Skip to main content

Small Square Study ~ Outdoor Hour Challenge

By


Last week's Outdoor Hour Challenge was to observe one small square of nature. I took the kids outside and told them to walk around and find any spot around our house that they wanted to observe. Our yard actually would have been a great place to do this because we just moved here and there has not been any landscaping to the yard at all. It is primitive. But, they insisted on going across the street to an empty grass lot that has some shady trees. It was their nature experience, so I relented. They each went to the spot they wanted to observe and I made a, roughly, 1' x 1' square with craft sticks and yarn.


I handed them their notebooking pages and some colored pencils and told them to just observe their square. They could dig around and see what was underground, etc. Sadly, they just weren't really into doing this. It felt like more of an assignment instead of a nature adventure. I think that if they would have chosen a more interesting square (like in our yard), it would have been a little more fun. But, I had them just go with their choices.




They wrote on their notebooking pages the things they observed that were living and non-living. Mostly their squares consisted of dirt, some clover, some dried grass, and some ants.



They drew and colored what they found in their square in the bottom section of the notebooking page and we put them in their nature journals.


This next week we'll be back at the park doing some exploration and completing the last assignment from the September Outdoor Hour Challenge Newsletter. It has been so great to have these ideas and I am thrilled that we are actually going to complete our first full month of challenges!!!
Labels:

Comments

  1. MarySeptember 29, 2012 at 2:18 PM

    Have you seen the book series One Small Square? They are awesome. I can't wait to do them again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BarbSeptember 29, 2012 at 10:54 PM

    Sometimes it goes that way...try to remember it is their study and just go with it. I have to admit that it really depends on where you are when you pick your square that can make the difference. Our family has done this activity when we travel at the beach, in the desert, in the redwoods and those were far more interesting than in our yard.

    Thanks for sharing your experience...I appreciate your honesty. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownOctober 1, 2012 at 1:13 PM

    We always loved doing small square challenges and also loved the small square books.
    Blessings
    Diane

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

We all know that in this crazy world of homeschooling, we need all the (adult) support we can get. Please leave a comment if you so wish!

Popular posts from this blog

Cells ~ It's What's for Dinner

By
Dawson made edible cells on Friday. He made an animal cell pizza ... and a plant cell chocolate chip cookie ... He reviewed what he's learned about cells the past two weeks, and I had dinner made by someone else. Win, win!! I am linking up at Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.
17 comments
Read more

A New Year, the Same Me

By
Happy 2019! It is that day of the year where everybody is up extra early starting their new exercise routine, eating only healthy foods, cracking open the pages of a new planner and Bible study, and debuting their Word for the year. You chuckle or roll your eyes, but you are doing at least three of these things. By the way, so am I. So let's start with the Word of the Year. Mine this year is Lagom. It's the Swedish word for "not too little, not too much, just right". It's a concept of being, doing or having just enough. So let's rewind to last New Year's Day. My Word was Might. And that's how I planned to tackle my year. And, I did. I worked out hard, I mommed hard, I traveled hard, I worked hard. And it was a good season. It prepared the way for this year. I accepted the Challenge I set for myself and succeeded. But, I don't need to keep up that pace. I am at a place in my life where I can kind of sit back and enjoy my life without f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Science Sunday ~ Hmmm ... Let Me Think About It!

By
This week in our study of the Human Body , Brynne moved on to the Nervous System . Our first stop was a Pamela Hill Nettleton book called, Think, Think, Think: Learning About Your Brain . As part of our discussions about the brain , and the fact that it's the BOSS of the body, we discussed the importance of the spinal cord . We did a hands on spinal cord project by alternating gummy Life Savers and wagon wheel pasta on a pipe cleaner. We talked about why there was the "squishy" stuff in between the vertebra and how the back can bend and sway because of it. We completed "The Brynne" by adding the stomach, small intestine and large intestine, from our study last week of the Digestive System (although I just realized I have the large intestine coming out of the stomach, when the small intestine should be) and the brain and spinal cord. We are now done talking about the parts of the body and will conclude our study of the Human Body with a two-day unit ...
4 comments
Read more