... but, I am just horribly inconsistent with this little nature blog. Instead, I'm just going to post my nature study entries at my main blog. My one little blog. I'd love to see you there!

Please come visit!!!

The Educational Life

(a place for Mama to narrate)

Blessings,

Jacci

White Tailed Deer

photo courtesy of www.hiltonpond.org

When I woke up this morning, the thermometer was reading 58 degrees. It was gray and overcast, but 58 degrees! Normally, I would jump on this and quickly declare a "Park Day". But, with this being Thanksgiving week with a long weekend, we are already only doing lessons three days this week. I was torn. Should we just buckle down and stay inside for lessons or should we make the most of one of the last warm days left?

Eventually, my inner Charlotte Mason devotee won out. We packed into the van :)

When we've been very regular with lessons and are having no trouble getting the AO readings in, I don't hesitate to throw all caution to the wind and take off for a long day outdoors. It's the weeks that are already a little tight that make me wonder if I'm right to spend so much time outdoors. Wouldn't it be better to read our Aesop and Paddle-to-the-Sea? The more we spend these long days outside, though, the more I am coming to see them as necessary components to my children's educations. They learn so much! We were at the arboretum today for four hours, and, by the end, I was completely convinced I had made the right call when I decided to take everyone outdoors for the day.

There were more "nature moments" than I can blog about in just one entry. Gathering Sassafras leaves, figuring out how to gather Spruce cone gum, playing with fallen leaves in a creek with sticks. There is one moment that stands out, though. Enough for me to post on my woefully neglected little nature blog ;)

The girls and I were walking along a path toward the back boundary of the arboretum. I was pushing Little Dude along in the stroller and enjoying the last of the autumn leaf changes. I glanced to my right and froze. Immediately, I put my finger to my lips and shhed the children. They knew what that meant. Nature was somewhere nearby :)

Today, that nature was in the form of three white-tailed deer. They were maybe twenty feet away from us, grazing contentedly on the newly sprouted grass. We all squatted down low to keep from frightening them. Even my little Punkin was quiet, squatting there in the grass beside the stroller. One doe looked up at us for a moment, then moved on to find more grass. The three deer walked on together, eventually stopping by a meadow's edge for a moment to nibble some dried grasses before disappearing into the adjoining woods. We had been able to quietly follow them and watch them for nearly a full five minutes.

I was actually glad to not have my camera. This was a sweet moment to enjoy with the children, not to grab a shot for the blog ;) I did, however, use a bit of that moment to help the children see the deer more closely  - to really observe them. I tried to space the questions a bit, giving the children plenty of time to look and consider. What are their ears like? Can you see their noses? What about their noses? Which of their legs are bent and which are straight? Oh, look! I think that may be a yearling fawn. See how she's smaller? How do they behave when we move? One doe skitted off when my 5yo daughter raised a stick just a bit (she was trying to keep her balance). The doe came back after just a short while. Although we were sorry we had startled her, we were also glad we had gotten a good view of her tail's white underside.

I was just thinking the other day that we had seen plenty of nature so far this term, but precious few mammals in the wild. Mammals are supposed to be our nature study focus right now. Well, there you go! Mammals :) I'm certainly glad we got out there today.

Blessings,

Jacci

P.S. By the way, we did still do Aesop, Paddle, and handwriting when we got home ;)

Please check out my main CM blog at

The Educational Life

Painted Lady Butterfly

Last Saturday, my husband noticed a caterpillar forming its chrysalis under the old deck steps he had removed a few weeks ago. Why dear husband did not mention this to his wife and children at the time is not important, but he later admitted that he wasn't thinking "nature study" as he sweated through the 95 degree day building the new deck. Okay, okay, point well taken, but I asked if maybe next time he could take just a minute to holler through the screen door before he cut the next board ;)

All week long we were checking the chrysalis several times a day. It was beginning to get clearer after a few days, and by Friday we could see the colors in the wings. It was my 6yo who first said it.

"I think it looks like a Painted Lady".

After a full week within the chrysalis, the butterfly was easy to see through the walls. I kept peeking out all day, expecting to see a butterfly every minute. Late in the afternoon, I snuck a look between runs of the electric saw, and saw something!!! I called the girls and we all went running out like mad, lol. She had hatched out and was hanging upside down from the underneath of the step, letting her wings dry. It really WAS a Painted Lady. SweetP was so excited that her guess was right!

Butterflies have to let their wings dry for at least two hours, so we went back inside after a bit. We couldn't stay there the whole time! After nap, she was gone, but we figured she was nearby. So, we took a little stroll around the house and we found her in the backyard on some thistle. Yes, I have thistle in my yard. I know, I know. BUT, thistle is the Painted Lady's host plant, so weeds can even add to nature study! If we had weeded away all our thistle, we probably wouldn't have had a caterpillar, chrysalis, or butterfly :)

So, we followed her around a bit. She was flying only short distances and resting for quite a while in the sun between spurts. We had a good, long leisurely look at her. She was so polite, spreading her wings out for us to get a good look. We noticed all kinds of tiny details and spent more than twenty minutes with her. I want to make it clear that touching a butterfly's wings is never a good idea. Each touch wipes away tiny scales and reduces the butterfly's ability to fly. Touching the wings is very damaging. However, you can touch the legs - gently :) SweetP very, very gently put her index finger out in the grass in front of our little friend, and guess what! Yes, homeschooling sisters, my 6yo had a painted lady butterfly perched on her fingers, sitting just as though she enjoyed all of the attention and admiration.

Wow.

What a moment.

 Here's a new bug for ya :) I kept seeing these bright red bugs this summer, but I had no idea what they were called. Finally, I came across a reference to a red milkweed bug in something I was reading. I remembered seeing these little guys on the milkweed at my in-laws house and figured I had my I.D. After running a quick Google search, my guess was confirmed. So, here we have a few photos of the Milkweed Bugs from my garden. They're on milkweed ;)

Milkweed Bugs have an incomplete metamorphosis - the young look like miniature adults (with some color variations and unformed wings). When I found this rather large bug "family" on our milkweed plants in the front yard this afternoon, I called the girls to come see "the babies" that had come to our garden. There were about fifty young bugs of different sizes/ages and only about 5 adults.

Here are some interesting facts I found in my internet research:

• Milkweed Bugs molt 5 times before reaching adulthood
• On the underside of the abdomen, the female has one black strip and two black dots. The male has two thick black strips
• Eggs hatch in one week
• Nymphs reach maturity in about one month
• They will eat shelled sunflower seeds in captivity
• The bugs taste bad to predators because their bodies concentrate the toxicity of their host plant - milkweed. Interestingly, the same is true of monarch butterflies which also eat milkweed. Both insects are reddish orange and black - often natural warning signs of a nasty taste.
• The bugs are harmless and are easily kept in captivity (aka - my kitchen)
• Their bodies are fairly soft and should not be pinched or handled roughly.

I found this FANTASTIC website tonight! It is dedicated to providing teachers with resources for using live insects in elementary classrooms. The little blurb at the top of the page says, "Using Live Insects in Elementary Classrooms for Early Lessons in Life". The lessons for life part gets a little out there in places, but the bug info is good! :) We might just be making a Bug Bungalow with our Milkweeds Bugs! :)

Questions asked of the children:

1) Can you tell which bugs are the adults and which are the babies?

2) How are the adults and babies alike?

3) Tell how the adults and babies are different.

4) Can you see a heart shape anywhere on the adults? What might be a good name for this bug besides Milkweed Bug? (they decided on Love Bug because of the black heart on the upper back of the mature adults).

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar (also known as parsleyworm)

Location: The Ridges Nature Sanctuary - Door County, WI

Date: July 27, 2007

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Papilionidae

Genus and species: Papilio polyxenes Fabricius

Host plants: cultivated and wild carrot, parsley, dill, fennel

Pupal duration: Overwinters inside chrysalis

Emergence: spring

Sam got a great shot of this little guy at The Ridges nature sanctuary. The caterpillar was feeding on a weed (presumably within the Apiaceae family) outside of the nature center. The assistant director showed the children how a light touch to the caterpillar's back caused the caterpillar to send up bright orange protrusions from behind the head. Apparently, this glandular process emits a foul odor designed to ward off predators. Full grown, these caterpillars can reach 2" in length. Light conditions determine coloration, with caterpillars found in shade being darker and with more black than those found in sunny conditions. They are harmless to handle.

The Black Swallowtail butterfly is said to be one of the easiest butterflies to attract to your garden. We have had one all summer, frequenting our liatris, garden phlox, and butterfly bush. They may be seen flying as early as April and as late as the end of October. I plan on planting some host plants in the butterfly bed this fall or next spring. If we have more than a few caterpillars on them, maybe we observe one or two indoors.

Here's an excellent link: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/johnson/hort/Butterfly/BlackSwallowtail.htm

And a beautiful photo: http://bugguide.net/node/view/28634

Now, to try to get a decent photo of the butterfly out in the yard! :)

 Questions asked of the children:

1) Why do you think the caterpillar put up his orange "horns" when we touched him?

2) Do you smell anything in particular near the caterpillar?

3) What reason would there be for such an unpleasant smell?

4) Can you see his little mouth parts chewing?

Is nature study a science?

Yes and no.

Yes, nature study is a science in the sense that it follows the first steps of the scientific method. What are the first steps in this method? My 8th grade natural science teacher would be pleased to find that I still remember at least some of her lectures. The first steps in the scientific process are observation and description - the building blocks of nature study! In the 1939 foreword to Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study, the publishers offer the following additional support for nature study's place as a real science:

"But it should not be thought that nature-study is not a science. The promising science of ecology is merely formalized nature study; indeed it might be said that nature study is natural science from an ecological rather than an anatomical point of view. The truth is that nature study is a science, and is more than a science; it is not merely a study of life, but an experience of life..."

The above quote brings me to the point that while nature study can certainly be identified as a science, yet, it is not only a science. It is an ever-growing, increasingly complex, and at the same time immensely enjoyable, relationship with nature. More from the foreward:

"But the nature study approach has been preserved. The kernel of that method of treatment is the study of the organism in its environment, its relation to the world about it, and the features which enable it to function in its surroundings. This study takes the individual organism, rather than an abstract phylum or genus, as the point of departure. Mrs. Comstock believed that the student found in such a study a fresh, spontaneous interest which was lacking in formal textbook science..."

Nature study is indeed a science in its own right. From it spring all of the other "higher" sciences as we know them. We study the sky and stars that lead into advanced astronomy. We observe and delight in the pond life that opens into the greater discipline of biology. We note the formation of ice crystals and the friction encountered by a rock sliding down a hillside that transition the learner into physics. At the same time, nature does not let us know right away that she is teaching us "science". She is busy showing us the splendor of the Almighty Creator and fostering a true sense of wonder in her pupils. Only later do we realize that "science" was actually going on all about us. Then, we can look back fondly on the experiences that preceeded our bookish knowledge and realize our debt to Mrs. Comstock's wise approach:

"In the early years, we are not to teach nature as science, we are not to teach it primarily for method or for drill: we are to teach it for loving."

May the next generation find itself well educated in the grassy classroom of Mother Nature.