How do I do nature studies…

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  • April 6, 2012 at 5:42 pm
    Delkroemer
    Participant

    Hello, I’m new 🙂 I live in an apartment in the city, I do not even have a yard. So I’m wondering how I would do nature studies with nature walks? How often do you have to do them?

    April 6, 2012 at 5:55 pm
    suzukimom
    Participant

    Once a week would be great….  if you are like many of us, a few times in winter, and more in the summer is more likely…

    Are there any nature areas in the city near you?  I am fortunate that we have a few forest trails in the city not TOO far from us…

    There is nature, even in the cities – but it can be harder to find…  I know there was someone that talked about her experience in another country (USSR? Germany?) in a city where you would think there was NO nature, and how much nature they found when looking for it – but I don’t remember if it was this forum or one of the yahoo groups I was on…

     

    April 6, 2012 at 6:28 pm
    JenniferM
    Participant

    I recommend checking out the Handbook of Nature Study blog: http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/

    At the top, click on the tab “Getting Started.”  You may want to look at Challenge #1 toward the bottom where families placed links to their Nature Study experience.  I remember at least one lives in a city, and it was neat to see how much nature that family discovered among buildings and sidewalks!

    I think the main thing is to get outdoors and begin exploring.

    Enjoy!

    April 6, 2012 at 7:19 pm
    sheraz
    Participant

    We find lots of things to see at the zoo, nature centers, some times there are gardens of all kinds.  My favorite place is the park.  Lots of up close things in the grass, trees, and bushes.  Don’t forget to look up either. =)  You can see if your city has a master gardener program – they plant and maintain areas in our city, and would love to share their stuff.  Also see if there are any conservation areas.  Those are “gold mines” for nature study.  =)

    April 6, 2012 at 7:34 pm
    MamaSnow
    Participant

    We live in a city apartment too. I wrote a blog post about how we do nature study…http://snowfallacademy.blogspot.fr/2012/03/how-we-do-nature-study.html

    I think having less ‘naturally’ available has made us more mindful of the little things like what plants are growing in planters and the tree outside our window.

    HTH some,

    Jen

    April 6, 2012 at 7:46 pm
    MamaSnow
    Participant

    Oh, and about frequency, since I didn’t address that in my blog post, we shoot for about once a week, although we don’t always get to it. I also try to read from a nature-themed story book about once a week. In general I am a schedule kind of person, but nature study is one thing I’ve found it better to sort of go with the flow. We dont’ have a car so we walk everywhere. Sometimes I’ll check the latest theme on the Handbook of Nature study blog and we’ll look for something specific while we’re walking. Other times we just happen to notice something interesting and later we come back and record it. Sometimes we don’t manage to do a journal entry, but at least we are making a point to notice what is happening around us, which I think is the main point of nature study anyhow. I like to try and keep my camera with me so we can easily snap pictures if we see something interesting and then we can do further study on it later if we want to.

    Jen

    April 7, 2012 at 1:10 am
    Delkroemer
    Participant

    Thanks for all the wonderful replies and suggestions! We do a quite a few nature centers not too far away and of course there are parks around. Not walking distance though and we only have one car and my hubby is at work most of the day 6 days a week. Scheduling something in once a week will be doable though.

    April 7, 2012 at 1:19 am
    sheraz
    Participant

    I also second Jen’s idea of a pot or two of plants somewhere if possible.  It can be a fun nature experience as well, especially if it flowers! 😉

    April 7, 2012 at 1:43 am
    suzukimom
    Participant

    A minor thing we have been doing is growing Lentil Sprouts!  It is indoor, and doesn’t even need much light.  They sprout in a couple of days, and can be eaten in about 5 days.  It is the best indoor grouwing project for kids I’ve ever seen (very little work) – you can see each stage as you go – and the kids will probably even eat them after doing it.

    Here is the video on how to do it… the sprouting instructions are about 7 minutes it (the rest is using lentils in salads….)   http://www.lentils.ca/cooking-with-lentils/cooking-with-chef-michael/lentils-and-salads

     

    April 7, 2012 at 11:20 am
    Delkroemer
    Participant

    Oh great ideas, I would love to do the flowers in a pot and try the lentil sprouts, sounds fun and convenient.

    April 7, 2012 at 5:39 pm
    sheraz
    Participant

    Just thought of this one too – if you can hang something outside your windows or where you can see, put up a bird feeder.

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