles and creeks, and picked up all manner of slimy, warty, smelly things you can imagine. When I describe these "adventures" to my students, they look at me as if I have three heads. "You did what?" Young people today just don't spend enough time outside in unstructured play.

Richard Louv looks at this issue in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Published in 2005, this book focuses on the term coined by Louv. He uses it to describe the fixation of children today on the artificial entertainment rather than natural wonders. Louv writes, "Our society is teaching young people to avoid direct experience in nature."

Not my kid. I let him play outside in the rain, bathe in mud puddles, plant seeds (from every apple he eats!), explore in the nearby creek, collect acorns, sticks and leaves, and engage in lots of other gloriously dirty and disgusting things. However, not all kids have this luxury. As a teacher in the city of Buffalo, I was amazed at how many of my kids had never seen Niagara Falls (just 30 minutes away) or been to the Buffalo Zoo, a facility within the city limits. We can talk all we want about the power of the Internet and other electronic media to bring the world together, but as far as I'm concerned, too many children reside in worlds that are too small, where the people who care for them don't even take them to local areas of interest.

Why bring this up now? Well, besides being prompted by this morning's news bite, National Environmental Education Week will soon be upon us (April 15-22). Yes, I know that April is National Poetry Month and Math Awareness Month, but I am a science geek at heart and a nature lover. So, check out Last Child in the Woods and then do something about the problems described. Get outside with binoculars or a magnifying glass, put on your listening ears, give yourself permission to get dirty, and just revel in all the amazing things in our natural world. Once you've done that, find a kid and share all this beauty with him or her.

And just in case you need an incentive in the form of a children's book, read My Father's Hands by Joanne Ryder. It is the beautiful story of how a little girl and her father share the wonders of nature when they examine several small creatures in the garden.