Be a Naturalist with Nature Journals

Nature journaling is a way you can be a naturalist.  Anyone who is curious about nature, living (plants and animals) and non-living (rocks, water and weather), is a naturalist. Scientists use their observations about nature over time to understand how the natural world works and predict how things might change.  The fancy scientific word for this is phenology.  No matter where you live, the seasons of the year are always changing, influencing the world around you. This is your chance to explore nature by being a nature detective and recording it in a journal or on a piece of paper. If you watch carefully and record your observations, you might observe something truly miraculous.  I will be providing prompts in this section that allow you to study and enjoy nature, no matter what the season, the weather or how small your green space.  

How to set up your nature journal: I will be posting different journaling formats but there are three basic questions you can answer in your journal entries; when, where and what.  Questions and drawings are also important to include.  Below are some questions to help you along your way.  Be creative and make your journal unique to you and your interests.  Depending on your age and strengths, you can make it simple or complex.  There is no right or wrong way to journal about what you experience in nature, so take risks and have fun.

• Describe what you see in detail

  • What am I looking at?

  • What is it doing?

  • How does it move, sound, smell or feel?

• Think about connections

  • Why is this animal, plant or rock formation here?

  • What else is living nearby?

  • How can it live in this place or how did it come to be here?

• Think about the big picture

  • What can I learn from it?

  • How does it relate to my world?

  • What more would I like to learn about this?

There is no particular order for utilizing the prompts.  Many of my ideas come from a book by Clare Walker Leslie called, The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families and Classrooms.  This is a fabulous resource if you want to explore nature journaling further.   I have tried to include prompts that can be used in any green space setting, from a county or state park to a small section of grass along a sidewalk, in many cases these can even be done looking out a window.

 Have fun, be safe, using social distancing, and don't forget if you want to share your work with the O.T.E.S. community email your journal entries, poetry, drawings or stories to OTESgreenschools@gmail.com.