Nature Study for Urban Homeschoolers ~ Week 2

Our nature walk this week was a very rainy one. We headed out with umbrellas and Boomer (who dislikes rain intensely).  Our goals today were to visit our tree and to visually see how much the river was rising with the rain we've had for the past several days. Although it was raining steadily, the temperature was pleasant enough. We had the park to ourselves today.

We checked on the river first. It was definitely higher than last week but not anywhere near flood stage. It was moving swiftly and we did not attempt to get very close for safety reasons. This part of the river doesn't usually overflow its banks. However, it is possible that it will at some point during our year long study.

We then followed the path to our maple tree. We were shocked to see how bare it was after only a week. The wind really had stripped it bare of the lovely autumn leaves.

We collected a few of its remaining leaves to sketch at home. We then walked a little bit farther down the path. The rain and wind picked up and Boomer was whining about going home. So we called it a day.

When we got home, the kids sketched their leaves and put them in their new nature study notebooks.

We finished off this week by preserving our leaves with a glycerin and water solution. They should be ready to remove from the pan in a few days. We hope they will be preserved enough to last until we are able to collect next year's leaves off the same tree. That will be a fun comparison.

We are enjoying exploring our urban setting. I think it is going to be a fantastic nature study this year.

Blessings, Dawn