Materials:

• Pen or pencil
• Nature journal
• Hand lens (optional)

Doing the Activity:

• In this activity, you are going to be going outside and exploring different habitats (natural home of a living organism, providing creatures with food, water, shelter and space) around your home, local park, or any outdoor space you have permission to explore. 
• Take out your nature journal to make your own survey sheet on a blank page (see below for an example survey sheet)
• When you have found the habitat you want to explore, find a comfortable place to sit for 3 minutes and listen. Do you hear any animals or creatures around? What are they?
• After you have listened for a little while, start exploring the area with other senses. What signs of life can you find? 
• Record your findings in your nature journal. When you are recording what you have found, consider the following;
  • What animals did you observe?
  • How many animals did you observe?
  • What do these animals need to live?
  • Where do these animals get water?
  • Can you find any evidence of animals eating, or being eaten by something else?
  • What kind of shelter is available to these creatures?

Complete the following information while you’re observing!

Date:

Weather:

Time:

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Spring is here! And Summer is not far behind, which means birds are more active now than any time of year! What can you learn about a bird from observing them for a day? Let鈥檚 find out!

Materials:

• Pen or pencil
• Nature Journal
• Binoculars (optional)
• Bird Identification Guide (optional)

Doing the activity:

• Start by writing down some questions that you have about a bird’s daily behavior. 
• Head outside and look for a bird! You can choose any bird you please, however, be aware if you are deep in a forest, it might be hard to see the bird in the treetops! An open area might be best for this observation activity. 
• Once you spot the bird, get ready to sit for a while and make observations. You can sit for 30 minutes, or the whole day!
• Below are a few observations to consider, but remember the questions you came up with as well, and try to answer those from watching the bird. 
  • Appearance & Flight; 
    • What does it look like?
    • How does it flap its wings when in flight? Is there a pattern to it?
    • How and where does it land?
  • Behavior & Communication;
    • What kind of behavior does the bird exhibit when defending its territory?
    • Does a pair of birds guard the nest or feed young? How do they act?
    • How do they communicate to each other?
  • Hunting / Foraging;
    • What kind of food does the bird hunt/forage for?
    • How far does it go from its perch and where does it go?
    • How much time does it spend eating and gathering food?
  • Adaptations;
    • What special adaptation does the bird have for camouflage?
    • For flying?
    • For protection?
    • For communication?
  • Habitat;
    • What habitat has the bird chosen for a nesting site?
    • For food gathering?
• Map it!
  • Create a map of the area where the bird lives. Include the nest site, how far the bird flies to get food, and how much territory the bird defends.
• Take it further! Identify the bird!
  • Reference 黑料不打烊鈥� Backyard Birding & Citizen Science lesson on www.vinsweb.org under 鈥淎t-Home Education Resources鈥� to learn the 4 simple steps to identifying birds!

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Materials:

1. A trowel or small shovel
2. A plate or tray with a damp paper towel on it
3. Magnifying glass (optional)
4. An area to look for worms such as a garden bed, lawn, forest, or even a sidewalk 
5. An adult to explore with you

What to do:

1. It鈥檚 best if this activity is done on a rainy day, or just after a nice spring rainstorm
2. Have an adult join you as you go out for a walk
3. Do you see any earthworms that have come out in the rain?  
4. Find a nice spot to dig that won鈥檛 disturb other things that are growing.  Try digging in the edge of a garden bed, the edge of the lawn, or even in the woods.  Take your trowel and carefully dig out a spadeful of dirt.  Use your fingers to dig through the dirt.  Do you see any worms?  Can you find any worm castings (鈥榳orm poop鈥�), that look like little piles of dirt and plant matter?
5. Look at the hole you dug.  Do you see any small burrows where your worm might have been hiding?
6. If you find a worm, gently lift it onto your damp paper towel.  Worms need to stay wet, so make sure its skin doesn鈥檛 dry out.  Take a close look.  What do you see?  What does the worm feel like?
7. Keep digging to see if you can find more worms.  When you are done digging, carefully return the worms to their home and fill the hole back up.
8. Try another spot to dig.  Where do you find the most worms?

Additional Resources:

For more information about earthworms and tips for finding them, visit 鈥檚 tips for going on a worm hunt.

To participate in Citizen Science by reporting your first sighting of an earthworm this spring, visit Journey North鈥檚

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Materials:

• In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming, (optional)
• playing cards printed out
• Space to play the game, either inside or out
• An adult to play with you

What to do:

• Have an adult help you set up and play the game
• Print out the set of playing cards, making sure they are double-sided.  If you don鈥檛 have a printer at home, you can make your own set of cards!
• Place the cards from 1-10 on the floor (or even better, on the ground outside), as if they were a big game board.  Make sure there is plenty of space for movement between each card
• To play, follow the path of the cards, starting with card #1.  Look at the picture of the insect on the front, and then listen to the information about each insect on the back.  Follow the instructions and act out each movement.  What鈥檚 it like to be an ant?  A ladybug?  A dragonfly?
• You can add more cards to the game for some of your favorite insects!

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Read Aloud: 

Materials:

• Natural materials you find outside
• Camera (optional)
• An adult or someone in your family to help

What to do:

• Celebrate the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year by creating a nature mandala.
• A mandala is a circular structure with a design that radiates out symmetrically from a unifying center.
• Head outside on a walk and see if you can find mandalas that occur naturally in nature.聽 You might find this pattern on flowers, tree rings, spider webs, among others.
• Next, gather materials that you would like to make your own mandala with.聽 These materials could be things like pine cones, flower petals, blades of grass, stones and anything else that you can find!
• Then, find a special place that you would like to build your mandala.
• Start by placing one of your materials in the center and build from the center, radiating outwards from here.
• Take a picture when you are finished and share it to spread joy to others!
• You may want to cover your mandala to protect it from the weather, or you can leave it as is.
• Post pictures of your nature mandala on Facebook and tag us @黑料不打烊.VT!

Resource for parents:

— Examples of mandalas

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Read Aloud: 

Materials:

• White sheet (or something similar)
• Something to hang your sheet on such as a clothesline
• Light (porch light, bright flashlight, etc.)
• Science journal or blank paper
• Pencil
• Camera (optional)
• Colored pencils (optional)
• Clipboard or something hard to write on outside (optional)
• Internet or other field guides (optional)
• An adult or someone in your family to help

What to do:

• Head outside and find a place where you want to attract moths.聽 This could be on your front porch or somewhere else.
• Hang up your white sheet and aim your light at the sheet.聽 Hang your sheet near your porch light if you are using that.
• Wait for the moths to become attracted to the light and then see if you can identify them!
• Take pictures or draw what you find in your Science Journal and use the internet or a field guide to see if you can identify them.
• Post pictures of your Science Journal on Facebook and tag us @黑料不打烊.VT!

Resource for parents:

• You can also take a picture and upload to to get help with the identification

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Materials:

• Animal images (optional)
• A piece of string 8 feet long
• A piece of string 25 feet long
• An adult to help out

What to do:

2. Take a look at how the frog and toad move.聽 Does it look like they hop in the same way?聽 That鈥檚 right – frogs have longer legs and take big long jumps.聽 Toads take shorter hops.
3. Head outside (or stay inside if you prefer), and try jumping like a frog using your strong hind legs.聽 Take short little hops like a toad.聽 Which animal would you prefer to be?
4. Take a look at the pictures of the deer and moose.
5. Have an adult help you measure and cut the two lengths of string.
6. Have an adult help hold the 8 foot string so that it hangs vertically.聽 A white-tailed deer can jump over that string.聽 How high can you jump?聽 Measure your jump against the string!
7. Now you鈥檇 best head outside!
8. Stretch the 25 foot piece of string flat on the ground.聽 A white tailed deer can jump that far in one jump.聽 How many jumps does it take for you to leap from one end of the string to the other?
9. A moose can run fast; about 35 miles per hour.聽 Find some outside space to run.聽 How fast can you go?

Animal Images

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Materials: 

• Nature journal or piece of paper
• Pen / Pencil
• Tree Identification guide or

Doing the Activity:

• If there are no leaves on the trees you are identifying, you can look at the twigs on the trees! Below you will see examples of leaf patterns. If you look closely at the twig, you will see leaf scars (where the leaves used to be attached) or buds coming out. By looking at these indicators, you can tell if the leaves grow in alternate, opposite or whorled patterns – see below for explanation!)
• Head outside with your nature journal or piece of paper
• Pick which tree you want to identify 
• Determine whether or not your tree has needles or broadleaves

• Observe and take note of the shape of the leaf. The overall shape of the leaf is a great clue to the tree鈥檚 identity. They can be notched, rounded, pointed, and so on. Below are a few examples. You can always draw the leaf shape and identify it when you are indoors!

• The edges of leafs, or margins, are also helpful to look at. Some look as though they have teeth (serrated), some are smooth.

• Observe and take note of the shape of the leaf. The overall shape of the leaf is a great clue to the tree鈥檚 identity. They can be notched, rounded, pointed, and so on. Below are a few examples. You can always draw the leaf shape and identify it when you are indoors!

• The edges of leafs, or margins, are also helpful to look at. Some look as though they have teeth (serrated), some are smooth.

• Observe how the leaves are attached to the stem. Is there one leaf, which means it is 鈥渟imple鈥� or are there several leaflets branching off, which means it is 鈥渃ompound鈥�

• Look at the arrangement of the leaves on the branch. Many trees have alternate leaves staggered along the twigs, some have pairs that grow along the twig, and some grow in whorls!

• Once you have taken note of all of the above, you can head indoors and either open up a field guide for trees, or check out Arbor Day Foundation online , it will ask you a series of yes or no questions about your tree, and guide you through the identification process! Have fun!

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Materials:

• Small bottle of concentrated flavoring (lemon, peppermint, vanilla, wintergreen, etc.) – if you do not have any concentrated flavors, perfume or cologne, or any scented spray will do
• Cotton balls
• Yarn or string聽
• Flagging materials, clothes, rags (something to mark boundaries)
• Science journal

Preparation for adults or students not doing the activity

• Flag or mark boundaries in an area with trees
• When students are near ready to do the activity, head outside and 鈥榮centmark鈥� some of the trees in the area (wet your cotton ball with the scent and wipe it on the tree)
• You can use more than one scent to mark different trees

Doing the Activity:

• Think about how your sense of smell is important to you. Think about a time when you could not smell as well as usual, how did this affect you?
• Take out your science journal and reflect on how animals use their sense of smell in order to survive. What purpose does smell serve for these animals?
• Head outside with some yarn and go to the activity site, you are going to be locating a type of beetle that has left a very strong smell on some of the trees. 
• Explore the trees in the boundary by smelling them. You are searching for a scent that was left behind. If you think you have found a tree that has been marked, tie some string around a branch.
• Keep exploring the area to find all the trees that have been scentmarked!
• When you believe you have found all the trees, walk the scent trail that the 鈥渂eetle鈥� left behind. Take out your science journal and reflect on the activity with the following questions:
  • Why did the animal mark those trees?
  • Where might this animal’s trail be headed?
  • How does scent benefit animals? How might it hinder them?
  • If an animal could not leave a scent, how else might they make their presence known?

Continue smelling!

• You can make 鈥淢ystery scent鈥� canister to see how well you and your family can recognize smells. Put a was of cotton into different film canister or yougurt containers (any container that you can poke a hole in will do).聽
• Put different smelly substances into separate containers (vanilla, perfume, garlic, food flavorings) and poke a hole in the top of the container.聽
• Test your sense of smell and see how many scents you are able to distinguish!

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Read Aloud: 

Materials:

• Spoon
• Yogurt container (or something similar, ice cube trays work well; preferably white)
• Tub (preferably white) filled with some water
• Onion bag or other mesh bag聽
• 尝别补惫别蝉听
• Science journal or blank paper
• Pencil
• Magnifying glass (optional)
• Bug box (optional)
• Colored pencils (optional)
• Clipboard or something hard to write on outside (optional)
• Internet or other field guides (optional)
• An adult or someone in your family to help

What to do:

• You are going to go on a macroinvertebrate scavenger hunt!
• Head outside and find a water source with easy and safe access.
• Place some water from the stream into your tub and yogurt container and set aside.聽 Keep them close by.
• Where the water is moving over rocks, turn some over to see if you can find any insects, clinging to the underside.聽 Be patient, look closely and watch for movement , they will be small!
• Carefully place the insects into your yogurt container.聽 If you walk around the stream, take this with you.聽 As you collect them, come back to your starting point and place all of the insects you find into your tub of water.
• Once you collected some, you can use the to see what you have found.
• Another option is to fill up your onion bag full of leaves and place them in the stream.聽 Be sure it is secured so it will not float away.
• The next day or in a few days, check out what insects decided to live in your leaves!聽 Take your bag of leaves out, place it into your tub of water and gently pull the leaves out for a closer look.
• Take a closer look using a magnifying glass and draw and label what you find in your Science Journal.
• Post pictures of your Science Journal on Facebook and tag us @黑料不打烊.VT!

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